(upbeat music) - Hey, this is Pastor John Ryan Cantu from PNEUMA Church in Houston, Texas.

Thank you for listening to the message today.

I hope that it blesses you and all those that you share it with.

God bless you.

(upbeat music) You can find your seat, but don't sit just yet.

We're gonna go right into the word of God.

Anybody ready for the word this morning?

Amen.

You gotta be ready for the word because the word is what'll get you.

The word is what transforms.

We can come into the presence of God and worship Him, but if we are not willing to be exposed, then I would argue that that is not true worship.

So the word of God, when we approach the word of God, we do so with humility, and that's what we do this morning.

If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn with me to Mark chapter five.

We're gonna read a little bit, if you don't mind.

21 through 36, Mark five, 21 through 36.

And when you have it, you can give me a good amen.

- Amen.

- Amen.

Praise the Lord.

And if you need a minute, just say, "I need a minute.

" Okay, I'll give you five seconds.

Mark five, Mark five, Mark five.

Oh, we need another minute.

(congregation laughing) Mark five, 21 through 36.

If you don't have it, we got you up here.

It says this.

And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about Him, and He was beside the sea.

And then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing Him, He fell at His feet, and implored Him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death.

"Come and lay your hands on her "so that she may be made well and live.

" And He went with Him, and a great crowd followed Him and thronged about Him, and there was a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years, who had suffered much under many physicians and spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse.

She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment, for she said, "If I just touch His garments, I will be made well.

" And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease, and Jesus, perceiving in Himself that power had gone out from Him, immediately turned about the crowd and said, "Who touched me?

" And His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, "and yet You say, 'Who touched me?

'" And He looked around to see who had done it, but the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth, and He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well.

"Go in peace and be healed of your disease.

" While He was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, "Your daughter is dead.

"Why trouble the teacher any further?

" But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe.

" Praise the Lord.

Let's go to God in prayer.

Heavenly Father, I thank You for this word, my God, that You have given to me, Father.

I pray, Holy Spirit, that You would speak it, my God.

You do what You need to do this morning, Father.

God, I am simply a vessel, Father.

I pray that You would open up our hearts, our minds, to receive and be transformed by Your word.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen, you can be seated.

Man, I was really trying to hear the voice of God this week, man, as I prepped for this word.

Ultimately, He led me here, and as I was going through the text and kind of reading specifically the story of Jairus and kind of relating to that in my own life and kind of thinking, just kind of reflecting this year, the Holy Spirit kind of said something very softly to me, and which is also the title of my sermon.

He said, "I didn't forget you.

"I didn't forget you.

"Or I haven't forgotten about you.

" And so that's the title of my sermon, I didn't forget you.

How many of us know, man, that God, you know, He's not a God to forget things, right?

He's a God that remains mindful of us, not just sometimes, He stays thinking about us.

He always, somebody say always.

He always hears our prayers, He always knows what we need.

But I don't know if you've ever felt like you were in a season, or maybe there was a time where you were praying something constantly, you were in a season of prayer and belief over something specific, and then all of a sudden, something happened to interrupt or overshadow your season or your prayer moment.

Something kind of disturbed the situation.

So it could be maybe you used to pray certain things before you had kids.

You were believing for certain things.

God had showed you certain things.

He put certain things on your heart, called you to certain things, but then you had kids.

And after you had kids, your attention kind of went to them and you said, well, I can't pray that prayer anymore because now I have kids.

I'm in prison for the next 18 years, right?

Or maybe God placed something in your heart where you were really praying for and you were seeking it and you believed that it was God 100%, but then maybe a sickness came into your family and you had to drop all of that and you had to tend to those needs.

That's happened to me before.

To me, I know 2020, the COVID year, that was a year that kind of disrupted a lot of plans for a lot of people.

And this story, it feels a lot like that because there's this big cliffhanger in the life of Jairus and the need of his daughter.

And I was realizing, man, I've spoken many times on each of these stories, very powerful stories.

I love these stories, specifically the woman with the blood issue.

She's probably my favorite story in the New Testament because it's just such a testament to her faith, a radical faith that we are all called to have.

But while I've preached many times on each of these stories, we don't realize that they are part of the same story.

They are two miracles that happen probably on the same exact day.

And I love how the gospel writers, so Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they all include this story.

I love the way that they tell the story because any normal person would tell the story one at a time.

Like this is the story of the hemorrhaging woman and how Jesus healed her.

This is the story of Jairus and his daughter and how Jesus healed her.

But instead, they intertwine the stories.

And it just gives me a greater appreciation for the accessibility of God because while God is 100% accessible to me, he's also 100% accessible to you at the same time.

And sometimes we forget that our prayers are not the only prayers that God is tending to.

God is really good about that, making you feel like the one, right?

It has that intimate relationship with us.

But while he has that intimate relationship with me, he also has it with all of you.

And so we're all coming to God at these different angles.

When we were younger, we had spent two years in Colorado.

And I was getting to the point where I wanted to move back already.

I mean, since day one, I had always wanted to move back.

I never wanted to go to Colorado.

I had this little girlfriend, Holly, and I even wrote her a letter before we left.

I said, "Girl, my parents don't come back.

I'm coming back for you, girl.

" I was like nine years old.

I called her one time in Colorado and never called her again.

But I was always, my heart was always here.

I miss my church, I miss my friends, I miss my family.

I just missed being here.

And so very often was I praying, Lord, find a way to take us back home.

But I also believe 100% that my dad who had a business over there was praying, "God, bless my business here.

" And so it's like sometimes like your prayers are competing for Jesus' attention.

And we don't realize that, but many times our needs intersect and we're all pursuing different angles of Jesus.

And in this story we have two strangers and they're at the mercy of Jesus.

And the Gospel of Luke says that the little girl, she's about 12 years old, and Mark says that the woman with the blood issue has suffered for 12 years.

So her problems begin around the same time the little girl is born.

And life just brings them both to this moment where they're both standing before Jesus and they're in desperate need of their own miracle.

And I know that God intended for the story to be written this way because I think it's more relatable to us.

Every person in this room has a prayer.

You have a prayer.

You have a need.

You are asking God for something.

We are all passing through different seasons of life.

And so just like the crowds were pressed together to pursue Jesus for their need, we come to church and we pursue Jesus for our needs.

And I don't preach pursuing Jesus just to get a need met.

Let's get that straight first.

But how many of you know that you can love Jesus and still ask Him for things?

That's the beauty of being in relationship with the Father.

We are His children and we have a right as His children to go before Him and say, "Lord, I am in need.

"Can you heal me?

"Can you restore me?

" That's biblical.

And so every time we come to God, whether we ask for something or not, we come to Him in need.

Anybody have a need this morning?

- Yeah.

- Paul said, Paul said, "For this momentary affliction "is preparing us for the eternal weight of glory "that is beyond all comparison.

" So he recognized that while we are on earth, in the flesh, in the body, we are always going to be in need.

And so some of us today have come into the church and you're in need of wisdom.

Some of you are asking for provision.

Some of you are asking for healing.

Some of you are asking for faith.

Be careful with that one.

I know from experience.

Some of us are asking just for more of Him.

We're all asking for something, but we're all part of the same story in that we're all God's children in pursuit of Jesus.

And I don't know about you, but I get happy when somebody gets a prayer answered.

I rejoice with them.

I celebrate them.

I thank God on their behalf.

Sometimes I even cry with them 'cause I'm like, man, God, you are so good, but at the same time, you just wonder in your very human self, is God ever gonna get to me?

What about me?

What about all the people that I pray for?

Thank you, God, for hearing their needs.

Thank you for meeting their needs.

But what about mine?

And so the story of Jairus, it begins with Jairus, and he manages to get to Jesus, and I'm glad that he got to Jesus because he had a really dire situation.

His daughter of 12 years old was dying.

And so that's a pretty serious need.

If you have a problem like that, and Jesus is the only one that can solve the problem, you are going to pursue him with everything that you've got.

When you are desperate for a miracle, that's what you do.

You pursue Jesus.

You pray.

You fast.

You pray, you fast again.

You ask others to pray and fast for you.

Listen, there's no room for shame when you are desperate.

And I gotta talk to somebody this morning because sometimes your pride doesn't allow you to ask for help.

There is no room for shame and pride when you are desperately in need of something.

This is why God gave us each other so that we can build one another up and we can pray for one another as warriors.

What good is it being an army of prayer warriors when you don't elicit them?

Y'all didn't come to listen to preaching today.

I'll be honest, I'm not the one to tell the whole world when I'm in need.

I don't like it.

I don't want to.

But when I'm desperate, I'd be a fool to not do everything that I can to have my prayer heard.

And so the Bible says that Jairus was a leader in the synagogue.

So he was probably of a good status.

He was wealthy, unlike the woman.

She was an outcast.

And it's interesting that he was a synagogue leader and the Bible makes note of it because he was probably expected to hate Jesus because he was a Jewish leader, a religious leader.

But he had a need that overshadowed whatever he thought about Jesus politically and religiously.

Needs like this, I believe, have a way of bringing people to church and seeking God when they wouldn't ever seek him before, right?

Because when you are at the end of hope, I think many of us have seen this in people's life, when you are at the end of hope, the only thing you have left to go after is God because God has stripped everything from you.

What else do you do but go to God, right?

And so that's why so many times we have broken people that come in and that's my prayer every Sunday, Lord, heal the brokenhearted because many times people come in broken.

Maybe it's the first time they stepped into church for a long time but because they have nothing left, they come in looking for restoration.

And I say, God, tend to the brokenhearted this morning because so many people in their desperate moments, when they have nothing left, they don't care about anything else.

They go to Jesus and that was Jairus.

He was totally desperate.

Maybe he even had to overcome some of those pride issues and pressure from other religious members.

You know, we always talk about the woman with the blood issue because she had to have that boldness to step into society where she was deemed unclean.

And nobody wanted her around because she was sick, right?

And so she had to have that boldness and boldness she had to step into society.

But Jairus, he was putting his entire status and career on the line.

We don't realize that.

You remember Nicodemus?

Nicodemus is this like highly respectable Jewish leader and he wanted to talk to Jesus.

Nicodemus, he was, as they call him, a seeker.

He was looking for something deeper, something more profound than what he found in the law.

And so he hears about Jesus and he wants to talk to Jesus.

He's got some questions to ask him, but the Bible says he came to Jesus by night.

Because God forbid somebody sees me coming to Jesus, the man that I'm supposed to not like during primetime hours of the day.

So he goes to him at night at an hour where nobody would expect him to be talking to Jesus and Jairus didn't have time for any of that.

He didn't have time to play those games because he's desperate.

He's desperate.

Jairus hears about Jesus who is this, who's claimed to be this miracle worker and he's come into his town and guess what?

Jesus is in need of a miracle.

And so he falls before the feet of Jesus and he says, "Come and lay your hands on my daughter.

"Come and lay your hands on my daughter.

" And the Bible says that Jesus went with him.

That's a little piece in the story that we don't give a lot of significance to.

Jesus went with him.

You still with me this morning?

Jesus went with him.

Somebody say that with me.

Jesus went with him.

Why is that significant?

Because when Jesus is walking with you, that is all the assurance that you need in the world.

That will make your day.

We talked about David last week, the confidence that David had knowing that God was with him.

When you know that God is with you and is about to bless you, that changes your whole mood, man.

I wouldn't be surprised if Jairus started skipping to his house, you know?

Because he was so overjoyed that Jesus, this miracle worker who had a solution, he was gonna go and lay hands on his daughter to heal her.

When God says, "I am with you, man," you know that nobody can be against you.

No weapon can be formed against you.

No devil will rise up against you because you have that confidence when he's with you.

How many of you have received a word from God and you walked out of church like nobody could touch you?

I'm untouchable.

God said, "I have a future so I could drive reckless "because I'm gonna have a future.

" Well, I bet Joseph, man, Joseph in the Bible, I bet he felt he was on top of the world when God showed him that vision, that dream, that he would be a ruler of Egypt and that his whole family, his brothers, his father, would one day bow down before him.

He was so confident, he was so excited, he made the mistake of acting like he was already on top.

I'm gonna preach a little bit.

Sometimes we like to use God's promises on credit.

Now, to be fair, that's partly what faith is, right?

Faith is the assurance of what you hope for before you even see it.

So when God tells you that he's going to pour blessings into your family, which he has told me many, many times, I'm gonna bless you financially, there's an abundance coming to your home, you say, "Babe, Patrick, pack your bags, "I'm taking you somewhere nice.

" The Lord is about to bless us any day now.

Put it on the credit card.

We'll pay it off next month.

(audience laughs) That's how we get, we use God's promises on credit.

I get a little ahead of myself all the time, I'll admit, man, so many words have been given to me, so many words have been given to this church, sometimes I act like we're already in it.

And I know I've been talking a lot about David, but another thing that I love about David was not only his humility, it's his patience.

Because David was anointed as God's chosen one to rule the nation of Israel, but we don't hear about David saying, "Today?

"You want me to go pack my bags "and do I start tomorrow?

" No, he goes back to doing what he was doing before because David knew that God would complete his work that he started in his life.

(audience applauds) Somebody's gotta hear this today.

God will complete the work he started in your life.

You don't need to complete it for him.

Because, have you ever seen those memes?

If you don't know it, you're not gonna get it, but if you know it, then it's gonna be hilarious.

That horse where it starts, there's like, "Man, I wish I had a picture of it, man.

"This is not working out.

"Okay, nevermind, nevermind, nevermind.

" But basically what I'm saying is, when God starts something, it's beautiful.

And then once you get your hands on it, it starts out, it's destroyed.

Let God complete the work that he started in your life.

Amen?

Because I'll tell you, man, church, we like to rush the word.

And when you rush the word, you risk losing it.

Because with the plan of God, comes the timing of God.

I'm gonna say that again, 'cause you gotta get that.

With the plan of God, comes the timing of God in which he wants to fulfill that plan.

If the word that God gave you doesn't align with the timing that God has for it, then you end up doing it your way and jeopardizing the entire plan God had for you.

And you justify it, saying, "Well, this is the word that God spoke to me.

"God said it, but you did it not in his timing.

" Look, I want my daughters to get married one day.

One day, way one day.

And if Leila comes to me at 16 and tells me that she found the one, I'm gonna be like, "You better send the one back.

"Tell 'em, 'Wait eight more years, "'because I want you to get married, "'but in the right time.

'" We talk so much about the word that God speaks, but we don't talk enough about the timing in which he wants to fulfill it.

God wanted to give the Israelites a king.

That was all a part of his plan, but the Israelites wanted it sooner than when God wanted it, and so what do they do?

They rushed the word.

God had a plan for Abraham and Sarah.

He was gonna give them a son who would be the seed of Israel.

Sarah said, "But this is taking too long.

" So they tried it their way, and it was all messy, and they had baby mama drama.

Why, because they rushed the word, and I'll be the first to tell you that I've done things with haste.

I've received the word of God and tried to manufacture the results on my own.

I've received the promises of God and tried to find it my own way, but God will fulfill the work that he started in his time.

Stop rushing the word.

Stop rushing the process.

Stop rushing the healing.

Stop rushing the restoration of that relationship.

Stop rushing the miracle.

God will do it in his time.

Get your hands off it.

The Bible doesn't tell us this, but I bet Jairus was feeling relief now that Jesus was with him, where before he was probably hopeless.

Now he's got a little bit of hope that his daughter is gonna be touched by the miracle working hands of Christ and live, and there's nothing wrong with that.

There's nothing wrong with having hope.

There's nothing wrong with getting excited when God speaks life into you.

Have that faith, have that assurance, but learn not to rush the word, because this is where we start to lose hope.

It's in the pause, in the delay.

So when you realize that God gave you that beautiful word here at the altars, but you go outside and you still have to face some giants.

You still have to go through some obstacles.

You still have to be refined.

In fact, what you thought was gonna be really exciting is actually gonna be really shaky at first.

Inserted right there in the middle of Jairus' most pressing need, probably of his life, is another need.

Now, let's be honest.

For Jairus, this was probably a major inconvenience, because this was an interruption.

He's not against the woman getting her healing, but Jesus, man, this woman's been suffering for 12 years.

She can't wait 12 more minutes.

My need is more important.

All of a sudden, the attention shifts from Jairus to this woman, and the woman is desperate too, just like everybody else in the crowd.

To her, her need is all that matters.

She's got nothing against other people getting their needs.

I'm sure she's a prayer person.

I'm sure she cares for other people, but this is her window.

This is her opportunity to get her healing.

When else is Jesus gonna be in town?

So she thinks, if not now, when?

So she goes after it, and there's a preaching there.

When you are in need, when you are desperate, and you see Jesus, go after Jesus at all costs, pursuit, there's a preaching there.

But there was another need that she interrupted.

Now, if we wanna be technical, this woman wasn't even trying to disturb Jesus.

She didn't even mean to have an interaction with Jesus.

All this woman intended to do was touch his garment.

I just wanna touch, let me just touch the garment.

Let me just touch the garment.

You're always touching me during your service.

I'm gonna touch you.

Have I just touched the garment?

I don't need to have a conversation.

All I gotta do is touch the garment.

I'm not trying to make a scene.

I'm not trying to cause a panic.

I'm not trying to freak anybody out.

I know they don't want me here.

I'll be as quiet as I need to be.

All I have to do is touch the hem of his garment, 'cause I believe that all that will be enough.

And so, and so she touches the garment.

She touches the garment.

Mission accomplished.

I got the garment.

And boom, immediately the flow of blood dried up.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

That faith, it was real.

Oh my God, I just touched it.

I didn't even have to say, hey Jesus.

I didn't have to do any of that.

I just touched the garment, and now I'm well, but here's the problem.

Jesus felt it.

He says, somebody touch me.

I felt power leave me.

Peter said, well, and you know, Peter and the apostles, they were probably trying to arrest Jesus too.

If I'm Peter, I'm thinking, man, this is good for us.

To get the support of a Jewish religious leader, we kind of need this Jesus, because I'm free for my life.

We need this.

Let's get to the house of Jared.

Let's do the miracle.

Let's gain some rapport with the religious community.

Hurry up.

Crowd full of people.

Everybody's touching you, come on.

But it wasn't, and I've talked about this recently.

I preached about this.

It wasn't the physical touch that Jesus felt.

It was the faith of the woman that touched him.

I have this picture in my head of Jesus in heaven.

The Bible says that he's at the right hand of the Father, enthroned at the right hand of the Father.

So I have this picture where Jesus is like this, and looking all kingly.

And he hears the prayers of his people, but every now and then, he goes like this.

I heard something.

And Peter's probably right there.

Peter, Jesus.

You have billions of people praying to you.

That's a Sunday morning, Jesus.

Everybody and their mama is at church, they're singing songs, they're praying, they're singing yes you, that's probably what you hear.

Yes you, everybody's praying.

And Jesus is like, no no no no no no no no.

I heard something with a force.

I heard something powerful.

I heard something different.

It wasn't just a prayer I heard.

That sounded more like faith to me.

Come on, how many of you know that Jesus hears all the prayers?

He knows what that sounds like.

Everybody prays, but faith, that sounds louder than a prayer.

Jesus said that faith can move mountains.

And so when Jesus hears a prayer of faith, I imagine him leaning forward and saying, he might even stand up, hold on.

I heard something like mountains moving.

I heard something like foundations shaking.

I heard something like walls falling and chains rattling.

This is the difference between faith and just a prayer.

And when he sees the faith, when he hears the faith, he's gonna give it attention, he's gonna lean in.

There's something different about this one.

That's why I love so much this woman's story because even though the physical woman wasn't trying to get the attention of Jesus, her faith couldn't help but get the attention of Jesus.

I mean, you know what I'm saying?

I'm not here to make a scene.

I don't wanna disturb you, but my faith is so big, I can't help it.

Jesus had to turn around and give her attention.

(congregation murmurs) Be careful with that faith, man, it's dangerous.

It's dangerous.

It gets the attention of Jesus.

When you are praying with faith, it's not like the other prayers don't matter, but I think Jesus zeroes in on that one because something is happening spiritual.

There's a fight going on.

They're not just words.

You're fighting, you are believing, you are putting your life on the line, you're putting your reputation on the line.

That's faith.

And so Jesus turns to her, and they start to have this conversation.

She didn't wanna have this conversation.

Mark says that she tells him the whole truth.

So she probably tells Jesus her whole story and how she suffered all these 12 years and she's losing hope every passing day.

We don't know exactly how long the exchange was, but it's safe to say that it was a pretty big deal.

It was a dramatic moment in the life of this woman.

And Jesus, being the compassionate, loving person that he is, he didn't wanna rush the moment with the lady.

When God is having a moment with you, who is anybody to rush it?

When God is ministering to you, who is anybody to say, hurry up, can you wrap that up?

When God is having a moment with you, he's gotta have his moment with you in his time.

And so he didn't wanna rush the moment because he wasn't just trying to heal her physically, he was trying to heal her holistically.

That's what Jesus does.

He doesn't just meet our physical needs, he meets the ones that are most important to us.

He meets the needs that we don't even know that we have.

The woman wasn't just healed of her disease, she was healed of her sins, she was healed of her struggle, she was healed of her anxiety, of her doubt, that the sickness caused.

I think Pastor Danny spoke on this last week, she was given peace.

Peace is wholeness.

This woman was being made whole in the presence of Jesus, and so Jesus, not wanting to rush the process, took his time and had a profound moment with the woman that would forever change her life.

Meanwhile, somebody say meanwhile.

- Meanwhile.

- Meanwhile kinda sounds like the story of our lives sometimes.

People are getting all their healings.

Meanwhile, I'm still in the waiting room.

People are finding jobs or testifying.

Meanwhile, I can't even get a call back.

People are getting married left to right.

Meanwhile, I can't even get a date.

People are seeing God work in their lives.

Meanwhile, it seems like I've been forgotten about.

Meanwhile.

And so now the story comes back to Jairus.

And this time, because some time has elapsed, the news worsens, and this is verse five.

You still with me?

- Yeah.

- He says, while he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, your daughter is dead.

Why trouble the teacher any further?

So earlier I said this is where we begin to lose hope.

It's in that pause.

It's in that delay.

This story, while it all probably happened on the same day, I think it still speaks to that person who feels like maybe they should just accept the new reality.

You used to pray certain prayers, but then a season came into your life that interrupted all of that, and so now you don't even think to pray those prayers anymore.

Maybe God called you to something years ago, but now you're in a totally different season of life.

You don't think that you could ever go back to it.

Maybe you don't even wanna go back to it.

We all know how it feels to have our moment with God disrupted, our prayer, our season disrupted because of life.

Melissa was just telling me this week, because she's on her last semester for school before she graduates, and she'll become a licensed counselor so she'll never brag about herself.

I have to do it for her.

But she was telling me, she was telling me, she was like, I started my master's in 2011, and then I stopped.

She was so excited, she was like, and I'm finally gonna finish.

Because this is something that's been on her heart since she was in high school.

She's always felt called to do that, but 2011, it was a year before we got married.

She was working a pretty good job.

She got offered a manager position, so she took that.

Lord knows we needed the extra money, and so she just stopped.

And now she's about to finish.

I'm not trying to compare Jeris' dying daughter to Melissa's master's degree.

I'm just saying that we all know what it's like to pursue God for something, and then life just interrupts you.

And so the man tells Jeris, your daughter, she died.

All while this woman was being healed, Jeris, your daughter, died.

And I don't know what went through his mind.

I don't know if he thought, and maybe if this didn't take so long, kind of like the story of Mary and Martha and Lazarus.

Maybe he was thinking, maybe if this woman wanted to come and interrupt things, my daughter, my 12-year-old daughter, would still be alive.

I don't know what went through his mind.

But the man tells Jeris, there's no reason to trouble Jesus anymore.

The thing that you needed, he can no longer complete, except your new reality, basically.

And church, sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes reality is the enemy of faith.

You hear that?

Sometimes your reality is the enemy of faith.

And too many times, we listen to the voice of what's factual instead of the voice of God.

And please don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to ignore reality, but if God showed you something that looks nothing like your reality, that only means that your reality is about to change.

Because God is the author of your reality.

I don't know if you know that.

Reality tells Sarah, how can I have a baby in my 90s?

God said, it's really gonna happen in your 90s.

So Jesus turns real quick, because he's listening to this negative conversation.

You gotta get the negative people out of your life, man.

And he says, overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler, hold on, don't fear, only believe.

He's just having this moment with the Samaritan woman, oh, I'm sorry, this hemorrhaging woman.

He overhears this chatter, he's like, hold on, Jeris.

Hold on, I'm not done.

I'm not done, I didn't even get started.

Some of you, church, have accepted the reality of your situation so you're not bothering Jesus with what you used to pray anymore.

Years ago, you were so sure, how many, I know there's people that I'm talking to this morning.

There was a word that you were given that you were so sure about years ago, but now you're so far away from it, you don't even think it's possible.

And you're just trying to move on and forget the prayers that were left unanswered, but God is saying, I didn't forget you.

I never left you.

I didn't just walk away from the situation when I was there with you.

God is saying, if I was on my way to do a job, I'm gonna finish the job that I started.

Don't lose hope, don't fear, only believe.

I want you to understand something about God, and I'm about to close, can I get the worship team?

I want you to understand something.

And if you take notes, I want you to write this down.

If you don't take notes, I still want you to take out your phone, type this out, because this needs to serve as a reminder to your waiting process, because you are gonna go through a waiting period.

Write this down.

God doesn't work in straight lines.

God doesn't work in straight lines.

We like to think that God, when he gives us a word, is gonna be from point A to point B.

If only you were that easy, right?

But God likes to add numbers in between his letters.

A one, A two, A three.

He doesn't work in straight lines.

So you start here, and God is saying, there's destiny right there, that's where I'm taking you.

There's your promise, there's your promised land.

So you start to walk, but then something interrupts your path.

So now you gotta go this way.

And sometimes you walk this way for such a long time, you forget about what was over there.

And you would just accept this path as your new reality, and God is saying, no, hold on.

If I was doing a work back there, if I meant to get you from here to there, that's where I'm taking you.

Focus, focus, redirect.

I'm not done with you.

And so you go from here, and you go from here.

And you're all right, God.

I'm back on track, I'm back on track.

I'm following you, and then boom, sickness happens.

Come on, now you gotta go this way.

And now it looks like you're heading back to where you started.

God, why are you doing anything in my life?

What are you doing?

And sometimes you just feel like you're just being toyed with and you're being played with by life because so many things come into your life, and they just disrupt what God is trying to do.

But all along the way, your faith is getting made stronger.

All along the way, you are gaining more and more of the Holy Spirit.

All along the way, God is preparing you for your over there.

The path that you take is not for nothing.

But realize that you were not meant to be redirected forever.

If God gave you a word, if God was walking with you, He's gonna complete the work that He started.

You gotta remember God doesn't work in straight lines.

God works through the hills and through the valleys.

God works through the seas.

God works through Goliath.

He works through the giants.

He works through the mountain tops.

He works through the summer.

He works through the winter.

He works through the day.

He works through the night.

He doesn't work in straight paths.

But if He said He was gonna get you there, He's gonna get you there.

We can't rush the word, man.

You can't rush the word.

When Jesus gets to the house of Jairus, He finds the little girl.

And every time there's a little girl in the story, I get emotional 'cause I got two little girls and I love them more than anything.

And He gets to the house and she's dead.

She's clearly dead.

People know what dead looks like.

But Jesus, He doesn't see it like that.

I said this last week, I wish we could see with divine vision.

Jesus says, this little girl right here, oh, she's just asleep.

She's just asleep.

And His question to them is more of a challenge to their faith.

He says, why are you weeping?

This girl's not dead.

She's only asleep.

You have to understand this.

Jesus never intended for this little girl to die that day.

That's why He went with Jairus.

That little insignificant verse that we forget about, Jesus went with Jairus.

He intended to do a work and complete it.

This is where reality becomes the enemy of faith.

(gentle music) And it makes you laugh at the possibility that God's word is actually gonna come to pass.

That's why the people standing by, they begin to laugh and they mock Jesus.

How can He say, she's just asleep, she's dead, she's not breathing.

So they laugh.

Sarah laughed when God said you were gonna have a son in your 90s.

She laughed.

But the work that God starts, I gotta say it, I gotta say it, I gotta say it, the work that God starts, He will finish.

Even if it looks like the work that He started is no longer living, God is saying today, I have not forgotten about you.

I'm not a God to forget.

I'm not a God to take back the things that I said.

I'm not a God to revoke the calling once I've made it.

I'm not a God to make mistakes.

I didn't forget you.

That's what God is saying to somebody today.

I didn't forget you.

I didn't forget you.

I didn't forget about that need that you used to pray 10 years ago that you stopped praying because you just accepted it as reality.

I didn't forget it.

You need to reignite that faith.

You need to reignite that prayer.

You need to reignite those steps this morning, says the Lord, because I didn't forget about you.

If I was walking with you then, I'm walking with you now.

I want you to stand with me.

Thank you, Father.

Thank you, Father, thank you, Father.

Oh, Holy Spirit, right now, my God, I pray against the false reality, Lord.

The things that we are confronting, my God, that look like something that we just need to accept as peace, my God, but you said, you said long ago that it wasn't gonna be this way.

You said long ago, you said long ago that my children would be yours.

You said long ago that my family would worship you.

You said long ago that I'd be free.

You said long ago that that marriage that has nearly ended will prevail.

You said things, my God, forgive me for forgetting because I know that you have not.

I pray for faith to rise up this morning, my God, in Jesus' name.

I pray for faith to rise up this morning in Jesus' name.

I pray for patience to rise up this morning.

- Thanks for listening.

If you'd like some more information on PNEUMA Church, visit us on our website at mynumachurch.

org.

If you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe or share it with your friends on social media and tag us @mynumachurch.

Thanks again and God bless.

(gentle music) [♪]