The Silent Setup // What I’m Hearing Here (Part 3) // Amberly Bell

What do you do when you can’t hear God? What happens when we reach out to Him, and He’s silent? Sometimes we can be in a season where we’re asking God for answers, and we hear nothing back. Many of us see God’s silence as a punishment. But maybe it’s actually a sign of intimacy. In week 3 of our series What I’m Hearing Here, executive pastor Amberly Bell shares with us that when God is silent, He’s never absent. If you’re trying to hear from God, this message is for you. Check it out and share it with someone in your life who needs to hear it!

so i spent the month of june in africa

shout out tc nation if you’re from

africa go ahead blow it up in the chat

i just want to say wanna safeweek

sana if you are tuned in and watching we

just want you to know that

transformation church loves you

and i got to spend the month of um june

in africa and got to work with an

incredible organization called asking

for the nations and just got to be a

part of what god is doing on the

continent of africa and it was really

really special

and um while i was there there was one

specific day we were working at a job

site and on the job site this is where

we were laying bricks uh putting mortar

in between the bricks i’m not a builder

by the way so

yeah if my husband’s probably like don’t

use the wrong word right now babe please

don’t mess up the words and um we got to

do different things at this job site but

one day in particular

my husband who was the project manager

he came to me and he said we need to

pick up rocks today

and i was like you mean like pick up

rocks rocks and he was like it sounds

just like it sounds what i just said is

what you heard you need to pick up rocks

and so immediately i was like why do we

need to pick up rocks and he said well

here’s the deal there’s too many rocks

on the land and in order for them to

come in after the fact and do the

landscaping that needs to be done we

have to remove all of the rocks from the

land

now i need to give you a visual for just

a moment this wasn’t just like three

rocks or like five rocks or like even 12

rocks this was thousands upon thousands

upon thousands of

rocks

and our job was to bag them up in a bag

and move them to a pile of guess what

other rocks

and that was my job all

day

long

eight hours i would walk around the land

i would find rocks i would put them in

my bag i would carry my bag over to the

other pile i would dump the bag

i would go back to the land i would find

rocks i would put them in my bag i would

carry them over to the pile and i would

dump them in the in the pile of rocks i

would go back to the land i would grab

rocks i would put them in my bag i would

walk back over to the pile and dump them

in the pile of rocks

so i said lord

let me tell you something

if i’m gonna have to pick up rocks all

day this is the perfect time for you to

speak to me

because i knew in advance that this

series was coming and they wanted the

home team to preach it so i said lord

you have my undivided attention for

eight hours

i’m not busy with work i’m not busy on

social media i’m not busy doing anything

but picking up rocks

so speak my lord for your servant is

listening as i walk

i pick up rocks put them in my bag

i walk over

i put them in the pile i go back over to

the rocks pick up more rocks i said lord

this is the perfect time to speak to me

whatever it is that you want to say to

your people during this series god i am

available and i am ready to listen to

what you want to say

for eight long hours 46 bags of rocks

later

46 people of god 46

bags of rocks letter he said

nothing

no scripture

no sermon illustrations

no points

no

direction what i heard from god

was nothing

and that moment of silence is awkward

for some of you are like oh god the

streams come off did we refresh the

youtube some of you are like she forgot

her message somebody’s like stephen help

her she doesn’t know what to do right

now

but i heard nothing and it’s awkward but

that’s what happens when we don’t hear

from god

it’s awkward

and when i got home from africa

i was honestly very angry with the lord

you had a lot of time you could have

spoke to me not only did i spend eight

hours picking up rocks but for two and a

half weeks i was doing the work of the

ministry i was fully engrossed in what

you wanted to do and you could have

spoke to me at any point and yet you

chose not to

why would you not speak to me when i was

ready to listen god

and i became angry with him

and sure enough the lord began to speak

in the midst of my chaotic life in the

midst of my busy schedule in the midst

of having to get to and from work in the

midst of having to be a wife in the

midst of having to be a mom that’s when

god decided to speak

and what i realized was he didn’t do it

on my time

he didn’t do it when i had my crap my

perfectly crafted schedule when i was

ready to listen and the holy spirit

spoke something to me that i believe he

wants to speak to all of us today

god doesn’t just speak because you

decide that you want to listen

he doesn’t operate on our timetable he

doesn’t operate on a calendar that goes

january to december he doesn’t have 24

hours in a day he doesn’t have seven

days in a week instead in fact the bible

says that a day is like a thousand years

and a thousand years is like a day and

so when i’m concerned about time god

says what’s time

[Music]

i believe what god shared for me was not

only for me but it was for every single

one of us in this room it was for every

one of us who’s tuning in right now from

all over the world and it’s for anyone

who has ears to hear

have you ever felt like you couldn’t

hear from god

like by a show of hands in the chat if

you felt like you’ve never that there’s

been times when you cannot hear from god

that’s literally every person in the

room

i want to encourage those of you who are

watching online right now you can’t see

the physical hands but you are not alone

we’ve all gone through seasons where we

could not hear from god have you ever

prayed about an answer and god didn’t

answer

have you ever asked god for wisdom

should i take this job or should i not

take this job and he doesn’t answer

have you ever asked him should i marry

this person or should i not marry this

person and he seemingly doesn’t answer

have you ever asked should i be in this

relationship or should i not and yet it

seems like he’s not answering

have you ever not been able to hear from

god because i’ve been walking through

seasons where it’s been difficult to

hear from god

and if you’re taking notes this morning

the title of my message is this

the silent setup

what do you do when you can’t hear from

god

[Applause]

now let me tell you something i have an

assignment today

it’s a very clear assignment

okay i wasn’t going to tell this but let

me just tell this

okay thank you jesus thank you holy

spirit

so most of my life i have viewed jesus

as king

and rightfully so

all throughout the scripture it talks

about fearing god he’s the king of kings

the lord of lords he’s the great i am

and every time i pray i envision a king

sitting on a throne

many of you can relate right

and oftentimes i picture myself walking

into this throne room the doors opening

up and the guards making space for me

and the king asking me what do you want

but in this vision that i have with god

i don’t ever see god coming down off of

his throne down to me

now i am being humble open and

transparent right now because i’m sure

that i’m not the only one who has this

type of relationship

but in my in my mind i see god sitting

in a throne and he’s asking what i want

but he doesn’t come out of the throne to

come down the steps to pick me up or to

talk to me we keep our distance from one

another

and i realized that’s a bit abnormal

that not other believers view god this

way in fact i was talking to some of my

friends and they informed me that they

view god as a father

and when they talk to god they they’re

somebody that comes along and scoops

them up the way a father does a young

child and picks them up and brushes the

tears off of their face and asks them

what they want

and i realized i don’t view god as a

father

now what you have to know is i didn’t

grow up with an act of present father in

the home so i don’t even know what that

looks like

so when i pray to god i don’t see a

father i see a king and i see reverence

and i see honor and i fear who god is

but because of that it hasn’t it’s

inhibited my ability to hear from him at

all times

so what happens when you’ve done

everything quote unquote right and

you’re still not hearing from god

let me make it really plain for you

for me i i’ve often asked myself god is

it because i fasted six days instead of

seven

or oh god if i hadn’t have done the

daniel’s fast and instead i had done

water only

and i realized this is super spiritual

but hang with me for a moment or maybe

instead of being in my devo time for a

full hour i was only in it for 48.23

minutes and i missed hearing from god

because i didn’t stay for the full 60

minutes

or maybe i said if i only listen to that

worship song instead of that one and i

begin to view god as someone who’s

looking down on me and punishing me and

he’s not talking to me because i haven’t

done something right

and what if for you what if it’s because

you made that mistake in high school you

chose to abort that baby and now every

time you go to approach god you feel

like he’s not talking to you because of

the mistakes you made

or because you decided to marry that man

or that woman that you knew you weren’t

supposed to even your grandma told you

not to

and because of what you feel like you’ve

done wrong

you can’t hear god

but my assignment today

my clear assignment today is to

represent how we view god’s silence

because listen let me tell you something

very clearly i cannot preach anything

that i’ve not had to learn or live on my

own

i have to learn that inwardly for myself

first and so i am here to represent you

know that we are out here representing

god to the lost and found for

transformation in christ and i want to

represent silence

now listen whenever i prepare for a

sermon i want to give you a little a

little tip into how people prepare for

sermons

okay they do pray they do fast blah blah

blah we do all that great stuff okay

but honestly we then had to google

okay every preacher that has ever

prepared a sermon has been on google.com

on the local google okay

and in google you put in your sermon

title just to see what kind of shows up

like what what is somebody else said

about this that maybe could help provide

some insight or some wisdom into what

you’re going to preach

and i was dumbfounded

when i literally typed in what to do

when you can’t hear from god all i found

was sermons

podcasts blogs and forums about all the

things that you’re doing wrong to not

hear from god

and i was so discouraged

because i thought yes while i do let me

make it very very clear while i do

believe that sin is a separator from god

while i do believe that if you are

disobedient you will be separated from

god and it will be difficult to hear

from him this is what i know the further

you are from someone the more difficult

it is to hear from them

so the further that you are from god

this morning the more difficult it will

be to hear his voice it’s basic physics

if i’m far away from you i can’t hear

you

and god doesn’t do that because he

doesn’t love you all he’s saying is his

desire is to be close to you is to bring

you into an intimate relationship with

him

and so what i realized is

that it’s easy to view this as something

that we’ve done wrong

instead of something that maybe we’re

doing right

and so i want to say this to you many of

us think that god doesn’t speak because

it’s punishment

but what if it’s not about punishment

what if

i want to talk to you this morning about

the little foxes

okay now some of you i just said the

word foxes and immediately you heard

that horrendous song that we used to

sing back in the day i won’t even do it

but i know you can hear it in your head

and thank god baby shark has taken over

the spock song

at any rate why do we sing songs by

animals i don’t know but when i said the

word foxes you thought what does foxes

have to do with this message hang with

me for a second

it makes me think though

literally the other day will and i were

talking will’s my husband he’s so fine

by the way and um we were talking

and i was telling him about some things

that we needed to do and i was like this

will be great because we can just kill

two birds with one stone and he was like

yeah okay great and all of a sudden

little mia bell piped up out of the back

seat

horrified absolutely horrified and she

goes why are we killing birds with rocks

mom

and i was like oh yeah i can see where

that looks like we’re totally killing

birds with rocks so let me explain to

you the little the little foxes in the

scripture maybe you heard your grandma

say this growing up maybe you don’t even

know where this came from but in the

scripture in song of solomon chapter 2

verse 15 it says it’s the little foxes

that spoil the vine

it’s not the big obvious one so what

does that mean it’s the little

seemingly insignificant things that

causes big damage in our lives

and so i want to talk just briefly about

those little foxes and then i want to

move on from that the first one though

is what i like to call a little fox of

external noise

okay external noise is um anything that

happens on the outside right you guys

know external is outside internals

inside so anything that happens on the

outside now listen as i was studying

this i was absolutely flabbergasted that

was a good word my english teacher would

be so proud

i was flabbergasted to read this listen

to this

according to a study conducted recently

mobile phone users receive an average of

92

notifications every single day

in that same study they found that on

average people picked up their phone 74

times usually in response to those 92

notifications that came across their

phone

and i this was heartbreaking when i read

this there are people who are now having

to go into detox centers not because of

a drug addiction not because of an

alcohol addiction not because of a sex

addiction but because they need to go

into notification detox

they have so much coming at them that

it’s overwhelming them it’s causing

anxiety it’s causing worry it’s causing

fear and so now these people are having

to go into detox because of their

notifications

now think about this for a minute have

you ever made time to hear from god

and you know you’ve got you’ve got the

perfect maverick city music song playing

you are enough

and i will be and you’re and you are

trying to enter in and all of these

notifications are going off

you’re getting reminded about the

meeting that you have at three o’clock

you’re getting reminded that you got a

haircut on friday at noon you’re getting

reminded that you need the oil changed

on the subaru you’re getting reminded

that you need to take out the meat out

the freezer so it can start thawing

you’ve got people calling you texting

you your macbook your iphone your ipad

everything is coming at you

and this is how we try to hear from god

with all of that think about how

difficult that would be

pastor brie talked about this last week

how do we avoid that external noise she

talked about we silence ourselves we

engage in solitude and silence and

stillness and all throughout scripture

jesus talks about how he had to withdraw

so let us consider for just a moment the

meaning of the word withdraw

to withdraw means to draw back or to

remove yourself from a present situation

now what i find interesting about

withdrawing is this

regardless of where we are in life no

matter where you are in your life no

matter how hard you work

no matter how type a you are or for me

no matter how strong of an enneagram

eight you are and you like control and

you like to know what’s taking place

before it takes place

time is a limitation

it doesn’t matter if you’re the ceo of a

company if you are a retired worker if

you are single if you’re raising seven

kids nobody has more than 24 hours in a

day

we simply cannot see read taste

experience live watch or do it all at

once it’s not an option

now listen to this life is a series of

choices

every yes is a thousand no’s

every activity that we give our time and

attention to means there’s something

else that we can’t give our time and our

attention to

because we cannot be in two places at

once

it is imperative that we withdraw and we

remove ourselves from our present

situations to be able to hear more

clearly from god

think about this how can you expect to

hear from somebody that you don’t spend

time with or talk to

we have to withdraw and spend time with

god to hear from him

so little fox number one is the external

noise say external noise

little fox number two though is the

internal noise

this is the chatter the mental chatter

in our mind that never ever ever shuts

up

it’s the inner dialogue that keeps going

you know how when we say our brains are

going a million miles an hour it’s

thinking about hypothetical scenarios

that may never actually even happen

it’s worrying it’s worrying about the

what if the what if the what if the what

if it’s the constant commentary in our

heads

it’s dreaming of a perfect life while

all in time poisoning our actual real

life

an external noise is easy to quiet you

can turn off your phone you can turn off

your notifications you can turn off the

radio you can lay on the couch even but

internal noise it is a wild animal that

needs taming there is no off button for

the internal noise

philippians 4 8 says this

fix your thoughts on what is true

and honorable

and right

and pure

and lovely and admirable

think about things that are excellent

and worthy of praise

that’s where we’re supposed to fix our

thoughts

okay but what if what if we’re doing all

of these things we’re cognizant of our

time with god we’re withdrawing we’re

spending the necessary time we’ve got

our notification silence thank god we’re

not having to go to detox for that we’re

doing all these things and still we feel

like we can’t hear from god

what then

interestingly enough the way that our

relationship works with god is we sum it

up with our finite minds

we sum it up with our human minds to

comprehend what it is that god is doing

and isaiah 55 9 says this that as far as

the heavens are from the earth his ways

are different than our ways his thoughts

are different than our thoughts now

listen i have a um little sidebar i have

a degree in chemistry and biology i

never use it ever

except for right now i’m about to tell

you some science facts okay

as far as the heavens are from the earth

this the the um the scientists believe

that the heavens are 46 billion light

years away from the earth

46 billion what is a light year that is

let me just tell you what about what a

light year is okay

a light year is 6 billion miles away

that’s 12 zeros so 46 billion of those

six billion is how far the heavens are

from the earth

and god says that’s how different our

thoughts are that’s how different our

ways are and yet we try to put god in

our rational mind in our human mind and

he doesn’t operate that way

married folks

i want to talk to you for a second

the thing about god is because we

rationalize this in our human mind we

think that because we cannot hear from

god he’s giving us the silent treatment

because that’s how we view it in our ma

in our minds we think that if god is not

talking he has to be giving me the

silent treatment but remember his ways

are different than our ways his thoughts

are different than our thoughts now

married folk keep it real right now with

me kay we’re humble open transparent

people of integrity so remember that

people of integrity part

but i know whenever my husband and i are

having um just really intense fellowship

moments okay

and when i get very disgruntled with

what he has to say

i give him the silent treatment

and i ignore him

now if i’m really saved and holy what

i’ll do is i’ll go to bed at night and

instead of giving him the silence

treatment i’ll huff a little extra

louder like

or i’ll flip those blankets over really

heavy and hard and rip him off of him

because i want him to know that i am

upset and while i’m not gonna talk to

you i need you to know that i’m upset

with you and so i’m gonna huff louder

until you say babe what’s going on

so that i can say nothing

listen mary folks you know you do this

you know you do this

the thing about god though is that he

doesn’t give us the silence treatment

but this is how our brains rationalize

his silence

god’s silence isn’t a punishment

it is his purpose

what if what if

his silence is a sign of intimacy

what if

awkward silence is when you don’t have

relationship with someone

and the only reason that it’s awkward is

because there is no relationship

people who have a deep relationship can

sit in silence and it not be awkward

there are times after being married to

william bell who is so fine by the way

after 13 years of marriage there are

often times that we sit in silence

together there is not anything that the

that the other one needs to say to each

other because that is the most intimate

form of our relationship we know each

other so well that we can sit in the

same space and not even say one single

word

you only have awkward silence with

people that you don’t have relationship

with

[Applause]

think about this

think back to when you first started

dating someone or maybe you just got in

a new relationship and things are going

really great and you saw them on

instagram you sent them a dm you know

the humble bumble tumble whatever those

websites are that y’all are using these

days

[Laughter]

temple ramble i don’t even really know

anyways

you found this person on one of those

sites and you sent them a dm and now

things are going really well

think about when you first start dating

somebody

you stay on the phone for hours

just talking

and then after you’ve been together for

a while you’ll stay on the phone for

hours and there won’t be any words

somebody will start snoring drool will

start hitting the pillow and you’ll wake

up and say okay baby well i’ll talk to

you in the morning okay

good night i love you

and you do this you spend all this time

talking

but isn’t it interesting that after

you’ve been together for some time

there’s less

and less

and less talking

could it be that silence is a greater

form of intimacy

the gospel tells us the stories of the

disciples and their time walking and

talking with jesus we can read it

matthew mark luke and john and for over

three years the disciples walked and

talked with jesus they ate with jesus

they walked with jesus they washed jesus

feet they watched jesus do miracles they

hailed the donkey down together got on

the donkey together they did everything

together for three and a half years

and then suddenly overnight when jesus

was crucified they woke up and he was

gone

three years of constant communication

three years of knowing his voice

intimately and then overnight nothing

not one single word was spoken

three years that’s

1095 days imagine spending time with

someone for three years and then

overnight he goes silent

they’re all in mourning and in grief

there’s silence everywhere except for

the weeping at the loss of their savior

and friend

silence except for maybe some questions

that they asked one another like did

they really crucify him

did they really put a crown of thorns on

his head

did they really rip his beard out of his

face and make him look unrecognizable

do you think he’s coming back

do you think he still loves us

do you think he forgot about us that’s

the only thing that she would hear is

silence and these questions amongst each

other

what will we do without him now they

would have asked each other

the three days where the disciples heard

nothing were the most powerful days in

all of history

you and i both know that in those three

days he conquered death hell and the

grave

and here’s my question for you this

morning has god trusted you with his

silence

a silence that has a greater meaning

what if i told you that god’s silences

are actually his answers

what if i told you think about those

days of absolute silence around the tomb

is there anything comparable to that in

your life have you been in a situation

where you wonder where he is have you

been in a situation where you’re like

you are talking to me but now you’re not

have you asked yourself god where did

you go

will you come back

have you asked yourselves these same

questions

can god trust you

and or are you still asking him for a

visible answer

his silence is a sign that he is

bringing you into an even more wonderful

understanding of himself

are you mourning before god because

you’ve not heard the audible voice of

god

when you cannot hear god this is what i

want to tell you you will find that he

has trusted you in the most intimate way

possible

with absolute silence

not a silence of despair but one of

pleasure because he saw that you could

withstand an even bigger revelation

think about following jesus

the majority of following jesus is not

hearing anything

if i think about i’m full almost 41

years old and i think about my 40

well let’s say 30 years of following

jesus most of it has not been hearing

the audible voice of god it’s been

following out of faith the bible itself

is only the documented proof of when god

spoke but what about all the other times

that he didn’t speak that’s not

documented

i think about david a man after god’s on

her own heart throughout all of psalms

he keeps saying where are you

why have you abandoned me why are you so

far away every day i call to you but you

don’t answer

what’s important to understand is that

he hasn’t gone anywhere

he’s not gone anywhere

here is holy is our phrase of the year

in fact we have the tag line it’s the

year of intentional limitations

i want you to think about this for a

moment parents and children

in raising mia i have taught her

limitations

i have taught her boundaries for example

i have said when you are getting ready

to cross the street you are to look both

ways before you cross

i have taught her that when she gets

into a car that to be safe she should

put a seat belt on and buckle up

i have taught her that when someone

gives her something that she should say

thank you i have taught her to make eye

contact at a restaurant when ordering i

have given her the intentional

limitations for this

season of her life

now what i do not do is i do not

micromanage control or manipulate every

single thing that she does i’ve set the

limitations and now i sit back and i

watch

and i only intervene when i know danger

is approaching

instead i sit back and i watch mia and i

beam with pride because i am proud of

what she’s doing i am proud of what

she’s accomplished i am proud that she

has heard from her mother and learned

from her father and now she is out doing

her own thing and what if god is not

speaking because he trusts you

he’s given you the limitations all

throughout scripture

he’s not a god that he comes over and

micromanages and controls every aspect

of your life but he says you have free

will you have your own choice

so you’re looking for the answer yes or

no about the job and he says baby i

trust you

[Music]

[Applause]

and i’ll be there every step of the way

in just a moment i’m gonna invite my

daughter up

the other day we were doing um i was

talking to her about this sermon

and i asked her a

and it was the craziest thing because

that little 10 year old girl preached in

her answer and didn’t even know she

preached

so do i have mia come on haley bring me

up

oh girl we see you

she said mom please do not embarrass me

baby girl i love you so much

listen this is what mamas do we just

love on our babies

um haley will do me a favor will you

blindfold mia

okay so mia here’s what’s going to

happen

i’m going to bring up some different

women

and these different women are going to

say the exact same sentence to you and i

want you to pick out which one is your

mom

now please god let this work okay

because this will actually ruin the

sermon illustration if it doesn’t

[Laughter]

no pressure mia okay

okay okay

okey-dokey so we’ve got different women

up here and we’re all going to say to

mia hi mia i love you

and we’re gonna let mia pick which one

is her mom okay

hi mia i love you

hi mia i love you is that your mom no

who is that

yes

hi mia candy

hey mia i love you

who’s that

say your mom

hey mia i love you

i don’t think so who is it i don’t know

it’s not your mom i don’t think so okay

i don’t know i don’t want to be wrong

hi mia i love you

[Laughter]

what y’all don’t know is she’s confused

because in run-throughs i stood right

where misha’s standing and so we

switched it up on her and she’s like ah

but she knew she knew it wasn’t my voice

thank you so much sweetheart thank you

guys so much

so whenever i was talking to me i said

mia if i blindfolded five different

women and put them on stage and asked

and have them say you know mia come here

or mia i love you do would you know

which one was me

and without any hesitation mia said yeah

like duh mom and so i said why

and what i expected her to say was well

because i know your voice mom that’s

what i expected mia to say

instead let me quote to you what my

ten-year-old daughter said

because i’m with you all the time

i expected her to say because i know

your voice

she didn’t address my voice though she

addressed my

presence

and this is what i want to tell you god

may be silent

he may be silent but he is not absent

if you find yourself in a situation

where god seems silent don’t think that

he’s not active what god is doing is he

is rearranging the scenes of your life

and he is getting ready so that the

appointed time when the curtain comes up

you can be ready to fulfill your mission

your vision your purpose and the call

that god has on your life

when you hear god’s silence and feel his

absence trust his presence

silence is always a setup turn to

somebody and say that silence is always

a setup

in studying for this message i got

really stuck on studying the 400 years

of silence

okay 400 years of science let me explain

you what that is the 400 years of

silence is when the book of malachi

chapter 4 in the old testament ended and

matthew chapter 1 in the new testament

began for 400 years there was nothing

but silence and i can only imagine what

the prophets and the and the people of

god were saying god are you real you

said the savior was coming you said the

messiah the one that would save the

world is coming and yet it’s been 400

years of silence

and i don’t know what situation you’re

in this morning but maybe it feels for

you that it’s been 400 years of silence

maybe you’ve been waiting to hear god

you’ve been asking god to move on your

behalf and you feel like it’s been 400

long years because even if it’s been 40

minutes it can feel like 400

but what he’s doing is he’s setting up

the stage silence is a setup

silence was a setup for the savior

the silence is set up to save the world

and it’s set up to save your family your

marriage your job your purpose his

silence is set up to save you

in the 400 years of silence let me tell

you what happened briefly there are a

couple key pivotal things that did

transpire in the 400 years what we know

through history is this number one

there was a common language that spread

throughout the land greek

during that 400 years one common

language after many dialects many

different versions many different

languages there was one language that

was spoken greek

the next thing we know is that

transportation

vastly improved

when they used to get around with

donkeys now they’re getting around on

big ships they’re doing the

transportation system increased and

became better why is that important to

us because we couldn’t have the apostle

paul in acts going from region to region

and town to town preaching the gospel

even today

we would not be able to stream like

we’re streaming on the internet the way

that we are have the common language not

been established and have the

transportation system not improved

god knew exactly what he was doing he

was setting up the stage for a savior

god knew when to release his word not

just his spoken word but his physical

word

in the beginning was the word and the

word was with god and the word was god

god knew when to release it god knows

exactly when to send the word to your

situation

you may be listening this morning and

you may have silence in your marriage

you may have silence and the prayer that

you’re praying for healing in your body

you may have silence in your finances

you may have silence about the career

change that you’re looking to make you

may have silence in the relationship

surrounding you but the word is on the

way

the word is on the way

your word is on the way

we know that silence is a setup but what

do we do in the middle of the waiting

think about that

like i told you in the beginning it was

so interesting to me that everything

that i googled everything that i

researched was just all the things that

you’re doing wrong nobody addressed what

if you’re actually doing things right

what if god has given you the

intentional limitations he’s given you

the boundaries and now he just trusts

you

and this is his version and his way of

being so much more intimate with you by

not speaking all the time but just being

present

what do you do when you really do need

an answer from god and you don’t feel

like you’re hearing from him

what do you do when you acknowledge the

fact that yeah okay it may be a setup

yeah he may be working behind the scenes

doing something bigger and greater but

what do i do in the middle what do i do

in the middle of the silence

and i want to encourage you this morning

you surrender in the silence

silence leads to surrender

and surrender leads to strength

[Music]

caleb if you’ll come back out for me i

want you to look at isaiah 40 verse 31.

it says this but those who trust in the

lord

the message version says those that wait

on the lord

will find new strength

they will soar high on wings like eagles

they will run and not grow weary they

will walk and not become faint

silence is a setup to strength

god is trying to make you stronger

he’s trying to show you that he trusts

you

he’s trying to show you that he desires

to be more intimate with you

and so what do you do

you wait

you say pastor emily waiting is so hard

i’ve been waiting for a long time

some of you watching right now i’ve been

praying for your spouse your future

spouse and you feel like you’re just

still out here doing all the things and

you’re still single and you’ve been just

waiting

some of you are believing god for

children and yet it’s just failed

pregnancy tests after a failed pregnancy

test

and you just say i’m just tired of

waiting

[Music]

but i want to encourage you with what

the scripture says

as you’re waiting

it says you will find new

strength

it says that it will cause you to soar

high on wings like eagles

that you will run and not grow weary

that you will walk and not faint

and so this morning all over the world

and in this room

i want to give you the opportunity to

just wait

you’re in a room you’re online right now

watching and there are believers all

over the world that are that are

partnering their faith with yours

and as the worship team begins to sing

this song i want you to remind god god

here i am

but even though i may not be able to

hear you i know that you’re here because

your word says you will never leave me

and you will never forsake me

and so i will wait on you

i will wait on you the book of ephesians

says that after you’ve done everything

that you will just stand

that you just keep standing because he

wants to strengthen you in this season

he wants to take you into a deeper level

of intimacy

god we thank you this morning

we thank you god that you’re that your

weight god we thank you that your

silence is that ability to trust you god

at a different level

[Music]

some of you need to stand in your

apartments you need to stand in your

house you need to stand in this room

and remind yourself

as i’m waiting he’s renewing my strength

[Music]

[Applause]

blue

[Music]

i’m gonna wait

oh

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

come on

oh

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

he’s waiting on you right now

[Music]

[Applause]

come on

[Music]

[Music]

when i say

[Music]

that’s what happens when you

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

we’ve tasted your goodness

we’ll trust in your promise so we’re

gonna wait on you

we’re gonna wait on you

we may not be able to audibly hear your

voice but god we will wait on you

and in the waiting god we will be

strengthened

in the waiting we will have renewed

strength and in the waiting we will be

able to run

and we will be able to walk and we will

not grow weary our faith but god we will

wait on you

god forgive us for times that we thought

that you weren’t speaking to us

god forgive us for becoming angry with

you and we thought that you weren’t

listening to us

god help us to understand that you

desire

a greater intimacy with us

that god you want us to just wait

so that our so that our strength can be

renewed god

thank you jesus god we thank you

thank you jesus

thank you jesus

thank you jesus

[Music]

how are you

is

[Music]

there’s someone that’s watching right

now from tc nation

and you’ve been waiting and praying and

asking god for your spouse to be

delivered

you’ve been asking god why is it that

i’m the only one that’s saved in this

house why am i the only one that gets up

every sunday gets these kids ready and

takes them to church and you’ve been

asking god to save your spouse

and god this morning wants to encourage

you and says just wait

he’s renewing your strength right now

and it will not return boy the word of

the lord is this your spouse will be

saved

he’ll be one of those ones down in the

front running and worshiping the way

that osby just did that will be your

spouse that will be your portion that

will be your life and that will be your

marriage

but god wants to know can you wait

can i strengthen your faith in this

moment

will you trust me at a deeper level

will you sense my intimacy without a

word even being spoken will you know

that i’m next to you will you know that

i’m near will you know that i’ve heard

your cries that i’ve not forgotten you

that i know what you’ve prayed when

you’ve laid your head in your pillow at

night and the tears keep coming i know

what you’ve been praying for your spouse

and the lord says the day of salvation

is coming

that your job is to keep waiting and to

have your faith and your strength

renewed

[Music]

god we thank you for your presence this

morning

god we thank you that even though it

feels like you’re silent you’re not

absent

that you’re here with us god at all

times

24 hours a day seven days a week 365

days a year your presence will never

leave us

and so god we will faithfully wait on

you

and god we thank you that you don’t just

leave us waiting without an expectation

but the expectation is our strength will

be renewed

and god there’ll be a new a new

pep in our step god in the waiting

process

god we lift up every person right now to

you that’s in a season of waiting

that’s in a season where they feel like

what what they can’t hear god and

they’re asking what do i do when i can’t

hear god

the lord they’ll learn from this message

that god all they have to do is press

into your presence

that your presence is there

[Music]

god we thank you right now for your

presence

it’s in the beautiful name of jesus we

pray

amen and amen tc nation listen

god’s doing something special in your

lives in all of our lives

and he’s not leaving you out there

wondering what’s going on but he’s

giving you the courage and the strength

that you need to continue to wait

and this morning i just want to

encourage you if you’ve been listening

to this message maybe you just hopped on

this stream maybe you’ve been here the

whole time and and you’re just this is

so difficult for you to even hear

because you don’t have an active

relationship with god

if you’ll remember earlier i talked

about that awkward silence the only time

silence is awkward is when there is no

relationship

and god desires to have such an intimate

deep relationship with you

no matter what you did last night no

matter what your plan is to do after

church today no matter what your plans

are for next weekend he desires to be

with you

sin is what separates you from god and

we’ve all sinned no none of us are

guilty or none of us are

exempt from sinning we have all sin and

fall short of the glory of god is what

the bible says

but the word came at the appointed time

to save all of mankind

it said that the virgin mary will

conceive a son and there to name him

jesus and his name will be emmanuel god

with us

and this morning i want to encourage you

that god is with you

but if you’ve never made that decision

to accept jesus christ as the lord and

savior of your life all that means is

you’re giving him the rights to your

life

and just like i shared with you earlier

he’s not controlling manipulating or

looking down operating you as a puppet

as a puppeteer does but he’s allowing

you to make the choices and the

decisions he’s going to teach you

through his word the boundaries and the

intentional limitations and then your

job is to go out and live that life

but if you’ve not made that decision

this morning we want to give you the

opportunity to

we’re going to pray with you and hear a

transformation church we don’t leave

anyone to pray by themselves so for the

benefit of everyone around we’re going

to pray this together repeat after me

dear god

i need you

i need the savior

i have made so many mistakes

i am a sinner

and i need a savior

i confess with my mouth

and i believe in my heart

that jesus christ is lord

and i believe that on the third day

you were no longer in that tomb

but you came to life

to give me life

so come into my life

transform me

change me

heal me

deliver me

i’m yours

in the mighty name of jesus we pray

amen and amen

[Applause]

listen if you

if you just prayed that prayer for the

first time i want to tell you you have

made the single greatest decision you

will ever make in your life ever

it will be greater than who you marry it

will be greater than how many children

you decide to have it’ll be greater than

what side of town you decide to buy your

house in it is the greatest decision you

will ever make

and can i just tell you

he loves you so much the bible says that

he loves you with an everlasting love

it’s not fickle like humans

it’s an everlasting love and if you’ve

made that decision for the first time we

want you to do us a favor text the word

save to the number on the screen we want

to get some resources into your hand we

want to walk this journey out with you

but while they’re texting and safe can

we celebrate those that have come into

the kingdom today

[Applause]

[Music]

maybe it’s been a minute since you’ve

been cheered for but i want you to know

you have an entire church

cheering you on in this walk of faith

we love you so much transformation

church we are so excited we know what

god is doing is exceedingly above all

that we could ever ask think or imagine

and we truly are excited about the

future of this church and what god is

doing in and through each one of you in

this earth

so we love you until next time go out

and live a transformed life

[Applause]

you