00:00Hey, I've been waiting to talk to you all morning because I've got some good news for you today.
00:07You're going to get over this.
00:09Now, I know it may not feel that way right now.
00:13I know whatever you're carrying may feel heavier than the things you've carried before.
00:19Maybe you're lying awake and thinking about it.
00:23Maybe you keep replaying what happened.
00:25Maybe you're wondering how this situation is ever going to work itself out.
00:32But I want you to remember something.
00:35You felt this way before.
00:38There was another problem once that you thought might break you, remember?
00:44Another season you thought would never end.
00:47Another disappointment you couldn't imagine recovering from.
00:53Another night when you didn't know how you were going to make it to morning.
00:58And yet, here you are.
01:01You got through it.
01:03Maybe you didn't get through it the way that you planned.
01:06And maybe you came out of it with scars.
01:10Maybe some things changed permanently.
01:13And maybe you lost something you wanted to keep.
01:18But you survived something you once thought you couldn't survive.
01:23And sometimes, one of the greatest things faith can do for you is remind you of what fear keeps trying
01:31to make you forget.
01:33Jesus taught his disciples this lesson.
01:37Now, there's a fascinating moment in Mark chapter 8.
01:40The disciples are worried because they don't have enough bread.
01:45Now, I want you to think about that for just one moment.
01:49These are the same men who already watched Jesus feed thousands of people.
01:56They had watched him take a small amount of food and make it more than enough.
02:01They had already seen the impossible happen right in front of them.
02:06And now, they're worried about bread again.
02:11Jesus basically asks them,
02:14Don't you remember?
02:16Now, that question matters.
02:18So keep it in mind.
02:20Because sometimes, our biggest problem isn't that God has never helped us.
02:26Our biggest problem is that when the next problem arrives, we forget.
02:32You survived the last storm, but this storm feels different.
02:38You survived the last heartbreak, but this heartbreak feels stronger.
02:44You survived the last financial problem, the last betrayal, your last setback, the last lonely season,
02:54the last moment when everything seemed uncertain.
02:57You survived, but then something new happens, and fear whispers to us,
03:05This time is different.
03:08This time, you're not going to make it.
03:11This time, there's no way out.
03:14And Jesus says,
03:17Don't you remember?
03:19Remember the last time you thought everything was falling apart?
03:22Remember the prayer you prayed when you had no answers?
03:28Remember the door that opened when you couldn't see a door?
03:33Remember the strength that appeared when you thought you had none left?
03:38Remember how God carried you through something you were convinced would destroy you?
03:46That memory is evidence.
03:48Not evidence that life will always be easy.
03:52Jesus never promised that.
03:55In fact, Jesus said in John 16, verse 33,
04:00In this world, you will have trouble.
04:04But he didn't stop there, you see.
04:06He said,
04:07Take heart, for I have overcome the world.
04:12And that means Christianity isn't pretending trouble doesn't exist.
04:18Faith isn't looking at a painful situation and saying,
04:22This doesn't hurt.
04:24Faith says,
04:26This hurts, but it doesn't get the final word.
04:30This is difficult, but it isn't bigger than God.
04:34God, I don't understand what happens next.
04:38But I know who is going with me.
04:42And maybe, well, maybe that's what you need today.
04:47Not an explanation.
04:49Not a perfect five-step plan.
04:52And not somebody telling you everything is wonderful when it clearly is not.
05:00Maybe you just need somebody to remind you,
05:04You've been here before.
05:06Maybe not in this exact situation.
05:09But you've been scared before.
05:12You've been uncertain before.
05:15You've been disappointed before.
05:17You've wondered how you would recover before.
05:21And somehow, one day at a time,
05:25God brought you forward.
05:29That other thing that once consumed your thoughts,
05:33You probably hardly ever think about it anymore.
05:37That person you thought you couldn't live without,
05:41You kept living.
05:43That opportunity you thought you absolutely had to have,
05:49Life has continued, hasn't it?
05:52You see, that mistake you thought that would define the rest of your life,
05:57Has not.
05:58And the season you thought would last forever,
06:02It ended.
06:03Now, that's something we forget when we're hurting.
06:07I understand.
06:08But seasons change.
06:10Pain changes.
06:12Circumstances will change.
06:14People change.
06:16And sometimes, you and I change.
06:20We become stronger.
06:22Wiser.
06:23More patient.
06:25More discerning.
06:27More prayerful.
06:29More dependent on God than we ever were before, right?
06:34Because some of the things we've begged God to remove immediately,
06:38Eventually became the very experiences He has used to shape us, right?
06:43I want you to look at Peter for a second.
06:47Peter failed Jesus terribly.
06:50He denied even knowing Him.
06:53Can you imagine His shame?
06:55Jesus had warned him, and Peter still failed.
06:59Peter could have decided his story was finished.
07:03But after the resurrection,
07:06Jesus met Peter on the beach by the Sea of Galilee.
07:11Jesus didn't throw Peter away.
07:15He restored him.
07:16He gave him purpose again.
07:19Jesus essentially told Peter,
07:22Keep going.
07:23Now, that's something somebody listening to me right now needs to hear today.
07:29Keep going.
07:31You don't have to solve the rest of your life this afternoon.
07:35You don't have to understand everything that happened.
07:39You do not have to know exactly how God is going to work this out for you.
07:45Just keep walking with Jesus.
07:48Today.
07:49Then tomorrow.
07:51And then the day after that.
07:54And eventually, you're going to look backward at what feels overwhelming right now,
07:59and realize,
08:01I made it.
08:03You'll remember the nights that you've worried,
08:06the conversations you've replayed,
08:08the things you feared might happen,
08:11and you may even smile because you'll realize how much power you gave something that
08:17turned out to be temporary.
08:20So, here's the lesson, my friends.
08:22When the next problem comes,
08:26remember the previous provision.
08:28When fear tells you there isn't enough bread,
08:32remember the thousands Jesus already fed.
08:36When the storm makes you think the boat is going down,
08:40remember who is in the boat with you.
08:43When failure makes you think your story is over,
08:47remember Peter sitting on that beach with Jesus.
08:51And when today feels impossible,
08:55remember all those yesterdays you once thought were impossible too.
09:00But you're still here.
09:03God is still good.
09:05Jesus is still faithful.
09:07And your story,
09:09well,
09:10your story is still being written.
09:13So, I've got good news.
09:15You're going to get through this.
09:17One day,
09:19another difficult situation may come along.
09:23You may feel that familiar fear rising again.
09:27And when it does,
09:29I hope you'll remember this moment,
09:32this talk,
09:33because you'll be able to say,
09:36wait a minute,
09:36I thought I wasn't going to survive that other thing either.
09:40But Jesus,
09:42well,
09:43Jesus walked me through it.
09:44And if he was faithful then,
09:47I can trust him now.
09:50So,
09:51friends,
09:52keep going.
09:53This chapter is not your whole story.
09:57And the God who carried you yesterday
10:00hasn't disappeared
10:02today.
10:05My name is Douglas Van der Graaff,
10:07and I believe in Jesus Christ.
10:10God bless
10:12every
10:13single one of you.
10:15Every single one.
10:17And everyone you love.
10:21Bye-bye.
10:24Bye-bye.
10:25Bye-bye.
10:25Bye-bye.
10:26Bye-bye.
10:26Bye-bye.
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