We all know people, maybe we've
been some of these people, but many of us know people who have
just been sort of given things their whole life. And the reality
is somebody who always gets what they want is often a person who's
very shallow. It's really in not getting what
we want a lot of times where we learn to not only depend on
God, but where we actually really begin to find joy in things other
than things. We talk about kids being spoiled. They're spoiled. Well, what does
that mean, right? I mean, it means that they just
are given whatever they want all the time, and their attitude
is not really one of joy. It's one of self-centeredness.
It's really in these times of dry, difficult times where where
we understand how things could be. But God, who is rich in mercy,
that, man, I really want things to be this way, but I know how
they could be. And they're not. And so, what
I have, I am content with and I am satisfied because, you know
what, I know that it's a blessing of what I have. A lot of us in
this room can say to ourselves, hey, I'm not where I want to
be, but I know I'm not where I used to be. And because of
that, because I know that, I can, I actually have joy in this moment.
Maybe some of you are like, just in really, really difficult situations,
whether it's relationships or finances or so on and so forth.
And God is allowing you to be there. And that doesn't mean
that he's not for you. But he's actually leading us
to a place of somebody who is going to believe that God will
provide not everything that I want, but everything that I need. Your
circumstances could be absolutely amazing. You know, got the car,
got the man, got the job, got everything, everything that makes
your situation plush that you can think of. Yet, if God isn't
there, There's no sense in being there. Because if he's not there,
it's ultimately going to lead to death and not life. And at
the same time, you could be in a situation that everything,
you know, considering this is like, this is terrible. I've
got no man. I've got no woman. I've got no
car. I've got no job. I've got nothing. The circumstances seem terrible,
but if God's there, then you've got everything you need. Now,
how many times have we figured that out in life? And maybe that's
right where we are, and you're sort of questioning, man, if
God was here and if he was for me, this certainly wouldn't be
happening. When in reality, God is like, no, I've led you out
of what you thought was gonna be a plush life. And I'm leading
you into something bigger and greater, but in this process,
you're gonna learn something. You're gonna learn to depend
on me. You're gonna learn that really, when all you have is
God, you realize he's all that you need.