Morning, everybody. If you will, you can begin opening to Mark chapter 6. I almost preached from that text Billy read. Paul said, I've declared the gospel unto you. I preached it to you. And a person either preaches the gospel or they don't. There's no grazes on it. It's yay and amen or it's not. Uh, but that gospel is according to the scriptures, how it cross data for our sins, according to the scriptures. And he was raised the third day. According to this, it's according to the word of God. He said, so either he said it or it doesn't matter here in Mark chapter six. I'm nervous this morning. I put my marker, Matthew six, I better turn over here. We're going. be in trouble. I want to look at these apostles toiling and they're given a trial to remind them of the Lord and to soften them. That's what happens.

I was thinking tomorrow at work, there's a man I work with and I like him pretty well. And he's going to be learning a new part of the job tomorrow. He's going to learn a new mail route. He knows how to do it, but he's never been on that part. And it's going to be hard. And I got to do his job and then try to get done early and go help him so he can learn that. And I thought, man, if there's some way I can make it easy on him. But you know how he's going to learn? When it's hard.

When you're out there just struggling and everybody's got different mailboxes and the numbers are on top and some of them put them in the landscaping and some of them don't have none and it's just, you're turning around every which way and you finally see it. And then you remember, that's where that is. And then over here on this place, that number's over there. And it starts coming to you. But it's hard. And that's how he's going to learn. That's the best way to learn, isn't it?

Mankind says, spare the rod and spoil the child. That ain't what God says. He said, he that spareth his rod hateth his son. But he that loveth him chastened him real early. The Lord loves his children. And he said in Hebrews 12, from whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourges every son whom he receiveth.

And the Lord's love, I've been thinking more and more about that. I want to know that. I know something of love because he loved me, but his love ain't like the way we imagine. Jacob, he went into Rachel and said he loved Also, Rachel more than Leah. He loved her more. And the very next verse there in Genesis says, when the Lord saw that Leah was hated. Well, he loves one more and one less. No, there is love and there's hate. He loves the perfect, holy love. And so his ways aren't my ways.

And so there's things that my children, for them to learn something to trust me, I would say, oh, there's a hurricane coming. I got a good idea. Put him in a rowboat out in the middle of the lake and I'm going to stay real far away from him and I'm just going to let him get plum tuckered out trying to row and not drown. I wouldn't do that. You probably wouldn't do that to your children either, would you?

Lord's ways ain't my ways. Ain't you glad? I'm glad he don't love the way I love. I'm fickle and I'm horrible and wishy-washy and everything else. He's not. He's not. And he's going to have to put me through that hurricane. He just put me through that struggle for me to learn something, and that's to trust Him.

Our King, out of love for His own, and how miraculous and glorious, to His own glory, He intentionally sends His children trials. And some are harder, some are softer. Some brethren have trials that are way worse than my trials. I've had it pretty easy. And some have trials that, as Dawn used to say, The puppy love's real to the puppy. But whatever you're in, that's today, isn't it? That's today's struggle. And he does it intentionally, and he does it repeatedly for one outcome.

These apostles, just a couple chapters back, they had just been out on the sea, and he was asleep in the honder part of the ship. He was asleep, and I said, don't you care that we're going to die? You know who stays in the honder part of the ship? That's the captain's quarters.

That's who steers the boat. And then they watched 5,000 men, not counting women and children, be fed with five little biscuits and two sardines, 12 basketfuls left over. And they just saw that. They'd been through that storm and the Lord, they said, He calmed them. This man commands the weather. He can calm the seas. And then they saw this bountiful abundance of provision, of life-sustaining provision.

Could you forget that? The apostles were greater than us, and they forgot. We have to be reminded over and over and over. We don't pray for trials. I said, Lord, be hard on me one time. Lord, teach me. Give me patience. Send me some trials. Give me some wisdom.

I'll never ask that again. And then, foolishly, in the middle of that, I was as low, so down and low. I said, this is rock bottom. I didn't know that either. It got worse until you're just broken. and there's nothing else you can do but cry out to him and he's your only hope.

What a wonderful place to be. Lord told us that. He said, you pray, we learned that the other day. Lead us, that's me and that's you, lead us not into temptation. I can't handle it. But he's wise, he knows when, his timing's just right. We'll see our inability in that trial, in that storm, we'll see our unfaithfulness, our forgetting him, and then we'll hear his word, And we'll have his presence and we'll see his faithfulness. And we're comforted in him alone. And that's the all things that work together for good. That's it. He's working everything. That's for our good.

You can read Psalm 107 in verse 23 through 32. That's those that do business in great waters. Read it when you get home. It's exactly what takes place right here, right here in Mark 6. Here in Mark 6 verse 45, we'll just read the text real fast. Mark 6 45.

And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people, those 5,000 men. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea and he alone on the land.

And he saw them. toiling in rowing. For the wind was contrary unto them, and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them." Not passed them by. Would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit and cried out. For they all saw him and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And when he went up unto them into the ship, the wind ceased, and they were sore amazed in themselves, beyond measure, and wondered, for they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened.

There may be one or two here this morning that are suffering in a great trial, in great affliction, in great pain. It seems torturous. And they're not seeing any progress at all. There just ain't no end to it. I see no way out. And things seem to be getting darker. Like it was dark, and it's just getting darker. And they don't know why.

I'll tell you, bottom line up front, It's to hear from Christ alone and to be of good cheer. The set of old, wiser men than me, a believer's either going into a trial, is in one, or is about to go in one. Either going into it, coming out of it, or about to go into another one. Be of good cheer. You'll see Him in it. You will.

Like I said, the Lord had just fed those 5,000. It says there in the text, they considered not the loaves, the miracle loaves, for their heart was hardened. I hope we don't forget today. We can remember. Here in verse 45, we'll look at this a little slower. Every word in scripture is on purpose. It's precious. I don't have enough lifetime in me to explain just this text. I don't know enough. It's just new every time we read it, isn't it?

It says in verse 45, and straightway, right then, he constrained his disciples to get into the ship and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, and he sent away the people. He constrained his disciples. There's restraining. That's when you keep something back. You make it stop happening. And to constrain is to get somebody to do something. It produces something. The Lord had to constrain them. That means make them. They didn't want to go. If you was with the Lord, would you want to go somewhere else? He said, I'll stay here and you all go over there. I don't want to go over there. I want to stay where you are. But he constrained him. Did he whip him? Did he beat him? No. What, what does the Lord use to constrain? What does he do? 2 Corinthians 5 says, for the love of Christ constraineth us.

He loved them into that sea of Galilee. He loved them over there. I like to think whenever I did this with my children when they were younger that I was loving them when I did it. This is true love. I hope it was whenever I did it. This is true love. He loved him into that ocean, knowing the storm's coming. Knowing the storm's coming. Knowing he's going to go to it. It's for love's sake.

And it's the love of Christ that constrains us. I've heard people say before, well, my love for Christ constrained me from doing this or that. That's restrained, first of all. You don't learn your words. Two, my love for Christ hasn't done anything that's mine, that's good. No, I have love for him because he loved me, because of his constraining love. He made that love grow in me because he first loved us.

But for these apostles, he gave them something to do. And it would have seemed so nice, wouldn't it? You just saw this miracle, 5,000 being fed and the fishes and the loaves. And the Lord said, I want you to go over to Bethsaida. And he constrained, put that love in their hearts to do it. And they said, look at that boat. And I said, well, it's kind of a sunset cruise. It ain't that far. We're in the harbor. Ain't no waves in the harbor. Palm trees swaying nice, sun setting, smooth waters. Yeah, OK. We get to serve the Lord. This is good. We can go over there. It's a calm before the storm.

Obeying Christ, looking to Him, trouble's coming. When you follow Him, this world ain't going to be kind. It's going to be hard. Straightway, He constrained His disciples to get into the ship and to go to the other side, before and to Bethsaida, while He sent away the people. He said, I'll take care of everything here. You boys go on. Verse 46.

And when He had sent them away, the 5,000, He departed into a mountain to pray. Like I said, every bit here is This happened first, before he acts towards the apostles. Public prayer is important. The Lord gifts some people to bless others' hearts in that. But our Lord gives us a good example here. Before trouble, during trouble, after trouble, get by yourself and pray to your God. Continue it. Be careful for nothing. Don't hold anything back. You don't have to. He knows. The situation you're in, He's sent it.

The thoughts you have, go to Him. During the day, I'm walking, and you think about the Lord and His Word and what He said, and I don't know if you've ever experienced that, but you go to pray for something, and you're trying to say, Lord, end this trial soon, or do this, or I wish this had happened. And as you're praying, you think, That could work out bad, couldn't it? And eventually, Lord, not my will, but Your will be done. Thy will be done.

That's submission. Praying to the Lord might take a long time. He submits us, don't He? Reminds us who He is while we talk to Him. We remember who we're talking to. The Lord got alone here. He did talk to His Father. I don't pretend to know much about prayer, but I do know that the Lord will use things of us inquiring of him to stir up our pure minds.

He said that. He goes, all these things I will do for Israel. I'm going to do everything. And we agree on that, don't we? I didn't do it. The Lord did. Salvation's of the Lord. He said, but you're going to ask me to do it. I'm going to put that in you.

Verse 46, and when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when evening was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea and he alone on the land. Darkness had came. Those apostles are in a ship, they're together, but they're out in the middle of the sea in waves. And he's alone on the land. The passengers are in that sea of trouble. They're in darkness, the darkness of this world, the sea of life. Right in the midst of it. And the captain of our salvation's on dry ground. He's unmoved, unwavering. I thought about that. I said, if we could call for help, what if a hole poked in that boat? I can't do nothing. Call to land to send help, wouldn't we?

He's our help in time of need. It's exactly where He is. The ever-watching Lord, omniscient Lord, always mindful of His children. He sees us where He puts us. I hope that's a blessing to you. Where are you right now? That's where He puts you. Are you in happy times? Thank Him. He puts you there. Are you in sad times? He puts you there.

Why it hurts me so, and I don't watch the news anymore, my blood pressure's real good, it went down a lot, but people, some natural disaster happened, a plane crashed, pick something, and somebody's gonna be on the news, why would God let this happen? For Christ's sake is why He did. And for His people's good. That's exactly why it happened. God wouldn't do that. Don't speak on God's behalf. He does what he wants, and his thought ain't our thoughts. His way's on our ways. Why would the Lord take my wife? Why would he kill my children? Why would he take my job? Or why would he give me that boss? Or something? Why would the Lord give me a flat tire?

He sees us where he puts us. We're blindsided by everything. The Lord ain't shocked. Here in a minute, we'll see him walking. He wasn't sprinting across them waves. Oh no, they're going to say, I'd have ran if I could, you know, get to my children right now. He's walking, just taking a stroll. He'd get there right on time. But he sees us where he puts us. And he watched them. And I wondered what would go through his mind as he watched them.

I don't know. I know what his word says. I thought what would go through my mind, I'd be a wreck. He said in Jeremiah 29, for I know the thoughts that I think towards you. You will hear the thoughts of God towards his people, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end.

This is our hope, the hope of glory. We use the word hope as wish. Like I hope it don't rain tomorrow. I wish it don't rain tomorrow. That's not what the word means in scripture. Hope is an expected end. It's going to happen. Just wait. It's an expected end. That's what hope means. It doesn't look peaceful on that Sea of Galilee, but the end will be. They're going to be on the shore with the Lord right where they were meant to be the whole time.

It's said in verse 48, and he saw them toiling. Toiling. There's another word. Don't use writing. Well, they're struggling. They're wearing their arms out. There's frustration there, yes. But that word right there literally means torture. They were tortured in rowing. Pain, torment, vexation. Do you feel pain in whatever sea that you're in, the waves that's crashing against you, in your body, in your soul? Do you feel tortured? Do you feel vexed? Why am I, why are you in the torment that you're in, that we're coming out of, we're about to start? That question was asked. Did you know that?

Rebecca, she was pregnant with the first set of twins ever. And they said, it feels like two babies are fighting in here. They're wrestling around. That's never happened. We don't know what you're talking about. You're imagining things. But she prayed to the Lord. He said, there's life in you. And the children struggled together within her, and she said, if it be so, why am I thus? If this is life, why does it feel like it's tearing me apart? And she went and inquired of the Lord. She went and asked the Lord.

And you know what? He answered her. He did. Isn't that something? She said, Lord, why, if this is life in me, which is a picture of our spiritual being, there's a war going on inside of us. There's an old man and a new man It seems like they're tearing your flesh apart. And Lord, if this is life, why is it this way? He said, there's two nations in you. There's an old man and a new man. What we forget and we'll see here, the Lord spoke, but the storm wasn't over.

Rebecca was still pregnant for another couple of months. She didn't deliver that second. It didn't say the children were born immediately. In a straight way, the children won't know. He explained it, but it wasn't over yet. He comes and speaks to them, be of good cheer. The winds haven't ceased yet. The waves haven't stopped yet. It's the constraining love of God for you. That's why this is here. Verse 48, he saw them toiling and rowing for the wind was contrary unto them. What's the wind in scriptures? That's the Holy Spirit, isn't it?

Many times throughout we hear about this and it moves where it will. We can't tell whether it's coming or going. We don't know what the Lord's doing. Paul said the Holy Ghost forbade him from preaching in Asia. Have you ever been forbidden? Have you ever been, Lord, been contrary to your plans? Has an ice storm ever came? Or other circumstances that stopped you from going? My grandpa has an old song, you say, well, Lord willing and the creek don't rise. And he'd kind of wink and say, it's the Lord's creek. It is. He's the one that makes the creek rise, isn't it?

Job was asked that. I love to read those things. I wouldn't want the Lord to, it'd be good for me. I wouldn't want him to break me like that. But he asked Job, he said, do you, do you know the storehouses I have of hail put up to turn a battle? Like I got a big warehouse full of hail back here. I could see in and I'll stop those wars right now. They ain't going to be a drone flying through the air. I can turn it off. Can you do that?

Boy, our, our God is God. He is. He's the first cause of everything. Now, in this sailboat, the winds were there. So they were sailing across the sea. It's calm in the harbor. Yeah, we'd love to go over there, Lord. We'll go. And we have a sail. We ain't got to do nothing. Just kind of set it and wait and relax.

Well, the wind's contrary. You know what you do in a sailboat when the wind's contrary? You've got to drop the sails because you can't tack into the wind if the wind keeps shifting. And you've got a motor nowadays. Well, then they had to row. They had to row. reading on this and thinking on it.

Me and Kimberly put down a big old tarp for our garden the other day. Which way was that wind blowing? Whichever way we tried to turn that tarp. I'd get on this side and it'd flop that way. And I said, well, stand over there. And then it'd come from this side. It was going in a circle.

It was contrary to me. I was frustrated, but the Lord was teaching me to say that to you. It was good for me. Frustration grows a little bit, doesn't it? Your arms get tired. And you think, Lord, I'm doing exactly what you told me to do. And I ain't seeing no progress. It's been nine hours whenever he goes to them. They made it three miles. I did the math from the other accounts in the scriptures. They ain't getting nowhere. It looks like we're going to die. We're going to drown out here. We're right where you told us to be. That frustration turns into stiff neckness. It does as we're hardened. It says their hearts were hardened. You ever seen a concrete truck? They're spinning the back of the concrete truck. What happens when they stop spinning? That concrete would get hard, wouldn't it?

Why? That's its nature. If the Lord stops working in us and leaves us to ourselves like he did Pharaoh, what's going to happen? You're going to get hard. And when he just eases his grip a little bit, we get frustrated and we get stiff necked, we get hard hearts. And just like the children of Israel, we can say, well, why don't we just, you're going to bring us out here to kill us. We get fatalistic. I could have died in Egypt. They had cucumbers and I had a nice pillow and a bed to sleep in there. I didn't have to walk all the way out here to die. Well, that goes fast, doesn't it? Does that happen to you? We need to see the Lord, don't we?

Our love wavers. Our minds waver. And never make the mistake of assuming that if times are easy and everything's going great, that we're not in sin. And never Consider great trouble and a great trial as a sign that you're not doing what the Lord's put in your hand to do or that he's punishing you. He's not. His love never wavers. He changes not. And because of that, us sons of Jacob are not consumed. That's why.

Verse 48, he saw them toiling, tortured, tormented, and rowing for because the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he cometh. them. About 3 or 4 a.m., the fourth watch, that's the hardest time if you ever worked overnight. It gets real quiet. It's like the darkest is right before the sun comes up. In the Army, we call that stand two. That's the most dangerous time. That's when you get ready because the fight's probably coming up with the sun. And it's hard to stay awake.

You can just get past that. You can make it the rest of the day. Once that sun comes- I'm solar powered. Once that sun comes up, I can keep going. But boy, that's a hard time. It's dark. That's when the Lord came to them. Right on time. Right on time. Not too soon, not too late. Not too soon to where they trusted in themselves that they might have did something they held on, and not too late where they was in despair. He came to him right on time.

Just like Gomer, we're all hedged about. We're brought out into that wilderness. We're all lured for the saving of our souls. And that wind, it seems contrary to us, the Holy Ghost on one side and Christ on a mountain, on his throne, looking at us. We're surrounded. Good place to be. What's that mean? Surrender. You're surrounded. Kiss the Son. Trust him. No matter what. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

The Lord has to teach us that. Paul said, I've learned to be content. He didn't start off being content, did he? He learned to be content. The only way out of trouble is by seeing Christ, by His presence, our shield and our defender, our healer, our banner coming to us and revealing Himself. It says, And he saw them toiling and rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea.

He wasn't running, he wasn't shouting, he wasn't struggling, just walking on the whitecaps. It wasn't, when the Lord walked on water, it wasn't pancake flat, like when you see them spiders kind of walking on, no, it was tumultuous seas, just as generous as could be. He walked upon the sea and would have passed by them, not passed them by. He'd have just walked past them, just gently. You know, I tried to, The Lord hides his face sometimes.

Josiah, he ain't here, I'll pick on him. He was little, and that boy, we took him trick-or-treating, and he just walked into people's houses. He didn't really care to be with us. He was just content with whoever. And we was in the grocery store, and I thought, I'll teach him. I'm going to hide behind this aisle over here, and he's going to get scared and start looking for me. And he'll inquire of me, and then I'll show up. No, I thought he was going to leave with somebody else.

I'm not that good of a parent. The Lord won't pass by his children. He might get as if he's going to walk past them. We sing, pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Lord, if you'll hear them, can you hear me too? You're able if you're willing. I knew a man one time, he said, I hate that song. He said, it implies that the Lord might pass by. I said, no, it doesn't. It implies that a sinner's crying out to the Savior. I don't want him passing me by, do you? You know that happened, the Lord reveals himself in power and that power is not the same for, it doesn't look the same to everybody.

Those on the road to Emmaus, they were walking and he come up to them and he said, what manner of communications are these you had with one another? Why are you walking? And he's sad. What are you sad about? And they told him, I said, well, don't you know what's going on? Are you a stranger? Are you a visitor in the town? Don't you know what's going on? And he said, oh, fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. You're so slow to believe God's word. And I am too. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And he expounded himself to them from the scriptures. Could you imagine that?

And they didn't know it was him. He hid himself from them. And then as they got to their house, he made as if he's just going to keep on walking down the road. All right, boy, it's been nice talking to you. And they constrained him, is what they said, out of love. No. The laying on of the hands, a guy asked me one time what that meant. He said, what is it?

The laying on of the hands of the presbytery. They go and everybody puts their empty hands on somebody's empty head and hums, funny, and now they can preach. No. Somebody preaches a gospel to them, If the Lord enables me to preach gospel, somebody's going to hug me before I leave here. Somebody preaches gospel to me, I want to hug them. I lay my hands on them.

But they constrained him, saying, abide with us. If it is toward evening, it's getting dark, day's far spent, come eat with us. And he went and he tarried with them. And you know what he did? He broke bread and said, take, eat. That's him. And they saw him. And right when they saw him, he was gone. and their hearts burned within them. He revealed himself in power to those. How did he do it to Paul? To Saul of Tarsus. He blinded him with light from heaven and commanded down to him, why are you persecuting me, Paul?

It's different. Same power, same person, same salvation. There's a north door, north gate entrance into the kingdom and a south gate. And the coldness drives them in from the north, and the warmth and gentleness drives them. Where are they at? They're inside of that gate. Both of them.

The Lord knows His children. Some of my children I need to quit and get on to. Other ones I can just look at and say, stop that. And it's the same effect, the same outcome for all of them, but each one's different. The Lord knows His people. He knows our frame. Right where He put us. Right where He put us.

They said, but when they saw him walk, verse 49, but when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit and cried out. Four, why were they crying out? Four, they all saw him and were troubled. They saw the Lord and they were in the middle of this storm and they were fearful and are frustrated with the Lord and we're doing what you want and we ain't getting nowhere and you're going to kill us. Whatever thoughts they were having, whatever was going through their mind, when they saw Him, they were troubled. You've been troubled at your unbelief when you see Him.

Thy God reigneth. God's on His throne right now. There ain't a molecule that could be out of place, because it would be His namesake at stand, His glories at hand. That's more important than we go to heaven. It's His glory. He's on His throne, really.

And then I didn't believe Him. I was worried about me. I was like, what are we going to do? You ever done that? That trouble you? It troubled them. For they all saw him and were troubled. And immediately, right whenever he was troubled, like, oh, I'm horrible. I abhor myself. Repent, and sackcloth, and dust, and ashes, and everything else.

He saith unto them, be of good cheer. It is I, not you. It is I. Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. And when he went, the storm's still raging. And when he went unto them and to the ship and the wind ceased, he spoke to them before the storm. He didn't call them the storm and then say, okay, now the storm's over. Now will you hear me? No. He commanded to them, be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. And then walking, not running, he got into the ship And then the storm calmed down.

That's the end of every trial, every storm that we go through in this life. If you're a child of God, you're going to see Christ at the end of it. I like people pray for me because I won't say, Lord, keep this trial on me until I see Christ in it. I say, no, take this trial from me. So I'll pray for myself. But for others, Lord, keep the trial. You know what you're doing. Save your children. Teach them to trust you and look to you alone and have no hope and confidence in anything else. He will. That's his will. His will will be done. Be of good cheer, it is I. Be not afraid.

And they went to the ship, and the wind ceased. And they were sore amazed in themselves, beyond measured, and wondered. For, because they were sore amazed in themselves, they considered not the miracle of the loaves, It's shocking how much unbelief I have, and I only see a little bit of it. And Todd was preaching the other day, and I was just thinking, holiness.

You know what a holy act would be? It's not feeding the poor or whatever. Good things go to them. For me to be just still and just wait on the Lord. Christ will get the glory for it, and he'll take care of everything. And I've said this a bunch, I don't like, I don't eat too much ham. Maurice always said, go eat a ham sandwich. Sit underneath a shade tree and eat a ham sandwich. Calm down.

It's fine. The Lord's on his throne. That's the axe, that's righteousness. That's the axe of the holy nature. It's trusting Christ alone and just waiting on him. It's fine. He loves us. He knows what's best. He does. That's hard, isn't it? He has to give that. I can tell you that. You can read it in a pamphlet. I can draw pictures. The Lord has to give that piece of heart. Only He can speak to the heart and say, be of good cheer. I pray He does. Right now we may be softened. It said their hearts were hardened. Right now we may be softened in love, remembering the Savior, who He is, what He did.

And then tomorrow happens, don't it? We get a flat tire on the way home or pick something. We don't consider His provision. We calculate without Christ. and our hearts get hardened and we are loved into a trial and it makes us see Christ high and lifted up once again and His word are in our ears and it's in our hearts and we're of good cheer and we're not afraid and then the next day happens. Just over and over and the Lord's doing that, training us for His good purposes until it's time to go home. The lady asked Kenya one time, she said, I'm nervous. She said, I don't have dying grace. And he said, are you dying? And she said, no. He said, you don't need it. And I've been through some trials. I've learned some things.

But, you know, I still got some stuff to do here on this earth. I'm not really itching to go to be with the Lord right now. I want to see my children grow up. And if he comes, that's wonderful. I'm happy for that. But, you know, I ain't took all my lessons yet. I still got some lessons to be learned. But there'll come a day, if the Lord lets me live that long, when I'll say, yeah, I want to be with Him. This world's dark and dim, it's faded, I don't want it.

If He keeps me here another day, that's fine, but I want to go home. That's what He's doing. That's a blessed privilege, isn't it? For the Lord to make you desire His presence completely and forever. What happens at the end of this particular toiling They praised and rejoiced in him. They praised him. Look here in verse 53, Mark 6, 53.

And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gesneret and drew up to the shore. And when they were come out of the ship straightway, they knew him. Everybody there on the shore knew him. They saw him and ran. He walked, they ran. through the whole region roundabout and began to carry about beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. And wheresoever he entered into villages or cities or country, they laid the sick in the streets and besought him that he might touch them. For it were but the border of his garment, and as many as touched him were made whole.

In spite of me, the Lord saved me, and I'm gonna tell all of his doings." This is his work. This is his doing. And whether it's good times or bad times, it's his doing, isn't it? And if we see him, we don't have to understand what's happening. I don't have to know why. I don't have to understand. I just have to know who's doing it. And if I know it's his hand, it just makes it all right, doesn't it? I hope that's a blessing to you.