How To Survive The Worst Day Ever – Part 4

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

Good morning, everybody. So good to see all of you here today. Just want you to know we’re so glad that you are with us. If you are new, maybe this is your first time here or the first time in a long time. My name is Dave, and I’m one of the pastors here at Community Church. And we just want you to know today that no matter where you are on your spiritual journey, no matter what you believe, we are just so glad that you’re here. We swing our doors wide open to you and to your family. And we just hope you keep coming back.

Bekah and I went to Winston Salem, North Carolina. And we were there with our dear friends Pastor Allen and Hush Marine Griffin. You all know them. They’ve been here many times throughout the year, speaking. And after 30 years of being a much-in-demand evangelist traveling all over the US and really around the world, Alan answered the call to get off the road and become a local Church pastor of an amazing Church down in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

Got a picture of his installation service that we were there with him last Sunday. Isn’t that great? Come on. We celebrate Allen and Hush. We honor them today. It was such a special time. And if you’re friends with Alan or you follow them on social media, make sure you just get online this week and let them know that we’re all cheering them on up here in the Poconos. And I have to tell you a little story. What happened last week on our trip. It started on Monday morning after preaching here Sunday.

We had an early flight out of Newark. It was about 730 in the morning. And we were going to fly to Houston, and we were headed to Houston for a Church planting conference. I don’t know if you know this or not, but about eight years ago, some friends of mine that were also pastors started a Church planting movement. It’s called Church Multiplication Network. And by the way, you all had a lot to do with this. Through your generosity, through your giving, and allowing Bekah and I to be part of this. We have planted over 4000 churches across America. Come on. Can we celebrate that because of you guys and because of your generosity? And so it’s the largest Church planning movement right now in America. And so a few years ago, we decided the leadership of that movement, hey, we need to get our tribe, our family together for a family reunion once a year. And so we decided to start a conference. And so this was our fourth year at the conference. And we had the largest conference ever with over 2000 pastors and leaders from all across the country coming on down in Houston.

Wonderful. And so Bek and I were just so glad to be able to be there and to encourage other pastors and to pour into them and teach them what we’ve learned along the way on how to reach people and just build life-giving churches that are seeing all kinds of changed lives. And on the front end of that conference, we had our leadership team meeting. So it was really critical I was there. It’s our annual meeting. And so we were flying out of Newark to head to Houston for that meeting. It was an early flight, and I don’t know if you’ve ever had a day like this, but we were supposed to leave at five in the morning. We didn’t leave until 530. And then I realized my car was out of gas, so I had to stop for gas. And then when we got on 278, there was a terrible accident. And that slowed us down for another half hour, 40 minutes. And we just didn’t have that, given our schedule. I get freaked out if I’m going to be late or miss a flight. Let’s just say it was very tense in the car. It was very tense. And so somehow we made it to the airport, and we had to take an extra bag because we were going to go down to Winston Salem. And so I just dropped Bekah off, and she got the bag checked in, and I parked the car. And then I met her, and we got into the TSA pre-check line. And it was really long. Like, people are traveling again. It’s really exciting to see our world opening back up. And then we’re swerving through the line, and everybody’s kind of just early in the morning on a Monday, nobody’s happy. And this one guy was just not being nice to the TSA agent. And so we were kind of nice, and we’re just trying to make his day a little bit better.

When we finally get up to the front of the line, we show him our boarding passes. And one of the boarding passes didn’t have the TSA PreCheck. And I won’t mention whose job it was to make sure both boarding passes had the TSA PreCheck. And I’m like, you’re kidding me? And I’m like begging this guy because our flight is going to board in like ten minutes. And I’m begging this guy, and please let me know. I literally show him my TSA PreCheck number, and it’s TT 1177 GGH. I’ve memorized it. I’m like showing it to him. I’m like, please, dear God, let me on this plane. And he just looked at me and was like, no, sir, you can’t go through it. You’re going to have to go to the other line, which is twice as long as the TSA PreCheck line, or you have to go back downstairs, reprint aborting to put your TSA PreCheck. And I’m like, I’m not going to make this plane. I’m begging this guy. And for just a moment, I almost forgot that I was a follower of Jesus and a pastor. And it was so close. But I realized he had all the power. I had none. So I was like, whatever. So we run back downstairs, and we put the thing back in, the ticket printed out, and run back up. And now the TSA PreCheck line was twice as long as it was before. And I’m like. We’re not going to make this flight. But there’s that guy we were nice too. And I just said, Please help me. And he walked us right to the front of the TSA PreCheck line. And we made it onto the flight. And I was just like, so stressful, really bad day. And so we get onto the plane, walk right on the plane, and it’s like 730 or whatever it was. And we’re frazzled with a sweaty mess of heart palpitating. So Bekah just passes out right away.

We’re up in the air. We’re 15 minutes into the flight. And then I hear this loud bang, bang, like about ten rows behind me. And I didn’t think too much of it at first. It sounded like maybe one of the overhead bins came down, and the bag fell out or something. But there was no turbulence. It was just really weird. I didn’t think too much about it. I’m sitting in the aisle, and then all of a sudden, this flight attendant comes running down the aisle. You don’t see that like on a plane, right? Like a flight attendant running is like, this is not good. So I turn around, and sure enough, somebody is lying on the floor outside the bathroom about ten rows behind me. And all these flight attendants are scrambling, and they’re getting, like, these ad machines off the thing. And they’re pulling the oxygen tanks out and like, oh, no, something’s really bad. Then the flight attendant runs back up the aisle and gets on the loudspeaker, and says, look, if there are any licensed medical professionals on board, we have an emergency. And would you please come and assist us? And then come running back down. And a guy, like, two rows behind me, got up. I don’t know if he was a doctor or an EMT or something. And I watched. Now everybody’s turning around, we’re all looking, and we’re all concerned. And he starts to provide care. I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t even tell if it’s a man or woman. I just see legs on the ground and all these flight attendants, and they’re very concerned, all the equipment.

And so the first thing I did was I said a prayer. I said, Lord, I don’t know what’s going on, but whoever this is, would you just please help them? And then the second thought that ran through my mind was, oh, dear, I hope they don’t land this plane diverted because I’m going to miss my meeting. And then I came back under terrible conviction from the Holy Spirit. I’m like, I can’t believe I just thought that. I can’t believe I thought that I was like, this is just going to be such a bad day if I miss this meeting. And I’m like, all right, who’s really having a bad day? Me, or like the person lying on the ground of a plane, 30,000ft in the air, could be having a heart attack and going to die. So then I went to prayer again, and I prayed for the person. And then I prayed this long prayer of repentance. Lord, I don’t even know. I’m a pastor. I shouldn’t even. I’m just terrible. And Lord, forgive me and help this person anyway. And Bekah’s like, she’s like, she missed the whole thing. She missed the whole thing. And so it’s like for 45 minutes, I’m just waiting, man. They’re just going to drop this plane. And I’d never been on a plane when there was a medical emergency like that.

But sure enough, after about 45 minutes, I thought everything was all right. They didn’t announce what happened, but we just kept on trucking, and I made it. I was 15 minutes late for the meeting, but we still made it. And so my really bad day wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. But have you ever had one of those days? Right? I mean, we’ve all had bad days. Traffic accidents, things happen. We miss meetings and bad days. They just come in all different shapes and sizes, don’t they?

I mean, maybe for you, it’s like you’ve had a long day. You’ve been up early, and you’re exhausted, and you’re starving, and you have this insatiable appetite for Chick-fil-A, and then you realize it’s Sunday. I mean, that’s a really bad day, right? But we’ve all had bad days and bad days. They do come in all shapes and sizes. And sometimes bad days turn into bad seasons. Have you ever been there? Ever been through one of those? Maybe you’re in the middle of one right now, and they end up becoming maybe even a lot more painful. And they last a lot longer than you ever thought that they would have imagined.

So how do you survive a really bad day? That’s what this series Worst Case Scenario is really all about. It’s a Survivor’s Guide, how to survive the worst day ever. And what we’re doing in this series is we’re looking at Jesus on his worst day ever as he hung there dying on the cross for you and for me and for the sins of humanity. Jesus made seven different statements from the cross, and being the good God that he is, even in the midst of his worst day ever, he teaches us.

He gives us some clues and some insights, some life lessons, if you will, on how we all can survive our worst day ever, too. And the theme of verse four of this series is found in Hebrews chapter twelve, verse two. It says, Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began, come on. And he finished the race that we’re in. Come on He finished it. He needed to start it. He always finishes. And the race that we’re in, same race, the same life, the same problems, the same temptations, the same trials and betrayals and hurt and setbacks and heartbreak. He went through all of that stuff, the same kind of stuff that you and I go through on our worst day.

And so it says, study how he did it. And that’s what we’ve been doing for the past few weeks around here, studying how Jesus handled those worst day moments. It goes on, and it says, because he never lost sight of where he was headed, that exhilarating finish in and with God, he could put up with anything along the way. Cross, the shame, whatever. And now he’s there in the place of honor, right alongside God.

So, Jesus, he gives us some insights. Yeah, come on, you can clap it up for the fact that he survived that worst day ever. And he’s in a place of honor. And in the midst of all of that, he gives us these seven statements and teaches us how to handle our worst day ever. And so today, we come to the fourth statement that Jesus makes from the cross. And it’s in this statement that he makes that everything changes. Because up until this point, the focus of Jesus has been on everyone around him. His first statement was focused on those Roman soldiers that beat him almost beyond recognition, put a Crown of thorns on his head, mocked him, and gambled for his clothes at the foot of the cross. And he stares on the cross, and he says, Father, forgive them. They don’t even know what they’re doing.

The second statement he makes is directed towards one of the thieves on the cross. He was crucified between two common criminals. And the one criminal looks to Jesus, and he’s placing his faith and trust in him as he’s there, ready to breathe his last breath. And Jesus says to this guy, I assure you today you will be with me in paradise. And then last week, didn’t Pastor Corey do such a great job?

Last week, he just crushed that message. Last week, as he’s hanging on the cross. The third thing he says is he looks down, and he sees his mother. She’s there weeping, watching her son hanging there, dying on the cross. He’s standing next to his mother as one of his best friends, John, one of his disciples, his followers. And he said, John, behold your mother. In other words, you got to take care of mom when I’m gone. So his attention is focused on others around him, even on his worst day ever. But now everything has changed. When he says the fourth statement from the cross, he has been there hanging on the cross since 09:00 in the morning.

Now it’s high noon. He’s been hanging there on the cross for 3 hours. He’s trying to continue to breathe the way you really die through crucifixion. It’s not from the nails. It’s literally through suffocation. As you’re hanging on the cross, you have to continue to lift yourself up so that you can breathe. And as you’re being crucified, your legs can no longer bear the weight of your body, and your lungs collapse upon themselves, and you really die through asphyxiation. And so he’s been there suffocating for 3 hours under his own weight. It’s about high noon when the sun is the brightest in the sky. And all of a sudden, the Bible tells us that the sky became dark as night. There was some kind of either natural or supernatural phenomenon of a solar eclipse or some other supernatural phenomenon that took place.

And Jesus then hangs there from noon until three in the afternoon under this darkness. Could you just imagine if you were one of those Roman soldiers? As Jesus is there dying on the cross, you’ve placed that sign above his head. The King of the Jews. You’ve mocked him, you’ve made fun of him, you’ve humiliated him, you’ve embarrassed him, you’ve stripped him, you’ve beaten him beyond recognition.And now, all of a sudden, the skyline of the city of David becomes black. And you must begin to think, oh my, maybe he really is who he claimed to be because this doesn’t make sense. Maybe he really is the son of the living God, God himself, which he claimed to be. You know, you think about it. When Jesus was born, there was a unique star that lit up the night sky. And now it is death. There’s strange darkness that covers the land. In Matthew 27:45, it says it caused the day to become black as night. And that’s precisely what was happening. One of the terms for hell in the Gospels is outer darkness. And that’s exactly what was happening. That’s exactly what Jesus was experiencing at that moment, this outer darkness. It was literally hell on Earth. The only way to satisfy the righteous requirement of God, the wrath of God, was that his light, the light of Jesus, would be snuffed out.

Many theologians refer to this exact moment of the crucifixion scene as the crucifixion within the crucifixion. It was the moment where the sins of all humanity from the very beginning of time were now placed upon Jesus himself. Though he was sinless and spotless God at this moment, on the same Hill, on the same mountain where Abraham’s son was spared, he would not be spared. Instead of sacrificing now a lamb or a goat or another animal or even you or me. Now, God, he sacrifices his one and only son. At that moment, God treated Jesus as if he had committed all of the sins of the world. And you know the Old Testament that predicted this? It says in Daniel 9:26, Messiah Jesus, he shall be cut off, he shall be abandoned, he shall be separated, but not for Himself. In Psalm 1:16, it says this verse three, “the pains of death surrounded me and the pangs of shield that’s hell laid hold of me. And I found trouble and sorrow even thousands of years before Christ came to Earth, hundreds of years even before crucifixion itself was even invented.

The Prophet Isaiah predicted just how Jesus would die. He says this in Isaiah 5:3. “Surely he took up our pain, and he bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, our sins. The punishment that brought us peace was on Him and by his wounds.” Come on now. We are healed. It’s like we all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. This was the moment that Jesus’ fear dreaded the most. This was the moment when all sin of all time of all humanity would be laid upon him. Adam’s, Apple, Cain’s, murder, Noah’s, drunkenness, lots, incest, Abraham’s, lying, David’s, adultery and murder, my pride and lust and your pride and lust, my narcissism and your narcissism, everything wrong you and I have ever done for all time laid upon him. As a matter of fact, the New Testament actually confirms this is exactly what would happen. It says in Galatians 3:13, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed as everyone who’s hanged on a tree. It goes on.”

It says in Peter 2:24, that he Himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. For by his wounds, you have been healed, friend. Listen, even the Apostle Paul, made it very clearly referring to Jesus and what he would do on the cross for you and for me. He said he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God, that we might have a right standing a right. Aren’t you thankful today? Come on. For our great Savior in Jesus. And here’s what I want you to know about Jesus and what he did for you and for me on the cross that Jesus didn’t die. He didn’t just die for you on the cross. He died as though he were you. Let that sink in a moment. He didn’t die just four years since he died as though he were you.

Before Jesus even went to the cross. Jewish tradition allowed on this Passover celebration that a criminal who was being sentenced to die to be released. And so here’s Jesus now after being flogged and scourged and beaten beyond recognition. He’s standing there with Pilate, and Pilate wants to wash his hands of the whole thing and wants to be done with it. The only thing he can think of is maybe I can convince these people to release Jesus. And so he brings Jesus out in this other common criminal that was awaiting his own execution. His name was Barabbas. He was a guilty man. He deserved to be punished for what he did. And here’s Pilate, and he brings Jesus out, and he brings Barabbas out. He says, who should I release? And the angry mob, when speaking of Jesus, said, crucify him, crucify him. Give us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. Give us Barabbas. And there was Jesus, and he said nothing. So instead of releasing Jesus, Pilate sets Barabbas free. Barabbas lived because Jesus died in his place. But Barabbas is not the only one. You and I and all those that God loves to deserve the wages of sin, which is death. But Jesus was willing to trade places so that you and I could live. Aren’t you thankful today for Jesus and his work on the cross? Jesus died so we could live. Jesus died in darkness so we could live in light for all eternity. Jesus was separated from his heavenly Father so that we could draw near to him. Jesus. He took the shame so that we could have the honor.

And like Jesus, he hung there dying on the cross for 3 hours in the darkness. For you and for me. He was forsaken. He was rejected. He was abandoned so that you and I would never have to be left rejected and abandoned by our heavenly Father. And it was at that moment that Jesus spoke the saddest words in scripture. Matthew 27:46, says this is the fourth statement. “My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? My God, my God.” Now instead of looking at everyone else and to his mom and to the Roman soldiers and to the thief that was dying on the cross next to him. Now everything shifts, and Jesus begins to say, Loi Lama sabaktanai. My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? This is personal now.

This isn’t about somebody else. This is about him and his Heavenly Father. Why God? Why? Why have you abandoned me? Why have you rejected me? Why have you cut me off? You know that word forsaken means abandoned in Greek. And you can relate to that too, can’t you? Maybe you were abandoned by a mom or a dad who chose a different family. Or maybe they chose an addiction instead of you. Perhaps. Maybe your spouse traded you in on a younger model. Perhaps your skin color left you marginalized on the outside looking in. Maybe a friend stabbed you in the back. Or a company rewards your years of loyal service with a layoff. What do you do on your very bad day? Well, Jesus, he teaches us the fourth lesson. Aim your hard questions at God, not at man. Go to God with your hard questions. Take your hard questions to God. He can handle it. Jesus, overcame his worst day by taking it to God. He runs to God. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And that is the question we all ask from time to time, isn’t it?

Why God? Why is this happening? Why am I going through this? Why is my family going through this? Why is my business going through this? Why is Ukraine going through this? Why is this world going? Why God? I mean, we all go through bad days that are beyond comprehension. But I want you to know today, that Jesus can relate because he asked why too.

I want to encourage somebody here today. As Jesus’ life was being snuffed out, he took his hard questions to the Father. And I want you to know it’s okay to ask God why Jesus teaches us that on the cross. I don’t know how you grew up. I grew up in Church. I grew up in a charismatic Pentecostal Church. And it was almost like you could never question God, right? Like if you ask God why, it was like you had a lack of faith and you were going to be banished to outer darkness. You’re going to hell. Nobody. Don’t. Don’t you question? Wait, wait. But when I see Jesus in his worst day ever, it’s precisely what he does. He takes his hard questions to God. And I just want you to know today, when you have hard questions, when you’re in the middle of your worst day ever, everything falls apart, and it hurts.

It’s okay to ask God why. God’s not going to be mad at you. He’s not going to push you to the periphery. He’s not going to look down and shake a bony finger at you because he relates. He gets it. He understands because Jesus went through it himself. I just want you to know God’s shoulders are big enough and strong enough to handle your hard questions, your doubts, your fears, your disappointments. When your life is swirling in chaos and confusion, you can run to the Father, saying, Why? That’s the number one question humanity wants to know in the face of suffering, why God? So even on your worst day ever, you can ask God why too. But while you’re asking God why, let me give you just a little bit of advice. If you want to write these things down, some real practical advice you can take with you when you’re in the middle of your why. Number one, when you ask why always rely on God’s Word. When you ask why always rely on the Word. On his worst day ever, as Jesus hung there dying on the cross, he said, My God, my God, why? Why have you forsaken me. But do you realize what he was really saying there? Do you realize what he was really doing there? He was actually quoting scripture. This is not the first time these words were ever uttered.

He was actually quoting Psalm 22, verse one, from King David on his worst day ever. And he is in a moment of time of just chaos and hurt and pain and suffering as he’s thrown himself on his face before God. He says in Psalm 22, verse one, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? King David said that first. But here’s Jesus as he’s dying on the cross on his worst day ever. What does he do? He relies on the Word of God. The very Word of God begins to spill out of his heart and through his lips. He’s relying on God’s word. It bubbles up almost instinctively from within him. He’s finding comfort. He’s finding assurance. He’s finding hope from the very Word of God, knowing that he is the Word. He is life. But he runs to the word of God on his worst day ever. I just think it’s telling to me that on his worst day ever, as he’s facing the greatest trial of his Everest’s faces, he’s drinking this cup of suffering to the fool that the very Word of God guided his thoughts and words. It’s significant because when David and I don’t have time to unpack it, you should go home and read it. Psalm 22, David actually talks about in this prayer how Jesus himself would die and what he would go through thousands of years later. But it’s a clue for us of what we should do when our life is on fire. Jesus, ran to the Word of God on his worst day ever. And that’s my advice to you today. Run to the Word of God. Run to the Word of God. Drink deep from the reservoir of God’s word and his wisdom and the comfort and the peace that it contains.

One of my worst days ever. I was a senior in college. I was living with my sister off-campus in this little fourplex where the bottom left the tiny apartment, this old house that they divided up into an apartment. And my mom was traveling down to Virginia to see her dad. She was the youngest of six kids. She was a Daddy’s little girl. She had him wrapped around his big sausage fingers. I mean, I’m telling you, he was a big man. I’m a third-generation preacher’s kid on both sides. Both my grandfathers were Pentecostal preachers, and my grandfather was on my mom’s side. His name was Tweeddale Brumback. He was a Southern preacher. They called him T Dale. He preached with a hanky. Come on, somebody. He could just preach up a storm and loved him very much. So my mom was going with a couple of her girlfriends down to Virginia to spend the weekend with him, and my mom almost never went anywhere without my dad. They were just connected at the hip. They worked together. They did Ministry together. They always travel together. And I can’t remember, but maybe two or three times, my mom went anywhere without my dad. 

They just are always together, even still to this day. And in fact, I was talking to my dad this morning. He told me he went out for a walk. I said I should go with mom. He’s like, no. I was like, wait, what happened? He went for a walk, and mom didn’t go. I mean, they just do everything together. And so they were going to stop in and see us. We’re about halfway along the trip to Virginia, and we’re going to visit my sister and me and then drive the next two and a half hours down to Virginia to see my mom’s family and her dad. And she was so excited. And she’s this little Betty Boop. We call her name Betty. And she was just so excited. Actually, she calls. And they had stopped about an hour away, and she was just with her girlfriends, a girl trip. She just couldn’t wait to see us and then to go down and see her. And so we’re like, great, it’s going to be fun. And just then, the phone rings, and my mom’s about an hour away, and it’s my mom’s sister, my Aunt Pat. And I immediately could tell something was wrong. I’m like, hey, Pat, what’s going on? She said, Well, David Jr., There’s some bad news. There’s no way to say this, but Daddy just died. My mom’s dad was gone, just like that, unexpectedly. And there’s no way for me to reach your mother. This is before cell phones, all the modern technology, and texting. So she said, when your mom gets to your house, you’re going to have to tell her, that’s a bad day to tell your mother that her dad is gone.

Mom shows up, and she comes in, and she’s all excited and smiling and laughing and giggling, and she immediately could see something was wrong. And my sister was like, Dave, I can’t tell her. You’re going to have to do it. So I asked my mom to come back into my bedroom at the end of the apartment, and she said, what’s going on? What’s the matter? I said, mom, you got to sit down. I have bad news, and there’s no way to say this, so I’m just going to say it. I just got a call from Aunt Pat. Paul’s died. She was shocked, stunned. I mean, she had just talked to him the day before. He was fine. And she began to cry. And I began to cry and put my arms around her and held her. I began to pray, and she began to pray this most beautiful, sweet, innocent prayer. I don’t remember everything she said, but it was mostly things like Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. You’re an ever-present help in a time of trouble. She said I lift up my ice to the Hills from whence cometh my help, my help cometh from the Lord, the maker of heaven and Earth. She said, how precious in the sight of God is the death of his Saints. And it was just like one scripture after another rolled off of her tongue, and you could see the peace of God. Not that it wasn’t hard, not that it even still isn’t hard.

But at that moment, come into that room and help her, you know, as Jesus was there on that cross and he said, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He didn’t have to reach for a Bible and open that up to Psalms 22, verse one. No, he was able to quote that because he had stored it in his memory, and he had ready access to it at the very moment that he needed it. And so my advice to you, whether you’re on your worst day ever or your worst day ever might still yet be to come, today is the day to hide the Word of God into your heart so that you’ll have ready access to it, that the Holy Spirit could Wicken your spirit, that it will be there in the very moment, in the very hour that you need it Holy. On your worst day ever, run to the Word of God.

It will give traction for your soul to make it through whatever it is that you are going through. Hide God’s Word in your heart today so that when you do have your bad day, you can drink deep from God’s word. So instead of binging on Netflix on your worst day ever or climbing into the bottom of a vodka and tonic or whatever it is that you run to on your very bad day, what if it was the word of God that just supernaturally and spontaneously began to spill out of your heart and your spirit? So hide it in your heart. Run through.

That’s what Jesus was doing. Here’s the second thing when you’re on your worst day, when you’re having your worst day ever when you ask why, when you ask why, trust and comply. I don’t have time to unpack all of this, and my time is slipping away. But I would just remind you that when Jesus was hanging on the cross and we see him make this statement, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It reminds me of what Luke said after they celebrated the Last Supper together. And then he took his on Holy Week. And by the way, Holy Week is coming. You don’t want to miss any part of it. So make your plans to get here, especially Stations of the Cross, and invite your friends because we’re going to walk through all these different things. Jesus walked through the last moments of his life. We’re going to receive Communion just like they did in the Lord’s Supper. And then, as soon as they were done there, he took them to one of his favorite places to pray, the Garden of Gethsemane. I’ve been there. It’s a very special place. And he went there to pray.

And he left his disciples. He went deeper into the garden to slip away by himself. And he fell to his knees, and he began to cry out to God. And he prayed. In fact, he was so overcome with grief and the suffering that he knew. Luke was the only one who mentioned this. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence because Luke before he met Jesus, was a physician. He said, as Jesus was crying out to God in prayer in the garden, he began to sweat drops of blood because the very capillaries within his pores burst because of the great pain and the suffering that he knew he was going to face. And this is the prayer that he prayed. Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Like, I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to go through this. This is too much. You ask too much. This is too hard. I can’t handle this. If there’s any other way around this or over or under it, God can. You just make that thing happen. But at that moment, as he continues to pray, he comes to this beautiful, sweet place of surrender and trust in His Heavenly Father and his plan and his will for his life. And he says, Yet Nevertheless, not My will, but yours be done.

See, when he was in the middle of his why he had to trust and comply with God’s plan and his purpose for his life and friend. That’s my advice to you. In the midst of your suffering, your heartache, surrender your life to the will of the Father. I know it’s hard. It was hard for Jesus. It’ll be hard for you. I know it’s not easy. And I know at times, life just doesn’t make any sense. And your mind is swirling in a sea of chaos and confusion. But you’ve got to put your trust in God because he cares for you. He knows what’s best for you.

He will help you. He will be your friend and your constant companion. He will walk in when everyone else walks out. Don’t forget the words of Romans 8:28 that God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose. It doesn’t say all things are good because all things are not good. Divorce is not good. Cancer is not good. Depression is not good. Anxiety and mental illness is not good. Layoffs are not good. War in Ukraine is not good. Whatever bad is happening in your life, here’s what I’m reminded of. He didn’t say all things were good. God says he works all things for good, for those that love Him. And are called according to his purposes.

So keep putting your trust in him. When you’re in the middle of your why, here’s the last thing. Worship while you’re asking why. Worship while you’re asking why. I can’t tell you how critically important this is. You say, what do you mean? You want me to worship? You want me to sing? You want to be happy in the middle of when my life is falling apart, and my heart is breaking into. I don’t even feel like I remember another really bad day. When Bekah and I first got married. We wanted to travel. We didn’t want to have kids right away. And then we decided two years into it, hey, let’s start our family. It’s like, Whoo, let’s do it. And so, a month goes by, and nothing happens. No big deal. But a month turns to three months. Three months turn to six months. Six months turn into a year. And for some reason, we just can’t get pregnant. So we go to the doctor and go through all the tests and do all the stuff you got to do, and still nothing. And our hearts were broken, and we’re six years now into the marriage, no kids. And doctor finally even said, I really, seriously doubt you’ll ever be able to have kids.

And it was heartbreaking. That’s a why moment. That’s a wise season. Six years. But through a series of just supernatural events, our daughter Kate was born. It was beautiful and all-natural. We tried everything else. None of that worked. And then, all of a sudden, Kate comes along. And about a year into that, we’re like, because I remember when Kate was born right down here at Pocono Medical Center.

I’ll never forget it was two weeks after our very first Sunday service, or maybe three or four weeks, I can’t remember. But it was shortly after a very first Sunday service. Kate is born. You know that feeling just like you have your first child. It was just mind-blowing, right? And I didn’t even hold Kate because they took her and cleaned her up. And I just grabbed back, and I put my arms around her. I just said how proud I was of her, how much I loved her. And then I said something I didn’t expect to say or expect to feel. I said, Honey, we got to do this again. This is really good. And she said, not tonight. I said, okay, rain check.

But shortly thereafter, Bekah’s pregnant again. We go from nine of them to having kids. And now, boom, I don’t know if it’s in the water. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s just if we weren’t doing it right, I figured it out. And this is like, whammo, boom, she’s pregnant again. And we’re excited, and we’re like, we don’t want to tell anybody. We just make sure everything’s cool. Everything was cool. So we start telling everybody, and it’s all exciting, and our family is going nuts. We can’t believe it. And then one day, middle of the night, back is not feeling well. Sure enough, in about three days, we had to go see the doctor, and the doctor said, yeah, I got bad news. You’ve lost a child.

Ever been there? You lose somebody you really love. It’s heartbreaking, right? That’s a why moment. We actually lost two children, one between Kate and our son, David, our first son, and then one between our first son, David, and our second son, Henry.

And I can remember in those moments we were portable Church and just the heartbreak of it all. I was like. I didn’t even want to go to Church. And Bek was like, yeah, but you kind of have to hear the pastor, and you go show up. And I didn’t even want to go to Church. I didn’t want to sing. I’m just being honest. Can we be honest? I didn’t want to sing. I didn’t want to pray. I didn’t want to act like everything I didn’t want to.

I was hurting. I was in pain for my wife, and to watch what was going on and just a heartache. But I still remember Beky grabbing me by the hand. We’re going to be in Church when we sat on the front row of that high school, and we would just worship our faces off here’s. My advice to you is to worship in your Why? Because here’s why. When I worship God at the moment, I’m in my deepest pain. It brings a supernatural perspective to my problems in life. I can’t explain how that works.

All I know is when I worship, I get my eyes off myself and my problems, how big they are, and I begin to get my eyes on God. And I begin to remember how big God is and how small my problems are. And it just puts my life in my heart and my spirit back into alignment with my heavenly Father. Who knows that? He says I have good things for you, not bad things. If a good father can give his son good gifts, how much more can my heavenly Father give to you? So worship in your why? You know, Bible says this in Hebrews chapter twelve, verse 28. Therefore, since we are receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, when you’re part of the family of God when you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you change citizenship into heaven, and you become part of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. Even when our entire world is being shaken right now, we are part of the Kingdom of God that is unshakeable. On your worst day ever. When everything is shaken, the very foundation of your whole life can be shaken. He’s reminding us that you’re part of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. So he says, Let us be thankful. What should we do? We should be thankful and also worship God.

Acceptably with reverence and all for why? For our don’t miss this. Our God watches. This is consuming. Do you know what that means to me? Don’t miss this. I want you to listen really quick. What that means to me is that at that moment, when I’m asking why? The pain and the heartbreak and the suffering, the betrayal, the stabbing in the back, the disease that you’re dealing with, the relationship fractures in your family. But even when I am in the midst of that, I still go to God, And I still choose to put my focus on him. His consuming fire begins to burn away the pain, the depression, the anxiety, the hurt. It’s a devouring fire that can burn up my loneliness and my anxiety, my fear. When I shift my focus to God And get my eyes off of myself and my problems onto God, it’s then I experience to come on his love and his peace and his Grace in my life like at no other time.

So my advice to you in the middle of your why make sure you keep worshipping worship in your why choose to worship? It will change your perspective. And let me just tell you to gain real quick as we close. Real worship has nothing to do with your vocal ability. I mean, real worship actually has very little to do just with singing in general. It’s certainly a part. It’s a part of worship. But worship has nothing to do with how good you can sing. Because worship isn’t just about singing worship, it’s about the posture of your heart. It’s a posture of your heart that even on your worst day ever, you make a conscious decision to humble yourself.

To humble yourself means to get low, and you come before God just like David did just like Jesus on the cross, and he pours out of his heart to God, and he looks to God and says, God, I don’t understand it all I can’t fix it all, but I put my faith, and I put my trust in you not my will, but yours be done I put my trust in you today I don’t have the answers I don’t have the solutions, but I got my faith in you today this is what worship looks like. It has nothing to do with the microphone? So could I just encourage you today? Worship in your why? Real worship is trusting God when life doesn’t make sense?