When The Shift Is Uncomfortable - Dr. E. Dewey Smith
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00:00 All of you children of our great God. It's another day's journey and I'm glad about it.
00:06 Jeremiah 29 11 you see these words? "For I know the thoughts
00:14 that I think towards you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace
00:26 and not of evil, to give you an expected end." I want to read the same verse from the message.
00:37 Paraphrase. Verse 10 of Jeremiah 29 the message reads, "This is God's word on the subject.
00:51 As soon as Babylon's 70 years are up and not a day before,
00:57 I'll show up and take care of you as I promised
01:04 and bring you back home.
01:17 I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out.
01:25 Plans to take care of you,
01:30 not abandon you. Plans to give you the future
01:43 you hope for. The word of the Lord.
01:53 The word of the Lord for the people of God.
02:07 Oh
02:14 oh
02:28 oh
02:41 For a few moments
02:52 I want you to consider the thought when the shift is uncomfortable.
02:57 When the shift is uncomfortable. For some others of you, when I don't like the shift.
03:18 With an anthropomorphism had God foundationally
03:23 expressed to Israel, "I am a jealous God."
03:29 Deacon Roberts, an anthropomorphism is a human-like quality.
03:43 It's when God or humanity expresses something in a human-like way.
03:49 Because God is spirit, He often spoke through anthropomorphisms.
03:56 He says, "I'm jealous." Jealousy is a human-like trait.
04:07 He told Israel, "Because I'm jealous through this anthropomorphic quality,
04:12 thou shalt have no other God before me."
04:18 Regardless of his admonitions to Israel, they continued to go a whoring after other gods.
04:27 As a consequence, even though they were the darling of his eye,
04:34 he let them know that an inevitable shift was coming.
04:38 He raises the prophet Jeremiah, who with a lamenting quality, sees the condition of Israel,
04:49 and it brought him much disdain and much pain. Because God showed this prophet that Israel
04:59 would be taken into a period called Babylonian exile. He was going to shift them, if would,
05:07 from Jerusalem, the holy city of God, shift them into a place of antagonism.
05:16 And so it was in the years 597, 596, and 586 BC, during the reigns of kings Jehoiachin
05:28 and Jehoam, that Nebuchadnezzar, his son, invaded Judah and carried thousands of Jews into a shift.
05:42 Inevitably, in 586 BC, the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem.
05:49 They were stripped from their land, shifted from strength to struggle.
05:57 So, debilitating was the condition in ancient Babylon that one writer, in reflecting on it,
06:04 wrote this, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
06:13 We hung our harps upon the willows thereof." Because those Babylonians mocked the faith
06:24 of the people of God and asked them to sing one of the songs that they used to sing back
06:31 in Jerusalem. And the psalmist's response was, "How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"
06:48 Although we are 2,600 years away from this ancient text,
06:54 it is amazing that some people today may have that same estimation.
06:59 We've been here now for an hour and 15 minutes and somebody hasn't sang yet.
07:09 Because the room is not where they're accustomed to.
07:16 They're not used to sitting in the same section that they used to sit with.
07:22 And seven weeks later, eight, seven weeks later, can't enjoy the service because
07:29 they feel they can't sing the strange song of the Lord because we're in a strange place.
07:37 So, there they were, forced again to metaphorically make brick without straw.
07:45 The Hebrew people are shifted to a place that is uncomfortable.
07:50 They're on the lower rung of everything that's social, economic, and political.
07:56 God has shifted. How can you be the people of God, but yet be dominated by
08:03 circumstances and people who don't love Him?
08:10 Brothers and sisters, sometimes the shifts that God will allow us to experience,
08:18 sometimes painful, even though they may be purposeful.
08:23 I came to share with you that typically when we think of shift, we think of shifts in terms of
08:32 that which is glorious, in terms of that which brings us happiness. Many of us anticipate the
08:39 shifts because we expect something positive to emanate from the shift. But I want to share
08:46 with you, lest I be imbalanced in my teaching, that all shifts aren't comfortable.
08:55 All shifts are not enjoyable. It's possible to be in the same place,
09:08 and some see it one way and others see it differently. And there'll be moments in our
09:15 lives when all of us will find ourselves in a shift that we do not like. And this is what God
09:25 was saying to the prophet Jeremiah, to let them know that they're going to be in a season of
09:30 shifting and sifting, it is, for 70 years. From the Babylonians up until King Cyrus and the Persians
09:42 come to overthrow the Babylonians for 70 years. It doesn't matter how much they worship,
09:51 how much they pray, doesn't matter how many prophecies they received,
09:56 this season was going to last for 70 years. And not one day before would God move them
10:07 from that shift. Sometimes God has a designated time for what he's doing in your life.
10:15 And sometimes you want to rush God and move him out of that period because it's uncomfortable.
10:21 It's not based upon what we had envisioned. What happens when my location does not match my vision?
10:28 You find yourself in an uncomfortable place. And God said to them, "You're going to be there
10:34 for a minute, but when you're there, you're going to be anointed, but yet be captive.
10:40 You're going to be blessed, but yet you're going to be bound.
10:45 And this predicament is going to last for 70 years, whether you like it or not.
10:51 This is what I have ordained for the nation of Israel." So the question I have to ask here is,
10:57 "God, what do we do when this shift is uncomfortable? And what do we do when I don't like
11:07 the place where you have me?" I want to give you a couple of things, and I'll take my seat quickly.
11:12 The first thing this text is tailored to teach us is when you find yourself in an uncomfortable shift,
11:20 a place that you don't like, point one, get this, you got to resolve to be productive.
11:27 Somebody said resolve to be. Resolve to be productive. I'm going to be productive.
11:35 Verse 4 of Jeremiah 29, God says, "Israel, you're going to be carried away captives,
11:41 and I've caused you to be carried away captive." It's me. It's not the devil.
11:45 I've caused you to be carried from Jerusalem to Babylon. But when I shift you from Jerusalem
11:52 to Babylon, when I put you in a place for a period that you don't like, that's uncomfortable,
11:57 here's what I want you to do. I want you to resolve to be productive. Verse 5,
12:03 "I want you to build ye houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat fruit of them,
12:09 take ye wives and beget sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters
12:13 to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters, that ye may be increased there and not
12:18 diminished." He said, when you're in a place that you don't like, in a season that's uncomfortable,
12:24 he said, "I want you to develop in your agony." What I want you to do, since you're going to be
12:31 there for a while, go ahead and build you a house, build you a tent, live in there, plant gardens,
12:42 eat the fruit. He said, "I don't want you to waste away. I don't want you to waste this moment
12:51 waiting for a new shift to take place and not be productive while you're in your present place.
12:58 I want you to look at it from a constructive and not a deconstructive perspective.
13:03 I don't want you to dwindle or waste away. I don't want you to be diminished. I don't want
13:09 you to get smaller there. Don't let your present place make you look small. I want you to grow
13:19 even where... I want you to build. I want you to settle, plant, eat, have posterity. As a matter
13:26 of fact, what I want you to do is while you're there, I want you to get married,
13:33 have children, give your daughters to sons and sons to daughters. I want you to multiply the
13:39 generation. Take whatever moments you have. Listen to me. There's something that you can't do
13:46 in Babylon. There's some freedom that you don't have in Babylon, but don't let Babylon take your
13:53 passions. You're missing... You are a prisoner, but while you're in prison, don't lose your passion.
14:02 Oh, what can you do? What can you enjoy? They can take your freedom, but they can't take your
14:09 estrogen and your testosterone. Come on, help me. They can take you into slavery, but they can't
14:17 take the sensualness and the sensuality of who you are. Learn how to build and bloom and plant
14:24 wherever you are. Because what the enemy wants you to do is get in the corner and stay stuck
14:29 and do nothing. But you've got to understand that while you're in this place, while you're in this
14:33 season, here's the problem. Many of us have allowed our theology to be affected by cliches.
14:40 And we say stuff like this, "I'm waiting on my season to come.
14:44 I'm waiting on my season to come." Brothers and sisters, let me say to you that there's
14:53 never been a time in your life when you've not been in a season.
14:58 I'm gonna say it again. Existentially, you and I are always in seasons.
15:14 It's impossible to have existence and not be in a season. Even the natural order of things,
15:24 climatic conditions, understands we're always in season. Naturally, it may be winter
15:33 when things are arid, dry, and deathly. Or it may be spring where there's constant rain and
15:42 allergies are affected. It could be summer, a time of vacation and enjoyment. It could be fall
15:48 where the leaves are changing. It's beautiful, but it signifies that death is coming.
15:52 No matter where you are in life existentially, not one moment in your entire sojourn have you
15:58 ever not been in a season. Problem is, theologically, we say stuff like, "I'm
16:05 waiting on my season," as if you're not in one. I hear you over there. "Yeah, it's my season."
16:14 Yeah, it's always your season. The problem is, we've attached my season to success.
16:22 We attach season to prosperity. We attach season to struggle, not realizing that if you don't
16:32 realize that you're always in a season, now it may not be the season of your desire.
16:38 Y'all quiet on me. Y'all quiet on me here. And see, here's the problem. We are waiting on
16:44 my season, but my season does not come unless I've been responsible in the previous one.
16:53 Okay, y'all quiet. See, Bishop Murphy has a song, "This is my season of grace and favor.
17:04 This is my season to reap what I have sown." Then he closed that song out by saying, "I've got a seed
17:11 in the ground." The basis of that song is, "I have the expectation that a season is coming
17:22 that's going to be based upon grace and favor." But before my season of grace and favor came,
17:27 I was in a season of putting seed, y'all quiet on me here, in the ground. And a lot of us are
17:35 going to be perpetually dissatisfied when my season never come because you didn't realize
17:40 you always were in one. So if it's not the season that you like, it must be the season of planting.
17:52 If it's not the season of prosperity, it could be the season of pruning.
18:00 We keep waiting on God to bring us to my season and God said, "You've never been
18:12 out of a season." Come out, come out, Sodom and Gohel to everything.
18:22 Not a season, a time to laugh, a time to cry, a time to weep, a time to mourn, a time to plant.
18:28 Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3 says, "We're always."
18:34 So instead of me being in Babylon and doing nothing,
18:40 y'all quiet, because I don't like this season, what can I do while I'm in it to prepare me for
18:50 what God has around the corner? And can I help somebody here today? I believe that even though
18:57 the season you're in may not be comfortable, you may not like it, but if we manage the uncomfortable
19:03 seasons well, Paul said there's another season that's called due season. Y'all quiet. And if I
19:10 be not weary in well-doing, in due season I shall reap if I faint not. Now I can't tell you when due
19:20 season is on the calendar. I can tell you that summer come in June, I can tell you that fall
19:26 come in September, I can tell you that winter come in December. I can't tell you when due season is,
19:31 but I can tell you if you've been faithful in your off season, if you remain committed in your off
19:38 season. So stop telling folk I'm waiting on my season. You're always in one. Now you can say
19:53 I'm waiting for my season to change, but you can't say I'm waiting for my season to change
20:00 if you haven't done the necessary things in the previous seasons.
20:07 You know one thing I love about this season is plums.
20:10 Yeah, and puppets got a new kind of plum, it's a cherry.
20:16 One thing I love about this season is Chick-fil-a has a milkshake that's called peach.
20:30 Now the problem with that is when you get 50,
20:41 I wish I had somebody to talk to me around here. Yeah, yeah,
20:49 ice cream sometimes don't seem to sit as well with you when you get 50.
20:53 Am I talking to anybody around that knows what I'm talking about? Now, yeah, you and your
20:59 father's keep on enjoying. Time has a way of catching up with you.
21:02 My, now, it'll sit with you. And I made a bad mistake last week.
21:05 Had to fly to town to preach and forgot I was, had to fly to town to preach
21:13 and travel by Chick-fil-a the day before I got on that flight.
21:21 Yeah.
21:25 I felt so bad for my partner sitting next to him on that flight.
21:34 I looked at him one time and said, "Who is that? My God."
21:49 But they got something now called lactaid. Y'all help me here. It's a little pill you can take.
21:55 Come on, help me here. That even though the season, my God, you still can enjoy some stuff
22:01 of the, of the new season if you prepare. Y'all not, y'all not with me here. Somebody got,
22:08 this is your lactaid season. This is your season to get in your system something that gonna help
22:13 you sustain what God blesses you and take you to a higher level of your enjoyment.
22:18 The question I want to ask you is will you remain productive even in the season?
22:27 So now you're not waiting on your season. You're always in one.
22:31 You're waiting on new season or you wait on your season to change,
22:36 but don't expect God to bring you to harvest
22:39 if in the previous season you haven't done any planting.
22:45 Are you with me here? So you gotta, you gotta resolve to be productive. Number two,
22:52 realize you got to pray. I'm almost finished. Yeah, he said, it's right here. He said,
22:56 "I want you to build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens, eat fruit, take your wives,
22:59 beget son and daughters, take wives for your son, and give your sons and daughters that they may
23:03 have daughters that you may be increased." God, I like this. God said that even when you don't
23:08 like the season, even when the season is uncomfortable, here's what God says,
23:13 "I'm gonna let you increase there." Oh boy. You can grow even in a season that's uncomfortable.
23:26 That even when you feel like you're dying,
23:33 even when you feel like it's the worst, God says, "You will not cower, you will not decrease,
23:39 you will not shrink under the pressure that even if you can't stand this season, we're in your job.
23:46 Can't stand the people that you work with, that you're in a place that you're more qualified for
23:52 what you presently are." The Lord told me to tell you that you're not going to die there,
23:56 you're not going to diminish there, that even if you don't like it, I'm going to increase you
24:01 in a place. I wish somebody give God praise that God can increase us.
24:07 Oh, I feel God right there. That even I don't like it, I'm growing.
24:14 That even in a place that I'm uncomfortable, you can grow in a place because sometimes that
24:20 season is about your growth. You thought the season was about your destruction.
24:28 God is saying the whole season was about your development.
24:31 Even the place you didn't want to be was about your development.
24:36 Even if that season is a season of singleness and your season is one of matrimony,
24:43 God said, "I'm going to keep you there until you're healed enough
24:48 because if I give you your season while you're still broken,
24:54 you're going to turn that into hell." Y'all not going to help me here. I wish somebody give God
25:00 praise that God knows where I am. Come on, he knows where I am. No matter where I am in my life,
25:07 God's going to help me grow there. Oh, I see you, Bruce. I see you. It may not feel good,
25:12 it may not be desirable, but wherever you are, God says, "I can keep you." Y'all point your hand at
25:18 Bruce and say, "Bruce, God's going to sustain you there. God's going to sustain you in a period
25:21 where you think you're dying, where you think you're decreasing, where you think you're
25:24 diminishing." God has a way of developing you in the most difficult places of your life. If you
25:31 believe that, give him praise and give him glory. Glory. I thank God that sometimes God has punished
25:40 me for my foolishness. And when God punishes you for your foolishness, it's uncomfortable.
25:51 It's embarrassing. It's shameful. It's hurtful. But the best thing you can do is don't blame the
25:59 devil. Don't start hollering, "Your daddy wasn't there." Or, "Your mama mistreated me." Come on,
26:09 and one thing that we're doing now too much is mental illness. Lord, hold my tongue here. Don't
26:18 get me wrong. I'm an advocate for us having good mental health. I'm an advocate for us bridging the
26:26 gap between the faith community and the mental health communities. But what I'm noticing now,
26:31 a lot of folks use mental illness as an excuse to absolve them from responsibility.
26:40 Y'all quiet on me here. Even our young people, I'm traumatized.
26:48 Sixteen-year-olds, they get their car taken, get traumatized, and get online and cussing their dad
26:53 out. Talking about trauma. There ain't no trauma. That's entitlement. Y'all quiet on me. Y'all
27:02 quiet on me here. She's got some personality disorder. No, I ain't got no personality disorder.
27:08 She got a burden. No, ain't no burden. Somebody didn't get the best of me. I'm not going to
27:15 hurt her. Somebody didn't get the belt and extend the belt to her behind. Ain't no mental illness.
27:22 And right now, too many of us are using that as an excuse
27:30 that now it devalues people who really got some stuff mental going on.
27:42 Do we struggle with mental illness? Absolutely. But some stuff I did, it wasn't no mental illness.
27:49 I wasn't ill when I started it, and I didn't get sick when I was doing it.
27:59 Help me here, somebody. Some stuff I got my stupid self in with my stupid actions,
28:05 and if I keep on blaming everything else on everybody else, I'll never get the healing,
28:09 and I wish I had a witness there. Some stuff, it's me, oh Lord, standing in need of prayer.
28:15 Not my mother, not my father, not my sister, not my brother, not the white man, not what my daddy
28:22 been mean to me. Some stuff I got myself into, and the moment I can recognize that.
28:28 [congregation shouting]
28:40 Sometimes my biggest problem is a me problem.
28:52 So when you're there, what do you do? Verse 7, it says, here's what I want you to do.
28:59 I want you to seek the peace of the city where I've caused you to be carried away captives,
29:06 and pray unto the Lord for it. For in the peace thereof, you shall have peace.
29:11 Here's what he's saying. While I'm in that place, I don't like it. I got to find peace there.
29:21 I'm praying that God will let me find peace on the exterior,
29:24 but my biggest prayer is help me find peace.
29:27 Help me to find inner peace with who I am, with where I am, to forget about what other
29:41 folk are saying about me. Help me find peace with this is who I am. This is how God made me.
29:48 I love God. I love myself. Something I did to get myself here, and if I was here because I hurt,
29:55 it don't mean I got to stay here. Because people will put you in bondage, but ask God to give you
30:02 deliverance. You know one of the greatest deliverances you can find is when folk who
30:13 have tried to destroy you, and folks whose actions put you in an uncomfortable place,
30:20 but you can look at them. You ain't got to block them from social media.
30:27 You don't sleep with them on your mind, and you're locked under your pillar,
30:33 waiting for an opportunity to see them again. You don't wish bad on them. Come on,
30:39 you don't want to kill them no more. Come on, help me somebody. I wish I had somebody be real,
30:43 be real with me around here. My God, you can look at the picture and don't make you sick no more.
30:48 Help me talk to somebody. They can marry another woman, and you can send them a gift
30:53 for the reception. I wish I had somebody talk to me. One of the greatest gifts in life
30:57 is what used to make me sick. I got so much security in a place that's been uncomfortable,
31:08 but I'm at peace with myself. I'm at peace with my life. I'm happier than I've ever been. I wish
31:14 I had somebody who can talk to me for a moment that it may be uncomfortable,
31:18 but I'm praying for peace. I'm praying for posterity. He said, "Listen, while you're there,
31:25 I'm almost finished. While you're there, while you're there," he says, "Listen, pray for the
31:29 peace. For thus said the God of Israel." He said, "What I'm going to do for you, I'm going to keep
31:33 you there, but pray that God gives you prosperity. Pray that God gives you partnership. Pray that
31:39 God sends somebody else that will come alongside you even in those moments." So when it's uncomfortable,
31:46 resolve to remain productive. Realize you got to pray. Third and finally, when you're
31:53 uncomfortable, shift. When you don't like to shift, recognize that God has a plan.
32:02 You know, it's strange when I talk to people about how I shift this summer
32:07 and what brings some a lot of excitement and energy.
32:14 It's amazing that now you got to get up and get to church on time.
32:29 Yeah, ain't no more leaving the house at 9 30.
32:31 Yeah, we get so casual with God. Yeah, when you got 7,000 seats, I just show up.
32:43 Now, get there. Around this time, the choir be finished singing, announcements be over.
32:51 God said, "I'm going to shift you where you got to get up 30 minutes earlier.
32:59 I'm going to shift you back where you get your clothes out on Saturday night.
33:01 I'm going to shift you back where you got to start cooking and put the food,
33:06 get it out before you leave house." Why? Because you're being so casual with me.
33:10 Yeah, now you go to work on Monday, you don't leave the house 30 minutes
33:17 or 15 minutes for report time. You show up on time with donuts,
33:26 with coffee to work on another man's job or work in your own business. But when it comes to the man
33:33 who gave you health and strength and hold you and put you in your right mind, we get so casual with
33:40 God. You can't just sit in the back where the preacher can't see you. I can see every face in
33:54 here. From the rooted to the tutored, I see all of you. I see those y'all ain't been here. I see
34:00 you now. You can run, but you can't hide. Help me here, somebody. Help me here, somebody. Help me
34:07 here, somebody. We get so casual with God. And with Psalm Love, others still focus on what was.
34:14 What some see as the theater, others see it as the garage.
34:22 But I'm so glad that God will meet you even in the garage.
34:27 He met Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones. He met Moses on the backside of a desert in Midian.
34:40 He met Habakkuk in a rooftop. He met Jonah in the bed of a whale. He met the three Hebrew boys
34:51 in a fiery furnace. Y'all quiet on me here. He met Saul on the Damascus road.
34:56 He met Tamar in a wilderness. And he'll meet you on Sunday in the garage.
35:02 How long we gonna be here? God, he said, that's for me to figure out.
35:12 I said, well, Lord, how long we gonna be in this uncomfortable place? He says, tell Israel,
35:18 they're gonna be there in Babylon for 70 years. For 70 years, they're gonna be there.
35:24 He says, but make sure you tell them this, that I know what I'm doing.
35:32 And I know the thoughts I have toward you. I'm almost finished. One of peace.
35:40 I feel the Holy Ghost. I know the thoughts. He says, guess what? I got a plan. As soon as
35:48 Babylon 70 years old, not a day before, the message of the Bible, Jeremiah 29, 10, I'll show up
35:56 and take care of you as I promised. And I'll bring you back home.
36:04 When it's time to go back into the cathedral,
36:13 when I'm ready for you to get there. Yeah. When it won't be a struggle and a strain on the preacher
36:20 or the finances. Y'all not hearing me here. It's funny because a lot of folk want to go back into
36:27 the cathedral and why we ain't did this and why we ain't done that. My question is why you ain't
36:32 gave no offering. It's sad how some folk give a dollar and raise a million dollars worth of hell.
36:41 Ain't sacrifice nothing. Ain't miss no paychecks,
36:47 but always got something to say. But God told me if you trust me,
36:57 even if the season seems uncomfortable, I have a plan. I'll show up and I'll bring you back home.
37:06 Then God says here, I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out. I have plans to take care of
37:20 you. I have planned not to abandon you. I have planned to give you the future that you're hoping
37:32 for. I can't promise you that every shift is going to be pleasurable, but I can promise you that every
37:43 shift is going to be purposeful. Do I have a witness here in the building? As a matter of
37:50 fact, I heard the Lord just say, if you're in an uncomfortable place, I need you to trust me
37:58 when you cannot trace me. Y'all not saying nothing to me. I need you to hold on when things seem to
38:07 be insurmountable. I asked the Lord, sometimes why does it seem so tough? And why does it seem so
38:22 rough? And the Lord said, yeah, sometimes the clouds hang low. And I can't hardly see the road.
38:35 And I asked the question, Lord, Lord, why so much pain?
38:41 But he knows what's best for me. Y'all got to feel, I feel my ride done showed up.
38:52 Although my weary eyes, they cannot see. So I'll lift my hand toward heaven and tell God,
38:59 thank you because I won't complain. Oh, I don't miss y'all the past few weeks.
39:06 Somebody around here like me has been going through an uncomfortable season.
39:12 You made sacrifice after sacrifice. You've prayed and asked God for instructions.
39:19 And you're wondering when is the uncomfortable season coming to an end? Yeah. And that's why
39:27 Andre Krauts put it this way. I've had many tears and sorrows. Yeah. I've had questions for tomorrow.
39:39 There's been times in my life when I did no right from wrong. But in every situation,
39:50 he gives me blessed consolation. He lets me know that I am here. Look at somebody and say,
40:02 hang on in there. When the shift seems uncomfortable and I got to close.
40:11 But before I close, I'm reminded of an old story. There was a grandfather who was teaching his
40:22 granddaughter how to drive. Yeah. They were driving from Georgia to Florida. She was 16 years
40:34 old. And when they left Georgia, the weather was beautiful and serene. Yes, Lord. But when they got
40:42 down near Ocala, how all of a sudden the lightning started flashing. The thunder, the thunder,
40:51 the thunder was roaring. Yes. And it was raining torrentially. Yes. The young girl was driving
40:59 the car and could hardly see what was in front of her. She asked her granddaddy because she saw
41:06 other cars pulling to the side of the road. She said, Granddaddy, do you need me to pull over?
41:12 The granddaddy said, Can you see the road? She said, Yes, I can. He said, Well, keep on driving.
41:22 She kept on driving and got near Orlando and got near Tampa. Yeah. And the rain was still coming.
41:30 The car from the turnpike to 75 were pulling to the side of the road. Yeah. She asked her
41:40 granddaddy, Do you want me to pull over? He said, Can you see the road? She said, Yeah. He said,
41:46 Keep on going. And when they got south of Tampa, all of a sudden the rain stopped and the sun
41:56 reappeared. Then he told his granddaughter, Now pull over. She said, What do you mean,
42:01 Papa? He said, Pull over. She pulled the car to the side of the road. He said, Meet me at the trunk
42:09 of the car. Yeah. She pulled over and got out and met him at the trunk of the car. Then he
42:16 pointed back toward the north and said, You see all those cars that pull over in the storm,
42:23 every car that pulled over in the rain, that's still stuck in the rain. But because
42:33 you kept on going, you came out the storm and now the sun is shining. Why don't you look at
42:44 your neighbor and say, I don't know what kind of hell you're going through, but whatever it is,
42:54 keep on driving. Cause after a while, by and by, the Lord is going to bring you victory.
43:05 So be not dismayed. Whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever be tied to you,
43:14 the Lord will take care of you. Is there anybody here can look back over your life
43:23 and see how you made it? After some uncomfortable seasons, look at a neighbor and say, Neighbor,
43:32 if he did it for me, he'll do it for you. Because the weeping may endure for the night.
43:43 I said weeping may endure for the night.
43:57 But,
43:58 come on, give God praise right there.
44:24 I got to let y'all go. Touch somebody on the shoulder and say, when it gets uncomfortable,
44:29 remember God has a plan. Y'all stand.