My brothers and sisters in Christ, take courage in God’s words, because whatever you and I are going through this morning, God is saying to us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Let us be encouraged by Paul who said, that he would gladly boast about his infirmities, so that the power of Christ could rest upon him; and take pleasure in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong. Praise the Lord!

What have you experienced that you knew beyond the shadow of a doubt, that it was the hand of God? My brothers and sisters in Christ, God is at work in your life and in mine. Every day, he performs miracles for us and we should not be quiet about it. Call up your friends, tell your coworkers, shout it from the rooftop, “Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he performs for his people”. Praise the Lord!

“Tell everyone about God’s power. His majesty shines down on Israel; his strength is mighty in the heavens. The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort”. What an awesome God we serve!

My brothers and sisters in Christ, come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke; and if I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But, God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me! Thanks be to God!

Lord, “You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again, and lift me up from the depths of the earth. You will restore me to even greater honor, and comfort me once again. Then, I will praise you with music on the harp, because you are faithful to your promises, O my God. I will sing praises to you with a lyre, O Holy One of Israel. And, even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all”. Oh glory be to God!

“I was crying to the Lord with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain. I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side. Lord, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me”. Thank you, Lord!

“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly, for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke of his youth. Let him sit alone and keep quiet, because God has laid it on him. For the Lord will not cast off forever, though he causes grief, yet he will show compassion, according to the multitude of his mercies”. My brothers and sisters in Christ, we must learn to carry our burdens that God has placed on us. It is not every time that someone calls for help that we should help. We need to go through our own deserts, where we have no one else to depend on but God. It is in these desert places that God will walk with us, begging us to trust him, sustaining us, and when he brings us out, and he will, because he said though he causes grief he will show compassion, and we will have testimonies to share of what God has done for us. God wants our praise!

My brothers and sisters in Christ, what are we passing on to our children? Do we sit them down and tell them about the goodness of the Lord; the storms he brought us through, our how he delivered us? “And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall teach them diligently to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. Tell your children about it in the years to come, and let your children tell their children. Pass the story down from generation to generation”. My brothers and sisters in Christ, this story never gets old and God requires this of us.

“O Lord, I will honor and praise your name, for you are my God. You do such wonderful things! You planned them long ago, and now you have accomplished them. In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory”.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light inaccessible hid from our eyes, most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small, in all life Thou livest, the true life of all; we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, and wither and perish, but naught changeth Thee. Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight; all praise we would render, O help us to see, ’tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee!