Hey there. And welcome to the city Lights. Podcast City Lights is a church located in the northwestern part of Richmond, Virginia. For more information about city lights you can visit us at we are city lights. Now. Enjoy today's message. Well, welcome. The city lights. My name is Jacob, and I'm on the team here. I'm so glad you can join us today. Now, I want to encourage some people today. Okay, That's my goal. I want to encourage you right where you are. So if you need some encouragement, this is the message for you. Okay, So you can title this speech when God postponements. When God postpones now not to be confused with Post Malone. This is Jesus. This is Post Malone. I think I'm finally losing in guys. OK, All right. So I have a question and you can drop your answer in the comments below, but who in here Who? Watching, who hates waiting in lines like Like what place? Here's the question. What place do you hate to wait at the most, like who hates waiting at places? I hate it, you know, for me, without question, it's the d m. V. Like hate way in that D M v like I just don't get like I honestly just don't get it. They have no excuse. Like I don't understand why they have those lights. Those present lights are just blinding you. They don't have any music. I mean, some simple adjustments to the d. M. V could make the d M v, you know, on enjoyable experience. Actually, I just don't get why they decided to make it feel like it is. You know, I also hate waiting in long meetings. I don't know. Have you ever been in a long medium? I hate long meetings. I personally think help. It's just gonna be one long, pointless meeting after another. That's what I think Hell is gonna be like it. You know, hopefully, you know, you don't experience that. But it was. But I don't think I ever met any person ever that has said the statement. Oh, I love waiting in lines. I only I ever met that person. I don't think I ever met anyone. I said I absolute with, without question, love long lines. I actually, when I go to the grocery store and I'm ready to check out, I look for the longest line possible and I get in that line. You know, I don't think that person ever exist. Nobody likes to wait. Nobody likes to be postponed. No one likes to be delayed. You know, waiting could be Could be a hard thing to do. And I would say right now in our lives we can't be late word waiting Waiting for something to happen waiting for for the the city The country in the reopen will waiting for things to get back to normal were in awaited spot. See, since the quarantine a started Aaron Kingsley and I have been going on family walks pretty much every day. Is is absolutely wonderful. We love it and in our daughter has taught us a life lesson on these walks. Like like G. She is speaking to us, man. So So you know, Aaron and I What? We're pretty fast moving people, you know, were go getters. We like to get things done. Will always move in our schedules. A lot of times are very busy. And what kind of going from one place to the next. So on these family walks, however, Kingsley, she has to bring her stuff animals. So she has to bring her her cat. She has to bring her pool by the string, the little turtle that she has. She also thinks it's an alligator, which is super cute, and she But she also has to bring her little baby stroller so she can put all of her stuff animals in it to go on these walks. Okay, so when we try to do these walks around the neighborhood, they first me first. If they first started off, it's kind of good. Well, you know, productive, even get a little exercise in it Now they have turned to some long lo Take your time walks as Kingsley is pushing her stroller with all of her animals in it, then, with her little imagination that she has, as as she's walking as well. Walking with her little imagination, she says, Oh, the turtle eternal has to get out of the stroller like that. It's time for the turtle to start walking so this you'll take the turtle out, that she'll grab the turtle by the little string and then with one with her other hand. She's pushing the stroller and has the turtle and her other hand, and so and Kingsley is also fiercely independent. So any time Aaron and I try to say, Oh, we'll grab the turtle, we'll grab the stroller. She's like, No, no, get away, girl. Would you like how to thought like that? Okay, um, Zoe Way. So she wants to push the stroller with one hand, pull the turtle with the other hand. Now, the problem with this turtle is the turtle always flips over like it just flips over all the time and every time and flip sold over. King says it doesn't keep pulling it until it gets back on his wills. She has to stop what we're doing. Walk over to the turtle, flip it back, and then she says, Turtle has a boo boo. You know, she has to make sure turtles. Okay, then. Then we start walking. Then when we go as we go, Kingsley us to stop. Because what does she see? She sees dandy lines, and she has to pick the Daniel eyes and then she has the blow on it. And so all the stuff you can fly everywhere is a constant stop and go. And then on top of all of that. The newest thing that she does, she loves to find rocks as we walked. But every rock has to be in a family unit. She cannot let one Robbie without a family unit. So she finds one rock. It's a daddy rock. Then she has to find Mommy Rock. Then she has to find baby rocks. All the rocks are in a family unit. So that first, at first this was driving and and I crazy because we just stopping and going, you know, which is what kind of trying to walk. You're starting to go on. And we're just feeling like we're being postponed when we're feeling like we're on DeLay will be. You know what? We're stuck here. And then it hit his boat. It hit us both. Our little girl is absolutely enjoying the walk. She loves it like it's her favorite time of the day. She loves every aspect of it, and here we are, getting mad, trying to rush her along, and we don't even have anywhere to be where we gotta go. We'll have anywhere to be with second house. So we decided to enjoy the entire process of our family walks. And if that means stopping and picking up the turtle, and that means changing what stuffed animals in the stroller. And that means finding a baby. Daddy, Mommy Rock. We're going to enjoy the time. And I think for a lot of us we have felt in this postpone season of our lives, we have felt this pause. We have felt this wanting to get back to something wanted to do this. Are thou hoping things will get back to normal? And may I just say, as we're so much looking forward to what's going to happen when this is over? May I just throw out there that we might actually miss? What? God is trying to speak to us right now. We may actually miss what God is trying to speak to us in the post bone time. Which leaves me to my starting point today. My starting point today is this. My life fills postpone, and I think a lot of us can can relate to that. My life was postponed. Maybe you'll use the phrase my life feels delayed. I'm on pause. You know, you may say I just can't wait for things to get back to normal. I want to get back to work. I want to get out of my house. I feel stuck and the middle. But my destination point today is this. In the post bone time, God wants to develop you. And this time God wants to develop you. And this season, God wants to speak to you. See, if you're so busy thinking about how things were and waiting to get to where things are going to be, you can miss out on what God wants to speak to you. Right now, he's an ever present God and he speaks and every season see for me while I'm in line at a grocery store. I look over at the shelves, and I always tried to convince myself that I don't need a Snickers because they're so good. But I also look at all the newspaper of this latest celebrity gossip and on the covers. So I figured, because I always figure while I'm waiting, a minds will learn. You know, maybe that's not the best thing to learn, but I'm always, always wanna learn. And I think maybe it's in the weight. Maybe it's in the post, Bo. Maybe it's in the in the delay. Maybe it's in the gap between where we start and where we finished, that God can do something in us and for us and through us. I think it's in that middle space that God can speak to us. Now. I want I want to check out our Bible story today I think is going to bring some clarity to some of this like yourself. Luke Chapter eight, start in verse 40 says this now. When Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they all were expected him. Now again, there's thousands of people following Jesus At this point, it was a huge crowd. There is a man named Joris. A synagogue leader came and fell at Jesus feet, pleading with them come to his house because his Onley daughter, a girl of about 12 years, waas dying. This is a big scene. This is a big deal. So here we have this synagogue leader. He runs up to Jesus and he's like, Hey, my daughter is sick and they say she's dying. She's not doing that. She said, Jesus, I need you to come by my house. Leia, Hannah, or maybe even a finger do something because my baby girl, it's not doing good and all the experts are telling me she's going, She's not gonna make it now. What do you need to know here about Jaros is that majorities is this. He's a synagogue leader, which means he would be in charge off the teaching and the administrative responsibilities of the synagogue. Now Jesus is now back in a place where he fed over 15,000 people. He performed some amazing miracles. So the people in that area or excited they're talking about Jesus. There's excitement in the air. This is enthusiasm for this guy named Jesus. Some are even saying he might be the Messiah. He might be the king that restores Jerusalem, that, I mean, this is what they're saying. So just Jared Jarvis here has fallen at his feet, pleading the Jesus, and it shows that he's desperate. It shows that he since there it shows that he really needs Jesus to come through, see? And he's the guy that most people will say. He should have all the answers. He's the synagogue leader. He's the one that should have all the answers. But in this situation, he doesn't have an answer for his problem. And I love that Jesus looks at him and she's like, Yeah, come on, let's go. We're gonna make this happen. Let's go, let's go And we're gonna heal your daughter And imagine the relief that this dad must be filling. Someone is about to help here's daughter, but that big but man keep coming in the way. Check this out. It continues. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him and a woman was there who had been subject to bleed it for 12 years. But no one could heal her. No one could hear her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloth and immediately her bleeding Stop who touched me, who touched me in Jesus ass When they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the crowds are crowded, impressing against you. But Jesus said, someone touch me. I know the power has gone from me than the woman seen that she could not go on notice, came trembling and fell at his feet and the presence of all the people. She told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly Hell I preached that message before, you know? But I want to go a different direction. Then he said to her daughter, Your faith has healed. You go in peace Now check out this part. What? Jesus was still speaking. Someone came from the house. A jars. The synagogue leader. Your daughter is dead. Your daughter is dead. Don't bother the teacher anymore. This is horrible. Like like like this. This can't. This can't happen. Joys comes out. He was pleased. Helped my Dodge easily. Yes, we're gonna go. Then This woman comes she But she rushes through the crowd. She touches Jesus, she gets healed. And while Jesus is performing this miracle, the daughter dies. Imagine be enjoys. Here he came and he fell at Jesus feet. He's asking Jesus toe help him. And Jesus is on his way to go help him that someone comes and interrupts, Hit interrupts the process, interrupts his schedules. And you may kind of relate to this. I thought guy was gonna do something for me, but then all of a sudden, I'm I'm postpone. All of a sudden I'm on delayed. All of a sudden something comes and interrupts me in the only way that I can feel is that God has lost sight of me. The guy's not thinking about me any more. Now I want you to know this God never loses sight of you. God never loses sight of you. Here's something about Grace. Grace makes it impossible for God to forget you. It makes it impossible. God never loses sight of you. Now, if I was joys, I would be so upset. I'll be angry. I'll be so mad that that Jesus took this time to help this other person and in the process of my daughter die. Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt that maybe God has all side of me like you see other people doing good? You see other people advancing in life. You see other people who are single, they mean gold. And now they're married and you still single and you got no one to me away, especially when there's a quarantine going on. And you thought about trying some data websites, Dan the corn team. But then you're about to set up a zoom meeting with person that you were going to go on a virtual date with but that got kind of weird. So you then do it. You've trying to figure out why you aren't advancing in life. And maybe you been like God. God is off site of me. He's off site of my family. Maybe you feel like God has lost sight of your marriage. Maybe feel like God has lost sight of your kids. Maybe you feel like God has lost sight of your finances. And, like joys, you may even you may even feel like I stepped out of faith. I tried. I did my part. And I thought God didn't do his part. See you what we feel upset about in the postpone God is using as an opportunity to develop. You want to say that one more time? What? We may feel upset about what? We may feel angry about what we may feel confused about in our time of postpone in our time of delay when things aren't happening the way we thought. But we're upset. Maybe God is using that time as an opportunity to develop us. Check this out. Romans five and the and the N L T. It says we can rejoice to when we run into problems in trials, for we know that they help develop endurance and endurance, develop strength of character in character strengthens our confidence. Hope of salvation. This is in this hope will not lead to disappointment. And for some of you need to say that I will not be disappointed by God. God, I will not disappoint me. God is faithful. God is for me. God is with me. I will not be disappointed. This hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know. What do we know? What? What do we know? I need you to get this for we know, dear, how dearly God loves us Because he has given us the Holy Spirit toe fill our hearts with his left. C C development is rarely easy. Development is rarely fun. But maybe God is using this time in your life to develop something about you before your circumstances change. Maybe before the circumstances changed. Guy wants to develop something inside of you. Now I'm gonna say this. It will be a real shame if all of us leave Cove it without learning something about ourselves. It would be a real shame. And we leave this situation this season in our lives without learning something about ourselves, our families, about God. So you don't sit here and just say I can't wait for this to be over? I can't wait to start this. I can't wait to do it is good to have goals. Is gonna have expectation of my saying that. But why you're here right now Why you're in this season. What did you learn about yourself? What? Things are being exposed. And how are you going to ask God through the Holy Spirit to come and work on those things in your life? So you got to start the way to ask God to develop you. I think you gotta ask two questions the way to get developed by God. You gotta ask two questions. And the first question is this. What do I love about this time? What do I love about this time? See, for Aaron and I, we love our family walks. We love that our family. And this season has come first, where we have allowed other things to come before family that we allowed plants in the church to come before family. We allowed work and all that, but we have learned in this time, there's nothing more important than our family. There's nothing more important than it. And in recent, we're never going to go back to a place where other things takes precedence over our family. You know that something that we've learned there in this time, that's something that we want to bring out of this time into into our life. Once this thing is over with us is over. Asked that question, what I love about this time and the second question is, what don't I want to return to what? Don't I want to return Teoh wet routines when when routines return. What is something that you don't want to do any more was something that you don't want to go back to on. I'm gonna be bold here, and I want you to think about this. I want you to pray about this. You can message me when I'm about to say, but I want to be bold. Maybe for some of you you're thinking about returning back to your old job. You think about returning back to some of your old routines and maybe for you. This time this season is an opportunity for you to develop a new dream, a new job and new a new way. A new goal in you have to have to go after it. You've got to go after you Got to go after. Here's something I want you to see in this story. The woman who was sick had a bleeding disease which caused her to be on clean and she couldn't be in public places and her being a Jewish woman, she couldn't even enter the synagogue. And with some creative freedom here, if she couldn't enter the synagogue because of her condition and of Jairus was the sin and got leader. Wasn't he the one that enforce this law to prohibit this woman from entering the synagogue? Wasn't he the one that said that she couldn't go to church? So Jars is a synagogue leader represents God. And based on that action, the man who represented God made it clear to the woman who was sick based on the law that God lost sight of her this west with jars promoted, he promoted her condition was bigger. Thank God The Bible says that after she was healed, she was in the crowd and Jesus asked you touch me because power left them. She was afraid to show herself. And maybe she was afraid to show herself because she knew her punishment would been in force by jars. Maybe she saw him walking with Jesus next to Jesus, and she still attached Jesus anyways. And maybe this is something Jesus wanted George to see in the post bone time that he never would have saw if Jesus were just instantly healed his daughter. Because I'm gonna tell you this man, God wants to bring healing, and I believe in miracles. I believe the kingdom comes in and invades. But I also believe that God is far more interested in developing our hearts, then changing things around us. You may be in a crappy situation, but God can still change your heart and and bring transformation to you. So even in the bad situation, you can still have joy. You can still have peace. You can still have love. You can still have hope. You can still have a see. Maybe this is something that God wanted. Maybe there's some that Jesus wanted jars to see and I want you to see this jars his friends runs up. They run up to him. They say, Don't bother the teacher any more. Your daughter is dead. But Jesus here is that conversation and he interjects, Luke, 8 50 says here in this, Jesus said, Don't be afraid, Just believe she will be healed. And when I pictured Jesus saying, When I picture Jesus saying this to him I also see Jesus, allowing him to see a clear view of this woman. I really do. And where they re jars and let this woman stay in the condition for 12 years, Jesus said. I healed her by my grace. I killed her for man is impossible. But for me it's possible. He's saying, Don't be afraid. You have to believe, have faith. And he wanted him to start seeing in that moment that he was bigger in the law and then the things that he was holding onto And friends you may be in this waiting season, you may be on delay and you may have had a way. You did life. You may have a standard that you live by, but I believe God wants to speak something new to you. The guy wants to show you something about yourself in this time that you can take to the next season. That will make you a better version of you. So because you can become a better reflection of Jesus, no, see, also wants you to know this just because things are hard Just because things are tough, that doesn't mean God has lost sight of you. See, God never loses sight of U and also wants to know this is how the people came to him. And they just dropped bad news on on jars. They just drop bad news on, like like it was nothing. I'm gonna ask you this. Who are you listening to you and what are you listening to? If God spoke something over you, no matter the circumstances, he is faithful to fulfill it. Say, I want to ask you this. Let I want I want to tell you this. Let God's words speak the loudest in your life. Let God's were speak the loudest in your life. So the people fruit jars house there like she's dead, she's gone. And just imagine the walk to the house. The crowd still pressing toe towards Jesus and Jesus like No that she did that she there's hope just what She's gonna be healed and imagine this walk charges in the middle. He's in the middle off hope and despair. He's in the middle of, of of, of pain and maybe is going to get better. Is God really going do something here? Now we're gonna switch over to Mark's telling of this story. Check this out. Mark 5 30 forces this. He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the Senate, God leader Jesus saw the commotion with people crying and crying out loud. And he went in and said to them, Why all the commotion? Why all the well in the child is not dead but asleep? Check out this next part. But they laughed at him. They laughed at Jesus. Now, in that day when someone died, they actually have professional Mourners that will come in born with the family in the close ones. They were professional crying people in and you may know, some professional crying people, some professional negative people. And when and when Jesus said, she's not dead, but asleep. They all laughed at him sees is funny because we allow a lot of professional negative people around are broken situations, and we let them skip speaking death around us and sometimes the biggest professional negative person that we know is ourselves. And we laughed, thinking that guy could do something with us. Sometimes they stop mourning over something that God is not dead. It's just on. Delay is not dead. It's just on delay. Your promises, not dead is on delay like the dreams is not dead. It's just on delay. It is postponed at the moment. But But But because if guy gave you what you think you want it right now, maybe you won't be ableto handle it. And maybe in this time, God wants to develop you. So when he gives you that promise that you want, you'll be able to handle it the way that he wants you to see. Don't listen to the people who are laughing at you because you keep believing God is for us. God has something beyond what they can see. We saw the commotion about Jesus. Asked. Was all the negativity about were you getting upset about? Why are you angry? I'm God and I'm ready to do something great. It contains, it says after he put them all out. He took the child's father and mother, and the disciples were with him and went in where the child was. And isn't it great how Jesus will push out those negative people in our lives? He'll push out those negative voices in our lives, he said. You guys got to get up out of here right now. Jesus puts all the negative people out. And then he says, and he took her by the hand. Now I also want you to see this. Jesus took the hand of a dead person, which, by Jewish law, it would make him on clean to touch a dead person in the one that would enforce that law was jars. He would been the one, the same law that we assume made jars restrict the woman who was sick from entering the synagogue and Jesus in that one moment, he lets jars No, that his grace ISMM or powerful his grace is more powerful than the law, he said to her, Get up. Is that their little girl say you get up immediately. The girl stood up and begin to walk. And she was. She was 12 years old, as they were completely astonished, he gave strict orders and that let anyone know about this. He told them to give her something to eat, because once you get woken up from the dead, you want a number one special from KFC C C. When we are on the postpone, we must know that Jesus is up to something in this more on delay. One more waiting Jesus is up to something in this. And it was in the weight that jars discovered something even more powerful than the miracle of his daughter's resurrection. He learned that God is a God that is full of grace. He's full of grace. You may feel like this thing or that thing hasn't happened in a way that you wanted to go. You may feel stuck in this season, but while you are waiting, God wants the teachers. God wants to show you something. Guy wants to do something in you that will prepare you for what God wants to do through you. The woman was sick for 12 years. The girl I was 12 years old in the Bible the number 12 represents God's authority and power. And while we are waiting, we have to know God's authority in his power is working on our behalf. Has me in its prey. God every Thank you. We thank you for your great. Can we thank you. That why? While we are waiting, you're speaking to us. You love it. You're here for us. May I was right. Now that's the people you feel. Make your own delay and you don't know what this season is all about. And you've been even afraid to ask God questions. What is this about? Why do I feel this way? What's going on? And I like the Holy Spirit right now. They're saying, Don't be afraid. God wants to develop you. It's a calm holy spear. Invade that room. Invade that space that that people are listening to speak right now. What about certain people's characters that you want to develop with things that you wanted to do in this season, even like jars where you even you may You may be a drive When you lived a certain with a certain thing in mind A certain routine in mind off though she can't get. She can't get hell. She can't do this. You can't do that. And God wants he flipped upside down your worldview. He wants to show you something greater than what you constantly believe. I want to show you a better version of himself. So God bring clearly bring peace to people. God, I pray that you bring healing in the name of Jesus. Maybe you're watching and you don't know this. Jesus I'm talking about, but she like I want to. Maybe you had and you walked away. If you want, make a decision to trust Jesus. What? Your life Right where you are. I want you to pray this prayer with me. I want you to pray it with faith right where you are If you want, make a decision to trust Jesus. What your life Just say Jesus. Forgive me for my mistakes. Make me new today. I trust you with my life. Today I follow you in Jesus. Name a minute. Thanks for checking out the city lights podcast. If you'd like to partner with us financially, you can Goto were city lights dot com slash give or you can text any dollar amount to 84321 Thanks for joining us today.