Faith over Fear
Dannah Gresh: If you’re feeling overwhelmed by headlines and bad news, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth reminds you of the big picture.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: God is in charge. He’s not caught off guard. He’s not reporting what’s happening—He’s making happen what happens. And even when it seems like everything is spinning out of control, it’s all happening right on schedule according to His great plan. He’s fulfilling His purposes, so trust Him. There’s no need to panic. No need to fear. No need to hide.
Dannah: This is Revive Our Hearts, with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Surrender: The Heart God Controls, for October 30, 2020. I’m Dannah Gresh.
From World War II there were approximately 250,000 Americans who were killed in combat, but there were another two million Americans reportedly who died during that period of heart problems. In fact, the doctors said that as many as half …
Dannah Gresh: If you’re feeling overwhelmed by headlines and bad news, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth reminds you of the big picture.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: God is in charge. He’s not caught off guard. He’s not reporting what’s happening—He’s making happen what happens. And even when it seems like everything is spinning out of control, it’s all happening right on schedule according to His great plan. He’s fulfilling His purposes, so trust Him. There’s no need to panic. No need to fear. No need to hide.
Dannah: This is Revive Our Hearts, with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Surrender: The Heart God Controls, for October 30, 2020. I’m Dannah Gresh.
From World War II there were approximately 250,000 Americans who were killed in combat, but there were another two million Americans reportedly who died during that period of heart problems. In fact, the doctors said that as many as half of these deaths were directly related to worry. You see, anxiety and fear proved to be more deadly for Americans than the war itself.
That actually fits with what Jesus told us in Luke chapter 21, verse 26, that there will come a day when people’s hearts will “fail for fear.” Their hearts will stop. They’ll have heart attacks. They’ll have heart problems because they are so terrified.
I think we see some of that happening today as we look at 2020, crazy year, pandemic, rioting in our cities, cancel culture, just so many weather patterns and storms. We’re adding to that in our lives with cancer times two during the Coronavirus. And for so many people, the result is a heaping spoonful of fear and anxiety.
More than a third of Americans reported having symptoms of anxiety or depression according to a recent study done by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics—more than a third. That compares to about 11% in the same period in 2019. So there’s this rise, this spike in fear and anxiety and depression.
Google searches for "anxiety attack" reached record highs during the Coronavirus pandemic here in the United States.
There are a lot of reasons to fear. There’s a lot of things to fear. There’s a lot of causes for fear. But what are we supposed to do in these turbulent times in which we live?
Now, in the passage we’re looking at this week, Mark chapter 13 . . . If you haven’t found that yet, let me encourage you to turn there, Mark, chapter 13. Jesus told us that turbulent times are going to come—and not just for non-believers, but for Christians as well—and that we should expect things would get worse and worse. Remember the labor pains? They’re going to get more frequent. They’re going to get more intense until the Great Tribulation followed by the return of Christ.
Jesus said there’s going to be trouble. There’s going to be problems. There’s going to be tumult. But what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to think? How are we supposed to act? How are we supposed to function? What are we supposed to be like in an era like this?
Well, let me just say this: The Christian’s response should be qualitatively different than those who are without Christ.
I mean, if we are responding in the exact same way the rest of the world does to all the things going on in our world—the political problems and the national problems and the international problems and the storms and the pandemic, all this stuff—why would they believe in our Jesus? How would our testimony be powerful and compelling to them? What’s compelling is when we don’t respond the same way they do.
Jesus has given us instructions here in Mark 13, and in the parallel passages in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. He’s given us instruction for who to be and what to be and how to be and how to respond in these turbulent times.
So I want to pick up in Mark chapter 13. Let me just read, for those who may not have been with us the last couple of days, beginning in verse 3.
As he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be, [the things they were talking about was Jesus had said, “This great, magnificent Herod’s temple is going to be destroyed.” And they said, “When is this going to happen?”] and what are going to be the signs when all these things are about to be accomplished?” [How can we know to be prepared for this?]
And Jesus began to say to them, [We have what is called the Olivet Discourse—as He’s on the Mount of Olives two days before He goes to the cross. This is Wednesday of Passion Week. And Jesus says to them] “See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains” (vv. 3–8).
Now, in the last session we looked through those verses, and we said that Jesus instructed us first: Be alert. Watch out. Be on your guard. Don’t get lulled to sleep during these troubled times.
And number two: Don’t be deceived.
And number three: Expect trouble in this world and expect it to get worse and worse.
Now I want to skip back to verse 7, which we skipped over yesterday, to that little three-word phrase Jesus said when all of this is happening: don’t be alarmed.
One translation says, “Do not be troubled.” The word here, troubled, or alarmed, means to be troubled in mind, to be frightened. Don’t be scared. Don’t be troubled. Don’t be alarmed.
These disciples were not to be alarmed or frightened when wars and disasters made their way into the news.
I see a lot of fear in a lot of people today. And in fact, a lot of people who are trying to deceive the public are using fear. You need to hear this: Republicans are doing this in this country. Democrats are doing this in this country. Everybody is talking about fear. They want us to be fearful because they think if we are fearful, then we will follow whoever they say can best solve those problems.
Now, I think some people have better answers than others for some of those problems, but my point is: Jesus said, “Whatever is going on, don’t live in fear. Don’t be alarmed.” He told them these things would happen, but there would still be more time before “the end.”
Faith in God, trust in God and in His plan, is what will deliver us from fear.
Jesus said again during the last days of His life to His disciples in John chapter 14, “Don’t let your heart be troubled.” That’s a different word. That word “troubled” means “to stir or to agitate.”
You know what happens, like, when you’re watching the news, and it’s all, like, horrible stuff and hard stuff and panic stuff, and you can just tell your blood pressure is going up. You’re getting agitated. You’re getting stirred up. You’re getting troubled. And Jesus said, “Don’t let your heart be troubled.”
In fact, that’s something we ought to say at the end—if you watch the news at night . . . I like to know what’s going on, but we ought to say to ourselves and to one another at the end of each newscast, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, Jesus said, believe also in Me.”
You see, for the Christian, the answer to fear will always be, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.” He is our salvation. He is our sufficiency. He is our strength. He is the resource for every need in every tumultuous period of time. He speaks words of comfort: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled.” In the midst of fearful circumstances, He speaks those comforting words, and He enables us to live a life that is free from worry or fear even when the whole world seems to be going up in flames.
The peace that Jesus gives us in the midst of a fearful world makes an impact on a watching, unbelieving world.
Oswald Chambers is a name that you’re likely familiar with. You may have read his wonderful devotional, My Utmost for His Highest. During World War I Chambers actually ministered as a chaplain to troops. During that period of time, he got appendicitis. I learned this week (I didn’t know this before), that he refused to go to one of the army hospitals on the field because he thought the soldiers needed it worse than he did. He ended up dying of an emergency appendectomy at, I think, forty-three years of age.
But what a legacy he left to us in his writings. I came across this paragraph by Chambers recently, and it fits so well with this passage. He said, “It’s the most natural thing in the world to be scared, (now, he’s writing during WWI, out on the battlefield with the troops) and the clearest evidence that God’s grace is at work in our hearts is when we do not get into panics.
He said, “The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else; whereas, if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”
Pick your fear. Fear the Lord and be free of fearing other things, or don’t fear God, and you will fear everything.
So, today, in this passage, Mark 13, we’re seeing Jesus say, “Don’t be alarmed in these troubling times.”
And then in verses 9 and 10 He’s telling us, “Believe and proclaim the gospel.” Verse 9:
They will hand you over to local courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. It is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations.
He’s saying, “Believe the gospel, and it’s going to get you in trouble. It’s going to get you hauled into situations where you’re going to get persecuted for your faith—not just because you’re being a jerk or you’re being a loudmouth or you’re being rude—but for your faith in Christ. You’re going to be persecuted.
So He said, in those situations, believe the gospel, and proclaim the gospel. You have been put there as a witness to those who persecute you.
Now, when the secular world is persecuting Christians, we sometimes get all focused on the bad guys and what they’re doing to the good guys. He says, “They’re going to hand you over. You’re going to be flogged. You’re going to stand before governors and kings.” One of the parallel passages in this Olivet Discourse says, “Many of you will be put to death.” And that has happened with believers over the centuries.
But in God’s mind’s eye, from His perspective looking down on all of this, the purpose is so the gospel can be proclaimed. You will be a witness to them. It is necessary that the gospel be preached in all the nations.
One of the reasons we have heard the gospel here in this country is because the disciples back in Jesus’ day took seriously what He said here. When the persecution began in the book of Acts and the believers were scattered because of the persecution, what did they do? They took the gospel everywhere they went. They preached to the kings. They preached to the Caesars. They preached to the guards. They preached to the other inmates. They just preached the gospel—in jail and out of jail. They just preached the gospel, and the gospel spread.
Someone has said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. It’s how the gospel spreads. You’re there as a witness.
So every trial that you face . . . Now, you may not be hauled into court to defend your faith, you may not yet be going to prison for your faith, but every day in little ways, in social media, online, and in communication with those who don’t know Jesus, we are tried for our faith. And they watch how we are responding. They watch whether we’re fearful. Every one of those trials is an opportunity to make the gospel known, to witness for Christ.
Robert and I have spent a lot of time in the last several months, since March, actually, in hospitals and doctors’ offices and infusion centers and places we never would have been before. Now, these aren’t people persecuting us, but these are trials. These are hard things.
You go in these cancer places, and there’s a lot of sickness. There’s a lot of sadness. There’s a lot of discouragement. These are hard places, but the Lord has taken us into those doctors’ offices, into those conversations with nurses and technicians and other patients who are struggling. The Lord has given us opportunity after opportunity to be witnesses for Jesus.
It’s necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations.
This whole coronavirus has . . . I was talking with a woman yesterday about how it’s opened up opportunities in neighborhoods for people to connect. People who know and love Jesus connect with people who have no idea who Jesus is because things are just different. People are home—strangely enough—or have been for much of the last several months. Everything is off kilter. We’re having opportunities because people are scared to death, and they need help. They need Jesus.
Now, the natural tendency when we’re facing trials is to care about, “How does this affect me?” But the child of God is concerned not just about what happens to me. Look, you can take my life. I’m going to heaven. The best is yet to come. Anything you can do to me only gets me closer to Jesus. I mean, the worse you can do to me is not a bad thing in the end of the day. So, what are we concerned about? Not what happens to us, but what God is doing in this world and how to make Christ known to those who don’t know Him.
Listen, these disciples were not real educated. They weren’t well-connected. They were blue collar workers mostly, common, ordinary men, small business fishermen. They weren’t highfalutin. They didn’t have PhDs in anything—nor do most of us. But the Lord is sending us out into difficult places to spread the gospel, to proclaim the name of Jesus.
If the opposition rejects our witness, when they stand before God in the judgment, the witness we have given them will serve as evidence that God’s judgment is just because they were given opportunity to repent and believe the gospel. Our witness in such a time is so important. Believe and proclaim the gospel.
And then number three: Rely on the Holy Spirit to show you how to respond.
Verse 11 of Mark 13:
When they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
So here, followers of Christ would be persecuted. They’d be forced to testify to their faith, and they were to see that as an opportunity to point their accusers to Christ. And then Jesus promised that in those moments, He would give them words; He would give them the wisdom, such that their enemies would not be able to counter their testimony.
I mean, when you get in those hard places—as you will, if you’re a follower of Jesus—He will help you to say and do the right things at the right time. So rely on the Holy Spirit to show you how to respond.
And then, verse 13, persevere by His grace: “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Another translation says here, “He who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
“To the end,” that means completely, to the limit, to the end of your life on earth, to the end of time, to the return of Christ, those who endure to that point.
We have to be prepared, friends, to be in this tumultuous, turbulent time for the long haul. It’s one thing to endure . . . I think during the first days of the pandemic, everyone’s thinking, Oh, two weeks, and everything will be back to normal. Right? Wrong! You think for two weeks you can endure anything. We’re going to be socially distanced. We’re going to wear masks. We’re going to do all this and that, but it’s going to be over soon.
And then we realize months go on, and there’s still challenges. If it’s not that, it’s something else. We are in this for the long haul. It’s one thing to run, sprint—to change the metaphor here—and you can make that 100-yard dash. But it’s when you’ve got to run the long distance and keep running and keep running and keep running and keep running and run through the hard times and run through the shin splits and run through the—I don’t know anything about pain in running because I don’t run—but you’ve got to be prepared for the long haul.
We know that endurance is hard because it’s pressing through hard things for a long period of time. And that’s what Jesus is calling us to.
Perseverance in your faith is not the basis for your salvation. It says, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” It’s not your perseverance that saves you, but it’s evidence that you are truly saved—that you persevere to the end. Those who are genuinely saved by grace through faith will persevere to the end. And then they will receive the eternal reward, the consummation of their salvation. So persevere by His grace.
And then, know the Word. (I’m just walking through what Jesus told the disciples in Mark 13.) Know the Word. Read it. Study it. Ask God to help you understand how it applies to current events and situations. You say, “Where does that come from?” Look at verse 14:
When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.
Now, I’m not going to go deep into this, just a quick overview. This is a reference to some prophecies in the book of Daniel given hundreds of years earlier.
The “abomination of desolation” was placed in the Jewish temple. The first fulfillment of this prophecy was in 167 B.C. when the Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes built an altar to the pagan Greek god Zeus over the altar of burnt offering in the temple and sacrificed a pig on it. This is the “abomination of desolation” in the holy place—things the Jews were forbidden—idols and pigs. These things were forbidden, and they desecrated the holy place in 167 B.C.
Then this prophecy would be fulfilled again, not many years after Jesus gave it, in A.D. 70 when the temple was desecrated and destroyed by the Romans.
But these incidents, in relation to the temple, foreshadowed another fulfillment yet to come. During the Great Tribulation, before the return of Christ, the image that the Antichrist (this is “the Beast” in Revelation 13), the Beast, the Antichrist will put an image into the Jewish temple and force the godless world to worship. It’s a mess. It’s desecration of the holy things.
Now, how were people to understand what was happening when Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 B.C. and 70 A.D. when the temple was desecrated? These were just, like, events. Right? The Romans came in the Syrians came in. No, they weren’t just events. They were things God had prophesied, had promised, had said what would happen back in the book of Daniel, but if you didn’t read the book of Daniel, you wouldn’t know that.
And the Jews in Jesus’ day wouldn’t have known unless they knew the Scripture. Jesus is now helping them understand the Scripture and how it applies to their current events.
So when we see pandemics and wars and forest fires and hurricanes—and birth pains getting faster and faster, closer together and more intense—the Scripture gives us understanding into what’s happening and how to put the pieces together, how to connect the dots. We’re not just people wandering around in this world by chance. We are connected to the providence of God and to the plan of God, and these things have purpose.
Scripture tells us all we need to know—it doesn’t tell us everything, but it tells us all we need to know—about what’s happening in our world. Get your input, your direction, and your understanding, not from cable news or the Internet, but from the Word of God.
Now, I’m not saying never watch the news. I watch the news. I listen to it. I watch a lot of it, listen to a lot of it. But I get my perspective on it, not from the commentators, not from the pundits, not from the anchors, but from the anchor of God’s Word. That’s what tells me what’s really happening and how it fits into the whole grand redemptive story and plan.
And then, remember that God knows exactly what is going to happen and when. God has a precise sequence and timetable for every event between now and the return of Christ. There are no accidents. There are no happenstances. There’s no chance. God knows who’s going to get elected in the next U.S. presidential election. God knows who’s going to get elected next in your country, wherever you may be. God knows all these things. He’s got a timetable, and He’s working it out according to His will.
But you see this reminder that God knows . . . Let me just read some selective verses here in Mark chapter 13, and you’ll see that there’s timing to all of this.
“When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be . . . then flee to the mountains” (v. 14).
Those days will be days of tribulation. If the Lord had not cut those days short, no one would be saved. But he cut those days short for the sake of the elect, whom he chose (v. 19–20).
Who’s managing the calendar here? Who’s managing what’s happening in the world? The news people are just telling it after it happens. God was telling it before it happened. He knows.
In those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken (v. 24).
The whole creation is going to be destabilized. There will be havoc and pain on earth. While the earth awaits its final redemption, it will suffer great distress and destruction.
Then they will see the Son of Man coming. And he will send out the angels and gather in his elect (v. 26–7).
What’s the major big point here? God is in charge. He’s not caught off guard. He’s not reporting what’s happening. He’s making happen what happens. And even when it seems like everything is spinning out of control, it’s all happening right on schedule, according to His great plan. He is fulfilling His purposes.
So, trust Him. There’s no need to panic. No need to fear. No need to hide.
A woman wrote me a number of years ago in an email about a desperate situation that was going on in her marriage, and I thought it so illustrated this point. She said:
One minute I think I can see God at work in my marriage, the next few days (or weeks) I wonder what ever made me think that! Of course, I know He is. I just have to constantly adjust myself to the fact that He works in millennia, not minutes!
Isn’t that good? I’ve got to remember that.
Well, be content with unanswered questions. That’s another thing Jesus says here. Verse 32:
Now concerning that day or hour, no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son—but only the Father. Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming. . . . Therefore be alert, since you don’t know when the master of the house is coming (vv. 32–33, 35).
Did you get those three words: “You don’t know.” So don’t act like you do, and don’t believe anybody else when they say they do. We don’t have all the answers. We don’t need to have all the answers. We can be content with mystery, with unanswered questions. It is enough that He knows.
Some of you may remember the name of Dallas Holm, who’s been a Christian singer/songwriter for many years. Over the past thirty years, his wife Linda has fought an ongoing battle with cancer. And her husband, Dallas Holm, said in an interview:
Sometimes in our valley and in our sorrow we believe if we just knew what God was doing, that would settle it. I'm not sure that would make any difference. Faith is when you don't know. When it doesn't make sense. When you can't understand, but you trust in God.
Christians aren’t people who know everything. (And Christians who act like they do know everything make people who aren’t Christians not want to be Christians.) We don’t know everything. There is so much we don’t know.
We know that God has given us everything we need to know. And, more importantly, we know that God knows everything there is to know. It’s His timetable, His schedule.
We don’t know when the end of this age will come, when the return of Christ will come. But we know that it will come—that much we know. Jesus has commanded us to be alert and watchful in the meantime and to faithfully do the work He has left for us to do, in the authority and power He has given us, and not to be found sleeping (dull, sluggish) when He returns.
So a final word I would just encourage you with from this passage, and that is this: Keep your eyes on the finish line.
Verse 35: “The master of the house is coming.” He’s coming! We don’t know when, but we know He is—the return of Christ. That means end of the birth pains. The end of the sorrows. The end of the suffering. The end of the persecution. The end of the turmoil. The end of the trials. The end of the tumult. And He will reign forever and ever.
So, in the meantime—turbulent times—right? But as we keep our eyes on the finish line, we’re not alarmed. We’re not in fear. We’re keeping our hearts anchored to His Word. And we’re going to thrive in faith. And we’re going to make Jesus known. We’re going to proclaim the gospel to everyone who will listen and to people who won’t listen. We’re going to keep telling them, “Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming! Jesus is Lord!”
Listen, if you said that in first century Christianity, it was likely to be “off with your head,” because Caesar was lord. And if you said, “Jesus is Lord,” you were a threat to that world system.
Listen, if you say today, “Jesus is Lord,” and you live like you believe it and mean it, you are a threat to this world’s system. But it’s true. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is coming. He is the Master of the house. He is coming. He’s got the whole world in His hands. Until that time of His return, we walk by faith. We persevere. We endure to the end. And we keep our eyes on the finish line. Amen.
Dannah: Amen. I don’t know about you, but I needed to hear that. I needed to have my heart reminded that there is a beautiful finish line, and our Savior is going to cross it for us one day.
We’ve been listening to Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth as she encourages us to trust God in these difficult days.
Does it blow your mind that the King of the universe, the one Nancy’s been imploring us to trust, that He actually humbled Himself and became a human baby? Can’t wrap your mind around it? Well, hold that thought because right now Christmas might seem like it’s a way off, but within a month the election will be over (at least we sure hope it will be!), Thanksgiving dinner will be cleaned up, and we’ll be barreling full-steam ahead towards Christmas.
And as you plan your gift giving and celebrations, don’t forget to make arrangements that will benefit your spiritual life—to slow down and remember the reason for the season. One way you can go deeper is by studying Jesus’ humble first coming. And you can do that by getting a copy of Nancy’s newest devotional, Born a Child and Yet a King.
It’s our thank-you gift for your donation and support of Revive Our Hearts right now. To give, simply visit ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1–800–569–5959.
Now, Nancy recorded this series in front of a very small, socially distanced audience, and after she taught, the recording continued. And some women shared what had spoken to them. Here’s Nancy.
Nancy: So we talked about things, just because they’re impressive doesn’t mean they’re going to last forever.
And then we talked about the need to be alert, be on your guard. Don’t be deceived.
Expect trouble—expect it to get worse and worse. Remember labor pains—they’re coming closer together. They’re getting more intense. They’re getting more frequent. Do you sense that in our world? Doesn’t it seem like labor pains are getting pretty close together? But only the Lord knows how long.
Woman 1: That part about expecting labor pains really spoke to my heart. Number one, I’m from the era where you didn’t get a shot to help you not feel a labor pain. You felt every stinking one of them. And the fact that my sons were the end result of that, when you said, “It’s going to get bad just before the good comes,” I’ve got to stop fussing about the bad and see it as the same good that those awful labor pains were because Jesus is at the other end of that. I know that! I’ve known that for all of my life, but today when you said that, it was the Holy Spirit said, “Did you hear it? Wake up! Listen up, girl. There’s something good coming!”
So thank you for reminding me of something that I should have already been expecting and known.
Nancy: I love that! Jesus is at the end! Beautiful. Someone else?
Woman 2: Something actually that we were talking about is: Know the truth—because there’s so much out there to deceive you. If you’re studying what things are out there that are going to deceive you, you could still be lead astray. But if you know the truth, that is how you can stand—by getting in the Word and staying fixed on that.
Nancy: Yes. Amen.
Dannah: And the new CEO of Life Action Ministries just happened to poke his head in, too. It turns out he’d been eavesdropping in the production studio next door. Here’s Donny Vanker.
Donny Vanker: It’s not often that you hear people warn other Christians and say, “Look, in the end times, we’re not going to be exempt from this kind of suffering.” In fact, Jesus clearly talks about it. For many years, and in many environments, we’re told the opposite: “Oh, we will be pulled out. We will be exempt. You don’t have to worry about those things.”
Here, Jesus is saying (it was great to hear you say that, that Jesus) warned us, and He’s given us that it’s for us to know that it’s not unexpected. It’s not unplanned. It’s not something that’s going to take Him by surprise. It helps give us some confidence when those things happen. So thank you for sharing that.
Nancy: Yes. Amen. Thank you, Donny.
Dannah: Today is the last weekend in October, and we’ve spent some time every Revive Our Hearts program this month crying out to God. Nancy said it often, “Desperate times call for desperate prayers.” I want to thank all the women who’ve lead us to the throne of God here on Revive Our Hearts. I’d like to close our month with one last time of crying out to the Lord. And, of course, we want you to continue doing that all the time, but let’s cry out together one last time.
Father, I do praise You for all the voices, the choir of voices across the globe that have been crying out to You. Thank You for the change that You have brought about in my own heart, that I’m less concerned about my own circumstances and more concerned with the work that You are doing in the kingdom, for the kingdom.
Father, continue to make us women who desire to be a part of the unfolding plan of the rescue of all humanity. Forgive us for the important, but not ultimate, cries for You to fix our circumstances, to stop this pandemic, to fix the political climate in our countries, to help us with our weather disasters, natural disasters.
Lord, those things matter, and the personal crisis inside of these big crisis—the cancer diagnosis, the weakened immune systems. Lord, we cry out to You for those things, but ultimately, Father, I cry out to You to continue to make us women who say, “Yes, Lord! I want to be a part of whatever You are doing to bring Your kingdom to this earth.”
We ask You, Lord, to help us be satisfied and content with Your presence and with trusting You no matter what our circumstances look like. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray this over all of our dear sisters, amen.
Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth wants you to endure all the way to the end. The program is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.
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