Inner Strength for Patience

[Narrator] Churches and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home front. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Singing] Oh Lord, oh what for you have done for us. Hallelujah, we are grateful oh Lord. Baba, baba, baba, baba, baba, ese oh baba. Ese oh, ese oh baba. Baba wa, adupe baba. Oh for your goodness baba, baba, baba, ese oh baba. Baba wa, ese oh. Baba, baba, baba wa adupe baba. [Speaker 1] Our Father, indeed we thank You. To You be glory, to You be honor, to You be praise, to You be adoration. We appreciate You for Your goodness, we appreciate You for Your love, we appreciate You for Your kindness, we appreciate You for Your mercies, we appreciate You for all who You are and all that You are to us. We say blessed be Your holy name in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord our God, as we fellowship together again today, those of us physically here and our brethren online, as we connect together again, Lord we pray that Your Spirit will work within us in the name of Jesus. Lord, we pray that You will grant us light and understanding from the scriptures in the name of Jesus Christ. Our Father, our eyes on You. Let nothing prevail against Your purposes in our lives in Jesus' name. Thank You, eternal Father. Blessed be Your holy name our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. We thank God again that we are here and we want to take the matter from where we left it last week, where we were able to come to look to a large extent into the matter of inner strength. Into the matter of inner strength to face adversity. Inner strength to face adversity when we were looking at our discussion last week. And just for the purpose of reminding ourselves again, I want us to go to where we started from originally as we move on again today to look at inner strength for patience. Inner strength for patience. We have looked at it for persecution. We have looked at this matter for adversity. Today we want to look at it, inner strength for patience. And you remember the reason we are looking at this matter is because except there is inner strength, the believer is likely to faint. The believer is likely to faint. You remember where we started from, Ephesians 3. Ephesians 3 from verse 13. It says, "Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulation for you, which is your glory." Which is your glory. There is a need for them not to lose heart because of the tribulation that Paul was going through, which he called their glory. So that they will not lose heart, Paul then prayed that prayer that led to all of our discussion. He said, "For this reason," verse 14, "I bow my knee to the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man." In the inner man. To be strengthened with might through the Spirit in the inner man. That was something that Apostle Paul was particularly concerned about and he offered that prayer for the church. He was concerned about their not losing heart. And so if anybody will not lose heart in the face of trouble, the person must be strengthened in the inner man by the Spirit of God. Once there is no inner strength, then a man cannot carry on. In the face of tribulation, in the face of trouble, the person would faint. And so that now took us to the various kinds of tribulation that the believers can face. We have looked at persecution. We need to pray to God for inner strength to stand in the face of persecution. The need for boldness. Boldness in the face of persecution. The need not to fear, not to give up. Even in the face of fierce persecution, there must be inner strength. And then we have been able to look at if there are trials, trials and trouble, different kind of trials. That was our concern last week. That if people will not faint, then there is also need for inner strength. Today, we want to look at another kind of things that troubled people. Because we are looking at tribulation, say they will not faint in this tribulation. Another dimension of tribulation that we want to look at again today is this place of waiting, patience. Bible says "patient in tribulation." If you look at the book of Romans, look at Romans chapter 12. Romans 12:12. Are you there? What did the Bible say? New King James says, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer." This aspect of when you have to wait for God, to wait. You want to wait for God for something. You need inner strength to be able to wait for God. Inner strength to wait, waiting, patience. Bible says when certain things are happening and it looks as if "Ah, when will God appear?" Sometimes when you wait and wait and wait, it looks like there is no answer. I am telling you, except if there's inner strength, if there is no inner strength, I am telling you, you will faint. You will faint when you have to wait. And before we go on to begin to look at all of that, I first want to establish some things about waiting, about patience, about this need of patience. Can we look at Hebrews chapter 10? Hebrews 10 around verse 35, 36. 35, 36. I may read it through to 38. That is a very popular scripture. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 35, 36, 37, 38. Now what did the Bible say? New King James Bible says, "Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward." Why? Verse 36, what did the Bible say? "For you have need of patience. For you have need of patience so that after you have done the will of God," not before you have done it, do you get it? After you have done God's will, you may obtain the promise. Now between doing God's will and obtaining the promise, what is the ladder? Patience. The connecting wire between doing God's will and obtaining the promise, what connects them is patience. So the Bible says don't cast away your confidence. Your confidence that God is going to come. Your confidence that God will do what He said. Your confidence that God will do according to His promise. Your confidence that God will not faint. Your confidence that God will not forsake you. Your confidence that God will not leave you. Your confidence that God is your Father. Your confidence that God is faithful. Don't cast away that confidence. Because honestly, when it comes to waiting for God, I must confess to you, it can sometimes be very troublesome. If you call the saints to come and talk about this thing, call different believers, each saint will tell you that ah, if you cannot stand before God, you cannot walk with God. There is a place of waiting for God. Now to now bring it out, the Bible now says, look at verse 37, 38. What did the Bible say? "For yet a little while, He who is coming will come and will not tarry. But now the just shall live by faith." So what is that faith talking about? What is that faith referring to? The confidence in waiting. The confidence in waiting. I'm trying to establish to you that you see when it comes to the matter of God, the Bible establishes that there is the place of patience. There is the place of waiting. But sometimes when we are waiting, it is possible you faint unless God strengthens you where? In your inner man. There must be a working inside you. If that working is not there, after some time instead of waiting for God, you will withdraw. And when you draw back, you draw back to perdition. Because once you cast away your confidence, you can't receive your reward. Now another scripture, just to try to establish those things. Look at Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6 again. We are looking at Hebrews chapter 6. This matter of patience and faith. Patience and faith. That's what we are trying to establish. Look at it. I will read from verse 9. I will read through to verse 18. Just to draw our attention to this matter of patience. You must pray for inner strength for patience. To wait and wait for God. Inner strength to wait for God even when things look as if things are hopeless. That was what I said the very first week we started, these dimensions of waiting. Now look at it. It says, "But beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you. Yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown towards His name, in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister. And we desire that each one of you should show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end." Why? Why did He say you must show this thing to the end? What did He say? "That you do not become sluggish." Lazy. "That you do not become sluggish, lazy, slothful. But what are we to imitate? Follower of them." King James says, "imitators of those who through faith and patience did what?" Faith and patience. Those two things, they work together. So the Bible says we should not become sluggish, we need to become followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise. And look at it. Verse 13 downward. "For when God made a promise to Abraham because He could not swear by no greater one, He swore by Himself, saying, 'Surely blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply you.' And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." After he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. But it added something here about confidence. It says, "Thus," verse 16, "for men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them the end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heir of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold on this hope set before us." What did the Bible say? Can the counsel of God be altered? Can it be altered? It says God wanting to show that His counsel cannot be altered, His plan, His purposes for our life cannot be altered. God wanting to show it. Ordinarily if people want to swear, what will they do? They swear by something higher than them. When you want to swear, you swear by something greater. So who is greater than God? Nobody. So when God now wants to swear, what did God do? He had to swear by Himself. That "Look, I swear to you Abraham, that this thing, this promise, will definitely be done." So the Bible now says that we should get something clear. That promise to the heir, we can be sure that it can never change because we have two things. What are the two things? Number one, God said I will do it. Is that not enough? God cannot lie. But God wanting to show that "Look, I want to confirm it to you that I cannot change it." God now swore. He committed. And that's why I tell people, the counsel of God, His purposes about our life, except God ceases to be God, that is when they will not come to pass. The counsels of God, they are so certain. They are so sure. And so Paul said we have confidence. If what you are saying is that the person you are waiting for, the person you are waiting for to perform a promise is God, if it is God that you are waiting for, then you don't need to worry. If it is human being that you are waiting for, you need to worry. But if who you are waiting for concerning your life is God, if on a matter where you put your anchor, your anchor is on God and that anchor you are waiting, "Lord I am waiting, Jesus wants to do it, He has promised He is going to do it and I am waiting." If that anchor is God, you don't need to be afraid. Because He will definitely do what He says He will do. But between obtaining and the promise, there is what? A connecting wire called patience. And if you don't understand that, you will not see the need to pray for inner strength to be patient. What it takes to be patient is inner strength. You must be strengthened within. There must be something inside you. There must be something that is beyond the physical. Because inner strength is exactly talking about something within, something invisible. That is what the Bible was talking about Moses, when the Bible says that Moses did not consider his becoming the heir of Pharaoh nor the pleasure of Egypt, but by faith he was able to see. He was seeing something. He was seeing beyond the natural. He was able to see something. That is what you call inner strength. Inner strength is something you must beg God for. Inner strength is a capacity to see the reality of God beyond the physical reality that you are in. I take that again. I said inner strength is a capacity to see the reality of God beyond the reality of the present physical situation that you are inside. There is a reality of God. Again, in talking about patience, this matter of patience, before we look at biblical example, look at what God says in 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Look at what the Bible says in that place concerning God. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9. Look at what the Bible says in verse 9. King James says, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as men count slackness, but is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but at all should come to repentance." Another translation? "The Lord isn't really being slow about His promise as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed but wants everyone to repent." Do you get that at all? Now what is that telling us about God and time? About God and performance? When man is looking at God, how do you look at God? God is slow. God is not fast. God is slow. It says "but you see the Lord is not slack concerning His promise as men count slackness." God isn't late with His promise as some as some measure lateness. Do you know why? It's because the way God looks at time is different from the way we look at time. God is not slow. He looks as if He is slow, but God is not a slow person. That is why you will notice that even from general observation, people have come to a point to say that God's time is the best. That the time God chooses to do a thing is the best time. He's telling you that God is not slow. The way people think of, it looks as if God is ah, something hey, but God is not slow. It is because God is working towards a purpose and that purpose is beyond us. You know one thing? We know a part of the whole. We know a part, a small part of the whole thing. But God knows the whole thing in all of its parts. Do you get that? The matters of our life, what is happening with our life, we only know some part of it. We don't understand the whole. But you know one thing about God? He understands the whole in all of its parts. And so when God is acting, God is working from which angle? The angle of everything that we don't understand, everything God puts together that He is working with. Some He showed us and some He did not show us. Everything God is putting on, He is working towards something. But you know your problem? You are seeing just a part of it. And so you are saying, "Ah, eh, oh, ah, God, God." And in that situation, if God doesn't grant you inner strength by His Spirit, you will faint. Honestly, you will faint. It takes inner strength. And you need to pray God for inner strength. We'll soon look at some biblical example to illustrate this thing quickly. And then another thing about this matter of understanding this place of patience, you will see it again in Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6 around verse 9. What did it say? "And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. In due season we shall reap if we faint not." Another one? "So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up." Now please, when you look at it, it's that word I'm looking for, "give up." When we talk about give up, what is it telling you about? "I mean ah, if you don't give up." What is it telling you about God and the right time? Is it something that is quick or something that delays? Something that delays. "I am coming, but don't give up. I'm coming, make sure you don't give up." What is that telling you already? If I say that "Look, wait for me, I will come. But keep waiting, don't give up, I'm coming. Make sure you don't give up." What does that tell you? It tells you that... and that is why you look at it, the Bible will say even if He comes either late in the night, in the middle of the night, or in the early hours of the morning, blessed is that servant that He finds waiting. Because the coming of God, the timing of God, His ways of doing things, from human calculation, from human perspective, in some things and some times, it looks like ah. That is why somebody made a conclusion, he made this statement. He said when you pray, "Father in the name of Jesus I want this thing done," and immediately God answers you, they call that a quick faith. He said but when you pray, "Father in the name of Jesus," you pray and pray and pray and you keep praying, keep praying, keep praying, keep praying, and you pray, pray, pray, looks as if God is not answering. He said it's an answer. He said God is saying wait. I am coming, wait. He said in life, don't you realize that in some things you give your children immediately, in some things you say wait? And he said sometimes you may now pray and pray and pray and pray and pray, you pray all manners of prayer with all your zeal and God will answer "No." Of course it's teaching you trust. That if He says no to something, no matter how much you ask for it, you can trust Him that He knows the best thing for you. But what are we going to see in these things is that you will notice that the Bible is saying that there is the place of patience in working with God. Say "do not be weary." Don't become weary in doing what is right because you will only reap if you faint not. Don't be tired of doing it. It means it is possible sometimes that you do what He said, do it, do it, do it, do it, and it looks like there is no reward. And at those times, what will keep you going is strength in the inner man. If God doesn't strengthen you in the inner man, you cannot stay. That is why Paul was praying for the church. Say "I am praying that God strengthens you by His Spirit, He will give you strength in your inner man." Another thing that points to patience in waiting is this word of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Luke chapter 18 verse 1. Men ought always to pray and not to faint. Then He now gave a parable of a widow that was going to a judge and was asking for justice and the judge did not answer the widow. He was waiting, waiting and eventually the judge answered. Jesus now said okay, look at the ungodly judge, he answered the woman. Will God not answer His saints, even though He bears long with them? Even though He bears long, even though it looks as if He is slow. You know, it is because of these things sometimes that you find people believing more in traditional powers. That ah, this one will just come and act immediately. But you see God is not slow. God is not a slow person. It is because, like I said, we should realize that God makes all things beautiful in His time. And that is the other scripture I want us to see there, Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Ecclesiastes 3. He makes all things beautiful in His time. He makes all things beautiful in His own time. You will find that in verse 11. But if you look at it from verse 1, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the earth. A time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, a time to pluck what is planted, a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to break down, a time to build up, a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, a time to dance, a time to cast away stone, a time to gather stones together, a time of embrace, a time to refrain from embracing, a time to gain, a time to lose, a time to keep, a time to throw away, a time to tear, a time to sew, a time to keep silence, a time to speak, a time to love, a time to hate, a time of war, a time of peace. What profit has the worker from that which he labors?" I have seen, please note this, "I have seen the God-given task which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made," look at it, verse 11, "He has made everything beautiful in its time." I'm talking about the matter of why we must pray for inner strength in patience. To be able to wait for God. He has a time that He wants to do it. And you can be sure that He will do it. But it is important to know that His timing, His ways of doing things, they are not like our own. I will give now three biblical examples that will lead us to the place of prayer. The first one is the very popular one, the case of Lazarus, Martha and Mary. Lazarus was sick. And they sent to Jesus Christ that Lazarus was sick, that He should come. What did He say? That's John 11. "This sickness is not unto death, but that the Son of Man might be glorified." Is that not? Jesus did not go. He waited. And I want to ask you, you went to quickly call the shepherd to come and He said the sickness is not unto death, I am coming. And the pastor did not go until after you have done the burial ceremony. Will you call that a good pastor? But was that not what Jesus did? Was that not what Jesus did? After they have buried him, Jesus started coming. "Okay, you called me that he is sick, okay, where is he?" And when He was coming, who met Him? The two sisters. What did they say? They said, "If you have been here, he would not have died." So for them, when was Jesus coming? He was coming at a time that it is late. But what I am saying is that if you look at it humanly speaking, somebody was sick, they came to call you, you did not come. The sickness went and went and went until he died. Now is it not late? It was late. If Jesus came before he was buried, then he would wake him up. If before he was buried, that was when Jesus came, they would have said ah, at least He woke him up. You remember that before He raised some people, Jesus woke them up during His ministry. Jesus did not show up. Jesus waited until he was buried. Now after you have buried a man, let us be sincere, how many of us still have hope? If we have buried somebody as a burial ceremony, how many of us still believe that God will go and raise him up again? Is there anybody that will believe that again? In fact if you are still believing that, if for example you have a revelation and you are believing, "Ah, I know that Jesus is coming and He is going to make us remove all the sand, He'll tell us to open the coffin, Jesus said He's coming and He's there." At that point they will take you to a psychiatric hospital. Am I not correct? But do you know that's exactly what Jesus did? What I am saying is that the best time of God can be when all hope is done humanly speaking. I mean when humanly speaking there is no more hope. There is no reason why you should hope. Hallelujah. You know what just occurred to me? When Jesus met Mary and Martha and they said, "If You had been here, my brother would not have died," what did Jesus tell them? So I want to ask you, by that statement what was Jesus saying? Are you seeing that I'm trying to make you see something? That from the way God works in His timing is that if He had told them when they came to Him, what did He tell them? "This sickness is not unto death." But by the time He is coming, to them the sickness was unto death because he had been buried. For Jesus, what did He want them to believe? What He had said. So what was He expecting them to confess when He came? "It is not... we have buried him, but we know it's not unto death." But how many human beings can really do that? So you notice that when Jesus was coming, just like many of us will do, they were actually fighting Jesus. "You are just coming now, you should have come earlier, the word You said didn't come to pass." What they were trying to say that if You had come earlier, then Your word would have been true. But as it is now, Your word cannot be true. He is dead. You know He said it's not unto death and now the man have died and they buried him. So why will you call Jesus a prophet? That His word did not come to pass. But when Jesus made that statement... I'm trying to show you something about God and this issue of why you must pray for inner strength. When Jesus said this thing is not unto death, what was in the mind of Jesus? Is that he would die and then He would raise him up. But for them, what was in their mind? That before he will eventually die, Jesus would have come. I'm showing you why we are talking about, why you must pray for inner strength. Because many times the ways of God are higher than our ways. His thoughts are what? Higher than our thoughts. As we think, God is thinking differently. When He said it was not unto death, in their mind before Lazarus will eventually die, Jesus would have come. I show you another one again about hopelessness, another popular one. That one is in John chapter 11, the one we just made reference to. The other one I want us to look at is that of Ruth. The book of Ruth, you can read the whole book of Ruth, chapter 1 to the end. I'll just pick the things from there and then we will go ahead to pray. Why you must pray for inner strength. You know the story of Ruth, Ruth chapter 1, 2, 3. In chapter 1 you knew what happened. That was when Elimelech and Naomi, they left the city to the land of the Moabites. When they got there, things turned around. What turned around? Their fortune turned around to the negative. What happened? The two young men who had taken a wife, their father died, the two young men died, remaining just the two wives, Ruth and who? Ruth and Orpah. Those were the two Moabites that were now with Naomi. So at that point, Naomi now heard that bread has returned to the house of bread. That was Jerusalem, Bethlehem. So she felt ah, why am I dying here in the land of Moab? Let me return back to the land of Bethlehem where there is bread. Now Naomi took her journey. Ruth and Orpah, they started the journey with Naomi. When they were going, they got to a stage that Naomi said something to the two of them. And when she said something to the two of them, the two of them still said they will not... Let's look at that chapter 1. Verse 8. "And Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, 'Go, return each to her mother's house. The Lord deal kindly with you as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you will find rest, each in the house of her husband.' So she kissed them and they lifted up their voice and wept. And they said to her, 'Surely we will return with you to your people.'" Both of them. They were following the story. What did she do? "Go back, don't worry, you don't need to go back." But they said no, they will go with him. Then Naomi now raised a matter in verse 11. I am talking about... I am trying to show you, I've showed you the case of Lazarus that the purpose of God, the timing of God was situated in hopelessness. I'm trying to show you again another one, why we are talking about, why you must pray for inner strength. Because He makes all things beautiful in His time. And because His ways are higher than our ways, many times or sometimes or most times, His purposes could be situated where? Inside hopelessness. For Lazarus, where was His purpose? Inside hopelessness. Lazarus must die but have been buried before the timing of God will come. And ordinarily, as I told you, unless God give a person inner strength, at that point nobody can still be hopeful. Am I correct? Nobody can still be hopeful. I doubt, even if I was the person, if I was Mary and Martha, if I was one of those people that God told Jesus told him that your brother will not die and we have buried him and we've done burial ceremony, when He showed up I would not be thinking of what He said again. Yet the purpose of God was at that time. Look at this case of Ruth again, similar thing. But Naomi said, "Turn back my daughters, verse 11, why will you go with me? Are there still sons in my womb?" She is old, past menopause. "That they may be your husband? Turn back my daughters, go, I am too old to have a husband." When a woman is already old in her old age, do you see people say they will take her as a wife? No. "I am too old to have a husband. But," she raised another thing, "even if I should say I have hope, let's say it happens that somebody is interested in me that he wants to marry me, listen, I say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear son, the sisters, the daughters-in-law, they were young." "Let's say a miracle happens and I give birth to a child now. How many years will it take that child to grow?" When it's not a ready-made child in the market. How many years will it take that child to grow from childhood to manhood? By the time those children will become men, where will those daughters-in-law be? And who would, even if your mother keeps a wife for you like that when you were born, an adult girl of 25 was waiting for you when you were born, by the time you now grow to become 30 and say "This person have been waiting for you for the past 30 years," by then she is 55. How many of us are ready for such brides? That is what Naomi was saying. "Would you wait for them till they are grown? Would you refrain yourself from having husband? You'll be waiting for a baby that was born today? Will you be waiting?" I don't even think there'll be a man who is already fully grown that'll be waiting for a baby that was born today to grow up so he can marry. But this even the other way, women wanting to wait for men. Now she said "No my daughters, for it gives me very much for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me." The Bible says in verse 14, "Then they lifted up their voices and wept again." They had wept the first one, but they still went with him. But at this second stage here, Naomi had given them the reality of the reality. There is a reality on ground. "If you follow me, you are following me into what? At your risk but at what? It's a hopeless situation to follow me. Because it will mean you will die not having a somebody to marry." And Naomi is certain, she's looking at it, why is she speaking this way? No Israelite would take a Moabite wife except those who backslide. But no Israel would be in Israel and then take a Moabite for a wife. Naomi understood that that look, the way things are going does not favors you in any way. There is no hope in this thing. So when Naomi raised that matter, when she made it very clear to them, what now happened? The Bible says they lifted up their voices and wept, and Orpah, Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. Orpah, what did she quickly do? "Ah, this matter is not clear to me like this, she just cleared it to me now." Do you understand? "I didn't understand it that it is this... ah, ah, there is no way here, there's no way." So, "mother-in-law, may God be with you, may God guide you" and quickly, she did what? Let me go to where there is hope. But I want to ask you, where did God situate the timing of Ruth? Is it not beyond the hopelessness? The timing of Ruth was... I remember when I was a child, there is this... something something the Genie, something Genie, I was a child with them. If they want that thing to come out from inside the kettle... I don't know if you people watch those things when I was very small. What's the call? They will say some say something, then they will now say "To the land beyond all hopes, let the Genie... the Genie will now appear." What I'm saying is that the place where God situate hope was the land that was beyond all hopes. Where God placed Ruth's glory, where her glory was, was for her to patiently be able to wait even when it looked hopeless. There was no hope. Yet, it is after Ruth must have passed through that place that ordinarily by all human reasoning she should not pass through, she should not pass through. It is after she must have passed that place that God placed her timing for glory. But I want to ask you, please look at something which is where we want to close with. And she said, Naomi was speaking, about this matter of inner strength, inner strength, why you must beg God for this thing. Why you must pray God to be strengthened continually in these different dimensions, for persecution, for patience to wait, to be able to hope. You need it. You need it. There are specific things in my own personal life that it was because I... I still remember this very particular case when I was an undergraduate. If not that there was an inner strength, but that strength came from God, I would have missed it in that matter and I don't know what it would have become. I wrote eight courses as an undergraduate in my 200 level, move to 300. When I came back, they could not find two of the courses. And normally as at that time, once the semester starts running, after a month you must quickly register for that course or else if you don't register, you cannot register again, it's going to be a carryover. So what they normally do is that if you don't see your result, you register for that course to write it. If later time you now find it, you now go and take add and drop form, you will now drop that course again if later they find the result. Do you get what I'm trying to bring out? I wrote those courses and I am waiting for the result. I want to show you something, something that happened. When we resumed, I went to the scoreboard, I saw six courses, I could not find two, missing. But I know I did those exams. I waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited. A month started running into the semester. People started telling me that I need to do something fast. But the problem is this, why people don't like to take that registry, if you register, when you later want to drop, it's always a complex thing. Even when they find the result, if you don't write that new one you registered for, it may become a carryover again for you. So everyone is just afraid to register again. I was waiting. When it got to some point, my friends now came to me, colleagues. They said look, Oyewole, you better act fast. The result that you are looking for, they are sure that the result is in the script room. I've gone to the script room to meet the man in charge. The man said that he does not have time. So what others expect me to do was that they said look, if you want the man to help you look for it, you need to bribe him. Go and bribe this man to do this thing for you. I said I don't give bribe. When it now got to about one and a half month into the semester, I have not registered and I'm not taking add and drop form. That day it was a afternoon. Suddenly something just came inside me. That's what I'm talking about, we must pray for God to strengthen us in our inner man. Something just came inside me, what just came inside me like fire was "out of the strong will come out sweetness, out of the eater will come forth meat." So my friends came to me again and said "Oyewole, are you not going to do this?" I said no. "Out of the strong will come out sweetness, out of this eater will come forth meat." You know what they did? They laughed. "What is the relationship between what is happening to you and this Bible verse you are quoting?" But the thing kept coming. So I kept confessing it. "Out of the strong will come out sweetness, out of the eater will come forth meat." I said that thing throughout that evening. I didn't go and bribe the man. By the following morning, that same thing again just carried me, that I should go and meet the lecturer who took the course. I just went in to the lecturer I said "Sir, I wrote this course, so so and so and so course and I need my, I have not seen my result." Say "Are you sure?" I said "Yes sir." He said "Okay, what you will do, check those scripts, Sociology department," said "check there." I checked and checked and checked and checked, it was not there. Say "Are you sure you wrote this?" I said "I wrote it sir." You know what happened? That same thing that said "out of the strong will come out sweetness," that move, that inner move, that's why I'm saying look, except God carry us, you cannot follow God. I'm telling you. We need God to follow God. That same thing that carried me that afternoon, as if the thing was like a engine working inside me. I just looked like this, the thing said I should look, I should pick that pack of script. I just went there, I said "Sir, let me check this place." He said "Okay, okay, okay, you can." That was not my department, another department. I just carried it. The first script that I brought out was my script. I just took the script, I said "Sir, look at it." Say "Ah, that is your script? Where's your ID card?" He checked ID card and the number on it. "Oh, 2974, oh okay, okay, okay, ah so you passed, this is a B, 68." Go and give the man. I left there and went to the second one. That day, the result came out that morning after all hopes was done. I'm talking about what? Inner strength. Look at what Ruth said. For you to know that there is something working inside Ruth. But Ruth said, "Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you. For wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. The Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death part you and I." She was speaking from where? She was speaking from something that transcend human reasoning. As we close today, I want you to pray. I don't know what Ruth would have become had she not done that thing after this incident. Have you heard about Orpah again? That is how some people enter into the night of their lives, their path was not known anymore. Because the timing of God was after a hopeless situation, but the hopelessness that they are looking at made them to go back. They did not wait. They didn't know that after that dark tunnel, there is light. I want you to pray. I want you to talk to God that God, just as Paul prayed, Father strengthen me by Your Spirit with strength in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in me by faith. Lord, strengthen me. Strengthen me. You make all things beautiful in Your time. Everything You have set in place and You have made them beautiful. Everything about my life, You have set them in place and You have made them beautiful. Whatsoever is looking as if it is not beautiful now, it is because You are yet coming. Lord God Almighty, Lord God Almighty, inner strength to wait. Particularly Lord, because Your ways are higher than my ways, Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts. Your ways are windy. Hope, light, restoration, they are constantly with You. Lord God Almighty, Lord God Almighty, inner strength. Strengthen me in my inner man. Strengthen me in my inner man to be able to wait for God. Strengthen me in my inner man to be able to wait on God. Waiting on God and waiting for God. Waiting on God and waiting for God. Lord, strengthen in my inner man Lord, strengthen me. Strengthen me. When it look as if Your working, the things You are doing with my life is looking as if it is hopeless, it is looking as if it is confusing. Oh Lord God Almighty, oh Lord, lift me to that rock that is higher than high. Lift me to that rock that is higher than high. Oh hear my cry, oh Lord. Attend unto my prayer. Oh from the ends of the earth will I cry unto Thee. And when my heart is overwhelmed, oh please lead me to the rock that is higher than high. Lord, when my heart is overwhelmed, when my heart is overwhelmed, when my heart is overwhelmed, Lord please lead me to the rock that is higher than high. Lord, when my heart is overwhelmed, when situation look confusing and perplexing, Lord lead me to this rock that is higher than me. For You are my rock. You are my rock. You are my rock. Rock of Ages cleft for me. Rock of Ages cleft for me. Rock of Ages cleft for me. Rock of Ages cleft for me. When my heart is overwhelmed, oh Rock of Ages cleft for me. Oh Rock of Ages cleft for me. Open up for me. Lord lead me to the rock that is higher than me. Lead me to the rock, lead me to the rock when my heart is overwhelmed. Oh Rock of Ages cleft for me. Oh Rock of Ages cleft for me. Rock of Ages, Rock of Ages, Rock of Ages. Lord Jesus, You are that rock. You are that rock that follow them. You are that rock that follow them. You are that rock that follow them. You are that rock that follow them. And our rock, our rock is an eternal rock. You are God, oh Lord, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. Oh oh Lord, when our heart is overwhelmed, please lead us to the rock that is higher than us. Rock of Ages cleft for me. Rock of Ages cleft for me. Can you talk to God in that manner? Oh Rock of Ages, whenever my heart is overwhelmed, oh Rock of Ages cleft for me. Rock of Ages cleft for me. Whenever my heart is overwhelmed, whenever I seem to be swallowed up by my situation and my circumstance, Rock of Ages, Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Thank You, blessed Father. Blessed be Your holy name our God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let me ask that Comfort to close this meeting for us. [Speaker 2] Thank You because You are faithful and true. Thank You so much because Your word is true. We thank You, we bless Your name for the way You have come to us today. Father, accept our thanks in Jesus' name. We are praying for this word that You have spoken to us, let it profit in our lives in Jesus' name. Lord, where it seems so God there is hopelessness, help us to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Help us to see clearly, oh God, through Your eyes in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your son that You have used again tonight. We are asking the Lord, in blessing You will bless him. You will renew his strength and You cause him to see clearly. Thank You Lord for hearing us pray. As we go home, please take us home safely and help us to meditate upon this word that You have spoken until it becomes flesh in us to the glory and to the honor of Your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. [Narrator] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development and mission aid. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday 5:00 PM, adolescent and singles club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, marriage forum second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM, family life seminars, regular school outreaches and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, Ile-Ere community, opposite Glory Filling Station along Ijede Road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 080-338-611-36, 070-336-138-48. God bless you all.