God's Sovereignty Is My Sanity (Video) — Shane Idleman

Resting in God's Sovereignty Amid Coming Trials

Situations. Some of us are going to be more affected by what's to come in America. Others not as much. As I often say, the same storm, different boats. But we can all rest in God's sovereignty. And I want to talk to you about that this morning.

Christians Shine Through Persecution

I want to just start this sermon, God's sovereignty is my sanity, with a quote of the month. I heard, why are you taking me, the person was praying to God, why are you taking me through deep waters? Does anyone feel like that?

Why are you taking me through deep waters? And God responded to them, because your enemy can't swim. And we have to remember that this is where Christians shine. This is where we shine. This is, most of the church has known persecution for 2 ,000 years.

Has known what we're seeing now, what we get so upset at, the church has known. God's sovereignty is this, he has full authority, full control, and he has the right to do whatever he chooses. Full sovereignty.

He sits under no king. Nobody tells him what to do. Nobody governs God. Nobody changes his plan. And we need to be reminded of that now on a weekly basis, I believe. And the reason this type of topic is difficult, is because many of us have been very comfortable.

Very comfortable. We haven't faced much persecution. We haven't been challenged in many areas. And so when it comes, we cry out, where are my rights? And I'm all for God-given rights. Amen? That's how the nation was started.

But if we get, if we're so concerned about our rights, and put that above, God, what do you want? What is your sovereignty? What do you, what can I rest in you? No, it's about my right. Sometimes we have to put those rights down.

Not completely. Not laying down the First Amendment, Second, I mean, the First Amendment is vitally important. Freedom of speech. That's a God-given right, that we should be able to do that. So there's a, there's a need sometimes to fight for those things.

But when we, when it becomes all about our rights, and we forget that sometimes God calls us to surrender. God calls us sometimes to lay down our rights and, and not be so bombastic and arrogant in certain things.

Because you don't just capitulate. You don't just lay down and become a doormat. You know, you stand up for what is right. You fight for the unborn. You fight for things that are right. You put godly people in positions of leadership.

And, and you do all these things. But at the end of the day, we have to make sure that God's kingdom is the focus. But it's been exhausting. It's been exhausting when you see evil get away with evil. It's been exhausting when you see the unrighteousness is being elevated.

The, the wicked freely prance about as, as wickedness is praised throughout the land, Psalm says. And you see shenanigans taking place. You see as horrific it was as at the Capitol. And an embarrassment.

We totally condemn it. There was some instigation going on. There's some things going on in the back end that, that you'll hopefully come out soon. But now, who knows? I mean, Hunter Biden's laptop is no longer an issue.

And who knows what else is no longer an issue? I mean, everything's being pushed underneath the rug. And, and you might see this time where evil, it begins to really dominate. But that is when I believe the church can be even stronger.

And I'm gonna explain that in just a minute. So I'm very encouraged because God's sovereignty is my sanity. This isn't psychological babble. This isn't like just positive thinking. This is the truth that Almighty God reigns on the throne.

No enemy will stop him. No political figure will outrule him. God is God and he will be God until the day we all perish. And so what is the definition of sovereignty? You might wonder, what is, what do you mean sovereignty?

Sovereignty means God is in full control. He has full authority and he has the right to do whatever he chooses. Bottom line, plain and simple. That's, that's, I gave you just tons of theology in a sentence.

Sovereignty is God is in control. So here's the problem. When God's sovereignty is going this way, my plans are going this way. But I thought this, I wanted this. I felt this. Isn't this best for the church?

And then God's sovereignty doesn't line up with that. And that can actually lead to depression if we're not careful. It can lead to confusion, fear, anxiety. How many people are going to seriously question their faith?

Oh, it's happening big time. Big time. People are questioning their faith saying what's going on. I'm still getting emails of people saying, Shane, you've lost faith. You've lost hope. What's wrong with you?

Trump will win on Wednesday. Well, okay, maybe I should have, I should have went in these waters. But there's, there's a website out there that said the inauguration has been canceled. He's got it. I'm like, well, you better check your sources because that's the only website who's saying that.

All the other ones, as much as I desired that, as much as I fought for that, as much as I, I thought, you know, that was going to happen. So how many people are going to fall away? Because we trusted in what we thought was best versus in what God is doing.

And it's going to make sense in a minute there. I know this is irritating. This whole two months has been irritating for many people. Somebody asked me how I was doing. I said, I am beyond angry, but I am peaceful.

I am so irritated, but I'm filled with joy. So you have this, this battle within. And I felt like Jeremiah, Oh God, why do the wicked prosper? Why do the wicked prosper? Habakkuk wrote that as well in Habakkuk.

He said, why are the wicked prospering? And, and he told Habakkuk, Hey, write it down on the table. So when, when, when I finally speak my truth and I judge them, those who will read it will know that I am the God in heaven.

Though the vision is yet for an appointed time, it will speak. My word will go forth. God's word will always hold its ground. When it's not God's time, you cannot force it. And when it is his time, you cannot stop it.

So this has been a very difficult season for Shane Eidelman to get positioned into God's sovereignty, right? You had to go through all the emotions of anger and frustration. And when you can censor like that, where does it stop?

Where does it stop? Our website hosting company? Oh, we don't like this conservative church. Boom, done. PayPal. We don't like your giving. Boom, done. It's just, it's just, it's just right in our face.

So we have to rest in God's sovereignty because we have faith in God, right? What is faith? Faith is the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for. So I can't see what's going on, but God does.

So I trust in him. And this is great comfort to the Christian, but it's great comfort. Great comfort knowing that God is in control. I can go to sleep at night and all those nights that my kids forget to lock the front door and I wake up in the morning, go out.

Oh, wasn't that nice? I rest in God. Or you ever put the key in the door and you realize it's still outside the car. They could have took your car too. And so resting in God's sovereignty, there's, there's just, just so much joy in that.

If you get your mind wrapped around that, because I get fearful and anxious, and then I just get back to God's sovereignty and taking those thoughts captive to the obedience. That's why your mind is the battlefield.

Your mind is the battlefield right now. That's why they're going after your mind with fake news. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the ringing of your mind by watching Fox News and CNN.

By the word of God, that's the only source of strength. And I've got come to a point now even in saying, I don't have all the answers. I don't know if that's true. I don't know if that's true. I don't know why that I don't, but I know that God is true.

Because there's so many theories floating out there, isn't there? There's so many things going on from vaccines to the global reset to the deep state to conspiracy theories to Q and all this stuff is just like mind boggling.

And I've noticed those people focus on all those things are rarely focused on God's word. They lack stability and they get mad at me often because I challenged. I'm sick of all that stuff, aren't you?

I want to know what God's word has to say. God reigns. He has not vacated his throne is the definition. I like what Spurgeon said. I'm going to paraphrase whatever turmoil and rebellion there may be beneath the clouds.

The eternal king sits above and all supreme serenity and everywhere he is master. Let his foes rage as they may. They cannot stop him. And I love one of the prophets gave an example of though the waves are raging.

Have you ever seen those waves? I mean, they look, I've seen guys, uh, surfing 60, 70 foot waves. It's just the, and they're coming in. They're massive, but then they turned to foam. They're nothing. And the prophet said, why do the nations rage or why the oceans roar against God?

Who is going to stop God Almighty? So we trusting his sovereignty. Thank God. But guess what? We have a responsibility with sovereignty. I gave this analogy, but it'd be like my son saying, I can say, son, go get a job.

He says, no dad, I'm trusting God's sovereignty. True, right? Let me put my foot up on the TV. Just watch TV. Go, go do some. I'm trusting in God's sovereignty. Go do the, I'm just trusting God's sovereignty.

Everybody's still on their new year's resolutions kick, right? Health and weight loss. I'm trusting in God's sovereignty as I go to Krispy Kreme. There's responsibility. God's sovereignty requires responsibility.

How many times in the Bible do we hear or see the word, if in the Bible, if you seek me with all of your heart, you'll find me. If my people humble themselves and pray, if you turn from your wicked way or in revelation, even when the judgment of God is falling out, if you cry out to me, if you call upon the name of the Lord, Judah, Israel, actually before they were broken up in Southern Northern kingdoms, he said, Israel, the whole nation of Israel, I will bless you if you follow me.

And so we see there's a sovereignty we can trust in, but we will have moral responsibility in that sovereignty. I should probably clarify for those, maybe you're new. I love our nation. I love godly leaders.

I love godly legislation. I think it's important for the church to be involved in the political process. It's one area that God has given the church, the family, and government. Government is his idea.

God created government. Why? To govern the affairs of men, to be a tear to those who do evil. And so we want to, we want godly legislation in all these areas. But something interesting, I believe, is happening in our nation.

National Judgment and Isaiah's Call to Repentance

I want to talk to you about that. Let me just give you one example, Isaiah 118 through 20. You know that the verse, come now, let us reason together. Have you heard that before? A lot of apologetics ministries use that.

They'll say, let us reason together. In other words, sit down, let's think about this, let's talk about this. So come, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, it's just red, it's death, it's crimson, the crimson blood, it's terrible, they shall be white as snow.

Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. And then you can imagine Israel saying, oh, thank God, doesn't that sound great? Well, we got to keep reading. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat of the good of the land.

But if you refuse and you rebel, you will be devoured by the sword for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. And when God says something, you cannot reverse it, you cannot manipulate it. So many people think they can manipulate God's word.

I'm not gonna listen. I'll just wait. Eventually, he'll give up. No, he won't. He's got eternity. That's why we call it absolute truth. When God sends truth in motion, you cannot change it. Now, there are times where the Bible says some translations you have, they'll say God repented.

Really what that word means in the Hebrew language is when it uses it, I believe more is God changed his mind. That's where we get some hope as well. Because he said, Jonah, go tell Nineveh, that greatest Syrian capital that I'm going to judge at 40 days, I'm going to judge it.

And they repented. And God restrained his hand of judgment for about 150 years. And then he told Hezekiah, put your house in order. You're going to die. And Hezekiah pleaded with him and he changed his mind.

Wicked kings were going to be judged and God would change because of the condition of the people. So that's why the sovereignty is complex, because some things are clearly written. He told Jeremiah, don't even pray for the people anymore.

Can you imagine that? Can you imagine that if we are hit with the weight of God saying don't even pray for this nation anymore, the judgment hand of God is falling. Don't waste your prayers on it. But he hasn't said that yet.

Praise God. And this theme of judgment I want to talk about for a while. My convictions come from the Word of God. So when you spend time in Isaiah and Jeremiah and Lamentations where he's lamenting over the fall, and Hezekiah where he's in captivity, and Daniel where he's in captivity, and Joel and Amos and Obadiah and Jonah and Micah and Nahum and Habakkuk, the prophets, Zacharias, Zephaniah and Haggai preaching, and God's character hasn't changed.

Because people think, well, that was the God of the Old Testament. If anybody tells you that, you better tell them it's the same God. Same God. Now there are dispensations. They're under what they would call the sacrificial system, the blood of bulls and goats, temporary.

And now we're under the new covenant, because Christ's death is all sufficient. It's all we need. It's not Christ plus something. In regard to salvation and different things, and the ceremonial laws are no longer, of course, and the dietary laws are no longer.

But did you know that God doesn't give things to tell you to do things that are bad? For example, the dietary laws, do you know how many of those are good? For example, shellfish, not that healthy for you.

They like eat all the toxins, all the garbage in the bottom of the ocean. They clean the ocean. God knew he was doing pigs. They're not real good. I could get into the worms and stuff. I'm not gonna get there.

When God tells us to do something, it's always beneficial. Now the moral laws, though, the moral laws have not changed. When God sets morality in motion, it's still moral today. It's not thou shalt not commit adultery and thou shalt commit adultery.

It's not thou shalt not steal and thou shalt steal. So you see the moral character of God throughout all the scripture. And now I will give them theologians who, you know, Old Testament, there's God dealt with his people differently, and there's some truth to that for sure.

But it's also interesting if you read Revelation, he says, come out of her my people from Babylon. Come out of her my people, lest you share in her sins and receive of her plagues. Her stench has reached my nostrils in heaven, metaphorically speaking in that regard.

I paraphrase a little bit. And Babylon is judged. Nations are judged. So we see that there is, there's some type of judgment when a nation, when the land becomes defiled by the sickness and the perversion of sin.

Because Sodom and Gomorrah, it was so perverted that God began to judge those nations. And he rained down the fire to wipe that out. What about before Noah? There's a defilement that comes in the land.

And so here's the problem. Christians live in the midst of that. He doesn't put us on Jupiter for a while. I wish, don't you wish, Utopia? But we go through that often. Jeremiah had to go, Jeremiah, read Lamentations.

You want your heart to break? He's lamenting over a nation that drew away from God, that drifted from God. And he used foreign enemies to come in and judge them. Jeremiah, this prophet of God, mighty man of God, is weeping.

Daniel saw it. He was led into the exile as well. Ezra was in exile coming back to rebuild the temple. Nehemiah, Nehemiah, he was a cupbearer, but he wasn't, he was sad. He said, and the king said, Nehemiah, why are you sad?

He said, why should I not be sad when the place of my father's tombs lies in waste? And you see that God would judge and there would be, his godly remnant would still be influenced or affected by that judgment.

And so how does that all play out today? I don't have exact answers. I just know the character and nature of God. I know his principles, and I know it's not looking too great. Psalm 12, the wicked freely prayed and prance about while evil is praised throughout the land.

In Isaiah's, in a commentary Bible I have for Isaiah, the commentator wrote this, must the remnant of righteous also suffer with the nation? And the reason we use the Old Testament is Jesus quoted the Old Testament.

America's Moral Decline and the Need for Awakening

Well, did Isaiah say of you? Well, did Isaiah say of you? You see, but you don't really see. You hear, but you don't really hear. You draw nigh unto me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me.

He would talk about Jonah. He would pull in Moses. He would pull in, oh, haven't you read in the burning bush passage? Haven't you read in the, and he would pull in Old Testament to their time. Paul said the Old Testament was written as an example that you might not lust after evil things like they lusted.

Anybody who spends significant time in God's word, both the old and the new, they will understand that America is on very shaky ground. Bottom line, if all you're doing is reading John 3 16 in the morning, you might think differently.

People, they have little Bible studies. I read this verse today. Have you ever read through the whole Bible? No, no, just this verse for today. Well, now that's good. Please grab a verse for the day. I do too, but that can't be your meal.

That's the appetizer. That's a good thought for the day. Now look at the whole counsel of God, because the Bible makes, when people say, I don't understand it. One of the things I'm excited about is teaching through the Bible.

And it seems God keeps postponing these things sometimes, but I want to show how it makes a lot of sense. But in our pride as a nation, we can often say like Israel, when they were being judged, a nation came in and just tore down their buildings.

And they said, but the bricks are destroyed. We will rebuild. We will rebuild. We don't care if God judged us. Even though they have torn down our sycamore trees, we will replant them with cedar. We will rebuild.

It doesn't matter if God's judging. It doesn't matter. And what they do is they shake their fist in the face of God. And there's an arrogance about that. On this issue of judgment, do you know why we're called the great Satan by Iran?

I mean, it's obviously support for Israel, but America is referred to as the great Satan. The reason is they get their information from Hollywood. They realized that we're the number one distributor of pornography in the world.

Let me just read some of these things that happened in the last four years. Do you know what one of the fastest growing online businesses is in our nation? One of the fastest growing online businesses in America.

Child sexual exploitation. Did you catch that? I'm gonna put a number on the screen as well. This is how many visits one free porn site, the largest received in 2019. Porn sites receive more traffic than Netflix, Twitter and Amazon combined.

Sex education, I've seen it, that they're teaching in our schools is more perverted than anything we've ever seen in our nation's history. The sexual perversion that they want to launch into your children and pass laws where they can change your sex without telling you.

And you don't think the judgment hand of God is not due? Give me four more years and we'll be good. What happened the last four years? Why is this okay? Do you know what killed more people worldwide? The number one cause of death in the whole world last year?

Anybody know? Abortion. 43 million worldwide. Fill the Rose Bowl up 4430 times. Number one cause of death in America is the slaughtering of our own children. And you're gonna lecture me about four more years.

Now let me tell you, I was God's dealing with my heart. I wanted four years of Pompeo and Pence and Ben Carson, Tony Perkins, I know at the Family Research Council, the guys on the president's advisory team.

Godly people are in positions of office as the lady who was over the schools for the nation. Very godly Christian woman. I wanted that, I desired that, but I begin to realize something's wrong here. They're thinking doctors are proposing now to ban gender terms on birth certificates at the hospital.

So I begin to just really realize what are we doing? This is growing, okay? Four more years of an administration that will protect the church, great. What about if four years of a difficulty brings the church to the altar?

Think about it. Nobody comes to the altar, prayer meetings, worship mornings. The church is dead. I didn't come here to win a popularity contest, I came here to speak the truth. We need to wake up, that's what this is.

This is a rude awakening that's happening in our nation, isn't it? A rude awakening precedes a great awakening. In order for God to get your heart, he's gotta break it. I wrote this in an article you might have, the church as a whole has become comfortable.

All night prayer meetings have been exchanged for all night Netflix binges. Powerful worship services where the spirit of God is moving have been turned into 60-minute programs designed to entertain.

We are measuring success by likes and followers rather than Christ likeness and following him. Any guess how many of these are in Christian homes? Could it be by the grace of God that we don't have four more years of pride and arrogance in our hearts?

I know this is gonna tick people off, I don't care, I'm not reading emails anymore. But somebody's got to say it, correct? If what I'm saying is wrong and unbiblical, tell me, tell me when God said, when God said, because of the sins of Manasseh, I'm gonna judge the nation.

The sins of Manasseh weren't compared to this filth. They would give their children to Molech, burn them alive. God says, what are you doing? This hasn't even entered my thoughts, but because of your giving your children to the gods of Molech, because you're perverted, my judgment is going to fall upon you.

What makes us think we are any different? Because what I'm trying to do is get the church to break. Humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, and in due time, he will exalt you. He says, church, cry out to me.

Church, see your sins, see your depravity, see your wickedness. Stop being the church of Laodicea, because you're miserable and weak and blind and naked, but come to me and I will give you refiner's fire.

Just fall before my feet and cry out to Almighty God and say, God, save me and set me free and cleanse my heart. Oh, I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell among a people with unclean lips. And the Spirit of God comes and he touches the coals of Jeremiah's words and he gives him this fire of God to call the nation to him.

Nothing has changed. He said, Jeremiah, go and to I send you. Pull out, root out, destroy, and then rebuild. But we got to dig deep to rebuild. What do you do with a sick branch in a tree? You prune it.

What do you do with an arrogant attitude? You break it. What do you do with a cracked foundation? We have a cracked foundation, don't we? God has to rebuild it. So I hope you hear my heart. I was praying for godly leadership.

I was praying for legislation and leaders that protect the church. But I begin to wonder, what's it accomplishing here? If it breaks us and it humbles us, how many millions will come to know Christ? How many countless Christians are going to finally fully surrender their life and have the fire of God because of difficulty?

Jesus' Teaching on Division and Christian Persecution

And by the way, did you know that the persecution is the normal for the church for 2 ,000 years? That's normal. I don't like it. I didn't say I liked it. I don't want it. But it's the norm of Christian church.

Did you know Jesus said, I didn't come to bring peace? Whoa, Shane, come on. I'm gonna have to call you on that one. No, you're not. Jesus said, I didn't come to bring peace. Wait, he's the peacemaker.

He's wonderful counselor, mighty God, prince of peace. Right, that day's coming. But right now he said, I didn't come to bring peace. I came to bring a sword. I'm going to divide father and son, mother and daughter.

Jesus said that. That's why you got to read all of the Bible. What's he talking about? It's crystal clear in context. The words of life, the words of Christ, the words of doctrine, the words of truth will divide families.

Think about it. I have a pretty big extended family. Who's everyone in my big extended family upset at me? On the left. Everybody on the left does not like Shane Idleman in my family. Why? Because of the truth of God's word.

It will divide. It's a dividing aspect. But you can grow through difficulties. This can be a great season of growth because God uses difficulties to refine us. Zechariah 13, English Standard Version. He said, God said to the prophet, all these, many of these guys were prophets.

And this is interesting. If repentance isn't so important, think about this for a minute. If repentance, if God doesn't really deal with nations anymore, you know, and, you know, this whole message, Shane, you're talking about, you know, it's more for individuals.

It doesn't deal with nations anymore. Why is the majority of the Old Testament written by major and minor prophets? What was a prophet's main job was to go and call the people back to God, to call the nation to repentance, to call political figures to repentance.

Did you know most of the prophets were political? Did you know that? It's like, you shouldn't be political. Well, what does that mean? They were. They will go to kings and princes and leaders. If you want to get technical, Jesus got a little political with the religious leaders.

Politics just means government governing officials. They were the Sadducees, the Pharisees. He called them out, you whitewashed tombs. Oh, you look great on the outside, but you're dead in the inside.

You're whitewashed tombs. You're a brood of vipers. I would love to see that sermon. I just step back. Go, Jesus. You think he was quiet? You brood of vipers. You guys look nice, but you're whitewashed tombs.

Oh, don't get me started. I could, I could picture. Why? Because zeal for my house has eaten me up. These people are leading the people astray. I guarantee his nostrils are flared. His eyes were like flames of fire and on his head were many crowns and no one knew his name except himself and his name was the word of God.

He will judge the nations with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress and the fierceness and the wrath of almighty God. He's a warrior and king. He's a loving servant. I started to cry during that song.

What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can wash away my sin? Some of you need to hear that this morning. You need to stop playing games with God. So God will refine us. I will put this third into the fire.

The two thirds he judged. This third group he left. He said, I will refine them as one refined silver. They would play silver and hot fire and all the impurities would come out. Isn't that true? That's why I often say become better, not bitter.

Because when you go through fires, when you go through the refining process, you can get really jacked up too. Can I say that in church? Okay. But when you go through the refining fires, turn over to God.

Not everyone does. They become bitter and angry. They pick up an old addiction and they go right back into Satan's hands. But he says, if you allow the refining fire to have its purpose, then you will call upon me and I will answer.

Listen, I can tell you as God is my witness, that if you call upon that name, he will answer. Folks, he will always answer that call. A call from a broken and contrite heart. A heart that truly wants God.

He will hear the cries of your heart. That call he will never cast away. That cry he will never put away. When he hears his child, no matter where they're at, crying out saying, God help me, I need you.

He hears and he will deliver. He doesn't play games. And then God uses this to drive us to him. So emotional this morning. Come on Shane, baseball, baseball, baseball, baseball. God's been breaking my heart.

Humility, Compassion, and Spiritual Refinement

Many people have been putting too much emphasis, too much trust in politics. It's important. Don't get me wrong. But my Lord, don't talk to me about politics until I see you on this altar on Sunday mornings.

Fair deal? I don't want to hear criticism. I don't want to hear a complaint until I see you on this altar. God's got to break us. And it hurts to be broken, doesn't it? Over the last six months, too, I had different ethnicities, different groups of people.

I'll just, I'll just tell you, I told Pastor Abram, I've had black friends and Hispanics and things just say that sometimes how I preach can hurt them if I don't understand their side of things. And that really, that hurt.

And I took it to the Lord and still taking it to the Lord. And that's why sometimes your emotions come in. You know, you want to, you want to back the blue, but you don't understand this side of it. And those kinds of things are, or build a wall in immigration, but not understand the other side of it.

And so trying to find that has been so hard and not wanting to hurt people. It's a breaking process because pride says, nope, it's not me. It's your fault. All of us can learn from that. I remember I had one girl, she's about three years ago, praying the prayer room.

She said, you know, I struggle with same sex attraction, but every time I come here, you make me feel, you know, you beat me up with God's word. And I started to cry with her and pray with her. And it was so hard to find a balance because you want to encourage people in sin, but I don't, I can't encourage the agenda.

So you have to fight the agenda, trying to indoctrinate our children. I have a very strong passion for that. And so when that, that comes off, people can take it the wrong way. Now, of course, we don't come up here and how can I please you?

How can I please you? Walking on eggshells. And even in your own lives, you have to have an amount of humility and be teachable. You see, if you feel their weight, you feel the pain, you understand where they're coming from.

Have compassion. There's the word I've been looking for. Compassion, understanding what a person is going through. So do not, do not run from God's refining fire. And then John 15 to every branch in me that does not bear fruit, God takes away.

And every branch that does bear fruit, which would be most of us, correct? Most of us bear some fruit. Even that he prunes, even that he prunes. Can you imagine if we went unpruned? What about if, if, if, if I'm coming up, this is 10 years of preaching and I've never been pruned by God.

I've never been critiqued. I'd be the most arrogant, foolish man you've ever met. So would you, correct? Isn't that, that, that chisel of God, that brokenness, that the spouse saying you're not all that in a bag of chips.

Do they still say that? I don't know. You know, but those, that, that, that, that refining process of God humbling you and God humbling you and God breaking you. That's why I get encouraged because I could see the potentials there, that this is the potential to be one of the greatest awakenings that our nation has known.

Nobody is revived and awakened and filled with the spirit of God and arrogance. They all have to be broken and humbled. Just like, how do you get the perfume? Ask the flower. It's crushed. How do you get the olive oil?

The olive is crushed. How do you get the grape is crushed? Same with us. The crushing and the refining and the breaking and you come out of there stronger. That's why I love that song. Out of the ashes, I will arise.

No matter what you've done in your life, no matter where God has you, if you, God will pull you up out of the ashes and set you up again if you commit your life to him and surrender. But the pruning process hurts.