There Is a Way to a Rejoicing Heart — Carter Conlon

This message is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, PO Box 260, Lindell, Texas, 75771, or calling 903 -963 -8626.

You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply.

A Rejoicing Heart Amid Desperation

First Samuel, Old Testament. First Samuel. My message tonight is entitled, There is a way to a rejoicing heart. There is a way. I believe that tonight that many are going to experience a breakthrough in an area of desperation.

This is what the Holy Spirit's been speaking to me all throughout this week, throughout this day, that there are people here tonight that you are desperate. Yes, you're a Christian. And yes, you love the Lord.

You come to the house of God. But there's an area of desperation in your life, a place where you have been believing God for something that only he can do. And tonight he's going to do it for you. Tonight you're going to get your answer.

We have been fighting in opposition for about the last week and a half, but because God wants to do something very powerful. You're going to hear tonight a culmination, really, of what you've heard this morning and this afternoon.

And then the Lord's going to give us the grace to be free. Father, we thank you tonight. God, I praise you with all my heart for your presence. I thank you for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I thank you, God, that you have an intended purpose tonight.

And no power of hell can stop what you have determined to do, get in through your church, your people, your beloved bride. I ask, oh God, that you make all of our hearts open and receptive to the message that we have heard throughout this day and what we're going to hear tonight.

Lord, let your kingdom come and be established in our hearts and in our praises. Lord, you've shown me you've opened something in the Scripture. There's a way to a rejoicing heart. Help us now to hear.

God, you said in the mouths of two or three witnesses, everything is confirmed. We've heard it once, twice. Now we're going to hear it a third time. And Father, you're going to bring the work home tonight.

Lord, we thank you for the rejoicing. Thank you, God, for your presence. Thank you for your manifested glory. We thank you for your favor that rests on us. I ask, oh God, that you'd enable me to preach far beyond my own ability, far beyond anything thoughts that I have.

Take me into realms of God that are eternal, where your life is. Lord, let not anything of flesh be lifted up in this house. Father, we thank you for it. I praise you for it from the depths of my heart.

In Jesus' name. Okay, we're in the book of 1 Samuel, but before I even begin to read. Now, this is a time. 1 Samuel is written at a time of spiritual decline or about a time of spiritual decline. This is the time in history known as the time of the judges.

Israel's Spiritual Decline in the Time of the Judges

After Joshua went in and through him the people conquered what was then the promised land. After Joshua's death, Israel entered into an approximate 350-year period of what the Bible calls the time of the judges.

There were 13 judges during this period, the last of which was a prophet called Samuel. After Samuel, you remember that Samuel anointed Saul. Then we go from the time of judges into the time of kings.

There was Saul, then of course Samuel anointed David after Saul. We're at the time of the second last judge of this 350-year period where Israel is riding this wave and crest, as high and low as it is in his spiritual experience.

They would be greatly delivered by the Holy Spirit would come upon an individual that God would raise up. The Word of God, as it is, or the reflective presence of Christ, if I can call it such, would come back again to the people.

They would be called back again to right relationship. They would know marvelous victory over their enemies. They would begin to prosper again. And of course, that prosperity would drive them again into the trough of carelessness where when they would forget God, God would allow again their enemies to be risen up against them.

And when they cried out to the Lord, then he would come in miracle power one more time and raise up his voice again. And at the time that we're about to talk was a time of spiritual declension. This was a prayerless, backslidden, immoral and greedy priesthood.

It was over Shiloh. Now, Shiloh is the place where the Ark of God was. And the Ark of God, you remember, represented the presence of the Lord God in and among his people in Israel. Now, there was a man in 1 Samuel 1, verse 1, called Elkanah.

And the Bible says that he had two wives in verse 2. The name of the one was Hannah and the other was Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. And the man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Shiloh.

And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord were there. Now, you remember Hophni and Phinehas are the results of a prayerless priesthood. They're the sons of a prayerless priest.

He has no idea what prayer is. For when Hannah comes in and begins to pour out her complaint before the Lord, the scripture tells us that he thought she was drunk. It had been so long since he'd seen genuine intercession that he couldn't even recognize it in the house of the Lord.

And that's a tragedy. He had two sons that he put into the ministry and Hophni and Phinehas were immoral. The Bible says they were seducing women that were coming into the court of God's presence and they were also greedy.

And they made the people of their generation abhor the offering of the Lord. They lost heart to give because of the greediness of Hophni and Phinehas. This is an absolute spiritual lull. Now, you have to understand that Shiloh is the place where Samuel, not Samuel, but Elkanah and his two wives are coming up.

And if we had time tonight to go a little farther into the Bible, Shiloh is about to be overthrown. The Philistine army is about to be victorious over Israel's forces and the ark of God is about to be taken.

So keep that in mind. And there's going to be a defeat of this priesthood and a defeat of the Hophni and Phinehas are both going to be killed in the same day. Eli is going to fall off a wall as an old man and break his neck and that's going to be the end of Eli's priesthood, the end of his house.

And God's about to establish now a new priesthood. So this is a desperate time in the nation of Israel. Now, Hannah, one of Elkanah's two wives was in despair. The Bible says that he was coming up yearly to the house of the Lord to sacrifice.

Hannah's Barrenness and the Pain of Unanswered Prayer

But verse 6 and 7 tells us about Hannah. And her adversary provoked her sore to make her fret for the Lord because the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her.

Therefore, she wept and did not eat. Now, the Bible just tells us that the yearly visits had left Hannah barren. That's an incredible thing. Here's one wife who's having all kinds of children and seemingly knowing great success as it is.

Because really, to have children was a sign of God's favor. It was the one thing that brought honor to a woman, to her husband. It was the increase as it is of his lineage. And Tanina now has got all these children and Hannah's coming up.

Same husband, same temple, same God. And not only is her womb barren, but the Bible says that God had shut up her womb. That's an incredible thing. Folks, have you ever gone through times like that in your Christian walk?

When everybody around you is getting blessed and you're not. Everyone's talking about, they're walking around singing, I am free, I am free, and you feel like singing, I am not, I am not. Testimonies of favor and abundance and all these things coming in.

And you're going to the same place. You're praying to the same God. You have an honest heart. You want God for some mysterious reason. This thing that you've been asking for has not been given to you.

And you may not be aware of it. Hannah would not be aware of it. But we know in retrospect, reading the Scriptures, that it was not the devil. It was God who had shut her womb for a reason. Now, it was a disgrace to her own heart to return to God empty in this area of her life year after year.

Now, it would be awful to think that you and I could come to the house of the Lord for the rest of our days and never know victory in a certain area of our lives. Yes, have victory. Have a husband. She had a husband that loved her.

And now Hannah said, well, why are you weeping? I'm better to you than to the ten sons. Hannah, I love you. Isn't my love sufficient? And sometimes we come into the house of the Lord and we are aware of God's love.

We know how much Jesus Christ loves us. But yet there's still that area of emptiness. There's still that area of barrenness that's in our lives. That area that, for whatever reason, has not yet been touched by God.

We don't understand it. Everyone around us seems to be getting the victory, but we're not getting the victory. And we have to ask ourselves the question, now, why would God withhold something from this woman?

Why would He withhold? Doesn't the Scripture say, ask that your joy might be full? Doesn't the Scripture say that if we ask something according to the will of God that He will give it to us? Well, wouldn't it be the will of God to give this woman a child and children so that she can be fulfilled and she can honor her husband?

So, what justifiable reason would there be that God would shut her womb? Is there something wrong with wanting to feel personally fulfilled? Others around are seemingly getting what they want, so why would God be withholding from me?

And to make matters worse, verse 6 tells us that her adversary, this is the other wife, who had all kinds of children, provoked her sore to make her fret. And really, in the original text, it means provoked her heart to a heated condition which triggered hurt feelings and worry within her.

She was being provoked constantly by an adversary. Coming to the house of God, praying the same prayers, and going home, then the Bible says year after year, empty, for some unknown reason. No life, no conception, a barren womb, absolutely dead inside.

No matter how much she prayed, no matter what she did, no matter how much she believed, nothing was happening within her life in this area. And the adversary is provoking her. 1 Peter 5, verse 8 tells us that your adversary, that means the one who is against you, the devil is a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.

And the word devour in the Greek text means to drink you down or swallow you up. The adversary is here. And I know there are desperate people here tonight. I know it because the Holy Ghost has been speaking it to me all day and all week.

There are desperate people here tonight. No, you might not look desperate. You've come into the house and you are worshipping God and you're singing the songs of Zion. And you've been here in some cases year after year.

But there's an area in your life, and for whatever reason, there's no life there. There's no freedom there. It's as if a death is in operation. And the adversary is here every time you come into the house of God as a roaring lion, provoking your heart to a heated condition and making you feel as if you've been rejected somehow by God and causing you to worry.

The Enemy's Accusation and God's Higher Purpose

Psalm 74, verse 10 tells us that the enemy does this by blaspheming the name of God. I want you to hear this. It's important. The psalmist says, O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name forever?

Now, the word for blaspheme in the Hebrew is a verb that is often used of God rejecting men. Yet it contains the idea of disdain for one who formerly received favorable attention. Now, let me put it in simple terms.

In other words, the enemy comes and blasphemes the name of God by saying, God has seen some flaw within you. It's a flaw that's known only to God Himself. And this has caused Him to withdraw His hand from you.

Now, the psalmist calls this blasphemy. I want you to know this. It's important to know this tonight. If the devil is trying to tell you... Now, I'm not talking about somebody that's living in willful sin.

This doesn't really apply to you. If there is something you need to repent of, repent of it. I'm talking about the honest Christian. Yes, the struggling Christian, but the honest Christian who doesn't want to live in sin and wants a life that brings honor and glory to Jesus Christ and comes into the house of God.

And the enemy is there because there's an area in your life where you're not getting your prayer answered. And the enemy comes in and blasphemes the name of God by trying to convince you that God, for some unknown reason, has taken His grace away from you.

Has withdrawn as it is His hand of mercy. Folks, I'll tell you why it's blasphemy. Because God has beyond all doubt proven His desire and His willingness to release the miraculous power of His life within yours and mine.

He's proven it. So if my request is withheld, there must be a reason for good of which I'm not yet aware. God proved it to me when He became a man. God proved it to me when He was born of a virgin. God proved it to me when He walked through this life for 33 years, suffering the indignities of humanity as it is.

God proved it to me when He stood before Pilate and allowed His face to be slapped and His back to be smitten by those with wits in their hands. God proved it to me because He did it all that His life might be released within mine.

I refuse to let the enemy ever blaspheme the name of God by trying to convince you or me that there's some hidden thing that is causing the hand of God's mercy to be withdrawn from us and we're not knowing victory in some area because there's an area of evil or some mysterious thing that God only Himself knows about us.

You see, beloved, there's a higher purpose for God meeting our needs than just for our own satisfaction. There's a higher purpose. And sometimes He withholds until we get so desperate that we want to know what the higher purpose is.

We don't want our need met just so that we can leave the house and say, my need is met. Well, folks, if it were that easy, the purposes of God would never be fulfilled through His church. Yes, there are some things that He will do automatically because He's a God of incredible grace.

But there are some areas of our life, let me tell you, that He will withhold the answer. He will hold it off even if we can quote the Scriptures to Him day in and day out. He will withhold until we are willing to seek His higher purpose for our lives in this area.

Eternal Life and Loving One's Neighbor

Let me show you something. Go to the New Testament, please. Put a marker in 1 Samuel because we'll be back there. Luke chapter 10. This will all tie in in a moment and you'll understand how it fits together.

In Luke chapter 10, verse 25, the Bible says a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Now, first of all, this man was not really wanting to conform his life to God.

But he was testing to see if God would be conformed to his own lifestyle. He was testing God to see if his own particular thoughts matched those thoughts of God or if God would, in effect, bend his thoughts towards his thoughts.

That's what human nature is all about many times. Coming to the house of the Lord and we say, we want God to conform to our ways. And we don't want in some area of our life to conform our lives to God's ways.

And so he asked a question that looks so spiritual. He said, what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life? Now, as I read this, he's speaking about the future. He's saying, basically, I want to go to heaven.

I want to be part of this eternal kingdom you're talking about. So what must I do to inherit it? That it may be mine someday in the future. And Jesus said to him, well, what is written in the law? How do you read it?

And he answered, he said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy strength and all thy mind and thy neighbor as thyself. And Jesus answers him, verse 28, and he said to him, thou hast answered right.

This do and thou shalt live. Now, he knows the answer. In verse 25, his question is about the future. But in verse 28, Jesus answers him in the present. He said, yes, you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself and you shall live.

The word is zeal and it means you will be caused to live, you will be quickened or you will live under the constant guidance and influence of God. He's talking about the future. Jesus is talking about right now.

You see, what he's trying to say to this man is eternal life is not something that's coming down the road after the judgment. See, eternal life starts now. For those that are mine, they have eternal life now.

If you belong to Christ, you now have eternal life. It's not something coming down the road. You've got it now. And the evidence of that eternal life is that you are quickened in your spirit. You are raised from the dead.

Your heart, your mind, your motives, everything begins to change. The old nature begins to be put away. And a new nature, which is in the likeness and image of the one who died and was raised again from the dead, begins to live within you.

And it's an evidence that you are quickened. You are now entered into eternal life. And Jesus said, yes, this is the right way. You love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And if you do, you will also love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.

But he, verse 29, says, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Now, here's the type of a man who wants to appear to be in right standing with God. And he will love his neighbor someday.

But for the time being, he says, I'm excused because you see, I'm just not sure of the definition of the word neighbor yet. But when I find out, you know, Jesus, I love him as much as I love you. When I find out who my neighbor is.

You know, there's a whole segment of the church that is always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Always studying. Always going to one new conference after another to learn one new corner on God.

But never, ever finding the heart of God for humanity. Oh Lord, I'm learning. And one day, as soon as I understand what the word neighbor means, I'll be out there, oh God, and I'll be doing exactly what you called me to do.

Always studying. And it's just a cover up. It's a smoke screen for a heart that doesn't want to live for God. Folks, when you get saved, the very first thing you want to do is reach out and help all the humanity around you.

The Good Samaritan and Compassion for the Wounded

I remember one night when I was a police officer. A friend of mine, another police officer, I took him. We were on duty and I took him to the place where I had been baptized in the Holy Ghost. And I took him to that place and it was another friend.

And he got saved and filled with the Holy Ghost. And I remember as he was heading home, he jumped out of the car, took the last money, saw some fellow. Now, as a police officer who normally arrests people on the street, who are sleeping on the street, at least where I came from.

He jumped out of the car, took everything he had out of his pocket and gave it to the man so that he could find himself somewhere to stand, some food to eat. What brought about that transformation? In a matter of an hour, the man was a different man.

I'll tell you what brought it about. He was saved. The power of God had come upon him. And the evidence of the Holy Ghost within him as there was a benevolence. That benevolence of God as it is, was in him and now flowing through him to fallen humanity all around him.

Now, Jesus said, let me help you understand who your neighbor is. In verse 30 he says, a certain man went from Jericho, Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves that stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead.

He said, and by chance there came down a certain priest, etc., and passed by and a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked at him and passed by on the other side. Jesus was saying to him, let me help you understand who your neighbor is.

This was a time of thievery. Now, you know, the Bible says the devil has come to steal and to kill and to destroy. There was a spirit, as it is, that was released among men and it was depriving violently people of their clothing and of healing and of comfort.

They stripped him and wounded him and left him half dead. And folks, that's exactly what happens to humanity without God. That's exactly what happens to... They are stripped of the righteousness that could be theirs in Christ and the covering of their sin.

They are stripped and robbed of the healing that Jesus has died for on Calvary. That wholeness that could be every man's. The enemy roars about using those that are at his disposal to inflict, as it is, his desire to wound the creation of God.

And leaving them, walking away. Society without God is indifferent at best. Walking away and leaving the man comfortless. And folks, it must have been a common thing because Jesus seems to infer that people were just passing by.

It must have been common to see people beat up and stripped and left without comfort. Obviously, it had gotten into society, perhaps, and it was accepted that you saw people just walk by and say, Oh, poor man, I wonder what happened to him.

And just kept right on going to their appointed rounds as they saw it. The priest, for example, heading to the temple to his service at the altar. That's where the priest ministered. He ministered at the altar.

Perhaps, hoping that night for a Zacharias vision. You remember, Zacharias was in ministering at the altar, and an angel appeared to him and said, Oh, Zacharias, your wife Elizabeth has been barren, but you're going to have a son, and he's going to be mighty, and he's going to turn, that was John the Baptist, he's going to turn the hearts of many and be a forerunner of the Messiah.

And perhaps the priest is heading that night, and he's hoping at the altar that he's going to have a Zacharias vision of some new great thing that's going to come into his life and be part of his life.

And we see the Levite coming to worship and hoping for a new song. Maybe tonight I'll get a new song. I'll come in and I'll be singing, and some new vision of a song will come before me, and I'll be able to write it down.

It'll be a wonderful new praise song, it will be in the house of the Lord. And still, but passing him by, unaware of the heart of God for fallen humanity all around them. But he said, there was another man, and this man saw the need.

And he said, he came where the man was, and when he saw him he had compassion on him. And he went to him and bound up his wounds and poured in oil and wine and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

Another man, he said, saw the need. I believe this is Christ speaking about himself. He's talking about God, the heart of God. And at his own expense, he bent down as it is to him. God bent his knee to become a man.

Don't ever doubt it for one second. God bent his knee to become one of us and came to us in our condition, our pitiful condition. And he tenderly cared for him until he was well. It says he poured in oil.

And the word for oil in the Greek is eleon, which means the exhilarating influence of the Holy Spirit, or the enlightening of God. He poured in himself. That's what Christ did, folks. Do you understand?

He bent his knee and became a man. Almighty God saw our condition before the foundation of the world. And God the Father and God the Son made a covenant one with another. And God came to the earth and became a man.

He bent his knee to our fallen condition. He stopped on the road. Aren't you thankful tonight? Aren't you thankful that he came to you? Hallelujah. How many tonight could say I wasn't even looking for him?

And he came to me. I was laying there in my pitiful condition. And he came to me and bent his knee. I know there's a man in this house that has a testimony of trying to commit suicide. And the very day he was going to kill himself, a voice, an audible voice came to him and said, Give me a chance in your life.

And he knew it was the voice of Jesus. Nobody had ever told him before, but he just knew it was God speaking to him. And bending his knee to us in our fallen condition. And that's exactly what Jesus Christ has done for us.

And he tenderly cares for us. And pours himself into us. The oil of his presence. The oil of quickening. The oil of enlightening. And heals us of our wounds. And carries us. He said, set him on his own beast.

He carries us as it is. And takes us to shelter. And takes care of us all the days of our lives. Isn't that an amazing thing? Hallelujah. I thank God for the understanding that I'm not left to walk this walk alone.

There's a song we sing. It says, he walks with me and he talks with me. And he tells me I am his own. He has poured his life into mine. And he has carried me when I can't walk. And he has taken me to shelter.

And even beyond that. It says, on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the host. And said to him, take care of him. And whatever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you.

Guess who the host is? Guess who the host is? I see that as you and me. I see that as the church. This man came and poured into humanity. And those that have come to Christ. Those that are in need of care.

He said, listen, I'm going to give you a deposit. I'm going to give you a down payment as it is. And I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to entrust it to you. Take care of him. And anything you spend beyond this, I will give it to you when I come again.

I will repay you. Says the Lord. And then he says to this man, go and do likewise. And you will have life. Go and do likewise and you will be quickened. Go and do likewise. And you will be tapped in to that quickening power of God.

And you will be drawn into eternity now. Eternity will not be a far off concept. Eternity will become now. But you see, eternity has a cost to it. Yes, it costs the son of God. It costs God his very life.

It costs him pain. It costs him suffering and sorrow and temporary separation from his father. And the pain of that we will never understand until we finally get into eternity. And sometimes it will cost us some comfort.

It will cost some of us some of the things perhaps that we hold dear in this world. That we may walk with him and follow in the very footsteps of the son of God among fallen humanity all around us. Now, go back to 1 Samuel again.

Hannah's Desperation Becomes Consecration

Remember the story of Hannah. It's a desperate hour. God has withheld from her for a reason. God has held off answering her prayer. And she got desperate. In 1 Samuel 1 .7 it says,. So, as he did year by year when she went up to the house of the Lord, she provoked her.

Therefore, she wept and did not eat. Now, she refused any other satisfying. But that satisfying which comes from God. She stopped eating. She started fasting. This was the beginning of the search of saying, God, what is it that you're trying to do in my life?

What is it that I'm not hearing? I'm not satisfied with this barrenness. You said you came to fill me. You said you came to give me an abundance. And I'm not satisfied with anything but the fullnesses of your promises being released into my life.

I'm not satisfied. And folks, that's a good thing. It's a good thing if you have an empty area in your life and you're here tonight saying, I'm not satisfied with this emptiness. Because many people are.

Many people called by the name of Christ are quite happy to be absolutely bankrupt for the presence of God. As long as they go to church and have some semblance of hope for the future, that's good enough for them.

But this is a desperate hour. We are living in modern day Shiloh. With a fat bastard in priesthood. And sons of no God who have made the offering of gun and of horrors among God's people. Standing at the door and demanding the fattest and the finest of the meat for themselves.

Not willing to live by faith and trust God for their provision. And they've caused the people of God to laugh and to abhor the offering of God. This is a desperate hour that we're living in. Just as desperate as the hour of Hannah.

And then said Elkanah her husband, Why are you weeping? Why are you not eating? Verse 8. And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons? Verse 9 says, Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh.

And after they had drunk. In other words, she said, I'm going to press through. Everyone around me is eating and drinking. Everyone around me is satisfied. But something is missing in me. And I'm not happy.

I'm not satisfied. I'm getting up. They might be quite content to eat and drink and go and say a few prayers every year. But I'm not satisfied. She was going to press through. To where no one around her had a desire to go.

There might be people listening to this message on tape in the future. And you're sitting in a church with a fat, backstabbed, knee-like priesthood. I challenge you to get up and press through to God.

Even if you're the only one that wants to go. In your church. Get up and press in. And let God begin to do miracles in your life. She said, you may be full, but I'm not. And I'm going back to find out what is blocking the life of God.

Hannah's Vow to Dedicate God's Gift

I'm going back to find out what is blocking the life-flowing power of God within me. The Bible said she went back after they were all finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Eli the priest sat upon a seat by the post of the temple of the Lord.

Verse 10 says she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. She was desperate. You've got to do this thing in me. Lord, you've got to come and give me life. I want life. I don't want religion.

I want life. I want life. I want life. I'm not going home with an empty womb one more time. I'm going home with a seed of life in me. I want life. And now she gets to the place where God has been trying to bring her all along.

This is where he's been trying to take her to in verse 11. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou will indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

Now she's finally come to the place where God has won. That's why he had closed her womb. And so she got to the place and said, God, whatever you give me, I promise you, I promise you, I promise you, I will bring it back for your glory.

I will bring it back for your cause. I will bring it back for your half. I will bring it back for your purposes. I'm not just asking for something to take home. I'm asking for something to bring back.

I'm asking for something, God, that you can take and use for your glory. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. There's a reason why God withholds. Until we get to the place where we say, God, I want you to come and touch this area of my life.