The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Let God do what God is doing, and sometimes it takes standing still and looking to God.

Guest (Male): Welcome to a special edition of The Healing Word, a radio ministry of the Largo Community Church. On today's program, Pastor Jack Morris takes a biblically based look at the current unrest and struggles that we're all dealing with and will provide some insights from God's Word that will help us to make sense and cope with all that's going on in our nation and the world. Let's go join the congregation of the Largo Community Church for the message, Stand Still and Let God Move.

Pastor Jack Morris: Stand still and let God move. You see, things happen and we jump in real quick with our ideas. But our ideas, when we jump quickly, are human ideas, and human ideas fall to the ground; they don't last. But his ideas came forth in his Word. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word of God will never pass away.

Let God do what God is doing, and sometimes it takes standing still and looking to God. The scripture says in Isaiah 40, verse 31, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." Friend, do you need your strength renewed? Well, let's wait upon the Lord. But we're going to find out how to do that, and God's Holy Spirit is going to speak to us today about how we can wait upon the Lord, how we can stand still and let God move.

Now, waiting on the Lord and standing still does not mean, listen to me, it does not mean doing nothing. Pastor, you talk about you don't want to do anything. Listen, they were in the upper room for 10 days. They were waiting on God. I'm sure some of them had to leave and come back. People had to cook food, wash clothes, and come back, but they were waiting on God even during the activities that they were involved in.

Waiting on God when I'm mowing the grass, my mind is on the Lord, and I'm praising God. I'm worshipping the Lord while I'm washing dishes, while I'm vacuuming the floor; I can be waiting on the Lord. When I'm preparing a Sunday School lesson, or studying, or Zooming, waiting on the Lord while doing other various activities. They that wait upon the Lord. They that talk to the Lord. They that sing the praises of God while driving the car. You're waiting on the Lord. You're standing still, knowing that God is active, God is doing something, and I'm going to hear him speak to me his Holy Word and bring blessing to me.

Now, let's start moving into the message. When you hear the word storm, or I say there's a storm coming, or the radio weather woman or man says there's a storm coming, what do you think about? You think of lightning, winds, rain, hail, strong winds uprooting trees, and blowing roofs off of houses. Storms. A man, a friend of mine, went to visit his family for a short vacation, and he came back. His wife and I met them and talked with them, and I said, "Well, did you have a nice time with your family on vacation?"

He said, "There was a storm." I said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I hope it didn't do any damage to the house." He said, "Not that kind of a storm. I'm talking about a family storm." There was conflict in the family, things that he had not anticipated. Brothers and sisters were at each other. Friends, it's easy to get at each other. Let's love one another. Storms.

So all storms aren't hail and rain and winds. There are storms like coronavirus and racial injustice. There are storms in marriages. Friend, has your marriage ever gone through a storm? Has your marriage ever been threatened to dissolve? Your family. Storms at work. Storms come. Friend, let's behave ourselves and remember what God has brought us through and never cease to praise him. Remember the pit from which you were dug, and I was dug. God has done great things for us.

God is in the clouds. Wherever there's a storm, there's going to be clouds. Always clouds. Storms don't come without clouds. Even family storms, individual storms, and financial storms, there's going to be clouds. But God is in the cloud. The disciples were in a boat. Minister Hooper just read a little bit about it. They were in a boat. Jesus on the mount. Jesus looks down. Thank God he does look down. He's looking down on you and me today, but let me just go right on.

Jesus looked down and he saw the disciples, and the wind was contrary. They were bucking a headwind. Friend, what can you do about the weather? Like Mark Twain said, "Everybody's talking about the weather, but nobody's doing anything about it." But I want to tell you about the one who can do something about it if we wait on him and look to him and give him time. The scripture says in the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son. Don't get in a big hurry and want everything to happen real fast. God isn't going to listen to you or me when we take that notion, but that's the human way.

Remember, patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit. But oh, I know I have problems in that area. I'm glad you don't have any problems like that. But God is with us to help us and to bless us. So the disciples were frightened. Storms can be frightening. The coronavirus, with approaching 155,000 people who have died, and it is in no way over yet. Friend, we need God. We need the church. We need help. God is here to help us. This racial unrest and racial inequality, it's not over yet. It's been going on for a long time. We need the Lord. We need to wait on God. Only God can make some of these changes that need to be made. Let's look to his ideas, not our off-the-fist ideas. Look to the Lord.

So the Lord saw them and he went walking on the water. God will get to you, friend, any way he can. He'll walk right to you. He's walking toward you today because the Word of God is the healing Word of God, and the physician is coming to do the healing that is necessary in society, in the environment, in our homes, and in our individual hearts. You can have a storm going on with a smile on your face, not letting anybody know about it, but he knows about it. When you wait on him, he knows how to help you and give you strength to go through the storm.

Well, it looked like Jesus was going to pass the disciples by. Friend, if you don't call out to him, he'll walk right on by. He's not going to force his blessing or his healing on anybody. But he comes within earshot, within prayer shot. When you pray, say, "Lord, I need some help. My marriage needs some help. My finances need some help. Our nation needs some help. Our church needs some help." You can't pray for your church and talk about it in a negative way at the same time. That's hypocrisy, and God is down on hypocrisy.

Friend, you just need to take care and watch who you are and what you're doing and wait on the Lord and move toward God. Let God be God in this situation. But come on, use some common sense. No, use some Bible sense and let God move. He will indeed do that. He was going to walk right on by them, Jesus was. The disciples were frightened; they thought they saw a ghost. But when they cried out, Jesus turned right around and walked right over to them. He's not far off, Jesus isn't. He's right here at hand to bless and to help us.

All we need to do is call out to him. He got in the boat and what did he say? "Take courage. Take courage, it is I. Don't be afraid." Let the Lord handle situations that you are thinking somebody else ought to handle. No, let the Lord handle it. On the mount of Transfiguration, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on the mount and there he was transformed before them. While Jesus was speaking, the scripture says a cloud, there it is, there's that word again, cloud, a cloud enveloped them. I mean, they were baptized in terror and fear.

Someone said, "People are afraid today." Yeah. Without the Lord, we need to be afraid. But when Jesus gets in the boat or gets in the heart, he delivers us from all evil and from all fear. Jesus got in the boat and said, "Take courage. Come on, fellas. It is I. Don't be afraid." And then Jesus is coming again. Yes, I know you've heard this before. He's coming again. Do you know how he's coming? Revelation chapter one, verse seven, it says, "Look. Look, he is coming with clouds." Nehemiah said the clouds are the dust of his feet. So friend, when you are enveloped in a cloud, remember he's got to be near. It's the dust of his feet. All you need and all I need to do is just call out to him.

Now let me talk just a little bit about the coronavirus and the racial inequality. The coronavirus brought the world to a halt, a screeching halt. Who could have predicted, who could have known? Here it comes, and no one prepared for it. When it hit, borders closed, travel stopped, schools, businesses, and churches closed their doors. It's a wake-up call. You see, it's like the heart. The rhythm of the heart got off-beat somehow. The rhythm that it was supposed to be there wasn't there. So the cardiologist uses an electric jolt to bump the heart back into rhythm again.

Well, the church has lost its spiritual rhythm. We get spiritual at times, and then we fall back. Then we get spiritual again. Then we get turned on, and then we get turned off. Well, you need to get back in the rhythm of worshipping God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our might. And then watch God move. He's going to move. You see, it's like a good parent. The child misbehaves and the parent says, "You go to your room. Time out." The church has been drifting and drifting, slowing down, and God finally comes. Perhaps he's using this coronavirus to say, "You go to your room." In other words, you go to your house; you're quarantined.

Are you with me today, you who are watching streaming? God has spoken to us and something, sometimes like a parent, has to do something a little bit drastic to get our attention. Now, when he quarantined us, and there are many who are still quarantined and I don't want people to come to church until you feel comfortable. I know you're streaming and God is blessing you right there in your home. Your home is becoming more and more spiritual Sunday by Sunday. God bless you, you're doing the right thing. Someday you'll be back here at the church, but we are together whether we're there or whether we're here in the sanctuary.

But when God quarantined us, was it not for a purpose? People are getting bored, not knowing what to do. They can't go to work, they can't go on vacation. How about taking that time to wait upon the Lord? To evaluate our lives? To evaluate our relationships? Friend, who do you hang with? Who do you listen to? What person or group are you a part of? The church of Jesus Christ. Yes, evaluate our idols and turn to God. Now, did I say idols speaking to the church? Yes, I said idols. Not only to the church but to those who are not in the church, not saved, but particularly those who are in the church.

You see, in the church, there are some who have had faith in the idol or the god of money. It's not a totem pole type god or brick and mortar, but they had that feeling. They wouldn't say it out with their words, but watch their actions. They think money, or they did at least, and maybe they still do, could do everything. Money can provide power. Money can provide security. Money can provide control. "I've got money," meaning I have power, security, and control. And all of a sudden, the god of money betrayed us. We can't buy our way out of this. Money isn't almighty. We need to repent of that.

How about the god of hedonism, meaning the god of pleasure? Seeking pleasure, looking for one thrill after another. Oh, we had this thrill, but how can we top this thrill? Life has become a thrill after thrill after thrill. We need to look to God and say he's the one who provides the joy and the happiness. What about the god of self that we've bowed down before? The god of self saying, "Look at me. I made myself. I made my business. I made all this money. I've done it. Look at me. I'm a self-made man. I'm a self-made woman." And we take pride in how we look. Our looks are everything. The billions of dollars spent in the United States on cosmetics. Men too. I don't know.

Am I going anywhere with this sermon? Has the Lord spoken? Did God send the coronavirus? I don't think so. I would say no, but he gave permission and he's using it now. Now I want to read a scripture. I want you to listen closely. I don't even want you to turn to it right now, but if you want to write it down: Lamentations chapter three, verses 37 through 42. God spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. Listen to what God says about giving permission to get the church back on track. And the church can't get back on track until I get back on track, until you get back on track. We are the church.

Listen to this scripture of God giving permission. Who can command things to happen without the Lord's permission? I'm reading Lamentations chapter three, the words of Jeremiah. I'll start again. Who can command things to happen without the Lord's permission? Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? Then why should we mere humans complain when we are punished for our sins? Dear God, help us to do some self-reflection. Where do I stand with God? Let us test our ways, examine our ways, and let us turn back to the Lord. That's why he's talking to the Lord's people; let us turn back to the Lord.

You can't turn back to something that you never came from. Let us turn back to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say we have sinned and rebelled. Some people have taken so much pride in their spirituality. Dear Lord, how the devil can dupe us. God is coming. I want to talk just a little bit about the racial injustice that's going on. We knew all along all these years that it existed, but we did little or nothing about it until Mr. George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis.

We did nothing about it. Hey, things are happening now. God knows how to get some action out of us. Look what's going on. There's a heading out now entitled Revival at the Corner Where George Floyd was Killed. The corner is 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis. That intersection is now blocked off. I did a little bit of research on it. Things are happening very quickly. We wanted something to happen the very first Sunday. Things are happening. That intersection is now blocked off. White people, black people together are taking murals and flowers to that place.

A local pastor, Joshua Giles, said that there is a revival that is breaking out, a spiritual awakening. Listen to what this pastor says. Souls are being saved and baptized in water, giving their testimony at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue. Preacher after preacher is going, people are coming, and people are hearing the Word of God. Friend, let's rejoice a little bit and give thanks to God for the souls that are being saved who perhaps otherwise would not have been saved. People are beginning to listen a little bit now, thanks be unto God.

This is what the Christian Broadcasting Network had to say about 38th Street and Chicago Avenue. CBN. Listen to this. The area, 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, was once flooded with riots and chaos but has now seen an outpouring of God's power. God's power is being poured out where the man was murdered. You talk about God turning things around. All things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to his purpose. You've been called into his kingdom.

Another Christian radio station said at the epicenter of pain and darkness, a message of hope through Christ is taking hold and spreading, and it's starting right there where the man was killed. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Souls are being saved and people are being baptized.

Guest (Male): Isn't it reassuring to know that God is alive and moving in the hearts and lives of individuals today, even in the midst of horrible circumstances and wrongdoing? I invite you to pause for a moment and thank him for the love and grace he provides and the hope we have as we surrender our will and let God move. We hope that today's message has been a blessing and has strengthened your faith in God. But before we go, here is Pastor Jack Morris with a special invitation.

Pastor Jack Morris: Have you ever asked God why? Why this sickness? Why this divorce? This disappointment? Why these troubles and problems? Why, God? Friend, I've just completed an e-book entitled From Asking Why, God, to Trusting Him. It's a faith journey. I'll be glad to send it to you free of charge simply for asking. Some of the life situations addressed in the e-book are: God's timing in answering prayer, a journey of faith through suffering, reasons for unanswered prayer, and more. For your free copy, go to thehealingword.com and sign up. That's thehealingword.com, and I'll send you a free copy of From Asking Why, God, to Trusting Him. I'm Pastor Jack Morris.

Guest (Male): Join us tomorrow for another Healing Word message. Until then, blessings on you.