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636 | God Is Our Present Help · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Hello, friends, and welcome back to another podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  Where we believe that all of us have to come to Jesus like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
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  Our highest priority is making God real in your life. Whether you are listening
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  in our app, in your favorite podcasting app, or on our website at watwm.org,
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  we invite you to sit down with us as we look to the scriptures to learn more
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  about God and to strengthen your daily walk with Jesus Christ.
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  God is our refuge and present in our times of trouble.
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  Psalm 46.1 tells us, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
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  This means that God is with us through the trials, temptations,
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  difficult situations, and when we need Him.
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  In fact, God is with us always because He never leaves us or forsakes us.
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  Hebrews 13.5 Psalm 46.1 reminds us that God isn't just present,
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  but that He is very present.
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  Join us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries as Kim takes us on a
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  journey through the Scriptures, revealing God's presence with us,
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  His mighty help, and assurance that we have that we are never alone.
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  Hello, and thank you for joining us in this podcast of Woman at the Well Ministries.
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  We're going to discuss the ever-present help of God.
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  I'm uncertain. I have no way of knowing what your issues are,
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  what your circumstances are, what you're facing.
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  But I am certain of who God is, of his character, and what he promises he will do.
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  And I do know the one thing God cannot do is lie.
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  And he has told us in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 5 that he would never leave us or forsake us.
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  So that means that God is with us through the trials, the temptations,
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  difficult situations, and every time we need him.
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  In fact, it means he's always with us.
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  And so as we begin to look at this concept of God is our present help.
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  I'm reminded of Psalm 46, 1, which says, God is our refuge and strength,
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  a very present help in trouble.
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  I think about that as I look at these words, very present help in trouble.
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  And I think that that's important. He doesn't just say he's there.
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  He doesn't just say he's around. he says he is a present help in time of trouble.
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  A very present help in time of trouble. And I think that means that he's not just on looking.
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  He's not just standing by.
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  But he is ready, willing, and more importantly, able to take care of us in every single situation.
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  And it's important that we really take a good look at that and understand what
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  it means that God is very present with us.
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  First of all, it tells us that he's our refuge. We don't need to fight the battle.
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  We don't need to determine the answer.
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  We only need to cling to Jesus, which is the answer.
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  In Philippians, he tells us in 4.13 and 4.19, he tells us that he will supply
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  all of our needs according to his riches and glory and that he will give us
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  the strength to do what he asks us to do.
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  Here we are in Psalm 46 with this statement very clearly stating to us that
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  he is our refuge and he is our strength.
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  Yet when we go through these difficult times, when we have these problems,
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  when we have these trials, we are so
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  inclined to dig deep within ourselves, our own skill set, our own thoughts,
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  our own mind, and for whatever reason, we push God aside.
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  And that is the absolute worst strategy we could employ.
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  Because the truth of the matter is, we don't even have to fight the battle.
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  In 1 Samuel 17, verse 47, David explains to all of us plainly that our battles
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  are not ours, but they belong to the Lord.
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  As we begin to really look and think about what this means, that God is our
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  refuge and our strength, we are reminded that he's our victory.
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  In 1 Corinthians 15.57, it says, But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory
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  through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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  As I begin to look more closely at this concept that God is our present help.
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  That he's very present in our time of trouble,
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  and I dovetail that with 1 Corinthians 15.57, which explains that he gives us
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  the victory, but he says through our Lord, Jesus Christ.
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  Some of you are losing the battle because you haven't made Jesus your Lord.
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  He isn't King of your heart or Lord of your life. He's an afterthought at best.
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  He's a matter of convenience. He's your Hail Mary when you've got nothing else
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  to do, no other way to fix it.
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  But for many of us, he is not our default.
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  He is not our first go-to. He is not where our heart's desire lies.
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  He is not where we cling our faith and our mind and our heart and our soul and
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  our entire being and fully trust in him.
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  But the victory that we're told about in 1 Corinthians 15.57 predicates upon him being Lord.
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  We got to get out of his way.
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  When we insert ourselves into the situation, we are an obstacle to God doing his work.
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  We impede him many times.
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  The Bible is filled with many examples of where God shows up on the scene and
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  gives victory to those who are relying in him.
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  Relying on his strength handing their battles to him for him to fight and to
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  win and who are trusting fully in the one true living God,
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  that translates into letting Jesus be Lord letting him do what he does,
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  instead of being an obstacle to the presence of God Instead of getting in the
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  way of the work of the Holy Spirit,
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  and instead of putting ourselves in charge, we must put God in charge,
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  and we must allow Jesus to have his rightful place in our life.
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  That's what we see all through Scripture when victory comes.
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  There's multiple places we could talk about, and I've alluded multiple times
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  already in this message to David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17,
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  where David doesn't take on the armor of the world.
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  He doesn't place his trust in something other than Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit.
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  He comes in the name of the Lord.
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  He fights in the strength of God. He abdicates the throne of his life to God,
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  and he allows God to work and flow freely through him.
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  And because of that, God hands over the giant, Goliath, to David.
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  David is victorious in a battle he could not have won on his own,
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  in a scenario he can't even show up in,
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  David trusting in God, fully relying on God to take care of him,
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  does what no one else could do.
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  He hands the head of Goliath over to his people.
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  And in that account in 1 Samuel 17, you see what enrages David the most is that
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  Goliath is mocking his God.
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  David cannot tolerate that.
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  His reliance on God and his trust in God is so great and so strong,
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  and he knows him so well and loves him so deeply that he will not allow the giant to mock his God.
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  In a very dangerous situation, David defends his God.
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  God is with us all the time, so he hears and sees the times that other people
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  around you are taking his name in vain and you don't even flinch.
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  He sees and knows when people are ridiculing his word, defacing it,
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  taking his name in vain, and you don't defend.
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  And let's face it, you probably wouldn't be in a battle of any magnitude that
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  would compare to David and Goliath if you did defend.
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  You might be made fun of. Someone might walk out of the room.
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  People might not want you as their friend, but it would be highly unlikely that
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  your life would be at stake.
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  Yet we are quiet Christians. We try to live our faith privately.
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  I submit to you that I'm not certain that's faith at all.
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  Galatians 5 tells us that they're a fruit of the spirit and the fruit of the
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  spirit is what everybody else sees,
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  so when you're living your faith and living out your walk with jesus christ
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  people will see the fruit demonstrated in you and you're living it publicly.
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  If people have to ask you if you love the Lord, you might want to check how much you do love him.
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  But he's present to help us all the time.
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  But we have to call upon him and make him Lord.
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  We have to allow him to be Lord of our life. We have to submit ourselves under
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  the mighty hand of God that he might exalt us in due time.
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  We have to hand over the reins of our life.
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  The account I want to spend the most time on is about Hezekiah.
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  And the Assyrian king that is laying siege to Jerusalem.
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  And he's attacking Jerusalem, and he's demanding that King Hezekiah surrender.
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  And you can read about this in 2 Kings 18 and 19. You can read about it in Isaiah 36 and 37.
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  But I want you to re-hear me as I read this out of 2 Chronicles 32, verse 8.
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  Here is what Hezekiah understands.
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  With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.
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  Hezekiah was not going to surrender to a human king.
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  Hezekiah had purpose in his heart and in his mind to surrender only to the Lord.
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  And so when the king of Assyria comes and is demanding for King Hezekiah to surrender, he says no.
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  Instead of surrendering to the king, Hezekiah surrenders to the Lord,
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  and Hezekiah prays and God answers.
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  Here's what he says in Isaiah 37, 36. Then the angel of the Lord went forth
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  and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and four score and five thousand,
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  a hundred and eighty-five thousand.
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  And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpse.
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  When they arose.
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  God fought the battle for them. This verse indicates they were asleep.
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  How could they do that? Because when they prayed, they believed.
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  It wasn't like James 4.3 where you ask amiss.
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  Hezekiah could rest in the promises of God because he knew them and he believed them.
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  And he understood that God was a very present help in trouble.
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  Daniel sleeps in the lion den the lions are there no doubt hungry but Daniel
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  knew that his God was going to protect him and so Daniel sleeps in the lion's den,
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  That indicates he was peaceful. He wasn't full of anxiety. He wasn't worried or scared.
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  See, perfect love casts out all fear. And Jesus loves us perfectly,
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  and we can love him by his grace and mercy in such a way that we have no fear.
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  Nothing is impossible with God.
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  And Daniel shows that in the lion's den.
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  King Hezekiah is living it as he's asleep, waiting for the Lord to fight his
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  battle, who kills 185,000 people and gives him the victory.
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  David is declaring his strength in the Lord.
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  What do they have in common? An unwavering face.
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  An indestructible knowledge that God is very present. He's not just there hanging out.
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  He's not just a far-off looking in.
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  He is right there in the middle of your battle, in the midst of your tribulations,
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  in the midst of your troubles, and he is fighting them if you let him.
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  All three of these individuals placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ,
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  and in doing so, they were able to watch what God would do.
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  When you're in the midst of a trouble and trial and tribulation and problem,
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  you are on a front row seat of a miracle, because God will not let you down.
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  He died on the cross to save you before you were even born.
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  He paid your sin debt. He didn't owe that you couldn't pay. He hasn't brought
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  you this far to drop you now.
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  Hezekiah took his refuge in the Lord, knowing that God would take care of him.
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  When they arose, the battle was won.
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  Psalm 46.1 is a battle cry. It's a declaration.
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  It should inspire and motivate. Its truth should give you peace.
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  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.
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  He's involved in your life when you let him be.
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  Proverbs 3, 5-7, he says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
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  and lean not into thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
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  and he shall direct thy paths.
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  Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
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  Hezekiah's situation was dire. It was impossible for him to win this battle,
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  but nothing's impossible with God, according to Luke 1, 37.
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  And Hezekiah was living out his faith.
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  Isaiah 26, 3 says, that will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
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  on thee, because he trusteth in thee.
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  Hezekiah was asleep, and God was working.
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  He's always working out for your good and his glory.
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  Regardless of the circumstances, When you put your faith in God and fully rely
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  upon him, he will see you through.
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  He will fight the battle, and he's never lost one. He's our shelter providing protection.
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  Regardless of what you need, child of God, God is providing it.
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  Don't get in his way.
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  For Hezekiah and his people, God provided shelter from the Assyrian attacks.
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  He was their refuge in time of trouble.
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  He was very present. In fact, he fought the battle while they slept.
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  He didn't just provide assistance. He fought it, and he gave them the victory that they needed.
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  He'll do the same for me and you. In every situation, in every circumstance,
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  that we trust fully in him, that we rely fully on him, and that we hand our problems to him.
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  Come to him, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and he will give you rest.
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  Deuteronomy 4, 7 declares the present nature of God in the midst of his children.
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  For what nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them,
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  as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
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  In all things he's involved.
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  Take your hands off the wheel and allow God to have full control.
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  The Israelites were accustomed to God taking care of them.
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  He was accustomed to them, knowing that God would provide what they needed.
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  In this journey that they were on, they had the fire by night so that they could
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  see, and a cloud by day so that they would be comforted.
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  He parted the Red Sea, and they went across on dry land, and he wiped out the Egyptians.
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  Enemy, the foe. But when people got to the edge of the Red Sea,
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  there were some that doubted.
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  Look what they would have missed. Some wanted to turn back. At least they knew
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  what they had in Egypt. It was horrible.
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  But they were struggling to trust. But Moses trusted. Hezekiah trusted.
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  David trusted. Will you? All of us who placed our faith in Jesus, we're children of God.
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  If we've called upon him to save us and to wash away our sins and to keep us, he will save us.
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  John 3.16 tells us that.
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  So when we read these truths in scriptures about what he did for David when
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  he handed him the victory over the Goliath, the giant, what he did for the Israelites
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  when he parted the Red Sea,
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  when he fed them with manna from on high.
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  What he did for the widow when he wouldn't let her oil of cruise run dry or
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  her barrel of flour run out,
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  What he did for Noah when he shut the door of the ark Kept him safely inside,
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  We are his children And if you are his child, you can read that and know that
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  God will help you and give you the victory just like he did for them,
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  sin has no more dominion over us according to romans 6 14 so stop throwing up the,
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  surrender flag, and inviting the devil to do whatever he wants.
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  But stand strong, dig your heels in, and call on the mighty name of God.
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  And believe, because all things are possible to him that believeth.
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  Friends, Scripture tells us that nothing can take us down, because God is faithful,
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  and he won't suffer us to be tempted above that we can bear.
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  But with the temptation, we'll also make a way of escape.
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  That we could bear it. God is with us, and not a thing in our past has power
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  over us, because 1 John 4 says, greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.
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  The Holy Spirit is greater, and Jesus is with us, and God loves us.
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  The Lord is on your side. What can man do unto you? Don't fear. Psalms 118.6.
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  So here's what not to do when trouble comes your way. don't be distressed or
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  perplexed it's a common scripture says that the world's full of trouble but
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  be of good cheer i've overcome the world,
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  in second corinthians 4 7 through 9 he says but we have this treasure in earth
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  and vessels that the excellency of the power may be of god not of you of god,
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  and not of us we are troubled on every side yet not distressed we are perplexed
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  but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed.
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  The Lord is on my side. I can't lose.
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  So don't be distressed and perplexed. Don't fear or become anxious.
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  In Philippians 4, 6-7, he says, Be careful for nothing, but in everything,
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  by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, thanking for the answer, it's a coming.
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  Let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God,
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  which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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  Don't be distressed and perplexed.
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  And don't be anxious.
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  Call upon the one true living God. He will save you.
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  He is our refuge and strength and an ever-present help in time of trouble.
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  He's very present in our problems.
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  So what do you do when trouble comes your way? Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
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  We talked about that in Proverbs 3, 5 through 7. Don't devise your way to fix it.
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  Watch him deliver you. Be an observer,
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  in the situation that you're going through and give full reign and full space
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  for God's grace, his mercy, and his love, and his direction to get you through.
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  Because through Jesus, he's going to give you the victory.
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  Take your refuge in him.
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  Let god be where you get your comfort strength and peace,
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  trust him to provide for you and rest assured of his unfailing protection i
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  can't wait till we get to heaven.
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  And I find Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They're impressive young men.
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  They're declaring that God will deliver them. And in the midst of the conversation
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  with King Nebuchadnezzar, one of them says, well, if he doesn't deliver us,
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  we're not bound to you anyway, because that doesn't mean he's not God.
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  He is still God. Whether I get it my way or his way, he's God.
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  Now, I'm praying that before I get to heaven, I give enough of myself to the
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  Lord and he feels enough of me because I invite him in and I give him his rightful
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  place as Lord of my life and King of my heart,
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  that when a situation does not get resolved the way that I think it should or
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  wish it would, that I am okay, that I'm more than okay, that I am,
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  thrilled to know that the outcome was sifted through nail-scarred hands,
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  and that it is what is best for me, because he has plans for me to prosper me
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  and to give me a hope, and that it is for my good in his glory,
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  and that all things work out for my good.
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  Honest with you, that's not my instantaneous response. It's my heart's desire.
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  My mind wants that to be how it is.
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  But daily we have to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him.
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  And the flesh does not die easy. And if we don't soak it in the word of God,
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  if we don't shower it in prayer, it can be a formidable foe.
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  But when we have faith like the three Hebrew children, when we have faith like
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  David, when we have faith like Noah,
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  when we have faith enough to believe even when we cannot see,
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  when we take his word at face value and realize that anything is possible to him that believes.
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  When we do that, then we fully understand what it means to take our refuge and our strength,
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  in God and to cling to our very present, involved, active,
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  victorious God that is always with us.
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  What do you do when trouble comes your way? Call upon the Lord.
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  Will save you, honor you, and deliver you. How do I know that?
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  Because the Bible tells me so. In Psalm chapter 91 and verse 15,
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  he says this, He shall call upon me, and I will answer him.
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  I will be with him in trouble.
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  I will deliver him, and I will honor him.
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  2 Samuel 22, 2-3 says, and he said, The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.
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  The God of my rock, in him will I trust. He is my shield and the horn of my
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  salvation, my high tower and my refuge.
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  My Savior, thou savest me from violence.
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  Ever present, very present, all the time.
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  How active is God in your life? He's as active as you'll let him.
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  God is ever present and always on your side. So with me, say these words in your heart.
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  Believe them with all your strength. Call upon God and place your faith in him.
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  The Lord is on my side.
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  I will not fear what man can do unto me. Psalm 118.6.
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  Friends, regardless of your situation, look up.
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  Your redemption draweth nigh. God is our present help, and he's very present,
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  to those who yield and submit to his authority.
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  Remember, you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Thank you for joining us in today's podcast. You can visit the show notes for
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  quotes from today's podcast and scripture references.
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  We pray today has been a blessing, and we encourage you to reach out to us through
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  our app, our website, or our Facebook page.
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  You can find our app by searching for Woman at the Well Ministries in your app
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  store or through our website at watwm.org.
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  a daily devotion written by Kim and delivered Monday through Friday by text message.
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  Remember that God loves you. You are loved.