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Max Lucado – Good Questions: Questions That Can Deepen Your Faith · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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Speaker 1: You know, if the world is safe, you can thank
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Speaker 1: a mom. I mean, who else would tell us to
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Speaker 1: take vitamin C? Who else knows the recipe for chicken
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Speaker 1: noodle soup? Who else thinks it's necessary to put mayonnaise
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Speaker 1: in the fridge? We all should, but moms do. And
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Speaker 1: mom's safety records really leave the safety records of dads
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Speaker 1: in the dust. We dads don't notice the fruit flies
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Speaker 1: over the trash can. We don't mind the dog licking
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Speaker 1: the pacifier. Why wash the dishes if you're just going
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Speaker 1: to use them again in a few hours? DNA destined
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Speaker 1: men to battle bad guys, not bad colds. Remember the
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Speaker 1: old joke? How many men does it take to change
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Speaker 1: a roll of toilet paper? Nobody knows. It's never happened.
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Speaker 1: Given a few exceptions, it's mom who makes the house
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Speaker 1: a haven. It's mom who knows the health insurance policy
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Speaker 1: numbers and the time that's passed since the vaccination. It's
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Speaker 1: mom who reminds us to be careful. The phrase, wash
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Speaker 1: that fruit before you eat it, is, at least in
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Speaker 1: my memory, in the voice of my mother. The closest
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Speaker 1: my father ever came to such a statement was, you
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Speaker 1: better eat that fruit before I get it. My wife,
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Speaker 1: Dean Lynn, scarcely entrusted me with the safety of our
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Speaker 1: infant daughters. Her concern was warranted. On one occasion, she
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Speaker 1: left me babysitting and returned to find that I didn't
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Speaker 1: change a diaper the entire evening. I told her I
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Speaker 1: was just following the instructions and I showed her the
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Speaker 1: bag where the diapers came. The package read eight to
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Speaker 1: ten pounds. Laughter Crude, but clever, I thought. On the
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Speaker 1: rare occasion that she left me with an overnight shift,
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Speaker 1: she notified ten other moms. And she wrote an epistle
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Speaker 1: of instructions, including paragraphs like, The baby aspirin is in
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Speaker 1: the medicine chest. Give yourself five extra minutes to open
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Speaker 1: it as the cap is daddy proof. Depress the cap
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Speaker 1: and turn it counterclockwise or counterclockwise. from third base to
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Speaker 1: second base to first base. And if someone throws up,
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Speaker 1: don't you dare call for the neighbor's dog again. Guys
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Speaker 1: need these kind of reminders. Not moms. What Brinks is
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Speaker 1: to bank deposits, moms are to kids. God's security system.
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Speaker 1: The hands of a mom are thermometer sensitive. Her eyes
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Speaker 1: can see through bathroom doors. Her nose can detect the
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Speaker 1: dirty sock two bedrooms away. And her mouth speaks the
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Speaker 1: vernacular of motherhood. Insightful warnings like, cover your mouth when
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Speaker 1: you sneeze. If your friends ate glass, would you do
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Speaker 1: it too? My favorite from my mom, if you break
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Speaker 1: a leg on that bike, don't you come running to me.
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Speaker 1: When it comes to protection, we think of moms, don't we?
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Speaker 1: God did. Eight centuries before the birth of Jesus, the
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Speaker 1: children of Israel living in Jerusalem were under attack. His
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Speaker 1: people were desperate. But Zion, and that's a word often
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Speaker 1: used in the Bible for the children of Israel. But
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Speaker 1: Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me. The Lord has
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Speaker 1: forgotten me. They were afraid. All they saw were enemies
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Speaker 1: encircling them. And they thought God had forsaken them, that
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Speaker 1: God had forgotten them. And God answered their fears by
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Speaker 1: pointing of all places to the nursery, to the Hebrew nursery,
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Speaker 1: where their fears accurate. Had God forgotten them? Here are
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Speaker 1: the words of God. I'm so happy to introduce you
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Speaker 1: to this scripture if you've never seen it before. It's
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Speaker 1: in Isaiah 49, 15 and 16. God speaking here says,
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Speaker 1: can a mother forget the baby at her breast and
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Speaker 1: have no compassion on the child she has born? And
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Speaker 1: though she may forget, I will not forget you. I
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Speaker 1: have engraved you on the palms of my hands. See,
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Speaker 1: your walls, speaking of Jerusalem, are ever before me. Perhaps
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Speaker 1: you've needed similar assurance. Perhaps you've wondered if God has
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Speaker 1: forsaken you Or forgotten you. Perhaps you're acquainted with this.
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Speaker 1: That we can call our deepest panic. And that is
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Speaker 1: that God has forsaken me. The Lord has forsaken me
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Speaker 1: they said. The Lord has forgotten me. Could there be
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Speaker 1: any deeper fear. Any more fundamental anxiety. That God has
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Speaker 1: forgotten or forsaken us. Disaster rode into Jerusalem. In the
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Speaker 1: form of a Babylonian army. City walls were broken down.
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Speaker 1: The temple was destroyed. And the best and the brightest
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Speaker 1: youth had been marched off to a distant land. And
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Speaker 1: those people who were left behind, worried that God had
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Speaker 1: forsaken them, that God had forgotten them. Maybe you've felt
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Speaker 1: the same. Midnight moments in a hospital bed and the
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Speaker 1: monitor beeps and the IV drips. You can hear the
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Speaker 1: nurses chattering down the hall. And you can't sleep and
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Speaker 1: you just stare at the wall and you wonder, has
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Speaker 1: God forsaken me? Has God forgotten me? Or maybe after
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Speaker 1: years of treadmilling a dead-end job and not being able
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Speaker 1: to find another option, you're thinking, is God near? Or
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Speaker 1: has he forgotten me? Or maybe when your prayers for
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Speaker 1: a child are met with an empty tomb and an
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Speaker 1: empty womb, I'm sorry, in an unused crib. Maybe you've wondered,
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Speaker 1: is God near? Has he forgotten me? Or maybe temptation
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Speaker 1: sucks you out to see again. Dare you ask for
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Speaker 1: God's mercy yet one more time? Is he near? Does
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Speaker 1: he care? Are you acquainted with such panic? If so,
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Speaker 1: God has an answer for you and he gives you
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Speaker 1: the sweetest picture. He asked the question. In fact, could
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Speaker 1: you read this with me? The words of God. Can
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Speaker 1: a mother forget the baby at her breast and have
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Speaker 1: no compassion on the child she has born? Though she
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Speaker 1: may forget, I will not forget you. You need a
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Speaker 1: picture of my protection, God says. You need a description
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Speaker 1: of my devotion, God asks. Well, I'll tell you where
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Speaker 1: you can find one. In the nearest nursery. slip in quietly,
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Speaker 1: pull up a chair next to the rocker, and sit
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Speaker 1: and watch. Watch the mother as she cradles the infant.
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Speaker 1: Watch the infant nurse from her mother. Could God have
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Speaker 1: given a greater picture? I mean, think about the mom
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Speaker 1: in that moment. What's her highest priority? Her priority is
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Speaker 1: the protection of that baby. the nourishment of that baby,
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Speaker 1: the provision of that baby. She has one priority, and
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Speaker 1: that is that baby. God says, that's my devotion to you.
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Speaker 1: Think about the plight of the infant. Is she cold? Well,
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Speaker 1: maybe she was, but no more. She's held close to
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Speaker 1: her mother's body. Does she labor? No. The mother does
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Speaker 1: all the work. Is she needy? Well, she was needy.
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Speaker 1: And she cried out and her mother came. And she's
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Speaker 1: not needy any longer. She's warmed. She's held. She's fed.
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Speaker 1: Don't we long for such a place? Could there be
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Speaker 1: a better place than the arms of a mother? God's
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Speaker 1: question is, can a mother forget the baby at her
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Speaker 1: breast and have no compassion on the child she has born?
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Speaker 1: How would you answer that question? How would you? Can
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Speaker 1: a mother forget the baby at her breast? Can she
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Speaker 1: have no compassion on the child she has born? That's
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Speaker 1: a ridiculous question. Can you even envision, can you conjure
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Speaker 1: up the idea of a mother feeding a baby and saying, now,
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Speaker 1: who are you? Somebody remind me who this baby is.
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Speaker 1: Can a mother forget the baby? Can a mother have
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Speaker 1: no compassion upon the child that she has born? Even
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Speaker 1: if the baby was unplanned, even if the mother is unwed,
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Speaker 1: even if the parents are unprepared, the mother will always,
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Speaker 1: right moms? The mother will always have the most loyal, devoted,
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Speaker 1: even biased devotion to that child. Can a mother forget
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Speaker 1: the baby at her breast? God asks. Can a mother
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Speaker 1: have no compassion for the child she has born? But
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Speaker 1: if in some unimaginable circumstance, the mother forgot the child
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Speaker 1: or had no compassion, then God says, though she may forget,
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Speaker 1: I will not forget you. Would you please receive that
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Speaker 1: word right now? God has not forgotten you. He has not.
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Speaker 1: And he never, never will. The answer and the proof
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Speaker 1: is in this. The greatest pledge. Look what God says. See,
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Speaker 1: I have engraved you I have engraved you, not just
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Speaker 1: your name, but your life, your whole story. I have
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Speaker 1: engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls,
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Speaker 1: speaking of Jerusalem, are ever before me. Your walls have collapsed,
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Speaker 1: but I can see them. Your life is a challenge,
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Speaker 1: but I can see you. I have engraved your name
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Speaker 1: on the palm of my hands. Friend, your name is
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Speaker 1: not buried in some heavenly file. God never glances at
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Speaker 1: your name tag to jog his memory of you. He
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Speaker 1: knew you before you were born. He knows the day
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Speaker 1: that you will die. He has measured the span of
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Speaker 1: your life. And he has chosen you and has invited
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Speaker 1: you to come and spend forever with him. Your name
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Speaker 1: is written. Your life is written on the palm of
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Speaker 1: his hand. Your story, in other words, is ever in
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Speaker 1: the eyesight of God. Someone told you otherwise? Someone told
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Speaker 1: you that you could out-sin God's grace? That you could
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Speaker 1: out-run God's affection? Someone told you that He would forget
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Speaker 1: you because you so often forget Him? Hogwash. Hogwash. The
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Speaker 1: Bible from start to finish, from Genesis to Revelations, Elevates
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Speaker 1: the great promise of God. That he will never forget you.
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Speaker 1: He will never forsake you. Even though we do forget him.
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Speaker 1: And though we have forsaken him. Our love does not
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Speaker 1: make him love us more. Our failure to love does
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Speaker 1: not make him love us less. His love does not
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Speaker 1: depend upon us. He loves because he is love. And
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Speaker 1: your best deeds will not increase his love. Your worst
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Speaker 1: deeds will never diminish it. And you have never lived
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Speaker 1: one unloved day, nor ever will you. Such is the
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Speaker 1: love of God. Would you receive it? Even in my heart,
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Speaker 1: I sense that people resist it. They can't believe it.
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Speaker 1: And you come by your caution, your hesitancy, honestly enough,
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Speaker 1: because the world can be so hard on you. And
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Speaker 1: there have been others, maybe even those in your family,
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Speaker 1: who promised to love you and then they never did.
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Speaker 1: Please do not filter God's love through earthly experience. Let
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Speaker 1: God be who He has declared to be, and that
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Speaker 1: is a God of endless love. He is loyal to you.
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Speaker 1: And regarding that loyalty, there's no question. But sometimes regarding
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Speaker 1: our trust, there is question. I wonder if a baby
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Speaker 1: being nursed by the mother would ever have the same
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Speaker 1: insecurities that we have regarding God. Can you imagine a
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Speaker 1: child being held and fed by the mother having thoughts like, well,
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Speaker 1: I sure hope she doesn't drop me. Or I hope
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Speaker 1: she doesn't change her mind. Well, you know, I cried
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Speaker 1: so much last night. I'm not sure she's going to
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Speaker 1: really feed me. She may not even change my diaper.
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Speaker 1: She may turn me over to Lakato. I bet she's
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Speaker 1: tired of me. I don't even know how to help.
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Speaker 1: I can't work. I can't vacuum. I can't contribute. Babies
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Speaker 1: don't have those thoughts, boy, but we do, don't we?
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Speaker 1: Don't we? We worry about disappointing God, overstaying our welcome,
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Speaker 1: out sinning His grace. We worry that we won't deserve
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Speaker 1: a place in His arms. He might forget us or
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Speaker 1: drop us or forsake us. You know, we didn't always
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Speaker 1: have such concerns for those of you who are Christians.
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Speaker 1: You might remember when you first came to Christ. You
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Speaker 1: came with such childlike faith. You just said a prayer.
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Speaker 1: You just cried out to him like a child would
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Speaker 1: cry out to a mother. And he accepted you. He
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Speaker 1: forgave you. As the years pass, sometimes we We change
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Speaker 1: and we lose that childlike faith. Maybe we slip and fall.
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Speaker 1: Maybe we succeed and stand. Maybe we struggle with shame
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Speaker 1: or maybe we struggle with pride. Some people feel that
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Speaker 1: they're too bad for God's arms. Some people feel they're
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Speaker 1: too big for God's arms. But God calls all of us.
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Speaker 1: And his message is clear. You're never so bad. You're
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Speaker 1: never so big that you don't need to be held
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Speaker 1: in the strong arms of your heavenly fathers. The Apostle
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Speaker 1: Paul said, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
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Speaker 1: continue to live your lives in Him. Just as you
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Speaker 1: received Him. When you were so trusting, so dependent, maintain
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Speaker 1: that childlike posture. Because God's love for you has never changed.
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Speaker 1: One more verse, still in the book of Isaiah. God says,
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Speaker 1: for the mountains may move and the hills disappear. But
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Speaker 1: even then, my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant,
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Speaker 1: look at that word, covenant promise of blessing will never
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Speaker 1: be broken, says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
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Speaker 1: The flight departing Orlando for Atlanta was populated primarily by
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Speaker 1: business workers, people who were traveling to Atlanta or some
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Speaker 1: other location for the purpose of work. Most everybody on
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Speaker 1: the plane had their laptop or had a book to
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Speaker 1: read or had a project upon which they needed to
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Speaker 1: turn their attention. But there was one exception, a very
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Speaker 1: notable exception. There was a mom and her four-year-old daughter.
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Speaker 1: When everybody else on the plane began doing their work
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Speaker 1: or reading their books, she and her daughter pulled out
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Speaker 1: a coloring book and some crayons. They chose to pass
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Speaker 1: the time just engaged in playtime. Everybody assumed it would
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Speaker 1: be an uneventful flight, but just a few minutes into
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Speaker 1: the flight, a few thousand feet in the air, it
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Speaker 1: became obvious that was not the case. The plane jerked
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Speaker 1: to the right and then jerked to the left. And
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Speaker 1: then the pilot came over the intercom saying, we have
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Speaker 1: a problem with our hydraulic system. We're not sure we
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Speaker 1: can get the landing gear down. We're returning to Orlando.
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Speaker 1: Prepare yourself for a bumpy landing. Fear took over the
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Speaker 1: interior of the plane. Faces turned ashen with anxiety. Several
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Speaker 1: passengers lost their composure. but not the mom. According to
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Speaker 1: a businessman who was seated just across the aisle from her,
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Speaker 1: who later wrote this story, he overheard the mother's voice,
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Speaker 1: a calm, reassuring mother's voice, as she turned to that
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Speaker 1: four-year-old and said, Honey, you know I love you. You
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Speaker 1: know you're my special girl. And I'm so proud of you.
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Speaker 1: You know that, right? Yes, mommy. And the mom said,
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Speaker 1: sometimes things happen that are not our fault. But whatever happens,
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Speaker 1: always remember that you have a mom who loves you.
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Speaker 1: And then the mom did the most surprising thing. Not surprising,
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Speaker 1: but unexpected. She reached over and she unbuckled the seatbelt
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Speaker 1: and That her daughter was wearing. And she extended it.
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Speaker 1: And she unbuckled her seatbelt. And then stood and stepped
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Speaker 1: over her daughter. And carefully placed herself. In her daughter's lap.
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Speaker 1: And then put the seatbelt around them both. As if
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Speaker 1: to say if any harm comes to this child. It
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Speaker 1: has to first pass through me. Well the landing gear reengaged.
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Speaker 1: There was no crisis. And there was no crash. And
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Speaker 1: they landed safely. Don't you know that little girl has
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Speaker 1: that memory? Deeply deposited in her conscious existence. That she
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Speaker 1: has a mom who would die for her. What word
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Speaker 1: would you use to describe that kind of love? Well,
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Speaker 1: when you come up with the word, apply it to
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Speaker 1: all moms. And then also apply it to our heavenly father.
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Speaker 1: The one who has engraved your name on the palm
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Speaker 1: of his hands. Your life is right there in the
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Speaker 1: palm of his hands right now. next to the wound,
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Speaker 1: the scar from the cross and the nails. And he
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Speaker 1: did die for you. He did cover you. And he
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Speaker 1: did receive upon him the punishment for your sins and
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Speaker 1: mine so that he could leave that door to heaven
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Speaker 1: wide open. How great is His love for you. Let's
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Speaker 1: pray together. Gracious Lord, how can we ever thank You enough?
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Speaker 1: We cannot plumb the depths of Your love. What's that
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Speaker 1: old song, Lord? Could we with ink the oceans fill?
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Speaker 1: And were every person on earth a scribe, no person
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Speaker 1: could tell of your love for us, the love that
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Speaker 1: will never die. So thank you, Lord. And I do pray, Father,
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Speaker 1: for somebody in here hearing these words saying, well, I
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Speaker 1: know he loves me, but would you please take that
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Speaker 1: hesitancy out of their heart? The greatest gift you can
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Speaker 1: give is your love. Why would we resist it? For
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Speaker 1: God so loved the world that he gave his one
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Speaker 1: and only son. For whoever believes in him will not perish,
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Speaker 1: but have everlasting life. Thank you. Thank you. Through Jesus,
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Speaker 1: we pray. Amen.
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Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close.
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Speaker 3: As long as you're somewhere out there, that's enough for me.
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Speaker 2: I don't need to hold you near me Don't need
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Speaker 2: promises to keep Just the thought that you are breathing
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Speaker 2: Somewhere in this world I see Even if I'm not
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Speaker 2: beside you Even if.
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Speaker 4: You never know There's a quiet kind of comfort Just
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Speaker 4: in knowing you still glow I don't need.
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Speaker 3: To forever.
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Speaker 2: I just need you to exist.
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Speaker 5: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
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Speaker 5: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
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Speaker 5: out there Calling softly through my days.
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Speaker 6: You don't have to look my way You don't have
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Speaker 6: to be my home.
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Speaker 2: It's enough to know you're living In a world I'm
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Speaker 2: not alone I won't chase you through the distance Won't
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Speaker 2: disturb your chosen life I'll just keep you in my
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Speaker 2: silence Like a star that shines at night Through the
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Speaker 2: dark and through the blue I still think of.
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Speaker 7: You You don't have to feel the same Just as.
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Speaker 5: Long as you're still out there Calling softly through my days.
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Speaker 6: You don't have to look my way You don't have
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Speaker 6: to be my home It's enough to know you're living
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Speaker 6: In a world I'm not alone.
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Speaker 2: I don't need to be your light I don't need
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Speaker 2: to cross your mind All I need is just the
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Speaker 2: truth That you're somewhere.
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Speaker 1: Still alive.
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Speaker 2: You don't have to.
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Speaker 8: Stay with me You don't have to feel the same
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Speaker 8: Just as long as you're still out there Calling softly
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Speaker 8: through my days You don't have to look my way.
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Speaker 7: You don't have to.
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Speaker 2: Be my home It's enough to know you're living In
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Speaker 2: a world I'm not alone