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Finding Stability In The Lonely Places | Guided Prayers · Central Christian Church

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: There's a loneliness that comes with being the one everyone depends on.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: The one who is supposed to have the answers, who holds it together when others get to fall apart.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: The hardest part usually isn't the responsibility, it's the sense that you are carrying it alone.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: As Joshua took up the leadership of an entire nation, God spoke to him about exactly that.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: In Joshua 1 9, God says, Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Joshua was taking over from Moses, leading an entire nation into unknown, dangerous territory, carrying their fear on top of his own.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And notice what God hands him.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not a strategy, not a promise that it will be easy.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: The cure he offers for the fear and the discouragement is one thing: his presence with you wherever you go.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Courage here is not something Joshua has to manufacture.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: It grows out of the simple fact that he is not and will never be alone.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Let's thank God for the promise of his presence.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thank him that the strength and courage he commands, he also supplies by being with you.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And thank him that there is no room you walk into and no responsibility you carry where he is not already there with you.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now, tell him what you're carrying that no one else sees.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: The decision, the pressure, the fear you can't say out loud to the people leaning on you.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Tell him where you feel most alone in it, and ask him to make his presence real to you, to give you the courage that comes from not being alone.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Take a slow breath and set the weight down for a moment.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Picture him standing right beside you in it.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Tell him in the quiet, you are with me wherever I go.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not leading this alone, so I can be strong and courageous.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: A pastor, a boss, a parent, a volunteer.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Bring them to God and ask him to meet their loneliness with his presence.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: You go with us wherever we go.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Steady the lonely places, supply the courage you command, and remind us each day that you are near.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're not carrying this alone.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.