The Sovereignty of God

Well, God's sovereignty. Let's dive in and give a short definition. God's sovereignty is his exercise of power and rule over his creation. That is it is his preservation control and direction of all things in events in the universe to achieve his good and glorious purposes. That's a long way of saying God is in charge.

God's sovereignty is the exercise of his power and rule over his creation. Now, the truth that God is in control of all events that he is able to bring about all of his holy will including both good and bad. In our lives is an attribute that we will never fully understand. Could we just admit that? First that we will never fully understand God's sovereignty. We wrestle with sovereignty, especially in tragedy. But also in everyday events. I remember reading about one prominent author who was a Christian through her teenage years and she had a friend who is Jewish and her Jewish friend died of cancer as a teenager or died of some sort of other illness and that really Shipwrecked her faith. Because years later, she was an author who would publishing things that were very critical of the Bible in very, very basically not anything close to the Christian faith. Where is before she had grown up in a Christian home and it said, yes, I believe these things. But overtime, in interviews. And in other articles that I've read about this individual, she had come to just have that bitterness against God in the sovereignty of her own life. My own Journey wrestling with God's sovereignty, dealing with acute periods of anxiety, and depression. Last year, in 2024 facing a neck surgery to having particular trials, in marriage and in parenting. And of course, the first question, we asked related to God's sovereignty as well. Why is this happening to me right now? I mean God there would be a lot better times in my life for this to happen. Then right now,

Will the sovereignty of God can either break your foundation or it can be your Solid Rock? And I want us to look at that choice today because it is a stark Choice, the sovereignty of God, these attributes of God that we're looking at. They're not they're not added extras. As if God is a is a certain being and these attributes are all like little decorations on the outside. Know, all of these attributes are into woven into the essence of who God is and so we we should not playoff one attribute of God against another. You understand what I'm saying? An example of that would be what I was reading this week was example through history of some of the Some of the Puritans I think who were asked when they were ordained for ordination. They were asked the question, well, would you be willing to be damned to hell? If it would give greater glory to God. Now, that's kind of a loaded question because it plays an absolute one attribute of God against another, it plays God's Wrath and God's justice over sin and God's predestination of the elect. It plays that against God's will God's love and compassion Until we're not too or not to take guys asked abuse and say well he's 80% dissing 20%, this and 75%. This an 25%. This know, all of his attributes are true all the time. So the question was sovereignty is then how do we respond to God in the confusing moments? Just think about think about that for a second. How do I respond to God in a confusing moment? Or in an anxious moment or in a fearful moment. Or in a confident moment. When you just got that promotion or you just got that that account for that job or whatever it might be, how do you respond to God? Then, you know, maybe sometimes, when things are going? Well, we just kind of forget about God, we forget to thank him, we forget to to praise him. How do we respond to God and confusing moments? That, that tells what we really believe about God's sovereignty? Now to obstacles that we can we don't have time to go into them in a lot of detail right now, but two obstacles related to God's sovereignty, which deserves more attention. One is the question of evil and suffering. Will we live in a fallen world but if God controls all things, then why do these bad things happen? We do live in a fallen world with the effects of sin. Romans chapter 8, talks about how all of creation is under a curse. All of creation is groaning until the Final Redemption of God's children. Scripture attributes of God as the primary cause of all things. But scripture never blames God for suffering or attributes evil to God. There is the suffering that goes on in the world that God allows but scripture does not blame God for suffering directly. One of those simple examples you can think of is the Book of James that when, When sin takes root, each person is dragged away and enticed by his own evil desire. So does god control our desires? Well yes, God controls all things. But we are also dragged away and enticed by our own evil desire. So, there's a doctor in there of philosophical category called concurrence where, how can I how can events in our lives be caused be concurrently caused by God and by ourselves? Well, that's ultimately mysterious to us. But scripture seems to affirm that God causes things and we cause things

the other question about evil and suffering as you take the flash floods in Texas recently, I think it would be wrong to say, well, this, this a flash flood or this natural disaster is a direct punishment against x, y, and z. But Romans chapter 8 again, does say that creation is in bondage. And so when we see natural disasters, when we see hurricanes tornadoes, things like that, it is a sign in general of God's anger against sin. It is a sign of God's Wrath, calling people to repent. Jesus says, in Luke Chapter 13 e says, do you think these people who who's pilot mixed their blood with the sacrifices? Do you think they were any worse? Sinners than anybody else? He says, no. But repent, unless all the all of you Parish Luke Chapter 13. He says about the the the people who died in the tower of Siloam,

let me just read that. It's a fascinating account. Luke chapter 13.

and we think of just tragedies in general, Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them. Do you think that they were worst offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem where they to blame, where they did this happen? Because they were doing something wrong? No Jesus says, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. So, the event that happened obviously was caused by God, but it wasn't a direct punishment against those individuals. It was a call to repentance. It was a call. It was a recognition of God's anger against sin.

It's interesting. When when you talk to people, About this question of evil and suffering.

You know, they're most concerned about the evil and suffering that they didn't cause themselves. And so, you can kind of turn the question back around and say, well what about the evil that you've caused the other people? What about the suffering that you've inflicted on other people again? If there is suffering, it goes on that we realized, will this seem Lord, this seems like needless suffering or purposeless suffering. But we have to remember that scripture. Never blames God for suffering. Now the other thing that comes up is sovereignty as it relates to free will. I'm a compatible list in the sense that I, I view, Divine sovereignty as being compatible with, with humans who are mortal creatures and have significance and can make real choice. So then the question is how is Free Will defined? The Bible never presents human choices as being beyond God control. I'll listen to the words of dr. Wayne grudem. He wrote this in his book. Systematic Theology, he says an absolutely an absolute freedom. An absolute freedom, meaning totally free of God's control is simply not possible in a world. That is providentially sustained and directed by God himself, scripture does not hesitate to couple statements of God's sovereignty with statements of man's responsibility for evil. So we will never reconcile in our own finite Minds how God's sovereignty and how human responsibility fit together. D, A Carson of the Theologian, wrote a great book, God's sovereignty and human responsibility. And then the subtitle is biblical principles intention. You got that you got the point of the book, just by the subtitle, he says, scripture teaches both and they're throughs that Our intention because we don't completely understand them. But look at look at this example, in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 2 verse 23, Peter speaking to the people on the day of Pentecost, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God you crucified and killed by the hands of Lawless men. So the question is, will who did it? God did it and the people who delivered Jesus up, did it. You see those there? Their they're there there's a concurrence there between what God caused and what humans cost.

There's another great article that I read this week and I can share it with you if you if you want more information but it's by an author who talks about Free Will. And he's, he gives the difference between compatible list, Free Will and libertarian, Free Will, and compatible list Free Will is the Free. Will that we have that. We that we basically talked about every day that we are free to choose what we want to do. And then he talks about libertarian Free Will being the free will to do the opposite. Of what you want to do meeting your will, is free in, in a complete sense, in an absolute sense and he he goes on through the scriptures. And he says, look the Bible clearly teaches that we have compatible free, will, that we are able to choose what we desire to choose, but we do not have libertarian Free Will in the sense that our choices are outside of God's control. So I need a volunteer to illustrate this who would be like to be a volunteer. Let me tell you what you're getting into. All you have to do is pick a number between 1 and 10. So, Daniels going to be a volunteer. Alright, Daniel pick a number between 1 and 10. Okay. Would you tell us what that number is? Now, come on. The volunteer. Has to be willing to cooperate. That's part of the Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay now let's assume that God knew that Daniel was going to choose the number two

Did that make your choice? Any less free to choose the number to. If God knew that you were going to choose that number,

Right? So that's the idea of compatible free. Will that, that God's God knows all things. And God causes all things, but he also gives us the choice to cause things, to, to bring about things in our lives. And that's those are topics again. They're much broader and we won't go into them today, but but people tend to stumble on those, those two things, the problem of suffering, the problem of evil and, and the whole question of free will Now here's another nugget that will prepare us for looking at Isaiah 46 there, different names of God that display his sovereignty. Genesis 14. God most high El elyon Genesis 17:1, God Almighty, El Shaddai and Genesis 15 verse 8, Lord God, lord being the word Adonai and then Yahweh being the name for God and The New International Version actually translates. The term Sovereign Lord, I think over 240 X Where it relates to Sovereign, Lord, meaning Lord, Lord, and capitals, the name Yahweh. So sovereignty is the idea that summarizes God supreme power and authority. Psalm 115 verse 3, our God is in the heavens, he does all that. He pleases God is all-powerful and all-knowing all loving aspects, which we don't fully understand, but yet are true about God and are interwoven into his character. One of the British preachers that I love to read. CH Spurgeon, he wrote this about God's sovereignty. He says, there is no actual Butte more comforting. There's no after Butte more comforting, there's no app to be more comforting to his children than that of God's sovereignty under the most adverse circumstances in the most severe trials. They believed that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions that sovereignty overrules their afflictions and the sovereignty will sanctify their afflictions. Think we have another slide there that continues that There is nothing for which the children ought to be more earnestly contend to then the doctrine of their Master over all creation. The kingship of God, over all the works of his own hands for it is God upon the throne whom we trust. The doctrine of God's sovereignty is a doctrine that gives us stability. Did you give you an idea of how interesting this this this principle is when I was taking Theology and Seminary, I had a new professor at Trinity, and this was in 1999. His name is Kevin Van Hooser dr. Kevin Van Hooser, and he was teaching the first theology class. And dumb. And he's been at Trinity, many years, he still continues to to teach there and we were going over the doctrine of election does. God, choose people to beat for salvation. And he, I remember, he said this before the class discussion, he said, well, I'm a calvinist. Meaning, I emphasize the doctrine of election, but I preach like an arminian, In the sense that I preached in the sense of giving, people putting the call to repentance before people. And so so it is one of those issues that we don't fully understand our faith, our statement of faith, as a church, does not specify the doctrine of election versus the idea of free will, but the concepts are there. And what, what you can see in our statement of faith, But it is meant to be a comfort. It it's not meant to, to be a stumbling block and many people stumble stumble on it for reasons that will look at to Isaiah 46, we're going to look at two reasons why people stumble over God's sovereignty or why we rebelled against God's sovereignty. And then we're going to look at three reasons to rest in God's sovereignty. And again, this is God addressing his children before they go into captivity in Babylon for 70 years. God's ultimate purpose is not their destruction, but their Redemption. And you'll notice, he says, I am calling a bird of prey from the East, the man of my counsel from a far country, I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. Isaiah name is King, Cyrus as the one that God will use to bring God's people back to Jerusalem after their captivity. Now, Isaiah's writing, this 150 years approximately before Cyrus comes to the throne in Babylon. It's a God is directly addressing those who have worshipped Idols. Not only the Babylonians, but the Jews who have stopped trusting in Yahweh Now, here are the reasons we rebelled against God's sovereignty and let's look at the text in Isaiah 46. We struggle to understand God's good purposes in the midst of bad and evil things. Struggling is not wrong in and of itself but look at the second part of the sentence. So we are at risk of becoming bitter against God. We are at risk of becoming bitter against God. Imagine the Israelites and Isaiah's day. What is going on Lord? Why is This calamity coming upon us? Will the reality was the God was judging them for their own idolatry. Whether we are in sin or whether we encounter suffering, we can't make sense of suffering of what God is doing all the time. Now, we can accept suffering. It's much easier to accept suffering. Wouldn't you agree? If we realize ahead of time will? This is the reason for the suffering and this is the outcome that. I'm pretty sure will come as a result of this suffering. I mean you can you can endure any kind of what if you understand the, why? Think of a cancer patient who's faced with a treatments of chemo or 12 treatments of chemo. They can accept the suffering that is going to come because they know that there's a reasonable chance that they will come out of it better that they will come out of it healthier. And so they can, they can accept the actual suffering because they understand the reason behind it. but we struggle to understand God's good purposes in the midst of bad and evil things and God calls us to accept his rulership without all his reasons explain to us, That's the Walk of Faith every single day.

Got to say, will you worship me even though you don't have all the reasons or all of my explanations? That is part of our worship, so Isaiah 45. Let's go back to verses 5 through 7.

I think we have that on the screen. I am the lord, and there is no other besides me, there is no God. I equip you though. You do not know me that people may know from the rising of the Sun in, from the West that there is none beside me. I am the lord and there is no other I form light and create Darkness. I make well-being, and create Calamity. I am the Lord. Who does all these things?

when you're having a great week, you don't have a problem with that verse so when something happens to a family member, that's unexpected, You read that verse in you think? Well, boy, that's kind of tough to swallow. But that is part of our worship.

One person, put it this way. Chance and Fortune do not belong in a Christian's vocabulary. Chance and Fortune do not belong in a Christian's vocabulary.

I remember reading an account of the lady, who founded, I think it was Auntie Anne's pretzel franchise. I could taste it now it's only a few minutes away. She was. She right was raised in a Christian home but did not have a consistent example of faith. And she said, she said in her testimony she said this is the lesson that we learned growing up. Life is good, but God is hard. God is Stern. And she said after she came to Faith and and was more grounded in her faith. Later on in life. She said I realized that it was the reverse Life is hard and God is good. She struggled to accept what God was doing in her life and and there was a risk of that bitterness. There was a risk of that bitterness. We have an internal sense of justice, a moral sense, given by God, that we rage against the suffering of famines of earthquakes of natural disasters. And we also raised against the evil committed by human beings war and terrorism and child abuse in people who proliferate evil prospering.

The old spiritual Farther Along. Some of you may know the chorus Farther Along, we will know all about it. Farther along, we will understand why cheer up my brother live in the sunshine will understand it all by and by you know the first verse Tempted and tried. We are off to made. To wonder why it should be thus all the day long. While there are others living about us, never molested though in the wrong. People doing bad, things are just going on doing their thing. That's the Cry of that verse. When death is coming taking our loved ones. It leaves our home. So lonely and rear then, do we pray? Then do we wonder why others Prosper living. So wicked year after year. Don't we wonder that? The psalm 73. Why do the wicked prosper? And if we're not careful, we will become bitter. The book of Hebrews illustrates this and I'll just turn to these two passages. I don't have them on the screen if you want to drop these down, Hebrews 3:12. Take care Brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving. Heart leading you to fall away from the Living God. Put exhort one another every day. As long as it is called today, that none of you bae may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Take care. Because if you question the goodness of God and if you question and doubt God's Authority long enough, it will create a root of bitterness

Hebrews 12:15 see to it. That no one fails to obtain the grace of God that no root of bitterness Springs up and causes trouble. And by it many become defiled. Now, Hebrews chapter 12, he's talking about God's discipline. That's what he's saying is look in the midst of being disciplined by God, be careful that no root of bitterness Springs up and causes trouble.

Our Hope are consistent, hope is The Sovereign Love of God, The Sovereign plan of God, Romans 8:28 for. We know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

We rebelled because we struggle to understand, but in that struggling, we have to be careful that we don't become bitter against God. The other reason that we rebelled against God's sovereignty. Is this, We crave authority over our lives, which only God has We crave ultimate authority over our lives. Which only God has, as a result, we construct Idols. So look at Isaiah chapter. 46, again verses 1 and 2. Their Idols are on beasts and livestock these things. You carry are born as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop they bow down together. They cannot save the burden but they themselves. Go into captivity. It's kind of a humorous picture. He's saying the people are going into captivity in Babylon and they're actually going to have to take these Idols with them. These Idols, the statues are being carted off on carts, taken to Babylon, but they can't save. They can't they themselves go into captivity. In versus 6 and 7, they lift it to their shoulders. They carry it. They said it in place and it stands there. It cannot move from its place. If it cries to it, if one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. I wrote him a note to my Bible here at statues of anyone are powerless.

You think of statues things that don't move. If you, if one cries to it, it does not answer. Think of statues. We make all around the country. You go down to the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, there's a huge, a two, huge statues of the Panthers. I mean, pretty impressive. You know. But they can't save you from anything. They can't empathize with you. They can't sympathize with you. People who worship these Idols have to pick them up after they have fallen down instead of helping them. They are ultimately no help. When Trouble Comes they are a burden when Trouble Comes And of course, who is the one that is carrying us? God is the one who carries us, I have carried you from the womb. From before your birth. Even to gray hairs. I will carry you. I have made and I will bear. I will carry and I will save And Idol is something that we worship and love more than God. But we look to it, we try to manipulate it in order to get what we want. We look to Idols to give us meaning significance, purpose and fulfillment. Brothers and sisters. Let me State the obvious. Who is the only person who can give you, meaning significance, purpose and fulfillment. It's Jesus.

He is the only one that can give you all those things.

We look to Idols to give us the acceptance that we want from other people. We look to Idols to give us the significance that we want. We look to Idols to give us a sense of fulfillment that we've done something with our lives. Some of us have been told that by her parents. What have you done with your life the last 3 years?

God, will judge that.

Brothers and sisters. The only one who can give us meaning significance, purpose and fulfillment, is the Lord Jesus. Amen. Bernie Madoff. Remember Bernie Madoff who had the the huge financial scandal. Money. Maybe money was his Idol, maybe power was his Idol. Maybe his reputation became an idol. You know, after after you have created a scheme like that, while you have to keep lying to keep the scheme going or else you lose your reputation. Get an estimated net worth of 17 billion dollars. But when trouble came that money was impotent to help him avoid jail and worse yet. It could not save his son from committing suicide.

King Nebuchadnezzar, his Idol was the admiration and accomplishment of building. A great Empire Babylon for his own glory. And the book by Daniel tells us in chapter 4, All this Came Upon King Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 months. He was walking on the roof of the Royal Palace of Babylon and the King answered and said is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my Majesty, While the words were still in the king's mouth.

Their fellow voice from Heaven. No, King Nebuchadnezzar to you. It is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you and you should be driven from among men and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field and you shall be made to eat grass like an ox and seven periods of time shall pass over you. Until you know, that the most high rules, the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

God says that to each one of us. He says you know what? These things will happen until you know that the Lord the most high rules the kingdom and gives it to whom he will you. And I can only rebell against the sovereignty of God for so long before he decides to Humble us. And so be careful in bristling against God's sovereignty that we do not serve something else. That we do not make an idol and us become like an idol.

I mean, it's kind of like this we think about idolatry we think of statues, or or, or paganism, but think of it like this. I mean a lot of it is is for lack of a better word psychological in our own minds. You realize that the person who doesn't want to be defensive is the person who's always being defensive Right? But they don't want to be known as defensive. Are you telling me I'm defensive? What are you to tell me? I'm defensive, I'm not defensive. That's the way that's the way it works.

Reasons to rest in the sovereignty of God. 1 Christ has carried us and He will carry us so therefore I have no need to second-guess my decisions or where I am at the present moment. Look again at verses 3 through 5, listen to me. O House of Jacob who have been born by me from before your birth carried from the womb, even to your old age. I am he and two gray hairs. I will carry you, I have made and I will bear. I will carry. And I will save notice the word carry their multiple times. I will carry you. I will save you. And hear the irony is the people are carrying their Idols off the Babylon on carts. They, they they have a burden that they are carrying. When God says, no, I'm the one who lifts your burden.

Christ has carried us and so therefore, we don't need to second-guess decisions or where I am at the present moment. Sometimes I second-guess my decisions because I think Willow if I, if I had done things the right way out. Yeah, this is, this would have been the right way to do it. Is second-guessing okay? That's fine. But why are you saying that? Is that because you want to prove yourself, right in the end to say, oh yeah, I should have done it this way.

We don't need to second-guess our decisions or where we are at the present moment. Why? Because God is carrying us, Christ is carrying us.

We're so concerned about missing God's will that we don't take time to rest in God and God carrying us.

God says to us, if you trust me, you can rest. I am carrying you. When we lived in Florida, there was a Mortgage Firm and this was after the was a couple years after the financial crisis, in 2009 to 2010. And there was a Mortgage Firm in Florida called Taylor Bean & Whitaker. And the firm was basically imploded because they had, they were cooking the books, they were had these fraudulent the bookkeeping practices. And so the company, basically collapsed and as I remember it, I think there were, I think there were Department of Justice people there that arrived at the building one morning and said, everybody can just go home. We're taking over now. And that it was a big deal in Ocala and that we met a family there that had moved across the country a year or two before that, both of them to take jobs with that particular mortgage company that employed. I don't know 400-600 people. Were they out of God's will to move and to take those jobs? No, they work. Out of God's will. The real question is, who do you trust at that moment? Do you trust your own reasoning or do you trust God? Who is El Shaddai? Who is God almighty? A second reason to trust in the sovereignty of God is that God's sovereignty, humbles us and trains us to trust God and His long-term purposes rather than in our short-term once.

In some ways, the Christian Life is a life of delayed gratification. We know that the best is yet to come. but we also know that psalm 16 says at your right hand are Pleasures forevermore, You have made known to me the path of life. So sovereignty, trains us. To accept God's long-term purposes, rather than our short-term wants. So a way we can apply that as we could say, God what is sinful about these short-term desires that I have?

And then listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit.

What is sinful? What is wrong about? This desire that I have for this thing in the short-term is this a wrong desire. And anyways it's an odd unbiblical desire in any way. Is this sinful in any way for me to think about this in this way. And listen for the Holy Spirit to correct our thinking. Sovereignty. Humbles us and trains us to trust in God's long-term purposes. God says, in verse 11, I have spoken and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed and I will do it.

What we want is where God just comes down and marks our calendar and says, yes, three months from now, I am going to do this.

The question is, do we believe what God has said? Without knowing when he will bring his purposes to pass. Isaiah 55 verses 8 and 9 for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways, my ways to Claire's the Lord for, as the heavens are higher than the earth. So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

That versus there to train us to worship to worship Him.

The last reason we can rest in God's sovereignty is that sovereignty reveals our own unrighteousness and the perfect righteousness of Christ. Look at verses 12 and 13 in Isaiah 46, listen to me, you stubborn of heart you who are far from righteousness. I bring near my righteousness. It is not far off and my salvation will not delay. I will put salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory.

anytime we wrestle with God's sovereignty, it reveals our own unrighteousness,

it reveals that we are sinners.

I mean, we will send this week.

And we will seek the grace of God. and the good news is that Christ's righteousness has been given to us once for all that we do not need to. To strive to meet his righteousness. Because he has given it to us. It has been imputed to us, it has been given to our account. The good news is that God brings his righteousness to us. There is no more of doubting our acceptance before God that we still have to. We still have to remember that. Yes, I'm a sooner, I send that's that's part of life before I meet Christ.

But when we, when we talk to God, we say God, I don't want to deal with this. I don't want to do what you have asked me to do God. That's it. I'm walking away. Our stubbornness reveals our sin or disobedience. That's so thankfully, we have the righteousness of Christ. Referring to my salvation. In verse 13, I will bring near my righteousness, Isaiah 53. These familiar words

But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities upon him. Was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the lord has laid on him. The iniquity of us all

and to apply that to ourselves. The lord has laid on him my iniquity.

Verse 11 out of the anguish of his soul. He shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge shall the righteous one. My servant talkin of Christ make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities Christ has borne our iniquities, amen. Christ has borne our iniquities and there is nothing that we can add to that. I'm reading a very interesting book about

Well, what it what is that book about? It's about preachers in England in the 1700s. And the one illustration. The preacher gives is he John Burridge, I believe, he preached for 10 or 12 years and he said, I preached that we were saved by Christ, but that in order to grow in Christ likeness, we had to apply the law. And he said, I preached that way for 12 years and I got nowhere. And he says, then the Lord revealed to me that we are Sanctified by faith as well. Not by applying the law. Yes, we need to follow the law, we need to seek to obey Christ but it is by God's grace that he applies his righteousness to a. So the illustration he gives as he says, I was like a man with a walking stick. And I was doing the walking and I I thought that Christ was the walking stick and he was there just to provide the 10% to hold me up. And then he says, I realized I couldn't walk at all. Spiritually. I couldn't walk at all and it was Christ. Who was carrying me? We have the, we have the hope. And the assurance that God has put his righteousness into our very Hearts by his holy spirit that we are sealed for the day of redemption. A man and he will give us the strength and the faith and the and the Mysterious limited understanding that we have to say, God, I don't know what you're doing, but I'm going to walk for it and obedience entrusting you let spray