When It Seems God Is Taking Too Much Time by Floyd Odom

Foreign baptism is done for the forgiveness of sins. Acts 2:38. Baptism is done to save us. 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 2:40, Mark 16:16.

"Trust in the Lord with all your hearts and lean not into your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path."

Foreign, the church said, "Amen. You may be seated."

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength." Now, that's a very important statement. The word "renew" would suggest that they had once had it and lost it. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. And of course, we know some of the characteristics of the eagle: that soaring fowl that flies high above problems, that nests in the high rocky areas of remote mountains, far away from danger. Not only shall they mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. The wings of eagles, the ability to run, and the strength to walk. To soar as an eagle, to run and not be weary, to walk without exhaustion. The perfect walk with God. Fly above your troubles, run from your complications, and walk away from your fears. It has the ingredients of a life of joy.

But I find myself, and maybe it will help you if I lead the confession service. I find myself not soaring as an eagle. I find myself weary from the run. I find myself faint from the walk. And before you judge me and find me guilty of approaching preaching from the negative direction, I beg to debate it in the chambers of your mind. Every one of us go through our battles. Every one of us go through our hardships. And what could be your battle may not necessarily be a battle to the other person. And if you stand tonight and to deny my past statement that you never go through a problem, you may tell stories about other things too. You never go through a hardship. Everybody goes through them. Life is not respect a person. Sickness and disease will attack every race, every creed, and every color. Cancer does not care who you are, how much money you have, or where you've been. Cancer is a devastating disease. And when we have to deal with it, we only have a hope in God. And that's only one example of many other examples that I could cite for you.

So I have gone through times of having my wings clipped. I haven't flown and soared as a mighty eagle. Instead of nesting in the high, lofty, protective rocks of the mountains, I've crashed time and time and time again. Not only that, but in the race, I have become so weary. Even though I can hear echoing in the back of my mind the words of the writer of the book of Hebrews, chapter 12: "Wherefore, seeing that we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us run this race with patience." But I have found that I have just been running and gasping, sucking for breath, totally exhausted, fighting the enemy, afraid to go to sleep because not knowing what could happen during my rest hours. Then once I would fall into a weary sleep, afraid of tomorrow, not knowing what tomorrow might bring me. Amen.

There's been times of my walk with God that I've been faint. I've stumbled. I've struggled. I haven't felt like putting one foot above the other foot and take another step. It would do you well to let me make this statement. As opposed to your pastor, we as pastors, we always paste our best smile on our face when it's church time. But what some of our church people don't know, we got out of a sick bed. We did not feel physically like preaching. Our voice, our throat was raw and full of infection. Our shoulders were stooped because of the heavy burden and the heavy load. Our mind was weary because of unstopping hours of around-the-clock prayer and worry and concern.

Now, I don't want to eat all of that delicious cake of a pity party, so I'll cut you a slice. So you're here tonight when you know good and well you would have felt better if you could have gone to bed early tonight. And you knew that when you came, that guy owed him from Hattiesburg was a long-winded preacher, and you had very serious doubts and multiple reservations that he could do a lot for you tonight because you worked hard today, and you've been fighting this fever, and you've been taking this antibiotic, and you've been under doctor's care, and you've been trying to eat the right foods and get the right rest. So there are times that saints of God will go to church when, if they would follow their physical feelings, that turned the sheets back and hide themselves between the sheets. But because we know that strength comes from God, we know that strength comes from the house of God, we know that strength comes from the word of God, we drag ourselves to church. And then if you went to Pentecostal Tabernacle where old ambassadors, you would drag in there and hear him say, "Where's your joy? Leave your problems on the job when you come into the house of God. Let's get with it when you feel like just caving in."

So we all have our problems. We all have our battles. We all go through complications in life. But the wise one, the poetical one, Isaiah pitted the words together so securely. What he said: "But they that wait upon the Lord." There's been times for the pastor that I prayed until I just didn't know nothing else to say. When I prayed, so I just went, I just waited. I had nothing more to say. God had told him everything that I knew. I told him how bad I felt, how much he needed to do this, and how much he needed to do that, and how bad the church needed a revival. And when I finally went out of gas and my prayer tank was empty, I just stayed on my knees and waited on God.

There's been times that I have worked. And my wife, who will affirm this, not just to protect me, but because she knows it's true. There's been times that I would spend literally multiplied hours through a day flipping the pages of my Bible, flipping through notes that I'd written from sermons way past, and nothing was fresh, and nothing was new, and nothing was inspirational. And I would shut my Bible. I would close my diaries. I would seal up my catalogs of notes, and my heart would be empty. And I would go to church. I prayed. I've studied. I've sought God, and I just didn't feel like preaching. But I'll just go on anyway because I knew that's what I needed to do. And going to the pulpit, I just wait on God. Wait on God.

I have known people in time past that they've received their death sentence from the medical team. The doctor would say to them, "We can treat you and make you as comfortable as possible." And I have known people to say, "Thank you, doctor, for what you can do." But they would come to a point in their disease and their sickness and their physical awareness that they would say, "Now, God, I've taken all the medicine I'm going to take. I'm just gonna wait on God." And I have seen people come through insurmountable odds when doctors said that they would die and not get well, but they chose to just wait on God.

There are some Pentecostal churches, unfortunately, that if you're not swinging from the chandelier, if you're not walking the back of the pews, if you're not running the aisles, in every service, some people are looking out for another church to go to. But there comes a time that we just got to go to church. And if we don't shout, we just wait on God. If we don't run, we just wait on God. Yep, the pastor or the evangelist doesn't tickle our Holy Ghost reels like we like to be tickled with a sermon, we just have to wait on God. If the song that was sung is not the song that we like best, that's no time to quit. We just gotta wait on God. And even though I have preached this in time past, only one other time I have a sense, a directive in the Holy Ghost to come to be a strength to someone. Wait on God.

There's been times in my walk with God and my wife's walk with God, and I would especially cite to you the loss of our daughter two years ago when the world collapsed around us. There was no remedy for our broken heart. No one had the magic wand to spread over us to cause us to feel miraculously better. We would cry ourselves to sleep at night, and we do occasionally now. We would wake up with a bird and then, and we will do that occasionally now. For we miss her more now than what we did when we first lost her. But there were times in those first few days and first few weeks after Amanda stepped on the wings of angels and she was taken to a better life, that I felt like that I'd reached the end of my way. I couldn't even pray for me. I couldn't make myself get better. I just couldn't make myself smile. So my wife and I were just join hands together and would just wait. Wait.

So you're here tonight just waiting. "Where are you, God? Did I not you say that if you ask, uh, you would receive? Did not you say that if you would seek, you would find? Did not you say if you would knock, it would be open to you?" And all these days and weeks and months, and yay, possibly years, I have been asking you, God, for a certain amount of compassion, and I'm still hurting, and I'm still struggling. "Where are you, God? Aren't you? I'm not present. Don't you see me? Aren't you moved with the feeling of my infirmity? Don't you see my enemy rising up against me? Don't you understand the hurt that's deep within my soul? Where are you, God? Don't you hear me pray?" But my prayers are like they're hitting the proverbial iron curtain. My prayers are like they're hitting an impregnable object, and my prayers are ricocheting right back into my face. Come on, God. I have prayed, and I have fasted. I have been faithful to the house of God. I've done all the right things. I touched all the right buttons. I've acted right. I've talked right. I've dressed right, and I'm still without an answer. Where are you, God?

"But they that wait upon the Lord." I think it would be wise if I would make another confession. I called for a pastor friend of mine long distance this evening at 10 minutes after five. I left my house at 25 to 6. And the pastor was out, so I talked to his wife. And I'm fully aware and cognizant that they're going through the battle of their ministry. Never before have they faced such tremendous odds. Everything apparently is turning against them. It seems even the church that they pastored now for 25 years is beginning to urge them to move along, find another place to go. Pastor, somewhere else. So I called and spoke to the pastor's wife this afternoon. And before closing my conversation with her, I said, "I want you to be sure to tell my dear friend that tonight in Bogalusa, Louisiana, I'll be preaching for Jesus and attending to the request of Pastor Simmons and to the Church of United Faith. Tell my pastor friend that I'm preaching for Jesus, but I'm also going to dedicate a part of my effort of preaching in memory and respect of him." And tell him that I just said this one little thing, saying that "wait upon the Lord."

The reason that some people backslide, they can't wait on God. The reason that some of our pastors have left this wonderful truth and they have now rode themselves with a charismatic concoction of the doctrine is because of the tough times. If something wasn't popping, if people weren't shouting, they just couldn't wait. The psalmist said, "Lead me in truth and teach me, for Thou art the God of salvation; on Thee do I wait all day." Again, David said, "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thy heart; wait, I say, on the Lord." Again, the psalmist says, "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him." Frankly, I would ask you the question: If you're not going to wait on God, what can you do? Who can help you? Who can supply your needs? Who can fill this church? Who can bring the joy of revival? Who can bring the miracles? Who can bring an ought to fall of unsaved souls? Who can bring the troubled hearts to this church? There's not enough organization. There's not enough denominations. There's not enough promotion. There's not enough religious ritual. There's not enough ceremonial Christianity that will bring what my soul is hungry for. I have no choice but to wait. To wait. Don't wait to wait.

I know what I want to see in my ministry, but I can't preach a good enough sermon to cause it to happen. I know what I want to see happen at Pentecostal Tabernacle, Highway 49 North, Hattiesburg, but there's nothing that I can do through physical calisthenics to cause it to happen. So if I'm going to see my fondest dreams fulfilled, I've got to just wait. If I'm going to preach the sermons that I wish I could preach, I've got to just wait. If I'm going to pastor the church of my visions, I've got to just wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. The problem I'm finding in the community of Pentecostals across America, we just don't have the ability to wait. And if God doesn't hurry up, we'll bless God, we'll just take it by our own hands and we'll do it ourselves. The fiction to get yourself in a big mess. You better just keep praying. You better just keep worshiping God. Man, I feel it coming through me like an artesian well. Nobody is shouting and nobody is running, but somebody's got to have their faith bolstered. This is no time to quit, honey. This is no time to quit, sir. Just hold on.

Ah, how far would you put on the whole armor of God? You know, the helmet, the breastplate, the shield, your loins gird, the power, your feet shod. Come on now. And after you've done all that you can do to stand, just stand. Just wait. Just wait. Just wait. Just wait. Just wait. Just wait. Praise the Lord, everybody. There's a time to be born, and there's a time to die. There's a time to plant, and there's a time to pluck up that which is planted. There's a time to kill, and there's a time to heal. There's a time to break down, and there's a time to build up. There's a time to weep, and there's a time to laugh. There's a time to mourn, and there's a time to dance. There's a time to cast away stones, and there's a time to gather stones together. It's a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. There's a time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sow. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate. A time of war, and a time of peace. These quotes I give to you from the wise, brilliant mind of Solomon, which told us there's a time for all things, a time for everything. A time to sow, and a time to harvest. There's a time to shout, but there's a time to sit on that. There's a time to run the aisles, but there's a time to sit down and just wait. Just wait. Just wait.

But why are you waiting? I need somebody to serve. Why are you waiting? The enemy comes to you and he tells you that it's not worth the wait. But I've come to advise you that anytime you wait on God, He's going to make it worth your wait. Anytime you wait on the miracle, He's going to make it worth your wait. Any time that you wait on salvation, He's going to make it worth your wait. Anytime you wait on healing, He's gonna make it worth the wait. I've come to declare, but I'm speaking to hearts that once have been broken, and it seems as if nothing would heal those broken hearts. But I've come to tell you, and while I tell you, I'm going to defy every demon of hell and the big boy himself. I'm going to defy the devil himself and tell you that Jesus Christ has come to heal the brokenhearted. Can you prove it? You looked at me. I'm a living witness. Stand up, Sister Odom. Yes, we still grieve. Yes, we still weep. Yes, we're still broken. But we know what it's like for Jesus to take us and to love us and to care for us and amend us and to make all things well. Go ahead, honey. Clap your hands. I need your help tonight.

There are some here tonight that feels like that God is never going to answer your prayer, that God is never going to supply your need. But I've come to tell you, they that wait upon the Lord. They that pray when you don't feel like praying. They clap hands when you don't feel like clapping hands. They lift hands when you don't feel like lifting hands. What you do in church, member? You're not shouting, you're not dancing, you're not talking in tongues, you're not running the aisles. What you're doing? I'm just waiting on God. Let's stand together and let's love the Lord. I feel good about what I'm saying tonight. When it seemed like God is taking too much time, please be seated.

I don't know where Jesus was at geographically when word came to him that his friend Lazarus was very sick. But I do know that the sisters of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, had sent word to Jesus. And this was the special delivery message: "Him whom thy loveth is sick." And of course, I'm fully aware that what Mary and Martha were saying to Jesus, "We need you to come to Bethany immediately, for him whom thou lovest is sick." But Jesus took four days to go to Bethany. And when he opened the conversation with his disciples, he said to them, "Lazarus sleepeth." And the disciples said, "Well, he doeth well." But they understood not that Jesus was telling them that Lazarus was in fact now dead. And Jesus said, "Let us go to him, for he is dead." And one said, "Let us go with Jesus, that we may die with Lazarus." With Jesus.

Finally arrived in the city of Bethany, four days after the notification that Lazarus was at the point of death. Not 24 hours, not 48 hours, but 96 hours. Four full days after Jesus was made aware that Lazarus was sick. Jesus found it convenient to go to Bethany. And when he got to Bethany, he was met by Martha. And Martha said to him, "Lord, if you would have been here, our brother would not have died." Jesus said words similar to this: "I am the resurrection and I am the life. Do you believe that?" Martha and Martha never answered the question that Jesus asked. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection. Do you believe that?" Martha and Martha got off on a theological tension. And she said, "Yeah, Lord, I believe you're the Son of God." That's not what Jesus says. "Do you believe I have the resurrection?" And with that, Martha turned on her heels and she goes back to the home and she whispers it to the ear of Mary: "The Lord is here." And Mary arises, and she goes to where Jesus is at, and she uses the identical quote that that Martha had: "If you would have been here four days ago, where have you been, Jesus? If you would have been here 96 hours ago, where you've been, Jesus?"

I can't find Jesus that you were preaching. I can't find that you were teaching. I can't find that you were performing miracles. You just wasted 96 hours. You've lost four days. And in the interval time period, my brother is dead. And that's not all. Jesus, Mary probably heard that Jesus had said to the disciples four days ago, "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there." Jesus, did you really say that you were glad that you were not here? You are glad that my brother was gasping for his dying breath? You were glad that my heart was broken? You were glad that I was going through such emotional repercussions? How can you say that you were glad that you were not here? My brother is dead, Lord, because you took too much time doing something else. My brother is dead, Lord, because you took too much time sharing with someone else. Had you been here, our brother would not have died.

I have come to tell you what the Lord said to Daniel after Daniel prayed and fasted one week and two weeks and three weeks. The Lord would say to Daniel, "I heard you the first time that you prayed." And some have come tonight to decide, "The Lord has not heard me. There certainly must be sin in my life. The Lord has rejected me. I can't get my prayers through to God. The Lord is not honoring my faith because I'm not getting better." If you would allow me the pulpit luxury to repeat something that I've already said, I want to say with resounding redundancy that the Lord has heard you every time that you pray. The Lord has counted every tear that's dropped from your cheek. The Lord has been there every night you walk the floor and wrung your hands. The Lord has counted every vibration of your broken heart. But it just seems like that the Lord is not going to answer your prayer. So now we've come to the conclusion, "So it must not be the will of God. It's the will of God for my husband to be lost. It's the will of God for my children to be lost. It's the will of God for me to be sick in my body." But I've come to say, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." For it's not the will of God that any man should perish. It is not the will of God that Satan torments your body with plagues and with disease. And but he's hurt him, he's hurt him, he's hurt him. Hear me, devil. The Lord has heard the prayers of his people. Lord, 96 hours ago, you don't want me to be this exact, do you?

But I keep an accurate account of days since my baby left us. Maybe you can count the days since the great battle of your life. And in the name of the Most High God, quit keeping time because God is not controlled by your watch and my watch, your calendar and my calendar. Just wait on the Lord. Feel it. It's wrong coming. What's the time? And this is not in my prepared statements.

There was a time that the psalmist David was in the greatest trouble of his military career. The location was Ziklag. While he was not battling against the enemy, he left the camp unguarded, and the camp was populated by women and children, their tents, and their personal possessions. And while David was out fighting, the enemy came and took the wives and the children away. And David was aware, "I've got to get a hold of you, God. They're talking about mutiny. They're talking about dethroning me. They're talking about stripping me of my leadership position. Shall I go up and fight them?" And the Lord said to David, "Wait. When you have a sound of the wind in the mulberry trees, just wait until you hear from me. Wait until you hear from me." One wise proverbian said, "When in doubt, do nothing." When you start trying to fight your battles for yourself, you're going to lose. When you start trying to defeat the enemy by your own power, he's going to devour you. But when you wait on Him, when you wait on His glory, when you wait only on His power, wait, wait, wait, wait.

I don't want to sound an alarm because I'm certainly not in the know of everything that is happening across the Pentecostal fellowship. But I am in the know enough to make this statement that the spirit of weariness is taking its toll on a lot of pictures. And I know of preachers that would rather be out working a secular job than preaching the gospel. Why? Because Satan has unleashed every possible thing in his hellish arsenal against God's church, and our spirit of weariness and tiredness and brokenness has taken its toll. Why is it that saints that used to come to church bubbling, shouting, dancing, leaping, rejoicing, smiling, laughing, thrilling, now they come with a sad countenance on their face? Why? Because Satan is out to destroy your walk with God.

Maybe it's because I'm, I'm some sort of an expert and I'm experienced in what I'm talking about. When you go to the order of prayer and you start that memorized prayer, "Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I praise you. Jesus, I magnify you." Before you know it, your mind is on the job. Your mind is on your activities of today. Your mind is home. Your tomorrow. Your mind is somewhere else. And before you know it, you shake yourself out of a stupor that you're just saying words and you're not really talking to God. And there's a spirit of awareness, awareness, weariness, tired. The joy is not there anymore. The thrill is not there anymore. The happiness is not there anymore. I'm just outdone. I'm just wore out. I'm just at the point of collapse. But I've come with a sweaty brow. Yeah, I've come with a raspy voice. Yes, I have. But I've come with a burdened heart to tell every child of God, don't quit. Don't quit. Don't give up. Just wait. Just wait. Just wait. Just wait.

It was a poor day, 96-hour wait. And Jesus said, "Take me to where you have laid him." So they wound Jesus through the cemetery of Bethany, and they go to the freshest grave. And in this instance, it was a cave. Flowers were wilting around. Roses were wilted. Lilies were wilted. You could tell that it was a grave. You could tell it was a burial plot, and it was a recent one. And standing near the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus, who just a few days ago said, "I'm glad I, I was not there." Now, folks, that's tough preaching when Jesus can say about your problems, "I'm glad I didn't just hop." When he said, "Frog, I'm glad I wasn't there just to give him a cold glass of tea and all my cup of coffee when he wanted." That's, uh, we see God ought to come running every time we're facing an obstacle. We think God ought to drop everything else, roll the stone away. And some challenging souls, I doubt it was the caretaker of the cemetery. It had to be someone that had been in the entourage of Jesus in time past. They know this Galilean could put the sparkle on the eye of the blind. They knew this man from Nazareth to put the vibration of sound on the ear of the deaf. Why, this man carried the reputation, "I'm telling the lamb of Bethesda to walk," and telling the palsy of Capernaum to kick up the bear. It was worried about this man that was challenging someone to roll the stone away. It was rumored on him that he could squeeze fish in one hand and squeeze bread in the other hand and pray a couple of dozen words of prayer when he would open that fist, fish would everywhere. Open that fist, bread would go everywhere. And if that Galilean can perform those things, I'm going to see what it can do with an open grave.

Some of you are so weary. I know I've been there. That you've already rolled the stone over your walk with God. You've covered any hope that you would have. There's a dark cloak upon this earth. You better hear. Before has the world faced such astounding political positions to deal with? We don't have the answer for 18 and Cuba and Bosnia and Rwanda and the starving millions of Africa. We cannot actually support Russia. We have followers on the streets of America. Crime is an epidemic proportion. Social diseases are being passed back and forth like this professional thing to do. America, the world isn't socio-political trouble. And Mr. Clinton, you don't have the answers. The answer is not in the White House. The answer is not in the halls of the legislature. The answer is not in state capital houses, and it's not in parish or courthouses. But the answer for the perplexing problems is in the house of God. But now we're dealing with a cloak of darkness, the daggers of death, the spears of sin, the arrows of anxiety. Forgive me for my Mississippi terminology, but all hell has broke loose against us. Every way we turn, one battle into another. We come fatter than bruised and flooded from one battle to another battle. It seems as if there's no rest. There is no parallel. There's nothing to help us. Wait, wait.

Let me tell you, friends, when Jesus Christ went out to the Mount of Olives, 500 cheering followers of His cheered Him to glory. Seven days later, only 120 of them could be counted in the upper room. Are you listening to me? 380 of them couldn't stand a seven-day wait. Brother Pastor, Mrs. Simpkins, where are those days in Pentecost? What happened to them? Have we consigned them to the historical annals and chronicles of our movement? Where are those days that when somebody was sick, we got around them and we prayed? "Our Father, and our God, we know You have all power." But I can remember as a child on the Pentecostal well, my parents were converted from a missionary Baptist and a Jehovah Witness background of sorts. I can remember in those days, 43, 44 years ago, that if somebody was sick, you got together and you prayed. And if the answer didn't come, you got back down and you prayed. And if the answer didn't come, you got back down and you prayed. Can you prove that, preacher? Look at me. I was four years old when the polio epidemic was sweeping all across the United States. Robert Beasley, my best little friend, drags a brace around Pascagoula, Mississippi today because of a victim of polio paralysis. One day I collapsed for three weeks. I could not stand my proud bird with fever. It was finally advised to send Floyd to the Vicksburg sanatorium where they were treating the polio victims. My mother, a new convert in Pentecost, called the pastor and called the saints of God. And for three weeks, I could not walk. For three weeks, my proud blistered with fever. But my mother said, "Let's pray one more time." I can remember, I was just a child. Remember it so help me God. I remember when the pastor and the pastor's wives and the church gathered around that little apartment. No, after this thing, windows was up, they could hear you. A country home. And they kept it around my bed. One more time, and they prayed, and they prayed, and they prayed. And I can remember the pastor picking me up by my armpits and putting my feet on the floor. Well, I see you're not excited, but let me say this: I'm glad that they said, "Let's wait and pray one more time." Let's pray.

I'm not coming to accuse you. Fast lane living, the jet set. I drive as fast as the speed limit will let me. I do everything it'll break next speed. That's the style of life that we're living. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. Run, run, go, go. Last minute, last minute. Run, run, go, go. Rush, rush, run, hurry, hurry. Don't have time to wait. We don't have time. We get up at the last minute. We go to bed the last minute. We get up throwing a piece of toast and slurping coffee. We go to bed again. We are running, running. And Pentecost has arrived to that lofty position. We've learned to pray a pretty prayer. And if God don't work, well, we know we've got the specialist. And I'm as guilty as the next person. But where are those days that we just waited? Where the all-night prayer meetings anymore? Don't have time to pray all night. Where the one-hour prayer meetings anymore? Don't have time to pray for now. All right, all right. And the Lord is saying, "Wait."

You ever had a sick little girl? I've had. In fact, both of my precious babies sick. Jairus, the ruler of the Son of God, had a little child 12 years old, a precious daughter, probably pigtail, her teeth were probably a little bit cracked, and maybe a little butt, you know, not fitted in like an adult, and she had freckles on her cheekbones. But she had that giggly little laugh that only a daddy could wilt at. I don't know what baby got sick from, but her condition was terminal. You see, Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue. To have that position, you had to be a brilliant theological mind. You had to be able to quote Leviticus, memorize the Levitical priesthood, understand the law of Moses until ours was well first enough to know that there was no healing agents in the Levitical priesthood. He had heard about a Galilean that could do great and marvelous things. Yeah, so he decided to put his job on the line. Every Sadducee, every Pharisee were livid with hate against this wobble-rouse Galilean. Oh, this guy would do would be to break the laws of the Sabbath. Away with him was the popular opinion. But reference was cognizant that nothing in Leviticus, nothing in Exodus, nothing in Deuteronomy, nothing from Sinai would correct his daughter's terminal disease. And to be found hop-nobbing with that Galilean, Reverend Jairus, you're gonna put your job on the line. But because nothing else would work, he left his daughter's sick bedside to go find a miracle worker.

Well, the story is long, I'll make it short. He fell at the feet of Jesus. I can see him now with his glistening, glistening, golden, scarlet red, and blue robes of Celticism. Can you see such class rolling in the dirty dust at the feet of Jesus? And see it, friend, when you get hungry enough, you'll take your pride off too. When you get desperate enough, you'll get on your face too. Yeah, yeah. I said, would you get desperate enough, you will walk away from the dinner table, you will turn away from your soft pillows and your warm bed sheets and your wallow on the floor until you get through to God. That's the spirit that had captured Reverend Jairus. And he knew that he would lose his job if he, if he was found running with that, that rabble-rouse Galilean called Jesus. But he also was aware that nothing in Leviticus could correct his baby's sickness. When will we ever come to the, come to the place, sister Simpkins, that we'll learn once and for all that the world don't have the answer for the church? Why are Pentecostals trying to dress like the world? That's nothing. Yes. Why are Pentecostals taking up the whirly lingo and little charismatic quotes and tricky expressions? That's not the answer. The answer is putting everything aside and falling at the feet of the Galilean.

So he had an audience with Jesus and begged him to go to his daughter's bedside. And would you believe me that while Jesus was going to what was thought to be the city of Capernaum, the Queen City of Judea, Jairus was the ruler that passed her over. He was somebody. He had a clout. He had a political input in the Roman Empire. But now with his little pigtail, freckled-cheeked little girl dying, all of that meant nothing to him. And now getting Jesus to come to his house to heal his daughter. Would you believe that someone who had this little minor problem of an issue of blood stopped Jesus? "Come on, Jesus. We don't have time to heal her ovarian cancer. Come on, Jesus. My 12-year-old, 12-year-old daughter, and she's had this disease 12 years." How strange. I would like to suggest to you that possibly the very day that you always this woman started having the issue of blood, 12 years down the line, our God was going to take care of both at the scene. "Come on, Jesus. He was probably sweaty more than I am tonight. Two hours was desperate. We don't have time to ask who kept me. We don't have time to talk about thy faith have made the whole. You're wasting time, Jesus. It's my little girl. She's at the point of death. You're taking too much time." It just took a few minutes. "Who touched me?" "Harry." "Jesus, it just seems to be like, Lord, you take it up too much time." I guess I'm making a mess out of Thursday night preaching, huh?

There are some times that you have prayed. All right, all right. Come on. I've got the greatest in the army. God, right to me. Get down here, Jesus. Come on to Bogalusa. We're still discouraged. We're still battling. We're still hurting. Hearts broke. My family's lost. My child's away from God. Real much time, Jesus. The rapture is about to take place. Eternity's bursting upon us like a thousand Fourth of July fireworks celebration. Hollywood die of energy. That way upon the Lord, renew their strength. You think it was bad, do you? You think it was bad, do you? When the first servant came and said, "Job, guess what? The sheep are gone." I think that was bad. The next servant, "Job, the camels are gone." You think that's bad? The next servant, just a few heartbeats later, "Job, the she-asses are gone." You think that's bad? Huh? The next one said, "Job, your seven sons and three daughters, they just lost their life in one storm." He broke out with plagues and rise and scraping. He broke a piece of his wife's china, piece of pottery, and scraped stabs from his body. He went down to proverb your skin and bones. He just staggered away from one mass grave. Ten kids spared at one time. The stench of death was heavy in the air. The carcasses of camels and asses and and sheep and oxen. The stench of death everywhere. Vultures and buzzards and scavengers and "Curse God and die." Job, his so-called three friends built dead. So far, Eliphaz, they looked at it for seven days. They never said a word. And when somebody finally brought the ice, once said, "You self-righteous crud. Yo, hypocrite. Who do you think you're fooling? This is the judgment of God. You've been pretending to be," oh, I'm paraphrasing it, "you pretend to be so righteous, and the reason this has happened, you've just been playing. You're not the man that you wanted us to believe that you are." Okay. Louisiana scabs running blood and pus, corruption. Yeah, flies and gnats. It was a picture of all right. Stabs lying in a heap by his body. Friends criticizing him. Ten children dead. The air heavy with the smell of decaying carcasses of animals. And somebody said, "You were a hypocrite." But I read again today, just for your benefit, where Job said in chapter 14 and verse 14: "You didn't see him, did you?" Scabs and pus and blood and corruption, fever, dead kids, the farm was gone, three friends criticizing him, and there he sits in his own physical rubbish and ruin and feces and urine. Sits in the face of all of the skepticism. He says these outstanding words: "I will wait until my change." Talk about me if you want to. Talk about me if you want to. Elihu, who, who, talk about me if you want to. I'm just gonna wait. My heart is broken because of those seven sons and three daughters. Wait. I've lost the farm. I've lost the animals. I've lost my implements. I'm just gonna wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. I know what I'm preaching against. I've already felt your spirits. It's a hurry spirit. It's a gift with a spirit. It's a run spirit. Help me right now, spirit. Take care of my problems right now. Give me the right antibiotic. Help me right now. Do something. Give me a shot. Hurry up. I'm fasting. Jesus is saying, "Wait."

Wait. There's several things I'm waiting for. So I stole them. Almost took my thunder. I am waiting for God to honor the many years of prayer and fasting, seeking Him, and to bring a great church in the city of Hattiesburg. Oh, I'm not just sitting down, twiddling my thumbs. I'm doing the right things. I'm pastoring. I'm knocking on doors. I'm visiting the hospitals. I'm doing the right things. But I'm still waiting on God to do the work. I've got a baby, she's 26 years old. Well, she was five, she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, a lifetime of insulin dependency by injection. Sister Ramona, I cried for her a few days ago. I said, "God, I want to remind you, I'm still waiting for my baby to be delivered of diabetes." His way, right? Last but not least, I wish I could get the words. That old course, I can get a few of the bars and a few of the worms, but I just can't put it on. Soon this life will all be over, and I pilgrimage here in a woman. Soon will take the Heavenly Journey. Be at home again with friends. Heaven's gates are standing all waiting for our interest. There some sweet day we're going all the beauties there to share. And then the course says, "Wait." Where's that little end of the song tonight? "Just a little while to stay here. Just a little wait. Just a little more of trouble in this path that's always straight. Just a little more in this old and sinful state. And we'll enter Heaven's portal." I'm waiting, glory, for the sound of a trumpet. I'm waiting, God, for the resurrection. I'm waiting, God, when I hear you say, "Well done." Awaiting, God, would there be no more strained throats and broken bodies? No more broken hearts? No more puddles of tears? At my old waiting, God. I'm waiting to go to the city where the Lamb is the light. I'm waiting to go where there's no need of a sun or the moon. I'm waiting to go where their streets of transparent gold. I waited to go where there's mansions in glory. I'm waiting to go. I want to go, and I'm waiting. I'm waiting.

Some of you has been living for God for many decades. My God, I beg you, don't quit now. Some of you are possibly new converts. My God, don't quit now. Wait. Wait. But you know, Jesus, I'm kind of confused because I read in the book where you said, "Behold, I come quickly." And you said, "Quickly." Now, wait. And you said, "Quickly." I'm waiting. You said, "Quickly," and I'm waiting. You said, "Quickly." Jesus does not live on the same time standards that you and I live on. Wait. Wait.

I have worked very hard tonight to preach what I felt to preach. And you may not understand this next statement, but there has been wonderful Holy Ghost tributaries that has moved near me that I could have taken those tributaries and spoken even other things unto you from the anointing of God. And I have worked hard not to get on a tangent that would make it sound political. But I have simply come to tell a hurting, hurting heart, wait. Wait. Don't make that decision yet. Don't change jobs yet. Don't make that financial decision. Wait. Be careful about your choice of a companion. Hold on just now. Be careful, preacher. I'm just saying to you, wait on God. An hour is long enough, isn't it? Which one to ask for my voice? Maybe the sequel trials here are sometimes many, and I find my feet glory till it seems that I would and for th. But the tender hand that leads me, it's the hand that keeps me steady. Just a few more days to labor. After all, sister Simkins, can I talk to you a minute? I went to her bedroom last night. We kept a few little things of hers, and I reached into her closet. I got that special little dress that she looked so well in. My wife didn't know I did it, and I got that little dress down, and I smelled it, and I clenched it, and I heard myself say to a memory of mine, "Amanda, Daddy loves you. It's gonna be worth the wait when I see that child again after all this life is over, and my burdens." And I stand upon the mountain top so tall. Come on, church. You got a lot to wait for. Looking over in that city that the Savior is preparing. It'll be worth the wait. Just a few more days to labor. Are you still having major kidney problems, son? The Lord hasn't sent me to you tonight. I just remember we've talked about it before. Let me tell you about a new body when this mortal will put on him mortality, and this corruption shall put on a corruption. Son, I don't know if you'll ever have a complete well body in this life, but just wait. There's no such thing as dialysis in New Jerusalem. Just wait.

Now, I'm following you. You led me tonight. You set the direction of the service, and I just said I'd follow you. I got a call today to preach three conferences, and I'm only going to tell you a little. Forget what I just said, okay? I got a call today, and they're asking me if I would to preach three different conference settings, and they're asking me if I would to preach to reach out to the next letter below them. We need you to preach to reach the backsliders. They're out there tonight because they just wait. And maybe you've got a backslidden level. I want you to gather them in your little hands right now. Cup your hands together. Whoever your backslidden loved one is, come on. Cup your hands together. If you don't have a backslidden loved one, you're blessed. But if you have a backslidden loved one, do your hands like this. Couple them together. And I want you to hold your little cupped hands up to Jesus. That's it, son. That's it, honey. Now, Jesus, I'm waiting. Hold up your little cupped hands, honey. Sir, hold him up there. Hallelujah. Okay, put somebody. That's another cup. Will you? Don't take your cup down yet. Put somebody else in your cup. Will you? When everybody put past recipients in your cup, will you? Come on, come on. Everybody work with me. Hold your cup up. Put my friend, Brother Simkins, in the cup. Hold him up. Hold up. Oh, gosh. Whatever so the heart over every preacher out there, folks. Would you put the ministry in your cup and hold it up? Would you put United Faith Church in your cup and hold it up? Yeah, hold up United Faith's cup. Now, wait. Wait. Hold the Lord. Don't get in such a stinking hurry. Wait. Oh, the Lord have to look over here. Give me the D chord.

"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings of eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk." Another thing. Teach me, Lord. Teach me, Lord, to wait. Sing it with me. Hey, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their. Would you stand with me? Sing. He goes singing. Thou choir. Oh, they shall run and not be weary. Oh, they shall walk and not fade. Teach me, Lord. Teach me, Lord, to wait. [Music] Oh, they need that wait. Uphold the Lord shall renew their history. Come on, church, sing it now.

The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."

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Foreign. Acts 2:22:16. Baptism is done to be reborn to new life. John 3:5. Romans 6:3-6. Baptism is done to clothe ourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:26 and 23. Baptism, then, what? Baptism is a burial in water for accountable beings until the remission of sins for salvation. They get into Christ to become a new creature, to get into the one body, then walking a new life. Study and grow, become a servant of righteousness, keep self-pure, be an example, have faith in God, follow Jesus, put first things first, resist temptation, be faithful, and be fruitful.

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