Learning to Follow Part 2

Here's the cleaned transcript:

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Our Bibles in Exodus chapter 13 again today. Exodus chapter 13 if you want to use the pew Bible in front of you. If you don't have a Bible, page 102 is where we'll be in just a moment here. A little chipper this morning. I'm glad to see you here for the early service. We're going to continue thinking about that idea — learning to follow. As I think about God and how we're to crown him, what a day that will be where we're going to be with him. We like to know that God's going to lead us to eternity. We like to know that he's going to take us to heaven. I think that we all have hope and confidence in that. But what about our day-to-day life? What about our decisions this week and today? What are we going to do about that?

I don't want this just to be, "Oh, we're going to follow him to eternity. That's going to be wonderful." I'm talking about following him in our day-to-day decisions as well. As we learn to follow, first we've got to give attention to him, because I think that's part of the problem — many times we don't even acknowledge that God has a path he wants us to go down. He has a will. He has a purpose. He has a direction. He has a path that he wants us to go on. Then sometimes we have to be willing to accept it, because that's where yielding comes in, because we don't always like the path he might have for us. We've got to be willing to yield to his will, because the backslider shall be filled with his own ways. Many Christians today do not acknowledge God. And when they do, it's, "No, God, I've got my own thing I'm doing and I don't want you to interfere." And then there's often action that goes along with it.

As we saw last week, the children of Israel were led out of Egypt by Moses around 1462 BC. We're going to go to Exodus chapter 13. I'm going to start reading in verse 17 — just a little review from last week and then get into a few new thoughts.

Abashek, nice to see you here. I didn't realize it was just you and your daughter. Some of you don't know, but his wife came here first. Katherine came from Mumbai, India — her dad is a pastor there and an engineer as well. She came here to go to school, really fresh out of India. In their culture, the dad finds a husband for the girl. Her dad told me, "I'm not here, so I'm going to delegate that job to you." I said, "No, I don't want that responsibility." Well, she was in college up here at Creighton and finished up. She's super smart — she's got like a million degrees. Then I was at a wedding over in Council Bluffs and I see this nice Indian guy and I say, "Hey, what's your deal? Are you single?" Long story short, they found each other and they got married. I married them. Yes, I did. I acquiesced. And I told the dad, "I will take no responsibility or credit for this, just so you know." They are dear, dear friends of ours. They moved to Atlanta. She works down at Emory, and Abashek works down there in Atlanta. A beautiful home that God has blessed them with, two wonderful children — it's just good to watch God work. It's all good.

They're dear friends of ours, and we got a chance — I think just within the last year — we were down at their home and had a great meal. Ribs and all that good stuff. He's a good cook, too. God led me to talk to Katherine, led me to talk to Abashek, led me down to eat their ribs. You see how God leads? It's a daily thing is what I'm trying to say.

Exodus 13, verse 17: *"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt. But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt."* Verse 19: *"And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him."* He had promised that. Verse 20: *"And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people."*

We don't have a pillar of fire or a pillar of cloud, but we do have a Bible. And God leads us day-to-day as well. They were very willing to follow God and Moses out of Egypt. Do you remember why? They were under such oppression in Egypt — they were begging God to get them out of those troubles.

So my first point last week was simply this: God can lead us out of troubles, but his desire is to lead us in every situation. Don't just wait until you're in trouble and need God to get you out of a predicament. When we're having good days, we can say, "God, I still want you to lead me. Lead me to know what I should do today, who I should talk to, where I should go, what I should do." We need to ask God every day about our daily work, our daily lives, our relationships and ministry — all these things. We should follow God in every aspect of our life.

It's interesting — when some of these people face the Red Sea obstacle, some of them start to complain and doubt again. That's how human nature is sometimes. We ask God to help us, and then he helps us, and then we get out and we start to doubt. We want a "fix-it God." We don't want a God who is actually our God. If we're truly followers of the Lord, we're going to trust him and follow him in good and tough situations, not just ask him to save us out of our problems.

So we see these people were led — and I'm going to have them put the map up. They were led to a very difficult spot. They came down and encamped south of Succoth. They end up right there, and there's terrain there. There's the Red Sea in front of them. And then what happens? Pharaoh regrets letting them go and chases after them with his military might. So they were led into this difficult situation.

Chapter 14, verse 2 says: *"Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea."* Verse 3: *"For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in."* But then in verse 4, God says he will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he should follow after them, *"and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD."* He wants to make sure that people know that he is God. And this is one of the amazing stories in the Bible, just to remind us again of God's power and leading.

So while they were there, led to this unusual spot — don't be surprised if God leads us into predicaments we didn't sign up for. They were put in a very tough predicament: Red Sea in front of them, the army coming after them. In verse 11, you see some who want to retreat. *"And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness."* They were thinking they should go back, and they blamed Moses for this.

You know, when tough times come, the blame game starts. It's their fault, it's their fault, it's their fault. Well, they were the ones who chose to follow. They could have stayed in Egypt, but they chose to come. And then they blamed Moses for putting them in that spot. The same crowd that begged God to get them out of Egypt now says, "You are the problem." People tend to look for someone to blame, and it's usually a human leader. Let's blame Trump for everything. Let's blame our boss. Let's blame our parents. Let's blame our pastor. All leaders should own any blame that is legitimately theirs. But be careful.

We're talking about Ecclesiastes on Wednesday nights, and it's interesting — in Ecclesiastes 4, he talks about how it's better to have a handful with quietness than both hands full with travail and vexation of spirit. Anybody in any kind of leadership today understands that leadership is not easy. It's harder now than it has been in past years, it seems. So why would anybody want to be a leader? Why would anybody want to be a politician? Hopefully there are some statesmen — some people who want to be God-called leaders. God does raise up leaders. If you are one, accept that this is what God wants for you. But it's not easy. Then again, follow the leaders that God has placed in your life.

There they were, seemingly trapped by the Red Sea — the cloud behind them, the children of Israel encamped, the Egyptian army about to attack. The pillar of cloud went behind them at that point. Verse 19: *"And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel."*

I gave a couple of points on that last week. God hid the enemy from seeing the Jews — and we're thankful that God sometimes can protect us from our enemies. He does put up barriers. God is a refuge for us. He's a buckler to them that walk uprightly — the buckler means like a shield. So God is our shield many times to protect us from our enemy.

God also hid the Jews from seeing the enemy. If you knew everything that was out there, maybe you wouldn't want to see it either. But it's important to understand: God was just as close behind them as he was in front of them. He was still right there, close. Even though you may not always know what's going on, sometimes you take a peek backward and God is right there. Many times we can look back at our life and remember what God has done in the past and how he has led us. Maybe it's not a bad idea to peek back once in a while.

But the whole idea was this: when the pillar moved, whether it was a cloud by day or a fire by night, when it moved, they were supposed to move. Not any faster, not any slower. God decided the pace. God decided the plan, the agenda, the places, the people. All they had to do is follow. And I think again for us — don't try to do life all on your own. I just cannot emphasize that enough. As we think about this theme of follow this year: don't try to do all your life on your own. Allow God to lead us and follow what God wants us to do. My Lord knows the way through the wilderness. All we have to do is follow.

This story of over three million Jews — one of the greatest stories in history, one of the greatest stories in the Bible, one of the great miracles — crossing the Red Sea on dry ground has been likened, of course, to salvation. They were in an impossible situation. They couldn't get through. It looked like there was no hope. And that's how we were separated from God. The Bible tells us our sins and our iniquities separate us from God. There was no hope that we could have a relationship with God. Like they were stuck there — they were going to die. We were going to die and spend eternity in hell. But God provided a way through the Red Sea: the blood of Jesus. Our perfect Savior died on the cross 2,000 years ago so we could have that bridge to eternity through Christ.

So in this situation, you have people who are trying to follow. *"Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."* Commit that way unto the Lord. Trust also in him, and he'll bring it to pass. If you want to follow God, God can lead us. I believe that. But you have to give attention to him. You have to be willing to accept what his will is, and then go ahead and follow.

Now I've got a few quick points here for today — kind of a conclusion of this part of the story. We'll follow it next week again, but I just want to pull out a couple more points.

**Point one: God's route is seldom the shortest path to the destiny.**

Very seldom is it just the obvious path. I think about Abashek and Katherine — they're both from India. Why didn't they meet in India? God brought them here to meet. That wasn't the easiest path, but that's where God put them together — right here at First Baptist Church in Nebraska.

When you look at the map, going from Egypt to the promised land was about 225 miles. If a person walked even two and a half miles an hour, that whole group could have made it in about 10 days. Walk from here to there — easy. But we know what happened. They came down here, then down here, then here, going here and there — it's over a 2,000-mile journey. And if you know the story, it took over 40 years, not counting all the circling in the wilderness. They could have done it in 225 miles, but instead they did over 2,000 miles.

Now, that seems like a waste, but that's how things are with God. His route is seldom the shortest path. Why? Well, there were a variety of reasons. Certainly they got the scenic route. They had Philistines there and didn't want those causing problems. But I want to remind you: when you got saved — and you should have a day when you know you accepted Christ as your Savior — why didn't God just take you right to heaven? If you're saved and that's all there is to it, just go. It may be that the journey here is part of the process that God is working on us, conforming us to his image even on this earth. So the goal of our life ought to be to bring glory to God no matter what's going on. But maybe the tough path gets us there with valuable lessons learned along the way. Maybe we mature. Maybe we grow in our faith. Maybe we get some grit. Maybe we get some resilience.

Have a question: which is more important — the path or the purpose? I don't think the path is the main thing. The purpose. What's the purpose of this journey? We're trying to learn again how to follow the Lord. Is it okay to ask God why? I think it is sometimes — why am I not on the easiest path?

God wasn't just sending them instructions. He was leading them with his presence. And as long as you have the presence of God — Old Testament Joseph, as long as the Lord was with him, everything was okay no matter where he ended up. That's where you have to have the Lord with you. They had the Lord with them. You wonder why this is going on. It may not be the easiest path, but as long as I've got God with me, we'll get through. God, you and me — we're going to do it together. If you're saved, God's with you too. Psalm 146:7 says, *"The LORD of hosts is with us."*

He's not our travel agent. God doesn't say, "Okay, I've got a path. Here's the map. You go here, you go here, you go here." No. He's our travel guide — our tour guide. He's right there with us each step along the way. All they had to do is follow. And if we're saved, God's with us, and he leads us through his Spirit and his Word. But far too many people are ignoring his Bible, ignoring his Spirit, his leading — saying we'll figure the path out ourselves. And we're going to miss some of the great moments of our spiritual journey, our spiritual growth, and the opportunities that God has planned for us.

Let me ask a question: did God get to show himself strong in this story? I think we'd all agree — yes. Who's the hero in the story? It's not Moses. Although Moses had the rod and everything, it was actually God. Did God get to show himself strong to Pharaoh? He wanted that. He wanted everybody to know that he's God. Did God get to test the hearts of the people on that route? Yes. The direct route would have missed something very important in their lives — Mount Sinai. That's where they got the Ten Commandments, down there in the south. The direct route would have missed a lot.

We are all programmed to take the easy path, the comfortable path, the path that costs us the least. I see this happen in construction sometimes — if they had just done it right the first time, it would have been easier. Not everything is made to last like it used to. I also see this in the educational space. Many of you have children thinking about college or schooling. The spirit I sense among young people — and it's not anything brand new — is "get it done fast, get it done cheap." It might be cheaper. It might be easier. But is it best? What's the purpose of an education? To prepare them for life so they're ready to actually face it.

Parents, you have a big responsibility in preparing your children for the world and what God has for them. I've learned this lesson. When I was in public high school, I wasn't really guided very well. I was on a farm, so what's the big deal? I took classes like the study of periodical literature and the study of magazines. I'm not sure what I learned from that. At least I got out knowing how to spell, knowing how to put sentences together, learning parts of speech — nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, clauses, phrases. So then God had to have me marry an English major, which is the long route. Suffering in many ways because of it.

Think about your education. I wish I could have learned some foundational stuff back then — it would have helped me when I got to college. Some say "just homeschool," and some do an amazing job homeschooling. I commend people that do it well. But if your child doesn't know how to spell, it might be cheaper and easier — but good luck with that. Be careful with shortcuts. We've got options, but make sure you're making the right choice.

Sadly, the quick and easy path is typically the one chosen. It's often chosen for our kids. But God sometimes knows that our kids need tough lessons too. Sometimes they need to go the tough route. Life needs tough lessons to learn things. Our church needs tough lessons. The long way may build character. It may build faith. It may build spiritual maturity. It may transform us into a better person than the quick path would. They learned some things along the way.

So I'd have a question for you: have you noticed any paths in your life that surprised you? Any interruptions along the way? Sometimes the path didn't go like you planned. Maybe it's God's leading. Maybe you put yourself in the pickle — Proverbs talks about how we dug a pit and fell into it ourselves. That happens to Christians too. But sometimes God does allow interruptions along the way, things out of your control that change a circumstance you just didn't plan on. It's not just about getting somewhere. It's what we learn through the process.

I've got this little chart I had made a few years back — it's from A to Z, what does our life look like? It's up and down, up and down. Everybody's life pretty much has that same pattern from A to Z. And perhaps your unique path will prove to be more important than the actual destiny. Maybe it's not the destination. Maybe it's the path. Maybe it's following God's order. Don't rush the washing machine. Sometimes we like to jump to the quick route. If you set it on the soap cycle and skip the rinse, you're going to end up with some nasty clothes coming out. You've got to finish the cycle. Let the cycle work through. We want to take the quick, easy route. Even if it doesn't always make sense, be willing to follow. If God's leading on that path, be willing to go.

I won't say much about this, but many of you weren't here when we had the groundbreaking for this new church building — a wonderful time in 2007. We had the paper here, the mayor here, a great article, pictures, and it was like, "First Baptist Church is going to break ground on a new building!" Well, then the bank backed out. I'm so thankful that bank backed out. It would have been a failure if that would have gone on like we planned it. But God had a better plan. And if you know the story, God miraculously provided other ways. In a matter of time, everything was paid for. We didn't need a bank. Praise the Lord for that.

Life's got its confusing parts, but if we sincerely try to follow the Lord and do things in his order, he's got a plan — even when it doesn't always make sense to us.

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**Point two: The night is always part of the journey.**

When the cloud was there by day and by night, there was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. By day, they followed the white cloud. And when night came, they followed the pillar of fire — it was just easier to see. But the night was part of their journey. When the cloud moved during the day, they moved. When the fire moved at night, they also had to move. That was their cue: go. Is it nighttime? Aren't we supposed to rest? No — go. The night is part of our journey.

I think about Bible characters — God gives us their stories for a reason. They're examples to us. Almost all the great Bible characters you admire had a night journey. They had times that were not exactly perfect. Old Testament Joseph — sold by his brothers, taken captive into a foreign land. Daniel — similar situation, taken into captivity. King David, when he was anointed to become king, had to run from Saul for decades because Saul was jealous of him. But he learned things during that time. Part of it was learning what not to do. You say, "I'm going through a hard time with some difficult people." Well, learn what not to do. At least you're learning.

We may say, "I don't like to travel at night." When I think of nighttime, I think about potential for more problems. If you break down at night, it's not going to be fun. I know our lives are going to have some nighttimes — things that we're just like, "I don't know what's going on, but God is still going forward. I've got to just follow him." But if you don't follow God in the nighttimes, it's going to be easy to get off track when difficult times come.

We can't always comprehend at night what's in front of us. During the day, they saw the pillar of cloud and could see a little ahead. At night, it was just, "I guess we'll follow that fire." We've got to have God's help to navigate during that whole time. And uncomfortable things happen many times in the night. Fears rise up. People often overreact in nighttime scenarios.

So when you go through a nighttime — what I mean is a problem, a difficult time in your life — we've got to stay calm and stay rooted. How? Trusting in the Lord. One thing I'll remind parents especially: a sign of a good leader is knowing how to manage their fears when things get hard. If you lose your job, you don't go home to your kids and say, "I don't think we're going to make it. I'm going to fall apart." That's not a good leader. You say, "God's going to work it out. It's going to be all right. We're going to get through this." Dads, parents, teachers, civil servants — everybody has to keep this in mind. We have to trust instead of react.

It should not be hard to follow the Lord if we're close to him. If we're in tune with him — not focused on circumstances and other people, but keeping our eyes on the Lord — we'll be okay in the nighttime. The night was part of their journey too. The fire moved, and they had to follow. "Oh, I want to go to sleep." No. It's time to go. Let's go. That was part of it.

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**A few more things about the journey:**

Just because we're moving doesn't mean we're following. Sometimes we get this idea that because we're busy, we must be following God. Especially if we're busy in ministry — we must be following God. We convince ourselves that if we stay busy and if we're tired at night, things must be going well. Or you might just be running in a hamster cage. What are you actually accomplishing?

In chapter 14, some of these people wanted to go back to Egypt. They wanted action, they said, "We've got to keep moving, we can't stay here." Well, maybe you can. Maybe you can just pause a little bit. The Bible says, *"Be still and know that I am God."* Sometimes it is just a pause. People think that because they're moving, they're making progress. Not these people. If they had gone back, they would have been in worse shape — they would have been killed by the Egyptian army.

When I think of moving, I think about the society we're living in. We are living in the most transient society I think I've ever seen in my lifetime. I remember a pastor who was very conscientious about souls. He said something decades ago: "More people go to hell because church members keep moving than almost anything else." He said, "What happens is, you go to a new place and you don't find a church right away. You don't get plugged in, so you don't get connected to things and people, and then you know people go to hell because you were just distracted." I don't know if that's exactly right, but it seems like we're very transient and very antsy. We're always looking for something — we've got to move, we've got to be doing something.

Some seem to need change more than others. Change of locations, jobs, spouses — you don't need that. Don't always need to change friends either. In relationships, you don't replace, you add. Some people just go from this church to that church, this house to that house, always wanting something. And I wonder sometimes what they're running to. And I sometimes wonder what they're running from.

Maybe they're looking for something new, something exciting, something different. I'm going to remind you: the same people are going to be there that are here — just different names. The same problems are going to be there. The same opportunities will probably be in the same place too. A tree often transplanted seldom bears fruit. Get some roots. I know the military is hard because you signed up for that lifestyle and it's not always your choice. But at some point, you want to get stable.

Many times people think, "I'm moving, I'm busy, I'm busy for the Lord." But not always doing what we should be doing. Think about the Mary and Martha example. When Jesus came, Martha was busy, busy, busy — cumbered about with much serving. But it was Mary, sitting at Jesus' feet at that particular moment, who was actually doing what she was supposed to do. Just because you're busy in life, in church, in ministry — that doesn't mean you're following God. Sometimes you need to pause and say, "Wait a minute. Is this God leading, or is this something else?"

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**The next point: just because things don't seem to be progressing doesn't mean we're not following God either.**

When the pillar stopped, they felt like, "What are we doing now?" But that was all part of the plan. Delays are part of the plan. In our personal lives, in our ministry life, delays are part of the plan. We don't like delays at all. We like things to be happening, making progress. But sometimes it doesn't happen as fast as you want. Some people want to get married and it doesn't happen as fast as they want. Maybe God's preventing you. And by the way, it's better to be single than to have the wrong one. You get that idea.

Verse 13, chapter 14: *"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever."* As they waited there with the army behind them, they were not to fear. They were to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. They got to see God fight their battle — an amazing situation.

Delays are part of the journey. You have your personal stories, and I have mine. When I went to Bible college, I was married and had one child at the time. We had three other sons born in those few years we were there. Things were really progressing. About my junior year, my dad died — that was difficult. Then somewhere in my junior year, I got mono, and I hated it because I was an 18-credit kind of guy, at minimum 16. I was working a full-time job, married, and taking 18 credits. I still graduated cum laude. You could do it if you just want to. But I did get mono. I had to back off from 18 credits to 12 credits one semester, and it caused me to not finish the semester I was planning on finishing. I had this all planned out — I was going to finish a certain semester, and then I didn't have enough. So I waited one more semester.

And it's interesting, because there was a little church in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and they weren't ready for a pastor yet. I had to wait a few months, and God had that all part of the plan. Sometimes you have to understand: it's okay to stand still. It's okay — if God's leading — to just wait. You have health problems? You put a pause on life. There are times in life when there's just a pause.

And then the Red Sea opened up — they crossed on dry land, the Egyptian army pursued and was drowned. They were safe on the other side. An amazing story.

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**One last point — chapter 15:**

*"Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him."*

He goes on to talk about God's right hand in verse 6 and praises, *"Who is like unto thee?"* in verse 11. The last thing I want to say about this story: take time to rejoice when you have God-given victories.

I believe it's something we miss out on in the Christian life that we should be more conscientious of. They got through the Red Sea. The Egyptian army is drowned. They look back — and what happens? They break out in song. Moses's song of deliverance. It's a song of just praising God. And I think there's a power in taking a pause. There's a power in giving praise and taking inventory. He says, *"Nobody's like your right hand, God. You are so powerful, God."* He gives credit to God. He looks back and praises God. And I think God appreciates that praise.

We got through it. We got through it! Stop and pause and say, "God, thank you. Thank you. Thank you." And never get over it. We just had our tournament over at our school. Our boys got first place, our girls got second place in the basketball tournament. But one thing I was glad about was that facility. I remember walking in that facility the first time and thinking, "This is where we're going to buy. We're going to own this place someday." I just feel so blessed to see how it's been kept up and taken care of so well. I have a hard time going to that gymnasium without saying, "God, thank you." I have a hard time coming on this property without saying, "Thank you, God." I have a hard time thinking about my family without saying, "Thank you, God." I think there ought to be a power of a pause of thankfulness when God gets us on the other side. Be thankful during it, but be so thankful on the other side too.

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So to summarize: God's route is seldom the shortest route. When you feel like, "What is going on in my life?" — learn the lessons on that path. The destiny is not the answer; the journey is the key. The night is always part of the journey — don't be surprised if there are difficult times. Just because you're busy and moving doesn't mean you're following. You might be so busy you're actually ahead of God. Don't get ahead of him, and don't get behind him. Just because things don't seem to be progressing doesn't mean you're not following either — sometimes it is a stand still. Just wait and pause. And then take time to rejoice after God-given victories.

I think it's a good question to ask at this point: who are you following in life? Do you have anybody that you actually follow? You ought to say, "God, I am going to follow you. You are going to be my guide. You're going to be right along with me, and I want to follow you." They followed Moses, who was the God-given leader. And there are God-given authorities God puts in our lives — a variety of them. When we follow God and his God-given leaders, many times things turn out pretty well. And it did in this story. It turned out really well.

Let's learn to follow the Lord. I don't know where you're at in this cycle. I'm guessing there are people here of every age, every stage — but I want to learn how to follow the Lord. And that will be the ultimate best decision for all of us.

Let's bow our heads for prayer, would you please?

Father, as I think about concluding this part of this story, there are so many practical applications, and I don't know how you may want to apply it in people's lives. But there may be people at each stage. Some very, very busy, but not really following you. Some feeling like they're not going anywhere, but they're right where they're supposed to be. Father, help us when we do get through it to look back and say, "Thank you." Father, help us to learn to follow. If there are any hearing my voice who do not know Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior, work on those hearts. They need to be saved. They need to know Christ, the risen Savior, and have eternal life through him. And Father, for those of us who are believers, help us to study your Word. Help us to look into it. Help us to listen to your Spirit. Help us to listen to the leaders you give us. And Father, help us to be truly followers of you. We ask your help now in Jesus' name. Amen.