Christie Needham [00:00:00]: Thank you for joining us in house and online. And please go ahead and text in your prayer request and your praise reports so that we can partner with you again. The number is 808-793-5655. All right, so the title of my message is Complaining to Confidence. See, when we started all of this, I thought. Totally thought it was going a different way. However, I write it out so that I stay on track. So I'm gonna go with what's on on the paper. Christie Needham [00:00:42]: Okay. Today is day 10 of our 21 Days of Prayer. And there's been some great messages that were shared during our first nine days. So I pray that what I share with you tonight will also help to bring you closer to our God. I always struggle as to what I should share. And I know that comes from a place within me that not just strives to please God, but that fallible part of me that still strives to please people. I don't necessarily like rocking the boat. Well, I mean, I kind of do, but I. Christie Needham [00:01:20]: It's because I always kind of feel like God is asking me to do the hard stuff that I don't want to do or say the things that I don't want to say. And this time, of course, was no different. Like I said earlier, early on, while we were planning 21 days, I heard God say, have a cook who talks about Habakkuk. Well, I guess me. But it wasn't just about Habakkuk and his conversation with God, but more he was showing me about my conversations, or rather the conversations that I wasn't having with him. So let me give you some background on Habakkuk. He was a prophet, and he was the prophet that complained. He asked God, why? Why do you ignore me? Can't you hear me? Can't you see what they're doing? Why are you letting them get away with that? And God answers him, and then he says, really? For real? That's what we're going to do. Christie Needham [00:02:23]: But ultimately, Habakkuk chooses to trust in God's plans once he remembers God's goodness and mercy towards Israel. Simple process, right? You're right. So in Habakkuk 1, verses 2 and 3, this is what Habakkuk says to God. Lord, how long must I beg for your help before you listen? I cry out to you about violence. I'm just going all over the place. So sorry, our Lord. How long must I beg for your help before you listen? How long before you save us from all this violence? Why do you make me watch Such terrible injustice. Why do you allow violence, lawlessness, crime and cruelty to spread everywhere? Laws cannot be enforced. Christie Needham [00:03:10]: Justice is always a loser. Criminals crowd out honest people and twist the laws around. When we feel wronged, hurt, frustrated or helpless, God wants us to bring it to Him. So our first point is to give him your complaints. On each of my points, I have like supporting scriptures. I won't necessarily read them all, but in this case I'm going to read Psalm 62. 8. Trust God, my friends, and always tell him each of your concerns. Christie Needham [00:03:42]: God is our place of safety. So God answers Habakkuk, but he's confused and frustrated by his answer. So it shows us in the same passage, but in verses 5 and 6 it reads, look and be amazed at what's happening among the nations. So God is telling Habakkuk, even if you were told, you would never believe what's taking place. I'm sending the Babylonians. They're fierce and cruel, marching across the land, conquering cities and towns. So God's answer might shock us, but he always has a purpose. Because God just told Habakkuk that he's going to use Babylon, a wicked nation, to judge his people. Christie Needham [00:04:29]: So even when his plans seem completely off, it is always a part of a larger story of justice and redemption. And believe me when I say, I promise you, I understand. So what did Habakkuk do? He just trusted God, right? No. He questioned God again. And God answered him yet again. While standing guard on the watchtower, I waited for the Lord's answer before explaining the reason for my complaint. Then the Lord told me, I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance. Christie Needham [00:05:13]: At the time I have decided my words will come true, you can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting. It will happen. I, the Lord, refuse to accept anyone who is proud. Only those who live by faith are acceptable to me. And that's in Habakkuk 2, verses 1 through 4. And this verse just kind of brings us to our third point in Seasons of Waiting. Focus on his promises, not his timing, because his timing is super different from ours. Christie Needham [00:05:51]: I'm just saying, in Hebrews 10:38 it says, the people God accepts will live because of their faith, but he isn't pleased with anyone who turns back. So God assures Habakkuk that he has a plan and he then chooses to pivot, change his focus. By worshiping God, he declares his goodness and remembers all that God has already done. Fig trees may no longer bloom or vineyards produce grapes. Olive trees may be fruitless and harvest time of failure. Sheep pens may be empty and cattle stalls vacant. But I will still celebrate because the Lord God is my Savior. The Lord gives me strength. Christie Needham [00:06:41]: He makes my feet as short as those of a deer, and he helps me stand on the mountains. So in Habakkuk 3, 17, 19, it's the last two verses of the whole book of Habakkuk. He starts to worship and rejoice in who God is. And in doing this, he's able to change his focus onto God's unchanging and consistent nature. Our last point is that we must move from complaining to worship to trusting God. So I believe that God gave me Habakkuk because of the place where I'm in my life right now. I've always taken care of someone throughout my life. I took care of my brothers, took care of my mom. Christie Needham [00:07:31]: I had my first child at 18, and my last child just became an adult in March. So I started to question, what's my purpose in life now? Because nobody really needs me anymore. And I started to think like, so what am I supposed to do now? I started to get stuck in the place of asking, why? Why couldn't I have been more successful at life? Why did so many bad things happen to me? Why did I make stupid choices when I did? Why? Why? Why? So I got stuck in a place of complaining within and not bringing those questions to God, which then spiraled me into a place of anxiety and depression. For a number of months this year, the only times I would force myself to interact with people was Wednesdays at programming meetings, and on Saturday and Sundays for services. Other than that, I would spend most of my hours just kind of staring into space, sleeping on and off during the day, mindlessly watching TV or scrolling on my phone for hours. But one particular event in my life kept playing over and over and over again in my head. And I lost sleep for weeks, months on end. So I started questioning God. Christie Needham [00:09:04]: See, When I was 12, I was assaulted by a boy in my church. And it was intensely traumatic and life changing. I can remember what I was wearing, where it happened, what I could smell. All of my senses are like super heightened. And I was haunted by that one act more than any other traumatic event in my life. I started to ask God. Actually, I started to yell at God. So much hatred and anger, why did you stop Him? Like, I called for you that day. Christie Needham [00:09:45]: I remember crying, sobbing, and whispering for God to help me but it still happened. Something in me changed that day. I honestly felt something break in me. I used to sing with my brothers in church. I stopped singing. I believed I was damaged, broken, dirty, and that God saw me the same way. I hid that away for 30 plus years because it was honestly more than what I could process at 12 years old. And nobody knew or did anything that helped me. Christie Needham [00:10:26]: So I just kind of packed it away. However, I have all this free time now, right? So God started telling me now is the time. So he started to bring me to a place of healing and restoration. I learned I can question him but not get stuck in my complaining and be bitter. I'm working towards coming to a place of understanding that I don't get to know every part of God's plan. And really none of it makes any sense. Because how is that man a pastor now? I don't understand. But I don't have to because here's some truth. Christie Needham [00:11:08]: In this world, bad things will happen. It wasn't God's will or plan for me that I would be hurt. But evil does exist in this world and he gave humanity free will. So bad things are going to happen. But the truth, the promise that I hold onto that brings me to a place of peace in his plan for me is found in Jeremiah 29:11. I say this because I know what I am planning for you, says the Lord. I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future. Christie Needham [00:11:46]: So this is what I know today, without a doubt that He's a just and good God. He loves me more than I could ever understand. I may have been broken, damaged and scarred, but he is my redeemer and restorer. He has my future in the palm of his hands and his plans are full of hope. So I choose to worship him because of who he was, who he is, and who he will always be as I continue to move forward towards complete faith in him and his plans for every part of my being. So I just have three reflection questions that I'd like for you guys to think and ask God about. The first one is what is a complaint that you haven't taken to God and how has that affected your faith? The second one is in your current waiting season. What is at least one of God's promises that you can cling to? Remember I said mine is Jeremiah 29:11. Christie Needham [00:12:50]: And what is one step you can take tonight or this week to move from complaining to growing your faith? So we're just going to take a little bit of time to pray. And then we're going to come back and pray corporately. But let me just pray before we do that. Dear Lord, I just thank you for allowing me to be real, for allowing me to be the one to encourage my brothers and sisters to bring it to you. Because you want to know that you want to help us through because you do have good plans for us and your promises are the things that we can always count on because you are good. So Lord, I just ask that you would bring these things to the surface, Lord, that you would allow us to see the things that you want us to start to bring to you, that we've been holding on for much too long so that we can accelerate and excel in the plans that you have for us. I thank you, Lord. We give you all the praise, honor and glory because of who you are. Christie Needham [00:14:05]: Name we pray. Amen. Thank you, Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:04]: Father, thank you that you are greater than our questions. Father, thank you that the greatest mysteries and sometimes pains and difficulties in our life doesn't negate the fact that you are good and that you have good plans. And so Father, we just receive whoever is out there. And maybe your questions wasn't Habakkuk's questions, maybe your questions weren't were in Christy's questions. Maybe your challenges were different, but they're yours. And would you just declare over yourself is that God's plans for you are not for harm, they're not to tear you down. But Father, thank youk that yout plans are good, to build us, to prosper us, Lord, to lead us to a better place. Thank youk that yout're our shepherd and that Lord, there are times we don't understand, but yout make us lie down. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:02]: But Lord, you said that yout do it and a place that there is life, Lord, you want us to be lying down in a green pasture besides water? And Lord Jesus, we thank youk that the spirit of God that yout sent to us, you said, is the one that has a living water. So Father, would the living waters flow through us today? Because sometimes, Lord, we don't always understand intellectually, Father, sometimes we don't understand emotionally. Sometimes, Lord, we in this life, Lord, and there's not even a guarantee that in this life we understand it all, but we're thankful in this life we can understand you. And Father, thank youk that yout Lord said that yout have overcome the world and that Lord, you're greater than our hurts. And Lord, thank youk that yout know hurts, you Know that feeling of abandonment, Lord, that when youn went to the cross, Lord, you're not looking at it as a dispassionate God who's never experienced any of these things. Thank you. That we have a high priest who you said is compassionate and can understand us in our moments of weakness. Would you know that God understands you in your moment of weakness? And Father, thank youk for your kindness. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:22]: We just. We just receive. And Lord, we just confess. Sometimes we just need to experience youe kindness in those moments of questioning. And it doesn't always make sense. But Father, we pray your covering over your people today. And Father, we're asking, Lord, that as a grace is poured out into us, Lord, that we want to hold on to that grace. We want to hold on to that promise, Lord, we want to hold on to that truth. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:50]: Whether that's a Jeremiah 29:11 promise, whether that's. Whether that's the Isaiah 41:10 that you are upholding us with your righteous right hand. And we don't need to fearfully look around us. But Father, it doesn't matter the promise. Lord, would you bring to our mind the promises of the living God that you are for us and not against us? Thank you, Lord. And Father, we're asking that would you just make a way forward for people? You don't have to leap across the chasm. You just are supposed to take a step forward today. So, Father, we take a step closer to you today. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:29]: Forward, Father, we take a step closer to the call that you have in our life. Father, we're taking a step closer to wholeness and restoration. Thank you. That our wound is not our identity. God, we have wounds, but we are who you said we are. We're your sons and we're your daughters. We're the children of the Most High. Father, that we are not forsaken or abandoned. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:55]: Lord, thank you. We just receive that you're with us and that we are becoming overcomers. Lord, we all want to be overcomers, but sometimes we forget. It does mean we need things to overcome. So we're thankful, Lord, that that's not our destination. That's our process. So Father, we receive that tonight. I pray that the spirit of an overcomer, because an overcomer doesn't quit. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:27]: It doesn't say that he doesn't get wounded. It doesn't say he doesn't get setbacks. It doesn't say he doesn't get overwhelmed. It doesn't say, Lord, that he's not confused, Lord. It's just that he overcomes. Father, A spirit of endurance, Lord, and a spirit of wholeness. We pray over our friends. And Father, we're coming in agreement with our friend Kyle. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:51]: And Lord, even and Sandy just getting off the phone with her, Lord, thank you that they were able to find the problem in Kyle's abdomen and the pain that had come up. And so, Father, we're thankful that emergency surgery was successful. And so, Lord, that even though he's still in recovery, Lord, that we're thankful that he's on the road to wholeness. And so, Father, we pray an acceleration of that healing and a covering over him, Lord, over his body, over his soul, Lord. And Father, as things become clearer and clearer for him, Lord, we're praying that he would see that he can hold on to the promise that his God is with him and not forsaken him. Lord, we don't always understand even these kinds of things. But Father, we're grateful for your presence. Father, we're praying for some friends of former neighbors, Lord, whose husband has passed away. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:53]: And Lord, it's hard to make sense of it all, but Lord, we know that words don't really bring the comfort that we want. And at times. But Father, I pray that there would be people who would stand around and that, Lord, we bring them before the throne of grace. And Father, we pray that your presence would lead and guide and there would be a compassion. Father, I pray that I thank you that you weep with those who weep. And there are. It's appropriate times to weep in the level of this kind of a loss. And Father, sometimes when we weep together, it just reminds us that we're not alone. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:36]: So, Father, I pray for this family in all that they need. I pray they wouldn't shut out to the help from friends and family and neighbors, Lord, that people who have been a part of their lives. But Father, would the hands and feet of Jesus be reaching out to this family? We pray, Father. We're also praying for a friend who has ongoing health challenges, diabetes and high blood pressure and in and out of the hospital. Father, that we know that there are multiple problems. But Father, you said that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. Father, where problems abound that, Lord, there opportunities. We just declare there's opportunities for turnaround and restoration and healing. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:27]: We thank you. The name of Jesus is greater than diabetes and high blood pressure. And Father, we know as well, though there may be some changes that need to be made. Father, would you just make it clear that, Lord, sometimes you call us to let go of the former things, Lord, Sometimes those former things is the way we ate. Sometimes it's the way that we lived. Father, sometimes it's the way that we thought. But you said because the new has come. And so Father, I thank youk that yout have a view of this man. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:05]: And I'm guessing it's a man that Lord, of this person. That Lord, that yout see him whole. That Father, that you see him being made strong, Father, that you see him making a turnaround. That Father, a strength that he never had, Lord, that when a man or a woman, Lord, invites you and trusts in you and leans into a strength greater than themselves. We thank you, Lord, that there can be change. So, Father, we pray, Lord, that rather than just depending on his strength, on his will, on his taste, on his life, Lord, would you mind him and lead him that you have a better life in store for him. Father, we're convinced there's a better plan than the trajectory he's on. So, Father, we just pray would there be a reversal, a change of trajectory in this brother's life, in his health? Father, in the focus of his heart, Father, that thank you. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:05]: Strengthen, renew and heal. Lord, we pray this brother and we pray a spirit of cooperation on wanting to be in line and cooperate with you. Lord, we're not just saying, Lord, you do it all because that you can't change the food that we put in our mouth, that you can't change the way that we handle stress. We need to choose you and choose your way. Father, I thank you that would you gently encourage and draw him in this moment of need. So, Father, we're praying that blessing and Father, thank you that right now, Lord, that there's changes that we're all making. Because, Lord, we want to be closer, Father, because we want to be stronger, Father, because we want to have a greater influence because we're praying for our breakthrough in different areas. Father, we're trusting you that places that have been blocked and roadblocked in our lives, Lord, that we just say in the name of Jesus with that which opposes the work of God in our lives. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:13]: We pray God in the name of Jesus. Would they be moved? Lord, thank you that you said that you can say to the things that are as though they were not. And so, Father, we're just believing, God, that you're making a way Jesus, thank you. We just receive. You're making a way for your people, Father. You're making a way for your gospel. Father. You're making a way for your ministry. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:36]: God, we thank you that the kingdom of God is advancing. And Lord, Sometimes men and women who dare to step into those moments, Lord, need to rise up for that to happen. And Father. So we're rising, Lord, not in our strength, but in your strength. Thank you that you go before us, Lord. You're our strength. You're our deliverer, Lord. You're our leader. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:57]: You said that the gates of hell will not prevail against us. So we just say be removed in Jesus name because thank you, Lord, that there is a world that needs you, Father, there's family that needs you. There's friends that need you, Lord. We need you. But Father, there's others who need you. For savior, for Lord, Father, for healer, for deliverer, Father, for the kindness that can be displayed through the heavenly father, Lord. We're just praying. God your kingdom come, Lord, your kingdom come in our families, Lord, your kingdom come in our city. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:34]: God your kingdom come. Lord. In our community we pray in Jesus name. God's people say amen. Amen. Hey, thank you guys. Bless you guys. Thanks for coming and joining us today. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:48]: We look forward to day 11 tomorrow. And I bring you a board shorts. No, I'm just kidding. We're going to have a great message tomorrow. And we'll see you guys tomorrow. Seven o'. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:58]: Clock. Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:58]: God bless you.