Pastor Hale Akamine [00:00:00]:
First of all, let me just say, thank you very much. Your generosity, your prayers towards Fiji has basically exploded God's blessing. You know, for those of you who donated, you know, we sent you a newsletter to tell you all the things that had gone on in this last mission trip. But as an update, I think at that time Through Pastor Penny, with whom we partner, he's, he's the home team over there, uh, you know, he had started off these little, what do you call, microgroups, and he he had, had just expanded it to, to 30. I just talked to him this weekend. Do you know that through your generosity, to your prayers, there, there are 60 microgroups across 9 countries?. And it directly flows from, from your generosity, your prayers, so that God is expanding his kingdom in in the, the South Pacific. So we thank you very much for your generosity.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:01:08]:
So let me start off by saying this, that what if you're bearing a longing ache in your heart And maybe you've carried it for some time. Maybe it's just haven't been able to get through a loss. Maybe that, that job just didn't turn out to be quite what it is, and, and, and you're struggling financially and just can't seem to experience the Lord's joy. Maybe you're not feeling appreciated at work. Maybe Your wife's husband really isn't very supportive, isn't very understanding. Or maybe your husband's wife could be a bit more encouraging, but she's not. And it just doesn't kind of seem to kind of just work out. Your kids' parents, man, they ought to stop yelling, but they just keep yelling.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:02:11]:
And this is longing ache that, Lord, what do I do with this? So let me have this— say this one statement that really encapsulates what I'm going to share this evening. What if the longing ache in your heart really is God's loud whisper calling you to him, to tell you to come boldly, come with confidence, and to stand in his presence and share your heart so he can transform your desire into your destiny. What if the longing ache in your heart is God's loud whisper calling you to come to him boldly and with confidence, and to stand in his presence to share your heart so that he can transform it of your desire, your desire into destiny. I just have one verse that I'd like for us to rise and, and say together, so let's all stand. And it's Hebrews 14:6. Okay, let's begin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in times of need. Thank you.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:03:43]:
You may be seated. Let me read for you the foundational scriptures for this evening. I'm not sure we're able to get up. I I think it says there in Numbers 27:1-8, but it's really Numbers 27:1-11. So for those of you who are doom-scrolling, scroll to, to those scriptures and let me read that. The daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Makir son of Manasseh belonged to the clan of Manasseh son of Joseph, The names of the daughters were Mala, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They came forward and stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting and said, "Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among Korah's followers who banded together against the Lord.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:04:54]:
But he died for his own sins and left no sons. Why should our father's name disappear from his clan because he had no sons? Give us property among our father's relatives.' So Moses brought their case before the Lord, and the Lord said to him, 'What Zelophehad's daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and give their father's inheritance to them. Say to the Israelites, if a man dies and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter. If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father's brothers. If his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his so he may possess it. This is to have the force of law for the Israelites, as God commanded Moses.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:05:57]:
So in this story, it opens up with, with the Israelite nations in the wilderness. There's Moses, Eleazar the high priest, and, and all the leaders were, were positioned— and probably in front of, not so much in the tent of meeting, but probably outside of it, this cloth border about half a football field kind of in dimension. And, and there in it would be another smaller tent within it, a 15 by 45 foot tent called the tent of meetings, where Moses would go and speak to God and get his divine message for the people. And so you can imagine there's these 5 unmarried sisters addressing the leaders of their very nation. But what makes it— because it's not usual, it's probably not at all even had ever happened that there were women standing in front of all these men leaders.. There was Milcah and Noah and Hoglan and Malkah and Tirzah. You see, they were descendants of Joseph, as it says in the first verse. And now Joseph, as you know, is the favorite son of Jacob.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:07:27]:
And God changes Jacob's name to— anybody know what name God changes Jacob to? Israel. So they had the, the standing to be able to, to be in front of these leaders because they came from the royal bloodline of Jacob. Now, how many of you ever been to Washington, D.C., to, to the National Mall? And, and if you haven't, please put it on your bucket list. Because it's, it's the heritage, it's the birthplace of of our, our, our And, nation. and, and to see— but you, can you imagine if, if you had your siblings there, and, and there you're standing in front of President Trump and the 9 Supreme Court justices and the 535 members of, of Congress, the leaders of our country, and asking them to change The constitution for you, right? Now, what must it be like for the 5 unmarried sisters who, who had just sort of— or probably were still grieving the death of, of their father, and at the same time realizing that upon that because of his death, they at this point owe nothing. They even were to lose their father's name forever. Right? And just being there, and if you could somehow be able to be a fly on the wall and just watch these ladies, I mean, I myself, you know, I have 3 bossy— I mean, I have 3 beautiful sisters. And when things were good, it'd be really good.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:09:27]:
I mean, they were having fun. We'd all laugh, my brother and I. But when they were arguing and fighting, oh, it's pretty ugly, right? But there, somehow, the sisters, the 5 sisters, in their grief and in their absolute helplessness, come up with this awesome plan. Leveraging their very heritage. And probably one of them said, like, guess what? We, we, we got to go big or not. Frankly, we have no home. So they dared stand in front, pulling, pulling rank, pulling their heritage and bringing them forward. Right.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:10:15]:
And what happens there is their case was so extreme, so big, that Moses couldn't even make the decisions with the leaders. He had to go and consult with God, right? And because it was way outside, above their pay grade, right? But even thinking, you know, what it must be you like, know, and I talked about the these girls, you know, getting ready to— preparing themselves to be able to speak to these men, right? But how they must have prepared themselves in there, even though they were grieving. And they probably put on the— I don't know, they sprayed on Frankincense Number 9 or something, and they shopped at the best tent clothing stores. You know, maybe if they were, they were, you know, alive today, they'd— because they're so, you know, upper-tier people, girls, right, from their heritage— they'd go to the fanciest stores on O'ahu, and probably a store that none of you guys ever shopped. I could imagine they would go to Spenders. Like, Spenders is a top tier of the stores on O'ahu that you guys haven't heard of. They have a bargain basement a sister store in Waipahu next to Pacific Garden Market, right, if you know of that store. But they didn't go there.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:11:44]:
They, they went to spenders, the very top, and they made their case. And you know, when they did, they dared did, their destiny, the nation's destiny, was forever changed. So Moses brought their case before the Lord And the Lord said to them, 'What Zelophehad's daughters are saying is right. You you certainly— must certainly give them their property as an inheritance among their father's relatives and give their father's inheritance to them.' And then God even adds this: 'And say to all the Israelites, Moses, If a man dies and leaves no son, give his inheritance to his daughter. If he has no daughter, give his inheritance to his brother. If he has no brother, give his inheritance to his father's brother. If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan, that he may possess it. This is to have the force of law for the Israelites, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:12:54]:
Because they came They came boldly. And I believe the Lord will use the longing in your heart, as in these 5 sisters, and draw you to him. But you got to do it with boldness. You got to do it with confidence. You see, the girls pulled rank. They, they used the fact that they were descendants of Jacob. But they, they could not go beyond Moses. That's it.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:13:33]:
They could not go to God directly. Guess what? Guess who we can go to directly? We don't have to go through anybody else. We don't have to ask Pastor Jeff. We don't have to ask Pastor Glenn to intercede for us. We don't have to have Steve play harp music. Before— no, we just, we can just go directly to God. And who knows if the longing ache in your heart, if you bring it before God, it it won't, won't just end with you, it won't stop with you, and He'll bless you, but He may bless those around you. What if the longing ache that God has put in your heart is his loud whisper calling you to him? And he says to come with boldness and confidence and stand in his presence and share your heart, that he may transform your desire into destiny.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:14:44]:
See, we have the right When we call Jesus Lord and Savior, to approach the God of heaven and earth and the God of all creation, that we have the right. Romans 8:16-17: The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him. Galatians 4:6-7, because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our heart, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father!" You are no longer a slave but God's child since you are his child. God has made you also an heir. So, Mahlon, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, Tirzah, right? They couldn't approach God directly, but we can. We can. You know, when When I was in kindergarten, a couple years ago, and we were— I usually went early, as early as I could. And my mom wanted me out of the house because there were 4 others younger that she had to take care of.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:16:21]:
And it was in Keikaha, so relatively safe. The only thing you're worried about are the dogs. But in the early morning, they're sleeping. But I was outside the classroom with my classmates. And one of them was Alex, and we were We were playing, and then somehow Alex, like, he did something bad. He hit me. And then he said something really bad. And I wasn't going to stand for it at age 5.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:16:47]:
So I walked to the principal. It's Kekaha School, K to 8. So I took that about 100-yard walk to the main building. And I didn't even knock on Mr. Ono, the principal's door. And I said, Mr. Ono, "You know what Alex did?" And he was shocked. I don't know if he was shocked to see me or shocked what Alex did.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:17:09]:
But he said, "Go get Alex." So I ran, got Alex, and Alex got scolded by the principal right there. Then a little later, I guess Mrs. Takekawa, the kindergarten principal, got scolded by the principal. Because when she came back from the office in the classroom, she called me out. She goes, "Hail." Why didn't you tell me what happened? I said, Mrs. Takekawa, you was probably sleeping. You know, you should have been there early. So I went straight to the principal, right? Needless to say, when we got ready for lunch, although my last name is Akamine, I had to stand at the back of the lunch line.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:17:51]:
But she wasn't that happy. But see, I knew I could get to the principal. Hey, we could direct to God. She's still not happy with me, but that's all right. It's all good. It's all forgiveness. I think she's a Christian. We can approach him with boldness and confidence.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:18:12]:
Hebrews 4:16, so let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Ephesians 3:12, because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into His presence. So how come, how come We don't. Hey, because, you know, I mean, I know we did the 21 days, but, you know, nothing happened. And nothing happens when, when I pray to God. You know, I kind of think many times is because, you know, we, when we go to God, we kind of really, if you admit, we go kind of half-hearted. You know, we, we kind of doubt, you know, we just— and as a result, we give some of these half-okole prayers, you know.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:19:23]:
Um, maybe, maybe we believe we're not, we're not good enough, we're not really not holy enough. We're not— shocks. I mean, you look around and, you know, I— Lord, I know God blesses people. I know you do, Lord. I mean, 'Look, look how beautiful and handsome Brother Steve is, and how big— I mean, how awesome Pastor Jeff is, and he blesses Pastor Glenn. But you know, but not me. I mean, not really me. I mean, you, I don't know, sometimes you bless me.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:20:06]:
I don't know. Maybe the Maybe you feel your problem is too small so you can just handle it. Maybe the problem is, I don't know, too big. Maybe you went to God with your problem a little too late and then you really messed it up badly. And now, hey, it's the way it rolls, right? You just got to take it, right? Take what's coming. You know, I don't know, I was just thinking maybe, uh, maybe you might get lucky though, right? Now, I heard of this story. I'm not sure how true it is, but this, this lady was walking down, down the beach and she was feeling pretty bad, right? And, and she stumbled. She looked out.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:20:55]:
Whoa, get one, get one lamp! It's like she saw it in a movie, Aladdin's lamp. Sure enough, a genie comes out with the smoke and she's just surprised. The genie said, "Wow, lady, you don't look that good." She goes, "Yeah, my husband ran away with the secretary, leave me all alone, nobody, nothing." He goes, "Well, I got a deal for you. You can ask whatever you want." "But the thing is, your husband, he's going to get double." So she's thinking, "Wow, we— he never even gave me a real diamond ring." "So, Genie, I'll have a diamond ring." Boom, she gets this beautiful 15-karat ring, right? And then she goes, "What about my husband?" "Oh, he has two rings, one for his girlfriend and one for him." "Oh, man. Okay then." "You know what, we always rent. I don't know why. He wastes all our money. I'd love to have my own house." Boom, she gets this 10-bedroom house.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:22:01]:
She goes, "What about my husband?" "Well, he got 2 20-bedroom houses." For the girlfriend, for— man, she's thinking, this is not right. This is not right. So she's thinking, "OK, Genie, you said that he gets double." Genie says, "Yeah." Okay, try scare me half to death. Okay, that's all right. It's all good. I thought there's a— did you say laugh? Laugh up there. No, I mean, you know, sometimes we we just, just feel out of it. We just feel that we're out of luck.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:22:37]:
But you know, but you know why? You know, how then do we build up confidence and power if We were honest with ourselves. We, we don't have it. Hey, this is the trick, right? Don't walk by yourself. God brings other Christians, brothers and sisters, to come together. The sisters did not go alone, right? They didn't go each alone. They went as a group, right? You know, one of the most awesome words— I don't know about you guys, but I'm sure it must have happened happened for you that I'd hear from my friends growing up, and especially my dad. And it's these words: "Hail, I'll go with you." "Hail, I'll go with you." Wow. I mean, even today, you know, it affects me, right? Whenever I'm about to engage back then, whatever it was, to sell malasadas or tickets or what, and, and my friend would say, 'Hell, I'll go with you,' or even my dad, 'Hey, don't worry about it, I'll go with you,' right? In fact, even, uh, some of you guys know Brother Michael, you know, I mean, maybe the older of you, right? He, he, he had said this when I was in elementary school: 'You and I must make a pact.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:24:00]:
We must bring salvation back.' Where there is love, I'll be there. I'll reach out my hand to you. I'll have faith in all you do. Just call my name, I'll be there. Some of you guys are smiling, some of you guys are not. Anybody know Brother Michael? You know what Michael's last name? That's right, Jackson, right? He actually wasn't from— his family was actually Jehovah's Witness, so he's kind of half there but not quite. But it's, it's having somebody to come along. And God says we need to be in a small group.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:24:37]:
I've been counseling for 3 and a half decades, decades, and I counsel individuals, couples, families. And what I'm going to say, you can, you can take to the bank. If you weren't or aren't in a small group, you either have gotten yourself in deep trouble and/or you're still in the trouble, or it's going to take a while to get out of that deep trouble, or you may not know you're in deep trouble, or you're going to be in deep trouble. Right. I say this to the men's group, my men's group. You know, I'm glad you guys are here, but, you know, let me tell you what. Jesus was in a small group, you know. Just saying, right? And if Jesus got to have a small group, I think we, we do too.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:25:46]:
You know, Having been in a small group, a small group, it's a good small group there. You, you share your desires there. They're more than willing to help you. But you know what? Even if, if not, at the very least you can guilt-trip them to help you. You know why? Because that's family, right? Here's a proof text. Hebrews 10:24-25. Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another, to show love and to to do good. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together, as some are doing.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:26:23]:
Let us encourage— instead, let us encourage one another all the more, since you see the day of the Lord is coming near. What longing ache is in your heart that he's asking you to bring to him? Romans 8:26-28: And in the same way, by our faith, the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying, for we don't even know what we should pray for or how we should pray as we should. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feelings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father, who knows all hearts, knows, of course, what the Spirit is saying. He pleads for us in harmony with God's His own will. And we know all that happens to us is working for our good, and if we love God and are fitting into His plans. Some of you have, have heard this story, especially if you've been around me, of— and but it's worth telling you because there's even more to this story. About 22 years ago, my friend and his wife were anxiously awaiting the birth of their daughter.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:27:58]:
Everybody say, "Aww." The day after she was born, the doctors, The doctor was Oswan, I think, he said, met with them and said, I'm sorry, but we've done all the tests. Your daughter is brain damaged. I'm really sorry. She'll need to spend a week or so more in the NICU. And he left. And that night, crying in the dark of their— on the floor of their daughter's bedroom to the Lord. And their prayer was this: Lord, there's, there's a reason you gave us this girl. I mean, she's an educator, the wife was, and he was a counselor.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:29:09]:
And so their prayer throughout the night was, Lord, help us be the best parents for this girl. My friend says he's pretty sure they must have prayed for her healing, but that really was never the prayer. But it was to be the best parents for her. Oh, they got the— every week they went to the hospital to get the test and get checked up. And Keiki Oka'aina came in and all of the doctors that had to see this girl. But at the end of the year, would you believe that she calls her husband and says, the doctor said there is nothing wrong. But you see, they weren't that happy. I mean, they were happy, but you see, that wasn't their prayer.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:30:05]:
So they had to keep praying. That wasn't their desire, because the girl grows up and, and, and yes, I mean, she ends up doing ballet and hula, and they sent her to the best, most exclusive school Of course, she was homeschooled. But when you figure out the cost of what the wife would have made as a schoolteacher, it's very exclusive. And she grows up and she gets involved in awanas and was the head of the painting committee at the church. Not because she had any special skills, but because she was the only one that showed up regularly. So because of that, and because her parents taught her, your word has to be good and it's before God. And she grows up and she graduates college with honors and she gets a job as a teacher. And this past year, their desire ended.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:31:14]:
It was all over. They didn't have to really pray anymore. You see, because on that September afternoon, they walked their daughter down the aisle. Him, the son of a decorated Korean War U.S. Marine sergeant, He handed her hands, her arms to a U.S. Marine sergeant. And for them, their desire became their destiny. A quick story, because this is even to me more at my heart.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:32:03]:
Simone Tunge was the head of the largest denomination in Fiji. And he stepped down. He took the position to develop drug treatment programs. But he didn't have any experience except for this, because I got to chat with him about a year ago. And it's because the only— he kept talking about how the ravages of drugs. You see, his married daughter got addicted to crystal meth, left her family, left her marriage. And so every night for over a year, he'd try to find her in the city and in the country of Fiji, where, you know, there's not a lot of self-service and everything. And most all of the time, he'd drive home late into the early morning and alone.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:32:56]:
Yeah, sometimes she'd come home and then she'd disappear again. And his longing desire was for her. So we got to talk about— I, I was supposed to meet up when he had to go to Australia, just at when we arrived in Fiji. And we're going to talk about more about having a Christian foundation to drug addiction and treatment. 2 weeks ago, Talatala Reverend Simoni Tungi passed away. He went to Jesus. And one of his last words were these: My daughter is free from drugs. My daughter has reconciled with her husband.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:33:46]:
They're now working and living on another island. God transformed his desire into the destiny where Fiji has now had the— has the concepts to be able to develop, and they are developing Christian-focused drug rehab because of one man's longing ache. This is what God will do when he— when we bring to him our longing ache, because it's God's loud whisper calling you to come to him boldly, with confidence, and stand before him and share your heart so that he's going to transform it. Your desire into destiny. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we, we come to you not as a congregation, but but as, as your children. We thank you because of your Son Jesus, that we don't have to ask permission. For somebody to intercede.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:35:07]:
Because we're your children, we can go directly to you. Lord Jesus, there's an aching in my, in my heart, and I haven't been honest. I, I don't know why I don't bring it to you. Look, maybe I— because I think I'm really nobody. I think my problem is just frankly too small. It's too big. It's too late. But Lord, do you— Lord, can you hear my heart? I want to just— I want to try just go all in with you, Lord.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:35:51]:
Lord, can you transform my ache. Can your Holy Spirit bring it up to the Father, Lord? Lord, I really, really need you to deal with my longing ache. Lord, it hurts, but I know there's no other option but to bring it to you, Lord. I gotta start, I gotta start not living by what feels right. I gotta start living by what is right, that, that you call me your child and, and, and you, you want to hear my heart. It's what you're waiting for, is to hear my heart. Lord, Lord, help me claim the boldness of Mahlon and Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah, Lord. And Lord, help me also not just keep it to myself.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:37:02]:
Lord, you've given me a family. You've said be a part of a small group, Lord, that you want people. And you've brought me people who who, who want to share my joys and who want to carry some of the sorrows that I bear. Lord, help me be bold to come to you. Lord Jesus, please receive me. Lord, because you're a great, great God, my brothers and sisters, who come here with longing aches, Lord, they want to come boldly to you. They want to come in confidence and say, Lord Jesus, hear my cry, because you're a God that transforms our desire into the destiny that you've intended us to have. For in Jesus' name we pray.

Pastor Hale Akamine [00:38:05]:
Amen.