When Disillusioned, Focus On God | Peter Tan-Chi | October 4, 2026

0:00 Have you ever felt disillusioned because life did not turn out the way you expected? Maybe you have prayed, waited, but things did not turn out. That's exactly where Habachok found himself. He questioned God. He wrestled with God. He did not like what was happening. And yet he learned to turn to him. He learned to worship him. Young people today, you are growing up in an instant world. You want instant solution. Learning to trust God even when we don't understand is the secret of becoming strong, becoming resilient. So when you are dissolution, I want you to listen to this message. It will help you process despair,

0:45 disappointment. Watch this video. It will transform your life. [music] Growing up, I carried a lot of bitterness and resentment toward my mom because of the way she treated me. Although I grew up in a Christian church and learned about God at an early age, there was rebellion in my heart. In 2008, before graduating from high school, a childhood friend invited me to a church in Montalbad. I started attending and eventually served as a musician and a youth leader. Through the church's support, I was able to enroll in Bible school in 2012. From the

1:33 outside, it seemed like I was doing well spiritually. I was studying the Bible and serving ministry. But I became complacent and let my guard down. I fell into sexual immorality with a classmate. Eventually, my sin was exposed and I was removed from ministry. lost my scholarship and left the church. Instead of turning back to God, I went further away from him. I found a job, but my life became increasingly sinful. I smoked, I drunk, and I even stole money from my employer to support my vices. Ironically, I was recognized as an outstanding employee, and this only fed my pride. In October 2012, I was

2:19 detained for alleged theft after 3 days. The case was dismissed due to lack of evidence, but I lost my job. I was ashamed and did not want to return home. At one of the lowest point of my life, I finally cried out to God. I asked him for another chance to return to ministry and finish my studies. By God's grace, in February 2013, I was allowed to return to my church and continue attending Bible school. But over time, I became tired and overwhelmed trying to balance ministry, studies, family, and work. Once again, I became disappointed. In 2016, I left the church and decided

3:04 to pursue my plans. I entered the construction business with a partner and moved in with with my girlfriend Belle. At first, the business did well. I thought perhaps I could finally build the life I wanted. But because of poor project and financial management, we accumulated huge debts. My business partner eventually left and I was left with almost nothing. I borrowed money to start another business, but that failed too. Soon I was buried in debt. I received death threats and warnings that legal legal cases would be f filed against me if I could not pay. I became angry and disappointed with God. I remember asking

3:50 him, Lord, why are you doing this to me? I just want to build a normal life for Belle and me. Even this you don't want to give me. When God did not want do what I expected him to do, I slowly stopped calling out to him. I still read the Bible occasionally and sometimes I prayed. But in my heart, I was choosing to live life my way. And the more I walk on my own, the more complicated my life became. In 2018, in the middle of all our problems, two friends invited Belle and me to attend a CCF worship service. We started attending but still had much learned about surrendering my life

4:36 completely to God. Then in 2020, I tried to rebuild our construction business. Just when things seemed to be improving, the pandemic came and our projects stopped once again. Everything was beyond my control. But this time, instead of running farther farther away from God, I turned back to him. I began praying and reading his word wholeheartedly. God reminded me of Hebrews 10 23. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. For he who promised is faithful. God reminded me that even when I did not understand what he was doing, he was still faithful. I repented and

5:24 surrendered my life again to Jesus. I told God that I no longer wanted to live according to my plans. I wanted his will, his way, and his timing. That same year, I joined the Dgroup where God used other believers to help me grow in my relationship with him. Our problems did not disappear overnight. We still had depths and responsibilities. But God began teaching me to trust him one step at a time. Even during the pandemic, he provided opportunities for our business. I also began working as a project supervisor for a construction company in Tagig and selling construction materials on site. Slowly, God provided the means for us to pay our

6:10 debs. In January 2023, Belle and I began praying specifically for three things. First, that God would help us become debt-free. Second, that we would make our relationship right before him by getting married. And last, that he would lead us to a ministry where we could serve and grow. By his go by his grace, God answered those prayers and even provided us with a house we could call our home. On May 17, 2023, Belle and I were married. During our wedding, we shared that go we shared the gospel and testified about God's goodness. We wanted everyone to know that whatever victory we had experienced

6:56 was not because of our own strength, but because of God's grace. A few months later, we began serving together in NextGen, teaching children ages 10 to 12. Today some of those children and their parents have joined RD groupoup and some are now serving alongside us. God, praise God. God is also using our small construction business to minister to our family, employees, friends, and even clients. And God answered another prayer I had carried for many years. He restored my relationship with my mom. The love I had longed to receive from

7:42 her growing up, God allowed me to experience. Praise God. One by one, he also began restoring relationship within our family and some of them have even join us in worship at CCF. Looking back, I realized that many times I became disappointed with God because his plans did not look like my plans and his timing did not match mine. Today we still face challenges. Following Jesus does not mean that all our problems disappear. But now I know that when I don't understand what God is doing, I don't have to run away from

8:27 him. Because even when I cannot see what he is doing, I know he is. I am Galeron. To God be all the glory, honor, and praise. Praise God. Praise God. Let's say hi to those who are watching us in the satellite all over the world. Say hi. >> We praise God for all of you. Today we are going to begin a new series. Our new series has to do with the youth. Why are we going to focus on the youth? Because if you win the youth, you transform the nation tomorrow. Win the youth today. Disciple them today. Let me ask you, how many of you are below 20 years old today? Raise your

9:12 hands. You are in this room. 20 below 20 years old. Will you please stand up? We want to honor you. Below 20. Stand up. Okay. Praise God. Below 20. Now be keep standing. Below 30. Stand up. Keep standing. Yeah. Keep standing. Below 30. Praise God. Below 40. Stand up. You know why I did this first service, second service? Because based on our data, of all the CCF satellites, the main is the youngest. 62% of our population in the main is less than 40

10:00 years old. Now, some of you are very sad because you're not standing up. Okay. Below 50. Stand up. Below 50. Yeah. Below 50. I know my [laughter] friend. Below 50. All right. Praise God. Below 50. Uh below 60. Below 60. Stand up. Below 60. Y. All right. For the sake of the others, I'll let you rest now. Thank you. Please sit down. All right. Youth is something that is very precious to God and to all of us. So for this week, what are we going to discuss? We are going to discuss what young people need to know. But I discovered this is a

10:46 message not only for young people because old people, mature people, you have you have a responsibility to disciple young people. Young people today are not exactly emotionally strong. They are emotionally weak. They are not resilient. They encounter problems. Their tendency is to give up. Their tendency is to cancel people. They have a short span. When I say short span in enduring trials, hardship, challenges. Many of my business friend are telling us their biggest challenge today is hiring

11:34 people today to work because the moment they're not happy, what do they do? They quit. So if you were my children, I'm going to share this truth with you. You need to learn how do you deal with disappointment. You need to learn to be strong. But the problem is this. Young people look up to parents on how to be strong. So this message are for adults also. You cannot teach young people if you don't practice what you want them to learn. In my life, I am very intentional in discipling young people. Not just my family. In our Dgroup, we have young people. I tell all our leaders, disciple people half your age.

12:23 So, if you attend my Dgroup, you will notice some of the leaders are half our age. So, I have a mixture of young people. All of you owe it to the next generation to disciple young people. Don't be satisfied with just discipling older people. All of you must look for younger people. The beauty with discipling younger people, number one, they're eager to learn. Number two, they don't have a lot of baggages. And number three, they have still many years to serve the Lord. So I want us to focus on young people. Are you young at heart? Are you like me? Young at heart? I'm still young at heart. Therefore, I want to share with all of us certain

13:09 principles. Now, the thing I want you to learn today is something that I hope will forever stick to your mind so that you will understand what this is all about. Have you been disappointed? Look at the nature of disappointment. Disappointment comes when you have expectation. Getting married. You know why you enter marriage? You want to be happy. Yes or no? How many of you are married? Raise your hands. Married. Raise your hands. Oh, what do you do discover after married? After marriage, what did you discover? Of course, happier now, right? But the truth is this. It is not always like that. You are disappointed after getting

13:55 married. I do not know how long it is. Usually in my counseling, they go through cycle. The romantic stage after a while you reach the reality stage. Anoto in English. What did I get myself into? Except it's too late. You are married. So what do you do? We teach you. How do you deal with disappointments? So expectations. Young people, you have expectations in your school, at work. And what did you discover? Sometimes you have bosses, you have work environment that is not what you expect it to be. So you are this illusion.

14:41 What else? Expectation. Let's talk about our leaders in our country. Politics. Have you guys been disillusioned? Every election we vote for people we hope to be different. Yes or no? You and I vote for leaders hoping they will change our country. Yes or no? Are you disillusioned? You see, don't give up. I want you to learn something. So disillusionment is a reality. The best of men, spiritual men get discouraged. They are disillusioned. Jeremiah, Moses, you look at the Bible leaders, but the difference they know how to

15:28 bounce back. They know how to recover. Many young people do not know how to recover. You know what's going to happen? You become disillusioned if you are not careful. What's the next step? Despair. What's the next step after despair? Depression. And what do you do when you are depressed? You start isolating yourself. And once you stop isolating yourself, you have fallen into the trap of Satan. I like to see videos of uh nature of animals in Africa. I noticed something. The

16:14 hyenas or the wild dogs, these are they are not big, but they are strong. They will chase a big target. Can you imagine hyenas running after buffalo? In theory, there's no way hyenas can win. But you know what? Their only technique is they will isolate the herd. You see when buffalos are together they are invincible even lions cannot overcome buffaloos but once you isolate the buffalo they start running away from the group it's only a question of time before the buffalo will become a victim of all of

17:01 these hyenas because hyenas they attack in packs there are so many of them and they tire the buffalo and when the buffalo gets tired finish. I'm warning all of you when you are disappointed with leaders when your dissolution your temptation is to stop attending worship. Stop attending a small group. You want to isolate yourself. And once you isolate yourself, you become the victim of Satan. Do you know why there are many suicide? People who commit suicide don't do it immediately. It's a process of depression, of hopelessness. Then you begin to listen to the voice of Satan. He tells you, you just kill yourself. So

17:48 this topic is so crucial. I want all of you to learn how do you deal with disillusionment? How can I tell you how? From the Bible. All right, everybody say that. Say this with me. When disillusioned, what must you do? Focus on God. What does it mean to focus on God? Because when you are disillusioned, you are either focused on people. You see the dis discouragement, disappointment is different from disillusionment. disillusionment. You are disillusioned when you put your faith in somebody you love, you respect and then it turns out not to be.

18:36 It's it's a feeling. It's deeper than disappointment. And many people have been disillusioned. We met a girl recently. She was from Alaska. And my wife and I began to share the gospel with her. And we were shocked to discover this girl told us I used to be involved in Sunday school. I used to teach Sunday school. I was on fire. Then I said, I noticed you are using past tense. I [snorts] used to I used to. How is your faith today? You know what she told us? I no longer believe in Jesus. She got this illusion.

19:24 My friend, you must anchor your faith on the truth. If you don't know the Bible, you don't know theology, you become disillusioned. Why? Because you have wrong theology. See, for some people, they just listen to the YouTube and they think Christianity is one happy golucky experience. You give your life to Jesus, you live happily ever after. They don't teach you. A real Christian will go through pain and suffering. They don't teach that. So when you go through disappointment, you got the shock of your life. Oh, because the God you worship is not the God of the Bible. You have your own imagination. So I'm going to teach you today. Everybody say that with me. When disillusion

20:10 now, what does it mean to focus on God? To focus on God means the following. You don't run away from him. You turn to him. You pray. You don't become impatient. You wait. You learn to trust God. You wait on him. And lastly, you learn to worship him. Where do I see these three principles? These three principles are found in the book of Habac. Say that with me. Habachok. Habachok is part of the minor prophets in the Old Testament. They are called minor prophets because they are short. Major prophets are long. Isaiah, Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel Habach three

20:57 chapters only. So they are called minor prophets. 12 minor prophets. The next few weeks you will be discussing other minor prophets. Not because they are not important but they are short. All right, let's begin. Everybody together. The oracle which Habachok the prophet saw. Who is Habachok? The only thing we know he was a prophet. The only thing we know based on the context is Habachok was written around 615 to 605 BC. It was written before the fall of Jerusalem because he was prophesying what's going to happen. Habachok

21:44 literally means embrace. So Habachok is a prophet who embraces God. He was disappointed with his life. He was disappointed with what's happening but he did not run away from God. He embraced oracle. The word oracle has the idea of a burden. Habac was burden. God gave him a message. He has to give it to the people. So that's the idea of the burden or the oracle which Habachok the prophet. So what was his message? Let's read together. How long oh Lord will God will I call for help and you will not hear? I cry

22:30 out violence you do not serve. Habac disappointed. You are disappointed with many many instances. The worst disappointment is to be disappointed with God. Habacook was disappointed with God. God, you are not answering my prayer. Have you ever been disappointed with God? Be honest. Don't don't tell me. Don't raise your hand. Just ask yourself, have you ever been disappointed with God? Because he did not answer your prayer. You know, I praise God for our brother who shared his testimony. He was disappointed with God. Some of you are disappointed.

23:17 That's okay. I will teach you something. Don't run away from God. If you are disappointed with God, what must you do? Turn to him. Talk to him. Be honest with him. Tell him. That's what he did. Notice he said, "Why? It's okay to talk to God. Why do you make me see iniquity and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me. Strife exist and contention arises. He said, Lord, why are you allowing these bad people? Why? Why are you allowing them? Look at what he said the next verse. The law is ignored. Justice is never upheld. Wicked surround the righteous. Justice

24:04 comes out perverted. Does this remind you of the Philippines? Come on. Is he talking about the Philippines? >> That's what he's talking about. Here was the solution. Why are all of these evil people still around? You see the age old issue. If God is good, why is there pain? Why is there suffering? My friend, if you're undergoing pain, it's okay to take it up with God. But don't you run away from him. You wrestle with God. You talk to him. Amen. So when you are the solution, what's the message

24:50 today? Focus on God, not on problems, not on yourself, on God. You tell God, I don't understand this, but I will keep bothering you. Lord, help me. And you know what God did? God told Habac, next verse, everybody read. Look among the nations, observe, be astonished, wonder because I am doing something in your days. You would not believe if you were told, you know what God is saying? If you come to me with your problems, I

25:37 want to assure you of one thing. I know and I am at work. You don't see me at work. You may not even believe I'm working, but I love you. I'm doing something. You may not like what I'm doing, but I am doing something. That's what he told Habac. My friend, just because you don't see God at work does not mean he's not at work. Just because you are having financial problem today, relationship problem, whatever problem you have, health problem, physical problem, I have good news for you. God is saying, "I am at work." Can you turn to your neighbor? Tell your neighbor, focus on God. God is not asleep. Are you disappointed with your family?

26:23 Are you disappointed with your parents? I know there are many young people today, they are disappointed. They don't like their families. But can I tell you something? Your family is where God placed you. You have a mission with your family. You may not like it, but you need to learn. You turn to God and you ask him. What do you want me to do? All right. To focus on God is to trust God's ways, God's wisdom, not on circumstances. Look, look at what was happening. Look at the next verse. God told Habach, "I'm doing something. You won't believe me. I am raising up the Calaldanss." The

27:09 Calaldanss are the Babylonians. The Babylonians are wicked people. They are not nice people. God is saying, "I am raising up the Babylonians, the fierce, impetus people who march throughout the earth to cease dwelling places which are not theirs." In other words, these are people that will invade your country and they will get your houses, everything you possess. They will take over. Not nice people. You, oh Lord, have appointed them to judge. You, Ora, have established them to

27:54 correct us. Habak was so bothered. Yes, we are not righteous, but you are raising up the Babylonians. They are worse than us and you are going to send them to conquer us. Oh Lord, that cannot be. But that is exactly what God is doing. And then you know why he was so bothered? Look, he said, "God, your eyes are too pure to approve evil. How can you approve these people? You are holy. You are good. You cannot look on wickedness with favor. How come you are favoring these people? Why are they so powerful? Why do you look with favor on those who deal

28:40 treacherously? Why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous? Do you understand his problem? Many times you don't understand what's going on in your life, my friend. Years ago, my nephew who just graduated from the Philippine school, a very good school, he decided to join the US Army. He decided to join [clears throat] the Rangers. Now the Rangers are the equivalent of the Marines in the Navy. He was accepted. He was so happy. Fantastic future. A follower of Jesus. But a few months later, we got the sad

29:26 news. He met an accident. He died. How do you comfort? How do I comfort my brother whose son the eldest very promising just died? There are times in your life when you don't know the answer. I don't even know why. When you are disillusioned, what must you do? Focus on God. I don't always have an explanation, but one thing I know, God is at work. I don't see it, but God is at work. You

30:12 don't see it. I don't see it. Are you willing to believe God is at work? And that is something you need to learn. This is a biblical truth. What is God doing when you have tribulations? Please read. Not only this everybody, we also exalt in our tribulations. These are not just problems. Three tribulations has to do with literally pain. You are in pain. It's like thorns all over your body. Knowing that tribulation brings what? Perseverance.

30:59 Perseverance, proven character. Whatever is happening to you today, God has a purpose. Developing your character. Can you turn to your neighbor? Look at your neighbor. Tell your neighbor. When you are disillusioned, what must you do? Focus. How do you focus on God? Turn to him. You pray. talk to him. But don't you run away. Don't run away from dgroup. Don't run away from worship. Don't run away from spending time with God because you don't understand what God is doing. But God is doing something. years ago when we lost our

31:48 business. You have to understand many years ago our family owns the largest textile company in the whole Philippines. After graduation, I had the privilege of putting up a new factory. It's called a polyester plant. You have to know polyester is made from petrochemical products. They make that into fiber and then you make them into yarn and then you weave them into clothing. So we had the privilege, a group of us, we went to the board of investment at a young age, we got the approval of the board of investment for a tax exempt project. So I was rising very high. But a few years later boom

32:36 lost it. I asked God why at that time I was tempted because I was teaching Bible already. You know what I did? I negotiated with God. I said, "Lord, I give you three options. Solve our problem. Option one, option two, option three." Remember my story? What did God do? I'm shocked. He did not listen to me. In fact, God told me in my mind if God will restore my reputation to teach Bible will even be better.

33:21 You know what God told me? I don't need your business. I don't need your reputation. What I want is your faithfulness. So, you know what did I do? I kept teaching the Bible. But then I discovered something. In God's time, when he takes away something, he has something better to give you. [applause] And that something better is something I can never imagine. Our current family business is something that I can never imagine. how God has blessed us.

34:07 However, the blessing is not just financial business. The blessing is my character. Before I was on top of the world before I did not know I was very proud when those bad things happened to us. Of course, I'm still proud, but I was less proud. Now I'm less proud. All I'm telling you is this. Character is not developed in good times. It's developed in bad times. God did something to my heart. When I look at poor people, when I look at workers, my eyes have changed. I know what it means to be taken advantage of.

34:54 God gave me a soft heart. Before I didn't realize I was so proud. I discovered something about proud people. You know proud people will never know they are proud. You ask your neighbor, ask them are you proud? Are you proud? You see you learn humility not in school, not in Sunday school. You learn humility through life. When you are brought low, when you are brought down. My friend, honestly, the best thing that ever happened to us is when God took away our business. I praise God. But when God takes away, what did I tell you? He gives back.

35:42 When you are ready to receive, many of us are not ready. I remember this friend of ours. She really wanted to marry this guy. She told us, "I cannot live without him." >> [sighs] >> I said, "Of course you can live without him." No, no, no, no, pastor. I will die without him. This girl is not thinking she made an idol of her boyfriend. So we adise her. Uh-uh. Get the blessing of your parents. You want to know what happened? Oh, I'll tell you the story later. But right now, you must remind me, okay, of the story. If not, I'm going to forget it. Do not judge God based on circumstances. Okay?

36:27 You must judge God for who he is, not based on what's happening to you. Next principle, when you are disillusioned, please read. When you're disillusioned, what must you do? Focus on God. What does that mean? You turn to God. You pray. It's okay to discuss with God. God is not angry. You tell him. And next, you learn to wait. That's the hardest lesson, learning to wait. Look at Habachok chapter 2. I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart. This is a military term. I am going to be careful. I'm going to be alert. What was he going to be alert with? I will keep

37:15 watch to see what he will speak to me and how I may reply. The Lord answered me and said, "Record the vision. Inscribe it on tablets that the one who reads it may run." God is telling Habac, I'm going to tell you something. You write it down. Whatever it is, God told Habach, "The vision is yet for the appointed time. It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. When God says something, it will surely happen. Though it tries, wait for it, for it will certainly come, it will not delay. God is telling us a

38:00 principle. Many times our problem is you are not able to wait. When God says something, when God promises something, I tell you it will happen. Except you do not know how. You do not know when. My problem is I don't like to wait. How many of you like to wait? Raise your hand. You don't mind waiting. How many? I salute you. How many of you don't like to wait? Impatient like me. Now my friend, God told Habach, "Wait, wait. My friend, when you are disillusioned,

38:47 what must you do? You focus. Say that with me. Focus on God. Look at me. Don't focus on problem. Don't focus on people. You focus on God. Understand? >> You are having problems today. Don't focus on problems. You focus on God. Focus on his word. Focus on his promises. Understand? Then you wait after talking to God, after praying, learn to wait because if you don't know how to wait, you're going to have a problem. Remember my story about that girl I will now tell you. >> You like to know what what happened? >> Yes. >> Remember what she said? I will die. I cannot wait.

39:35 Now, before I tell you what happened, you have this couple They want to get married. We discipled them. We taught them get the blessing of your father, your mother and the blessing of the other family. Well, praise God. They got the blessing of one set of the family, but the other one does not want because they insisted on a wedding that is the religion where they came from. They wanted a wedding that is based on the religion. But this couple came to know the Lord. They wanted a wedding more biblical. What did I advise them? I said, "No, you

40:20 honor and respect your parents. Wait until they change their mind." This couple waited, waited, waited. You want to know the story? Oh, I will tell you the story of two couples. The first couple could not wait. Insisted on her timing. Insisted on her ways. They got married. After two weeks, you know what this girl said? I cannot live with him. I cannot live with him. Before I cannot live without him now, I cannot live with him. But that marriage did not last. These other couple they honor the Lord.

41:07 They they postpone the wedding. They have to negotiate with the hotel. Postpone. Postpone. Today this couple is happily married. They are serving the Lord. Their children are all walking with the Lord. Is God amazing? So my friend, you have a choice to wait or not to wait. We have a member years ago. She was the ex, she's one of the executive of a multinational hotel, international hotel chain in the Philippines. She came to us, I want to resign. My wife asked her, why do you want to resign? She told us, my boss always steal the credit. All my ideas, she will claim it's her idea.

41:53 So the boss of her boss keeps promoting this girl but she was not promoted. So I told her don't resign. Wait on the Lord. Never resign if you have a bad relationship with your immediate boss because God is using that situation to mold your character. I praise God. This girl, listen, she did not resign. She stayed. A few years later, she came to us. Pastor, you know what happened. The boss of the boss, the big big boss discovered what my boss was doing. He fired her and promoted me to take her place. Wow. Is

42:40 God amazing in his time. You know why I want to teach you this? Because many of us don't understand the principle of waiting. You know today we like everything fast, everything instant. Yes or no? Instant coffee, instant mommy, [laughter] instant noodle, yes or no? Email, instant message, yes or no. Instant entertainment. When you go shopping, you want instant delivery. Everything is instant. In fact, young people today, the boss tells me, many business owners tell me, we have a hard time hiring young people today. You know

43:25 why? You hire them today, they expect you to promote them tomorrow. They are so impatient. Is that true? >> Because they have not gone through life. Because all their world is digital. It's all make believe. You think life is that easy? You need to go through the school of hard knocks. You need to go through adversity. Without adversity, you will not grow. We don't teach this to young people. Many parents spoil their children. You give in to them. Ladies and gentlemen, you teach your children success. You don't teach them how to fail. It's a disaster. Everybody

44:11 will fail. You need to teach them how to recover from failure. If you just teach them how to be successful, they will not know when they fail how to recover. And I'm now teaching you. Sooner or later, you will fail. And you'll be disappointed with yourself. You'll be disappointed with people. And when you are disappointed, you need to recover. And how do you recover? Focus on God alone. focus. [applause] You turn to him. You don't run away from him. You focus. Learn to wait on his promises. And this is what happened. Everybody read this quotation. Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear

44:58 uncertainty to carry within oneself the unanswered questions. I have so many questions in my life. I don't know how to answer them, but I keep trusting God. I keep waiting. You see, God does not owe you an explanation. God does not have to explain, but he wants you to trust him. You wait on him. The Bible tells us in Psalm 27, this is from King David. David said, "I would have despared. I would have been depressed. I would have been disillusioned unless I had believed. I would see the goodness of

45:45 the Lord in the land of the living. David could wait because he focused on God. You cannot focus on God if you don't believe God is good. Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart take courage. Yes. Wait for the Lord. Can you tell your neighbor, wait for the Lord. If you have unanswered prayers, if you have dreams that have not come true, I want you to do something. Wait. Keep trusting him. Waiting is not passivity. Waiting is not doing anything. Waiting is active. It's waiting actively. I wait

46:33 for the Lord. My soul does wait in his word. Notice in his word do I hope. You see waiting is expectant anticipation that his promise will come true. But you cannot do this if you do not know his word. I look at this group of people. I just wonder how many of you are claiming on certain promises that God has given you. The sad truth is this. Many of you don't even know the promises of God for your life. You are not able to claim it because all you have is secondhand Christianity. What is secondhand Christianity? You come here and listen. But I want you to have personal

47:19 experience with God. You read the Bible. Let God speak to you so that you are intimate with him firsthand encounter. So you can honestly say, "Lord, I'm waiting on you. I claim this promise. Do you believe God is faithful? Yes or no? >> I think all of you believe. But are you waiting? You know why people compromise? The reason why people compromise is because in their mind, they need to take things into their hands. They need to be in control. In their mind, God is not in control. In their mind, they're going to miss the opportunity. So, they compromise. If you live a life of compromise, you will never be able to experience God's best. Because you need to learn to wait. Can

48:06 you tell your neighbor one more time, learn to wait? You see, focusing on God is waiting. How many of you know the life cycle of a butterfly? Raise your hand. You don't know butterfly. It starts with eggs. Okay. And then the eggs will become a warm caterpillar. Are they itchy? They can be itchy at times. And then something happened. They make a cocoon. It's called kissalis pupa. Something happened here. It's called metamorphosis. Scientifically up to now, they cannot copy this method. The best scientists in the world cannot copy metamorphosis because the

48:53 caterpillar completely become liquid, completely become formless. But after a few weeks, what happens? It will become a butterfly inside. It will struggle. You'll see the cocoon moving. You know what I did years ago? I got a cocoon and I opened the cocoon. What did I do? I wanted to help the butterfly come out early. So I open it slowly. I'm so excited. I saw the wing, everything. And then I saw the butterfly. It live. I'm so happy.

49:40 Then it died. Why did it die? The struggle is part of the process of becoming a butterfly. The butterfly has to struggle inside so that the blood will flow through the wings so that it can fly. When you open it too early, it has wings. It can never fly. Some of you are in a cocoon. You don't like it. You're struggling it. You want to get out of it. You want shortcut. By having shortcut, you will not mature. You need to be like a butterfly. go through the process. The struggle is the process of maturity. You don't grow

50:28 as a Christian through good times. You only grow in hard times. So don't quit. Learn to wait. Tell your neighbor, "Wait." Yeah. So when you are disillusioned with life sickness relationship whatever problems, what must you do? Focus on God, not on problems. You turn to him. Don't turn to something else. Don't turn to alcohol. Don't turn to pornography. Don't turn to things that is against the Bible. What must you do next? Wait on the Lord.

51:13 You know the principle of waiting is something that is so crucial that God puts the next verse as for the proud one his soul is not right within him. The righteous will live by his faith. This quotation the righteous will live by his faith. Habac 2:4 is the central verse of the entire the book of Habachok. Everything the righteous will live by faith not by feeling not by circumstances. Now this phrase the righteous will live by faith is repeated three times exact quotation in the New Testament. Number

51:59 one it's found in Romans chapter 117. The just, the righteous shall live by faith. That's how you are saved. By faith, by trusting God. Galatians 3:11, "The just shall live by faith." How do you go to heaven? Not by good works, by grace. Through faith. Hebrews 10:38, the just shall live by faith. What is he talking about? Faith perseveres through trials. Real faith is the only thing you have to

52:44 enable you to persevere because in spite of your pain, you are putting your trust in God's faithfulness. So faith is not trusting God because we understand his way. Faith is trusting God even when we don't understand his ways because we trust his character. So when you are disillusioned you focus on God. When you focus on God what do you do? You turn to him. You wait on him because you trust him. You will not wait on God if you don't have faith in God. And you cannot have faith in God or trust God or wait on him if

53:32 you don't know him. Why will you wait on something you are not even sure? So the Bible tells us in this verse, he contrasts faith living with the proud. As for the proud one, his soul is not right within him. But the righteous will live by his faith. What is the contrast? If you live by faith, you need to be humble. Because you are telling God, Lord, I don't trust my own judgment. I don't trust my own power. I don't trust my way. Proud people will tell God, I will do it my way. I'm smarter than God. I

54:17 will not wait on you. I will do it my style. That's proud humble person. I live by faith. I will wait on you. I will trust you. So to live by faith means you wait upon God. Now one of our greatest challenges today especially in the Philippines is this. How what will happen to the people who are corrupt? Has that ever bothered you? How come God allows corrupt people to keep on being corrupt? You know the Bohabak said wait I will judge them. So he pronounced the judgment on the following. You have four times the word wo repeated woe to the

55:06 greedy person. The Babylonians are greedy. They keep conquering nation after nation. They steal their wealth. The Babylonian people are wicked people. They are very violent. They kill people. God says, "Woe, I will judge them." Woe to the deceitful schemers. They scheme. God says, "I will judge you one day." Woe to the idolattors. They pray to their idols. They neglect God. God says, "One day I will judge you." My friend, if ever you are bothered by corrupt people today, I have good news for you. You know what God tells us? Let's read this together.

55:53 Never take your own revenge, beloved. Leave room for the wrath of God. Vengeance is mine. I will repay. So, do you mind turning to your neighbor? Tell your neighbor, "My Tell your neighbor they will have their day of judgment. And I'm warning you, you walk with the Lord. If you mock God, one day you experience his wrath. So don't make a fool of God. And you know, he ended chapter two with this. The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.

56:40 You can only wait if you believe God is in control. Habac said, "The Lord is in his holy temple." God is in control. Let the earth be silent. God is on the throne. God is at work today. You may think God has forgotten the Philippines. I don't believe so. I believe God loved the Philippines. He's now causing all of this to be exposed. And I pray one day we will become a righteous nation. Amen. So shall we pray for our country? Don't give up. You know why? I believe in the promise of Habac 2:14. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. As

57:27 the water covers the sea, one day the whole Philippines will be filled with the glory of the Lord. Will you be a part of God's kingdom? Yes or no? As we close, when you are disillusioned, what must you do? Worship God. You know, Habac chapter one begins with questioning God. Why Lord, why? Why are you allowing the righteous? He ended with worship. Beautiful writings of the book of Habac. You begin with question. You wrestle with God. You end with worship. Worship does not necessarily change our circumstances. But it changes our perspective by focusing on the greatness and faithfulness of God. So when you are

58:14 disillusioned and you focus on God, that is worship. That's why I praise God you come here every Sunday. Do you notice when you come here on Sunday, you refocus? You leave your problem behind. I'm going to watch you. Okay? Do not attend worship and doing cell phone. Okay? Texting people. No, no. When you are here, what must you do? Focus on >> God. Worship him. Okay. How do you worship God? You don't focus on problems. You focus on God's character. Look how he ended a prayer of Abak the prophet according to Sigono. The word Sigonote simply means with intense feeling. So, so this is something that he converted to worship. Lord, I have heard of the

59:01 report about you and I fear. The word fear means I reverence you. I worship you. Oh Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. Habacook. No, God is at work. Lord, revive your work in the midst of years. Make it known in wrath. Remember mercy. You see, Habachok knew calamity is coming. Did you know what happened to Jerusalem? God told Habach, "I'm going to bring judgment." Judgment came to Jerusalem in 580, I believe, 58687 BC. Habac was written a few years before

59:47 that. Jerusalem was completely burned. The nation of Israel disappeared from earth and they were exiled to Babylon. and Israel ceased to become a nation. But 2,000 years later, in 1948, what did God do? God restored Jerusalem back to the Israelites. Is God amazing? But God's time is not your time. What happened to Babylon today? Babylon does not exist. God said, "I'm going to judge the wicked, but I'm going to use the wicked

1:00:33 to judge my people. I want my people to repent." And the truth is this. You can worship God in the midst of trials because you believe God is good. You know why? Let's read together. Though the fig tree should not blossom, there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, there be no cult in the store. You know what this is talking about? You and I have never experienced this. This is total devastation. No fruit, no animals, nothing to eat. Horrible. This happens during wartime. But you

1:01:18 know what he did? In spite of all of the problem. Look at the next verse. Yet I will exalt the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Notice. Yet I will exalt in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Worship is a choice. I will exalt. Yes, Lord. I have pain. I have disappointment. Yet, I will keep on rejoicing in the Lord. I don't rejoice in problems. I rejoice in the Lord. The Lord God is my strength. He has made my feet like hinds feet. He makes me walk

1:02:05 on my high places. You and I don't understand the meaning of this phrase. He makes my feet like hind's feet. One P you understand is the Lord God is my strength. But how is that strength manifested in this illustration? I never knew this until I studied Hines's feet. Hines feet. These are the feet of the mountain goats. The feet of the mountain goats are so strong they can climb cliff. Mountain goats are amazing. They can climb where humans cannot climb, where ordinary animals cannot climb. But the goats can. Their feet are

1:02:51 so strong. Their hoof is amazing. And the Bible tells us that's how you become strong when you worship. Worship does not wait for circumstances to become good. Worship declares that God is good even when circumstances are not. Is God good? Yes or no? You know, I heard a story last week about my grandson. My grandson is now in New York and they wanted to watch this American football game. American football is very popular in the states. So, they spent hundreds of dollars, I think $400 for the tickets. But my grandson told them, "Let's worship God first. It's Sunday."

1:03:38 So they worship God. They went to church. After worshiping God, they went to the stadium. And there was a problem. They cannot retrieve their tickets. Something happened. So they have a dilemma. What do we do? They were in the car. They were in a car park. They went back discussing. And then a man came in a Mercedes-Benz. The man went down. The man said, "Young man, are you looking for tickets?" My grandson said, "Yes, sir. We we cannot retrieve our tickets." He said, "Don't worry. Follow me." So, they followed him. When he entered the stadium, the guard, the people there allowed him in and he said, "These are

1:04:25 my friends. Let them in." So, they went in. So, they kept walking with him. He led Elijah. He He led the three of them to a private box. Do you know what's a private box? This is the best viewing and your own box. And there he saw all the food and the man said, "Eat all you can. Enjoy." They were so happy. He wanted to offer, "Can I pay you back?" But before he could open his mouth, he computed is $15,000 per ticket. So he did not say, "Can I pay you back?" He just said, "Uh, why are you so nice to us?" And the man

1:05:11 said, "Grace and mercy." Wow. Now, I'm not saying just because you worship God on CCF someday, when you go back, everything is grace and mercy. Okay? That's not what I'm teaching. But I'm telling you something. When you put God first, when you worship him, you experience a sense of peace and joy. Even there's no ticket, you are at rest. Understand? And as we close, this is my bonus for you everybody. This is a verse for worship. What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? I want you to know something today.

1:05:57 God is for you. I don't know what problems you are facing, but can I tell you from the bottom of my heart, God is for you. And because God is for you, nothing can go against you. Amen. So tell your neighbor, God is for you. Next, why are you sure God is for you? Worship is what? Responding to who God is, what he has done, what he continues to do. Look at this verse. He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up over for us. What did God do for you? Worship is responding to what God has

1:06:43 done for us. God gave his son to die for you on the cross. That is historical fact. He did this. He wants you to know something. Will he not? Everybody read. How will he not also with him freely give us all things? God is saying if I did that, if I gave you my best, will I not take care of you? You know, Satan does not want you to believe that God is for you. You and I have a wrong picture of God. And that's why you are not strong emotionally. When you have problems, you

1:07:30 fall apart. Don't. You must understand God is for us. Like Habachok, when you are the solution, focus on God. Turn to him. Don't run away from it. You wait on him and you worship him. Worship is something that will transform your heart and your mind. You know, I worship God by the grace of God. Not only every day, but especially Sunday. I come to worship God with all of you. Are you blessed when you worship God? So today, I want you to worship him in the heart. But you cannot worship him in the heart until you really have experienced his goodness. He who did not spare his son to die on

1:08:20 the cross for you, will he not take care of you? Some of us have never surrendered our problems, our lives to Jesus. God wants you to do that today because he's telling you, "I love you. I'm for you." Let's bow our heads. If God has spoken to you and you want to surrender your life to Jesus, you first humble yourself and accept the gift of God, Jesus Christ as your Lord and your Savior. You surrender your all. Will you raise your hands? If you have not done so, raise your hands today. Praise God. Anybody else? Surrender your entire problems to him, your life. Whoever you are, with your

1:09:06 hands raised up. Okay, if you don't mind, stand up. I want to pray for you. Yes, stand up today. You want to surrender your life to Jesus. You want to receive God's gift. God tells you, "I am for you. I'm not against you." But you have been running away from him. You have been rebelling against him. You have not surrendered your will. You want to run life your way. I want you to repent today. You ask for forgiveness. Anybody else surrender your all. Praise God. Pray this prayer with me. With your hands raised up. Pray something like this. Lord Jesus, I surrender my life.

1:09:52 I've been in control. I've run away from you. I now surrender to you my problems, my disillusionment. I give you my all. My future, my dreams, [snorts] my hope is in you and in you alone. So Lord Jesus, I come to you. I receive your gift of forgiveness and your gift of eternal life. In Jesus name we all pray. Amen and amen. God bless you. Good day CCF family. Welcome to Sunday Fastrack where you ask real life questions and we give you biblical truths. I am Lei Balisteras from NextGen

1:10:40 Kids Ministry and we are here with Dr. Peter Tantry to answer some of your questions. Happy youth, Pastor Peter. Thank you for opening a brand new series on the book of Habacook. Are you ready to answer our questions? >> Yes, Dei, I am ready. Are you ready to ask me? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Okay. First question. With so many trends, voices and influence influences shaping young people today, how can they learn to recognize God's voice and build a faith of their own? >> The only way is to study the Bible. The Bible is the word of God. So if you read God's word, you will know God's voice. If you don't read the Bible, you will not know. >> Thank you, Pastor Peter. Second question, when life doesn't turn out the

1:11:25 way we hoped, how can we process the disappointments so that they don't cause us to distance ourselves from God? >> Do you recall this morning what I said? When you are disillusioned, you got to focus on God. How do you focus on God? You do three things. Number one, turn to him. Don't run away. You pray. Don't ignore him. Number two, learn to wait. You may not understand why, but just wait. And number three, begin to worship him in spite of the problems. >> Thank you, Pastor Peter. And last question, rates of anxiety and depression are higher in today's youth and any generation before. How do we point them to Jesus when they are

1:12:11 constantly bombarded with bad news or managing increased rates of mental health issues? The way to reach out to young people is build relationship. Be their friends. Number two, listen to their problems. But the most important, number three, connect them to Jesus. Because if you don't connect them to Jesus, they will not be helped. Only Jesus can give us the strength. Amen. >> Thank you, Pastor P, for answering our questions. And that's it for CCF Sunday. God bless everyone. >> God bless.

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