WEBVTT - Treasured Truth Weekend—The Perfect Storm, Part 3 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:03.239 Here's what I'm trying to get you to see. Those 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:09.399 aren't stumbling blocks. Those are stepping stones. Every storm was 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:14.240 designed to get him where God ultimately wanted him to be. 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:24.960 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.120 junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:30.920 I'm Steve Hiller. Glad that you're with us today as 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.480 we're going to continue a message entitled The Perfect Storm. 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.519 Now we're in acts chapter 27. And no big surprise. 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:42.040 In this chapter of acts, the Apostle Paul has set 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:46.160 sail for Rome and he gets caught in a storm. Now, 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:50.760 God ultimately allowed that storm to happen because many people 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.480 were saved spiritually as the result of that storm. That 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:56.480 might be one of the reasons that God allows a 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.160 storm to come into our lives. But there may be 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:03.120 other reasons why God allows storms. We've already looked at 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:05.959 how very often God gives storms or allows them to 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:09.000 inspect us, to correct us. He also does so to 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:13.360 protect us or even direct us. And that's exactly what 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.199 Pastor Ford was talking about just a moment ago. God 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.399 may want us to go down a certain path, but 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:22.840 for one reason or another, we're convinced we're to go 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.959 a different direction. We may even think that we hear 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.400 God telling us to go that way, but that's not 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.920 really the way he wants us to go. So in 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:35.000 order to redirect our steps, he allows a storm to 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:37.480 enter our lives and say, no, that's not where I 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:39.640 want you to go. I need to get you back 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:43.800 on track. As Pastor Ford was talking about, that storm 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:46.840 or stumbling block ultimately became a stepping stone because it 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:51.120 redirected our path back to God's path where he designed 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.720 us to be. We're going to continue to look at 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:56.480 that in today's broadcast. So if you can join us 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:00.559 in acts 27 as we continue the perfect storm. Here 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:01.600 is Pastor Ford. 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:06.960 Now, that's what storms will do. Sometimes you get something 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.919 out of the storm that you didn't have before the storm. 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:16.120 And would not have had had you not had the storm. 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:20.280 And so we've been looking at what acts 27 tells us. 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:25.240 We've been surveying really hasn't been exposition. Just surveying give 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:29.639 you the fine lines. We said that God uses storms, 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:33.239 and when he uses them, they're perfect storms. Uh, so 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:36.920 we looked at and we already talked about that. Storms 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:42.680 are designed to inspect us. And we saw verse nine. 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:46.320 A failure to wait, foolish decisions following the crowd, fair 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:49.960 weather circumstances. Here it is. Bottom line is this you 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:53.320 never know what kind of faith you have until it's 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:58.799 tested by the storm, that storms are designed to let 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.350 us know whether or not we really have the faith 0:03:02.350 --> 0:03:06.269 that we say that we have, because there's a whole 0:03:06.270 --> 0:03:09.110 lot of folk that think they have faith. But when 0:03:09.110 --> 0:03:12.990 the storm comes, they find out they don't trust God 0:03:12.990 --> 0:03:16.910 at all. And that's really what it's all about. And 0:03:16.910 --> 0:03:18.669 so many of us have had that. All of us 0:03:18.669 --> 0:03:22.510 have gone through that. You had a financial difficulty. Did 0:03:22.510 --> 0:03:25.910 you trust God? You had you had a health issue. 0:03:25.950 --> 0:03:29.950 Did you trust God? Relationship problem. Did you trust God? 0:03:30.430 --> 0:03:33.990 In other words, faith then. Second Corinthians seven five. We 0:03:34.030 --> 0:03:37.350 walk by faith and not by sight. If we believe 0:03:37.350 --> 0:03:40.350 what God has said, faith is believing. It is so, 0:03:40.350 --> 0:03:43.590 even when it's not so, until it becomes so. Because 0:03:43.630 --> 0:03:46.869 God said so. And so Paul had given them a word. 0:03:46.870 --> 0:03:49.950 Will you believe the word? Will you trust what the 0:03:49.950 --> 0:03:53.510 word has to say? And that's what God was doing 0:03:53.510 --> 0:03:58.030 with this storm. Will you trust the word? Here's the 0:03:58.030 --> 0:04:03.750 second thing the storm was designed to correct us. Some 0:04:03.750 --> 0:04:08.750 storms come because we don't want to obey God. And 0:04:08.750 --> 0:04:11.470 so we talked about Jonah. Jonah was supposed to go 0:04:11.470 --> 0:04:15.230 to Nineveh. He wouldn't go. God sent a storm. And 0:04:15.230 --> 0:04:19.870 then Jonah decided, you know what? I think I'll go 0:04:19.870 --> 0:04:22.030 to Nineveh. And that's all he had to do, because 0:04:22.070 --> 0:04:25.750 God picked up the fare with the Uber fish and 0:04:25.750 --> 0:04:28.830 took him straight to Nineveh. And so God may be 0:04:28.830 --> 0:04:32.870 trying to correct us in our storm because we're headed 0:04:32.870 --> 0:04:35.590 in wrong directions. And, you know, the the the thing 0:04:35.589 --> 0:04:38.470 about it is he's got time. He's eternal, got more 0:04:38.470 --> 0:04:41.390 time than we have. And so, you know, and then 0:04:41.390 --> 0:04:46.230 we saw thirdly, storms are designed to protect us. That's 0:04:46.230 --> 0:04:49.630 Roman numeral three. That's what we studied last week. First 0:04:49.630 --> 0:04:53.030 Thessalonians 518 in everything give thanks, for this is the 0:04:53.029 --> 0:04:56.310 will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. So we 0:04:56.310 --> 0:04:59.790 saw we must stand on the promise. Verse 24, we 0:04:59.790 --> 0:05:04.310 must surrender to God. 25 and 26 we must strengthen 0:05:04.310 --> 0:05:07.429 our faith. So are you in a storm right now? 0:05:07.470 --> 0:05:11.310 Let me ask you a question. Are you standing on 0:05:11.310 --> 0:05:14.990 his promises? Let me ask you another question. Have you 0:05:15.029 --> 0:05:19.910 surrendered to God? Let me ask you another question. Have 0:05:19.910 --> 0:05:23.590 you strengthen your faith? How do you strengthen your faith 0:05:24.190 --> 0:05:28.830 through the Word of God? Faith comes by hearing. Hearing 0:05:28.830 --> 0:05:31.590 by the Word of God. Now let's look at this. 0:05:32.110 --> 0:05:36.350 Storms are designed to direct us. Uh, so when you 0:05:36.350 --> 0:05:40.310 look at what's happening with the apostle Paul, uh, he's 0:05:40.310 --> 0:05:43.790 getting direction. Let me read this. What seems like the 0:05:43.790 --> 0:05:48.469 best course of action is the worst course of action. 0:05:48.470 --> 0:05:52.469 If God told us something different. And so now he's 0:05:52.470 --> 0:05:56.030 sharing with them. Listen, you guys need to understand something. Uh, 0:05:56.029 --> 0:05:59.470 God already gave us a word about what's going to happen, uh, 0:05:59.470 --> 0:06:01.830 to this boat and to us. The boat's going to 0:06:01.830 --> 0:06:04.790 be destroyed. We are going to survive. You got to 0:06:04.790 --> 0:06:08.589 believe what God is doing. And you have to understand 0:06:08.710 --> 0:06:13.789 that he has sent the storm to direct us. You know, 0:06:13.790 --> 0:06:18.630 I was reading about David, and it's amazing, isn't it? Uh, remember, 0:06:18.630 --> 0:06:21.989 David was anointed to be king. At what age? Anybody 0:06:21.990 --> 0:06:27.750 remember 17 years old? When did he become king? How old? 0:06:28.430 --> 0:06:33.589 30 years old. So you have a king's anointing on 0:06:33.589 --> 0:06:40.150 a kid. So 13 years before he's ever going to 0:06:40.150 --> 0:06:43.789 get where God wants him to be, God anoints him 0:06:43.790 --> 0:06:46.390 for that. But here's what I want you to see. 0:06:46.670 --> 0:06:49.190 And you know, God always calls the things that are 0:06:49.190 --> 0:06:51.470 not as though they are. And so why did God 0:06:51.470 --> 0:06:54.229 anoint him at 17? Because he wanted him to know 0:06:54.350 --> 0:06:56.790 where he was taking him, so he would begin to 0:06:56.790 --> 0:07:00.630 head in that direction. But guess what? God God doesn't 0:07:00.630 --> 0:07:02.750 need us to help him and to go in the 0:07:02.750 --> 0:07:05.430 direction he wants us to go. Guess what? He can 0:07:05.470 --> 0:07:09.070 send a storm. So so so so here's what I 0:07:09.070 --> 0:07:12.270 focus on. Where is he ultimately going to end up? 0:07:12.270 --> 0:07:17.630 In the palace. How does he get there? A storm 0:07:18.070 --> 0:07:23.710 named Goliath. See, everybody else was hiding in the officer's club. 0:07:23.750 --> 0:07:26.870 Saul was in the officer's club. Hiding? Everybody else was 0:07:26.870 --> 0:07:30.190 afraid of Goliath. He's too big to hit. What did 0:07:30.190 --> 0:07:36.030 David say? He's too big to miss. So he kills him, 0:07:36.030 --> 0:07:38.790 cuts off his head with his own sword. Anybody know 0:07:38.790 --> 0:07:46.710 what happens after that? He's ushered into the palace. Where's 0:07:46.710 --> 0:07:49.990 God going to take him? 13 years from the anointing 0:07:50.030 --> 0:07:53.710 to the palace. What's the first step in God getting 0:07:53.710 --> 0:07:59.030 him there? A storm? Look at the stepping stones to 0:07:59.070 --> 0:08:05.270 the palace Alice for David. Storms. Storms. So he comes 0:08:05.270 --> 0:08:09.750 back in. He just killed Goliath. Saul should be happy, right? 0:08:09.750 --> 0:08:12.350 But the women are singing a song at the top 0:08:12.350 --> 0:08:17.429 of the pop charts. Saul has slain his thousands, David. 0:08:17.430 --> 0:08:20.710 His tens of thousands. It was probably a R&B. Or 0:08:20.710 --> 0:08:24.070 maybe it was hip hop. I don't know. All I 0:08:24.070 --> 0:08:27.030 know is Saul didn't like it. So you. You overcame 0:08:27.030 --> 0:08:29.550 the storm of the enemy of the people of God 0:08:29.550 --> 0:08:33.110 on the outside. Now you come on the inside. You're 0:08:33.110 --> 0:08:36.190 in the palace, but you're not on the throne. And 0:08:36.190 --> 0:08:41.230 what happens? Saul wants to kill you. Another storm. Then 0:08:41.230 --> 0:08:46.750 he runs into the wilderness. Another storm. He goes, uh, down, uh, 0:08:46.750 --> 0:08:51.750 to the Philistines. Another storm. But here's what I'm trying 0:08:51.750 --> 0:08:55.990 to get you to see. Those aren't stumbling blocks. Those 0:08:55.990 --> 0:09:02.020 are stepping stones every storm was designed to get him 0:09:02.020 --> 0:09:05.540 where God ultimately wanted him to be. Okay, I guess 0:09:05.540 --> 0:09:07.780 I'll have to get contemporary. Some of you know, and 0:09:07.780 --> 0:09:10.420 you've been praying. We appreciate it. Uh, that my wife 0:09:10.420 --> 0:09:16.340 has been hospitalized in the last month four times. So 0:09:16.340 --> 0:09:18.100 she just got out of hospital Sunday. Now, let me 0:09:18.100 --> 0:09:20.460 tell you about this last time. Uh, she has a 0:09:20.460 --> 0:09:23.980 doctor's appointment on a Friday. I am on my way 0:09:24.179 --> 0:09:27.900 to the airport to go to Phoenix, Arizona. And I 0:09:27.900 --> 0:09:31.620 get a call. Baby? What? Sugar babe. The doctors are 0:09:31.620 --> 0:09:35.780 going to keep me. And, uh, they're going to hospitalize me. 0:09:35.780 --> 0:09:38.939 They can't let me go home because I fainted. I 0:09:38.980 --> 0:09:41.819 said okay. Alright. So maybe what I need to do 0:09:41.820 --> 0:09:45.700 is just cancel. No. Don't cancel, don't cancel. Call your boys. 0:09:45.700 --> 0:09:48.620 Tell your boys their mother needs them this weekend. And 0:09:48.620 --> 0:09:50.940 that's what I did. And both my boys stepped up, 0:09:50.940 --> 0:09:53.620 took care of their mother. Here's what happened. So my 0:09:53.620 --> 0:09:56.980 wife was having chest pains, heart palpitations and all this 0:09:56.980 --> 0:09:58.620 kind of stuff. Oh, I'm talking about the last time. 0:09:58.620 --> 0:10:00.460 This is the one before. I'm sorry. I get them 0:10:00.460 --> 0:10:02.260 mixed up because it was four times in one month. 0:10:02.420 --> 0:10:04.180 You have a tendency to get them mixed up. Well, 0:10:04.179 --> 0:10:07.660 the one before I was at morning Bible study and 0:10:07.660 --> 0:10:10.179 I went and I got a text message, and I 0:10:10.179 --> 0:10:13.340 called Ethel Hill for it. She said, your wife's having palpitations. 0:10:13.340 --> 0:10:16.460 The ambulance is here. They're rushing her to the hospital. 0:10:16.500 --> 0:10:18.700 And so she thought she was having a heart attack. 0:10:19.179 --> 0:10:23.660 Get there? No, because of the bronchitis and the acute asthma. Uh, 0:10:23.660 --> 0:10:27.459 you're bruised, your muscles are sore. All of it feels 0:10:27.460 --> 0:10:31.740 like a heart attack. But. But you're okay. But you 0:10:31.780 --> 0:10:36.260 got pancreatitis. So what is that? We. They told us 0:10:36.260 --> 0:10:39.220 what it is. Well, what happens with that? Well, there's 0:10:39.260 --> 0:10:42.059 enzymes secreted from your pancreas. It should never be more 0:10:42.059 --> 0:10:46.140 than a level of 200. What's hers? 900. That was 0:10:46.140 --> 0:10:52.980 the first day. Thursday 1500. Friday over 1700. She's going 0:10:52.980 --> 0:10:54.380 to have to have surgery. We're going to have to 0:10:54.380 --> 0:11:00.620 do something about that. That's extremely high. That's dangerous for her. Okay, 0:11:00.660 --> 0:11:03.819 so we need to transfer to our own hospital. That's Sunday. 0:11:03.820 --> 0:11:08.100 So Sunday night it was over 1700. Monday morning I 0:11:08.100 --> 0:11:12.620 get a call. Hey, honey, you had sugar, babe. What's up? Uh, 0:11:12.740 --> 0:11:15.180 come get me. Take me home. What do you mean, 0:11:15.179 --> 0:11:18.140 take you home? Come get me. Take me home. Aren't 0:11:18.140 --> 0:11:20.339 we going to transfer you over to our hospital so 0:11:20.340 --> 0:11:26.460 you can have surgery? No. Why? Because my level is 200. Amen. 0:11:27.740 --> 0:11:30.300 I said so what happened? So what happened? Well, she 0:11:30.300 --> 0:11:34.380 said she really doesn't know what happened. Uh, maybe there 0:11:34.380 --> 0:11:38.900 was some gallstones that they couldn't see. Uh, that that passed. 0:11:39.980 --> 0:11:41.860 And I said, what'd you tell him? I told him 0:11:41.860 --> 0:11:44.300 I got a whole church praying for me. And the 0:11:44.300 --> 0:11:48.780 effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman availeth much. Now, 0:11:48.780 --> 0:11:52.860 here's my point. Here's my point. There's a storm. She's 0:11:52.860 --> 0:11:56.900 got chest pain. We don't know about the pancreatitis, but 0:11:56.900 --> 0:12:00.900 all of a sudden now, uh, because we had a storm. 0:12:00.900 --> 0:12:05.819 We discovered something that we wouldn't have discovered ordinarily until 0:12:05.820 --> 0:12:09.140 it was too late. But the storm brought us to 0:12:09.179 --> 0:12:15.100 the hospital where we discovered the pancreatitis. God used that 0:12:15.100 --> 0:12:19.060 to direct us. And often you and I need to 0:12:19.059 --> 0:12:22.420 understand that God wants to move us and to direct 0:12:22.420 --> 0:12:25.780 us to places which we don't want to go. Not 0:12:25.780 --> 0:12:30.220 thinking about. And so God sends a storm. It happens 0:12:30.220 --> 0:12:35.420 over and over and over again that we need to 0:12:35.420 --> 0:12:39.500 realize that God does that. So Paul finds it out 0:12:39.900 --> 0:12:43.179 that God is doing something. And what seems like the 0:12:43.179 --> 0:12:46.460 best course of action is the worst. If God told 0:12:46.460 --> 0:12:49.940 us to do something different. 0:12:52.660 --> 0:12:55.540 This is treasure truth with Pastor Ford, a message called 0:12:55.540 --> 0:12:58.060 The Perfect Storm, and we'll get back to the teaching 0:12:58.059 --> 0:13:01.620 in just a moment. Well, however, you've connected with us, 0:13:01.620 --> 0:13:04.300 whether it's been online, through the radio, maybe through the 0:13:04.300 --> 0:13:07.460 Moody Radio app, whatever it's been, we're glad that you're here, 0:13:07.460 --> 0:13:10.060 that you're listening, and hope that Pastor Ford's teaching is 0:13:10.059 --> 0:13:13.059 making a difference in your life. And it's all possible 0:13:13.100 --> 0:13:16.780 because those who believe in this ministry give towards treasure, truth, 0:13:16.780 --> 0:13:19.620 and moody radio. So if you're growing in your walk 0:13:19.620 --> 0:13:22.900 with Christ because you're a regular listener, would you give 0:13:22.900 --> 0:13:25.100 a gift to support? To do so, you can come 0:13:25.100 --> 0:13:28.339 to our website. Just stop by Treasure Truth Radio org 0:13:28.620 --> 0:13:31.300 and click on the link that says make a donation. 0:13:31.580 --> 0:13:36.380 That's at Treasure Truth radio.org. Back to the message again. 0:13:36.420 --> 0:13:37.739 Here is Pastor Ford. 0:13:38.820 --> 0:13:40.300 Now, you know, I wanted to give you a couple 0:13:40.300 --> 0:13:41.860 other ones, but you can go through the Bible and 0:13:41.860 --> 0:13:44.580 you can see it. Okay, get this one. Just one more. 0:13:45.179 --> 0:13:49.380 Exodus chapter 13. The children of Israel are on their 0:13:49.380 --> 0:13:51.780 way out of Egypt. You know what? We say it 0:13:51.780 --> 0:13:53.940 all the time. It took them one day to get 0:13:53.940 --> 0:13:56.140 them out of Egypt. It took them 40 years to 0:13:56.140 --> 0:13:59.180 get to Egypt out of them. Deuteronomy chapter one says 0:13:59.179 --> 0:14:03.340 it was an 11 day journey from Kadesh Barnea to 0:14:03.380 --> 0:14:08.100 the Promised Land. And so God had to get everybody out, 0:14:08.460 --> 0:14:12.020 and they wandered in the wilderness. Now, why did God 0:14:12.020 --> 0:14:14.860 lead them that way? Now we know because they didn't 0:14:14.860 --> 0:14:16.900 walk by faith. They walked by sight. They did not 0:14:16.900 --> 0:14:19.540 want to go into the promised land. But. But let 0:14:19.540 --> 0:14:22.100 me read to you what it says in Exodus gives 0:14:22.100 --> 0:14:28.780 us a different perspective, doesn't it? Exodus chapter 13, verse 17. 13. 0:14:28.780 --> 0:14:33.700 Verse 17. Listen to what God says. This is what 0:14:33.700 --> 0:14:37.700 I wanted to do. And it came to pass when 0:14:37.740 --> 0:14:41.340 Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them 0:14:41.340 --> 0:14:45.180 not through the way of the land of the Philistines, 0:14:45.420 --> 0:14:49.860 although that was near. For God said, let's peradventure the 0:14:49.860 --> 0:14:53.859 people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt. 0:14:55.060 --> 0:14:57.140 Wait a minute. All that wandering in the wilderness, all 0:14:57.180 --> 0:15:00.410 that drama, all that trauma. God, you could avoid that. 0:15:00.450 --> 0:15:02.690 Why did you let me go through this? You saw 0:15:02.690 --> 0:15:07.090 it coming? Yes, I saw it coming. I led you 0:15:07.090 --> 0:15:10.290 to the wilderness because I knew if you would have 0:15:10.290 --> 0:15:13.490 kept going in the direction that you were going, you 0:15:13.490 --> 0:15:16.650 would meet up with the Philistines, who are some gangbangers. 0:15:16.650 --> 0:15:20.770 You weren't ready for that. So I detoured you away 0:15:20.770 --> 0:15:24.450 from that because you weren't ready for it. I directed 0:15:24.450 --> 0:15:29.530 you by that storm called the wilderness. And sometimes we 0:15:29.530 --> 0:15:34.010 have to realize that's the perfect storm that God directs us. 0:15:34.010 --> 0:15:36.570 And sometimes it's through a storm. Now, let me show 0:15:36.570 --> 0:15:39.890 you something else. Alright. Imma show you something else. You 0:15:39.890 --> 0:15:42.130 ain't going to like this one. But Imma show it 0:15:42.130 --> 0:15:48.130 to you anyway. That even when the storm is your 0:15:48.130 --> 0:15:53.290 fault and you're in sin now. You don't believe me, 0:15:53.330 --> 0:15:56.370 do you? Look at judges chapter 14. I'm going to 0:15:56.370 --> 0:15:59.370 show you something. Judges chapter 14. We talk about him 0:15:59.370 --> 0:16:03.010 all the time. We need to leave him alone. Samson. 0:16:03.530 --> 0:16:09.010 He-Man with a she weakness. Yeah, yeah. Women were not 0:16:09.010 --> 0:16:14.450 his problem. He was his problem. Yeah. And so what happened? 0:16:14.490 --> 0:16:18.530 Now watch this. Remember, he goes down to Timnath and 0:16:18.530 --> 0:16:21.930 saw a woman in timnath of the daughters of the Philistines. 0:16:21.930 --> 0:16:23.930 And so what happens? He goes down to Timnath. Now 0:16:23.930 --> 0:16:25.210 get this, get this, get this. Let me tell you 0:16:25.210 --> 0:16:30.530 this real quick. Timnath means allotted portion. So it belongs 0:16:30.530 --> 0:16:34.210 to the Philistines right now. But it used to belong 0:16:34.250 --> 0:16:39.570 to God. It's the appointed place. Get it? In other words, 0:16:39.570 --> 0:16:43.810 here's what happened. There was something that belonged to God 0:16:44.770 --> 0:16:48.850 that you gave to the world. And the world took 0:16:48.850 --> 0:16:54.770 God's appointment from you. Okay, I know you just went 0:16:54.770 --> 0:16:58.130 over your head, right? You're saying I don't understand that? Uh, okay. 0:16:58.170 --> 0:17:00.850 How many times have I said, you're on Facebook, but 0:17:00.850 --> 0:17:04.209 you're not in his book. So if you spent the 0:17:04.210 --> 0:17:06.690 time in the Bible that you spent on Facebook, you 0:17:06.690 --> 0:17:12.090 have more faith. Appointed place. Appointed place. You've given what 0:17:12.090 --> 0:17:17.570 was appointed to him, to the world. And now that's 0:17:17.570 --> 0:17:20.290 drawing him. Now get this. Here's my whole point. I 0:17:20.290 --> 0:17:26.850 just had to throw that out. Check out verse four. 0:17:28.609 --> 0:17:33.369 But his father and his mother knew not that it 0:17:33.369 --> 0:17:37.410 was of the Lord. Let me get this. God knew 0:17:37.450 --> 0:17:40.650 this man's proclivity. He knows all of ours too, don't he? 0:17:40.770 --> 0:17:44.890 And everybody has a proclivity, don't we? What's a proclivity? 0:17:45.090 --> 0:17:49.090 Every one of us has a sin that we're fond of. 0:17:52.570 --> 0:17:55.810 How do I fight what I like? Yeah. Every one 0:17:55.810 --> 0:17:59.890 of us have one. Yeah. And so what happens that 0:17:59.890 --> 0:18:02.450 he didn't know that this was of the Lord? In 0:18:02.450 --> 0:18:06.010 other words, God chose him not just because of who 0:18:06.050 --> 0:18:09.050 his parents were and that God knew. I'm going to 0:18:09.090 --> 0:18:14.930 use this man's sin to accomplish my purpose. Now the 0:18:14.930 --> 0:18:18.810 storm is his sin. He got a haircut and the 0:18:18.810 --> 0:18:23.090 devil's barbershop. And then what happened? Listen, listen to this. 0:18:23.450 --> 0:18:25.409 But his father and his mother knew not that it 0:18:25.410 --> 0:18:29.210 was of the Lord. That he sought an occasion against 0:18:29.210 --> 0:18:32.570 the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion 0:18:32.570 --> 0:18:35.050 over Israel. Do you see what that verse is saying? 0:18:36.010 --> 0:18:39.770 He's responsible for his sin. But God is going to 0:18:39.810 --> 0:18:43.090 use his sin for his ultimate purpose. So this man 0:18:43.130 --> 0:18:46.050 goes through this storm, gets his hair cut and and 0:18:46.050 --> 0:18:49.290 all that kind of stuff chained, read into the story 0:18:49.410 --> 0:18:52.209 that he killed more Philistines in his death than he 0:18:52.210 --> 0:18:55.250 did in his life. And then remember this he's overcome 0:18:55.250 --> 0:18:58.609 by guilt because God didn't say he had to die. 0:18:58.650 --> 0:19:02.850 He asked God to kill him. Yeah, let me die 0:19:02.850 --> 0:19:05.730 with him. So God said, sure, I'll do that. But 0:19:05.730 --> 0:19:09.290 here's the point. Here's the point. What you're going through 0:19:09.290 --> 0:19:13.530 right now, you need to get on your knees, is 0:19:13.530 --> 0:19:17.050 what you need to do and see what God is 0:19:17.050 --> 0:19:20.690 trying to do in your life, and then work with 0:19:20.690 --> 0:19:26.889 him in getting that accomplished, because we all over the place. 0:19:27.930 --> 0:19:29.570 I want to try this, and I want to do 0:19:29.570 --> 0:19:32.330 this and I want to do that. What's God say? 0:19:32.330 --> 0:19:37.610 Do what's he say. Do not what your pastor says, 0:19:37.650 --> 0:19:40.530 not what your mama, your big mama, your daddy says 0:19:40.690 --> 0:19:46.210 uncle Willie Bubba. Pookie nim. What is God telling you? 0:19:46.970 --> 0:19:50.450 Because you gotta connect with that and you gotta roll 0:19:50.450 --> 0:19:52.930 with that. I'll get this. Let me bring this in. 0:19:53.330 --> 0:19:56.490 What did Paul want to do more than anything? Does 0:19:56.490 --> 0:19:58.810 anybody know what Paul wanted to do? Where did he 0:19:58.810 --> 0:20:05.930 want to go? More than anywhere else? Rome. That's his destination. Question. 0:20:06.290 --> 0:20:13.609 Did he get there? Yes. How? Chained in a slave ship. 0:20:15.050 --> 0:20:20.730 He's going in a slave slash prison ship now. I 0:20:20.730 --> 0:20:24.130 don't know about you, but what it says to me 0:20:24.130 --> 0:20:29.730 is this. You may like the product, but you may 0:20:29.730 --> 0:20:35.730 not necessarily like the process. But we don't worry about 0:20:36.130 --> 0:20:39.330 what's happening in the process because God is going to 0:20:39.330 --> 0:20:41.369 put us through it whether we want to or not. 0:20:41.890 --> 0:20:46.209 We focus on the product. This is where I'm going. 0:20:46.410 --> 0:20:49.290 And so therefore I'm keeping my eyes on the prize. 0:20:49.330 --> 0:20:52.369 I'm not detouring because this is where God has taken me. 0:20:52.410 --> 0:20:56.210 And so Paul went to Rome. He got what he wanted. 0:20:57.490 --> 0:21:00.640 It was just a rough ride getting in there. How 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:06.520 many people know that God works that way? Why? Because 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:10.280 of the next reason. Because of the next reason. What's 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:17.520 the next reason? Because God sends us storms to perfect us. Now, 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:21.000 now here. Here it is. What's going on? These guys 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:23.359 that are on here, they're not listening to Paul. Now 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:26.359 they're listening to Paul. Paul has shared with them. I 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:28.639 got a word from God about what we're going to do. 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:30.760 So Paul told them, he said, listen, let me give 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.199 you some reassurance. This ship will not. Well, first he 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:36.399 reprimanded them. You ain't listen to me. Uh. Then, uh, 0:21:36.400 --> 0:21:40.200 he gave them reassurance. An angel of God came to me. 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:42.880 Then he gave him revelation and told me ship would 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:45.920 be lost. But you won't. And then he talked about 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:50.639 his reliance, I trust God. Then they turn around and say, okay, 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:53.400 if you trust him, since you told us what you 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:56.000 told us and it came true, then what we're going 0:21:56.040 --> 0:21:58.119 to do is we're going to believe what you just 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:03.120 told us. See what happened to them. The word perfect. 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:05.840 You know it already, right? What is the word perfect? 0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:08.280 It's our old friend Stelios who could holler out what 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:11.040 it means. Come on, real quick. What does it mean 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:15.960 to be complete? To fulfill the purpose for which you 0:22:15.960 --> 0:22:19.480 were created? That's why you got to tap into purpose. 0:22:19.520 --> 0:22:24.520 Purpose keeps you from drifting all over the place. And 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:29.040 so he promised them that. That God is doing a work. 0:22:29.280 --> 0:22:33.480 Here it is James chapter one. He says, my brethren, 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:38.320 count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:42.959 knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:46.240 But let patience have her perfect work, that you may 0:22:46.280 --> 0:22:49.600 be complete and entire, lacking nothing. 0:22:52.640 --> 0:22:55.920 What a reminder that God will use storms to shape 0:22:55.920 --> 0:22:58.080 us into the person he would have us be, to 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:00.920 conform us more into the image and the likeness of 0:23:00.920 --> 0:23:04.480 his son. Not always easy to have that perspective, to 0:23:04.520 --> 0:23:07.600 be thankful in the midst of storms, but that's what 0:23:07.600 --> 0:23:09.879 we're called to do as followers of Christ. Not to 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:12.240 be thankful because of the storm, but because of how 0:23:12.240 --> 0:23:14.359 God may be at work in our lives in the 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:17.720 midst of that storm. Or you're listening to a message 0:23:17.720 --> 0:23:20.480 called A Perfect Storm, and we're going to continue on 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:22.520 our next broadcast. If you want to make sure you 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:24.399 don't miss it, of course you can listen to your radio, 0:23:24.400 --> 0:23:28.240 but you can also download the Moody Radio app. Not 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:30.720 only can you listen to Treasure Truth, but you'll be 0:23:30.760 --> 0:23:34.520 able to listen to other moody programs and internet music stations. 0:23:34.520 --> 0:23:37.080 You'll find links to the app, which is free. When 0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:41.840 you come to treasure Truth Radio. Well, thanks for listening today. 0:23:41.840 --> 0:23:44.640 Thanks to our producer, Amy Ross. I'm Steve Hiller. Join 0:23:44.640 --> 0:23:48.119 us next time for Treasure Truth. A production of Moody Radio, 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:50.800 a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.