WEBVTT - I'm Still Scared 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.439 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:06.920 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:10.280 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:12.360 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.880 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:23.880 If He walk you up this morning, give him praise. Hallelujah. 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.319 Isn't it good to be together? However we have to 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:30.240 get together. Let's just let's keep coming together, you know, 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:34.360 forsake not the assembly of ourselves together. And it's a 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.040 difficult time to do that. But you know, when that 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.120 Bible verse was written, they were being persecuted for their faith, 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.000 cast out of their community. And so I'm just so 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.040 grateful that we live in a time where God has 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:50.000 enabled us to share the message with you. And I'm excited. 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:54.160 I'm excited to share God's word today, honestly, sincerely, not 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.560 in that preacher kind of way. Oh, I'm excited to 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.319 share the you know, not in a formal way. I 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:02.920 really really have something today that I want to share 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:05.520 with you, and I pray that God would enable me 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:07.720 to speak it. Of course, I want to do a 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:11.960 few shout outs real quick before we transition. If I 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:13.320 would have known we were going to break it down 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.760 like that, I wouldn't have worn this flannel it is. 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:22.039 I'm starting to sweat up your praise the Lord. Where 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.759 are you coming from today? I know church is coming 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.880 to you. You aren't coming to church today, but church 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:32.000 is coming to you. Somebody, tell me where you're watching 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:38.840 from today? Okay, I see somebody from northeast Pennsylvania. Tell 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.399 me your name, your first name, or what your friends 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.800 call you, because we're going to be friends, all right, 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.680 we be friends. And tell me where you're watching from, 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:56.040 your first name or your nickname if it's appropriate, and 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:57.880 where you're watching from. And if it's hard to say, 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:00.000 give me a pronunciation God, because I'm really bad at that. 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:02.760 I'm trying to get through this, but it's coming really fast. 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:07.480 I see Hong Kong, Jamaica, the UK, Boston, India, London. 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:09.720 Even if you're watching this later, put it in the 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:11.920 comments because I'll go through and read all of them, 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.760 and when i'm bored, it'll give me something to pray for. 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:16.800 I can pray for you, I can look at your 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:19.359 name and pray for you. And I know where you're from, 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:26.480 that'd be cool. Michigan, Oklahoma, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Romania. 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:35.120 You know this always amazes me. Brazil, Dubai, Jeremy, Jeremy Jeremy. 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:42.079 Isn't that a pearl Jen song? Let's see we got 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:46.200 Todd from Orlando. Heybody, do me a favor. I want 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:51.080 you to say Happy birthday to Chunks. Corbin. He goes 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:55.800 by Chunks and he's not overweight. That's the thing about it. 0:02:55.840 --> 0:03:00.880 He's really He turned forty three today. He was walking 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:04.160 around like he's in seventy seven, though he said it's 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:09.679 mohoo flexer. But everybody say Happy birthday, Chunks because it's 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.079 holly Amy and Chunks are out here. Of course, we 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.880 don't have a lot of people here. I think it's 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:17.960 responsible for us to have as few people as possible. 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:19.840 But I just want to put some people that I 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.080 loved in the room, just to remember that we're not alone. 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:24.560 So Happy birthday, Chunks. They're saying it from all over 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:28.120 the world. I wish you could see it. Wow, this 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.240 is more people than lived in Fernandina Beach where you 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:33.440 grew up, just saying happy birthday. Are you watching it? 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.720 Happy Birthday? Man, Come on, I'm not going to sing 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:41.280 it to you. Chunks. You still got joy even though 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:46.360 you got an aching back and aching knees, torn rotator cuff. 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.040 But you still got joy because the world didn't give it. 0:03:51.280 --> 0:04:01.760 What kind of joy? Oh, that's Bible joy, Chris, Yes, joy, 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:14.120 not like endorphins, but joy. That kind of joy, joyous joy. 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:24.760 I still got joys, full of joy, joy speaking full 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:30.000 of Lord Joy. Father, we thank you for your love. 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.679 We thank you for your mercy, the things that can't 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:37.960 be changed and will never be taken away. I pray 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.760 for all of these who are gathered today, just even 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.560 closer than if they were in the building. Lord, I 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.760 thank you that the voice of your word is reaching 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.480 right now to all of these men and women, Desiree 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.120 and Ronda and Sean and Belinda and Bill and Dennis 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:56.279 and Shelley in Singapore and in Canada. I thank you 0:04:56.320 --> 0:05:00.000 that your joy is reaching right now. We will rejoice 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:02.920 you and boast in you and trust in you in 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:07.960 this time in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if you're allowed 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:09.880 to hug the person that you're with, go ahead and 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:13.920 give them a big hog, and let's get into the 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:19.760 word of God. Thank you Jesus. Wow. Hey, I'm still 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.440 getting used to this. This is still very new to me, 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:27.640 like preaching to just empty seats. But it's kind of 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:33.080 cool because obviously there's more people running cameras today than 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:37.599 when I started preaching. And one cool thing about going 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.800 through something that feels new is it makes you access 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.840 something that you may have started to take for granted, 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.120 like little things. You know, you find yourself grateful for 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:52.680 little things. And you know, there's probably a lot of 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.239 us who are getting in touch with some things inside 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:59.520 of ourselves during this time, more, maybe more than we want. 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.560 Is like, oh, I just don't want to be alone 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:06.200 with myself, and I'm kind of I'm kind of cool 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.200 with not having to be around too many people right now. 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:11.320 And I don't say that in a flippant way. I 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.320 know that it's a very serious situation in our world. 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.360 But I was telling my friend the other day, I've 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:19.520 been I've been trying to find a way to stop 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:21.520 hugging people for a couple of years. I don't like 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:24.160 I don't like hugging anymore. I used to like hugging, 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:26.360 and now only like the hug people with the last 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.240 name Verdict and so I've been looking for a way 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.440 out for years, so that part kind of suits me. 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:34.880 And but of course one of the things that you 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:37.039 really have to get used to is the contrast. Like 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.080 this right here is a contrast. When I preached last 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.839 week and I came off of the stage because remember, like, 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.320 there's nobody out here, So I'm just looking at empty 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.920 seats and I have a screen with YouTube comments that's 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:54.239 scrolling from A Penny and South Africa and Cape Town 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:58.039 and Derek from South Carolina. And while all this is happening, 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:02.200 you know, I'm just preaching to I'm not saying you're nobody, 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:04.279 but it's not that many people out here. Of course, 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:07.320 Holly's out here, and one Holly is worth a million 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:13.120 other people. And so I'm just working on my afternoon 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:18.040 quarantine plans right now, starting early. But you know, aside 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.600 from just having our amazing worship team and what a 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:23.720 beautiful time that was in God's presence, today, I'm not 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.800 seeing anyone. So when I got off the stage last week, 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:33.120 in a way it was disorienting because one of our 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.280 staff members was asking me, what did that feel like, 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.360 and I said, it felt weird, But in a way 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:46.960 it felt familiar because you know, when I started preaching, 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:51.400 I would preach like there would be three kids, three 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:54.200 seventh grade kids. You know, this is how I started. 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:56.520 And I would just come out and preach, but I 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:00.720 would try to preach like it was a Billy g crusade. 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:03.880 And me and Chris grew up in small towns about 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:06.600 two hours apart, and we used to play music. We 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:10.960 both had bands, and we would play music at Christian clubs. 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.760 Let me tell you what that's that's a real paradox, 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.000 right there a Christian club and we played at one. 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:19.200 I don't remember what it was called Psalm one fifty 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.440 or ps one fifty or something like that. It was 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:26.480 named after some Bible verse. And but there'd be three people, 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.280 five people, ten people was a ten people was a stadium, 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:33.200 you know. So for me, it's like it's kind of 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.240 getting back to my roots because I'm used to having 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:39.160 to close my eyes to see. You know, when I 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.880 used to preach, the kids would be like not paying 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:45.440 attention and probably because I wasn't interesting, but I would 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:49.680 have to close my eyes and just pretend, or maybe 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:51.640 it was something different than pretending. Maybe I was just 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:53.720 closing my eyes in order to have a perspective that 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:55.680 didn't come from what I saw with my natural eye. 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:57.600 And so last week it was kind of cool because 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.840 I was preaching and I was picturing people just gathered 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.120 together and need a word from God and need encouragement. 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.839 And I was picturing people that normally may not come 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.679 to church, but they need something for their soul during 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.960 this time, and there's very little other options for entertainment, 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.240 so here they come over, and I'll be picturing people 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.160 that maybe they've been drinking too much to numb the anxiety, 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:21.000 or maybe they've been fighting a lot in the house, 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:22.959 or maybe they've been lonely all by themselves. So I'm 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:25.480 preaching kind of to an empty room. But when I 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:27.880 walked off the stage, my staff member said to me, 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.280 what did it feel like to preach to the most 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:36.000 people you've ever preached to in your life? I said, 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.480 I didn't know I was doing it. He said yeah. 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.199 He said, the equivalent of who was on just at 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.400 that live service and this was just the first one 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.640 on Sunday. It was the equivalent of Bank of America 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:51.959 Stadium where the Panthers played. And he said, there were 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:55.720 so many people on that stream that it was actually spectrum, 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.480 which is where I went to see you too. That 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.800 spectrum was the overflow room. That's how many people I 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:04.720 was preaching to. And what I thought was weird was 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:08.840 the contrast between what I was seeing with my eyes 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:12.800 and what God was doing on the other side of 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.000 the screen. And what hit me about it, and what 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.280 I want to share with you about today a little bit, 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:22.520 is that God was doing the most when I was 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:27.240 seeing the least. And I want to bring a word 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:31.400 to you today about how sometimes when we see the least, 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:35.960 God does the most, even when I don't see it. 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:39.160 What were they sing in earlier? You're working even when 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:44.360 I don't feel it. You're working. No offense to Brother Leland. 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.280 I love his bridge that he put on the song, 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.559 but I would even I would even put a put a, 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:53.800 especially when I don't see it. You're working, especially doesn't 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:57.120 sing as good, especially when I don't precious stay with even, 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.680 but especially in those moments when I see the least, 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:05.880 feel the least, watch this, know the least, understand the least. 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.679 These are the spaces that God creates for revelation of 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.720 who he is. How would I know He's a waymaker? 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:15.200 If I never needed a way made. How would I 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:16.839 know he's a provider if I never had a need. 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.080 How would I know that he was resurrection if I 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.080 never experienced that. So we speak this word of the 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:24.480 Lord to you today, and I want to come from 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.600 a passage of scripture that I shared with our leaders 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.280 on Friday night. We had a gathering of just under 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:33.480 five thousand of our leaders just to encourage and strengthen 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.560 the church, and I was sharing along the lines of 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:39.719 your position for a miracle, and I'd love for you 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:42.240 to put that into chat. I mentioned it last week, 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.760 I'm positioned for a miracle, and then just put where 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.800 you're coming from. You know, if it's I see Wallyburg, 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:53.400 North Carolina. I never heard of Wallyburg, North Carolina. I'm 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.840 learning all kinds of stuff right now. I didn't know 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.240 there was a Wallybirg. But God is positioning me. Say 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:04.760 I'm positioned for a miracle, and that means that we 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:09.680 have to learn how to see in our spirit what 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:12.960 we cannot sense. And this is such an important skill 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.319 that I want to devote my whole sermon to it today. 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:18.400 Let me read you this story may be familiar to you, 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.040 maybe not, but just to jump right in the middle 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:28.679 of it. In tewod Kings, chapter six, verse fifteen, the 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.080 book says, when the servant of the Man of God 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:34.080 got up and went out early the next morning, an 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:39.199 army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. Now 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:40.960 what he said next is something a lot of us 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:43.880 have been saying. Maybe we've been using different words, maybe 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.920 we've been using stronger language. But he said, oh no, 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:55.760 my lord, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:58.360 How many of young moms when you heard how long 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:03.880 they were canceling in school? Oh no, no, no, no, 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:06.680 how many of y'all when you met with your financial 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:10.679 advisor or clicked on your account, Oh no, oh no, 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:12.560 I wish I'll put that in the chat with a 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:16.080 bunch of o's, just say, oh no, I mean just 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:19.400 as many o's as your thumb can tie. And we 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.800 feel that way, you know, especially if we're if we're 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:27.360 worried about symptoms, or if we're struggling in an emotional way. 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.680 Oh no, And I love how that's right there in 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.760 the Bible. His first response, he's a servant of the 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.559 Man of God, right, But his first response wasn't praise God. 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.800 His first response was, oh no, and we want to 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.079 pretend to be real spiritual. You know, I see all 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:46.960 your prayer emojis, but you've been having some other emojis too. 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:49.960 You need to find that little devil emoji because really, 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:52.680 you know what happened to the servant in the passage. 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:54.280 And let me just take a moment to set this up. 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:55.959 You got anything else to do, I don't have anything 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:57.480 else to do. We may as well just hang out 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.199 for a little while. But he woke up to a 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.040 different world than the one he went to sleep in. 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:06.720 He woke up to a different world than the one 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:10.480 he went to sleep in, and he said, oh no. Now, 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:16.160 if you've ever woken up to a different world then 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:20.680 the one you went to sleep in, you'll understand that 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.880 it creates an impulse. Some people call it fear. I 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:31.400 just call it humanity. It's just like, oh, oh yeah, 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.200 if you ever lost somebody, if they ever left your 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.600 life suddenly, whether they died or just went away, and 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:39.440 you woke up to a different world that didn't have 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:43.120 them in it, Like maybe you remember the first time 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.120 you woke up in a world without your dad. Maybe 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:47.680 you remember the first time you woke up in a 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.680 world without a steady job. Remember the first time you 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:57.000 woke up in the world without you know, the NBA. 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.000 I remember when they started canceling everything a couple of 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:04.760 weeks ago. And I say it not in a humorous way, 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.800 but when things get canceled that you used to count on, 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:13.120 it makes you question everything. And so whether it's something 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:15.760 that we would say always entertainment or is this or 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:19.320 it's that, it's just the feeling of like, oh no, 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.920 and watch us question it gets even more specific, what 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:28.840 shall we do? Okay? So that's where you find yourself today. 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:30.960 I want to preach a message to you. What do 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:36.560 I do? What do I do? And the servant asked 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.560 the question, and the prophet gives the answer. In verse sixteen. 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:44.920 He says, don't be afraid. Those who are with us 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.720 are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:51.000 and we're going to get this prayer today, and we're 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.560 really going to pray it for the next seven days 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:55.920 until I see you again. In this format, we're going 0:15:56.000 --> 0:16:00.320 to pray this prayer over those that we love, and 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.800 we're going to pray this prayer over ourselves. And here's 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:04.720 the prayer. I've been putting this on all my text 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:07.760 messages because I've got business leaders in my church that 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:10.320 are like, oh no, what do we do? I've got 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:12.600 doctors in our church that are like, oh no, what 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:14.520 are we doing? I don't have the answer. So this 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.000 is the prayer. Okay, this is the prayer that I 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:20.520 want us to pray right about now. Open his eyes, 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:26.760 Lord that he may see, Open his eyes, Lord, that 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:30.640 he may see. Somebody put in the chat, open my eyes, 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.880 put in the comments, Open my eyes. Those of y'all 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.560 sitting on those stools behind me, say, open my eyes, 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.200 Open his eyes so that he may see. Then the 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:44.080 Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:48.160 the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:52.320 around Elisha. And you know, I love that text so much. 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.840 I love how God was protecting a servant. And I 0:16:56.880 --> 0:17:00.160 love how God was more powerful than the enemy. I 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:03.440 love how no weapon formed against us shall prosper. I 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.719 love all of that. But sometimes when you're in a 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:10.960 real situation or a circumstance, the cliches don't comfort you 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.680 very much. I didn't know what to call this message. 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:16.040 I don't know what we're going to call it when 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:18.520 we put it online. We'll figure that out later. But 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.600 I did flash back just reading this passage to the 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.680 other night Abby, who is our nine year old. All 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:27.199 of y'all who are part of the church, you kind 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:28.640 of know my kids. I got a nine year old, 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:33.000 twelve year old, fourteen year old. But Abby is the 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:35.399 most prone to come downstairs in the middle of the 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:36.919 night and wake us upcause she got scared. And she 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.520 came downstairs the other day and she's, you know, trembling 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.439 about something, something fell over in the bathroom. And I 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.280 wasn't quite asleep yet. If I had been totally asleep, 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:47.080 I would have done the spiritual thing and said tell 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:51.359 your mom true story. But I still wasn't asleep, so 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:53.400 I said, come here, baby, you know real good dad, 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:55.480 And I said, get up on my chest and sit here. 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:58.120 I said, what's wrong? She said, I'm scared, something fell over, 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:01.320 something's in the bathroom. I said, maybe nothing in the bathroom. 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:05.000 And besides, even if it is, you're here with me now. 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.600 I said, I feel this, and she gave me a 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:11.680 little squeeze. Because we have this game. We played the 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:15.160 Squishy Wall, the Brickie Wall, the squishy wall, the BRICKI wall, squishy, squishy, 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:17.919 squishy wall, bricky, bricky, bricky wall. I said, feel a 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.600 bricky wall. And so she sat her life a little bit. 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:24.560 And she's still crying though, and I said, uh, there's 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:27.720 nothing in your bathroom, and even if there is, you're 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:35.280 with me now. She said, I'm still scared. I love kids. 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:37.760 I'm gonna call this message for just a minute. I'm 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:44.399 still scared because you know, while it's easy to quote 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:49.320 scriptures like don't be afraid, let's look at it for 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:54.120 a moment and take a perspective, because you know, we're 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:59.920 having a hard time even dealing with just a virus 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:04.000 right now. But this is not an invisible virus. This 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:07.760 is horses and chariots that came to get the Man 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:10.439 of God in Dothan. This is like I went to sleep. 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:13.080 We were good. I woke up, we were surrounded. I 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.280 went to sleep. I had a job. I woke up. 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.680 I didn't. I went to sleep and things were well. 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:20.160 I woke up to a different world. And he asked 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:23.080 him a question. And it's a reasonable question, right. This 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.480 is the man of God, this is the preacher, this 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.439 is the guy who speaks and God provides. This is 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.600 the guy who speaks in God's supplies. So he asked 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.199 the question to the right person. He says, what do 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:36.919 we do? Now? Watch the answer that the Man of 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:42.760 God gives Elisha. He says, don't be afraid. Well, that's cute, 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:49.280 appreciate it. Thanks a lot. You know how people give 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:52.360 you advice that makes you want to slap him. Well, 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:55.560 I hadn't thought of that, And it's just it's this 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:57.879 is the time for well meaning Christians to shut up 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:01.120 a little bit. You know, Oh, well you lost your job. 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:05.640 God will provide. That's fine in certain context. But sometimes, 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:07.960 and I want you to see how Elisha does this. 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:14.080 Sometimes it's more important what we don't do than what 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:18.960 we do do. That didn't come out exactly right, but 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.440 you know what I was trying to say. Sometimes sometimes 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.960 what I don't what I won't do in a season 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:30.080 where I'm uncertain, is even more important than what I do. 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:32.920 Because let's follow the text, and I really want to 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:34.840 take our time. We don't have another service coming in, 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:36.960 so we could just we could just do this right, 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.520 put it back up. He said, what shall we do? 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:43.159 And then the prophet said, don't and this, so go 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.159 out to fifteen what shall we do? And the prophet 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:49.280 said don't? And the man said what shall we do? 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.159 And the prophet said don't. So I ask you a question, 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:58.800 what won't you do in a time where so many 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:02.639 are desperate and and we're all kind of fearful, and 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:06.639 we all feel scared. If you're not scared right now, 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:10.960 I'm scared of you. If you're not scared right now, 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:14.399 you are some kind of evil cyborg robi come to 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:18.639 destroy the planet, And I want you quarantined, okay, because 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:23.080 to have flesh means to feel fear. So while he's 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:25.639 wondering what does this new world that I woke up 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:28.399 to mean? And what do we do, the prophet starts 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:33.440 by saying don't. Don't. So maybe for you it goes 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:37.560 like this, Right now, I won't lash out at the 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.600 people closest to me because of the fear that I 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:46.520 feel about what's going on outside of me. Maybe it's 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:51.320 like that, what won't you do? What a question? Right? 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:54.800 What do we do? Well, the first thing you've got 0:21:54.840 --> 0:22:00.159 to do is decide what you won't do. So I 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:04.200 won't just make you know irrational stories up in my mind. 0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:11.000 I won't spend three hours reading conspiracy theories on Twitter 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:13.639 and then ask the Lord. Now I let me down 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:15.240 to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.760 You gave your soul away that day. So what I 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:22.840 won't do, what I won't do is spend time in 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:29.119 the hypothetical. What I won't do, what won't you do? 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:33.119 I would have been annoyed with the prophet. I'm just 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:36.000 being honest, you knowing, what do we do? What's the plan? Man? 0:22:36.160 --> 0:22:39.000 What is you gonna do? Fight them? There's so many 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:41.360 of them. It's just me and you, and by this time, 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:43.639 my life's just kind of old. You know, you can't fight, 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:46.320 so it's just meat versus all of them. What do 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:50.479 we do? What's the plan? What's the what's the strat, 0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:52.520 what's the What do we do? What's the deal? What 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:56.600 do we do? What to do? All? Right? Don't be 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:04.199 afraid and not working for me? Right now? How do 0:23:04.280 --> 0:23:07.800 I do that? How do I don't be afraid? I'm 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:09.480 not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. 0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:14.560 I'm not afraid. Still scared, she said, I'm still scared. 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:18.359 I know you're with me. I'm still scared. There's still 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:21.120 something in my bedroom. I'm still nine, I'm still weak, 0:23:21.240 --> 0:23:24.240 I still got bills, I'm still got to show up 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:26.560 at the grocery store and work. I still got a 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:29.800 relative who's eighty four years old who's starting to cough, 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:31.600 and I wonder will I get to see her again. 0:23:31.880 --> 0:23:38.719 I'm still scared. So why does he say, don't be afraid? Okay, 0:23:39.560 --> 0:23:42.880