WEBVTT - Pivotal Decisions 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:04.080 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:06.560 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.920 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:11.959 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:14.680 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:20.200 today I want to share with you in this part 0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:26.320 two on the subject of pivotal decisions. Pivotal decisions, I'm 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.360 going to Judges thirteen. I don't know if I'll get 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:32.599 there in the next few minutes. So if you don't 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:35.239 know where Judge is in is in the Bible, you're 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:37.640 gonna have a good head start. If you prefer to 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.920 just look at the screen, that's okay too. But I wonder, 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:44.720 as I get started, how many of you right now 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:49.680 are in the middle of making a big decision for 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:52.320 your life. Would you raise your hand if you're in 0:00:52.360 --> 0:00:55.280 the middle of making a big decision for your life 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:59.320 and keep it up, keep it up. So what are 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:04.160 you gonna do? How are you gonna You're gonna do 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:08.800 like pros and cons or you're gonna like flip a 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:12.679 coin if it comes to that, you gotta plan for this. 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.120 You're gonna you're gonna do, like, ask a lot of 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:17.440 people till somebody tells you what you want to hear, like, 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:20.119 like we all do you know? Just keep asking people 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:21.760 till you get the answer that you wanted so they 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:23.639 can confirm the thing that you were gonna do all along. Anyway, 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.200 now you wasted everybody's time just asking them stuff that 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:28.600 you already knew what you were gonna do. We're you 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:33.600 gonna do? You're gonna like, uh, just stress, eat and 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:35.520 put it off to the last minute. That's always a 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:38.320 good plan. I like that. I like to just watch 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.959 Netflix instead personally, put it off to the last minute, 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:46.120 and then make the decision when the pressure's on. The 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:50.080 crazy thing is when I say that a big decision. 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:54.360 A lot of the decisions that you make, you don't 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:59.440 know if they're big or not when you're making them. 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:02.640 This is why I need God so much, because not 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:05.920 only can I not make the big decisions right without him, 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.239 but I don't even know which ones are big unless 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:14.760 he tells me. Because you know, big decisions, we get 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:19.360 caught up where we're gonna get married. That's me and 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:22.920 Holly spent so many weeks thinking about that, like the 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.280 big decision of where we were going to have our wedding. 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:31.240 You know what, it didn't really matter as much as 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.320 some other things. What was important about our marriage was like, 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.919 how are we going to resolve conflict? Y'all don't want 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.600 to talk to me today. Y'all were singing so good, 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:42.440 and then I started preaching and y'all went to sleep. 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:48.080 And the big decisions, you know, it's not always the 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:50.920 ones that you think are big. And that's why I 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:55.920 prefer the term pivotal decisions, because a big decision is 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:58.840 not necessarily what city you're going to live in. That's 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.600 a big one, I get it. But a bigger decision 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.400 for us was what church are we going to go to? 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:07.560 Because out of the church that we attended, that's where 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.040 we made the relationships that were really instrumental, and the 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.239 will of God was accomplished in our life, not by 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.000 just what city we lived in. But and it's funny 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.799 how people will move for a job, or they'll move 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:21.919 for a school, but they'll put church at the bottom 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:24.000 of the list and then kind of find one. But 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:26.680 I think the pivotal things are sometimes not what we 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:32.320 consider to be the big things, and that's that's confusing pivotal, 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:35.640 you know what I mean? Like, I guess because it's 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:37.480 All Star weekend. I don't play basketball. I don't even 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:39.760 really like basketball. I was always terrible at it. I 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:43.840 wrestled a little bit, played a little baseball. But when 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.120 I watched basketball, I always see them pivot. I always 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:51.360 see that their ability to pass and you know, without traveling, 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.840 without getting called, it's all from this foot that they 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:57.000 pivot on. And I'm not going to demonstrate it for you, 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.400 because again I'm not very athletic, but when I watch 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:03.680 them pivot, I notice like, well, that's pretty important. And 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.520 the only way that they can pivot is if they're planted. 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.200 Now I'm going to preach that in about twenty eight minutes, 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:14.360 but hang on, I'm coming to judges thirteen. And I 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:17.479 notice that, you know, pivoting is not only for athletes. 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:22.320 It's also for politicians. And I'll be honest with you. 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:24.920 As a preacher, I get it because sometimes you get 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:30.840 asked the weirdest questions, the weirdest, most unanswerable, most non 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.960 germane questions. I'll sometimes be doing a Q and A 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.520 or something and someone will ask me, you know what 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.240 kind of horse is Jesus coming back on? And there's 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:42.440 really no way to answer that without making them look 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:45.279 dumb or you know, because it is a dumb question. 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.240 But I love people and the sheep, and so I'm like, 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:53.320 I'm like, well, you know, that's a great question. And 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.120 regardless of what horse he comes on, I think what's 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.360 important is that we have a sense of urgency. See 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:03.920 how I just and now you don't feel dumb, and 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.320 I don't have to answer your question, and so we 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:10.920 all win because I know how to pivot. Touch. Somebody say, 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:15.640 the power is in the pivot. Let's go to Judges thirteen. 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.679 Are you ready? Because you got some big decisions you're making, 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:20.960 and then you've got some decisions that you don't think 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.559 are very big, but they're pivotal, Like how you start 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.400 your day. That's not a big decision, but it's pivotal 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:32.400 because how you start your day watch, it's a directional decision. 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:39.159 Watch watch me. It's directional. So I'm not watch watch, watch, 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:43.480 I'm not moving much. It's not a big move. I'm 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:47.080 still standing where I was. But I get a completely 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:55.560 different perspective when I pivot. The Lord has really been 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.000 speaking to me. I can tell you want them to 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:02.520 speak to you too, And it means that sometimes it's 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:09.200 the small moves that set the direction, the small moves 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:13.919 that set the direction. And frankly, a lot of the 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:17.240 biggest things about your life will be decided outside of 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:21.719 your volition and will. Anyway, God is so much bigger 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:27.960 than your decisions. I know you're very successful in your business, 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:32.000 but you and I both know that the culmination of 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:33.920 everything that happened to you was bigger than you just 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:39.400 made good decisions. I mean, because honestly, you made some 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:42.240 really bad ones too, And even if you didn't, even 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:44.400 if you only made good decisions, you wouldn't have know, 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:46.599 You wouldn't even had the opportunity to make those decisions 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:51.120 if God didn't position you where He positioned you. God 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:54.920 is bigger than my bad decisions. You know. It's not 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:58.160 like God is just a synonym for good decisions. You know, 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:00.919 being in the will of God the will of God. 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:02.960 And I want to ask you this question, is your 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.640 view of the will of God big enough to accommodate 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:10.680 even your bad decisions? And that's what I wanted to 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:14.680 look at. Judges thirteen is a passage of Scripture that 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:18.080 you've never heard a single sermon on before. I polled 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.760 at least thirty people this week. None of them had 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.160 heard it, and all of them went to vacation Bible 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:25.560 School and grew up going to Wednesday night church. So 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.280 if they didn't hear it, you didn't either. But the 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.360 Bible says in Judges thirteen, verse one, remember in a 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:35.120 pivotal time for the nation of Israel, A pivotal time 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:40.120 because they were in a cycle of sin, judgment and deliverance, 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:45.120 a pivotal time because they didn't have a king, and 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.760 they didn't really want God to be their king, so 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.800 God would keep having to raise up different people to 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.600 lead them and deliver them from the hands of their enemies, 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.680 the Canaanites and Parasites, and Hittites, and the Philistines, the 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.560 Phoenician people who were good at metal working, so they 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:02.080 always had a lot of weapons, and they were moving 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.040 in on the coast, and they were ruling them, but 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:07.480 very loosely. Now this is the pivotal moment for the 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.960 nation of Israel, and the Bible says again, the Israelites 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:13.240 did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:18.240 Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines. Stop. 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:23.920 You always hear about God delivering us out of things, 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:30.120 But here your Bible says that God delivered them into 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.679 the hands of an enemy and used their enemy. I 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:35.920 don't know if your theology is about to break wide 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:37.880 open and something's going to fall out on the floor. 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.120 Let's get the ushers ready in case your brain just 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.840 melts right there. But God didn't deliver them out of 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.480 the hands of their enemies. But the same God who 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.480 is able to deliver you out of the hands of 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.480 your enemies. The Bible says that at least the perspective 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:54.080 of the writer Samuel was, who we preached about last week, 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:58.040 that God delivered them into the hands of their enemies. 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.960 That's interesting to me. I don't have a category for that. 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:07.560 But God is bigger than my categories. I'm learning that. 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:12.120 I'm learning that. So he did it for forty years, 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.680 and a certain man of Zorah named Manoah from the 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.800 clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:24.640 unable to give birth. Remember that barrenness in antiquity was 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.240 a signal or a sign of the displeasure of God. 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:30.720 It didn't mean the displeasure of God, but they perceived 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:32.720 it to mean that, so it brought with it a 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:36.640 great stigma. A certain man of Zora named Manoah, from 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:38.600 the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:42.040 unable to give birth. The Angel of the Lord appeared 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:47.280 to her and said, you are barren and childless, but 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:52.120 you are going to become pregnant and give birth to 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:56.920 a son. Now see to it that you drink no 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.000 wine or other fermented drink, and that you do not 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.840 eat anything unclean. You will become pregnant and have a 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:07.320 son whose head is never to be touched by a razor. 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:09.720 And my dad was a barber, so that verse offends 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:11.319 me because it would have taken money out of my 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:15.200 family's pocket. But anyway, because here's the reason. The boy 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:18.320 is to be a Nazarite. And the Nazarites don't cut 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:22.600 their hair, they don't drink alcohol, they don't touch anything dead, 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:25.520 as the basics of being a Nazarite. In case you 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.240 were thinking about doing it, that's what you would do 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:31.760 if you were going to be a Nazarie. He is 0:10:31.800 --> 0:10:36.320 to be dedicated to God from the womb. He will 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:40.040 take the lead in delivering Israel from the hands of 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.839 the Philistines, which God delivered them into so that he 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:44.720 could deliver them from what was in them that caused 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:46.400 them to get in this cycle to begin with. And 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:49.320 he's going to use this child to deliver them out. 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:52.920 I love your word, Lord, thank you for thank you 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.280 for what you're showing me. Now, now this is where 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.600 it gets really, really, really good, because then everybody say, 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:03.280 then a woman whose name we don't know, who's talking 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:07.600 to a man whose name isn't given. These unnamed people 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.760 have a conversation, and the woman went to her husband 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:15.000 and told him a man of God came to me. 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:21.760 He looked like an angel of God. Very awesome. I'm 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:26.480 gonna be like, hold up, a man come and talking 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:31.320 to my wife anyway, you know, because he didn't have 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:35.920 wings or heart how we think God shows up. She's like, 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:37.960 I think it was maybe like an angel. It was 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:39.719 kind of you know, because that's how it is when 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:41.760 you hear from God. It's kind of like, I think 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.319 this might be this maybe God. I don't know. I 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:45.880 mean it like it looked like I felt like it 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:47.360 was different. I don't know, it's just different. I don't know. 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:50.400 I'm not sure. And she's telling her husband because it's 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:54.559 always revealed in the context of relationship. I didn't ask 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.400 him where he came from. He didn't tell me his name, 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:06.199 but he said to me, you will become pregnant. Uh huh. 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:11.079 So this awesome looking man came to my wife and said, 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:14.320 what I love the Bible. Though I love the Bible, 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:17.920 he said, you will be pregnant to have a son. Now, 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:20.440 then drink no wine or other firm men to drink, 0:12:20.440 --> 0:12:22.560 and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:25.199 be a Nazarite of God from the womb until the 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:30.480 day of his death. Then Manoah name means resting place. 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:36.400 Prayed to the Lord. Pardon your servant, Lord. I don't 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:38.040 mean to bother you. I know you got a universe 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:42.160 to run and all that. I beg you. Let the 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.720 man of God you sent to us because I didn't 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:49.200 get to see him. Let him come again, if you 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:53.440 could just send him back for a few minutes. I 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.360 got a few questions I need to ask him. I 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.600 need him to teach us how to bring up the 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:02.960 boy who is to be born. So I need you 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:05.079 to speak to me, because you know how you need 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.920 God to speak to you and show you how I 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.280 want to talk about the plan. That's the first thing 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:13.960 I want to mention is the plan, because I understand 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:16.680 that God wants to use me, but I need to 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.319 know what that's going to look like. You understand. I 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.360 need some details. I need some specifics. I need some 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:27.800 marching orders. I need some dates some times, some instructions. 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.280 So please Lord, if it's not too much trouble, send 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:34.160 that guy back. And he said we were going to 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:36.000 have a son that was going to like change the 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:39.360 world and stuff. But I need to hear it for myself, 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:43.800 and I need to know the plan. Any planners in 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:48.120 the house, any planners, any planners, any planners, Thank God 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.800 for you, Thank God for you, because all the people 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:53.760 without their hand up, they always come late and make 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:55.839 the worship leaders lead to the first two rows and 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:58.199 is empty and they come crawling in the last minute. 0:13:58.240 --> 0:13:59.600 But I don't hate you in the back, but I'm 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.240 just saying, thank God for the planners. But it can 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.920 become a problem. And I'm gonna show you why. I'm 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:07.320 gonna sho you why. He said, we need to know 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:09.560 the plan if it's going to be this big thing. 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:12.240 You know, if you gave us this promise, I need 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:14.880 to know the plan, because without a plan, the promise 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.840 is just abstract rhetoric. Without the plan, I can know 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:20.960 God has for me. He wants to use me. I'm 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.640 spread the gospel and all that sounds good, but just 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.360 send him back. If I could get five minutes with 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:30.480 this awesome looking man who was talking to my wife 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:34.280 and told her she was about to get pregnant, I 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.680 need to know the plan now. I love the next phrase, 0:14:37.760 --> 0:14:44.200 God heard Manoah. God heard Manoah, and interesting that the 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:47.400 woman wasn't praying to get pregnant when the angel said 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.560 it was going to happen. I don't know if she 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:52.040 gave up. I don't know if she did pray. I 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:53.440 don't know if she didn't pray. Bible doesn't say it 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:57.280 doesn't matter. And then Manoah's begging God to show up 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.000 and speak to him. You know, God initiates, we respond. 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:04.800 God initiates, we respond. But God heard Manoah. And when 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:10.040 when Manoah prayed, God didn't say figure it out yourself 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:15.840 and trust me. Instead, he obliged Manoah's need for more information. 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:20.360 Let the person next to you know something real quick. 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:23.320 And it might sound cocky, but tell him anyway, it's 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:30.600 truth say. He hears me. God hears me. He hears 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:34.840 me better than Siri and Alexa. He hears me. He 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:38.840 hears me, He knows my voice. He likes when I 0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:42.200 call him, When I say help, he says yes before 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.200 I can even get out my mouth. He hears me. 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:51.080 He hears my groans where words don't come. He hears me. 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:55.040 He hears my heart and the secret petitions of things 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.360 that people don't know that I'm dealing with. He hears me. 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:01.840 He hears the unspoken. Did you go to youth group 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.360 and we used to say? I have an unspoken He 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:07.680 hears what I don't say, He hears what's behind what 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:11.440 I said that's really driving the behavior. He hears me. 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.320 He hears my secret frustration that I don't say around people, 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:17.760 because if I told him how frustrated I was, it 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:22.000 would scare him. But he hears me. He hears me 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:24.680 when I sing to him, when I tell him worthy 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:27.760 is the Lamb of God, he hears me. I know 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.160 there's better singers than me, and I know I don't 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.360 always sing on key, but he hears me. When I 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:37.040 sing thank you Jesus, he hears me. It blesses his 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:43.680 heart to hear me, and the angel of God came 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.320 again to the woman. Wait wait, wait, wait, wait to 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:51.360 the woman, Manoah asked for the visit, and this angel 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:55.120 is back out talking to his what because God is 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.560 not going to do it like you want him to 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:04.840 do it. He's gonna want to see will you trust him? 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:06.680 So the angel God came again to the woman while 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:08.440 she was out in the field, but her husband, Manoah, 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.719 was not with her. No. Woman hurried to tell her husband, 0:17:12.840 --> 0:17:16.720 he's here the man who appeared to me the other day. 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:20.840 Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:23.440 came to the man, he said, are you the man 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.600 who talked to my wife? Hold on, let me change 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:35.560 Manoah's accent. Are you the man who talked to my wife? 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:38.840 She said? An awesome looking man came and said that 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:43.520 she was gonna be pregnant? Was that you? Angel said? 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:49.240 I am so, Manoah asked him. When your words are fulfilled, 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:52.760 I don't doubt you're going to do it. I just 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:56.000 need to know the plan. What is to be the 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:58.720 rule that governs the boy's life and work? How do 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.720 we do this? How do we do this. We're in 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:05.520 a meeting this week about the church, and I know 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:07.760 what I want to see, but I don't know the 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.400 plan for it. And so a lot of times when 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:13.119 I get in that mode, I start trying to like 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:18.000 tweak stuff, and I start trying to manipulate stuff. I 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:19.800 know you don't do this, but I'm a control freak, 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:21.640 and so I'll be like, well, we could do this, 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:23.280 this and this, and it's all good. It's all good. 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.800 But I want you to watch what the Angel does 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:30.800 instead of giving Manoah the plan, which is what he 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.000 asked for, what do we do with this boy that 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:34.440 you said is going to be born that's going to 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:36.240 do something great? What do I do with this calling? 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.119 What do I do in this situation? I need to 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.240 know the plan. I need to know the details. I 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:44.800 need to know the agenda. And the Bible says that 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:53.359 the Angel verse thirteen answered your wife. So now the 0:18:53.440 --> 0:19:02.280 Angel pivots from what Manoah asked to what he needed 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:07.680 to know right now. Now, sometimes when you pray to God, 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:12.080 he's going to pivot, and you're gonna be like, I 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.239 need the plan, but God will pivot. I mean, this 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:20.320 angel would have made a great politician or preacher or 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.720 basketball player. He could have been in the All Star 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:25.520 Game because watch how quick he pivots. We need to 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:26.880 know what to do when the boys moorn, what we're 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.919 gonna do? How many times? You know, Manoa's full of questions? 0:19:31.000 --> 0:19:32.520 Right of course he is. Do we need to put 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:33.919 him in a special school? Do we need to get 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:35.480 him a tutor? Do we need to see some karate? 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:37.480 Do we need to see some jujitsu? You know? Should 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:39.119 we be straight? Should we what do we do? How 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:41.160 do me do it? And the angel says, just tell 0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:43.480 your wife right now, don't drink anything or eat anything unclean. 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:45.080 That's all you need to know right now. The pivot 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:50.000 from what you think you need to know to what 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:54.480 you really need to know. And God, just watch his footwork. See, 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:56.680 we always want to see God's hand, but sometimes you 0:19:56.720 --> 0:19:59.920 gotta watch his feet because sometimes he wants to set 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:03.280 a different direction to say, you're not even looking at 0:20:03.280 --> 0:20:05.520 the right side of this. Watch the pivot, and when 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:07.399 he pivots, you got to be quick to go with 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:09.560 him and say, God, I don't want your hand, I 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:11.920 want your face, I want to know you, I want 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:14.200 to seek you, I want to see you. I want 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:16.480 to feel you. I want to know you. I want 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:23.080 to have you. I want to I want to understand 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.359 what you know I need to understand. And I wonder, 0:20:27.600 --> 0:20:30.400 is God trying to pivot your prayer life? Is God 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.719 trying to pivot? You're strategizing. Is God trying to pivot 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:37.040 because you're always trying to look for him in logic, 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:40.000 You're always trying to look for him in analysis and 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.280 in calculation. But God is spirit and you can't get 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:46.480 the spirit through strategy. You've got to come to God 0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:50.479 like this. You've got to come to God with open arms, 0:20:50.720 --> 0:21:02.240 open hands, and an open heart. Pivot it. It's funny 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:06.000 thing about a pivot though it's a small move, but 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:11.600 it sets a completely different direction. Ma, Noah, you can't 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:17.359 handle the plan right now. You can't. My word is 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:20.760 a lamp unto your feet, a light into your path. 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:24.840 Funny thing about pivot. I've been doing this all week, 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:28.320 just studying this sermon. It's trying to get God to 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:31.280 show me different ways to see situations and to see 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:32.840 his will. And what I think is this will. What 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:34.800 I thought was his will, and I thought he was 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:37.720 always doing this, But sometimes he's doing that and they 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:41.159 get this promises this is from the Lord. You know, 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:45.520 he didn't realize that at first, but he starts to sense. 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:53.960 He starts to sense that this may be God. This 0:21:54.040 --> 0:21:57.359 may be God, because's too big to be anything I 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:00.840 could do. I have a plan for it, I don't 0:22:00.840 --> 0:22:03.159 have a context for it. I don't know. This may 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:09.919 be God. This is the Lord. This is from the Lord. 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:15.240 This gift set that I have, this talent, this child 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:19.560 that I'm raising, this is from the Lord. Somebody say 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:24.200 this is from the Lord. And so since it's from 0:22:24.240 --> 0:22:28.040 the Lord, then I need him to show me how 0:22:28.040 --> 0:22:32.000 to do it. But sometimes he won't answer the question 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:35.680 that I ask. Instead, he will give me the wisdom 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:43.919 that I need because he knows a better question. My 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:47.760 faith is not a formula, and I'm not good at 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:51.359 pivoting with my feet. I don't do it a lot, 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:54.000 so I had to practice it and I'm still not 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:57.920 very good at it. But I want to get good 0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:02.639 at it with my faith. I want to learn to pivot. 0:23:03.920 --> 0:23:07.159 And this is where it happens for Manah and his wife. 0:23:08.080 --> 0:23:09.639 And you're gonna see it in the text. It's just 0:23:09.640 --> 0:23:11.600 gonna blow up when you see it. It's gonna help 0:23:11.640 --> 0:23:14.919 you understand why you've been trying to classify everything in 0:23:14.960 --> 0:23:17.120 your life. You know, this is good and this is bad, 0:23:17.119 --> 0:23:18.720 and this is God and this is the devil, and 0:23:18.760 --> 0:23:20.480 this is it and this is that, and you keep 0:23:20.480 --> 0:23:23.320 trying to do that, but it doesn't work. And here's why, 0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:28.480