WEBVTT - Blessed by Your Enemies 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:02.880 No one likes to talk about money. Am I saving enough? 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.040 Can I buy a house? Am I paying too much 0:00:05.040 --> 0:00:07.760 in taxes? Will I be able to retire? What if 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:10.360 you could unlock insights about your finances in less than 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.840 five minutes, with a clear picture of where you stand 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:15.720 today and where your money can work harder. Now you 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:18.759 can visit facet dot com to take the free quiz 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:23.400 and get your financial wellness score today. That's Facet dot com. 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:25.360 This ad is sponsored by Facet. Fast Wealth in Corporated 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:27.280 is an sec registered investment advisor. 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That's code iHeart fifty when 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:27.280 you sign up at unest dot co for a fifty 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.120 dollars bonus. See terms and conditions at UNEs dot co. 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:34.880 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast. 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.959 We enjoy spending this time with you. I hope you'll 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:41.360 leave Inspire. Make sure you subscribe to get new messages 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.440 every week. We appreciate your support. It helps keep the 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:45.280 ministry going. 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:56.520 Enjoy the message. 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.880 Well, God bless you. It's always a joy to come 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:05.440 into your homes. And if you're ever in our area, 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:07.560 please stop by and be a part of one of 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:08.400 our services. 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:10.760 I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:13.280 But thanks so much for tuning in, and thank you 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.079 again for coming out today. I like to start with 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:19.320 something funny and I heard about this pastor. He was 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.680 in the lobby after service greeting people, and he saw 0:02:22.720 --> 0:02:25.239 this man that he hadn't seen in a long long time, 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:27.960 pulled him over to the side and said, sir, you 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:31.200 need to join the Army of the Lord. Man said, 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.080 what are you talking about. I'm in the Army of 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:35.960 the Lord. Pastor said, well, how come I only see 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:39.600 you on Christmas and Easter. He whispered back, I'm in 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:44.120 the Secret Service. Hold your Bible up, say it like 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:46.960 you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:49.480 it says. I am. I have what it says I have. 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.520 I can do what it says I can do. Today 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.800 I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess. 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:59.519 My mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I will 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:03.360 never be the same. In Jesus's name, God bless you. 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:08.079 I want to talk to you today about blessed by 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:11.639 your enemies. We all know that God can bless us. 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:15.120 He can show us favor, promote us, heal us. But 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:17.720 we don't always realize God can. 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:19.359 Use our enemies to bless us. 0:03:20.200 --> 0:03:23.440 And what you may think is a disappointment, A person 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:27.079 that walked away, friend that betrayed you, a coworker that's 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:29.880 trying to make you look bad. You may not like that, 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:34.440 but you couldn't reach your destiny without them. It's all 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:36.960 a part of God's plan to get you to where 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:40.920 you're supposed to be. David would only be known as 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:45.200 a shepherd boy if it wasn't for Goliath. Goliath was 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:49.640 strategically placed in David's path, not to defeat. 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:51.680 Him, but to promote him. 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:56.320 Without Goliath, David would have never taken the throne. Don't 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:00.560 complain about your enemies. It may look like a setback. 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:02.839 But really it's a set up for God to get 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:04.560 you to your throne. 0:04:04.640 --> 0:04:08.160 After all, God could have used King Saul to promote David. 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.160 Saul had the authority, he could have moved on Saul's heart, 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.640 told him promote that young man. But God chose to 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:19.600 bless David, not through his friends, but through his enemies. 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:22.600 And that's why we don't have to play up to people. 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:26.040 Try to convince them to like us. Hopefully they'll give 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:28.920 me a good break. No, God doesn't have to use 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.000 your friends. He can use your enemies, your critics, the 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.200 ones that are trying to push you down. He can 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:39.839 use them to push you up. And it's interesting when 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:44.560 David defeated Goliath, you never hear any more about Goliath. 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:50.520 Goliath was created for David's purpose. Part of his destiny 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:54.640 was to establish who David was. And just as God 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:58.760 has divine connections lined up for you, people to encourage you, 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:02.680 push you forward, He's also lined up people that will 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.720 try to stop you, discourage you, try to make it 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:10.440 look bad. There are Golias ordained to come across your path, 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:15.080 and if you don't understand this principle, you'll get discouraged. God, 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:19.120 why is this happening to me? That opposition wasn't meant 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.240 to stop you. It was meant to establish you. When 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.720 you overcome it, you will not only step into a 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:30.400 new level of your destiny, but everyone around you will 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:31.840 see the favor of. 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:33.719 God is on your life. 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.039 In two thousand and two, we received word that the 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.560 Houston Rockets basketball team was moving out of this building 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.159 and the city was thinking about selling it. 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:45.800 We needed a larger auditorium. 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.440 When I heard that something came alive on the inside, 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.640 I knew it was supposed to be ours. The word 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.320 got out in the city that we were interested in it, 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:58.200 and there was all kinds of debate as to what 0:05:58.240 --> 0:05:59.719 should happen to this building. 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:01.640 And a friend of mine. 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:05.520 Was at a business lunching sitting with some high powered executives. 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:10.400 One of these executives, a very influential man, found out 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:14.159 that my friend attends Lakewood. He started talking about the 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:18.240 Compact Center and about how against us he was, and 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:20.479 about what a terrible thing this would be for the 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.440 city now, how no church should ever have this building. 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:24.160 On and on. 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:28.680 Some other people at the table joined in kind of laughing, 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:32.040 making fun talked about how Lakewood didn't have a chance 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:36.000 in the world to get it. Finally, this executive looked 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:40.120 at my friend and said, very sarcastically, it will be 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:44.120 a cold day in hell before Lakewood ever gets that building. 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:49.600 My friend called me afterward and told me about the conversation. Said, 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.360 thanks a lot for the good news. Appreciate that encouragement. 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:59.440 But the truth is that conversation was ordained by the Creator. 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:04.000 He was one of those goliath God had strategically placed 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.960 in her path. And when I heard about how against 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:11.200 us was, I was already determined, but something. 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:11.840 Rose up in me. 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.880 I had a holy determination. I had a new fire, 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:20.360 a new result, And every time things got tough, looked 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:22.480 like it wasn't going to work out. I would be 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.960 tempted to get discouraged. I could hear that phrase a 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:29.480 cold day in hell. I'd get my passion right back. 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:34.080 Wouldn't take me five seconds. Sometimes God will put an 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.760 enemy in your life to keep you stirred up. He'll 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:42.400 allow critics, doubters, discouragers, even some haters. 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:43.280 So when you. 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:45.720 Feel tired and think you want to give up, you'll 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:49.360 keep pressing forward, shaking it off. Not because you feel 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:51.880 like it, but because you don't want to give your 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.680 enemies the joy of shitting you defeated. 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:58.520 Now out us fight, not out of pride. It's a 0:07:58.600 --> 0:07:59.800 holy determination. 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.920 God uses the negative to keep us stirred up. And 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:07.560 that business leader that was so against us, he doesn't 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:11.440 realize it, but God used him more than he used 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:14.920 my friends. He was one of the most instrumental people 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:16.320 in us getting this building. 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:18.840 And the funny thing is he wasn't for. 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.440 Us, he was against us. God used our enemies to 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.280 bless us. If I ever see that man, I need 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:31.920 to buy him dinner. McDonald's. Probably some of my enemies. 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:33.680 I feel like I need to write. 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:34.079 Them a check. 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.000 If they hadn't have been against me, I wouldn't have 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:40.000 prayed so hard. They hadn't have made fun I would 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.400 have given up sooner. If they hadn't have told me 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:45.280 I couldn't do it, didn't have what it takes, might 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:48.560 have been complacent, settled where I was. It was their 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:53.559 opposition that pushed me forward many times. God will use 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:57.720 your enemies to catapult you to success more than your friends, 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:03.079 David said. God prepares a table before me in the 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.679 presence of my enemies. Notice when God brings you through 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.559 the opposition, he's not going to do it in private. 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:12.640 He's going to do it where all of those enemies 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:16.440 can see it. This building is located on the second 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:20.400 busiest freeway in the nation. You can't drive in this 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:24.440 city very long without seeing what God has done. And 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.319 that man that was against us, I can only imagine 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:30.480 every time he passes by, something. 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:31.280 Whispers in his ear. 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.520 It must be a cold day in hell, because there 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:40.840 they are. Maybe today you're facing some kind of enemy, 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:43.600 not just a person, an enemy in your health, in 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:46.520 your finances, in a relationship, doesn't look like it's ever 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:50.480 going to work out. Have this new perspective right now, 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:54.200 God is preparing the table. The angels are taking the 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:58.079 food out of the oven. Gabriel's putting his finishing touches 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.440 on that meal. Any moment, you're gonna hear the dinner 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.360 bell ringing. God's going to say, it's your time. Here's 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:08.480 the table, here's the meal I prepared for you. It's 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.559 not gonna be a little fast food meal hidden over 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:12.120 in the corner. 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:13.080 Nobody notices. 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:17.080 Now God is preparing a table like he did for David, 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:20.160 like he did for us, to where not just all 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:23.920 of your friends see it, but even those enemies, the doubters, 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:26.840 the discouragers, the ones that said you couldn't do it, 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:30.560 They're going to see you blessed, promoted, vindicated, live in 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:35.679 your dreams, in a place of honor, in influence. In 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:39.840 one sense, God used Judas more than he used the 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:40.839 other disciples. 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.480 Judas was ordained to betray Jesus. 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.720 That was his purpose to try to stop him, and 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:50.800 it wasn't just his idea, it was the plan of God. 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:54.840 At the time, it seemed like a bad break. But 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:58.040 if he had not betrayed Jesus, there wouldn't have been 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.920 a crucifixion. With that the cross there wouldn't have been 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:07.160 a resurrection. Without the resurrection, we wouldn't have redemption, no salvation. 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:11.800 And we celebrate Mary, the mother of Jesus, giving birth 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:17.319 in the manger. We celebrate John baptizing Jesus the dove 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:21.680 coming down from heaven. But the men who betrayed Jesus, 0:11:22.280 --> 0:11:25.200 the one who sold him for thirty pieces of silver, 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:29.880 was just as critical a part of his destiny, if 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:33.200 not more so than the others. What am I saying, 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.760 don't complain about the person that betrayed you. If they 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:41.520 walked away, they didn't set you back. They set you 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:42.360 up for. 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:43.920 The fullness of your destiny. 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:48.200 If they lied about you, tried to push you down, 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.800 overlooked you, it may not have been fair. 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:54.480 But if God allowed it, he knows how to use 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:55.280 it for your good. 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.520 What if Jesus would have gotten upset, said God, I'm 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.400 your son, How could you let this man betray me? 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:06.680 He's one of my disciples. Now, Jesus knew that Judas was. 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:09.840 Going to betray him, but he didn't try to stop him. 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.520 He didn't try to talk him out of it. He 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:16.120 knew that betrayal was a part of his divine destiny. 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.840 And too often we fight against everything that doesn't go 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:24.040 our way. Get upset, bitter God, Why is this happening. 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:29.200 The longer I live, the more I realize nothing happens 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:33.640 by accident, even the opposition. If you'll keep the right attitude, 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:37.000 God will use it to your advantage. I was talking 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.480 to a well known minister one time. For over fifty years, 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.079 he had gone around the world doing so much good. 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:48.280 Most people were very appreciative, but in his hometown, the 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:51.360 local newspaper was never for him. 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:53.320 They were always finding fault. 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.439 He could do one hundred things right, they wouldn't report that, 0:12:56.960 --> 0:12:59.360 they'd find the one thing they didn't like, make a 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:00.439 big deal out out of it. 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:04.959 This went on year after year. He had an interesting perspective. 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:07.320 He said, if it hadn't been. 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:11.079 For that newspaper, I would have never accomplished so much. 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:12.760 Thought, what do you mean? 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:17.200 He said, that newspaper not only kept me on my knees, 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.640 but it gave me the fuel to keep pressing forward 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:23.920 to prove to them that they were wrong. He went 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.480 on to build a beautiful university in that city. Tens 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.800 of thousands of young people have attended, and toward the 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:33.760 end of his life. When he was just about done, 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.600 all of a sudden, the newspaper had a change of heart. 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:41.120 They wrote this big front page article celebrating everything that 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:45.560 he had done. It was almost like God waited on purpose. 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:51.120 God knew that enemy. Even though my friend didn't like it. 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:51.760 It was making him better. 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:55.240 It was keeping him stirred up, made him more determined, 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.840 more resilient. Some of the things that we don't like 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.720 were asked God to get rid of. If he removed 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:07.000 them right now, we wouldn't reach our highest potential. That 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:11.640 opposition is making you stronger. Those people trying to stop you, 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:15.960 the betrayal, the disappointment that cannot. 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:17.479 Keep you from your destiny. 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.600 God has the final say, and if he hasn't removed 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:23.440 it yet, that means. 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:24.960 He's going to use it for your good. 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:32.200 He strategically places the Goliath, the judases the opposition. Without Goliath, 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.760 you can't take your throne Without Judas, you won't reach 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:40.240 your highest potential. Without the naysayers, you wouldn't become all 0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:43.080 you were created to be. In the Book of Luke, 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:47.440 there's a familiar story. Four men carried this paralyzed man 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.560 to see Jesus. When they arrived at the house was 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:52.640 too crowded that had to take him up on the 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:56.280 roof let him down through the ceiling. At one point, 0:14:56.400 --> 0:15:00.480 Jesus said to the paralyzed man, your sins have been forgiven. 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:05.320 Some of the religious leaders were offended. They begin to 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:08.760 murmur under their breast, saying, who does he think he is? 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:12.360 This guy can't forgive sins. Only God can do that. 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:18.680 The scripture says Jesus heard their murmuring. They were trying 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:22.720 to do it quietly under his breath. But Jesus heard 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.120 what they were saying. He said to the men, which 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.280 is easier for me to say your sins are forgiven? 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.240 Or for me to say, rise, take up your bed 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:32.680 and walk. 0:15:33.560 --> 0:15:34.280 To prove to. 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:36.800 Them that he was the son of God, he told 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:40.640 the man stand up. The man stood up perfectly healthy. 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:44.120 I'm sure those naysayers when they saw him standing there, 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:45.720 they nearly passed out. 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:47.240 Here's my point. 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:52.840 If they had not been murmuring, complaining, criticizing, this man 0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:56.920 may not have been healed. Jesus could have just forgiven 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:00.560 his sins and moved on. But because of they're. 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.480 Murmuring, Jesus healed the man. 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.720 So when people are talking about you, trying to make 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:08.280 you look bad, trying. 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:11.400 To push you down. Don't worry. God hears them. 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:15.040 They are putting you in position for God to bless 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:18.080 you in a greater way. You don't have to straighten 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:23.120 them out. Don't fight battles that don't matter. Stay in peace, 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:26.880 and like this man, God will use your enemies to 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:30.640 bless you. Some of the favor that you're seeing, some 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.280 of the good breaks you've had. It didn't happen because 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.640 of you. It happened because of those people that tried 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:40.160 to stop you. They put you in position for promotion. 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:43.720 Now I always thank God for my friends, but I've 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:47.520 learned to thank God from my enemies as well. Without 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.920 the murmuring that man may not have been healed without Goliath, 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:56.240 David would have never taken his throne without Judas Jesus 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.680 wouldn't have resurrected it from the grave. You need to 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:04.320 see every enemy, so to speak, every disappointment, every betrayal, 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:05.520 in this new light. 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:09.640 It's not sent to defeat you. It's sent to increase you. 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:12.600 A friend of mine told me out in the lobby 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.520 a few years back how his business had gone down 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:16.119 to nothing. 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:17.880 He didn't think he could survive. 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:22.439 To make matters worse, one of his main competitors talked 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:23.200 about him. 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:26.200 On the radio in a very unfavorable light. 0:17:26.920 --> 0:17:30.399 They were extremely critical of him, talked about how he 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:33.560 wasn't up to part, that's why his business was going down. 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:36.919 It looked like that would be the final blow to 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:41.280 put him under, but just the opposite happened. When they 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:45.760 mentioned him. It drew new attention to his business. New 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:49.520 clients started calling out of the blue, the business grew 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:53.000 and grew. Today it's stronger than ever. In fact, he 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:57.359 surpassed that competitor that tried to talk him down. What 0:17:57.400 --> 0:18:01.159 am I saying? God can use your to promote you. 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:04.639 God has all kinds of ways to get you to 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.560 where you're supposed to be. He knows how to take 0:18:07.880 --> 0:18:10.640 what was meant for your harm and turn it around 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:15.440 and use it to your advantage. In the early nineteen hundreds, 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:20.280 farmers in Alabama were facing a major challenge. A tiny 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:24.280 insect called the bull weavil had migrated from South America 0:18:24.800 --> 0:18:28.679 was now quickly destroying their crops. They tried everything they 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:33.360 could to stop it. They exterminated using all kinds of chemicals, 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:38.600 even came up with special formulas, still to no avail. Eventually, 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.040 all they could do is sit back and watch their 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:45.320 livelihood be eaten away. One day, a farmer had an idea. 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.720 He said to his farmer buddies, instead of planting our 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:53.720 normal cotton crops, why don't we try peanuts. They looked 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:55.200 at him like he had lost his mind. 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:56.359 Peanuts. 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:59.520 We can't make a living off of peanuts. Over time 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.920 he talked them into it. They discovered that the bowl 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:07.680 weevil didn't like the taste of peanuts. Their crops took 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:11.320 off like nothing they had ever seen. They made more 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:14.680 money in a few months off of peanuts than they 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:18.640 normally made the whole year off of cotton crops. In fact, 0:19:18.760 --> 0:19:21.760 when the bowl weavils finally left, they never did go 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:26.000 back to cotton. They stuck with peanuts. Friends, God works 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:29.760 in mysterious ways. You may be dealing with some bul 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:34.720 weavils right now. My encouragement, stay in faith. Peanuts are coming. 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:41.200 What you think is a setback is really God. 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:43.480 Setting you up to do something new. 0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.720 Don't complain about the coworker that did you wrong, what 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:50.720 didn't work out? You know what that was a bowl weavil, 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.240 something that looks like it was meant to destroy you, 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:57.160 but in fact God's going to use it to take 0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:00.800 you to the next level. That person at worked, it's 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:03.400 always trying to push you down, always trying to make 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:06.399 you look bad. When you see them this week, have 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:09.919 a new attitude. You're just a bull weavil. You're trying 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:12.960 to stop me. But I know a secret. God's gonna 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:16.800 use you to push me forward. See the scripture says 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:18.160 God will. 0:20:17.920 --> 0:20:20.320 Make your enemies your footstool. 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:25.760 That means anything that comes against you, the persecution, the betrayal. 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:26.280 The disappointment. 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:30.080 If you'll stay in faith, instead of being a stumbling 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:33.320 block to take you down, God will use it as 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:37.280 a stepping stone to take you higher. When I was 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:41.399 ten years old, I was playing Little league baseball. I 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:46.000 was very small growing up. In fact, people called me peanut. 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:49.480 I was always the smallest one on the team. I 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:52.560 was in the middle of this important game. The stands 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:56.119 were full, everybody was watching. I stepped out to the 0:20:56.160 --> 0:21:00.160 plate to bat. When the opposing coach saw how how 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.679 small I was, he came out of the dugout and 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:08.359 started hollering to his players in the outfield, come in closer, 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:12.440 Come in closer. He was waving both of his arms, 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:16.080 making this big scene. He might as well have said, 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:18.800 this kid is a loser. Look how little he is. 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:21.600 He can't hit, he's not up to part. And all 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:25.600 the stands were watching. I standing there so embarrassed. I 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:26.600 felt like hiding. 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:30.359 The outfielders came in right behind the infield. 0:21:30.880 --> 0:21:32.719 Nobody was in the outfield. 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:35.320 All I could think of is that coach must have 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:40.760 seen my brother Paul play before. But when I saw that, 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:43.639 something came all over me. 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:48.160 I thought, he doesn't know who I am. 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:52.280 He didn't breathe life into me. He doesn't determine my destiny. 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:55.040 I am a child of the most Time God. I 0:21:55.040 --> 0:22:00.600 can do all things through Christ. The picture threw the ball. 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:03.560 I may have been small, but I swung like I 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:04.640 was ten feet tall. 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:06.160 I gave it everything I. 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:09.719 Had, and God helped me to connect perfectly with that. 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:13.760 Ball went well over their heads, took two bounces, hit 0:22:13.800 --> 0:22:16.719 the back fence. Nobody was in the outfield. I had 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:18.240 an inside the park home run. 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:20.840 But here's what I want you to see. 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:23.919 The next time I got up to bat, the coach 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:27.760 came out with the same fanfare, the same enthusiasm, But 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:29.600