1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:04,680 Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 3 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,479 Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:12,559 Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message, 6 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: y'all be seated. I want to tell you a story today, 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:31,600 Speaker 1: story from the Bible from Second Kings chapter eight. And 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,840 Speaker 1: you might not have heard this one before. It's really good. 9 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: It's really good. In Second King's chapter eight, there's a 10 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: little story like you said that already. I'm just stalling 11 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: while I find my scripture. The scripture records this. Now 12 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: Elisha had said to the woman who's son he had 13 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: restored to life, go away with your family and stay 14 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,679 Speaker 1: for a while. Put that in the chat. Stay for 15 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:14,399 Speaker 1: a while, I feel God on the first verse of 16 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: the passage, and we've got five more to go past 17 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: her keenan stay for a while. But here's the bad part. 18 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:30,399 Speaker 1: Stay for a while wherever you can, not necessarily where 19 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: you want, because the Lord has decreed a famine in 20 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: the land that will last seven years. And the woman 21 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 1: proceeded to do as the Man of God said, she 22 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: and her family went away and stayed in the land 23 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: of the Philistines seven years. At the end of the 24 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: seven years, she came back from the land of the 25 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: Philistines and went to appeal to the king for her 26 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: house and land. The King was talking to Geheesi, the 27 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: servant of the Man of God, and had said, tell 28 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: me all about the great things Elisha has done. Just 29 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,240 Speaker 1: as gehes I was telling the king how Elisha had 30 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha 31 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: had brought back to life, came to appeal to the 32 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 1: king for her house and land. Wow, gahees I said, 33 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:39,079 Speaker 1: this is the woman, my lord the King, and that's 34 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: her son whom Elisha restored to life. The king asked 35 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 1: the woman about it, and she told him, then you're 36 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: ready for this. He assigned an official to her case 37 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: and said to him, give back everything that belonged to her. 38 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: I need to know who's with me today because it 39 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: feels like a funeral in the room. But it's really 40 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 1: a great opportunity for you to shout say give back everything. 41 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: In the chat, give back everything. This is not a 42 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: time for lowercase. This is a time for all cats. 43 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: Give back everything. Say it again, give back everything that 44 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: belonged to her, including all the income from her land, 45 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: from the day she left the country until now. So 46 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: this is your sermon. You're the one that I the 47 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: devil to get this message for well good, because the 48 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: Lord told me to talk to you today about timing 49 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: your testimony. Do you know what I mean when I 50 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: say testimony put the word testimony in the chat. For 51 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: some of you, this will bring up a courtroom image, 52 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: depending on the path that your life has taken, or 53 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,679 Speaker 1: what you're watching or whatever you're aware of. For others, 54 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: it will put us back in a church during the 55 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: scariest time of the church service. And how many know 56 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: what I'm talking about when I say a testimony service 57 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: in a church because it's totally ad lived and there 58 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: are no gutters in case the balls go right off. 59 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 1: You know, you never know if it's going to hit 60 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 1: any pins or if somebody's gonna stand up and monopolize. 61 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: The time, Pastor Mickey used to do the testimony service, 62 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 1: and he used to have people come up and say stuff. 63 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,720 Speaker 1: When I started this church, I had had people share 64 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: their testimonies, but I always had a rule, and this 65 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 1: was my rule, and I think it's a pretty good rule. 66 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: They could share their testimony, but I always had to 67 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: hold the mic. Is that true? And I trained our 68 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: campus fastors. This is this true, Campus Fastors. I said, 69 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: when you bring somebody up on stage that you can't trust, 70 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:26,679 Speaker 1: and let me tell you who to trust the least, 71 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: the one who is the most excited to come up 72 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: and share when you offer the opportunity. So that's our rule. 73 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: You hold the mic, and I'll tell you why. Just 74 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: because there's one story that stands out of my mind. 75 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: I've seen some testimonies services go really bad, and maybe 76 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,840 Speaker 1: you have to one that I heard about. I didn't 77 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: see this with my own eyes, but my friend Carl, 78 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,919 Speaker 1: he had this incident where he was playing piano behind 79 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: the pastor and during testimony service there was a man 80 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: who stood up and said, I called him this morning 81 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: to confirm this was true. Do you remember the story? 82 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: He was playing piano and a man stood up and said, 83 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: I just need to confess to the Lord that I've 84 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: been having some really bad thoughts about people. And yes, 85 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: I mean you, big boy, And he turns in points 86 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:27,800 Speaker 1: to my friend Carl's dad, And so Carl's dad, do 87 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: you know the story? And Carl's dad stood up right. 88 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: I barely remembered it too, but he said, and I 89 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: mean you, big boy. I'm talking about you, big boy 90 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: in testimony service. And Carl's dad stood up, comes to 91 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:41,159 Speaker 1: the front of the church. This is a little church, 92 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: there's no security, comes to the front of the church 93 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: with his chest out and says, well, how about we 94 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,400 Speaker 1: move this to the parking lot. You're talking about me? 95 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: So what's my number one rule for testimony service? You 96 00:06:55,960 --> 00:07:00,600 Speaker 1: hold the mic because I can't trust you yet. And 97 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,919 Speaker 1: trust takes time, and there are certain things that you 98 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: need to hold on to until you've had enough relational 99 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: time to develop trust. That's not being paranoid. Yeah, that's 100 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: just the wisdom of experience. So another thing that I 101 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: would teach is kind of like a countdown timer, like 102 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: after sixty seconds, take it back. Take the mic back 103 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: after about sixty seconds, that's all it takes. If they 104 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: start with my great grandmother, get the mic, start pulling 105 00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: it back, pull it back slowly, so it doesn't happen 106 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: all at once, It just kind of slowly. And the 107 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: truth of the matter is, you never really get to 108 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,760 Speaker 1: share the truth story of what God is doing in 109 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: your life. As it is, you don't really have time 110 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: to tell everything, and you really don't have trust to 111 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: tell everything. What I called it in a recent sermon 112 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: was a time lapse testimony where you edit out the 113 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: scenes that you don't want other people to see. And 114 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: I think that's wise. I don't think you should just 115 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: trust anybody talking about the things that God has done 116 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: in your life. What I wonder is, have you even 117 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: told yourself your true testimony? When I read the scripture 118 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: in Two Kings, chapter eight, it kind of came alive 119 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,559 Speaker 1: in me to realize that, I guess, depending on how 120 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: you look at it, God either has really terrible timing 121 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: or really impeccable timing. You could make the case from 122 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: certain scriptures that God has terrible timing. And I know 123 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: that makes me sound like a heretic, and they could 124 00:08:57,760 --> 00:08:59,839 Speaker 1: probably clip this and put it on YouTube or something 125 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: like that and say all my false teachings. But four 126 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:09,679 Speaker 1: days after Lazarus dies is bad timing to show up 127 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 1: and help, Or the fourth watch of the night, just 128 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: before dawn is a terrible time to step in and 129 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: stop the storm. In this scripture, though it brought to 130 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: my memory all the times that God was waiting for 131 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: the exact right moment in my life where He could 132 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: achieve the most glory out of my situation to step in. 133 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: Some sermons that I preach are like a lesson. This one, 134 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: to me in my spirit, feels more like a lifeline 135 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: that God gave me to give to somebody as you 136 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: were waiting for the restoration of something that you lost. 137 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: And if we can look at this scripture for a 138 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: moment today, I think we can see some things to 139 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: help us. Especially in verse one, it says that Elisha 140 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: had said to the woman whose son he had restored. 141 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 1: Everybody say the word restored. I love that word. I 142 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: think we need to use it more in church, restored, 143 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: restored to life. And he told that woman go away 144 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: with your family and stay for a while wherever you can, 145 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: because the Lord has to create a famine in the 146 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: land that will last seven years. Now here's what will 147 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: get you about the story. In verse two, the woman 148 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,600 Speaker 1: proceeded to do as the Man of God said, and 149 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: then when she came back seven years later, she lost 150 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: what she had. So I can understand characters like Jonah, 151 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,400 Speaker 1: who God says, go to Nineveh but you want to 152 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:54,559 Speaker 1: go to Tarsish, and because you want to go to Tarsish, 153 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: you end up on the seaweed Mediterranean diet. You end 154 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: up having to spend the night the fish. That's understandable. 155 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: This scripture suggests that you can do exactly what God 156 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: tells you, that you can go exactly where He sends you, 157 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 1: that you can act on God's word and not see 158 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 1: the results that you imagine. You can do everything right. 159 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: And see, this is where we get in trouble because 160 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: sometimes we become convinced that the famine is our fault. 161 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 1: Notice in the passage, the Lord decreed the famine, and 162 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,959 Speaker 1: the Lord told the woman to leave. But when she left, 163 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: in the process of going where God sent her to survive, 164 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: she lost something that she had before she left. And 165 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: the famine wasn't her fault. And there's no disobedience. I mean, 166 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: this woman, you don't know much about her, maybe, but 167 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: she's absolutely a man because she had a very generous heart. 168 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: And we kind of know this woman. We know a 169 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,440 Speaker 1: lot about this woman, and to me, she's familiar because 170 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 1: I've preached a lot about her story. But see things 171 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: have changed for her. You know, one day you can 172 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: stand up and share where you're at in your life 173 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,599 Speaker 1: and is so amazing and you're so blessed. One of 174 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: the reasons that I don't teach parenting sermons is because 175 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: mine's still live with me, and I don't want to 176 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: tempt God. Do you understand what I mean? To get 177 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: up and preach seven ways to raise an amazing kid? 178 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:41,199 Speaker 1: And then God sends seven demons in my kid so 179 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 1: that I can see that sometimes you can do all 180 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: the right things as a parent. It'll keep you from 181 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,800 Speaker 1: getting judgmental. To realize that this is the same woman 182 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: when the prophet asked her what do you want? Because 183 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: see she had done a great thing for Elisha, And 184 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: when the prophet said what do you want? She said 185 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: something interesting. I don't need anything. I've got a home 186 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: among my own people. And the woman who needed nothing 187 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:14,360 Speaker 1: in Second King's chapter four now has nothing in Second 188 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: King's Chapter eight. What is the point of that for 189 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: me to bring it up? Don't be arrogant in seasons 190 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: of blessings, don't be arrogant, And by the same token, 191 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:33,559 Speaker 1: in seasons of struggle, don't despair. And you would love 192 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:37,560 Speaker 1: to convince you that it's all your fault, even the 193 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: things that people did to you, that there was something 194 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: wrong with you that made them do it. But the 195 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: famine wasn't her fault. The famine wasn't her fault. Now 196 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: I hesitate to preach this because we live in a 197 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: time where people kind of don't want to take responsibility 198 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: for anything. So by saying this, the famine isn't their fault, 199 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:09,200 Speaker 1: I'm afraid that my sermon will be misapplied. Okay, the 200 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 1: famine wasn't her fault, but she still had a responsibility, 201 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: right right, So she walks back into the presence of 202 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: the king to ask him to give back what she 203 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: lost when she left, what you lost when you left, 204 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: what you lost when you left. Okay, I'm gonna share 205 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: something with you. This is kind of personal, But about 206 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 1: two and a half years ago, I realized there were 207 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: some things in my life that God wanted to give me, 208 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 1: and that indeed he had promised me that I had 209 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: given up on. And I'll tell you exactly what it was. 210 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: It's not some deep, dark secret. I just, you know, 211 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: never really thought to share it with you till I 212 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 1: read this passage. Pretty much I had made up my 213 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: mind that I was some kind of machine that God 214 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: wanted to use to do ministry, and I thought that 215 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 1: my greatest value to God was what he could use 216 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: me to do. I don't think I would have said 217 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: it like that. I certainly preached the opposite of that. 218 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 1: You're a child of God, you're the righteousness of God. 219 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: You're not a human doing, You're a human being. But 220 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: you can say all kinds of stuff with your mouth, 221 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: and I believe it in your heart. I promise you 222 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 1: you can all day long have the right answers and 223 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: then deep down in your heart have some really dark questions. 224 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: And for me, I was starting to wonder, like, do 225 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: I matter apart from what I do? Now that's a 226 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: tender thing to say to you, because some of it 227 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: I'm still undoing. Let me tell you a little bit 228 00:16:04,840 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: of my testimony. I started preaching when I was sixteen, 229 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: So for me, that was really early for me to 230 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 1: become acquainted with the fact that when you stand up 231 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: and talk, you're representing God. Right. I'm thankful that God 232 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: called me at that stage of my life. I really 233 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 1: wouldn't change any of it, you know, but what it 234 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: did in me it started to kind of conflate my 235 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: identity with my contribution, or I could say it another way. 236 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: It kind of started to confuse my identity with my gift. 237 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 1: That happens to a lot of pastors. And about two 238 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: and a half years ago I found myself in the 239 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: position of this woman. Now here's how I relate to her. 240 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: Not that I'm a widow. There's a lot I don't. 241 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: She's a woman, I'm a man. This woman, as a 242 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: matter of fact, has seen a physical resurrection of her child. 243 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 1: What I can relate to her in this way is 244 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,879 Speaker 1: that God wanted to give her something that she didn't 245 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: even know to ask for, and that in the process 246 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:25,240 Speaker 1: of surviving a famine, she had lost something. I think 247 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,960 Speaker 1: in the process in chunks I never talked to you 248 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: about this, but in the process of building this church, 249 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: which I believe God called me to do as a leader, 250 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 1: as a preacher, I think there are some things that 251 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: while I was doing what it required to do, that 252 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: I kind of left myself out of it. Y'all are 253 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: like God was he? What drug was he on? It 254 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: wasn't like all that, because it doesn't always have to 255 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,600 Speaker 1: be like all of that. All I know is I 256 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,439 Speaker 1: would find myself many times wondering if I couldn't do 257 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: what I did, would I have any right to be here? 258 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: And basically I thought that the only way for me 259 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:08,199 Speaker 1: to belong was to bring something external to myself for others. 260 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: And there came a point because sometimes you have to 261 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: go low enough, and I experienced several moments that God 262 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: gave me. I really see it now as a gift. 263 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: I and see it as a gift at the time. 264 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,240 Speaker 1: But God let me get low enough that I had 265 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: to make a decision and I did that if this 266 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: is what it cost to succeed in ministry, I would 267 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:38,320 Speaker 1: rather fail in people's eyes but have joy inside myself 268 00:18:39,760 --> 00:18:46,199 Speaker 1: then achieve everything that the world offers and feel empty. 269 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:52,439 Speaker 1: And the reason that I'm telling you this is because 270 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: I think this happens to all of us from time 271 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,119 Speaker 1: to time, that we have to do certain things in 272 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 1: certain seasons, right like being a mom. If you've ever 273 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 1: been a mom, or you're considering being a mom, you 274 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: should know or testify to the fact. If you've experienced it, 275 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:11,480 Speaker 1: you can say amen to this. If you haven't experienced it, 276 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: you can consider it in the contract of becoming a 277 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: mom that you become a hostage to another human in 278 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 1: the process, and it's not just for moms. Like sometimes 279 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,440 Speaker 1: as a man, to build your career, sometimes you find 280 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,879 Speaker 1: yourself in the process of making a living, you lose 281 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: a sense of yourself and what's important. So the prophet said, 282 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: you've got to get out of here, and she did 283 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,159 Speaker 1: what the prophet said. She wasn't running from God, she 284 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: wasn't disobeying God. She was doing what she had to 285 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:54,400 Speaker 1: do to survive. Can you own the fact that some 286 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: of the things that you did in your life, you 287 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,959 Speaker 1: were doing what you had to do, and the devils 288 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,600 Speaker 1: beats you up with it at night, like, how could 289 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: you do that? That was the best I could do 290 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: in that season. I was doing the best I could. 291 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,399 Speaker 1: I was balancing on Oh, I was balancing so much. 292 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: It was all I could do to stand up stream. 293 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: And then the enemy will come along and subtract all 294 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:24,359 Speaker 1: of those all of those factors of survival. She didn't 295 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: run from God. The prophet told her to go away, 296 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 1: and she lost what was hers in the process of 297 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: being obedient to God. Because I kind of felt like 298 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:41,520 Speaker 1: a hypocrite when I was struggling emotionally. And here's how 299 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 1: it wou be. You come out to preach. The worship 300 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: team is going into, you know, something very powerful and anthemic. 301 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:52,399 Speaker 1: And sometimes it was a song I wrote and I 302 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 1: wouldn't feel the lyrics to the song I wrote, and 303 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 1: I'd be coming out here. But I have a job 304 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:00,200 Speaker 1: to do and I want to be responsible. I mean, 305 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: good God, if I'm a plumber, I don't get to feel, 306 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: you know, putting a wrench on a pipe. You got 307 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:07,879 Speaker 1: to just fix something. So I've got a job to do. 308 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,480 Speaker 1: So I'll come up here and inspire faith. Not every time, 309 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:17,160 Speaker 1: but a lot of times. And I would feel guilty. 310 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: What it took out of me to build the ministry 311 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: put me in a place where I could not receive 312 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: ministry myself, and it scared me. It scared me that 313 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:42,439 Speaker 1: I could become a shell. And I had to have 314 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: a moment. And I had a moment that reminds me 315 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:51,880 Speaker 1: of this woman boldly going to the King and saying, 316 00:21:51,920 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 1: I want it back. I want it. I don't want 317 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 1: to just build something or survive something. I want it back. 318 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: I want it. That you're scared to say that because 319 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: we are taught that if God wants us to have it, 320 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:31,400 Speaker 1: he'll just give it. And he will. But the other day, 321 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:34,639 Speaker 1: we were driving in this rainstorm and we were coming 322 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: home from the mountains and it was raining so hard 323 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,919 Speaker 1: there was a flash flood warning on all of our phones. 324 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: And I was just driving. I could barely see out 325 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: of the windshield. I was just driving. And Graham is 326 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 1: the kid in our family who will say the most 327 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:51,200 Speaker 1: with the least words. And he said, is no one 328 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 1: else scared about this other than me? Am I the 329 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,239 Speaker 1: only one that's concerned about this? And I said, I 330 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: was just playing around. But I said, son, God's hand 331 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: is on our vehicle, and God will see us through 332 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: this storm. And the boy says, there's only so much 333 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: God can do. Maybe we should pull over. How does 334 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:22,440 Speaker 1: he get this at thirteen and we don't at thirty. 335 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: At the risk of running you out of this church, 336 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:31,040 Speaker 1: let me say something theologically deep. There is only so 337 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 1: much God can do. No, no, no, God can do anything. 338 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,359 Speaker 1: He can make the stars, he can make the sun, 339 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 1: he can move the mountains. But you got to speak 340 00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: the word. So so it starts with me being honest 341 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: about the fact that, in the process of surviving of 342 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: famine that I didn't cause like some of you were 343 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: doing the best you could. You didn't have an example 344 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:04,359 Speaker 1: for it. You were doing the best you could. You 345 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: didn't have a frame of reference for it. You were 346 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,880 Speaker 1: doing the best you could. You had never been this 347 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:13,400 Speaker 1: way before. And the Lord sent her to the land 348 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: of the Philistines. What do you know about the Philistines? 349 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:19,720 Speaker 1: In the Bible? Good guys are bad guys. Good place 350 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: to be, a bad place to be. She had to 351 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:29,399 Speaker 1: go into an enemy occupied place to survive a famine, 352 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: and so have some of us. Some of us that's 353 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: where our addictions came from. In order to keep ourselves 354 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 1: on the planet, we had to do something to numb 355 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:52,480 Speaker 1: the pain. I love this sermon because it takes the 356 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,199 Speaker 1: shame out of where I've been. It helps me to 357 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: understand there comes a time where you have to appreciate 358 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 1: where God fed you during the famine, but be willing 359 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,639 Speaker 1: to leave and go back to the place where you 360 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: really belong. You know, I said this was like a lifeline. 361 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:27,400 Speaker 1: You've convinced yourself that you can never have it. You've 362 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:30,719 Speaker 1: convinced yourself that you can never be happy, and you 363 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: quote Bible verses. God wants you to be holy, not happy. 364 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:40,359 Speaker 1: That's in the first version of you. That's not a 365 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 1: Bible verse. That's the book of your dumb cousin's opinion. 366 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: You ever read that? Now, in cases, seems like a 367 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: stretch to compare us to this woman. Let me tell 368 00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 1: you a little bit more about our story. She wasn't 369 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: really looking to get something from God. She was looking 370 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: to give something to God. She had a Well, you 371 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: can go watch the sermon online. I preached it to 372 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 1: Holly called just the two of us. I preached it 373 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: in the whole empty room. That was just her on 374 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:20,480 Speaker 1: the front row and a few people that stuck in 375 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: the back. But it was just the two of us, 376 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 1: and I used it to talk about this woman and 377 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:30,880 Speaker 1: her husband. Did y'all hear this sermon? Yeah, is most 378 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:32,679 Speaker 1: awkward sermon I ever preached because it was just two 379 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: of us in the room. It's very big room. And 380 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 1: this woman was just determined to use what she had 381 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,639 Speaker 1: for God, really expecting nothing in return. Now, when I 382 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:48,200 Speaker 1: say timing your testimony, and I use these examples about 383 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:52,399 Speaker 1: taking the mic away and all of this, what I 384 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 1: really mean by timing your testimony is about trusting God 385 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: to obey him before he has shown you exactly why 386 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:05,359 Speaker 1: he's calling you to do it, okay, Like it's really 387 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,159 Speaker 1: easy to say after the fact that God connected this 388 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:11,720 Speaker 1: and that and the other. But the trick of it 389 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:14,480 Speaker 1: is that she made a room for the prophet to 390 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: come and stay before she knew what God was going 391 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,399 Speaker 1: to do through her act of obedience. And isn't that 392 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: the hardest thing, Like the author said, to believe in 393 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:29,399 Speaker 1: advance what will only make sense in reverse. That's the 394 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 1: hardest thing in the world. To let down the nets 395 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,199 Speaker 1: for the catch before you have any clue that this 396 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,959 Speaker 1: carpenter knows where they are. That's the hard part. And 397 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:41,399 Speaker 1: after she did that, the prophet said, you've gone to 398 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,960 Speaker 1: all this trouble for us, Now what can we do 399 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: for you? She had something in her heart that she 400 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:51,439 Speaker 1: wanted God to do, like you have something in your 401 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: heart that you want God to do, a freedom that 402 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,359 Speaker 1: you want to experience, a gift that you want to 403 00:27:57,359 --> 00:28:01,919 Speaker 1: see God develop, a state of meaning than just survival. 404 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,280 Speaker 1: She had it in her heart, but she had learned 405 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:09,000 Speaker 1: how to hide it. And when the prophet said what 406 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: can I do for you? The woman said, I have 407 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 1: a home among my own people. Because she did then 408 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: what she didn't have was a son, And the Bible 409 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: tells us her husband was old. I told you, God 410 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:36,480 Speaker 1: has terrible dyming. He waits till this man is shriveled up. 411 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: Can I say it like that? And he brought her 412 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 1: what she had stopped asking for. It was so painful 413 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: for her to consider the potential that it could be 414 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 1: any different that she said, stop messing with me. Do 415 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 1: not mislead your servant, man of God. And she pushed 416 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: away the promise of God. She pushed away the promise 417 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: of God. She pushed away the possibility of something different. 418 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: She pushed away. That's what you've been doing to everything 419 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 1: that God has been sending into your life to mature 420 00:29:17,640 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: you and restore you. She is pushing away the very 421 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: thing that came from the mouth of the one that 422 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: she made a room for. She is pushing away the 423 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: promise that God has sent her. But God did it anyway. 424 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: The prophet looked at her and said, about this time 425 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: next year, you will hold a son in your arms. 426 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 1: And she did, and she did. There is no record 427 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,360 Speaker 1: that she believed it. There is no record that she 428 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,040 Speaker 1: had faith for it. There is no record that she 429 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 1: all of a sudden came into a scripture quotation. Phase 430 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: of her study did a Bible more Bible study on 431 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 1: pillars of faith. There is no record of that. But 432 00:29:55,840 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: she held a son and one day, unexpected to her 433 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: as son died unexpectedly. So let's recap. I didn't ask 434 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,040 Speaker 1: you for a son. You gave it to me anyway, 435 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 1: and then you let it die. She takes the boy. 436 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,240 Speaker 1: Can I tell you the story? This is such a 437 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: great story, brings the boy, puts it on the bed 438 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:27,080 Speaker 1: of the prophet. She went to Ikea and picked this 439 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: bed out her self, put it together herself, and she said, 440 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,160 Speaker 1: I'm going to put this back on the place that 441 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,400 Speaker 1: you were laying when you told me God would give 442 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: it to me. And Elisha restored the boy to life. 443 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:52,240 Speaker 1: That boy is the boy that standing in the King's 444 00:30:52,240 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: court at least seven years later in Second King's eight Boy. 445 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:04,720 Speaker 1: That she didn't ask God to give her the boy 446 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: that died, even after God gave the boy to her 447 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 1: and came back to life. And what got me about 448 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: this text was realizing that the thing that died in 449 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: one season of her life was the thing that stood 450 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: beside her in the moment of her greatest need. So 451 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 1: you got to imagine it. Gehesi is the servant of Elisha, 452 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,480 Speaker 1: and the king calls Gehesi and says, tell me some 453 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,760 Speaker 1: stories about Elisha, and Geheesi has many. Well, there was 454 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:38,440 Speaker 1: one time, one time he took his cloak and he 455 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 1: struck the Jordan with it, and the water's parted, and 456 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:42,959 Speaker 1: the people were waiting to see is he really a 457 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: man of God? And the water's parted. And then one 458 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 1: time there was a spring in the town and the 459 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:50,400 Speaker 1: water was poisonous, but Elisha put some salt in the 460 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: water and he purified it. And he said, your water 461 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:53,720 Speaker 1: will never be cursed again, and you can drink from it. 462 00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:56,080 Speaker 1: And then well, one time there were these boys who 463 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: called him Baldy, and he called some bears out of 464 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 1: the woods tomorrow. But let's skip that one, you know, 465 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: you say selective stories. One time there was this there 466 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:05,760 Speaker 1: was this confederation of kings and they were in the 467 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:07,600 Speaker 1: middle of a drought, and Elisha came out to him. 468 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:08,840 Speaker 1: He said, I don't even want to talk to you, 469 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 1: because you follow the wicked gods of your ancestors. And 470 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:13,040 Speaker 1: if I didn't have respect for johash Fat, I wouldn't 471 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:14,680 Speaker 1: even speak to you. But now bring me a minstrel, 472 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 1: and the minstrel started playing, and Elisha started prophesying in 473 00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 1: the dry valley, and he told him dig your own 474 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:21,240 Speaker 1: ditches and prepare for the rain that you can't see. 475 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 1: And the rain came from a direction that it wasn't expected. 476 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 1: It didn't come from the sky like normal rain does. 477 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 1: It came from somewhere else. It's just the way Elisha was. 478 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 1: And you can picture Geheza. He's getting fired off telling 479 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,120 Speaker 1: these stories. You know, he's remembering, he's rehearsing the things 480 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: that God did in a previous season. He's rehearsing the 481 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: things that God did in a previous season. Because one 482 00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,120 Speaker 1: time we went to this widow's house and she had 483 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: a little bit of oil, and she thought she had 484 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 1: no oil, but Elisha told her go back and check 485 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,239 Speaker 1: the thing that you called nothing again, because what you 486 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: call nothing is exactly what God needs to do something 487 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:58,479 Speaker 1: that you So so he's telling the stories, right, And 488 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: there's there's one that he skipped with Naman because Nayman 489 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,000 Speaker 1: was a leper who came to be healed, and when 490 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:08,240 Speaker 1: Elishah pronounced healing over him by dipping seven times in 491 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 1: the Jordan, which is a ridiculous thing to do, because 492 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:12,360 Speaker 1: the Jordan is a little dirty body of water, and 493 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:14,480 Speaker 1: Nayman was a great commander, and he could have bathed 494 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,680 Speaker 1: in the waters of Obna and far Far, but he 495 00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: had to come all the way to the prophet and 496 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: dip in the Jordan seven times for his flesh to 497 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,640 Speaker 1: be restored like a young boy. And he was so 498 00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 1: excited about his miracle that he tried to give some 499 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:29,440 Speaker 1: gifts to Elishah, and Electra said, I don't want your gifts. 500 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: I didn't do it for that, and gahes I chased 501 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:37,040 Speaker 1: down Nayman and said, hey, my master changed his mind, 502 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: so whatever you have, I'll take it back to him. 503 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,680 Speaker 1: And he kept it for himself. And Elishah, the man 504 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 1: of God, knew about it, and he called him out. 505 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:51,080 Speaker 1: And gaheze I had leprosy, So what was he doing 506 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 1: in the court of the king. A leper can't be 507 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:03,360 Speaker 1: in the court of the king. It looks like the 508 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:11,239 Speaker 1: little boy isn't the only one that God restored. I 509 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:14,359 Speaker 1: have to put this in because if I don't, you'll 510 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,400 Speaker 1: think that only if you're like the woman and you 511 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:20,759 Speaker 1: do what God told you to do, that you can 512 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:25,600 Speaker 1: ask God to restore what you lost. But Gahesi is 513 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:29,960 Speaker 1: standing in the presence of the King. Watch this to 514 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:34,480 Speaker 1: let you know that even if you did it, even 515 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:39,880 Speaker 1: if it was your fault, even if it was your selfishness, 516 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,360 Speaker 1: even if you were the one who let go, even 517 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,920 Speaker 1: if it was your irresponsibility, you can stand in the 518 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 1: presence of God under the blood of Jesus and say, 519 00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:57,319 Speaker 1: I want it back in the name of Jesus. I 520 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,439 Speaker 1: want back everything that SAME's stripped from and stole from 521 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:10,280 Speaker 1: me and took from me. So he's telling her the stories. 522 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,640 Speaker 1: He's telling the king the stories, and he gets to 523 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:14,680 Speaker 1: the one about the woman and she built us a 524 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:16,520 Speaker 1: room and she put a bed in it, and she 525 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:18,799 Speaker 1: didn't have a son, and Elisha said, you're gonna have 526 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:20,680 Speaker 1: a son, and she's like, I don't even want a son. 527 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,359 Speaker 1: I've given up on it. And Elijah prophesied the sun 528 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 1: and she shows up pregnant, and then the kid dies 529 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,480 Speaker 1: and he's in the field and he starts screaming about 530 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:30,279 Speaker 1: his head, and then they put him on the bed 531 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:32,279 Speaker 1: and I was gonna go try to heal him with 532 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:34,359 Speaker 1: my staff, but Elijah said, no, this is a job 533 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:35,759 Speaker 1: for me, and he came in, and I don't know 534 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:36,800 Speaker 1: what he did in that room because it was just 535 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:38,359 Speaker 1: him and the boy in there, but they both came 536 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:52,320 Speaker 1: out ass he is talking the woman walks in the room. 537 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: Do you understand the statistical improbability that at the exact 538 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,840 Speaker 1: moment there are so many stories to be told about Elisha. 539 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:05,720 Speaker 1: I didn't even give you half of them. But God 540 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:12,840 Speaker 1: knew the exact moment that Gahesi would be talking about 541 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:16,600 Speaker 1: that woman. I don't know if she hit traffic on 542 00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:19,680 Speaker 1: the way so that she was late, or whether she 543 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,279 Speaker 1: caught every green light so that she got there right 544 00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:27,680 Speaker 1: on time. But I have learned something about God. You 545 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,680 Speaker 1: can trust his timing. You can give him the mic, 546 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,520 Speaker 1: you can let him speak what he wants to speak 547 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:40,600 Speaker 1: over your life, and in the appointed time, it will 548 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:51,919 Speaker 1: come to pass. I've seen it in my own life. 549 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:54,760 Speaker 1: I've seen it in my own life that God knows 550 00:36:54,840 --> 00:37:04,000 Speaker 1: exactly what, who, where, when, what? Oh, this is the 551 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,480 Speaker 1: best scripture. Do y'all want the best scripture in the Bible. 552 00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:11,239 Speaker 1: Here's the best scripture in the Bible, Psalm one thirty nine. 553 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:13,160 Speaker 1: Now this is the best scripture today. I'll have a 554 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:15,759 Speaker 1: different one tomorrow. But this is the best scripture I've 555 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,040 Speaker 1: ever read in my life. Right now, Okay, Because God, 556 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:20,560 Speaker 1: I'll give you a certain word at a certain time. 557 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:22,960 Speaker 1: And here's what he gave me. Here's what he gave me. Boy, 558 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:30,279 Speaker 1: you ready, Psalm one thirty nine one five. I know 559 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:32,400 Speaker 1: that one twenty five doesn't sound like a verse number, 560 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 1: but it is. There's a there's one hundred and twenty 561 00:37:35,239 --> 00:37:39,319 Speaker 1: five in this verse, and I'm glad I took time 562 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:41,480 Speaker 1: to find it because it said something really powerful to me. 563 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:45,520 Speaker 1: I am thy servant. Give me understanding that I may 564 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:56,919 Speaker 1: know thy testimonies. Here's the part to hit me. Hold 565 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:04,960 Speaker 1: on before I read it. Who is this for? It 566 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:12,799 Speaker 1: is time for the Lord to work, not for me, 567 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:20,400 Speaker 1: for thee. And I want you to come into the 568 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:25,560 Speaker 1: presence of the King, not the King of Israel. I 569 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:27,520 Speaker 1: want you to come into the presence of the King. 570 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:32,640 Speaker 1: The Lord told me to tell you it's time for 571 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:39,879 Speaker 1: him to work. It's time. You've done everything you can 572 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,600 Speaker 1: do about it. You have manipulated it so much that 573 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:49,200 Speaker 1: you've messed it up. Even worse. There comes a time 574 00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:51,680 Speaker 1: where Holly tells us get out of the kitchen. You 575 00:38:51,719 --> 00:38:56,600 Speaker 1: are not helping and I heard the Lord saying, to somebody, 576 00:38:56,640 --> 00:39:05,040 Speaker 1: get out of the kitchen and let me work. It 577 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:12,680 Speaker 1: is time for thee O Lord to work. For they 578 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:19,759 Speaker 1: have made void thy law. It is time for thee 579 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:25,840 Speaker 1: to do something about what they did. This woman left 580 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:30,640 Speaker 1: a homeowner, and while she was gone surviving the famine, 581 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,640 Speaker 1: somebody else took her home. The king said, go back 582 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:36,960 Speaker 1: to second King's chapter eight. This is so annointed I 583 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:39,360 Speaker 1: can barely I can barely get it out of my mouth. 584 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:41,560 Speaker 1: There's so much jumping up in my spirit while I 585 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,120 Speaker 1: preach to you. Because the Lord said, this is a 586 00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:48,919 Speaker 1: lifeline for somebody. It is time for thee O Lord 587 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:52,319 Speaker 1: to work. She comes into the presence of the King 588 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:57,120 Speaker 1: to ask back for what she lost when she left. 589 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:02,319 Speaker 1: At the exact moment that she walks in Ghyes, I 590 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:06,040 Speaker 1: was telling the king her story. Does God not have 591 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:13,360 Speaker 1: the craziest timing? And geheze I said, that's that woman, 592 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:17,640 Speaker 1: the one who put the table in the lamp, in 593 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,319 Speaker 1: the bed in the room, the one who gave us 594 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:26,279 Speaker 1: a place to stay. That's her. The one whose son 595 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:29,520 Speaker 1: Elisha restored to life. And there's the boy. Now you 596 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:32,800 Speaker 1: have got to drag what God did in your past 597 00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:37,879 Speaker 1: into the room and show the thing that you are 598 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:44,120 Speaker 1: facing today what God did for you yesterday. That's what 599 00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:47,120 Speaker 1: you gotta do. It is time for you to work Lord. 600 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:52,600 Speaker 1: So just like you gave me this back, I need 601 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:57,360 Speaker 1: that back. Just like you restored this that I thought 602 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:00,560 Speaker 1: was gone forever, and God did that for me. There 603 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:03,040 Speaker 1: are some things that I know that I know that 604 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:05,120 Speaker 1: I don't have to prove it to you. You don't 605 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:07,600 Speaker 1: have to agree with it. God did that for me. 606 00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:11,040 Speaker 1: Nobody else. It wasn't a human. God might have used somebody, 607 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:13,839 Speaker 1: but only God could bring the dead back to life. 608 00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:18,239 Speaker 1: So the God who did this, I need him to 609 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:22,680 Speaker 1: do that. And verse six SSS something very interesting. This 610 00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:24,880 Speaker 1: is the last verse I want to give you because 611 00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:28,040 Speaker 1: the king asked a woman about it, and she told 612 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:33,960 Speaker 1: him and then read it again. She told him what 613 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:38,040 Speaker 1: God had done for her, and then he assigned an 614 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:41,759 Speaker 1: official to her case. So she only got back what 615 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:45,439 Speaker 1: she needed. When she told the story of what God 616 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:50,960 Speaker 1: had done. You follow the sequence she could have told herself. 617 00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:54,880 Speaker 1: Any story. Life isn't fair, This isn't right. I tried 618 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:58,360 Speaker 1: to obey God, and now look at me. But she 619 00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:02,320 Speaker 1: told the story of what God had done, And so 620 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:06,240 Speaker 1: God wants to know why have you stopped telling the story, 621 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:14,400 Speaker 1: not to others, to yourself, why have you stopped telling 622 00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:17,799 Speaker 1: the story of what I did for you and replaced 623 00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:20,920 Speaker 1: it with a story of fear of what might happen next. 624 00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:27,040 Speaker 1: So while you are telling yourself these hypothetical stories of 625 00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:30,720 Speaker 1: what might happen, or these shameful stories of what did happen, 626 00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:36,360 Speaker 1: you are standing next to a story, a living, breathing, walking, 627 00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:41,600 Speaker 1: talking miracle, a product of nothing but the grace of God. 628 00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:50,759 Speaker 1: That's why April Carter told me. She said, God did 629 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:52,719 Speaker 1: this for me. And I said, well, why didn't he 630 00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:56,040 Speaker 1: do that? And she said, in all fairness, it's not 631 00:42:56,160 --> 00:43:04,560 Speaker 1: your story. Never stopped telling herself the story. You stop 632 00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:09,760 Speaker 1: telling yourself the story of God's faithfulness, and you start 633 00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:18,799 Speaker 1: telling yourself the story of fear. She told him what 634 00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:23,840 Speaker 1: God had done. And then everybody say, then in the chat, 635 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:27,560 Speaker 1: I'm telling you right now that one word, or let 636 00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:35,919 Speaker 1: me give you another word. Yet ye Yet I don't 637 00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:43,120 Speaker 1: have it yet. I haven't found a way to get 638 00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:48,439 Speaker 1: set free from this yet. I don't see how it's 639 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:54,720 Speaker 1: going to work out yet. See timing your testimony, don't 640 00:43:54,719 --> 00:43:58,720 Speaker 1: tell it too early because you don't know what God 641 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:07,080 Speaker 1: is going to do. In chapter eighth, see, it's like 642 00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:11,520 Speaker 1: the timing of God is so amazing. And every time 643 00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:16,200 Speaker 1: you tell yourself a story about the things that God 644 00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:20,520 Speaker 1: did then and you bring it into the presence of 645 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:24,080 Speaker 1: what you need him to do now, he said, give 646 00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:30,640 Speaker 1: her back what belongs to her. Say it out loud. 647 00:44:30,680 --> 00:44:34,480 Speaker 1: Peace belongs to me. I am a child of God. 648 00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:39,400 Speaker 1: Joy belongs to me. I am a child of God. 649 00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:44,560 Speaker 1: Freedom is my inheritance. I am a child of God. 650 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:51,560 Speaker 1: I belong because I believe I am a child of God. 651 00:44:53,960 --> 00:45:02,839 Speaker 1: Tell yourself that story. Preach the gospel to yourself. If 652 00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:07,640 Speaker 1: GAHESI can rehearse the great things that God has done? 653 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:15,399 Speaker 1: Who was a leper and a scoundrel? Can't you? And 654 00:45:15,480 --> 00:45:18,200 Speaker 1: can you trust God's timing enough to give him the 655 00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:25,080 Speaker 1: mic and believe what he speaks? That though the visionary 656 00:45:25,160 --> 00:45:31,120 Speaker 1: wait for it, for it has an appointed time is 657 00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:35,400 Speaker 1: taking me a while to understand that God's timing is 658 00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:42,440 Speaker 1: created to increase my trust in Him, whether that's the 659 00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:45,280 Speaker 1: fourth watch of the night or whether that's the fourth 660 00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:50,239 Speaker 1: day after I have lost something that I love. And 661 00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:55,640 Speaker 1: God gives you these little gifts? What are yours? Have 662 00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:58,880 Speaker 1: you told anybody that part of your story? Or are 663 00:45:58,920 --> 00:46:02,560 Speaker 1: you so consumed with your present struggle that you have 664 00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:12,440 Speaker 1: stopped rehearsing your past victories? Thank you. I know I've 665 00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:14,399 Speaker 1: told you this before, but can I tell you one 666 00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:17,480 Speaker 1: thing that happened to me? Stand up, it'll pressure me 667 00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:23,040 Speaker 1: to close. I can't tell you all of these things, 668 00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:27,440 Speaker 1: but do you remember me telling you in twenty sixteen 669 00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:31,440 Speaker 1: how I was on vacation with the family near Charleston 670 00:46:32,520 --> 00:46:36,160 Speaker 1: went over to the farmer's market there at Yeah, you 671 00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:39,360 Speaker 1: know this story? All right, Well, I'm gonna tell it 672 00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:41,640 Speaker 1: for somebody else. It's too good not to tell you. 673 00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:45,280 Speaker 1: I'm at the farmer's market. You want the whole story. 674 00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:47,960 Speaker 1: I'm at the farmer's market with Holly because she dragged 675 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:51,520 Speaker 1: me there. I don't go to farmers markets of my 676 00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:56,879 Speaker 1: own volition. I OneD a farmer's market, but I went, 677 00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:06,080 Speaker 1: not knowing why. But I got there, and you were there. 678 00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:11,160 Speaker 1: Whole family was there. This girl comes walking over to 679 00:47:11,239 --> 00:47:15,600 Speaker 1: us from she had a what do you call it? 680 00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:20,640 Speaker 1: Confection cupcakes and stuff bakery, a bakery stand at the 681 00:47:20,640 --> 00:47:29,160 Speaker 1: farmer's market. She was so nice, her name was Addie May. 682 00:47:29,360 --> 00:47:33,840 Speaker 1: She came up and said, I want I want to 683 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:40,719 Speaker 1: give your family some sugar kids hyper but she said, 684 00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:46,439 Speaker 1: I love your podcasts. Can I get a picture? I 685 00:47:46,480 --> 00:47:49,480 Speaker 1: was more than happy to do that, but you know, 686 00:47:49,560 --> 00:47:51,359 Speaker 1: at the same time, I looked like a bomb. I 687 00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:53,719 Speaker 1: was just so I was kind of worried that I 688 00:47:53,719 --> 00:47:58,000 Speaker 1: wouldn't look too good in the selfie. She said something 689 00:47:58,000 --> 00:47:59,120 Speaker 1: that I thought was kind of where she said, my 690 00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:02,239 Speaker 1: pastor is going to be so jealous, and I said 691 00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:06,239 Speaker 1: for me that we met. She said, yeah, he loves you. 692 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:08,759 Speaker 1: I said, tell your pastor. I said, Hi, what's his name? 693 00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:10,600 Speaker 1: She said his name? I said, that's great, tell him, 694 00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:11,960 Speaker 1: I said hi. She said, I'm going to go tell 695 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:14,279 Speaker 1: him right now. I'm going to go call him, and 696 00:48:14,320 --> 00:48:17,680 Speaker 1: she called him. She came back over with the cupcakes 697 00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:20,959 Speaker 1: because we're about to leave. She said, my pastor said 698 00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:25,080 Speaker 1: that we actually invited you to preach at our church 699 00:48:25,160 --> 00:48:29,920 Speaker 1: this week about a year ago, and your office declined 700 00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:34,839 Speaker 1: because they said that you were on family vacation. And 701 00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:37,359 Speaker 1: so I was like, well, they weren't lying. I'm right 702 00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:40,839 Speaker 1: here on family vacation. And she said, but all the same, 703 00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:44,080 Speaker 1: you should come over to uh, you should come over 704 00:48:44,120 --> 00:48:47,480 Speaker 1: to our holy convocation this week. I said no, I 705 00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:51,840 Speaker 1: said vacation, not com vocation. It's a whole. This is 706 00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:54,239 Speaker 1: the Holy vacation. It's a whole different, this a whole while. 707 00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:58,880 Speaker 1: Let me tell you it's a whole different rhythm. And 708 00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:03,200 Speaker 1: but just to be polite or whatever, I took the dates. 709 00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:04,879 Speaker 1: She wrote it out on in the car to church, 710 00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:07,239 Speaker 1: saying all this stuff. And I'm telling you a story 711 00:49:07,320 --> 00:49:09,719 Speaker 1: for a reason, I promise I am. The Lord told 712 00:49:09,719 --> 00:49:13,279 Speaker 1: me to tell you this story. And sometimes I have 713 00:49:13,360 --> 00:49:17,040 Speaker 1: to do this just to remember, because I have moments 714 00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:22,759 Speaker 1: where I wonder, is God really ordering my steps or 715 00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:26,960 Speaker 1: is this random? So I have to tell myself these 716 00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:30,840 Speaker 1: stories of times where God made like at the right moment. 717 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:33,760 Speaker 1: Can you remember one where God brought at the right moment? 718 00:49:34,239 --> 00:49:37,080 Speaker 1: Raise your hand if you can remember one, just even one, right, 719 00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:40,840 Speaker 1: that's a testimony. And we overcome the enemy by the 720 00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:44,080 Speaker 1: blood of the Lamb. That's what Jesus has done and 721 00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:49,480 Speaker 1: the word of our testimony. Now, now remember what Graham said, 722 00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:52,520 Speaker 1: There is only so much God can do. Yes, he 723 00:49:52,560 --> 00:49:56,160 Speaker 1: can do anything, but he will not tell your testimony 724 00:49:56,360 --> 00:50:00,480 Speaker 1: for you. That is your story. That is your test, Simoni, 725 00:50:00,680 --> 00:50:05,799 Speaker 1: that is your choice, cavolific. So, so she writes down 726 00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:09,120 Speaker 1: the name of the church, and she says, on this 727 00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:11,440 Speaker 1: night so and so speaking, on that night so and 728 00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:14,640 Speaker 1: so speaking, and this night so and so speaking. The 729 00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:16,960 Speaker 1: last one that she put on my card. I think 730 00:50:17,000 --> 00:50:20,160 Speaker 1: on the Friday night she said, this guy's speaking, and 731 00:50:20,239 --> 00:50:22,359 Speaker 1: I had always wanted to hear him preach. So all 732 00:50:22,360 --> 00:50:23,799 Speaker 1: of a sudden, I'm like, well, maybe I will go 733 00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:26,680 Speaker 1: over there. And I'm kind of glad I met her. 734 00:50:27,719 --> 00:50:32,200 Speaker 1: And I had somebody in my office call over to 735 00:50:32,239 --> 00:50:34,759 Speaker 1: the church and see if that pastor was coming on 736 00:50:34,800 --> 00:50:36,880 Speaker 1: that night, and he was. And the pastor said he 737 00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:39,680 Speaker 1: wanted to wanted us to meet and hang out. Whatever. 738 00:50:39,719 --> 00:50:41,000 Speaker 1: That's not the point, okay, So let me get to 739 00:50:41,040 --> 00:50:43,759 Speaker 1: the point. So the day of the I'm going to 740 00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:46,880 Speaker 1: go over to the church comes and I get a 741 00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:50,480 Speaker 1: text from my assistant says, the pastor who was going 742 00:50:50,520 --> 00:50:53,840 Speaker 1: to come, he can't come. He had a back injury. 743 00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:58,040 Speaker 1: I'm telling you, the voice of God is much louder 744 00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:01,600 Speaker 1: than a shout, because a shout you can put some 745 00:51:02,040 --> 00:51:07,719 Speaker 1: AirPods in and noise cancel. But when God speaks to you, 746 00:51:07,719 --> 00:51:12,000 Speaker 1: you can't. You can't do anything with it, either obey 747 00:51:12,040 --> 00:51:16,279 Speaker 1: it or be miserable. So so in that moment, I 748 00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:19,359 Speaker 1: knew you need to call that pastor that Addie may 749 00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:21,680 Speaker 1: gave you the card and offer to go over there 750 00:51:21,680 --> 00:51:27,520 Speaker 1: and preach tonight. And so I'm going through my mind 751 00:51:27,760 --> 00:51:29,799 Speaker 1: like it's been two or three weeks that since I've 752 00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:31,640 Speaker 1: been in my own pulpit. I'm like, I don't know 753 00:51:31,640 --> 00:51:33,959 Speaker 1: that I remember any Bible versus be cause I always 754 00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:38,279 Speaker 1: read the Bible every day on vacation. And and so 755 00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:42,279 Speaker 1: I'm like, well, I'll call, and you know it'll be 756 00:51:42,400 --> 00:51:46,240 Speaker 1: like uh uh, Like I'll just put out a fleece 757 00:51:46,320 --> 00:51:49,480 Speaker 1: like Gideon, Lord, and and and in fact, the first 758 00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:52,000 Speaker 1: thing I was I said, I'll get my assistant to call, 759 00:51:52,080 --> 00:51:55,360 Speaker 1: and the Lord is like, no, you do it. So 760 00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:57,720 Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, I don't. I don't know the number 761 00:51:57,760 --> 00:51:59,719 Speaker 1: of the church. I just know the name. And the 762 00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:06,000 Speaker 1: Lord Lord said google, I call the church. The pastor 763 00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:10,920 Speaker 1: doesn't answer, nobody answers. I leave some message, and I'm like, okay, Lord, 764 00:52:11,640 --> 00:52:15,319 Speaker 1: So I offered Isaac on the altar, and you didn't 765 00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:19,200 Speaker 1: want to going back to the beach. I leave this 766 00:52:19,880 --> 00:52:23,120 Speaker 1: weird message on the phone. I say, hey, this is 767 00:52:23,120 --> 00:52:25,880 Speaker 1: Stephen Verdick, the pastor of Elevation Church. I'm out here 768 00:52:25,880 --> 00:52:28,040 Speaker 1: on vacation. I met a girl named Addie May, and 769 00:52:28,040 --> 00:52:30,279 Speaker 1: I heard your speaker cancel tonight, and I was just 770 00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:32,680 Speaker 1: calling to see if you needed a preacher or whatever. 771 00:52:32,719 --> 00:52:34,560 Speaker 1: But I'm sure you don't, so have a nice day 772 00:52:34,560 --> 00:52:36,920 Speaker 1: and God bless him Ephesians three twenty. So I hang 773 00:52:37,000 --> 00:52:44,040 Speaker 1: up about the time I can get my beach attire 774 00:52:44,120 --> 00:52:48,359 Speaker 1: back on. I'm headed out to the phone rings and 775 00:52:48,360 --> 00:52:54,480 Speaker 1: it's the pastor. He said, this is Stephen Verdick. I said, yes, sir. 776 00:52:55,800 --> 00:52:59,520 Speaker 1: He said his name, and he said, you really will 777 00:52:59,520 --> 00:53:03,759 Speaker 1: come preach for us tonight. I said, yeah, I guess, 778 00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:06,000 Speaker 1: I said, but I would tell you I have no 779 00:53:06,120 --> 00:53:08,800 Speaker 1: convocation clothes. I'm out here on vacation with my family. 780 00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:11,480 Speaker 1: I look like Tom Hanks Ond eighty one with Wilson 781 00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:15,960 Speaker 1: out here, so so so it's just gonna have to be. 782 00:53:16,800 --> 00:53:19,480 Speaker 1: I said, I only have all I had. The dressiest 783 00:53:19,480 --> 00:53:22,120 Speaker 1: thing I have is yeasies. He said, I'll wear my 784 00:53:22,160 --> 00:53:26,120 Speaker 1: easies too, if you'll come. I said, I'll come. I 785 00:53:26,160 --> 00:53:28,040 Speaker 1: don't I don't know what I'll preach but I'll come. 786 00:53:28,239 --> 00:53:34,920 Speaker 1: And when I got there that night and showed up 787 00:53:34,920 --> 00:53:37,920 Speaker 1: the preacher, I got to see Addie May and then 788 00:53:37,960 --> 00:53:44,719 Speaker 1: I got to see the pastor. And when I saw him, 789 00:53:44,760 --> 00:53:47,680 Speaker 1: he was he had tears his eyes. He said. After 790 00:53:47,719 --> 00:53:50,520 Speaker 1: so many years in the ministry, several decades, he said, 791 00:53:51,160 --> 00:53:54,640 Speaker 1: I never had the Lord answer a prayer as directly 792 00:53:54,680 --> 00:53:58,080 Speaker 1: as he did today. He said, you were our first 793 00:53:58,200 --> 00:54:02,880 Speaker 1: choice to come preach tonight, and I've done three funerals 794 00:54:02,920 --> 00:54:08,880 Speaker 1: this week when you called. The reason nobody answered the 795 00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:13,800 Speaker 1: phone was because we were in a prayer meeting asking 796 00:54:14,200 --> 00:54:27,719 Speaker 1: for God to send us a preacher to you. And 797 00:54:28,040 --> 00:54:30,680 Speaker 1: I preached, and I don't know if it was any good. 798 00:54:30,680 --> 00:54:39,480 Speaker 1: It didn't matter. The point was obedience. Point was obedience, 799 00:54:40,120 --> 00:54:55,200 Speaker 1: Oh not my obedience at amys think about God at 800 00:54:55,400 --> 00:54:57,520 Speaker 1: just the time the verdicts are getting to the farmer's 801 00:54:57,640 --> 00:55:02,200 Speaker 1: market thirty more minu. She would have packed up those 802 00:55:02,239 --> 00:55:10,360 Speaker 1: cupcakes at just that moment, he said. The pastor said, 803 00:55:10,600 --> 00:55:16,040 Speaker 1: you were my ram in the bush talking about Genesis 804 00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:21,720 Speaker 1: with Abraham and Isaac. I like to tell that story 805 00:55:23,200 --> 00:55:27,040 Speaker 1: to remind myself that God is going to bring things 806 00:55:27,040 --> 00:55:28,920 Speaker 1: together in the right time, and I can trust them 807 00:55:28,920 --> 00:55:35,400 Speaker 1: in that. I can trust them in that. But I 808 00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:37,960 Speaker 1: want to tell you something that I never told my 809 00:55:38,040 --> 00:55:43,040 Speaker 1: church before. About two years ago, I sent Chris Brown 810 00:55:44,520 --> 00:55:49,439 Speaker 1: out to do some music with this amazing worship team 811 00:55:49,520 --> 00:55:52,000 Speaker 1: called Maverick City Music. I said, you got to go 812 00:55:52,040 --> 00:55:55,000 Speaker 1: out there, and when he came back, I wanted to 813 00:55:55,040 --> 00:55:58,080 Speaker 1: know everything because there's such a great annoying on this ministry. 814 00:55:58,360 --> 00:56:00,680 Speaker 1: I said, what is God doing? I said, it feels 815 00:56:00,680 --> 00:56:02,399 Speaker 1: punk rock to me? Is it punk rock? He said, 816 00:56:02,400 --> 00:56:08,800 Speaker 1: it's so punk rock for the Lord? And he said, 817 00:56:09,600 --> 00:56:12,319 Speaker 1: but do you know about Chandler. It's Chandler back there? 818 00:56:13,239 --> 00:56:15,759 Speaker 1: He said, do you know about Chandler? I said, yeah, 819 00:56:15,760 --> 00:56:19,040 Speaker 1: that's the guy. He's amazing. What about him? He said? 820 00:56:21,719 --> 00:56:28,279 Speaker 1: He said that was his dad's church. His dad was 821 00:56:28,360 --> 00:56:32,200 Speaker 1: the pastor that you went and preached for in twenty 822 00:56:32,239 --> 00:56:47,759 Speaker 1: sixteen when Adam may In dided and God gives you 823 00:56:47,800 --> 00:56:53,560 Speaker 1: these moments. God gives you these moments or something that 824 00:56:53,640 --> 00:56:58,360 Speaker 1: seems so small to you in one season. And I 825 00:56:58,400 --> 00:57:02,960 Speaker 1: find myself last year sitting in a room with Chandler 826 00:57:03,000 --> 00:57:07,400 Speaker 1: and Naomi and Chris and writing a song called Jirah, 827 00:57:15,160 --> 00:57:18,760 Speaker 1: a song that we weren't even trying to write. He 828 00:57:18,920 --> 00:57:23,520 Speaker 1: was sitting at the piano and he just sang sirah. 829 00:57:24,960 --> 00:57:29,320 Speaker 1: I said, did you just say girah? He goes and 830 00:57:29,400 --> 00:57:31,440 Speaker 1: I said, if you ever said that in a song before? 831 00:57:32,480 --> 00:57:37,320 Speaker 1: He said, I said, we're gonna say it in this one. 832 00:57:39,320 --> 00:57:48,160 Speaker 1: Shirah means we'll see to it. Jehovah jirah. That's what 833 00:57:48,280 --> 00:57:52,800 Speaker 1: Abraham called the place where the Lord gave him a 834 00:57:52,920 --> 00:58:01,040 Speaker 1: ram so he wouldn't have to sacrifice his son. And 835 00:58:01,200 --> 00:58:07,840 Speaker 1: sometimes I need to remember and tell these stories to 836 00:58:07,920 --> 00:58:13,040 Speaker 1: myself for when I'm wondering if God's going to come 837 00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:17,280 Speaker 1: through for me. If you've been feeling that lately, just 838 00:58:17,320 --> 00:58:21,080 Speaker 1: lift your hands, because sometimes I need to remember that 839 00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:23,560 Speaker 1: the same God who brought me to the farmer's market 840 00:58:23,960 --> 00:58:29,040 Speaker 1: Jesu to meet Dady May so I could preach in 841 00:58:29,120 --> 00:58:34,680 Speaker 1: my ye'sies at a holy convocation for a pastor I 842 00:58:34,720 --> 00:58:40,480 Speaker 1: didn't know, whose son was a songwriter that I would 843 00:58:40,560 --> 00:58:46,400 Speaker 1: later collaborate with to release a song that God would 844 00:58:46,400 --> 00:58:53,560 Speaker 1: send into the hearts of millions of people. That God 845 00:58:54,840 --> 00:59:01,280 Speaker 1: can be trusted and at the right time, if you 846 00:59:01,360 --> 00:59:06,320 Speaker 1: humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, in due time, 847 00:59:08,080 --> 00:59:18,200 Speaker 1: he will lift you up, and he may is not 848 00:59:18,280 --> 00:59:29,680 Speaker 1: here anymore on the earth. She was Chandler's nanny and 849 00:59:29,800 --> 00:59:39,800 Speaker 1: he lost her, but she brought us together, so she's 850 00:59:39,880 --> 00:59:49,120 Speaker 1: right here. Some of the things that you've lost in 851 00:59:49,160 --> 00:59:57,640 Speaker 1: your life, I feel God's presence. Give me one moment. 852 01:00:00,160 --> 01:00:03,720 Speaker 1: The things that you've lost in your life. God is 853 01:00:03,760 --> 01:00:09,040 Speaker 1: not going to bring them back in the exact same way. 854 01:00:09,160 --> 01:00:13,560 Speaker 1: He is going to restore them to you in a 855 01:00:13,680 --> 01:00:20,320 Speaker 1: greater way than you have ever seen them before. And 856 01:00:20,480 --> 01:00:25,040 Speaker 1: your only job in this is to look for the 857 01:00:25,120 --> 01:00:31,720 Speaker 1: ram in the bush. Father. We've come into your presence 858 01:00:31,720 --> 01:00:39,720 Speaker 1: today not entitled, no, not at all, not thinking that 859 01:00:39,760 --> 01:00:42,880 Speaker 1: we've been so good, or so worthy or so perfect 860 01:00:43,880 --> 01:00:47,800 Speaker 1: that we just deserve the blessings that you've given us. 861 01:00:49,920 --> 01:00:51,600 Speaker 1: But we come to you on the merit of your 862 01:00:51,640 --> 01:00:55,800 Speaker 1: grace toward us and our position in your heart as 863 01:00:55,840 --> 01:01:02,080 Speaker 1: your children. Thank you, Lord. Our times are in your hands, 864 01:01:04,560 --> 01:01:11,320 Speaker 1: and now it's time for THEE to work. It is 865 01:01:11,480 --> 01:01:22,440 Speaker 1: time for THEE to work. It is taught for THEE 866 01:01:23,040 --> 01:01:28,160 Speaker 1: to work. We were in the land of the Philistines 867 01:01:28,240 --> 01:01:35,160 Speaker 1: for seven years, but we are coming back into your presence, 868 01:01:35,840 --> 01:01:39,640 Speaker 1: the presence of the King of Kings. And the Lord 869 01:01:39,680 --> 01:01:44,760 Speaker 1: of lords, to receive back that which you have spoken 870 01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:50,880 Speaker 1: over our lives with interest. Lord, I thank you that 871 01:01:51,080 --> 01:01:54,960 Speaker 1: even in this moment, you are restoring the hopes and 872 01:01:55,040 --> 01:01:58,720 Speaker 1: the dreams, and the sanity and the peace and the 873 01:01:58,800 --> 01:02:02,920 Speaker 1: right mind of your children, restoring the years that the 874 01:02:02,960 --> 01:02:07,440 Speaker 1: locusts have eaten, restoring the years that we wasted. We 875 01:02:07,560 --> 01:02:09,960 Speaker 1: thank you, Lord that you are bringing it all back, 876 01:02:10,680 --> 01:02:15,080 Speaker 1: and that little by little, day by day, we will 877 01:02:15,200 --> 01:02:20,240 Speaker 1: see the goodness of the Lord in the Let's time 878 01:02:20,720 --> 01:02:24,280 Speaker 1: for THEE to work. O Lord, We've done all we can, 879 01:02:24,600 --> 01:02:28,880 Speaker 1: We've done all we know. It is time for THEE. 880 01:02:28,960 --> 01:02:33,480 Speaker 1: We want it back. We want your glory back, we 881 01:02:33,520 --> 01:02:37,920 Speaker 1: want your joy back. We want our purpose back, we 882 01:02:37,920 --> 01:02:42,360 Speaker 1: want our focus back, our passing back. We want it back. 883 01:02:42,680 --> 01:02:46,080 Speaker 1: In the presence of a God who will freely give 884 01:02:46,160 --> 01:02:50,680 Speaker 1: us all things in the name of Jesus, we receive it. 885 01:02:55,280 --> 01:03:07,680 Speaker 1: We receive it. We receive it. Though atarry wait for it, thoitarry, 886 01:03:09,680 --> 01:03:19,200 Speaker 1: wait for it. Though it's been seven years. Bring every 887 01:03:19,280 --> 01:03:28,480 Speaker 1: expectation into his presence. And now unto him who is 888 01:03:28,560 --> 01:03:35,280 Speaker 1: able to do immeasurably more than you ask or imagine, 889 01:03:36,360 --> 01:03:40,440 Speaker 1: according to his power, that works mightily in you. To 890 01:03:40,640 --> 01:03:48,800 Speaker 1: Him be glory through Christ Jesus in the Church. Now 891 01:03:48,840 --> 01:03:53,400 Speaker 1: and forever. Come on, give God a great shout of prase, 892 01:03:55,400 --> 01:04:26,520 Speaker 1: my God. Long thank you for joining us. Special thanks 893 01:04:26,560 --> 01:04:29,120 Speaker 1: to those of you who give generously to this ministry. 894 01:04:29,440 --> 01:04:32,400 Speaker 1: Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You 895 01:04:32,440 --> 01:04:34,800 Speaker 1: can click the link in the description to give now 896 01:04:35,400 --> 01:04:39,240 Speaker 1: or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 897 01:04:39,800 --> 01:04:42,920 Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You 898 01:04:42,960 --> 01:04:45,040 Speaker 1: can share it with your friends. You can click the 899 01:04:45,040 --> 01:04:47,360 Speaker 1: share button, take a screenshot and share it on your 900 01:04:47,360 --> 01:04:50,320 Speaker 1: social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again 901 01:04:50,360 --> 01:04:51,520 Speaker 1: for listening. God bless you.