WEBVTT - Coming Out Of The Drought 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:06.600 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.960 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.000 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:14.720 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.400 I won't tell you the whole story, but just a 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:20.080 little part of it. 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:23.840 In One Kings eighteen forty one, and Elijah said to Ahab, 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.920 go eat and drink, for there is the sound of 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:27.640 a heavy rain. 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:31.080 So Ahab went off to eat and drink. 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:34.920 But Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:39.680 to the ground and put his face between his knees. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:42.240 Maybe I'll read you a little bit more. This is 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:44.800 a good story. I'll reach you a little bit more. 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:47.320 How are you today? 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:47.519 Are you? 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:47.919 Are you. 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:52.159 Me too? Me too? I used to have a guy. 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.640 Every time you'd ask him how are you doing, he said, well. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.080 He's doing any better? I'd be twins. It's weird. You 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:02.280 know what that means? This other guy used to always say. 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:07.160 He said, I'm better than I deserve. That's pretty good. Yeah, 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:12.000 it's got pretty good. And so we have here a 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:13.960 picture of a nation coming out of a drought. And 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:18.200 then it's but it's a process, and it doesn't happen 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:20.320 all at once, and it happens in stages. 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:22.560 Look at verse forty three. 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.880 Elijah tells the king that he hears the sound of 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:27.759 the abundance of rain, and they haven't had any rain 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.000 in three and a half years. And then he tells 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.480 this servant go and look toward the sea. And the 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.040 servant went up and looked, and he came back and said, 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.840 there is nothing there. Seven times Elijah said go back. 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:42.080 The seventh time, the servant reported, a cloud as small 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.720 as a man's hand is rising from the sea. So 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.480 Elijah said, go and tell Ahab, hitch up your chariot. 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:51.920 And go down before the rain stops you. 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:56.040 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:59.280 a heavy rain started falling, and Ahab rode off to Jezruel. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.840 The power of the Lord came on Elijah, and, tucking 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.280 his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.040 all the way to Jezreel. I love that. I just 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:16.400 I think it's cool that Elijah ran seventeen miles and 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:19.680 he was out running the King's chariot because he was 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:21.920 ready for rain. Look at your neighbors, say I'm ready 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:26.120 for rain, and then comes to question are you really? 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:32.960 You know, then comes to question are you really? For 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:35.440 as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:37.240 by creative process. 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.320 So I like to hear how books were written. 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:42.200 Usually after I watch a movie, I will go on 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.520 Wikipedia and study, and then I'll go read about how 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:47.840 they did it, and I'll find YouTube interviews. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:48.160 With the director. 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:49.760 If I liked the movie, or even if I didn't 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:51.560 like the movie, I want to know how did it 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:55.240 get that bad? You know, like what went wrong in 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:58.000 the creative process? Because I know at some point somebody 0:02:58.000 --> 0:02:59.560 thought this movie was going to be better than it 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:03.000 ended up being, Like what went wrong? And so I'm 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:08.040 a student of the creative process. When I hear a 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.680 song that I like, I love music and I've always 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:16.160 loved music. And even before I started trying to write songs, 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.760 of course, I started trying to write songs right around 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:20.720 the age I was like twelve or thirteen, I was 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:24.880 starting trying to write. So I just thought of one 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:26.519 that I tried to write when I was twelve or thirteen, 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.760 but that is not for public consumption. Okay, that's just 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:34.079 from my memories, but I remember reading about songwriting process. 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.000 I just always thought I was fascinating, And even to 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:39.440 this day, I'll ask someone if I hear a song 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:41.080 that I like and I get to meet the person. 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:42.840 Who wrote it, I'll say, how did it start? 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.520 To me, that's always interesting because sometimes when they tell 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:50.800 you how the song started, it started in such a 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:54.520 different place than how it was when you heard it. 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:00.320 I could let you hear songs from Elevation worsh from 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:00.800 the album. 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:02.640 If I let you hear how they started, they. 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:04.760 Would make you cry, and not because of the presence 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:09.080 of God or the anointing. They were that bad when 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:11.560 they started. I let my kids hear a few of 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.280 the songs from our newest album, and I let them 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.760 hear it in Beta. I let I let them hear 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:20.159 the song from when it started, and they have told me, Dad, 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.040 you should never let anyone hear this again. You need 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.280 to delete this off of your phone. Nobody should hear this, 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:32.440 because there is something about starting that feels shameful. Have 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:37.800 you ever been to the gym and you know you've 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:39.760 got a lot of work to do? Have you ever, 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.560 I did this for for for one for one thing. 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:44.000 I want to say this, Okay, I want to say 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.039 this about going to the gym. When you start, it 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:51.960 always sucks. Okay, this is this is the truth about exercise. 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:55.320 It always sucks when you start, when you go to 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:57.920 the gym. I remember one time walking into a certain gym. 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:00.640 This has been years ago. I walked into a certain gem, 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.960 turned around and walked out. I didn't didn't touch a machine. 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:06.760 All I did was look at the other people who 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:09.560 had been there consistently and walked out. Just turn around, 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:11.040 walked out, didn't even touch anything, just turn around and 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:12.880 walked out. They don't even work looked at the person 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:14.560 behind the counter, didn't even want to think about the 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:19.040 process of soreness that would accompany the workout. Something about 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:23.040 starting touch and never say get started, get started. And 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:24.880 as we begin this series, I want to take you 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:26.920 on a little bit of a journey. And I've kind 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.520 of committed myself today if it's okay with you, I 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:31.000 want to get in a little bit of a more 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.760 of a teaching mode because there is something about the 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:35.440 nature of faith that God has. 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:36.280 Been dealing with me about. 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:39.640 And if I start preaching and hollering and all that 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:44.120 stuff that do sometimes and all that wild stuff, I. 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:45.360 Won't get my content across. 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:47.839 And I really feel like the content of this is 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:49.839 what is most important about. 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:50.440 The nature of faith. 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:52.279 The last time I was with you, we were talking 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.960 about harvest. Did any of you hear my message on 0:05:55.000 --> 0:06:04.200 harvest problems? And then what do we say? We talked 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:09.240 about how what you've been calling a problem, God calls 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:14.520 a harvest. Now, there is something about the nature of 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.760 faith that is illustrated by the rain in First Kings, 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:22.760 chapter eighteen, and so we see it when Elijah says 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:23.880 to Ahab, there is. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:27.120 The sound of the heavy rain. There's the sound of 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:27.839 the heavy. 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:31.400 Rain that often, when it comes to the realm of faith, 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:33.839 we hear things. 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.040 That we cannot see yet. 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:38.640 That is, when a word of God comes forth into 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.240 your life, you will not immediately see a change in 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:45.240 your situation. It will first produce a change within you. 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.320 I just feel like teaching a little bit today because 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.080 there are a few stages that you're going to have 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:52.760 to go through if you are going to come out 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.000 of the drought. Now, when I say the drought, I 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:58.560 mean the dry season that you have been experiencing inside 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:02.480 of yourself. When I say the drought, I don't necessarily 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:05.680 mean that you're on the verge of bankruptcy or losing 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:09.080 your marriage. Even because one thing I found out about 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:12.880 dry seasons is it often my situation can be doing 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:20.720 a whole lot better than my soul. I found out 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:22.880 that everybody else can look at my life and see 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:27.840 evidences of success. But if my soul is dry, if 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:32.200 my heart is empty, if my motivations are not aligned, 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:40.480 I can be winning outside and weeping inside. So I 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:42.160 want to speak to you today about coming out of 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:43.760 the drought, but I want to do it a little differently. 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:45.040 What I want to do is I want to talk 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:50.080 about the enemies that will keep you in a dry place. 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.080 I believe that there are at least three, and they're 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.520 all illustrated in the text I just read you. And 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.880 really I'm using this text as a picture of the 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:06.800 creative process. There is a creative aspect of faith. When 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:08.320 I grew up in the Baptist Church, I heard about 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:12.000 saving faith, and it was almost like that was all 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:15.119 that faith was for, just to get saved go to heaven. 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.320 But I found out that while I'm here on earth. 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:23.360 I need my faith in the meantime. I won't need 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:25.480 my faith when I get to Heaven. Faith is the 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:27.680 substance of things, hope for the evidence of things not seen. 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:30.120 So when I see Jesus, I won't need to believe 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.079 in Jesus. He will be right there. I need faith 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:37.200 now now. Faith is the substance of things, hope for 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.080 y'all going to mess up and make me preach. I 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.440 told you, I just want to stay here with my notes, 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:48.520 y'all like rite set out. But I'm living in this 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:52.559 stage where I have not seen him, but I love him. 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.040 And there are some things that I know in my 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:58.640 soul that I don't see in my situation yet. And 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.520 that's what faith is for. I guess I consider myself 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:06.200 at the core. If you cut me, I'm a faith preacher. 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:10.560 Not a faith preacher where we all have to act 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:14.240 like everything's all right, but a faith preacher, a deep 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:18.640 faith preacher. And nothing's happening, but I believe something's happening 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:22.880 when nothing's happening, because beneath the surface, my faith is 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:29.040 rising in hard times, fallow crowd, I got faith. Well, 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:36.600 sometimes it's invisible because there will always be a stage 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.920 of invisibility. There are three stages I want to mention, 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:42.839 and you can see where you find yourself today. But 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:49.400 I believe our faith must survive the invisibility stage, the 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:54.360 stage where you may be, like Elijah, have heard something 0:09:55.800 --> 0:10:03.160 since something precede something, believe something that you do not 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.880 yet see. I spent like seventy thousand dollars on my 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:08.920 seminary education, so every once in a while I like 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.240 to say stuff I learned there. They talk about the 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:16.560 already not yet eschatological tension. That is a seventy thousand 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:20.760 dollars word, eschatological. It just means that as things unfold, 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.640 there are certain realities of your new nature and Christ 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:28.640 that you will experience already, but there is a part 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:33.600 of it that is not yet fulfilled. So watch this, 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:35.600 you know. I just said to Ahab, go eat and drink, 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:39.000 for there is the sound of a heavy rain, which 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:42.520 isn't good news if you just washed your car, or 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.199 if you have an outdoor wedding, or if you're a pastor. 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.559 I can tell how stupid my staff members are by 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:49.920 how they act when it snow's on Sunday, if they're 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.839 posting stuff on Instagram. The snow is so beautiful. No, 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:59.160 snow sucks on Sunday. If you're a pastor, okay, it's 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.360 pretty for people don't go to church. But if your preacher, 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:04.760 that is the worst thing you can see on Sundays. 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:08.120 And now, which means that the conditions of the weather 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:11.760 and how they affect you depend on your expectation. So 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:13.840 if you've been in a famine like the nation of 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.360 Israel had for three and a half years, and you 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:21.280 hear the sound of rain, it is not inconvenient. See, 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:25.960 this is where people sometimes they'll go, well, I'm preaching, 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.199 they are not desperate enough yet for the word of God. 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:35.360 So while I'm preaching, they're like, but if you get 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:38.920 in a situation where you really need God to speak 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:43.760 to you, if you get in a situation where you 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:47.400 know that you that you need every word that proceeds 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.480 from the mouth of God, that you cannot live on 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:55.439 bread alone, you won't be like you be like, please God, 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.760 let him hold me two hours. Speak Lord, for your 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.640 turban is listening. I hear the sound of the abundance 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.680 of rain. As a matter of fact, I got seed 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:10.520 in the crownd and unless it rains, they can't come forth. 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.040 So bring the storm, Bring the rain. The storm will 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:16.520 only serve to reveal the foundation. I build my house 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:18.880 on the rock, and the rain comes down, and the 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.840 stream shries, and the winds blew and beat against that house, 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:24.559 and it did not fall because it had its foundation 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:25.719 on the rock. 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:27.120 Somebody shot, I'm ready for rain. 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.720 So Ahab goes off to eat and drink, and the 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:35.600 famine is over and the drought is over. But Elijah 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:37.959 climbed to the top of Carmel. Now, I love you guys, 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.200 and I like to demonstrate the Bible. We're appropriate, but 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.560 it does not seem to me to be appropriate to 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:44.800 demonstrate what he did here physically, So you just have. 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:45.400 To imagine it. 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:47.560 He bent down to the ground and put his face 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:52.600 between his knees. Now, I don't do that yoga preaching stuff, okay, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:54.680 the hot yoga, cold yoga, none of I don't do 0:12:54.720 --> 0:13:01.199 any of that yoga, all right, So so watch everything's 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:05.679 in motion, right this refugee. I don't know if you 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.320 know about Elijah. He was He was a rain maker, 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:12.720 but he was also a refugee, okay, And everybody in 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:14.280 here is a little bit of both as well. By 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.719 the way, Okay, he's been hiding for three and a 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:20.360 half years because he called for the drought because the 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.760 people had started depending on sources other than God. 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.240 And anytime you depend on a source that. 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.920 Is not God, he will cut you off because He 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.640 will not allow your life to be sourced by something 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.600 that cannot sustain your life. So he will cut you 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.040 off for a little while so you will come back 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:39.680 to what you needed all along, because he loves you 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:48.440 that much. And Elijah is like hiding the whole time 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.560 because if Jezebel, who is in charge of all of 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:55.520 the rain gods, they serve this god called bail who 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:59.440 wasn't really a god. He didn't have all power, you know, 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.880 like politicians who say things, but they don't really have 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.160 the power to change all the stuff that they make 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.920 promises about. I'm not saying politicians are bad. We have 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:10.520 politicians in our church, and I love the politicians in 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:14.040 the church. And there's there's there's great politicians, and there's 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.600 there's politicians, there's other politicians, and there's all of that. 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.880 But but but God, being the true and living God, 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.760 will not be corralled or confined by human need. He's 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.880 not corralled or confined by human expectation. He will not 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:32.320 be manipulated by the mechanics of humanity. And so now 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.640 the rain has stopped falling, and you will come into 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:39.200 a season of your life where God will cut you off. 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.680 He won't stop loving you, he won't stop providing for you. 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:49.320 It's just that God will allow situations to get your attention. 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:52.760 And you can pray and ask him to change the 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:57.440 situation all that you want, But until you allow him 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:01.360 to change you, nothing is going to change in the situation. 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.280 When the time came for Elijah to come forth and 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:10.000 present himself before Ahab and Jezebel, that king and that 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:15.400 queen whose wickedness was responsible for the nation's famine, he 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:19.120 comes before them boldly. He calls for a summit. By 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:21.200 this time, he survived so much. Did you ever see 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:23.720 that show Survivor? I think might still be on the 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:25.400 on the air. I'm not sure, do hem I still 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:26.080 watch Survivor? 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:26.520 No? 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:31.280 Is it still on? Everybody over seventy three is raising 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.680 their hand they still watch Survivor. We watched it for 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:36.560 a couple of seasons. Holly used to tell me all 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:37.800 the time, isn't this a mean thing to say to 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:38.280 your husband. 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:39.920 She was like, you would be the first. 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:44.640 One voted off of survivor. I couldn't argue with her. 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:45.400 She's right. 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:49.640 I have no survival skills none. All I can do 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:52.040 is talk, and sometimes I'm not even that good at that. 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.520 This is the only thing I do. That's why I 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.280 hold the mic so tight, because I don't know what 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.520 I would do if I couldn't talk, and I have 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:05.200 no survival skills. On Elijah the prophet, he had the 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:09.000 skills to survive the drought, and he did. 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:11.640 He survived in. 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:13.400 The drought, he survived the dry. 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.800 Season, and he did it really well. 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:18.320 He did it by obeying the voice of the Lord. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:19.640 So when the voice of the Lord told him to 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:21.440 go to the brook, and I'll have birds there that 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:25.359 will drop your breakfast off. I'll have birds dropping off biscuits. 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:30.560 I'll have birds dropping off bow Jangles biscuits. I'll have 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:35.800 birds dropping off bow Jangles spicy Cajun filet biscuits. I'm 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:38.960 gonna say it till you get hungry. God will provide 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.640 for you in some strange ways. If you haven't noticed, 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.440 God had ravens, which is a dirty bird. I mean, 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:50.440 the only people who like ravens live in Baltimore. God use. 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:54.480 God used the dirty bird to feed his man in 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.240 a time of famine. Stop telling God how he can 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:00.000 and can't bless you. Stop telling God how he can 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.160 can and can't feed you. Stop telling God what style 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.480 he can and cannot use. Stop waiting on a song 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:09.440 you like in church to worship God. What if God 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:12.480 wants to bless you in a different style, bless you 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:16.680 in a different way. He's very creative, and so he's 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:19.080 supplying for Elijah at the brook. The brook drives up. 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.280 God sends Elijah to a widow. Why would you send 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:23.320 me to a widow to provide me with food? Because 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:25.919 sometimes God will show you how great a supply is 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.520 by sending you to someone with a greater need than 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.400 you had to begin with. And sometimes you will realize, 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.040 in the course of meeting someone else's need how great 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:38.720 God's supply already is in your life. So he does 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:41.879 all that, and for three and a half years he 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:45.600 is a refugee until it comes time for the refugee 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:48.040 to become a rain maker. 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:49.439 I love it. 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:52.880 That was almost my title of the sermon, from refugee 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:59.240 to rain maker. I like creativity. I like creative process, 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.000 all right, titles for every sermon I preach. I just 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:02.480 love it. 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.040 I love it. I love it. 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:07.240 And he stands up and he gets all the prophets 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:13.120 of Bail, all these little rain dancers, makes fun of him, 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:19.280 calls them names, he tells them. He's like, hey, maybe 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.560 Bail's in the bathroom. Maybe that's why he can't hear you, 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:24.960 because they had a deal. You call for fire, I'll 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.119 call for fire. And the God who answers by fire, 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:33.040 he is God. And when Bail didn't answer, Elijah said, 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:39.520 maybe he's in the bathroom. I love the Bible, And 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:42.800 at the end of the whole thing, the Bible says 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.399 that after wetting the wood, now watch this. This is 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:50.240 the nature of faith. You wood before you call for fire. 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.160 You do when you're walking by faith, because that's how 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:59.199 God often proves his presence by putting you in an 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:08.080 impossible sit situation, an impossible situation preaching to somebody today, 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.080 I'm gonna look all around this room in Valentine and. 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:11.840 Find out who it is. 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.520 You are in an impossible situation, and you are in 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:20.400 the stage called invisibility, that's where you don't see any 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:23.800 way that it could happen. Okay, I was even talking 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:24.320 to one of my. 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:25.040 Friends this week. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.439 He's very successful, but he has another level God is 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:30.840 calling him to. It isn't just for the people who 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:32.960 need God to heal them of cancer, although this message 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.520 would apply to you in that situation. This is somebody 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.160 who's going from one stage to the next. And here's 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.800 what he said to me. He said, I feel like 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:43.800 God is doing something new in me, but I just 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:49.560 don't see the path to it yet. Invisibility, I sense 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:54.119 God doing it. I hear the sound of rain, but 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:58.439 I don't see anything yet. And so Elijah, while the 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:03.280 king goes off to eat and drink, buries his head, 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:08.639 closes his eyes and believes by faith that what he 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:10.720 has spoken will come to pass. 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:14.280 And this servant come here, jjy. 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.760 The servant runs up to the top of the mountain, 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.760 going up there to the Yeah, I just want to 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:25.159 show you what he did. I don't know if the 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:28.600 camera can catch this. For the other campuses. Here comes 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:32.440 goes up to the top. 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:35.440 We're gonna have some fun with this too. 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:39.359 We're gonna have some fun with this because he didn't 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:40.040 just do it one time. 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:40.920 Come here, Jonathan. 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:47.200 And now on the way back down, he's going slower. 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:49.240 On the way back down, he's going slower because he's 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:52.440 got to deliver some bad news to the Man of God. 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:55.919 And in case you hadn't noticed, you don't want. 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:58.080 To give bad news to Elijah a lot. 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:00.280 I mean, he's the kind of guy you do not 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:03.760 want to give Elijah bad news. Elijah slaughtered all eight 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:07.720 hundred and fifty false prophets. Okay, So now you've got 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:12.280 to come to the guy who just killed just under 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:14.600 a thousand false prophets, and. 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:15.639 He doesn't even look up at you. 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:18.760 He's in this weird position, this prayer, this prayer thing. 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:22.479 And now you've got to tell this guy who just 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:25.280 told the king, gets your chariot ready and go down 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:29.199 before the rain stops you. You just told you just 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:31.200 told the king that it's going to rain. You sent 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:33.520 your servant to go see it, and the servant comes 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:44.520 back and says, look at the phrase, there is nothing there. 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:47.800 Can I ask you a question? Was the servant wrong? 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:58.000 I feel like I'm being set up right now. 0:21:59.080 --> 0:21:59.680 Got on. 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:08.160