WEBVTT - I'm Confused About My Calling Part 1 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:04.840 Church and. 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:05.840 This is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:08.360 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.080 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.440 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.239 Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:22.159 There is a passage of scripture that has always fascinated me, 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:24.360 and I knew it was the one to start this 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.560 series with because most of my sermon ideas come from 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:32.680 a text, usually a text in the Bible. But this 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:34.600 whole series came to me through a text on my 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:38.120 phone and somebody texted me, but I didn't have their 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:40.680 number in my contacts, but they had texted me before 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:44.120 and their name was in the text. So you know, 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:46.960 Steve Jobs is so smart, even from beyond the grave. 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:50.920 He made a suggestion on my iPhone and he said maybe, 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:54.440 and then it said it could be this person. And 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.160 when I saw it on my phone, I realized that 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.960 that would make an amazing way to spend several weeks 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:02.800 in the Word of God talking about those times where 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:06.120 we don't know if it's God or not, and so 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:08.640 we're trying to lead our families some of us, or 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:10.840 we're trying to get our education, or we're trying to 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:15.919 decide about jobs or dates, or trying to decide about 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:19.039 moving to a new house or new apartment, or just 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:21.600 trying to figure out what it is that we were 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.360 put here on earth for. But the series is called 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:29.840 Maybe God, Maybe God. We worship a God who can 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:33.200 be best explained as mystery, and yet we live in 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:36.840 a culture that worships certainty. And so I want to 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:38.840 talk about that for several weeks with you. And I'm 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.360 so glad you're here. Touch somebody and say he's so 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:45.760 happy you're here. That preacher, That preacher is happy you're here. 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.360 That's true. I'm so glad you're here. 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:51.200 And what I need you to do right now is 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:54.040 give your attention just to this text in First Samuel, 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:58.960 chapter three, where we will encounter a young man who's 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:02.400 encountering God. And I pray that we will encounter God 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:05.920 in the process today. First Samuel three, verse one. The 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:09.840 boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days, 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.840 the word of the Lord was rare. There were not 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:18.400 many visions. One night, Eli, whose eyes were becoming so 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:22.240 weak that he could barely see was lying down in 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:26.200 his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.520 gone out. Touch somebody say, there's still time, There's still time. 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:32.440 I know you might have got off track in your life, 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:34.920 but there's still time. I know there might be some 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.280 things out of order in your house, but there's still time. 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:40.280 I know you might have wasted some years chasing your 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.920 own ways, but God brought you here because there's still time. 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.560 God left you here because there's still time. If you're 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:50.799 still breathing, there's still time. I got a friend named 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.080 Perry Noble. His favorite quote is, if you're not dead, 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:55.040 God's not done. 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.520 And I just believe that. I believe it. 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:00.840 So the light had not yet gone out, and Samuel 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:02.720 was lying down in the house of the Lord, where 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.440 the ark of God, which symbolized the presence of God was, 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.679 And then the Lord called Samuel, and Samuel answered, here 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:14.280 I am. And he ran to Eli and said, here 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:19.640 I am. You called me, but Eli said, I didn't 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:24.680 call go back to sleep, man, wake me up in 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:28.760 the middle of the night. I didn't call you. Go 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:33.959 back and lie down. So he went and lay down again. 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:39.400 The Lord called Samuel, and Samuel got up and went 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:40.480 to Eli and said. 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:42.320 Here, I am. 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:46.920 This is really strange, right like, because you expect when 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:49.520 God calls it'll sound so deep. 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:56.960 So baritone Samuel apparently it sounded. 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.760 It sounded so much like what he was used to 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:03.880 being around that he ran to the place where he 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:08.760 normally went and he was like, here, I am, you 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:14.280 called me, my son, Eli said, I did not call. 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:19.200 Go back and lie down, but you need an ambient, 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:20.800 a weighted blanket, some. 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:26.279 Milk or cookie. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord. 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.560 The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:34.159 to him. A third time, the Lord called Samuel, and 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:38.000 Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here, 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:38.640 I am. 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:39.200 You call me. 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:43.520 I know you're messing with me. Then Eli realized that 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:47.359 the Lord was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:49.480 go and lie down. If he calls, you say speak Lord, 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:51.279 for your servant is listening. 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:54.160 The title of this. 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.599 Message is something that I have heard people say to 0:04:56.680 --> 0:04:59.960 me of all ages, of all ethnicities, of all econo 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:03.520 status positions. And I want you to look at the 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.040 screen for the title of my message. It goes like this, 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:13.320 I'm confused about my calling. I'm confused about my calling. 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:18.240 I love God, and I love my family and I 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:20.560 want to make a difference. But look at somebody next 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:25.960 to you and say you look confused. Tell them I am, 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:31.000 I'm confused about my call. Lord have your way, speak 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:35.279 your word. We're listening in Jesus' name. Amen, Now be seated. 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:46.080 You are forgiven. When I say calling, you roll your 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:49.560 eyes a little bit. It is one of these terms 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:55.159 that is so popular in culture that it almost means 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.720 nothing anymore, and it can be frustrating the older you 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:03.960 get when people talk about lofty ideals like finding your calling. 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:09.680 You need to find your calling, and you know, well, for. 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:13.800 Most of us, that's way outside of the realm of 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.080 our everyday life where we're trying to pay bills. It's like, 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.080 you know, you need to find your calling, and you're like, well, 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.640 I'm doing good to find my keys in the morning, 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:26.240 and you want to talk about finding your calling. And 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:28.800 as much as I understand that, I also understand that 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:32.400 there's a reason that the majority of questions that I 0:06:32.400 --> 0:06:37.520 have been asked as a pastor in these thirteen years 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:41.640 going on fourteen years, the reason for it is that 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:45.560 there is something inside of you that wants to find 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.159 the thing that you were made to do, and you 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.560 will never be satisfied with anything else. And no matter 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:55.279 how much sex you have, money you make, friends you meet, 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.360 no matter how big the house is that you build, 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:00.760 no matter how many cars you park in the driveway, 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.839 there will always be something unsatisfied in you until you 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:07.160 find that thing that we call a calling. 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:12.160 And yet, and yet, so much damage has. 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:16.040 Been done in popular culture by the concept of calling 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.480 that it actually makes us discontent with our lives, because, 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:23.920 rather than understand the real nature of a calling, we 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.200 have a concept of a calling, and often we spend 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:29.920 our lives wishing that we were doing something. 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:31.200 That God did not tell us to do. 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:36.040 The Bible says in verse one that in those days, 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.240 while Samuel the twelve year old who was apprenticing in 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:43.640 the tabernacle because his mother Hannah, prayed that she could 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.360 have a son, and she had trouble conceiving, And when 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.440 she finally had the son, she dedicated him to the Lord, 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.040 and she dropped him off at age four and only 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.520 saw him once a year, and she put him under Eli, 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.560 who wasn't doing a very good job. He was letting 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.800 his sons run around in the tabernacle and have sex 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.520 with women at the entrance to the tabernacle, and he 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:05.880 knew about it, but he wouldn't do anything about it. 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:09.160 And he was letting his sons beat people up who 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:11.960 had brought their sacrifice to the temple, and they brought 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:15.800 their sacrifice to God, but the priests took it for themselves. 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.520 Hofney and Phineas Eli's sons would send their messenger out 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.000 to the tent and say, hey, Hofney said, you got 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.080 to give him the fat portion. And the people who 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.040 came would be like, well, that's for the Lord. They 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:27.720 can get the portion after it burns off. 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:28.600 That's the priest portion. 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:31.520 But they had gotten confused about what it meant to 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.960 honor God, and they had started honoring themselves and their 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:39.199 opinions and their desires, and they started treating God as common. 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.080 And so the Bible says something interesting in verse one. 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:45.200 It says, in those days, with all of that going on, 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:51.800 the word of the Lord was rare because they treated 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:56.440 the Lord as common. The word of the Lord was rare. 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:02.120 Because we live in a day where it is so 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:06.240 easy to get information but so difficult to get truth. 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:11.080 I figured this verse would apply to us. Would you 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:16.160 agree with me? That we are drowning in information, drowning 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:22.679 in opinion, drowning in agenda, drowning in projections, but starving 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:26.000 for truth. You know I'm right about it. It's such 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:28.200 a crazy time. You don't know who to trust anymore. 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:30.520 You don't know if it's real. You don't know if 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:32.480 it's fake, you don't know if it's inflated. You don't 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:34.599 know if it's a statistic. And let me give you 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.760 a statistic. Eighty three percent of statistics are made up. 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.920 That's a statistic. I made it up. It's a time 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:44.240 where truth is hard to find. And it doesn't mean 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:48.000 that there wasn't access to the Bible. God knows we 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.880 have access to the Word of God. You could pull 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:54.240 out your phone right now and a British person will 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:57.880 read you the Bible on the Bible at that made 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:00.840 me think of something real funny time Graham asked me, 0:10:01.280 --> 0:10:03.920 do British people find American accents soothing? 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:08.800 Probably not. 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:12.680 But here's the thing about it. It's not access to 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:16.640 the Word of God. It's our attitude to the Word 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:17.160 of God. 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:19.120 It's our attitude. 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:23.000 It's why some people can come into church and look 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:27.439 narcoleptic in church It's why some people can come into 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.920 church and leave during the invitation because God forbid it 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.640 takes you seven minutes to get the cracker barrel. It's 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.680 why some people can click around to different sermons and 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:39.920 be like, Ah, I don't know Fredi's not on today. 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:41.520 I'm gonna go over here to this one and that one. 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:44.079 And that's what seeing. When the word of God becomes 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:47.920 common to us, we will have access to the Word 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.640 of God, but it will not have impact on our life. 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:55.200 And so the first thing I wanted to mention is 0:10:55.240 --> 0:10:55.800 the culture. 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:02.480 The culture in Eli's time was a culture of neglect, 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.160 a culture where the value of who God was. 0:11:06.120 --> 0:11:07.560 And what he said was negotiable. 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:14.920 Therefore there was an absence of that special presence of God. 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:17.720 The word of the Lord was rare because the Lord 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:22.280 of the Word had become common. And I just want 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:27.040 to say to you today that many of our cultural 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:34.480 concepts of calling are really just self help, individualistic, ambition 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:46.360 oriented delusions dressed up in Christian cliches. And because you 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:51.200 got a trophy when you were seven does not mean 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:56.319 you get to play Major League Baseball. And the culture 0:11:56.400 --> 0:12:00.160 of our day is kind of like instead of worshiping God. 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:04.000 We worship our idea of God's will. 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:09.280 And rather than being in relationship with God, we want 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:13.760 God to be a resource who is more like Siri 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:20.320 than he is like a savior. I don't know if 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.120 you'll come back next week the way I'm starting to 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:26.000 discern him, but we need to get something straight right 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:29.559 off the bat that until I treasure the voice of God, 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.880 value the voice of God, hearken to the voice of God, 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:36.160 make time for the voice of God. 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.680 Consecrate myself. I can't get it by skimming. 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:43.200 I can't get it by just you know, running around 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:50.199 to this person and that person. It is the revealed 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:54.560 will of God that we're after. It is the revealed 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.280 will of God. Now, when I was in my twenties, 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.040 I did all this tea and preaching. And now you know, 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:07.280 now that I'm wiser, I turned forty next year. You'll 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:09.000 better start working on my gift now, because it's a 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:15.400 big one. It's kind of cringey for me to look 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:20.760 back on the way I spoke about calling in my 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:27.839 twenties that probably left people feeling at the very least confused, 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:32.840 at worse frustrated, and maybe even full of resentment. Because 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:35.600 the way it happened in my life is different for 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:40.600 all of us. Here's Samuel who is receiving a revelation 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:44.880 of God. And in my life, I never heard anything 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.520 audible that God said to me. I never, you know, 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:50.880 the Lord never said, for Adich Steve, what God called you. 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:51.920 By your last name for something? 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:56.640 But he said, He never said, you know, preach to 0:13:56.720 --> 0:14:01.960 me out loud. There were desires, there were opportunities. I 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:05.680 noticed some effectiveness. It's the weirdest thing. When I first 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.800 got up to pray for Pastor Mickey, who asked me 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.560 to pray at a Lions Club meeting, I noticed that 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.640 people seemed to be blessed as I prayed, and they 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:18.760 connected him. And it took Pastor Mickey to explain to 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.000 me that that was the hand of God. 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.880 All my life I didn't know that. If he hadn't been. 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.280 There to guide me, I would have maybe thought I 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.920 was just a charismatic speaker. But he helped me to 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:34.840 see that there was something supernatural involved. And I was 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:40.680 sixteen years old, and I had someone who had been 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.920 around long enough to see some things to tell me 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.480 it was special. Otherwise I wouldn't have known him. Now, 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.720 Here's what I did with that knowledge. I preached in 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:53.080 my twenties that just like God called me to preach, 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:55.840 God has called each Christian. 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:56.240 To do something. 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:03.280 You agree with that, But here's the part that I 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:06.440 think was incomplete. While I'd be up there saying to people, 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:07.960 you need to find your calling. You need to find 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:09.400 your calling. You need to find your calling. You need 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:10.960 to find your calling. You need to find your calling. 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:12.960 You find your calling. You need to find your calling. 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.040 You need to find your calling. You need to find 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:16.480 your calling. You need to find your calling. You need 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:18.640 to find a calling. Because he gets annoying after a while, right, 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:22.320 It's like I'm just trying to like, I need a job, man, 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:23.440 I don't know about a calling. 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:25.960 I've seen a raise right now? 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:31.160 Is that it makes it sound as if it's something 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:35.560 that you can just get and just know. And yet 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:40.120 did you notice in the passage that even Samuel, who 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:43.440 was the link between the period of the Judges and 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.800 the monarchy of Israel a thousand years before Jesus, that 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:50.520 even Samuel, who none of his words fell to the ground, 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:54.560 even Samuel didn't get it right the first time. 0:15:56.440 --> 0:15:57.560 I don't know why, but that. 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.560 Encourages me just reading this little story to know that 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.920 there's someone that God used to do something great, and 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:09.400 he called him and he chose him. But even this 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:15.800 great prophet didn't get it right the first time. I 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:19.800 want to set you free today from the feeling that 0:16:19.840 --> 0:16:23.520 you have to find your calling. That's a cultural concept. 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:26.480 It's not a biblical one. You don't have to find 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:32.160 your calling. In fact, if the text is correct, if 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:36.720 Samuel is an illustration, then I don't have to find 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:41.960 my calling because if I will serve the purpose of 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:44.600 the season that I'm in in my life right now, 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:50.640 watch this, get ready to shout, my calling will find 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:57.840 me in that good news, Christian soldiers, aren't you glad 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:01.560 to know that when Samuel heard a voice and he 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:02.760 didn't even know whose voice it was. 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:03.760 And here's the thing about it. 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.119 I want to talk about the culture, and then I 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:07.360 want to talk about. 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:10.199 The contact, the contact. 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.280 Because when he first heard the voice, it sounded like 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:16.240 something he had heard before. Have you ever noticed is 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:19.960 hard to know the difference between when you're speaking to 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:22.000 you and when God is speaking to you. 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:24.639 And watch out for the Christians. 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:27.360 Who are running around so sure that it's God speaking 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:30.480 to them. Those are the weird ones. Those are the 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.360 crazy ones. I mean, I'm serious. You gotta watch out 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:35.280 for them. And they're here at Elevation, just like they're 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:37.520 at every church, and they'll find you in the bathroom 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:39.280 and they'll have a word from the Lord for you, 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:40.520 and they don't even know you. 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.600 And it's weird because it's the bathroom. Can I wash 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:44.879 my hands? If God spoke to you, he'll do it 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.320 in the lobby. Now, let me finish using the bathroom. 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:49.679 I'm serious because I'm a preacher and people always think 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:51.320 I want to be spiritual, and people will stop me 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:53.359 in the bathroom sometimes at a restaurant and give me 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:54.160 a word from the Lord. 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:55.399 But if it was really the Lord, he would have 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:56.080 told you it's weird to. 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:57.760 Talk to people in the bathroom and wait till a 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:00.320 man gets outside, because there is such a thing as 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:02.080 and God doesn't cancel out terms. I don't want your 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:07.760 prophetic word. Well, I'm trying to so, but because he 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.480 gets weird, because he gets weird, we still have to 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:18.119 realize that the only way that the will of God, 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:22.800 or the word of God or the voice of God 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:27.880 can be recognized. That's what the Bible said that Eli, 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:32.080 who was old, who couldn't see physically. I've been on 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:34.840 this thing lightly that we really need people in our 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:36.600 life who are older than us, who have been along 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.480 the journey, and to respect the price that they paid, 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:41.919 and to not just think that because they don't go 0:18:41.960 --> 0:18:44.040 on SoundCloud or because they don't have a lot of 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:47.280 Instagram followers, that they have nothing to teach us. I'm 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:50.800 really seeing the value and people who they may not 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:52.840 have the physical vision that they used to have, but 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:55.680 they can discern spiritual things. And Eli wasn't even a 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.560 perfect priest. In fact, God was in the process of 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:02.480 moving him out of the way. And even in that transition, 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:07.040 because the whole passage is about transition. It's Samuel transitioning 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:12.199 from a boy to a man, from bois to men. 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:15.200 I was just thinking, you know, it's hard to say goodbye. 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:23.639 But when Eli is transitioning out and when Samuel is 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:27.600 transitioning up and he's ultimately stepping into the thing God. 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:28.080 Created him for. 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:32.959 God deals with Samuel, but he does it through Eli. 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:38.280 And whatever God is going to speak in your life 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:42.479 is going to come in the context of relationships. And 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:48.440 I chose the word contact to describe it because whoever 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:52.639 you put around you the most will start to affect 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:57.199 the voice inside of you that speaks to you. And 0:19:57.280 --> 0:19:59.760 have you ever noticed that God's voice sometimes in your 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:05.000 life sounds like your wife. Sometimes for me, it sounds 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:10.320 like my kids. Sometimes in my life I've noticed that 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:15.560 if I am not selective about my contacts, I will 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:18.720 start hearing I don't mean like out loud voices. I 0:20:18.720 --> 0:20:20.400 don't want you to send me off after I preached 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:23.320 today or anything like that, I mean the voice in 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:25.879 my mind. A lot of times, when when I was 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:29.679 going through a counseling session to try to understand myself better, 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:33.400 the one thing that the therapist would keep saying is 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:34.760 whose voice is that? 0:20:36.440 --> 0:20:39.360 You know these things you say to yourself. You go like, uh, you. 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:41.480 Know, I'm so stupid and you never get anything right, 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:43.080 and well, of course you screwed it up, you screw 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:44.040 everything up, you know all that. 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:46.440 And she keeps saying whose voice is that? Whose voice 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:46.679 is that? 0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:49.160 And I didn't know she was just trying to get 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:50.879 me to say, you know, it was my dad. 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:54.080 You know. Oh, like the point of all therapy. My 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:59.080 diapers are too tight? I bet it. But what I 0:20:59.160 --> 0:20:59.960 realized is. 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:05.080 That most of us who are not clinically insane, don't 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:09.800 actually hear voices. We process thoughts, right, so we say 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:11.440 the voice of God? How does the voice of God 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:12.520 come into your life? 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:14.639 Through thoughts? Through thoughts? 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:18.879 And that's why Samuel was confused, right because he heard something, 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:22.119 so he went where he knew to go. And I 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:25.679 want to point out something about this. He did the 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:29.919 right thing. He did the right thing. He ran. I 0:21:29.960 --> 0:21:32.360 noticed the Bible said that when he heard his name 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:37.480 called Samuel. First of all, it didn't sound it didn't 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:38.680 sound strange to him. 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.800 It sounded like what he was used to. So he ran. 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:46.720 Because that's what he did, because he had the right passion. 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:52.719 But he ran to the wrong person. Some of you, 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:53.680 right now. 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:57.320 You have the right passion, but you're running to the 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:01.719 wrong person or the wrong place. Now, this is not 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:04.359 only true in the case of Samuel. It was true 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:08.200 of Moses. God called him to deliver his people from 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.960 the Egyptians. Moses had the right passion, but where he 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:12.520 messed up. 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:14.320 Listen to this. You see when. 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.639 He killed the Egyptian it was the right passion, but 0:22:17.720 --> 0:22:18.800 it was misplaced. 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:20.840 He tried to do it his way. 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:24.040 He didn't get it right the first time, and some 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:26.400 of the things that you've gotten wrong in your life, 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:29.680 some of the mistakes that you've made, it was God 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:32.879 stirring you up. But it was Eli that you ran to. 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:36.320 You ran to the thing that God was trying to 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:39.080 remove out of your life because that's what you were 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:41.440 used to. You ran to the thing that you were 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:45.000 familiar with because it's all your mind could understand. And 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:47.560 so God gave you a gift, but you used that 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:50.560 gift for you for a little while until you found out, 0:22:50.880 --> 0:22:53.720 unless I offer the gift back to the giver, it's 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:56.520