WEBVTT - Running For A Reason 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 0:00:06.640 --> 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 --> 0:00:17.239 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:23.160 How many are grateful to be in God's house today? 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:24.800 All right? 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.800 For all the early adopters who sat down, stand back up. 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:31.880 I hadn't read my scripture yet you jumped the gun, 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:36.239 did you? Oh? Man? I have a message today that 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:38.960 I believe is going to inspire your life and encourage 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:40.800 your faith for all of the things that God has 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:43.640 called you to do. If you receive it by faith, 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.640 say amen. We're going to read two scriptures, First Samuel 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.840 chapter twenty two, verses one through five and First Corinthians 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.640 Chapter nine, verses twenty four through twenty six. The Word 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:57.440 of the Lord from One Samuel twenty two one through 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:02.440 five and First Corinthians chapter nine, verses twenty four through 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:08.320 twenty six. The first one is about the Great King David, 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:10.280 and the second one is from the Great Apostle Paul. 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.480 David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:18.559 When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they. 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:19.360 Went down to him. 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:24.400 There all those who were in distress, or in debt 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:29.360 or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:33.920 About four hundred men were with him. From there, David 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.360 went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the King 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:39.640 of Moab, would you let my father and mother come 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.399 and stay with you until I learn what God will 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:48.040 do for me. That is a very powerful way that 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:51.000 he says that until I learn what God will do 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:54.760 for me. So he left them with the King of Moab, 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.680 and they stayed with him as long as David was 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:03.000 in the stronghold. But the prophet Gad said to David, 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:08.280 do not stay in the stronghold, go into the land 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:12.560 of Judah. So David left and went to the forest 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:16.839 of Hareth. That's the first scripture. The second one, which 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:19.200 will come on the screen as well, is in one 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:23.200 Corinthians chapter nine. The apostle Paul, writing to the church 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:27.760 at corinth gives a metaphor that I want us to 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:31.800 apply our minds to for a moment today. Do you 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:35.400 not know that in a race, all the runners run, 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:40.160 but only one gets the prize. Run in such a 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.920 way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:48.320 the Games goes into strict training. They do it to 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:50.160 get a crown that will not last. 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:52.640 But we do it. 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.400 Look at your neighbors, say, we do it to get 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.440 a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:05.640 run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:10.480 a boxer beating the air. Let's stop there. I do 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:15.120 not run like someone running aimlessly. I want you to 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.639 look at your neighbor like you're on the same Olympic 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.480 team and tell them, real quick, just give them an 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.959 Olympic look, real quick, look at them with some Olympic eyes. 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:26.680 Did he say Olympic eyes? 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:28.000 Olympic eyes? 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:31.880 Look at him like a winner, Look them deep in 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.440 their eyes, and tell them we run for a reason. 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:41.200 We run for a reason. I want to remind somebody 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:47.200 that came to church today, we run for a reason. Yeah, 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:51.520 we run for a reason. God, only you know all 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:53.760 of the purposes that you have an eternity for this 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:55.960 moment in time. So I ask you, God of Heaven, 0:03:56.040 --> 0:04:01.320 to invade Earth, fill these earthen vessels with the glory, 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:04.200 the oil of your anointing, so that we can flow 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.280 and move forward in everything you've called us to do. 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:10.320 We cannot afford in this season of our life to 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.400 run dry. So now, God, we asked that you would 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:17.760 pour into us, for we are poor without you. Your 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:19.839 word says that we will receive from you as we 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.839 acknowledge our need for you, and Father, we need you 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.040 this hour. Please come in a way that we didn't 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.240 ask for because we didn't know we needed it. Touch 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:31.400 the place in us that is too insecure to be 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:34.760 shown to others. But in your presence, there's no modesty 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.280 for you, our a maker, every hidden part, every secret thing, 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.880 Deal with it. God, in this place between you and them, God, 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.719 use me as your instrument. I'm available to you. Blow 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:49.800 through me, Holy Spirit, as if I were a woodwind instrument, 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:53.039 and speak to these people what you need them to 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.320 know for the place that you've called them to. I 0:04:55.440 --> 0:05:00.080 consider it done because you're good and you're faithful, and 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:03.799 I thank you for it in advance in Jesus' name. Amen, 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:10.680 you may be seated. All the runners in the house, 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:17.640 raise your hand. I wrote that title down. We run 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:19.960 for a reason. That's my message. Running for a reason. 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:23.680 I thought, now that sounds like I'm launching a five k. 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:27.560 That doesn't sound like I'm starting a sermon. But the 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:31.039 Lord comes with these amazing confirmations. You know. I put 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.880 my Bible down yesterday for a few minutes to take 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:37.719 a little study break. I've been up since early working 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:40.320 on this message and I just needed a little break. 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.400 And when I put it on the Olympics, they were 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.880 running the relay race, and I had already picked out 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.760 the title and the scripture we run for a Reason, 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.240 So I kind of took it as a little bit 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:54.960 of a sign. What I must confess to you is 0:05:55.560 --> 0:06:04.360 what so embarrassing? Are crying watching these people run? Now? 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:07.960 Not no big ugly cry tears or anything, not crocodile tears, 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:11.880 just a little trickle tear. But the bad part about 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:15.200 it was the person who won wasn't even American. They 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:16.400 weren't even from our country. 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:17.640 And I didn't. 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:20.800 I didn't. I didn't feel the tears come while she 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:24.520 was running. I felt that tears come when she was 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:29.560 looking at her teammates after she pulled ahead and won, 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:31.520 And I'm like, why am I crying? This isn't even 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:38.040 my country? I don't even like to run back. When 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:40.279 I see runners on the road, I judged them, like, 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:45.000 don't you know there's a better way to get in 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:51.080 shape than this? There are so many preferable ways to exercise. 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:55.400 Well it's the runners high. Okay, Well you know I 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:59.960 would choose a non runners low over whatever run. There's 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:01.960 no HI on the other side of that that makes 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:07.320 it worth it to me. But observing this lady, it 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:10.680 made me emotional. And as I paused and thought about 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.920 the correlation maybe between the message that I was preparing 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:18.920 and the emotion I experienced, I saw that watching someone 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:24.680 run and knowing the importance and the priority of what 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:30.320 they're running for and who they're running with. That's why 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:34.040 it made me emotional, because when I saw as a 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.960 relay race, so when I saw all the people that 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:42.440 the anchor of the race brought along with her into victory, 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.040 it touched me to know that something kicked in at 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:50.200 that moment that made her say for my country, I've 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:55.120 got to do this for my friend, I got to 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:58.120 do this for my mom, who sat at every track 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.400 meet since I was four years old, and I thought 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:05.080 about all the people that believed in her. When she 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:10.080 first started running when she wasn't much of a runner, 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:15.040 And I thought about my wife, Holly, And I'm just 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:18.680 telling you this because the connection was profound to me. 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.880 When we first started doing ministry together, I had no 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:29.000 visible gift or really any kind of clues that this 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:31.600 ministry would exist one day. But she believed in me. 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:34.840 She believed in me, and I know that she believed 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:37.600 in me because we served on a ministry team together 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:40.520 where we sat down and I didn't know how to 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.120 be a leader. I'd never let a ministry team before. 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.440 And we're sitting there and we're planning out our summer 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.200 that we're going to go around and travel and preach. 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:52.040 And I'll never forget this. I put up for a 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:55.440 discussion what should our theme be for the summer ministry? 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.160 And I was trying to get everybody involved, you know, 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.840 but I found out that God still love the world. 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:02.319 He didn't send a committee, and if you really want 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:04.640 to get something done, you just got to make a decision. 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.160 And we're going back and forth, and I threw out 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.880 the theme run to Win. I said, how about run 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:12.800 to win? Wouldn't that be a good theme from First 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.280 Corinthians Chapter nine, And well, one person didn't think that 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.640 was a very good idea because you know, well, it's 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:22.120 really not a competition. You know, it's really not about winning. 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:24.040 You remember when that girl told you it's not whether 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:26.160 you win. Or my son Elijah, my oldest son, a 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.360 girl told him one time, it's not whether you win 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:31.520 or lose, it's whether you're having fun. And he looked 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:33.440 back at her cold blooded and said, well, I'm not 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:36.959 having fun unless I'm winning. And he was like five 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.360 when he said that. So it's in the blood. Man, 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:43.240 we're kind of competitive. And I liked that theme about 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:45.480 run to win. And so this guy's saying, well, it's 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:48.520 not really a competition, and then this girl over here 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:50.680 is saying, well, I think that the Christian life is 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:53.839 really more like a walk. And one's got a problem 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:55.760 with the word win, and one's got a problem with 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.600 the word run. All I'm left with is too And 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:02.120 one of the team members looked at and she had 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:06.640 real soft spoken she said, Stephen, we need you to 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:14.000 lead us, tell us what to do. From that moment forward, 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:19.079 I decided you can be confused as long as you're confident. 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:26.600 That's a great secret for life. Yeah, you can really 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.320 bluff your way through a lot of stuff in life. 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:31.600 Because then I just said when she said that to 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.240 me so soft. I don't even know if anybody else on 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:34.960 the team heard, but she said that to me, and 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:38.560 I said, run to win. And then we went on 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:40.200 the road, right, We went on the road, and we 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:42.320 get to our first church. And I'm going to get 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:44.240 to this story about David in just a moment, and 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:46.400 what Paul said in First Corinthians, but just to set 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:49.640 the table for this revelation, we get to our very 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.520 first church. We're so excited. We have developed our curriculum, 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:55.320 we have developed our teachings. And this is Holly session, 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.680 and this is Seth's session, and this is Joni's session, 0:10:57.840 --> 0:10:59.719 and this is Grace's session. And I'm going to come 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:01.680 in and close it out, and we're going to do 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.920 it over the course of five days and really build 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:06.360 this theme of run to win. You know, all these 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:10.120 all these wonderful plans. But we arrived to the spot 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:14.400 and there were no people. Zero kids had showed up 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.920 for the youth camp. And it was our first camp 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:22.280 of the summer. And I looked at Holly and I'd 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:26.160 learned from our little committee meeting. We need you to 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:30.120 lead us, and I said, you make a flyer, and 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:32.280 I pointed at her, and I think that's the moment 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:35.520 that she fell in love with me. When I said 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:42.239 you make a flyer. I think something about that, just ooh, 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:47.800 make a flyer. And she she she made a flyer, 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:51.280 said run to win. We went to Walmart. We covered 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:56.280 five hundred wind shields with run to Win propaganda, telling 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:57.640 those kids to get to. 0:11:57.520 --> 0:11:58.480 The Baptist church. 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:00.680 And by the end of the week there were twenty 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.120 five kids in the room. And I preached like it 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:05.680 was twenty five thousand, because I've always been doing it 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.560 from a place of passion, not a place of performance. 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.240 And I'll preach if there's five of you, five thousand 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:18.120 and five million. See. I think that this is a 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.680 common misconception about people that you see who go really 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.360 hard after something, is that a lot of times you 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:27.800 will see the results of their ambition and not really 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:32.480 understand the reasons for their ambition. And for me and Holly, 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.080 I'm thankful that not only have we always had something 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:40.760 to run four, but I'm grateful that I had someone 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:43.920 to run with. And that made me smile to think 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:49.360 about how here I am twenty how many twenty five 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:56.160 years later, still running with the right one. Now this 0:12:56.200 --> 0:13:00.000 is not a marriage seminar. So I'm crying watching the Olympics, 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:02.640 and I'm thinking, God, this is you speaking to me, 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:05.560 because I must be speaking today to people who are exhausted. 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:09.280 I must be speaking today to people who need a 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.920 second win. Come on, I must be speaking to people 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:17.600 today who are running the race of their life. Running 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:21.840 around running like a chicken with their head cut off. 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.480 What a disturbing image we use to just describe picking 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.320 the kids up from practice. I've been running around with 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:30.280 a chicken. Why you got to cut a chicken's head off? 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:33.600 Just say you're busy. But Paul said, watch this. 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:34.640 Do you not know? 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:40.000 Then, in a race, all the runners run. When I 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:43.280 asked a moment ago, how many runners do I have 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:43.800 in the room? 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:44.760 I was surprised. 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:50.040 I thought every hand should go up, cause everybody watch 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:57.640 me preach is running from something. As a matter of fact, 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:01.320 if you are not a runner, you will find yourself lonely. 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:05.600 In the context of the Christian faith, the Judeo Christian faith, 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.720 which takes its roots and has its ripples from this 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:13.559 Holy Scripture, is full of people who ran for different reasons, 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.520 starting with let's talk about our most famous runner in 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.360 the Bible. If I say a big fish swallowed him 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:23.280 up and spit him out, you say, Jonah, Look how 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:25.800 smart you were with that Bible trivia you studied, didn't you? 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:33.120 And the Bible says that Jonah ran away from the Lord. Okay, well, 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:37.920 judge Jonah all you want. But Moses ran from a 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:42.960 crime that he committed once it had been discovered. Moses 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.160 ran from a body that he buried in an effort 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:50.640 to defend his own people. Moses ran so far he 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.800 ended up leaving the place where he was the prince 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:57.760 of Egypt and becoming a shepherd for his father in law, Jethro. 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:03.160 Jacob ran from me. Saw he read from his own 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:08.440 brother because he tried to steal his identity. Did I 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:13.720 say Joseph, I meant Jacob. Did I say Jacob, Well, 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:18.600 Joseph didn't run. Joseph was placed in Egypt and he 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:22.560 couldn't run because they tied him up. You know, we 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:28.000 never talked about we talked about runners though in the Bible. David, David, 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:31.840 David ran. 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:37.520 You don't believe me, Well, he shows up one day with. 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.960 Some lunch for his brothers. Okay, check this out. And 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.160 he's just a young boy. He's like seventeen years old 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.840 something like that. He wasn't able to go out to 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:48.040 the war, but his dad charged him to bring his 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:52.280 brothers a meal. And I love this picture. What's the 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:55.880 first one I gave you in First Samuel seventeen. It's 0:15:55.880 --> 0:16:00.280 somewhere in the twenty something versus. Put it on the screen, please. Yeah. 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.840 It says David left his things with the keeper of 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:09.600 supplies and ran to the battle lines and asked his 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:15.560 brothers how they were. If you know this story, you 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:18.880 won't be surprised to find that when David ran to 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.760 the battle lines, look at verse twenty three. Next thing 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:25.800 that happens, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gatz, stepped out. 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:28.800 I feel the Holy Spirit from his lines and shouted 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:32.600 his usual defiance, and David heard it. Verse twenty four. 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:36.000 Whenever the Israelites, that's all the people who had been 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:39.080 watching this go down day after day after day after day, 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.800 they all fled from him in great fear. 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:44.680 So watch this. 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:51.400 David is running toward what others are running from. There 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:55.480 is a spirit about David There is a belligerence about David. 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.240 Some would say a naivete about David. 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:00.720 That what everybody else is run and then from he's like, 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:01.120 who's that? 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:07.879 Some would call David dumb. I believe he's running for 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.960 a reason. And the reason I believe he's running in 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:15.720 this moment is he hasn't lived enough yet to know 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:21.200 that you don't run toward giants, you run from giants. 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:24.639 Some things, being dumb and young will help you with 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:29.400 intrusting God, They really will. Sometimes being young and dumb 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.680 will make you go to Walmart or Kinko's and make 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:35.399 five hundred flyers when nobody showed up for your event 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:38.320 and walk around Walmart putting them on wind shields and 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:40.960 not even worry. What if somebody shoots me while I'm 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:43.000 touching their car without permission. 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:43.960 That's things I would think about. 0:17:44.000 --> 0:17:45.840 Now, what if it's a lawsuit? If I don't want 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:47.879 nobody putting them on my windshield? I don't want to 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:52.639 do this. But something about being young will make you run. 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.680 We were laughing the other day because Elijah's been home 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:59.840 for the summer and I've missed the sound of him 0:17:59.880 --> 0:18:04.120 just running through the house. No, not running for any 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:10.760 specific thing through the house, just running because apparently he 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:15.560 has the excess energy to just get where he's going 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.840 that much faster, and you would think maybe he was 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:21.439 late for an appointment, or maybe there was something that 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:25.720 needed attended to know, just running because he's young, just 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.040 running because why not? I just feel like running? 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:29.560 And I think to. 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:34.880 Myself, I wish that I had the energy just. 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:39.200 To run for no reason. But wouldn't that look weird 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:41.920 if you saw me run? I mean, why do you laugh? 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.680 Because it doesn't look right for me at this. 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:52.240 Age to just be running for no reason. 0:18:53.040 --> 0:18:55.159 You are thinking to yourself, Look, man, I mean that's 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:55.800 kind of awkward. 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:58.159 We don't want to watch you run just for no reason, 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:01.000 just because you've got excess in to burn. 0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:03.040 Touch your neighbor and say I'm running for a reason. 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:06.959 And a lot of the times, the initial thing that 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.879 fuels our passion in our walk with Christ is our ignorance, 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:15.119 not our awareness. It's why we run into relationships and 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.880 we have no trouble trusting people because we've never had 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:22.000 trouble with people we don't know yet not to trust them. 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:25.760 Our trust muscle has not yet been ruptured, so we 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:31.600 run so we run. We run to opportunities because we've 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:35.320 never experienced loss. We run to investment because we've never 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:41.440 experienced collapse. We run because we're young. David not only 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:45.840 runs to the battle lies when he's delivering the food 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:49.480 to his brothers, but when Goliath came toward him with 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:56.000 the sword by some estimates, nine feet tall of philistine, 0:19:56.440 --> 0:20:01.040 fierce warrior energy, steps to the battle lines, and the 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.480 Bible says in seventeen verse forty something put that one 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:06.320 on the screen. I got to show you. As the 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:15.240 Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran. He ran quickly. 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:21.919 Something about this dumb young David that I think we 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:27.760 all miss in our lives. That's the power of nostalgia, 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:31.199 is taking you back to a time when it was 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:35.439 new to you and you didn't know what you didn't know, 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:39.720 so you would just go without a plan, because who 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.320 needs a plan? When I got youth, who needs a plan? 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:47.639 When I got personality? Who needs a plan? I'll figure 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:50.080 it out when I get there, And y'all to me. 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:52.680 These days, I don't go twelve minutes from the house 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:55.480 without locating the nearest restroom that I might have stop 0:20:55.520 --> 0:20:57.959 at along the way. Now that's just the truth. But 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:00.480 here's what I want you to know. Listen to me. 0:21:00.520 --> 0:21:05.520 Listen to me. It's one thing to run when you're young. 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:13.800 It is another thing to intentionally run when you've been 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:18.439 through some experiences that could have made you bitter, that 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:21.480 could have made you afraid, that could have made you 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:25.639 stay put where you are. Paul is describing in his 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:30.320 Great Letter to the Corinthian Church how the runners run 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:34.399 in a game. He says, they set their mind on 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:36.879 a goal, and they set their feet on a path, 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:39.880 and they run in a line. And when they enter 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:41.680 the games, I don't know if you noticed this, he said, 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:43.760 they go into strict training. 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:46.160 And then David. 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:48.760 Now, let's do a little bit of a relay race 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:51.680 from David to Paul, because David, of course, was hundreds 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:55.240 of years before Paul came along. David and Paul are 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:58.800 both experiencing the same type of thing. Paul is taking 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:02.000 the gospel to the churches that have never heard about Jesus, 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:05.600 and he is dealing with these issues. David, of course, 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:08.040 is the second king that Israel has ever known. 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:10.640 He's following in the wake of King. 0:22:10.560 --> 0:22:13.840 Saul, who was supposed to support him and supposed to 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:16.479 mentor him and supposed to show him how to do 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:21.040 this king thing Ah, but Saul attacked what God was 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:25.000 trying to anoint. There is a sense in which sometimes 0:22:25.040 --> 0:22:29.000 God is bringing you something that is intended to relieve you, 0:22:29.600 --> 0:22:32.680 but you resist it because of something that is within you, 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:36.280 and you can't even figure out why you're pushing things away, 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:40.280 things that God sent as an answer to your prayer. 0:22:41.000 --> 0:22:44.600 Have you ever pushed away and answered prayer because you 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:48.400 didn't know how to sustainably deal with it? I have. 0:22:49.320 --> 0:22:52.000 I have prayed to God in seasons of my life 0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:55.560 to send me people to encourage me and support me. 0:22:56.359 --> 0:22:59.520 But when the encouragers came to support me, I didn't 0:22:59.560 --> 0:23:04.080 believe what they said because my own insecurity made it 0:23:04.119 --> 0:23:07.200 impossible for me to believe that you could really feel 0:23:07.200 --> 0:23:10.280 that way about me. So I pray a prayer for 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:13.119 God to send a person. God sends a person in 0:23:13.200 --> 0:23:16.359 response to the prayer, but the patterns of my life 0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:19.439 will not enable me to receive that person. So I 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:22.440 prayed a prayer for a person. I got a pattern 0:23:22.480 --> 0:23:25.160 that won't allow me to receive the person. And now 0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:28.560 I keep praying about people that God has sent and 0:23:28.600 --> 0:23:32.240 I am praying away what God gave because of something 0:23:32.280 --> 0:23:35.480 on the inside of me. What I'm trying to say is, 0:23:36.200 --> 0:23:39.639 as fast as God is running to you, some of 0:23:39.680 --> 0:23:42.440 you are running from the answer that he gave because 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:47.200 it does not feel familiar. Now, let me slow down, 0:23:48.000 --> 0:23:49.760 because I feel like I might be going a little fast? 0:23:49.840 --> 0:23:54.960 Am I going a little fast? In Paul's letter, he 0:23:55.119 --> 0:23:59.720 was talking about people who run to get a prize, 0:24:00.000 --> 0:24:06.160 and in David's story there's a similarity. Both are about running, 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:09.800 but for different reasons. I want to read you the 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:12.320 story again now that I've set the context in for 0:24:12.480 --> 0:24:15.440