WEBVTT - Pivotal Decisions (Put A Purpose On It) 0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.640 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.120 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.440 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.520 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.240 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.119 today I want to share with you in this part 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:26.239 two on the subject of pivotal decisions. Pivotal decisions, I'm 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:29.280 going to Judges thirteen. I don't know if I'll get 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.560 there in the next few minutes. So if you don't 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.200 know where Judge is in is in the Bible, you're 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:37.559 gonna have a good head start. If you prefer to 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.840 just look at the screen, that's okay too. But I wonder, 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:44.640 as I get started, how many of you right now 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:49.599 are in the middle of making a big decision for 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.239 your life. Would you raise your hand if you're in 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:55.200 the middle of making a big decision for your life 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:59.279 and keep it up, keep it up. So what are 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:04.000 you going to do? How are you gonna You're gonna 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:08.600 do like pros and cons or you're gonna like flip 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.360 a coin if it comes to that. You gotta plan 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.800 for this. You're gonna you're gonna do, Like, ask a 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:16.640 lot of people till somebody tells you what you want 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.120 to hear, like, like we all do you know? Just 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.080 keep asking people till you get the answer that you 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:22.679 wanted so they can confirm the thing that you were 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:24.800 gonna do all along. Anyway, now you wasted everybody's time 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:26.960 just asking them stuff that you already knew what you 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:31.759 were gonna do. We're you gonna do? You're gonna like, uh, 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:34.800 just stress, eat and put it off to the last minute. 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:37.760 That's always a good plan. I like that. I like 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:41.080 to just watch Netflix instead personally, put it off to 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:43.039 the last minute, and then make the decision when the 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:47.640 pressure's on. The crazy thing is when I say that 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:52.920 a big decision. A lot of the decisions that you make, 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.800 you don't know if they're big or not when you're 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:02.560 making them. This is why God so much, because not 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.840 only can I not make the big decisions right without him, 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.160 but I don't even know which ones are big unless 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:14.679 he tells me. Because you know, big decisions, we get 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:19.280 caught up where we're gonna get married. That's me and 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.840 Holly spent so many weeks thinking about that, Like the 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.200 big decision of where we were going to have our wedding. 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:31.160 You know what, it didn't really matter as much as 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:34.240 some other things. What was important about our marriage was like, 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:37.840 how are we going to resolve conflict? Y'all don't want 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.519 to talk to me today. Y'all were singing so good, 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:42.360 and then I started preaching and y'all went to sleep. 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:48.000 And the big decisions, you know, it's not always the 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:50.840 ones that you think are big. And that's why I 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:55.840 prefer the term pivotal decisions, because a big decision is 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.760 not necessarily what city you're going to live in. That's 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:01.519 a big one, I get it. But a bigger decision 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:04.320 for us was what church are we going to go to? 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.480 Because out of the church that we attended, that's where 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.960 we made the relationships that were really instrumental, and the 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.160 will of God was accomplished in our life, not by 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:15.919 just what city we lived in. But and it's funny 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.720 how people will move for a job, or they'll move 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.880 for a school, but they'll put church at the bottom 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:23.920 of the list and then kind of find one. But 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.600 I think the pivotal things are sometimes not what we 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:32.240 consider to be the big things, and that's that's confusing pivotal, 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:35.600 you know what I mean? Like, I guess because it's 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:37.400 All Star weekend. I don't play basketball. I don't even 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:39.680 really like basketball. I was always terrible at it. I 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:43.760 wrestled a little bit, played a little baseball. But when 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:47.040 I watched basketball, I always see them pivot. I always 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:51.280 see that their ability to pass and you know, without traveling, 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.760 without getting called, it's all from this foot that they 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:56.920 pivot on. And I'm not going to demonstrate it for you, 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.320 because again I'm not very athletic, but when I watch 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:03.600 them pivot, I notice like, well, that's pretty important. And 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.440 the only way that they can pivot is if they're planted. 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.120 Now I'm going to preach that in about twenty eight minutes, 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:14.360 but hang on, I'm coming to judges thirteen. And I 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.400 notice that, you know, pivoting is not only for athletes. 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:22.240 It's also for politicians. And I'll be honest with you. 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:24.839 As a preacher, I get it because sometimes you get 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:30.760 asked the weirdest questions, the weirdest, most unanswerable, most non 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.880 germane questions. I'll sometimes be doing a Q and A 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.440 or something and someone will ask me, you know, what 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.160 kind of horse is Jesus coming back on. And there's 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.360 really no way to answer that without making them look 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:45.200 dumb or you know, because it is a dumb question. 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:49.159 But I love people and the sheep, and so I'm like, 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.240 I'm like, well, you know, that's a great question. And 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:56.040 regardless of what horse he comes on, I think what's 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:58.279 important is that we have a sense of urgency. See 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:03.840 how I just and now you don't feel dumb, and 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:06.240 I don't have to answer your question, and so we 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:10.840 all win because I know how to pivot. Touch somebody say, 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:15.560 the power is in the pivot. Let's go to Judges thirteen. 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.599 Are you ready? Because you got some big decisions you're making, 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:20.880 And then you've got some decisions that you don't think 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:24.479 are very big, but they're pivotal, Like how you start 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.320 your day. That's not a big decision, but it's pivotal 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:32.320 because how you start your day Watch, it's a directional decision. 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:39.080 Watch watch me. It's directional. So I'm not watch watch watch, 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:43.400 I'm not moving much. It's not a big move. I'm 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:47.000 still standing where I was. But I get a completely 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:55.480 different perspective when I pivot. The Lord has really been 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:57.920 speaking to me. I can tell you want them to 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:02.440 speak to you too. And it means that sometimes it's 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:09.120 the small moves that set the direction, the small moves 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.839 that set the direction. And frankly, a lot of the 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.159 biggest things about your life will be decided outside of 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:21.640 your volition and will. Anyway, God is so much bigger 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:27.920 than your decisions. I know you're very successful in your business, 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.919 but you and I both know that the culmination of 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:33.919 everything that happened to you was bigger than you just 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:39.320 made good decisions. I mean, because honestly, you made some 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.160 really bad ones too. And even if you didn't, even 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:44.320 if you only make good decisions, you wouldn't have know, 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:46.520 You wouldn't even had the opportunity to make those decisions 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:51.040 if God didn't position you where He positioned you. God 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:54.840 is bigger than my bad decisions. You know. It's not 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:58.080 like God is just a synonym for good decisions, you know, 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:00.839 being in the will of God the will of God. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:02.880 And I want to ask you this question, is your 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.560 view of the will of God big enough to accommodate 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.600 even your bad decisions? And that's what I wanted to 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.640 look at. Judges thirteen is a passage of scripture that 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:18.000 you've never heard a single sermon on before I polled 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.720 at least thirty people this week. None of them had 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:23.080 heard it. And all of them went to vacation Bible 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:25.480 School and grew up going to Wednesday night church. So 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.200 if they didn't hear it, you didn't either. But the 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:31.280 Bible says in Judges thirteen, verse one, remember in a 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:35.040 pivotal time for the nation of Israel, A pivotal time 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:40.040 because they were in a cycle of sin, judgment and deliverance. 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:45.040 A pivotal time because they didn't have a king, and 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.680 they didn't really want God to be their king, so 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.720 God would keep having to raise up different people to 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.520 lead them and deliver them from the hands of their enemies, 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:57.600 the Canaanites and Parasites, and Hittites, and the Philistines, the 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:00.760 Phoenician people who were good at metal, so they always 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:02.160 had a lot of weapons, and they were moving in 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:05.280 on the coast, and they were ruling them, but very loosely. 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:08.280 Now this is the pivotal moment for the nation of Israel, 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:11.800 and the Bible says again, the Israelites did evil in 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.160 the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:20.440 into the hands of the Philistines. Stop. You always hear 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:25.720 about God delivering us out of things, But here your 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:30.920 Bible says that God delivered them into the hands of 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.960 an enemy, and use their enemy. I don't know if 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:36.559 your theology is about to break wide open and something's 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.360 going to fall out on the floor. Let's get the 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:40.880 ushers ready in case your brain just melts right there. 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.280 But God didn't deliver them out of the hands of 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.920 their enemies. But the same God who is able to 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.360 deliver you out of the hands of your enemies. The 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.880 Bible says that at least the perspective of the writer 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.560 Samuel was, who we preached about last week, that God 0:08:54.600 --> 0:09:00.199 delivered them into the hands of their enemies. That's interesting me. 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.680 I don't have a category for that. But God is 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.920 bigger than my categories. I'm learning that. I'm learning that. 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.600 So he did it for forty years, and a certain 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:16.280 man of Zorah named Manoah from the clan of the Danites, 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.880 had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:25.880 Remember that barrenness in antiquity was a signal or a 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:28.960 sign of the displeasure of God. It didn't mean the 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.280 displeasure of God. But they perceived it to mean that, 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.280 so it brought with it a great stigma. A certain 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:37.480 man of Zora named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:39.440 had a wife who was childless unable to give birth. 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:43.600 The Angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:48.160 you are barren and childless, but you are going to 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:54.839 become pregnant and give birth to a son. Now see 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:59.199 to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink, 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.439 and that you do not eat anything unclean. You will 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.000 become pregnant and have a son whose head is never 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:08.280 to be touched by a razor. And my dad was 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.280 a barber, so that verse offends me because it would 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:12.480 have taken money out of my family's pocket. But anyway, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.719 because here's the reason. The boy is to be a Nazarite, 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:20.920 and the Nazarites don't cut their hair, they don't drink alcohol, 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.480 they don't touch anything dead, as the basics of being 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:27.000 a Nazarite. In case you were thinking about doing it, 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:28.760 that's what you would do if you were going to 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:33.319 be a Nazarie. He is to be dedicated to God 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:38.600 from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.440 Israel from the hands of the Philistines, which God delivered 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:43.800 them into so that he could deliver them from what 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:45.200 was in them that caused them to get in this 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.320 cycle to begin with. And he's going to use this 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:51.760 child to deliver them out. I love your word, Lord, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.400 thank you for thank you for what you're showing me. Now. 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.160 Now this is where it gets really, really, really good, 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:01.520 because then everybody say, then, woman whose name we don't know, 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:06.679 who's talking to a man whose name isn't given. These 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:10.040 unnamed people have a conversation, and the woman went to 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:14.679 her husband and told him a man of God came 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:20.160 to me. He looked like an angel of God. Very awesome. 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:26.040 I'm gonna be like, hold up, a man come and 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:31.120 talking to my wife anyway, you know, because he didn't 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:34.600 have wings or heart how we think God shows up. 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:37.640 She's like, I think it was maybe like an angel. 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:39.240 It was kind of you know, because that's how it 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:41.240 is when you hear from God. It's kind of like, 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.120 I think this might be this maybe God. I don't know. 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:45.679 I mean it like it looked like it felt like 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:47.079 it was different. I don't know, it's just different. I 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:49.160 don't know. I'm not sure. And she's telling her husband 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:54.000 because it's always revealed in the context of relationship. I 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.760 didn't ask him where he came from. He didn't tell 0:11:56.800 --> 0:12:00.920 me his name, but he said to me, you will 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:08.040 become pregnant. Uh huh. So this awesome looking man came 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:13.280 to my wife and said, what I love the Bible. 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.200 Though I love the Bible, he said, you will be 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.199 pregnant to have a son. Now, then drink no wine 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.000 or other ferm men to drink, and do not eat 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.440 anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazarite of 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:25.839 God from the womb until the day of his death. 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:32.079 Then Manoah name means resting place. Prayed to the Lord. 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:36.920 Pardon your servant, Lord. I don't mean to bother you. 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:38.560 I know you got a universe to run and all 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:43.800 that I beg you. Let the man of God you 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.360 sent to us because I didn't get to see him. 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.960 Let him come again, if you could just send him 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.240 back for a few minutes. I got a few questions 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.439 I need to ask him. I need him to teach 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.320 us how to bring up the boy who is to 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.640 be born. So I need you to speak to me, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.680 because you know how you need God to speak to 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.680 you and show you how I want to talk about 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:10.840 the plan. That's the first thing I want to mention 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:15.440 is the plan, because I understand that God wants to 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.520 use me, but I need to know what that's going 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:21.280 to look like. You understand I need some details. I 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.800 need some specifics. I need some marching orders. I need 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:29.600 some dates some times, some instructions. So please Lord, if 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:33.240 it's not too much trouble, send that guy back. And 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:34.640 he said we were going to have a son that 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.840 was going to like change the world and stuff. But 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:39.960 I need to hear it for myself, and I need 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:45.679 to know the plan. Any planners in the house, any planners, 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:50.040 any planners, any planners, Thank God for you, Thank God 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.520 for you, because all the people without their hand up, 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:54.719 they always come late and make the worship leaders lead 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:56.520 to the first two rows and is empty and they 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:58.640 come crawling in the last minute. But I don't hate 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:00.360 you in the back. But I'm just saying that God 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.000 for the planners. But it can become a problem, and 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.959 I'm gonna show you why. I'm gonna show you why. 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:08.400 He said we need to know the plan if it's 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.599 going to be this big thing, you know, if you 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:12.840 gave us this promise, I need to know the plan, 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:16.280 because without a plan, the promise is just abstract rhetoric. 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.600 Without the plan, I can know God has for me. 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:21.880 He wants to use me. I'm spread the Gospel and 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.680 all that sounds good, but just send him back. If 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.880 I could get five minutes with this awesome looking man 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.040 who was talking to my wife and told her she 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:34.840 was about to get pregnant, I need to know the 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.960 plan now. I love the next phrase, God heard Manoah. 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:45.320 God heard Manoah, and interesting that the woman wasn't praying 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:47.680 to get pregnant when the angel said it was going 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.000 to happen. I don't know if she gave up. I 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:52.320 don't know if she did pray. I don't know if 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.200 she didn't pray. Bible doesn't say it doesn't matter. And 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.320 then Manoah's begging God to show up and speak to him. 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.440 You know, God initiates, we respond. God initiates, we respond. 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:07.720 But God heard Manoah. And when when Manoah prayed, God 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:11.960 didn't say figure it out yourself and trust me. Instead, 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:18.800 he obliged Manoah's need for more information. Let the person 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:21.240 next to you know something real quick, and it might 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:24.360 sound cocky, but tell him anyway, it's truth say. He 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:31.200 hears me. God hears me. He hears me better than 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:36.880 Siri and Alexa. He hears me. He hears me, he 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:40.000 knows my voice. He likes when I call him, When 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.720 I say help, he says yes before I can even 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:47.200 get out my mouth. He hears me. He hears my 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:52.360 groans where words don't come. He hears me. He hears 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.440 my heart and the secret petitions of things that people 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:59.520 don't know that I'm dealing with. He hears me. He 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.880 hears the unspoken. Did you go to youth group and 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.640 we used to say? I have an unspoken He hears 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.800 what I don't say, He hears what's behind what I 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:12.080 said that's really driving the behavior. He hears me. He 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.240 hears my secret frustration that I don't say around people, 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.680 because if I told him how frustrated I was, it 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.920 would scare him. But he hears me. He hears me 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.600 when I sing to him, when I tell him worthy 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.680 is the Lamb of God, he hears me. I know 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:30.120 there's better singers than me, and I know I don't 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:33.280 always sing on key, but he hears me. When I 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:36.960 sing thank you Jesus, he hears me. It blesses his 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:43.600 heart to hear me, and the angel of God came 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:46.240 again to the woman. Wait wait, wait, wait, wait to 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:51.280 the woman, Manoah asked for the visit, and this angel 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:55.040 is back out talking to his what because God is 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:57.480 not going to do it like you want him to 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.640 do it. He's gonna want to say see will you 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:06.200 trust him? So the angel God came again to the 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.360 woman while she was out in the field, but her husband, Manoah, 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.639 was not with her. No. Woman hurried to tell her husband, 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:16.640 he's here the man who appeared to me the other day. 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:20.760 Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.359 came to the man, he said, are you the man 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:27.520 who talked to my wife? Hold on, let me change 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:35.480 Manoah's accent. Are you the man who talked to my wife? 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:38.760 She said? An awesome looking man came and said that 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:43.440 she was gonna be pregnant? Was that you? Angel said? 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:49.160 I am so, Manoah asked him. When your words are fulfilled, 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:52.679 I don't doubt you're going to do it. I just 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.919 need to know the plan. What is to be the 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:58.639 rule that governs the boy's life and work? How do 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:02.639 we do this? How do we do this. We're in 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.440 a meeting this week about the church, and I know 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.679 what I want to see, but I don't know the 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.320 plan for it. And so a lot of times when 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:13.040 I get in that mode, I start trying to like 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.919 tweak stuff, and I start trying to manipulate stuff. I 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:19.720 know you don't do this, but I'm a control freak, 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:21.560 and so I'll be like, well, we could do this, 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:23.240 this and this, and it's all good. It's all good. 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:25.720 But I want you to watch what the Angel does 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:30.720 instead of giving Manoah the plan, which is what he 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:32.919 asked for, what do we do with this boy that 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:34.359 you said is going to be born that's going to 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.120 do something great? What do I do with this calling? 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.040 What do I do in this situation? I need to 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.159 know the plan. I need to know the details. I 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:44.720 need to know the agenda. And the Bible says that 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:53.280 the Angel verse thirteen answered your wife. So now the 0:18:53.359 --> 0:19:02.200 Angel pivots from what Manoah asked to what he needed 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:07.600 to know right now. Now, sometimes when you pray to God, 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:12.000 he's going to pivot, and you're gonna be like, I 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.159 need the plan, but God will pivot. I mean, this 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:20.240 angel would have made a great politician or preacher or 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.640 basketball player. He could have been in the All Star 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.439 Game because watch how quick he pivots. We need to 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:26.800 know what to do when the boys moren what we're 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:30.840 gonna do? How many times you know, Manoah's full of questions? 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:32.439 Right of course he is. Do we need to put 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:33.840 him in a special school? Do we need to get 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:35.399 him a tutor? Do we need to see some karate? 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:37.399 Do we need to sea some juu? You know? Should 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:39.040 we be straight? Should we do what? Do we do it? How? 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:41.080 Let me do it? And the angel says, just tell 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.399 your wife right now, don't drink anything or eat anything unclean. 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.080 That's all you need to know right now. The pivot 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:49.919 from what you think you need to know to what 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:54.400 you really need to know. And God, just watch his footwork. See, 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:56.600 we always want to see God's hand, but sometimes you 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:59.880 gotta watch his feet because sometimes he wants to set 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:03.199 a different direction to say, you're not even looking at 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:05.440 the right side of this. Watch the pivot, and when 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:07.320 he pivots, you got to be quick to go with 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:09.480 him and say, God, I don't want your hand, I 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:11.840 want your face, I want to know you, I want 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.080 to seek you. I want to see you. I want 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:16.400 to feel you. I want to know you. I want 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:23.000 to have you. I want to I want to understand 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.280 what you know I need to understand. And I wonder, 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:30.320 is God trying to pivot your prayer life? Is God 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.639 trying to pivot? You're strategizing. Is God trying to pivot 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:36.960 because you're always trying to look for him in logic, 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.919 You're always trying to look for him in analysis and 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:43.200 in calculation. But God is spirit and you can't get 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.399 the spirit through strategy. You've got to come to God 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:50.399 like this. You've got to come to God with open arms, 0:20:50.640 --> 0:21:02.159 open hands, and an open hearts. The pivot. It's funny 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.919 thing about a pivot. Though it's a small move, but 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:11.520 it sets a completely different direction. Man, Noah, you can't 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:17.280 handle the plan right now. You can't. My word is 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:20.680 a lamp unto your feet, a light into your path. 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:24.760 Funny thing about pivot. I've been doing this all week, 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:28.240 just studying this sermon. It's trying to get God to 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:31.200 show me different ways to see situations and to see 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:32.760 his will. And what I think is this will. What 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:34.720 I thought was his will, and I thought he was 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.640 always doing this, But sometimes he's doing that, and they 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.080 get this promises this is from the Lord. You know, 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:45.439 he didn't realize that at first, but he starts to sense. 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:53.879 He starts to sense that this may be God. This 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:57.200 may be God, because its too big to be anything 0:21:57.240 --> 0:22:00.760 I could do. I don't plan for it. I don't 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:03.720 have a context for it. I don't know this maybe God. 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:11.000 This is the Lord. This is from the Lord. This 0:22:11.800 --> 0:22:15.600 gift set that I have, this talent, this child that 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:19.720 I'm raising, this is from the Lord. Somebody say this 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:24.840 is from the Lord. And so since it's from the Lord, 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:28.320 then I need him to show me how to do it. 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:34.359 But sometimes he won't answer the question that I ask. Instead, 0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:37.399 he will give me the wisdom that I need because 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:45.000 he knows a better question. My faith is not a formula, 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:50.480 and I'm not good at pivoting with my feet. I 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:52.399 don't do it a lot. That's so I had to 0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:54.880 practice it, and I'm still not very good at it. 0:22:55.720 --> 0:22:58.720 But I want to get good at it with my faith. 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:04.400 I want to learn to pivot. And this is where 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:08.560 it happens for Manah and his wife. And you're gonna 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:10.159 see it in the text. It's just gonna blow up 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:12.439 when you see it. It's gonna help you understand why 0:23:12.600 --> 0:23:15.800 you've been trying to classify everything in your life. You know, 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:17.439 this is good and this is bad, and this is 0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:19.080 God and this is the devil, and this is it 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:20.919 and this is that, and you keep trying to do that, 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:26.040 but it doesn't work. And here's why, he said. Manoah 0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:28.920