WEBVTT - Torn But Trusting 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:05.160 Hello Evams, especially our West Coast family. We have an 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:10.600 announcement for you, Elevation Nights twenty twenty two West Coast. 0:00:11.200 --> 0:00:14.920 Are you ready for this? October twenty fifth through November third, 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.400 We're coming your way so exciting. You can get your 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:21.160 tickets right now at Elevation Nights dot Com. It's gonna 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:26.400 be me Holly, Elevation Worship. It's gonna be amazing, unbelievable 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.720 these nights. Don't want to miss So if you're in Glendale, Arizona, 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:35.840 Las Vegas, Sacramento, California, Eugene, Oregon, Seattle, Oakland, California, San 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:41.200 Diego and La or anywhere near those areas, we want 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:44.239 to see you. Elevation Nights dot com. Don't miss it. 0:00:44.360 --> 0:00:48.479 Elevation Nights dot com. Get your tickets Elevation Nights dot Com. 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:51.839 Let's go to the message the Lord. Let me the 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:55.120 Genesis chapter thirty two for our lesson today. I want 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:57.480 you to find that on your phone and your Bible 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:00.000 or look on the screen. I want you to see 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:04.840 this with your own eyes. I've been reading through the 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.319 Book of Genesis with Elijah and Kelsey and it's been 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:10.200 so fun. We're going real slow we figured out if 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.440 we read the Bible this slow, it'd take us four 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:16.920 years to get through it. So we're cool with it 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:20.560 because every day we're looking for a lesson. And when 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:24.520 we came to this passage, I knew I would preach 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:26.640 it soon because he grabbed me in a new way. 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:31.960 Been years since I've preached about this passage. And we're 0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:34.640 going to see this Bible character, Jacob in a wrestling match, 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:41.080 and I reckon, this is my reaction to reflect got 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.080 around all those women, and I'm want to preach a 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:46.679 wrestling message or something like that. And I was watching 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:49.360 Jordan Burrows when that seventh Championship the other day. That 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.600 was cool. Did you see that? You didn't see it? 0:01:52.920 --> 0:02:00.600 It was cool. Look at Genesis chapter thirty two one. 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:07.480 Let me reado kind of from this this transitional verse. 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:09.680 So Jacob's gifts went on ahead of him, but he 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:13.120 himself spent the night in the camp. That night, Jacob 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:16.080 got up and took his two wives, his two female servants, 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.080 and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabakh. 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:22.640 You see, they're kind of how the ford that he 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.560 has to cross kind of sounds like his own name 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:30.119 and it's a picture that what he's going through externally 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:34.760 is really secondary to what he's going through internally. And 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.320 so when we focus on situations that we've got to 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:40.560 get through, sometimes we miss the point. Because God uses 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:45.679 situations to deal with issues in you. And if all 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:47.760 you want God to do is get you through the situation, 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:50.399 you'll miss the main thing that God wanted to do, 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:53.960 and then you'll recreate the situation that you get through 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:56.320 because you didn't deal with the issue that caused it 0:02:56.360 --> 0:03:01.040 in the first place. That's what's happening in thirty two. 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.520 And I know that because Jacob is about to have 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.320 a wrestling match, which is the same thing he was 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:10.960 doing in his mother's womb. His mother, Rebecca, when she 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:12.919 found out she was pregnant with twins, she knew it 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.000 because she felt them fighting inside of her. And so 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.600 these two boys, Jacob and Esau are we're going to 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:22.200 see both of them in this passage, mainly Jacob, but 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:27.880 they had been fighting each other now for ninety seven years. 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:32.079 Ninety seven years, that's how old they are during this 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:36.400 wrestling match. So but it's not Jacob and Esau here. 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:38.760 You would think that Jacob is getting ready to meet 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.400 up with his brother Esau, because he's trying to get 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:45.000 back home. But watch what happens as he's preparing to 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:47.880 meet with Esau. It says in in verse twenty three, 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:51.080 after he had sent them all of his sons and 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:56.080 servants and wives, after he had sent them across the stream, 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.360 Rachel and Leah and all the different things that he 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:00.760 had ready to make peace with Esau, he sent over 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:06.320 all his possessions. So Jacob verse twenty four, Jacob was 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:12.640 left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.400 And when the man saw that he could not overpower him, 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:22.160 he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.760 hip was wrenched. Now, I got to say, it's a miracle. 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:27.719 He got to age ninety seven, and this is the 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.960 first hip trouble that he had to begin with. But 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:33.719 it took him this long, so he really did pretty good. 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.800 But his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:38.880 He still don't know who the man is yet. Probably 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:40.960 at this point he might think it's one of these 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.279 river devils that they believed in in the Transjordan. They 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.240 thought that when you're crossing a body of water, there 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:48.359 were spirits that would come up and fight you. So 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:51.000 he probably thinks he's wrestling one of these devils. And 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.600 he's in the middle of wrestling his hip goes out 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.680 of socket. And then the man said, verse twenty six, 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:00.960 let me go, for it is daybreak. But Jacob replied, 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.000 I will not let you go unless you bless me. 0:05:04.040 --> 0:05:06.919 I'm gonna grab you with these arthritic hands and hold 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.320 on to you. I'm white knuckling this thing. You are 0:05:09.360 --> 0:05:11.080 not going till you bless me. And the man asked him, 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.400 what's your name? Jacob? He answered. Then the man said, 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:17.719 your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:24.480 you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome. 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:31.320 And Jacob said, please tell me your name. But he replied, 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.160 why do you ask my name? Then he blessed him. 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:37.919 There So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying it is 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.479 because I saw God face to face Pineo means face 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.599 of God. I saw God face to face, and yet 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:50.919 my life was spared. Somebody shout I survived. I survived. 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:54.240 The sun rose above him as he passed Pinnel, and 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.920 he was limping because of his hip. Therefore, to this day, 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:01.160 the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:04.520 socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:08.040 was touched near the tendon. And Jacob looked up and 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:12.960 there was Esau coming with his four hundred men, so 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:16.600 he got nervous, divided the children among Leah, Rachel, her 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.560 there are two female servants, and put the female servants 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.400 and their children in front, Leah and her children next, 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:26.240 and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He himself went 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:30.479 on ahead, bowed down to the ground seven times as 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:33.960 he approached his brother. Because Esaul was a skilled hunter 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.279 and Jacob was a skilled cook, and that's how Jacob 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:38.320 got him to eat his beans and trade his birthright, 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.040 and that's why he Sau got so mad he wanted 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:42.599 to kill him. So when he's a skilled hunter and 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:44.920 you're a skilled cook, you bow down and say, man, 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:46.880 can we just get this worked out through our words? 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:51.360 There's really no need for us to fight. But Esau 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:57.920 ran to meet Jacob and embraced him. Wasn't expecting that. 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.520 He threw his arms around it neck and kissed him 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:05.599 and they wept. Wow, isn't that crazy? What he was 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:09.680 staying up all night worried about God had already worked 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.680 out when he got there. How many things in your 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.160 life have been like that? When you actually did it, 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:18.080 it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:21.440 to be. But the verse I want to preach from 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.640 is very simple. Is in verse twenty nine. It says, 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:31.000 then he blessed him there. That's what I wan I 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.600 preach to you about today. And the title of this 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:44.040 message is trusting through the tearing. Trusting through the tearing, 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:46.240 or if you want to stay in the flow of 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:48.800 what I've been preaching the last few weeks about God's 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.560 got your back, you could turn to your neighbor and 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:58.200 tell them God's got you in between, in between, in between, 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:02.920 tell somebody else God's got you in between. You may 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:08.200 be seated. What an amazing story, What an epics story 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.280 in that incredible Bible story. Let's put our hands together 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:18.280 for the Bible. That's amazing. You are leaving already, I'm 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:25.760 just starting, all right, see it? Well, I guess they 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:30.880 got the most important part. They got the scripture. I 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.199 honestly didn't want to bring this up because it sounds 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:35.600 so superficial and the text that I read was so deep. 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.440 But it was so hard for me to figure out 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:44.800 what to wear to preach today because somebody gave me 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:47.000 this a couple of years ago, and I saw it 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:48.320 the other day. I was like, I never wore that. 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.079 I like it. I want to wear it this week. 0:08:51.000 --> 0:09:01.840 But in the South, seasons are tricky, and we're always 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:06.319 talking in our family, what's your favorite season? Graham says 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:14.320 that spring is off brand fall. That's his theory. Holly 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:17.920 and I love fall because when we go on our walks, 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:20.720 we're so boring in a way, but we love it. 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:25.120 We embrace it. One of our favorite things to do 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.040 is just crunch leaves and see who can crunch the 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.400 lead the loudest, and we're like, we have crunch of 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:32.240 the day competitions when we go on our walks. It's 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.240 very simple. It's a cheap date, by the way you 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:38.360 want to use it, and we'll do that. We walked 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.160 out the other day, Holly was all bundle up in 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:43.800 a hoodie and I'm laughing. I'm in a tank top 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:46.640 because I know our driveway is kind of long. So 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:50.319 when we were in the shade of our driveway, she thought, oh, 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:53.800 it's fall because football is on, so it's fall. Soon 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:55.760 as we got out of the shade, she's peeling that 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.160 hoodie off and we look at each other and we laugh, 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:03.320 and she goes. Fake fall. Fake fall is something you 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:05.800 may not know about if you aren't in the South. 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:13.559 It's when you go outside. It's fifty nine degrees. Everything 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:18.600 tastes like pumpkins in every restaurant. But no, sooner do 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.640 you go back inside to grab that cute cardigan that 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:25.559 you've been saving all summer and waiting for the fall. 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.400 Then you walk back outside. It's ninety six degrees now 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:34.320 in Charlotte, and it's only been five minutes, and it 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.120 can be refreshing because it can feel hot one moment 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.920 and then God will just blow an air condition like Gabriel, 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.760 just blow in your face and you'll say fall. I 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:46.200 feel you welcome fall. But don't be deceived. Do not 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:50.080 be fooled, do not be dismayed. It is only fake fall. 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.040 So make sure you pack at least three different outfits 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:55.880 when you leave in the morning. It's fake fall. Oh yeah, 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.360 football is on, but it's not fall yet. It's fake fall. 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:01.840 We walk back these people the other day crunching leaves, 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:04.920 and this guy says to us in a very northern accent, 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:06.640 and I'm not gonna impersonate it because it might be 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:08.880 offensive because I can't do it that good. But he's like, 0:11:09.120 --> 0:11:12.040 how about this fall weather? And Holly turns to me 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:15.640 and goes northern or fake fall? He do no, don't 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:17.400 tell him, don't tell him. No small it for him. 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:20.640 He thinks it's just gonna stay like this fake fall. 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:24.200 You'll know what I'm talking about. Fake fall. So I 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.320 didn't know whether to put this on today because it 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:30.840 feels like fall to me. The kids are back in school. 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:38.600 Chick fil A has this autumn spice milkshake, but I 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:43.800 don't know really if it's it's it's an in between season. 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:48.480 It's in between seasons. I'm standing in my closet. I 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:51.400 can't figure out which one to grab because I've been 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:55.000 waiting to wear this. But it might be now. We 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:57.600 keep it fifty seven degrees in the auditorium at elevation 0:11:57.679 --> 0:11:59.560 Valentine to keep y all awake, so I'm not worried 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:02.679 how it's going to be in the room that's mandated. 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:11.640 Is that a prayer request? I could turn it up 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:13.400 hot and preach about hell, and then we'll see what 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:20.520 happens you feel the flame, baby. But to me, there's 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:26.800 nothing trickier than in between seasons. One thing to figure 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.080 out what do I wear? I mean, I could take 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:32.480 this off if I chose wrong. But there are other things, 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:37.319 other things in life, the in between things that can 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:44.679 leave you feeling irritable, unstable, uncertain, like you're having an 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:49.080 identity crisis, like you really don't know which one to 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:53.640 go with. In between things. The Bible says, and we're 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.400 fond of quoting in Romans eight twenty eight, that all 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:01.960 things work together for the good of those who love 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:07.800 God and are called according to His purpose. All things. 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:12.600 Somebody say things, then it says a little further down 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:14.760 in the Book of Romans, and I think the thirty 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.920 first verses says, what shall we say in response to 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:22.839 these things? That God has predestined us, that God has 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:26.560 called us, that He has justified us, and he has 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:30.560 glorified us. All of that. In Romans chapter eight, I 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:34.920 am all of those things. I am called by God, 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:39.280 I am justified by Jesus, I am glorified with him. 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.760 I am joined together. I'm a joint heir with Jesus 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:45.559 Christ me and him hooked up and I got everything 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:48.040 that he has for me. When I called on his name, 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:50.200 he said he'd come live in me and be with me, 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.800 and would leave me or forsake me. So I'm all 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.160 of those things. Whatever he said I am. That's what 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.000 I am. Whatever he calls me, That's what I'll be 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.400 whatever he calls me too. That's what I'm walking toward. 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:05.920 Whatever he labels me, that's what I live by. I 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:14.920 am all those things called justified glorified, and yet their 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.600 context of Romans Chapter eight is interesting because it talks 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.760 about the groanings that happen on the inside of us 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:25.560 as we wait for our adoption and eagerly expect to 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:27.480 be brought into the fullness of what we have the 0:14:27.520 --> 0:14:32.120 first fruits of it is Paul's way of saying, we're 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:35.960 in between things that we know we're called, but we're 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:40.080 often confused. That we know we're justified, but we often 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:44.920 deal with guilt. That we know we're glorified, but we 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:51.640 often feel gritty because I'm in between things. I'm all 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:56.640 those things called justified glorified because Christ said I am. 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:01.720 But I'm some other things too. Sometimes I'm some other things. 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:06.800 I can be selfish, I can be rude, I can 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:11.600 be ignorant, I can be compulsive. I'm getting depressed right 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:15.400 now as I think about the other things. And the 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:21.440 truth is, I'm torn. I'm torn. I was torn to 0:15:21.480 --> 0:15:24.360 figure out what to wear to church today. I was 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:26.760 torn to figure out what's to preach to you today. 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.040 I'm torn in this very moment as I stand before 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.400 you and try to tell you that I'm all these 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.720 wonderful things in Christ, with all of the reminders behind 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:37.640 me of all the ways that I fell short of 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:42.120 the glory of God this week. The truth is I'm torn. 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:49.640 That's one of the things about being between things is 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:54.120 that you can feel kind of torn. I mean, just imagine. 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:58.200 I'm not going to demonstrate it. Two big, strong guys 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:01.200 standing on either side of me today, and one is 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.880 pulling me here and one is pulling me there. And 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:10.240 here I am in between two things, in between my 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:18.160 heavenly calling call justified, glorified, right with God, and then 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:25.720 my sinful tendencies, lazy self pity. I can be very. 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.280 I can be very. I can be a very convincing 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:33.960 victim as their fault they didn't they should have can 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:39.680 I can be a lot of things I'm torn. I 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:41.560 knew that starting to sermon this way would be kind 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.400 of interesting, because I think what people are looking for 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:48.080 when they come to church is for me to talk 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:52.520 about certain things and then to leave other things for 0:16:52.680 --> 0:16:57.320 Monday through Saturday. Problem with that approach to ministry is 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:03.800 it's what happens in between our Sunday meetings. In between. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:10.760 It will not be sufficient if you write down everything 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.080 I say today and live none of it out until 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:17.040 the next time I see it. It will not be 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.879 sufficient for us to get a Bible lesson today that 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.720 for a few moments maybe tickles our intellect or enlightens 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.119 our senses, or helps us to know something grammatical or 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.560 historical about the Word of God. It is what we 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.560 do in between. I'll prove it from the Bible. Faith 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:35.119 comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. But 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:40.080 faith without works is dead. So Jesus said, a sower 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:42.879 went out to sow. He started sowing. Some of the 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:45.760 seed before it even hit the soil got snatched up 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.640 by the bird. Can that really happen? Of course it can. 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.240 In between the release of the seed of the Word 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.719 of God and the fertilization in the soil, even before 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.000 it could hit the soil, let alone Germany, beneath the soil, 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.040 before it even had the opportunity to be what it 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:02.480 could have been, what it should have been, and what 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:06.840 it really was on the inside, something snatched it in between. 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:10.080 So you have to be very careful about how you 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:13.359 spend the first thirty minutes after you hear a sermon. 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.960 You have to beat back birds the first because the 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:22.600 enemy knows the enemy of your soul. The devil Satan, 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:25.639 O slew foot Lucifer, that old devil, that old devil 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:27.919 he had. Don't pitchfork devil. He's a little bird. He's 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:29.919 a cute little bird comes up in just as a 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:33.199 distraction snatches it in between. You can't even get to 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.320 the car and hold on to what has been said, 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:38.199 because we don't know how to be bored anymore. We 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.680 don't know how to sit with anything anymore. We can't 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:42.840 think about a word, we can't get out of search 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.240 and reflect on it for a minute. So we can't 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:49.760 germinate because you don't meditate because they got snatched in between. 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:55.400 How many feel convicted that we just run from one 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:59.280 thing to the other and nothing in between. So now 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.800 I have so many any games, and so many apps, 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:04.800 and so many distractions on my phone that I have 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:08.320 no time for any creativity. How could God remind me 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:10.879 of anything? I gave him no space to set up 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:17.680 in between my appointments. And our lives are very crowded, 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:20.639 because even the Bible itself is full of amazing things 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:26.120 that happened in between. Think about that. If we took 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:31.360 out everything in the Bible that happened as the characters 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:34.280 were going somewhere else, we would have removed some of 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:38.639 our best Bible stories, and we would have neutered some 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:45.400 of our best Bible characters, like Moses the burning bush. 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:51.919 If Moses had had data on his phone, he wouldn't 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:56.000 have seen the bush burning, because all he was doing 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:57.600 was trying to go to Horror with the sheep for 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:00.239 his father in law, Jethra, and then he was going 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.879 to go back to Midian. And in between, this bush 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:06.480 catches on fire, and God says, by the way, you're 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:10.159 about to lead a nation out of slavery. That happened 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.520 as he was going to do something else. Now that 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:17.359 had been me, I'm very sure that I wouldn't have 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:19.919 looked at the bush, because I'd have been right here 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:23.600 looking at something else. The enemy is good at filling 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:28.200 the in between spaces, so you don't even see God. 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:32.480 I see this in the Life of Moses. I was 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:36.240 thinking about. I guess my favorite Bible story because it's 0:20:36.280 --> 0:20:38.520 the first one I ever preached. How Peter walked on 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:43.280 water to Jesus. You know that happened just as they 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:47.040 were trying to get from Jesus. Jesus didn't set up 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:50.359 a water walking seminar that day. All they were trying 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:51.960 to do is get from the eastern shore to the 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:54.440 western shore. And they were going to the western shore 0:20:54.480 --> 0:20:56.880 to do miracles. But they had to leave the eastern 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:58.680 shore to go to western shore. Along the way, here 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:01.280 comes a storm, and in the middle of the storm, 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:04.639 here comes Jesus and comes toward Peter. Peter's like, I 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:06.680 want to come toward you, And Peter comes toward Jesus. 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:08.640 He falls down. Jesus picks him up, takes him back 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:09.800 to the boat, and they say, truly, you are the 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:13.240 Son of God. And we love that story. But it 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:18.480 happened in between. It happened in between. You think Mary 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:22.840 wanted to give birth to Jesus in Bethlehem. You want 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:25.480 to give birth to Jesus, away from your doctors, away 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:29.000 from your hometown. They were there for a census, and 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:32.320 the Savior of the world was born. I'm just trying 0:21:32.359 --> 0:21:36.800 to say that some of the best stuff happens in between. 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:41.240 I want to remind you of that, some of the 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.320 best things in your life while you're so focused on, Oh, 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:48.200 when I get through this, when I get through that, 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:51.080 Oh when I just get I just want to get 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:53.760 to the end of twenty twenty two. You've been saying 0:21:53.800 --> 0:21:57.280 that for the last forty seven years. About this time 0:21:57.320 --> 0:21:59.640 every year, you start thinking, if I could just get 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:02.480 through the year, I'm just waiting for a new year, 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:05.200 and here it is fall. Okay, just a few more months. 0:22:05.240 --> 0:22:07.960 If I could just get through twenty twenty two, If 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:10.320 you could just get through twenty twenty two, you were 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:13.199 gonna take twenty twenty you into twenty twenty three, and 0:22:13.240 --> 0:22:20.679 twenty twenty two ain't gonna kill twenty twenty you. I 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:22.320 got stuck in the trap at one point in my 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:26.480 life of just surviving between Sundays as a preacher, and 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:29.800 at that time we were doing Saturday night services. I 0:22:29.800 --> 0:22:33.000 haven't forgot about Jacob. I'm setting this up. Okay, I 0:22:33.000 --> 0:22:35.199 haven't forgot about it, but I'm gonna tell you something 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:39.000 in between. I read my scripture. Now I'm gonna illustrate. 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:40.959 Then I'm gonna go back to Jacob. I used to 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:45.000 just think, if I could just get to Sunday and 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:50.639 get another sermon, study, pray, beg plead, offer my children 0:22:50.680 --> 0:22:55.360 on the altar. What do you want? And a scary thing. 0:22:55.560 --> 0:23:00.399 It's a scary thing. Y'all's expectations are really high. It is, 0:23:00.800 --> 0:23:04.560 y'all really do have high expectations. Be serious, be funny, 0:23:04.840 --> 0:23:10.040 be youthful, be wise. You want a lot, speak for God, 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:16.480 keep it real. Torn. I'm so torn. If you can 0:23:16.560 --> 0:23:21.280 see me right now, I mean I might be holding 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:25.240 together on the outside, but on the inside. So I 0:23:25.320 --> 0:23:28.200 just try to get to Sunday, and then I think, 0:23:28.240 --> 0:23:30.200 if I could just get through Sunday. So wait a minute, 0:23:30.960 --> 0:23:36.760 your whole life is getting too and getting through and 0:23:36.840 --> 0:23:44.159 you are missing so many things in between. Oh, if 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:47.840 I can get this degree, what do you think that 0:23:47.880 --> 0:23:51.760 degree is gonna do? What do you think that degree 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:54.320 is really gonna do? It's gonna open doors? What's on 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:57.320 the other side of a door? What do you think 0:23:57.359 --> 0:23:59.359 is on the other side of the door, a massage table. 0:24:01.040 --> 0:24:02.840 You think it's a beach on the other side of 0:24:02.880 --> 0:24:05.160 the door. The degree open the door. Then you gotta 0:24:05.200 --> 0:24:07.119 do the stuff that they taught you to do. That 0:24:07.359 --> 0:24:09.600 isn't really what you gotta do, because they don't really 0:24:09.600 --> 0:24:11.480 teach you in school what you gotta do. What do 0:24:11.520 --> 0:24:19.920 you think that degree is gonna do for you? Somebody 0:24:20.000 --> 0:24:25.280 shout I'm in between. You didn't shout it convincingly because 0:24:25.280 --> 0:24:27.679 it's not sexy. Oh watch this, Watch this, somebody shout 0:24:28.160 --> 0:24:31.679 I made it. You see how much better you did that. 0:24:32.800 --> 0:24:36.480 Shout this, I'm gonna do it. Come on, shout it 0:24:36.560 --> 0:24:43.200 from your chest. But that in between things you didn't 0:24:43.200 --> 0:24:47.200 say that too good. Won't practice that. We don't practice 0:24:47.240 --> 0:24:49.040 that in between. We don't really know how to be 0:24:49.080 --> 0:24:53.240 in between. We really don't know how to be in between. Oh, 0:24:53.320 --> 0:24:57.280