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See terms and conditions at UNEs 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:30.080 dot co. 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.800 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast. 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.880 We enjoy spending this time with you. I hope you'll 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.319 leave Inspire. Make sure you subscribe to get new messages 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:44.360 every week. We appreciate your support. It helps keep the 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:45.240 ministry going. 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:57.560 Enjoy the message. 0:01:59.000 --> 0:02:01.800 God bless you. It's always a joy to come into 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:02.400 your homes. 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.280 And if you're ever in our area, please stop by 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:07.600 and be a part of one of our services. I'll 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:10.560 promise you we'll make you feel right at home. Thanks 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:13.000 so much, though, for tuning in, and thank you again 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:13.760 for coming out. 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:15.880 I like to start with something funny. 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:19.640 And one day Jesus and Satan were having a contest 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:22.080 to see who was better with computers. 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:24.320 After six hours of. 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:29.200 Making spreadsheets designing web pages, a thunderstorm knocked. 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:30.079 The power out. 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:34.800 When they rebooted their computers, Satan started screaming, it's all lost. 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:39.520 All my material is gone, while Jesus quietly printed his 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:40.720 out and turned it in. 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:44.639 Satan complained, it's not fair. He must have cheated. How 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:47.799 come he didn't lose his work. God smiled and said, 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:53.320 Jesus Saves, let's say it like you mean. 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.440 If this is my Bible, I am what it says 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.240 I am. I have what it says I have. I 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.920 can do what it says I can do. Today I 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:05.160 will be taught the word of God. I'll boldly confess. 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:09.080 My mind is alert, my heart is recepted. I will 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:12.760 never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.280 I want to talk to you today about separated for 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:21.240 the better. In the scripture, there's a place called the 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:25.680 threshing floor. That's where the wheat was separated from the chaff. 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:29.480 And back in those days they didn't have machinery, so 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.760 they would lay sheaves of wheat on the ground and 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.720 have their oxen and cattle walk over them. 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:39.040 Repeatedly. They would break up the husk and straw. 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.960 The valuable part of the plant, the grain that was 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.280 used for bread and meal, would come loose from the chaff. 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.200 The farmer could have a great harvest, but if he 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:54.520 didn't separate the dysfunctional part of the plant from the functional, 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:55.840 he would never. 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:56.280 Make a living. 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:00.560 Even though he had something very valuable. Didn't go through 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.320 this process, it wouldn't do him any good. In the 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:08.600 same way, to reach our highest potential, God will take 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:11.000 us through some threshing floors. 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.280 We start off like that stalk of wheat. The potential 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.839 is there. We have seeds of greatness, we're valuable. 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:23.719 But the problem is we all have some chaff along 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:24.960 with the valuable grain. 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:27.800 We may have some pride or. 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:31.200 Selfishness or insecurities, and unless God took us through the 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:34.919 threshing floor, we've never become what he created us to be. 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:39.920 God has to separate the dysfunctional part of us, the 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:42.800 part that's holding us back, from the valuable part. 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.320 Now. If the weak could talk, it would say, I 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:46.880 don't want to. 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:49.799 Go through the threshing floor. I don't want animals walking 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:54.440 on me. That's uncomfortable, that's painful, Leave me alone. But 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:58.800 the farmer knows without the separation, the grain would never 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:02.279 be useful. And sometimes we think, why am I stuck 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:05.600 in traffic again? Why won't this person give me credit? 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:09.440 Why did this friend walk away? We don't realize we're 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:13.360 on the threshing floor. What we think is a bad break, 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:18.279 a disappointment. We don't like it, we're uncomfortable, but God 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:22.279 is the one that ordained it. Instead of fighting it, 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:27.000 if you'll stay in peace, then you're being refined. What's 0:05:27.040 --> 0:05:30.000 holding you back is coming off like that. We you're 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:34.200 becoming more valuable. That person at work that always gets 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:36.960 on your nerves, always tries to make you look bad. 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:41.200 As long as you let that frustrate you ruin your day, 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:42.520 you're going to get stuck. 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:46.840 But when you recognize I'm on the threshing floor, this 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:50.080 is an opportunity to come up higher. I'm being refined, 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:52.720 So I'm gonna stay in peace. I'm gonna let God 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.880 fight my battles. When you have that approach. Even if 0:05:56.920 --> 0:06:01.800 the situation doesn't change, you will change getting better. The 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:06.360 scripture says, our faith is tried in the fire of affliction. 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:11.480 We can't pray away every difficulty. There will be things 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:15.080 that happened that you don't understand. You went through a loss, 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.000 a friend lets you down, you didn't get the promotion. 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:23.120 Recognize you're on the threshing floor even though it's uncomfortable. 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:26.599 If you'll keep the right attitude, you'll come out refined, 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:31.800 more valuable, separated from what's holding you back. I'm a 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:35.320 very gold oriented person, and I never liked to wait. 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:39.120 But it seemed like the more impatient I was, the 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.400 more I found myself in situations that I. 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:44.400 Didn't have a choice. I had to wait. 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.760 I never dreamed it was God putting me there. I 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:50.760 was sure it was the enemy trying. 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:51.360 To slow me down. 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.960 I tried to pray away every traffic jam, every slow driver, 0:06:56.400 --> 0:07:00.760 every delayed I prayed that Victoria'd get dressed faster, prayed. 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:02.520 The kids would be ready on time. 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:07.280 No wonder, it didn't work. I was praying against what 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:10.960 God had ordained. He loved me too much to answer 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:15.760 my prayer. I wanted God to change the situation. God 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:20.040 wanted the situation to change me. Maybe you're on the 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:23.200 threshing floor today fighting something you don't like. 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:25.800 Why don't you have a new perspective. 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:30.320 God wouldn't have you there unless you needed it. It 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:33.320 may not be good, but God knows how to use 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:37.400 it for your good. Instead of living frustrated, sour, we're bitter, 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:38.920 have the attitude. 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:41.360 I may not like this, but I know I'm on 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:42.360 the threshing floor. 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.960 I'm being refined, I'm getting better, I'm coming up higher. 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:50.080 One Sunday morning, when our services were still held at 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:53.880 our northeast location, I headed out for church. I like 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.440 to arrive at least thirty minutes early so I can 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:58.920 go over my notes and get ready. But when I 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.880 came to the main intersection to leave my neighborhood, it 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:06.320 was blocked off because of the marathon that happens here 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.200 every January. So I turned around to go out the 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:12.680 backside of the neighborhood, but it was blocked off as well. 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:16.440 I tried another place, and another and another. There was 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.640 no way to get out. I was so frustrated. I 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:22.600 went back to the main intersection. I said to the 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:26.960 police officer standing there, I passed for a church across town. 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.440 I'm trying to get on the freeway, but can't seem 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.360 to get out of the neighborhood. All he had to 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:35.160 do was move one cone and let me cross the 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:40.600 road early Sunday morning, not another car or person in sight. 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:42.880 He was going to help. He said, all right, let 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:43.880 me see what I can do. 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:48.200 Then he turned and looked at his supervisor across the intersection. 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:53.400 Before he could say anything, his supervisor started shaking his head. 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:56.360 No, couldn't believe. He didn't know what was gonna ask. 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:58.199 I wanted to say, tell him I was going to 0:08:58.240 --> 0:08:58.920 buy him a new car. 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:04.720 He just said no. I turned around so, frustrated, drove through. 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:07.920 The neighborhood another ten fifteen minutes, finally found this small 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:11.000 side street to get out. The funny thing is when 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:15.079 I got to church, Victoria was already there. She left 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:18.199 thirty minutes after me. I said, how'd you get here 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.080 so fast? She said, I went the normal way. The 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:24.960 intersection was open for me. Friends, God knows how to 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:29.200 put you where you're supposed to be. If he has 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:33.320 you there, don't fight it, embrace it, stay in peace. 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:38.360 See Victoria is very relaxed, easy going. She doesn't struggle 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:40.920 with being impatient. She has a whole bunch of other 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:41.880 things she deals with. 0:09:41.960 --> 0:09:46.520 But I'm not the only sinner in the family. Now 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:48.120 what am I saying? 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:52.400 If we would work with God and let the situation 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:56.400 change us instead of trying to change everything we don't like, 0:09:56.760 --> 0:10:00.200 we wouldn't have to keep taking the same test to 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.120 go back to that threshing floor again and again, stuck 0:10:03.160 --> 0:10:07.320 in traffic. Some things don't come off easily. God will 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:11.080 deliberately put us in situations so we can come up higher. 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:15.000 The right approach is, if God has me here, I 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.880 must need it. I'm going to keep a good attitude 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:21.480 knowing that I'm coming out refined, I'm coming out more valuable. 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:26.760 In the scripture, when the three Hebrew teenagers wouldn't bow 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.280 down to the king's golden idol, he was very upset. 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:33.559 He was going to have them thrown into a fiery furnace. 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.760 He had their hands and feet bound with cords, and 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:40.240 he threw them into the furnace. But the only thing 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.480 that was burned in the fire were the cords that 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:47.839 were holding them back. The fire didn't stop them. The 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:52.560 fire separated them from their limitations. It was meant to 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:54.600 destroy them, but in fact. 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:55.680 It made them better. 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:58.920 They came out with a new confidence, with a greater 0:10:59.040 --> 0:10:59.960 trust in God. 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.240 Not in the fire, but on fire. 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:06.600 Just like with them, When you find yourself in the fire, 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:10.480 you can stay in peace knowing that God is not 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.960 going to harm anything that you need. That difficulty is 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:19.560 not going to leave you broken, scarred, defeated. All it's 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:22.960 going to do is burn off any limitations that are 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.440 holding you back. It's going to separate anything that's not 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:29.920 God's best. You're going to come out prepared, ready for 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:34.000 the next level. In the scripture we see this principle. 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:37.560 All the great heroes of faith went through their threshing 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:42.760 floor experiences. Remember Peter, he was hot tempered, he used 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:43.640 bad language. 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:48.079 He told Jesus, I'll never deny you. I'm your main disciple. 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:49.960 I'll be with you through thick and thin. 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.560 But when he was put on the threshing floor in 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.320 the heat of the moment, he denied that he knew Christ. 0:11:56.880 --> 0:12:00.160 When you're under pressure, you find out what's really on 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:04.520 the inside. That's when impurities in our character come to light. 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.479 If you'll work with God and let him refine you, 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:09.439 you'll come out better. 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.880 This is what happened with Peter. He didn't stay there. 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.800 One day, he ministered, and three thousand people came to. 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:17.240 Know the Lord. 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.680 The most in the scripture, he was so powerful that 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:25.080 his shadow caused people to get healed. Moses, as a 0:12:25.120 --> 0:12:28.400 young man, knew he was supposed to deliver God's people. 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:31.520 The dream was in his heart, but he got out 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:33.680 of God's timing and tried to do it in his 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:37.480 own strength. He ended up killing a man and had 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:41.240 to flee for his life. He spent forty years on 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.480 the back side of the desert. Looked like that one 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:49.079 mistake ruined his destiny. God never writes us off. He 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:52.840 was on the threshing floor being refined when he was 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:56.920 eighty years old. The scripture says Moses was the most 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:02.160 humble gentle man alive. God was saying, Moses, I haven't 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:06.360 forgotten about you. That threshing floor experience. You may not 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.719 have liked, it may have been uncomfortable, but the good 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:11.680 news it's prepared you. 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:13.960 For the fullness of your destiny. 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.240 Moses went on to bring the Israelites out of slavery, 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.320 lead them toward the promised land. What had never happened 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:26.080 without the threshing floor. Judges chapter six tells about a 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:30.440 time when the Israelites would go out and plant their crops, 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.439 water them, cultivate them. But when it came time to reap, 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:39.079 an enemy would come and take their harvest. God raised 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:41.360 up a man by the name of Gideon to do 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:46.480 something about it. The problem Gideon was insecure. He didn't 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:49.520 think he could do anything great. As long as he 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:51.600 felt inferior, he would never. 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:53.120 Reach his destiny. 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:57.200 God didn't say, Gideon, too bad, I had something amazing 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:00.600 in your future. You have all these things hold you back. 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.120 I can't use you. No. God never leaves us where 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.920 we are. This is what the threshing floor is all about. 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:13.240 God puts us in situations to separate what's limiting us. 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:16.760 God told Gideon, I want you to lead the people 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:20.520 and defeat this army. Gideon said, God, how can I 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.320 do that. I'm the least one in my father's house. 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.880 It's significant where Gideon was when he said this. 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:35.640 He was hiding in a threshing floor. He felt weak, inferior. 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:39.320 Less than God answered him back and said, Gideon, you 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:43.240 are a mighty man of valor. You are well able 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:48.600 to accomplish this assignment. I can imagine hiding there. Something 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:52.000 came all over him. He thought to himself, you know what, 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:55.840 I'm not weak, I'm not defeated. I'm a child of 0:14:55.880 --> 0:15:01.320 the most High God. Suddenly fear left him, Intimidation was gone. 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:05.520 The threshing floor will separate what's limiting you. 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.720 On the threshing floor. God will stir your gifts. 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.560 You'll hear him speaking faith and victory over your life. 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:17.840 Gideon would have been satisfied to stay there hiding. Just 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:21.640 have enough to survive. God said Gideon, this is not 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:25.040 your destiny. You are not going to let the enemy 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:28.520 steal your harvest the rest of your life. Rise up 0:15:28.680 --> 0:15:32.440 and go do something about it. See, the threshing floor 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:36.720 was never meant to be permanent. God is saying to 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:39.840 us what he said to Gideon. You've been on that 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:43.600 threshing floor long enough. It's time to go get what 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:48.520 belongs to you. That means shake off the disappointments, shake 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:53.800 off low expectations, shake off what people told you you 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:56.920 can't do. People don't determine your destiny. 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:57.600 God does. 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:01.400 There is a great horror in front of you. It 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:05.520 has your name, on it. Don't let the enemy keep taking. 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:07.320 What belongs to you. 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:10.840 You are a mighty man of valor. You are a 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:12.400 mighty woman of valor. 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:13.400 Like Gideon. 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:17.680 You've been equipped, empowered, anointed. You are well able to 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:22.320 accomplish your assignment. But all of us will go through 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:26.800 these threshing floor experiences. It's not because God has forgotten 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:29.520 about you. He's punishing you, he's done with you. 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:30.840 It's just the opposite. 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:35.280 The reason you're facing the difficulty is because God is 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:39.720 getting you prepared. He knows what you're capable of, so 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:43.560 he's separating what's holding you back. You're about to see 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:47.280 new growth, new opportunities, new friendships. 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:48.600 You're going to come. 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:53.000 Out refined, polished, stronger, matured. You're going to have a 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.920 greater trust, a greater confidence in God. 0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:57.960 Now, don't complain. 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:01.480 About how big the obstacles are, about what somebody did 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:01.800 to you. 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:05.920 That threshing floor is not defeating you. It's promoting you. 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:11.399 First Chronicles thirteen, The Ark of the Covenant. This was 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:15.439 a large box where God's presence was back in those days, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.159 had been gone for a long time. David had a 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:22.320 desire to bring it back to Jerusalem. He had his 0:17:22.480 --> 0:17:26.679 men build a special cart. Very carefully, they placed the 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.639 Ark of the Covenant on this cart. They headed toward 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:34.399 their destiny very excited. The Ark was finally coming back home. 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:39.280 Everything was going great until the Oxen hit a bump 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:43.159 in the road and stumbled. The arc started to fall. 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.560 A man reached out to steady it. When he touched it, 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:52.639 he was instantly killed. David was so upset, so distraught, 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:56.879 he wouldn't go any further. He couldn't understand how he 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:00.080 could be doing the right thing. Yet God took the 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.879 life of one of his friends. He gave up on 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.520 his mission let the Ark of the Covenant go to 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:10.240 a house close by. What David didn't realize is that 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:15.960 setback was divinely orchestrated. The scripture says the bumping the 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:20.919 road occurred at a threshing floor. David just saw it 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:24.400 as a bad break, But God was directing his steps 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:29.000 at the threshing floor, just as wheat is separated from chaff. 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:33.119 God was going to use that situation to refine David. 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:38.440 And sometimes we're going along and everything's great, life is. 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:40.560 Good, but we hit a bump in the road. 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:45.600 Low's a loved one relationship doesn't work out, the business 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:46.240 goes down. 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:48.560 We don't understand what happened. 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:52.680 But just like with David, those bumps in the road 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:57.720 are not random. They happen at a threshing floor. When 0:18:57.720 --> 0:18:59.680 you come out, you're not going to be the same. 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:03.160 You're going to be refined with less chaff. 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:03.960 With more wheat. 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:07.439 If you look back over your life, the times you 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:11.800 really grew, you came up higher, you developed more confidence. 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:15.240 Weren't the good times when everything was going your way. 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.359 It was the times you hit a bumping the road. 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.080 You couldn't see it at the time, but you were 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:22.520 at a threshing floor. 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.840 God used that to refine you. You came out better. 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:29.920 For three months, David was depressed. 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.919 Sitting by the side of the road. God, it didn't 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.679 work out. God, I never dreamed I'd lose somebody along 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:40.760 the way. But the threshing floor is a place where 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.720 things die so something new can be born. 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:46.560 That difficulty is not the end. 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:50.879 The divorce, the loss, the child that broke your heart 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:55.120 is not how your story concludes. Something may have died 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.280 in your life, a friendship, a goal, a dream. The 0:19:58.400 --> 0:20:01.760 only reason it died to give birth to the new 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:06.200 things God wants to do. Sometimes you have to lose 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:08.520 something to gain something better. 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:12.879 God has to close a door before he'll open a 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:13.680 bigger door. 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:18.560 The threshing floor is not only a place of separation, 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:20.880 it's a place of preparation. 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:23.520 If David would have taken the. 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.600 Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem the first time before 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.120 the bumping the road, he had no place to put it, 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:32.560 a lot of people could have been hurt. Chapter fifteen 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:35.840 says he went and prepared a place for the Ark. 0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:39.080 When you hit a bump in the road, God is 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:43.439 not only separating what's holding you back, but he's preparing 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:47.080 you for what's in your future. Some of the things 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:50.200 God has in store. If he took you right now, 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:54.320 you couldn't handle it. He's growing you up, he's maturing you. 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:57.359 He's teaching you to trust, so when it's your time 0:20:57.440 --> 0:20:59.400 to step up, you'll be ready to go. 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.760 David thought it was over. For three months. 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:07.480 He had been weeping upset, never thought he could accomplish 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:11.040 his assignment. One day he looked out and saw the 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:13.399 house where the Ark of the Covenant had been staying. 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:17.639 Those people were so blessed, so prosperous, so full of 0:21:17.680 --> 0:21:21.760 God's favor. Something rose up in him, a new fire, 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:25.479 a new passion. He said, God, I've changed my mind. 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:28.160 I'm going to get back in the game and do 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:29.040 what you've called. 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:29.320 Me to do. 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:32.520 Maybe you've hit a bump in the road and it's 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:35.080 knocked the wind out of you. You don't think like 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:38.879 David that you could accomplish your dreams, accomplish your assignment. 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:45.120 That threshing floor is not defeating you. It's preparing you. 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:48.000 You may have lost something, but you need to get ready. 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:52.080 You're about to gain something a whole lot better. God 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:54.760 is getting you prepared for something amazing. 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:59.399 Get your fire back, get your passion back. A good 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:02.600 man falls well seven times and the Lord raises him up. 0:22:03.280 --> 0:22:06.000 You may have fallen, but it's time to get back up. 0:22:06.800 --> 0:22:12.719 You're prepared, you're qualified. You'll refine what God started in 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:13.280 your life. 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:17.280 He's going to finish. This is what David did. Scripture 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:17.840 talks about. 0:22:18.040 --> 0:22:21.480 He got the ark of the Covenant headed toward Jerusalem 0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:25.560 with great gladness. A few weeks earlier, he didn't think 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:29.760 he'd ever smile again. Now he's full of joy, singing, dancing, 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:31.479 seeing a dream come to pass. 0:22:32.440 --> 0:22:33.920