WEBVTT - Keep It In Context 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:07.760 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.680 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:11.480 Hope it gives your. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.560 Perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:14.680 Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.560 I'm so excited. I've been waiting to share this word 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.440 with you this week. The Lord has been speaking to 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:27.720 us about new loops, same lies. 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:29.160 New loops. 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.280 Put my graphic on the screen so they can know 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:33.560 what I'm talking about. 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:36.639 It's important that in this season of. 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:39.559 Your life that you don't repeat the wrong things over 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:44.080 and over again. The victory and defeat in your life 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:46.639 is all a matter of what you put on repeat 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:49.199 in your mind and in your heart. How many have 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:53.159 found that to be true. And if you repeat the 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:55.480 wrong thing long enough, it starts to sound like it's 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:58.080 true even though it's not true. I'll always be my 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.240 mom was my sister. Is can't break this, I can't 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:03.880 deal with this. So when we say new loops, we're 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.800 talking about getting a new meditation in your heart that 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:10.520 comes from God. And we can't stop the enemy from lying. 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:13.000 But if we can teach you to identify when he's 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:15.720 doing it. And if we can teach you how to 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:17.720 tune into the voice of the Holy Spirit that is 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:20.440 speaking of truth over you, we can get you set 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:22.720 free in some areas of your life that you had 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.600 become convinced it always has to be this way. So 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.280 we're praying for new patterns. How many have been blessed 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:36.280 by the series so far? Amen, Today I want to 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.760 pick up with a scripture that is very powerful in 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:45.480 Second Kings chapter six, Praise the Lord. Second Kings chapter six. 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:52.720 I was thinking about this JJ. 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:56.120 Probably one of the coolest pictures that we get in 0:01:56.160 --> 0:02:01.040 the whole Bible of when you feel overwhelmed and you 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:03.000 don't know what to do, one of. 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.640 The clearest pictures that we get of what to do. 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.520 And so this will help you today. Second Kings, chapter six. 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.959 Let me read the full story. Please start in verse. 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:23.200 Eight. Second Kings six, Verse A. Now, the King of 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:25.280 arab was at war with Israel. 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.239 After conferring with his officers, he said, I will set 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:31.600 up my camp in such and such a place. The 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:33.520 Man of God sent word to the King of Israel, 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:36.040 beware of passing that place because the Arabians are going 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:38.799 down there. So the King of Israel checked on the 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:42.240 place indicated by the Man of God. Time and again 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:46.120 Elisha warned the king so that he was on his 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:47.400 guard in such places. 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:49.320 This enraged the King of Aram. 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:53.200 He summoned his officers and commanded of them, or demanded 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:56.400 of them, tell me which of us is on the 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.520 side of the King of Israel. None of us, my lord, 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:03.799 the king, said one of his officers. But Elisha, the prophet, 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:05.880 who is in Israel, tells the King of Israel the 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:09.840 very words you speak in your bedroom. Go find out 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:11.880 where he is, the king ordered, so I can send 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:16.000 men and capture him. And the report came back, he 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:20.440 is in Dothan. He is in Dothan. Then he sent 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:24.359 horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:28.360 by night and surrounded the city. Now verse fifteen, it 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:32.200 gets good. When the servant of the Man of God 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:35.839 got up and went out early the next morning, an 0:03:36.040 --> 0:03:40.360 army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. Oh no, 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:44.960 my lord, what shall we do, the servant asked. And 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.640 I want you to really pay attention to how the 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:56.960 prophet answered, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. What do 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:02.000 you mean, don't be afraid when we are surrounded on 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:07.480 every side. No, no, no, don't be afraid, because it cannot 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:11.080 sink you if it surrounds you. It can only sink 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:17.000 you if it submerges you. So regardless of what you 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:21.680 see with your senses, don't be afraid. Those who are 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:27.200 with us are more than those who are with them 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:31.719 in that good and Elisha pray, and Elisha prayed open 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:35.400 his eyes Lord, so that he may see. Then the 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.760 Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:44.279 the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:48.840 around Elisha. One more verse from Romans eight eighteen. King 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:52.840 James version, Please on the screen, for I reckon that 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:57.039 the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:03.640 be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:06.840 For I reckon I thought about it a little while 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:10.360 I did the math on it. I added and subtracted, 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:14.240 and multiplied and divided. I sat down with my situation, 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:19.039 and I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:23.080 what I'm going through right now on the outside, I 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:28.640 reckon that that is not worth comparing with the glory 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:33.560 that will be revealed in me. Now let me give 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.039 you my title. Turn to your neighbor and say, I 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:43.800 know it's crazy, but keep it in context. Keep it 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:49.320 in context, Keep it in context. Father, I pray that 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.760 you would illuminate what you're doing in our situation. Thank 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:54.960 you that you already were speaking while your word was 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:58.800 being read. Now make it so personal that people squirm 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.280 like has he been following me around this week? 0:06:01.360 --> 0:06:03.320 Because you have been following them around this week. 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:06.920 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:11.600 of my life. Thank you for speaking. Lord in Jesus' name, Amen, 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:23.640 you may be seated in in the Bible. The kinds 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:27.839 of conversations that we get to hear are really crazy 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:31.360 if you step back and think about it. To get 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.360 to hear Elisha one of the greatest profits. 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:34.960 That God ever made. 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.080 As he is dealing with the situation that is beyond 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:42.920 his control, and how he advises his young servant is 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:47.359 really an incredible masterclass for us in our minds. And 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:51.120 I think it's amazing in this conversation how the servant 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.400 wakes up and sees something that is so much bigger 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:58.599 than him and the prophet essentially says, don't make it 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:02.200 bigger than it is. Don't make it bigger than it is. 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:06.880 And in every marriage there's one person who makes things 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:13.240 bigger than they are. In my marriage, let me go 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:15.720 ahead and give you a framework for my marriage. Did 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:19.360 you see the movie Inside Out? Did you see Inside Out? 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.160 Too? All right? 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:23.360 Our family went to see Inside Out too, because in 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:27.000 Inside Out, the little girl has all these emotions and 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.480 they're personified by characters that sit at the control panel, 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.160 And so you've got sadness and disgust and joy and 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:38.520 anxiety and an inside out too. Joy and anxiety are 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:40.160 always battling each other. 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:41.240 Inside of her mind. 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:43.440 So we went to see the movie this summer, and 0:07:43.480 --> 0:07:45.760 we were going out to eat, and on the way 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:49.520 to the restaurant, I found out that this restaurant might 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.440 be closed, not would be closed, might be closed. And 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.400 you think, to yourself, that's not a big deal. But 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.960 to my mind, the restaurant being closed is an unacceptable 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.520 first domino in what could be a very bad day. 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.200 I feel like if everybody's blood sugar crashes to a 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:08.680 certain point, then it may cause the kids to fight. 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:10.520 That the kids fight too much, it may cause me 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:12.560 to respond in a terrible way. If I respond in 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.360 a terrible way, I'm gonna feel shame. I'm gonna have 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:17.440 to humble myself and apologize. And so as I'm going 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:19.400 back and forth with Holly in the car, driving to 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.000 the restaurant that might be closed, not is closed, might 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:25.080 be closed, and talking to her about unacceptable, the outcome 0:08:25.120 --> 0:08:28.120 of the restaurant being closed would be Graham says from 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:30.640 the back seat. You know, watching mom and Dad talk 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:34.360 is literally like watching a conversation between anxiety and joy. 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:41.720 Now in the passage that I read to you, it's 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:45.720 literally like watching a conversation between the wisdom of the 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:50.280 experience of the older prophet Elisha and his young servant 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:54.440 who has never faced a situation like this before. I've 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:58.120 never faced a situation like this before. I've never been 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:02.360 in this stage of life before. And we get through 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:08.000 the miraculous conservation of the scriptures and inside and in 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:13.400 some ways candid seat to this conversation, and the prophet says. 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:14.679 Don't make it bigger than it is. Now. 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.040 That's a crazy thing to say when you're surrounded by 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:21.000 horses and cheriots. Because whatever it is that you're going 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:23.120 through today, in your life, It's not this. Can we 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:27.160 all agree it's not this. This man is a national 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.320 security threat, it's not this. They're not all coming to 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:32.400 get you, although our minds will try to tell us 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:36.240 that it is so. In our relationship, Holly is always 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:40.160 the one who says it's not a big deal. Even yesterday, 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:42.880 I was preparing this message for you, and as I 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:45.400 was sitting down to study, she was flying to a 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:48.760 speaking engagement and she started texting me. And I was 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:51.959 looking for an illustration to talk about how sometimes my 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:54.520 mind tries to make it bigger than it is, and 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.040 she started texting me about a flight delay. Now she's 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.360 the one flying, I'm not, but I'm the one freaking out, 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:05.559 not her, because I texted her, Oh, no, this is horrible. 0:10:05.600 --> 0:10:07.720 She said, no, it's fine, and I was like, no, 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.480 it's not fine, because why do they always just get 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:14.240 to delay our flights whenever they want to. Somebody needs 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.280 to say something about this and do something about this. 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:22.480 This is unfair, This is unjust, This is actually this 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.320 is actually bigger than just your flight today, Holly. This 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.679 is actually a way that they're treating consumers that is unacceptable. 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.160 I mean, you paid for the ticket. This is not 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.840 a prison you are in. This is an actual place 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:38.200 that you paid to be, and you have a place 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.240 that you need to be and you are not going 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:42.360 to get to the place that you need to be 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.480 because the place that you paid to be did not 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.400 provide the service that. Have you ever tried to work 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.559 somebody who was like, is not a big deal? Into 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:54.560 a Oh yes, it is a big deal situation, and 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:58.080 that's me and her. I'm outraged. She's drinking Starbucks for her, 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:05.839 it's extra time for me. It is a travesty of travel, justice, anxiety, 0:11:05.880 --> 0:11:09.520 and joy. Just having a conversation, you know, is not 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:12.360 a big deal. Yes it is, because if you don't 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:13.199 make it to the event. 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:14.600 See here's the thing I found out. 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:18.880 When a flight gets delayed for me, my mind opens 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:25.760 a file. Write this down. My mind has files. Did 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.559 you know that your mind has files? And so when 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.840 a flight gets delayed, it opens a file in my 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:36.000 mind called every time a flight got delayed and then 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:40.040 got delayed again, and then got delayed again. So when 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.240 she said my flight is delayed, she's like, it's fine. 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:47.760 That's her file. Holly has this huge file called is fine, 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.440 It'll be fine. It's gonna be fine. If the restaurant 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:54.480 isn't open, it'll be fine. We're not gonna starve, it'll 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.600 be fine. We could even turn it into a fast 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:00.800 It'll be fine. The biggest file in her is called 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.520 it's fine. So when the flight is delayed, Holly's like, 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:08.040 it's fine. It's been fine so many times before. There 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:10.240 have been so many times that it has been fine, 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:12.320 that it is going to be fine right now. I 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:14.960 did the calculation, the tabulation and the math, and it 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.679 is going to be absolutely fine that the flight is delayed, 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.520 because we can still get there because I built in buffer. 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:22.200 But I'm thinking, no, this. 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:26.640 Is just the first in a series of horrible things. 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:29.319 And I go back to when we went to Atlanta 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.520 to record a preaching series and we were late and 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.440 we didn't get there in time because the flight was delayed. 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:38.680 This was fifteen years ago, and they were so mad 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.040 at me for not showing up at the taping that 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.440 they banned me from the network, from ever appearing on 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:47.560 the network. And the ministry was so small to me, 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:48.840 that was the worst thing. 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:49.640 That could ever happen. 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.400 So when she says the flight is delayed, I'm like, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:54.959 you're about to get banned. I don't know who's gonna 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.760 ban her, what they're gonna ban her from, but for 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.520 some reason a mild inconvenience in my mind, and watch 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:04.880 this open the file call when this happens. This can't happen, 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:07.320 even if it's not in the probable odds of it, 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:10.959 there is a chance once they start this crap, once 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:14.319 they say we're delayed by ten minutes, that's just the 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:17.800 first lie. And now the file opens of every lie 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:21.040 that they ever told me on an intercom about the flight. 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:24.880 It's gonna be fine. Now, Sometimes it's not fine. Sometimes 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:34.640 you get banned, and the servant wakes up and sees 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:38.560 the place surround it and says, it's not fine. 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:40.040 It's not fine. 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:44.480 We're about to die. They have come to capture you 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:45.120 in Dothan. 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:46.559 It's not fine. 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:52.920 And Elisha says, don't be afraid. There's more with us 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:57.840 than with them. I believe one of the contrasts in 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:01.040 this passage that makes it very powerful is not only 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:04.160 that Elisha was the prophet and that the servant was 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.480 in an administrative position where he had to deal with details, 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.240 but that Elisha was a little older and the servant 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.680 was a young man, and so when Elishah woke up 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:18.720 that morning and saw the hills surrounded with his enemies, 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:20.640 and go ahead and bring me my teaching scream because 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:22.720 I think I need to draw this for you. How 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.000 many have been enjoying my drawings of loops over the 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:30.560 last few weeks. I'm still waiting on someone to get 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:35.520 a tattoo, a little loop tattoo. I know the Book 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:37.440 of Leviticus says, but that's not what it means. You 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:39.000 can get a tattoo if it's for the Lord. 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:42.920 Now watch this. 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:44.840 That's going to be the clip that they're going to 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:51.320 put online. 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:50.240 But they won't keep. 0:14:50.040 --> 0:15:03.880 It in context. Okay, So this is how the servant felt. 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:06.400 And I'm not drawing this because I think I'm such 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.360 an awesome artist. We've just been talking about these loops. 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:13.920 The enemy says, God says, the enemy says, God says. 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:16.200 What does the enemy say? Over and over again, It's 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:20.760 not enough, You're not loved. It's not enough, You're not loved. 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:24.000 And we've been talking about new loops that God can design. 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:28.120 So the servant, who is a very young man, wakes 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:31.200 up in the morning and all he sees surrounding the hills. 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:42.360 Is the enemy surrounding Talk about a literal loop. There's 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.120 horses and chariots coming to take away the. 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:49.280 Man of God. It is a literal loop around these two. 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:54.000 And the servant sees the enemy and then he sees 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.360 and I wonder can you relate to this feeling? Okay, 0:15:57.080 --> 0:15:59.680 wake up in the morning, and all I feel, all 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:04.040 I all I can sense is the avalanche of anxiety 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.600 of everything that's probably not going to get done today, 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.600 that needs to get done today, or of all of 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:15.800 the potentially awkward conversations that need to happen. And there's 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.440 a little voice inside of you saying, it's fine, but 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:24.400 what if it's not. It's fine, but maybe not this time. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.680 It's fine, it's good, this is good, it's good. But 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:31.160 when you're surrounded by the enemy and this is what 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:40.640 he sees. Here's the enemy and here's me. So that's 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:44.440 about how it feels, right. This is how big the 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:45.000 enemy is. 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:48.480 This is me. Can y'all see that? That says me, 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:51.160 big old enemy? 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:56.680 Li me? And what is lil o me gonna do 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:02.440 with a big old enemy? And he just says, it's fine. 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:08.320 How is it fine? Because I have a file. I 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:12.440 have a file. This is not Elisha's first time in trouble. 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.600 This is not Elisha's first time outnumbered. This is not 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:22.520 Elisia's first time dealing with it's not enough. One time 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.080 he was standing at the bank of the Jordan after 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.800 his mentor, Elijah was taken away, who he followed for 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:34.000 years and years, seeing miracles, miracles that only God can do. 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.080 And I believe that as he was watching his mentor, 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:41.760 as God performed miracles, he was building a file, a 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:44.920 file in his mind that God can send fire from heaven, 0:17:45.359 --> 0:17:47.760 a file in his mind that God can even raise 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.720 the dead, a file in his mind that enabled him 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:53.680 when he was standing at the Jordan with nothing but 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:56.800 the mantle that was left from his mentor, he rolled 0:17:56.800 --> 0:18:00.200 it up and struck the water, and the water part. 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.040 And when he saw something as simple as a piece 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:06.520 of clothing part a body of water, that became a 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:10.320 new file in his mind. And then there was the 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.040 time where they brought him to a city and the 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:16.119 water supply was bad in tewod King's chapter two, and 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.080 he took a little salt and threw it in the water, 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:21.000 and the water was purified from a little bit of salt. 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.160 How can a little bit of salt purify a whole 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:26.800 body of water? And so Elisha put it in his 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:30.439 mind that God can take a little thing, something that 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:34.440 is not enough, something that seems insignificant, and he can 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:39.600 purify and he can plentify something that seems absolutely beyond 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:42.760 human ability. When a widow came to him and said, 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.960 they're about to take my sons as slaves, Elisha said, 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:48.880 what do you have in your house? And she said, 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:51.320 I don't have anything, just a little bit of oil. 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.920 And Elija said, that's fine. But if you get enough 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:58.000 jars and you start pouring what you have, even if 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.320 it seems insignificant to you, if you will begin to 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:03.280 do the thing that you can do with the thing 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:06.000 that you do have, God will do the thing that. 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:06.560 You can't do. 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:11.399 Because God specializes in starting with not enough so he 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:14.199 can show that he is more than enough. And I 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:17.560 believe that as Elisha saw those jars filled and pushed 0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:20.399 to the side, each time a jar was pushed to 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:24.399 the side from a supply that wasn't enough before God spoke, 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:28.280 he began to fill a file in his mind that 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:31.440 God is faithful and that God is more than enough, 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:34.880 and that God is greater than a bad situation, and 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:37.480 that God doesn't look for what you don't have, but 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.119 he works with what you do have. And I believe 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:43.359 that by this time in his life, after seeing name 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.800 and healed of leprosy, after seeing a little boy that 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:49.960 was not supposed to be born be born and die 0:19:50.280 --> 0:19:53.000 and raised from the dead, by the time he gets 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:55.680 to this place in his life, he has a big 0:19:55.800 --> 0:19:59.400 file in his mind. So when he sees the hills 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.800 that are full of the enemies surrounding him, when he 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:05.639 sees the hills that are full of the opponents that 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:08.320 have come to take him away, when he sees the 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:11.240 hills that are full of the thing that threatened to 0:20:11.280 --> 0:20:14.520 take his life, he has got a file that is 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:18.679 full to fight the fear that he feels because he 0:20:18.840 --> 0:20:21.600 knows that if God is not done with me yet, 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:26.400 there's more in me. So I can't die here unless 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:29.080 God is done with me. So why would I be 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:32.719 afraid of something that can't take me until God is 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:33.480 done with me? 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:35.720 Because I got a file for that. 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:41.639 And your mind has files. 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:46.320 Your mind has a file called worry, your mind has 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:50.800 a file called worship. And the one that you open 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:56.280 is the one that will fill. I just said something 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:59.880 to somebody, and I don't know who. But your mind 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:05.480 has files, one called faith, one called fear, and the 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:08.639 one that you open is the one that's going to fill. 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:12.160 If you open a file called what could go wrong 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:14.760 on this flight? You will be checking everybody's bag and 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.960 you're not even TSA. How far are you going to 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:21.160 take this? I mean, are you going to interview the pilot? 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:23.639 Will you stop there? Are you going to check the 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:26.480 plane yourself? If you open the file called is this 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:29.560 gonna go well? On the fire? I mean that file 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:34.480 is completely infinite, That loop is complete. That's what the 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.520 enemy does to you. He gets you to open the file, 0:21:38.400 --> 0:21:42.320 and you don't have time for that file right now. No, 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:45.560 you let me say that again. You do not have 0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:51.479 time to be running every hypothetical scenario in your life 0:21:51.720 --> 0:21:55.959 for what might go wrong, because if you repeat what 0:21:56.040 --> 0:22:00.520 might go wrong long enough, what you repeat is defeat. 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:07.399 Your mind has files, and the one that you open 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:10.520 is the one that will fill. That changed my life 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:13.560 because it helped me to start saying things to people 0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:16.560 like this, man, I don't really want to talk about 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:20.359 that right now. One of my friends told me the 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:23.439 other day something horrible that somebody said about me, And 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.200 they said, but I had your back, and I said, 0:22:26.240 --> 0:22:28.160 I appreciate it. Can we be done with this conversation? 0:22:29.160 --> 0:22:31.240 Thank you for having my back. But I'm done talking 0:22:31.280 --> 0:22:31.600 about this? 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:34.520 Why? Because I don't really want to hear about somebody 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:35.119 who hates me. 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:41.119 I don't want to open that file right now because 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:44.240 that could be a big file and I might start 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:46.639 adding friends to that file that really don't hate me. 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:58.159 Remember when you vent, you invent? So if my heart 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:00.920 is full of fear, what file. 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:03.920 Did I open? I'll do a real time example. 0:23:04.160 --> 0:23:05.920 I'm looking around this room right now, and I just 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:10.760 saw two people yawn while I was preaching right consecutively 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:13.560 in a row, big old I'm not even trying to 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:14.360 cover it up. Yon. 0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:17.760 There's a difference between like, ah, I'm tired, bo I'm 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:18.440 really enjoying this. 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:20.800 There's a difference between that and maybe if I do 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:23.600 it big enough, he'll just finish. That's what it looked 0:23:23.640 --> 0:23:26.960 like to me. But why did I open that file? 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:32.280