Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
Speaker 1: I wanted to thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3: Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.
Speaker 1: Hope it gives your.
Speaker 3: Perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message.
Speaker 3: I'm so excited. I've been waiting to share this word
Speaker 3: with you this week. The Lord has been speaking to
Speaker 3: us about new loops, same lies.
Speaker 1: New loops.
Speaker 3: Put my graphic on the screen so they can know
Speaker 3: what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: It's important that in this season of.
Speaker 3: Your life that you don't repeat the wrong things over
Speaker 3: and over again. The victory and defeat in your life
Speaker 3: is all a matter of what you put on repeat
Speaker 3: in your mind and in your heart. How many have
Speaker 3: found that to be true. And if you repeat the
Speaker 3: wrong thing long enough, it starts to sound like it's
Speaker 3: true even though it's not true. I'll always be my
Speaker 3: mom was my sister. Is can't break this, I can't
Speaker 3: deal with this. So when we say new loops, we're
Speaker 3: talking about getting a new meditation in your heart that
Speaker 3: comes from God. And we can't stop the enemy from lying.
Speaker 3: But if we can teach you to identify when he's
Speaker 3: doing it. And if we can teach you how to
Speaker 3: tune into the voice of the Holy Spirit that is
Speaker 3: speaking of truth over you, we can get you set
Speaker 3: free in some areas of your life that you had
Speaker 3: become convinced it always has to be this way. So
Speaker 3: we're praying for new patterns. How many have been blessed
Speaker 3: by the series so far? Amen, Today I want to
Speaker 3: pick up with a scripture that is very powerful in
Speaker 3: Second Kings chapter six, Praise the Lord. Second Kings chapter six.
Speaker 3: I was thinking about this JJ.
Speaker 4: Probably one of the coolest pictures that we get in
Speaker 4: the whole Bible of when you feel overwhelmed and you
Speaker 4: don't know what to do, one of.
Speaker 3: The clearest pictures that we get of what to do.
Speaker 3: And so this will help you today. Second Kings, chapter six.
Speaker 3: Let me read the full story. Please start in verse.
Speaker 1: Eight. Second Kings six, Verse A. Now, the King of
Speaker 1: arab was at war with Israel.
Speaker 3: After conferring with his officers, he said, I will set
Speaker 3: up my camp in such and such a place. The
Speaker 3: Man of God sent word to the King of Israel,
Speaker 3: beware of passing that place because the Arabians are going
Speaker 3: down there. So the King of Israel checked on the
Speaker 3: place indicated by the Man of God. Time and again
Speaker 3: Elisha warned the king so that he was on his
Speaker 3: guard in such places.
Speaker 1: This enraged the King of Aram.
Speaker 3: He summoned his officers and commanded of them, or demanded
Speaker 3: of them, tell me which of us is on the
Speaker 3: side of the King of Israel. None of us, my lord,
Speaker 3: the king, said one of his officers. But Elisha, the prophet,
Speaker 3: who is in Israel, tells the King of Israel the
Speaker 3: very words you speak in your bedroom. Go find out
Speaker 3: where he is, the king ordered, so I can send
Speaker 3: men and capture him. And the report came back, he
Speaker 3: is in Dothan. He is in Dothan. Then he sent
Speaker 3: horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went
Speaker 3: by night and surrounded the city. Now verse fifteen, it
Speaker 3: gets good. When the servant of the Man of God
Speaker 3: got up and went out early the next morning, an
Speaker 3: army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. Oh no,
Speaker 3: my lord, what shall we do, the servant asked. And
Speaker 3: I want you to really pay attention to how the
Speaker 3: prophet answered, don't be afraid, don't be afraid. What do
Speaker 3: you mean, don't be afraid when we are surrounded on
Speaker 3: every side. No, no, no, don't be afraid, because it cannot
Speaker 3: sink you if it surrounds you. It can only sink
Speaker 3: you if it submerges you. So regardless of what you
Speaker 3: see with your senses, don't be afraid. Those who are
Speaker 3: with us are more than those who are with them
Speaker 3: in that good and Elisha pray, and Elisha prayed open
Speaker 3: his eyes Lord, so that he may see. Then the
Speaker 3: Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw
Speaker 3: the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all
Speaker 3: around Elisha. One more verse from Romans eight eighteen. King
Speaker 3: James version, Please on the screen, for I reckon that
Speaker 3: the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
Speaker 3: be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Speaker 3: For I reckon I thought about it a little while
Speaker 3: I did the math on it. I added and subtracted,
Speaker 3: and multiplied and divided. I sat down with my situation,
Speaker 3: and I reckon that the sufferings of this present time,
Speaker 3: what I'm going through right now on the outside, I
Speaker 3: reckon that that is not worth comparing with the glory
Speaker 3: that will be revealed in me. Now let me give
Speaker 3: you my title. Turn to your neighbor and say, I
Speaker 3: know it's crazy, but keep it in context. Keep it
Speaker 3: in context, Keep it in context. Father, I pray that
Speaker 3: you would illuminate what you're doing in our situation. Thank
Speaker 3: you that you already were speaking while your word was
Speaker 3: being read. Now make it so personal that people squirm
Speaker 3: like has he been following me around this week?
Speaker 1: Because you have been following them around this week.
Speaker 3: Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days
Speaker 3: of my life. Thank you for speaking. Lord in Jesus' name, Amen,
Speaker 3: you may be seated in in the Bible. The kinds
Speaker 3: of conversations that we get to hear are really crazy
Speaker 3: if you step back and think about it. To get
Speaker 3: to hear Elisha one of the greatest profits.
Speaker 1: That God ever made.
Speaker 3: As he is dealing with the situation that is beyond
Speaker 3: his control, and how he advises his young servant is
Speaker 3: really an incredible masterclass for us in our minds. And
Speaker 3: I think it's amazing in this conversation how the servant
Speaker 3: wakes up and sees something that is so much bigger
Speaker 3: than him and the prophet essentially says, don't make it
Speaker 3: bigger than it is. Don't make it bigger than it is.
Speaker 3: And in every marriage there's one person who makes things
Speaker 3: bigger than they are. In my marriage, let me go
Speaker 3: ahead and give you a framework for my marriage. Did
Speaker 3: you see the movie Inside Out? Did you see Inside Out?
Speaker 1: Too? All right?
Speaker 3: Our family went to see Inside Out too, because in
Speaker 3: Inside Out, the little girl has all these emotions and
Speaker 3: they're personified by characters that sit at the control panel,
Speaker 3: And so you've got sadness and disgust and joy and
Speaker 3: anxiety and an inside out too. Joy and anxiety are
Speaker 3: always battling each other.
Speaker 1: Inside of her mind.
Speaker 3: So we went to see the movie this summer, and
Speaker 3: we were going out to eat, and on the way
Speaker 3: to the restaurant, I found out that this restaurant might
Speaker 3: be closed, not would be closed, might be closed. And
Speaker 3: you think, to yourself, that's not a big deal. But
Speaker 3: to my mind, the restaurant being closed is an unacceptable
Speaker 3: first domino in what could be a very bad day.
Speaker 3: I feel like if everybody's blood sugar crashes to a
Speaker 3: certain point, then it may cause the kids to fight.
Speaker 3: That the kids fight too much, it may cause me
Speaker 3: to respond in a terrible way. If I respond in
Speaker 3: a terrible way, I'm gonna feel shame. I'm gonna have
Speaker 3: to humble myself and apologize. And so as I'm going
Speaker 3: back and forth with Holly in the car, driving to
Speaker 3: the restaurant that might be closed, not is closed, might
Speaker 3: be closed, and talking to her about unacceptable, the outcome
Speaker 3: of the restaurant being closed would be Graham says from
Speaker 3: the back seat. You know, watching mom and Dad talk
Speaker 3: is literally like watching a conversation between anxiety and joy.
Speaker 3: Now in the passage that I read to you, it's
Speaker 3: literally like watching a conversation between the wisdom of the
Speaker 3: experience of the older prophet Elisha and his young servant
Speaker 3: who has never faced a situation like this before. I've
Speaker 3: never faced a situation like this before. I've never been
Speaker 3: in this stage of life before. And we get through
Speaker 3: the miraculous conservation of the scriptures and inside and in
Speaker 3: some ways candid seat to this conversation, and the prophet says.
Speaker 1: Don't make it bigger than it is. Now.
Speaker 3: That's a crazy thing to say when you're surrounded by
Speaker 3: horses and cheriots. Because whatever it is that you're going
Speaker 3: through today, in your life, It's not this. Can we
Speaker 3: all agree it's not this. This man is a national
Speaker 3: security threat, it's not this. They're not all coming to
Speaker 3: get you, although our minds will try to tell us
Speaker 3: that it is so. In our relationship, Holly is always
Speaker 3: the one who says it's not a big deal. Even yesterday,
Speaker 3: I was preparing this message for you, and as I
Speaker 3: was sitting down to study, she was flying to a
Speaker 3: speaking engagement and she started texting me. And I was
Speaker 3: looking for an illustration to talk about how sometimes my
Speaker 3: mind tries to make it bigger than it is, and
Speaker 3: she started texting me about a flight delay. Now she's
Speaker 3: the one flying, I'm not, but I'm the one freaking out,
Speaker 3: not her, because I texted her, Oh, no, this is horrible.
Speaker 3: She said, no, it's fine, and I was like, no,
Speaker 3: it's not fine, because why do they always just get
Speaker 3: to delay our flights whenever they want to. Somebody needs
Speaker 3: to say something about this and do something about this.
Speaker 3: This is unfair, This is unjust, This is actually this
Speaker 3: is actually bigger than just your flight today, Holly. This
Speaker 3: is actually a way that they're treating consumers that is unacceptable.
Speaker 3: I mean, you paid for the ticket. This is not
Speaker 3: a prison you are in. This is an actual place
Speaker 3: that you paid to be, and you have a place
Speaker 3: that you need to be and you are not going
Speaker 3: to get to the place that you need to be
Speaker 3: because the place that you paid to be did not
Speaker 3: provide the service that. Have you ever tried to work
Speaker 3: somebody who was like, is not a big deal? Into
Speaker 3: a Oh yes, it is a big deal situation, and
Speaker 3: that's me and her. I'm outraged. She's drinking Starbucks for her,
Speaker 3: it's extra time for me. It is a travesty of travel, justice, anxiety,
Speaker 3: and joy. Just having a conversation, you know, is not
Speaker 3: a big deal. Yes it is, because if you don't
Speaker 3: make it to the event.
Speaker 1: See here's the thing I found out.
Speaker 3: When a flight gets delayed for me, my mind opens
Speaker 3: a file. Write this down. My mind has files. Did
Speaker 3: you know that your mind has files? And so when
Speaker 3: a flight gets delayed, it opens a file in my
Speaker 3: mind called every time a flight got delayed and then
Speaker 3: got delayed again, and then got delayed again. So when
Speaker 3: she said my flight is delayed, she's like, it's fine.
Speaker 3: That's her file. Holly has this huge file called is fine,
Speaker 3: It'll be fine. It's gonna be fine. If the restaurant
Speaker 3: isn't open, it'll be fine. We're not gonna starve, it'll
Speaker 3: be fine. We could even turn it into a fast
Speaker 3: It'll be fine. The biggest file in her is called
Speaker 3: it's fine. So when the flight is delayed, Holly's like,
Speaker 3: it's fine. It's been fine so many times before. There
Speaker 3: have been so many times that it has been fine,
Speaker 3: that it is going to be fine right now. I
Speaker 3: did the calculation, the tabulation and the math, and it
Speaker 3: is going to be absolutely fine that the flight is delayed,
Speaker 3: because we can still get there because I built in buffer.
Speaker 1: But I'm thinking, no, this.
Speaker 3: Is just the first in a series of horrible things.
Speaker 3: And I go back to when we went to Atlanta
Speaker 3: to record a preaching series and we were late and
Speaker 3: we didn't get there in time because the flight was delayed.
Speaker 3: This was fifteen years ago, and they were so mad
Speaker 3: at me for not showing up at the taping that
Speaker 3: they banned me from the network, from ever appearing on
Speaker 3: the network. And the ministry was so small to me,
Speaker 3: that was the worst thing.
Speaker 1: That could ever happen.
Speaker 3: So when she says the flight is delayed, I'm like,
Speaker 3: you're about to get banned. I don't know who's gonna
Speaker 3: ban her, what they're gonna ban her from, but for
Speaker 3: some reason a mild inconvenience in my mind, and watch
Speaker 3: this open the file call when this happens. This can't happen,
Speaker 3: even if it's not in the probable odds of it,
Speaker 3: there is a chance once they start this crap, once
Speaker 3: they say we're delayed by ten minutes, that's just the
Speaker 3: first lie. And now the file opens of every lie
Speaker 3: that they ever told me on an intercom about the flight.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be fine. Now, Sometimes it's not fine. Sometimes
Speaker 3: you get banned, and the servant wakes up and sees
Speaker 3: the place surround it and says, it's not fine.
Speaker 5: It's not fine.
Speaker 3: We're about to die. They have come to capture you
Speaker 3: in Dothan.
Speaker 5: It's not fine.
Speaker 3: And Elisha says, don't be afraid. There's more with us
Speaker 3: than with them. I believe one of the contrasts in
Speaker 3: this passage that makes it very powerful is not only
Speaker 3: that Elisha was the prophet and that the servant was
Speaker 3: in an administrative position where he had to deal with details,
Speaker 3: but that Elisha was a little older and the servant
Speaker 3: was a young man, and so when Elishah woke up
Speaker 3: that morning and saw the hills surrounded with his enemies,
Speaker 3: and go ahead and bring me my teaching scream because
Speaker 3: I think I need to draw this for you. How
Speaker 3: many have been enjoying my drawings of loops over the
Speaker 3: last few weeks. I'm still waiting on someone to get
Speaker 3: a tattoo, a little loop tattoo. I know the Book
Speaker 3: of Leviticus says, but that's not what it means. You
Speaker 3: can get a tattoo if it's for the Lord.
Speaker 1: Now watch this.
Speaker 3: That's going to be the clip that they're going to
Speaker 3: put online.
Speaker 1: But they won't keep.
Speaker 3: It in context. Okay, So this is how the servant felt.
Speaker 3: And I'm not drawing this because I think I'm such
Speaker 3: an awesome artist. We've just been talking about these loops.
Speaker 3: The enemy says, God says, the enemy says, God says.
Speaker 3: What does the enemy say? Over and over again, It's
Speaker 3: not enough, You're not loved. It's not enough, You're not loved.
Speaker 3: And we've been talking about new loops that God can design.
Speaker 3: So the servant, who is a very young man, wakes
Speaker 3: up in the morning and all he sees surrounding the hills.
Speaker 3: Is the enemy surrounding Talk about a literal loop. There's
Speaker 3: horses and chariots coming to take away the.
Speaker 1: Man of God. It is a literal loop around these two.
Speaker 3: And the servant sees the enemy and then he sees
Speaker 3: and I wonder can you relate to this feeling? Okay,
Speaker 3: wake up in the morning, and all I feel, all
Speaker 3: I all I can sense is the avalanche of anxiety
Speaker 3: of everything that's probably not going to get done today,
Speaker 3: that needs to get done today, or of all of
Speaker 3: the potentially awkward conversations that need to happen. And there's
Speaker 3: a little voice inside of you saying, it's fine, but
Speaker 3: what if it's not. It's fine, but maybe not this time.
Speaker 3: It's fine, it's good, this is good, it's good. But
Speaker 3: when you're surrounded by the enemy and this is what
Speaker 3: he sees. Here's the enemy and here's me. So that's
Speaker 3: about how it feels, right. This is how big the
Speaker 3: enemy is.
Speaker 1: This is me. Can y'all see that? That says me,
Speaker 1: big old enemy?
Speaker 3: Li me? And what is lil o me gonna do
Speaker 3: with a big old enemy? And he just says, it's fine.
Speaker 3: How is it fine? Because I have a file. I
Speaker 3: have a file. This is not Elisha's first time in trouble.
Speaker 3: This is not Elisha's first time outnumbered. This is not
Speaker 3: Elisia's first time dealing with it's not enough. One time
Speaker 3: he was standing at the bank of the Jordan after
Speaker 3: his mentor, Elijah was taken away, who he followed for
Speaker 3: years and years, seeing miracles, miracles that only God can do.
Speaker 3: And I believe that as he was watching his mentor,
Speaker 3: as God performed miracles, he was building a file, a
Speaker 3: file in his mind that God can send fire from heaven,
Speaker 3: a file in his mind that God can even raise
Speaker 3: the dead, a file in his mind that enabled him
Speaker 3: when he was standing at the Jordan with nothing but
Speaker 3: the mantle that was left from his mentor, he rolled
Speaker 3: it up and struck the water, and the water part.
Speaker 3: And when he saw something as simple as a piece
Speaker 3: of clothing part a body of water, that became a
Speaker 3: new file in his mind. And then there was the
Speaker 3: time where they brought him to a city and the
Speaker 3: water supply was bad in tewod King's chapter two, and
Speaker 3: he took a little salt and threw it in the water,
Speaker 3: and the water was purified from a little bit of salt.
Speaker 3: How can a little bit of salt purify a whole
Speaker 3: body of water? And so Elisha put it in his
Speaker 3: mind that God can take a little thing, something that
Speaker 3: is not enough, something that seems insignificant, and he can
Speaker 3: purify and he can plentify something that seems absolutely beyond
Speaker 3: human ability. When a widow came to him and said,
Speaker 3: they're about to take my sons as slaves, Elisha said,
Speaker 3: what do you have in your house? And she said,
Speaker 3: I don't have anything, just a little bit of oil.
Speaker 3: And Elija said, that's fine. But if you get enough
Speaker 3: jars and you start pouring what you have, even if
Speaker 3: it seems insignificant to you, if you will begin to
Speaker 3: do the thing that you can do with the thing
Speaker 3: that you do have, God will do the thing that.
Speaker 1: You can't do.
Speaker 3: Because God specializes in starting with not enough so he
Speaker 3: can show that he is more than enough. And I
Speaker 3: believe that as Elisha saw those jars filled and pushed
Speaker 3: to the side, each time a jar was pushed to
Speaker 3: the side from a supply that wasn't enough before God spoke,
Speaker 3: he began to fill a file in his mind that
Speaker 3: God is faithful and that God is more than enough,
Speaker 3: and that God is greater than a bad situation, and
Speaker 3: that God doesn't look for what you don't have, but
Speaker 3: he works with what you do have. And I believe
Speaker 3: that by this time in his life, after seeing name
Speaker 3: and healed of leprosy, after seeing a little boy that
Speaker 3: was not supposed to be born be born and die
Speaker 3: and raised from the dead, by the time he gets
Speaker 3: to this place in his life, he has a big
Speaker 3: file in his mind. So when he sees the hills
Speaker 3: that are full of the enemies surrounding him, when he
Speaker 3: sees the hills that are full of the opponents that
Speaker 3: have come to take him away, when he sees the
Speaker 3: hills that are full of the thing that threatened to
Speaker 3: take his life, he has got a file that is
Speaker 3: full to fight the fear that he feels because he
Speaker 3: knows that if God is not done with me yet,
Speaker 3: there's more in me. So I can't die here unless
Speaker 3: God is done with me. So why would I be
Speaker 3: afraid of something that can't take me until God is
Speaker 3: done with me?
Speaker 5: Because I got a file for that.
Speaker 1: And your mind has files.
Speaker 3: Your mind has a file called worry, your mind has
Speaker 3: a file called worship. And the one that you open
Speaker 3: is the one that will fill. I just said something
Speaker 3: to somebody, and I don't know who. But your mind
Speaker 3: has files, one called faith, one called fear, and the
Speaker 3: one that you open is the one that's going to fill.
Speaker 3: If you open a file called what could go wrong
Speaker 3: on this flight? You will be checking everybody's bag and
Speaker 3: you're not even TSA. How far are you going to
Speaker 3: take this? I mean, are you going to interview the pilot?
Speaker 3: Will you stop there? Are you going to check the
Speaker 3: plane yourself? If you open the file called is this
Speaker 3: gonna go well? On the fire? I mean that file
Speaker 3: is completely infinite, That loop is complete. That's what the
Speaker 3: enemy does to you. He gets you to open the file,
Speaker 3: and you don't have time for that file right now. No,
Speaker 3: you let me say that again. You do not have
Speaker 3: time to be running every hypothetical scenario in your life
Speaker 3: for what might go wrong, because if you repeat what
Speaker 3: might go wrong long enough, what you repeat is defeat.
Speaker 3: Your mind has files, and the one that you open
Speaker 3: is the one that will fill. That changed my life
Speaker 3: because it helped me to start saying things to people
Speaker 3: like this, man, I don't really want to talk about
Speaker 3: that right now. One of my friends told me the
Speaker 3: other day something horrible that somebody said about me, And
Speaker 3: they said, but I had your back, and I said,
Speaker 3: I appreciate it. Can we be done with this conversation?
Speaker 3: Thank you for having my back. But I'm done talking
Speaker 3: about this?
Speaker 1: Why? Because I don't really want to hear about somebody
Speaker 1: who hates me.
Speaker 3: I don't want to open that file right now because
Speaker 3: that could be a big file and I might start
Speaker 3: adding friends to that file that really don't hate me.
Speaker 3: Remember when you vent, you invent? So if my heart
Speaker 3: is full of fear, what file.
Speaker 1: Did I open? I'll do a real time example.
Speaker 3: I'm looking around this room right now, and I just
Speaker 3: saw two people yawn while I was preaching right consecutively
Speaker 3: in a row, big old I'm not even trying to
Speaker 3: cover it up. Yon.
Speaker 1: There's a difference between like, ah, I'm tired, bo I'm
Speaker 1: really enjoying this.
Speaker 3: There's a difference between that and maybe if I do
Speaker 3: it big enough, he'll just finish. That's what it looked
Speaker 3: like to me. But why did I open that file?
Speaker 3: He's not yawning, she's not yawning. You're not yawning. At
Speaker 3: least I didn't see you yawn. You haven't yawned. You're
Speaker 3: on the edge of your seat. You've got your thumbs ready,
Speaker 3: you look like you look like you are about to
Speaker 3: beat the devil to death with your thumbs and your
Speaker 3: notes at and you were writing every word of this down.
Speaker 3: Because man does not live on bread alone. Why am
Speaker 3: I watching their mouth yon when he's typing his phone
Speaker 3: is smoking. His phone is about to burst spontaneously combust
Speaker 3: with the wisdom and the power of God. Why would
Speaker 3: I open a file that says you're boring when I
Speaker 3: got a thousand people in the room saying, no, I.
Speaker 5: Need this work. This is helping me, this is feeding me,
Speaker 5: this is good for me.
Speaker 3: My soul needs to know this. Because I walked up
Speaker 3: this morning and I was surrounded by a really.
Speaker 5: Big enemy and I'm a really little need. But I
Speaker 5: came to open a new file today because I've got.
Speaker 3: A God who is great and dust miracles and for
Speaker 3: Fard's wonder So so the file that I open is
Speaker 3: the one that will fill. So if you tell your
Speaker 3: mind we want to be offended, your mind will find
Speaker 3: things for you to be offended about. Your mind will
Speaker 3: go looking and reading into things, and even taking things
Speaker 3: out of context.
Speaker 1: Just so you can get offended.
Speaker 3: Why because you open the file called I want to
Speaker 3: be offended because it feels good to be But it
Speaker 3: doesn't feel good to be filled with bitterness, does it?
Speaker 3: But when you open the file called I want to
Speaker 3: feel offended, you end up filled with bitterness, even in
Speaker 3: a relationship. I've had to learn over and over again,
Speaker 3: if I start trying to find every way that they
Speaker 3: let me down, when I open that file, the enemy
Speaker 3: will fill it. The devil will start bringing up stuff.
Speaker 3: You'll be like, how do I remember that? And I
Speaker 3: don't remember my middle child's name? Because he wants to
Speaker 3: help you fill the wrong file.
Speaker 1: He wants to.
Speaker 3: Help you fill the file call I'm all alone. I
Speaker 3: love what the prophet Elisha said. He didn't minimize what
Speaker 3: the enemy meant. He just helped multiply the help that
Speaker 3: they already had.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you notice this.
Speaker 3: But the Bible says in verse seventeen that Elisha prayed,
Speaker 3: but he prayed something very specific, didn't he He didn't
Speaker 3: pray for God to send help because the help was
Speaker 3: already there. I feel like taking my shoes off in
Speaker 3: pre sure. I feel like there is somebody listening to
Speaker 3: me preaching today who doesn't understand that your help is
Speaker 3: already here. And you keep asking for God to send help.
Speaker 3: You keep asking God to send something. But today, let's
Speaker 3: change your prayer a little bit. Somebody pray to say, God,
Speaker 3: show me something. Show me something that is already in
Speaker 3: my life. Show me something that you already did. Show
Speaker 3: me something that I forgot about that would cause me
Speaker 3: to know that you are greater than what I'm going through.
Speaker 3: You are greater than what I've been through. You are
Speaker 3: greater than the uncertainty that I face. God, show me something.
Speaker 3: Prayed again, God, show me something. He did not pray
Speaker 3: for God to send horses and chariots. It would have
Speaker 3: been redundant. God had already sent them. I believe that
Speaker 3: before the enemy showed up, God did. I believe that
Speaker 3: before the devil started messing with your life, God was
Speaker 3: making a masterpiece of your life. The Bible says that
Speaker 3: before you were born, he formed you in your mother's womb.
Speaker 3: He knew you, so before the attack ever happened. I
Speaker 3: don't know who needs to hear this, but before the
Speaker 3: attack ever happened, the angels were already assigned. God is
Speaker 3: busy in your situation. God is busy in your life.
Speaker 3: God is setting up camp. And if the enemy sent
Speaker 3: a strong force, that means you represent a significant threat
Speaker 3: to Hell. So stop thinking that the reason is hard
Speaker 3: for you is because there's something wrong with you. The
Speaker 3: reason is hard for you is because there is something
Speaker 3: great in you, something amazing in you, something designed about you,
Speaker 3: something wired about you. Remember Elisha was surrounded because he
Speaker 3: was successful. He was so good at doing his job
Speaker 3: for God. He was so good at prophesying. He was
Speaker 3: so being used by God that the enemy said, we've
Speaker 3: got to surround him with something to stop him. But
Speaker 3: the good news is.
Speaker 1: Before the enemy ever sent an assignment to stop.
Speaker 3: Him, God sent the help to support him. So keep
Speaker 3: it in context. I know it's crazy in your life
Speaker 3: right now. Keep it in context. I know it's weird
Speaker 3: in your world right now, but keep it in context.
Speaker 3: I know not everybody is nice to you, but keep
Speaker 3: it in context. Not everybody is mean to you. Keep
Speaker 3: it in context. I know there are some struggles in
Speaker 3: your life.
Speaker 1: Who of us doesn't have something that we need to fix.
Speaker 1: Look how far you've come.
Speaker 3: I mean, did you really even think you would be
Speaker 3: in church today.
Speaker 1: Keep it in context.
Speaker 3: I know there's some stuff you're fighting at home, but
Speaker 3: you are here right now, so keep it in context.
Speaker 3: If the enemy can't get you fixated on one situation
Speaker 3: in your life, he will get you fixated on one
Speaker 3: flaw in yourself. So Elisha does not give him an
Speaker 3: elimination of the enemy. Instead, he gives him an illumination
Speaker 3: of his health. Now I want to share my favorite
Speaker 3: verse with you, my favorite verse today. It says in
Speaker 3: first John four four that ye are of God little children,
Speaker 3: and have overcome them, because greater.
Speaker 1: Is he.
Speaker 3: That is in you than he that is in the world.
Speaker 3: So this is how it feels. Right. Oh, no, Lord,
Speaker 3: we are surrounded. What am I going to do about?
Speaker 3: This is coming in from every side, and it is
Speaker 3: the pressure of an attack that hasn't happened yet. But
Speaker 3: might I want to speak about that for a moment.
Speaker 3: Some of you are suffering under the pressure of an
Speaker 3: attack that hasn't even happened yet, but it might. And
Speaker 3: the devil hasn't even done it to you yet, and
Speaker 3: you are already giving him the permission to fill the
Speaker 3: file in your mind as if he did. You are
Speaker 3: already living the injury as if it happened. You are
Speaker 3: already limping from a.
Speaker 1: Blow that the devil hasn't even struck yet.
Speaker 3: You are already giving away this moment in your life
Speaker 3: because the enemy surrounded you. He didn't defeat him, He
Speaker 3: just surrounded him. And when you feel surrounded by the enemy,
Speaker 3: I want you to begin to understand.
Speaker 1: First John four, verse four. Oh, I love this verse, bro.
Speaker 3: Because it gets the idea you are of God little children,
Speaker 3: and it helps me understand why I feel so little
Speaker 3: in the face of my enemy. But then it says
Speaker 3: something that is very important. It says you have overcome them,
Speaker 3: because greater is he that is in me than he
Speaker 3: that is in the world. And Elisha prayed, not God
Speaker 3: shrink my enemy, but he prayed instead God opened his
Speaker 3: eyes to see that what is surrounding him.
Speaker 1: You are.
Speaker 3: Surrounding it.
Speaker 5: LJ.
Speaker 3: Hold me down, because if it's me versus the enemy,
Speaker 3: I'm in trouble. If it's me versus this addiction is over.
Speaker 3: If it's me versus this depression, I'm not going to take.
Speaker 1: A pill strong enough.
Speaker 3: If it's me versus this season of my life, I
Speaker 3: don't have the wisdom for it. If it's me versus
Speaker 3: the enemy, I'm outnumbered. But first John four y four said,
Speaker 3: greater is he that is in me. So I've been
Speaker 3: looking at the enemy, and I've been defeated because that's
Speaker 3: all I see. But I found out that greater is
Speaker 3: he that is in me. And when I remember who
Speaker 3: he is, and what he did, and what he gade me,
Speaker 3: and what I have in him, my enemy is just
Speaker 3: so big anymore. Because I lit my eyes to the
Speaker 3: heels from which cometh my health.
Speaker 5: My health cometh from the Lord, the Manger of Heaven
Speaker 5: and earth. And greater is he that.
Speaker 3: Is in me. So it's not me versus my enemy,
Speaker 3: it's the one who is versus my enemy. This changes
Speaker 3: everything because it opens a brand new file in my mind.
Speaker 3: It lets me recognize that even if I'm surrounded with
Speaker 3: no way out, and even if I'm pressed, hard pressed,
Speaker 3: even if I'm crushed, even if I'm persecuted, even if
Speaker 3: I'm abandoned, even if I'm broke, even if I'm down,
Speaker 3: even if I'm suffocating, even if one thing is piling
Speaker 3: up on another, even if my boss hates me, even
Speaker 3: if my employees hate me, even if I don't want
Speaker 3: to do it, even if I feel lazy, even if
Speaker 3: I don't have what it takes. The one who is
Speaker 3: in me is greater than what's against me. So it's
Speaker 3: not that it's not big. It's just that I found
Speaker 3: something bigger. You're a big boy, unless we put you
Speaker 3: next to something bigger. That's all Elisha did. He say, Hey,
Speaker 3: this is big. Tell somebody this is big. But there's
Speaker 3: something bigger. It's the purpose of God. So keep it
Speaker 3: in context. Paul said, I reckon that the sufferings of
Speaker 3: this present time aren't even worth comparing to the glory
Speaker 3: that will be revealed in us. What is happening to
Speaker 3: me is not even worth comparing to the glory that
Speaker 3: will be revealed in me. When Paul says, I reckon,
Speaker 3: thank you so much. You did a great job. I
Speaker 3: love you too. Just remember that when the devil picks on,
Speaker 3: you find something that's bigger.
Speaker 1: That's all Elishah did.
Speaker 3: He said, open his eyes to see something bigger. And
Speaker 3: could it be that the pain in your life right
Speaker 3: now is a part of a bigger context that you
Speaker 3: can't understand right now, and that this is the reason
Speaker 3: that the enemy has come after you in full force.
Speaker 3: Is because there is something bigger that God is trying
Speaker 3: to do. Paul said, I reckon that word does not
Speaker 3: mean I know. It means I am convinced of this opinion.
Speaker 3: I can't prove it, but I reckon that when I
Speaker 3: see what God is going to do through this situation,
Speaker 3: it will make what I went through to get to
Speaker 3: it seems small in comparison. And that's a decision of faith,
Speaker 3: my friend. And if you want to open a file
Speaker 3: in your mind today of all the ways that God
Speaker 3: could use this situation, if you want to open a
Speaker 3: file in your mind today of all the ways that
Speaker 3: God could turn this around. God has a thousand creative
Speaker 3: ways to use this right.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think it was.
Speaker 3: I don't think it was coincidental where Elisha was sit
Speaker 3: down and I got something else to tell you, because
Speaker 3: there's something I learned two years ago that I have
Speaker 3: been waiting to share.
Speaker 1: And in this passage, it says that.
Speaker 3: Elisha kept telling his king Jorham where the enemy was
Speaker 3: going to attack him. So the enemy came to attack
Speaker 3: Elisha so that he could attack the nation. It was
Speaker 3: a bigger context. The devil isn't just attacking you. He's
Speaker 3: attacking everyone that your life is supposed to impact, and
Speaker 3: figures that if he can get you to give up
Speaker 3: right here, you won't get to make a generational impact.
Speaker 3: So when you're fighting him, realize you're fighting for your
Speaker 3: family too, and keep it in context.
Speaker 1: Tell your neighbor. I know it's hard, but keep it
Speaker 1: in context.
Speaker 3: Tell him it's not just about you give them deep
Speaker 3: penetrating eye contact. When you say that part. It is
Speaker 3: not just about you. Put that into comments. It is
Speaker 3: not just about me, Because there's a lesson in this
Speaker 3: that it was not only who said don't be afraid
Speaker 3: Elisha the prophet, but where he said it. See in
Speaker 3: Second Kings six thirteen, they were looking all around for Elisha,
Speaker 3: and they said in verse thirteen, go find out where
Speaker 3: he is so I can send men and capture him.
Speaker 1: And the report came back, he is in Dothan.
Speaker 3: Now, I almost called this sermon the Devil went down
Speaker 3: to Dothan. I thought that would be a cool thing
Speaker 3: to call it, but I knew it could also be corny,
Speaker 3: and I didn't want to take the risks, so I
Speaker 3: just called it. Keep it in context, you know, when
Speaker 3: you read the Bible, there's a specific place and time,
Speaker 3: the geography. All of these details in the Bible carry
Speaker 3: rich meaning. And the place called Dothan is not a
Speaker 3: very famous place in the Bible. In fact, it is
Speaker 3: only mentioned twice in all of scripture. This is once
Speaker 3: and another occurrence is found one thousand years earlier. There
Speaker 3: was a dysfunctional family in the Book of Genesis, a
Speaker 3: dad named Jacob who had a son that he really
Speaker 3: loved named Joseph. One day he sent his son, Joseph,
Speaker 3: who was the son of the wife that he loved,
Speaker 3: to go check on his other brothers. And he had
Speaker 3: given him an amazing coat. And his brothers not only
Speaker 3: hated his coat, I think they really began to despise
Speaker 3: the destiny that was on his life. So while his
Speaker 3: brothers were hurting sheep, Joseph was for some reason at home,
Speaker 3: being young as he was, and his dad said, go
Speaker 3: check on your brothers. This is in the Book of
Speaker 3: Genesis chapter thirty seven. And he went to a place
Speaker 3: called Shechem, where he expected to find them tending the sheep,
Speaker 3: but they weren't there. And we pick up the story
Speaker 3: in Genesis chapter thirty seven, verse sixteen, He told the men,
Speaker 3: I'm looking for my brothers.
Speaker 1: Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?
Speaker 3: Now, the response that came next would have been a
Speaker 3: story that Elisha the prophet would have been familiar with,
Speaker 3: because when he said where are they, the man answered,
Speaker 3: they have moved on from here. I heard them say,
Speaker 3: let's go to Dothan. So Joseph went after his brothers
Speaker 3: and found them near Dothan. This is the only other
Speaker 3: time in the Bible that Dothan is mentioned.
Speaker 1: It is only mentioned.
Speaker 3: Twice, and this is one of them. So he goes
Speaker 3: to Dothan to find his brothers. But look what verse
Speaker 3: eighteen says. They saw him in the distance, and before
Speaker 3: he reached them, they plotted to kill him. And they
Speaker 3: took Joseph, and just as they were about to kill him,
Speaker 3: Ruben said, let's don't do it, And so they decided
Speaker 3: to throw him in a cistern in Gothan, and they
Speaker 3: put him in.
Speaker 1: The cistern, not sure what.
Speaker 3: To do lunch, when just about that time, a caravan
Speaker 3: of Ishmaelite traders were well, let me just show you
Speaker 3: this on the map real quick.
Speaker 1: Just about the time that they were having their lunch.
Speaker 3: You see that red line where Joseph started out that day,
Speaker 3: and he goes all the way up to a place
Speaker 3: on the map called Dothan.
Speaker 1: And when he.
Speaker 3: Gets to Dothan, his brothers try to kill him because
Speaker 3: they're envious of him, and they don't get him. And
Speaker 3: so just as they're about to kill and one of
Speaker 3: the brothers cries out and says, no, let's don't kill him.
Speaker 3: Let's just put him in this cistern. So they leave
Speaker 3: him in the cistern, perhaps to leave him for dad,
Speaker 3: to hide him from the father.
Speaker 1: What are we gonna do? But just at that.
Speaker 3: Time, you see that blue line that comes down right there,
Speaker 3: and it kind of matches up with the red line.
Speaker 1: You see the one that comes up from top.
Speaker 3: That's the caravan that was coming through, the Ishmaelite caravan
Speaker 3: that was coming through. And just about the time they're
Speaker 3: coming through and Joseph is in a cistern, one of
Speaker 3: Joseph's brothers named Judas, says, hey, what if instead of
Speaker 3: killing him, what if we sell him this sea seems
Speaker 3: to be.
Speaker 1: An opportune time.
Speaker 3: The caravan is coming right now, Joseph is in the cistern,
Speaker 3: if we sell him right now, we can profit twenty
Speaker 3: shekels off of him and we don't have to kill him.
Speaker 3: And so Joseph is sold into slavery right but he
Speaker 3: is also sent to be a deliverer for his family
Speaker 3: in Egypt. And both are true, and both happened in Dothan.
Speaker 3: It was in Dothan that they tried to take his life.
Speaker 5: It was in.
Speaker 3: Dothan that God stopped it. It was in Dothan that
Speaker 3: he was sold into slavery.
Speaker 1: It was in.
Speaker 3: Dothan that he was positioned to be a deliverer. It
Speaker 3: was in Dothan that he got in the right cart
Speaker 3: at the right time, so that he could be positioned
Speaker 3: in the right house, so that he could have the
Speaker 3: right answer when the famine came to Egypt, when the
Speaker 3: famine came to the whole world, so that his family,
Speaker 3: who had tried to kill him would come to him,
Speaker 3: so that he would have the bread that they needed
Speaker 3: in the season that they never saw coming. And all
Speaker 3: of that happened in Dothan, because I'm trying to tell
Speaker 3: you that God does stuff in Dothan, See don't. It
Speaker 3: is a place you might not have chosen Don'tan is
Speaker 3: a place you might not like. Don't it is a
Speaker 3: place you might not have voted to go. Dothan can
Speaker 3: be a scary place. Don't It is a place where
Speaker 3: you can feel surrounded. But Dothan is a place where
Speaker 3: God will send the right car, the right person, the
Speaker 3: right thing, the right idea, the right redemption, the right
Speaker 3: opportunity at the right tide.
Speaker 5: Us store the right one becaus I hand. The God
Speaker 5: is on you, and it's always been on you. And
Speaker 5: you will not die in Dothan.
Speaker 3: You will not die in Dothan. You can't die in Dothan.
Speaker 3: And Elisha had a file in his mind. When he
Speaker 3: saw the chariots surrounding him in Dothan, he thought back,
Speaker 3: I remember somebody who was in Dothan and it looked
Speaker 3: like it was over. And his mind went to a
Speaker 3: file from a thousand years ago that if God brought
Speaker 3: Joseph to Egypt to save Israel through a place called Dothan,
Speaker 3: He's gonna do something in my situation right here.
Speaker 5: Right now.
Speaker 3: And I need one hundred glad people to shout about
Speaker 3: the fact that.
Speaker 5: God will not let you die in Dothan.
Speaker 3: I had to get an attitude with the enemy, and
Speaker 3: tell him there's more in me.
Speaker 5: Greater is he who is in me.
Speaker 3: What I'm going through right now is nothing compared to
Speaker 3: the glory that will be revealed in And if you
Speaker 3: have faith to say it right now, say I've got
Speaker 3: more in me.
Speaker 5: I've gotten more in me. I've got more love in
Speaker 5: me than i've God hated me. I've got more good
Speaker 5: days ahead of me. I've got more dreams in me
Speaker 5: that I have disappointment.
Speaker 3: I know it's odd to preach off of a map,
Speaker 3: but if you look at that map one more time,
Speaker 3: it will remind you of the lesson of Elisha, who said,
Speaker 3: don't even worry about it. Keep it in context. There's
Speaker 3: more with us than against us. It will remind you
Speaker 3: of Joseph that said you meant it for evil, but God.
Speaker 1: Meant it for good.
Speaker 3: It will remind you if you look at Dopton for
Speaker 3: a moment.
Speaker 1: You'll see that it's just a dot. It's not a destiny.
Speaker 3: And that little dot was a place where the most
Speaker 3: horrible thing happened to Joseph. I'm sure he never fully
Speaker 3: recovered from what happened, but he was restored enough from
Speaker 3: what happened to move forward in the revelation of who
Speaker 3: God was. And that is what I am trying to
Speaker 3: say to you is that if you if you let
Speaker 3: this dot define you, this hard thing define you, this
Speaker 3: dothn define you, you got to remember that there's always
Speaker 3: more in me than against me, because God is in me.
Speaker 3: So what could I go through that would be greater
Speaker 3: than His plan for me? And if you keep this
Speaker 3: in context, you can say, like.
Speaker 1: Paul, I reckon. Tell your neighbor, I reckon.
Speaker 3: Because I recognize because I lift.
Speaker 5: My eyes.
Speaker 3: And I see help in the hills, and I am
Speaker 3: reminded that before my heart was filled with fear, the
Speaker 3: hills were filled with my help because He is my help.
Speaker 3: And it was so good when God gave it to me.
Speaker 3: He said, this is just a dot in your life.
Speaker 3: This is just a dot in your life. I'm coming
Speaker 3: to this side. I feel pulled to this side. I'm
Speaker 3: gonna keep my shoes on and come over here. It's
Speaker 3: a dot in your life. Put it back up there.
Speaker 3: It is a dot. He could not die there because
Speaker 3: he had more to do.
Speaker 1: God is not done with you.
Speaker 3: God is not finished with you. And I reckon. I
Speaker 3: reckon the season of suffering in your life is just
Speaker 3: a dot. Hardest men for you. I've been hearing about it.
Speaker 3: I know that some days it's all you can do,
Speaker 3: and everybody's saying how positive you are, and sometimes you
Speaker 3: feel like, well, who's gonna encourage me? But in light
Speaker 3: of what God is doing through you, this is.
Speaker 1: Just a dot.
Speaker 3: It's not even worth comparing the way that God is
Speaker 3: using your life. Do you not understand that your testimony
Speaker 3: is changing grown men's lives. They are hearing about your
Speaker 3: faith and your perseverance and what you are going through.
Speaker 6: Although it is difficult. It is a dot. God is
Speaker 6: not through with you, because the.
Speaker 3: Devil went down to Dothan, but God got there first.
Speaker 3: I'm closing. I'm closing, but just to remind somebody that
Speaker 3: God got their verse before the enemy was visible. God
Speaker 3: was there invisible, and He is in your situation, and
Speaker 3: He is in your struggle. And God is not surprised.
Speaker 3: And this is just a dot because greater is He
Speaker 3: that is in me than any enemy that is against me.
Speaker 3: And I got a file in my mind called it's
Speaker 3: not fine, but He's faithful.
Speaker 1: Let's open that file for a moment. Today, What.
Speaker 3: Would it look like for you to open the file
Speaker 3: in your mind to just reframe your situation with the
Speaker 3: faithfulness of God. For all the Dothans that you thought
Speaker 3: you wouldn't survive, how many have already seen a few
Speaker 3: Dothans come and go, But God stay faithful. Raise your hand,
Speaker 3: jump up on your feet, now waive in me if
Speaker 3: God has been faithful to you up until this point
Speaker 3: in your life, and now clap your hands and thank
Speaker 3: Him that he did it, that he.
Speaker 5: Left you with.
Speaker 1: So ruth.
Speaker 3: Dothan is a place where you can admit it's both
Speaker 3: I'm surrounded and I'm secure.
Speaker 1: Because I keep it in context.
Speaker 3: When you begin to praise God for his faithfulness, you
Speaker 3: shrink the enemy.
Speaker 1: And he has no power over you.
Speaker 3: When you begin to open up your mind and say, God,
Speaker 3: I've seen good days and bad days.
Speaker 1: God.
Speaker 3: I've seen times when I thought I wouldn't make it,
Speaker 3: but I did.
Speaker 1: God.
Speaker 3: I've seen how You've used things in my life that
Speaker 3: I never would have imagined to open doors I never
Speaker 3: even knew to pray for God, I'm praying that.
Speaker 1: Right now, this.
Speaker 3: Moment in my life, this dot on the map of
Speaker 3: your mission and your purpose for me would not define me.
Speaker 1: Father.
Speaker 3: I pray for those today who have felt in their
Speaker 3: hearts and in their spirits like this is the end.
Speaker 3: I agree with your truth concerning them, that it is
Speaker 3: nothing compared to the glory that you will reveal in them.
Speaker 3: I thank you for what you're doing in their life.
Speaker 3: Even now, you're developing fruit and character and maturity, and
Speaker 3: you will not leave them alone in Dothan. God, I
Speaker 3: thank you for the moments that you showed up for
Speaker 3: me in Dothan. I was surrounded, didn't know what to do.
Speaker 3: I couldn't understand it, but you put it in context,
Speaker 3: and you reminded me that not only are you faithful
Speaker 3: and not only are you good, but you can get
Speaker 3: glory out of any situation.
Speaker 1: Hallelujah.
Speaker 3: I thank you Lord that you're getting glory out of
Speaker 3: my situation right now, even if it doesn't feel good
Speaker 3: to me, you're getting glory out of my situation right now.
Speaker 3: I thank you that I'm going to turn around and
Speaker 3: encourage others with the hope that you encouraged me with.
Speaker 3: I thank you, Lord that you're making me more graceful
Speaker 3: toward others because of the grace that you've given me,
Speaker 3: and now just slip both of your hands up in
Speaker 3: the air in this moment and lift your eyes to
Speaker 3: the hills where your help comes from. And know in
Speaker 3: this moment that whatever is surrounding you, your God is
Speaker 3: surrounding it.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Lord, Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to
Speaker 2: this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible.
Speaker 2: You can click the link in the description to give
Speaker 2: now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more
Speaker 2: information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe.
Speaker 1: You can share it with your friends.
Speaker 2: You can click the share button, take a screenshot and
Speaker 2: share it on your social stories and tag us at
Speaker 2: Elevation Church.
Speaker 3: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.