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. Hope
Speaker 1: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it
Speaker 1: gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message. The series is called Triggered.
Speaker 2: This is week four and I just trust that you
Speaker 2: came expecting today for God to speak to you.
Speaker 1: Let's look at.
Speaker 2: Second King's Chapter five. I'm gonna give you my title
Speaker 2: right up front. Title of this message is why I
Speaker 2: went off touch Somebody tell him.
Speaker 1: It's a long story.
Speaker 2: When I first decided to preach on this topic of triggered,
Speaker 2: I figured that it would help me personally and then
Speaker 2: we could do group therapy. But I wanted to do
Speaker 2: it from the Word of God because I am not
Speaker 2: a psychologist, certainly not a neuroscientist or anything. That I
Speaker 2: interviewed a neuroscientist a few days ago and that is
Speaker 2: now on the Elevation Church YouTube, so you can go
Speaker 2: and watch that. I asked her questions related to the
Speaker 2: clinical reasons that sometimes we do the things that we
Speaker 2: do and had a conversation with her about not just
Speaker 2: understanding things with cliches and jargon that we sometimes used
Speaker 2: to cover up our lazy thinking, and sometimes we spiritualize
Speaker 2: issues that are practical in the same time sometimes try
Speaker 2: to sell things.
Speaker 1: Practically that are spiritual.
Speaker 2: And so it's just a great talk that's on the
Speaker 2: Elevation s Chirchs YouTube and you can check that out.
Speaker 2: But this week I want to share a character study
Speaker 2: on a Bible character.
Speaker 1: Who is so familiar to me.
Speaker 2: And by that I mean not only have I read
Speaker 2: this story quite a few times, but I feel like
Speaker 2: I know this guy.
Speaker 1: I feel like.
Speaker 2: I've met him one time in the mirror, and certain
Speaker 2: things about him really spoke to me, And so I
Speaker 2: just pray that the same will happen for you today
Speaker 2: as I read this text. I want to just tell
Speaker 2: you the spoiler alert right up front. Naymon in Second
Speaker 2: King's Chapter five has leprosy and gets healed.
Speaker 1: But that's just the headline, and so there's a lot to.
Speaker 2: Learn in the midst of it, and I want to
Speaker 2: read a few verses and kind of drop in and
Speaker 2: explain and move along in this narrative. The Bible says
Speaker 2: in Second King's chapter five.
Speaker 1: Verse one.
Speaker 2: Now, Nayman was commander of the army of the King
Speaker 2: of Aram. He was a great man in the sight
Speaker 2: of his master, and highly regarded because through him the
Speaker 2: Lord had given victory to aerm It's interesting the way
Speaker 2: that is phrased, because it says it wasn't by him
Speaker 2: that the victory was one, it was through him. And
Speaker 2: I think understanding that is very critical if you were
Speaker 2: to have any hope of remaining sane in your life,
Speaker 2: just to know that God's going to do it through you.
Speaker 2: You know, half of the time that I'm messed up
Speaker 2: is because I'm trying to do it for God and
Speaker 2: He's trying to do it through me. But he can't
Speaker 2: do it through me when I'm trying to do it
Speaker 2: for him, and so I just start forcing situations, and
Speaker 2: then I'm frustrated and irritated and agitated, and I'm mad
Speaker 2: at everybody and everything because I'm trying to do stuff
Speaker 2: for people and for God that God would like to
Speaker 2: do through me if I would yield myself and yield
Speaker 2: my will. And this is even more interesting because Nayman
Speaker 2: is not an Israelite. He's not one of these chosen
Speaker 2: people as they understood it at the time. He's actually
Speaker 2: a commander of an enemy army from Aram that would
Speaker 2: consistently raid the Israelites and not only do damage to
Speaker 2: their crops, but many.
Speaker 1: Times take their people away in bondage.
Speaker 2: At the end of one of these raids. The Bible
Speaker 2: says he was a great man in the sight of
Speaker 2: his master, and highly regarded because through him, he was
Speaker 2: highly regarded because of what he did. He was highly
Speaker 2: regarded because of the results that he achieved. He was
Speaker 2: highly regarded because of the outcomes that were brought about
Speaker 2: through his skill set. And so he was a great
Speaker 2: man in the sight of his master, and highly regarded
Speaker 2: because through him. I'm reading it over and over on purpose,
Speaker 2: because it's so profound that if we skim the surface
Speaker 2: we will miss the meaning. He was a great man
Speaker 2: in the sight of his master, and highly regarded because
Speaker 2: through him the Lord had given victory.
Speaker 1: To aerm and he was a valiant soldier.
Speaker 2: But he had leprosy and incurable skin disease, a non
Speaker 2: lethal form of it in this case, but a problem.
Speaker 1: Nonetheless, he was great.
Speaker 2: But and depending on when you see someone in the
Speaker 2: setting that you meet them in, you might sometimes more
Speaker 2: acquainted with their victories than their vulnerabilities. That's why I
Speaker 2: advocate just a little bit of time dating, just a
Speaker 2: little bit of time to see them.
Speaker 1: In pressure filled situations, just a little.
Speaker 2: Bit of time out of the candlelight, under the harsh
Speaker 2: neon glow of some of the trials of life. Just
Speaker 2: a piece of advice. But I can't prove it in
Speaker 2: the Bible. But I think you know, depending on where
Speaker 2: you see someone determines what you see.
Speaker 1: And I realize that's more and more now because I.
Speaker 2: Think people think that they should behave in front of
Speaker 2: a pastor. So when I meet people, a lot of
Speaker 2: times I realize I might not be meeting the truest
Speaker 2: version of them, do you know what I mean? They
Speaker 2: might not always speak in Hebrew and Greek, they might
Speaker 2: sometimes speak in other tongues. But when when I really
Speaker 2: want to know about somebody, especially on staff, I don't
Speaker 2: go off of my first impression, because I don't really
Speaker 2: trust my first.
Speaker 1: Impression of people any more. I used to. I used
Speaker 1: to say I have discernment.
Speaker 2: Now realize that a lot of what I thought was
Speaker 2: discernment was really me just vibing off of somebody, or
Speaker 2: maybe they reminded me of somebody, And I didn't like
Speaker 2: some people that were really cool, consistent people, but I
Speaker 2: thought they were boring. But the reason they were boring
Speaker 2: is because they're not always having to create drama in
Speaker 2: their life. And I found out that drama works good
Speaker 2: in movies, but in real life, I don't want the
Speaker 2: ticket to that show.
Speaker 1: So now am I preaching already? This is just the
Speaker 1: first verse.
Speaker 2: And what I learned about myself is I need to
Speaker 2: ask others.
Speaker 1: I need to get references.
Speaker 2: And at times i'll meet somebody on our staff and
Speaker 2: it's not a small staff, and I don't know everybody
Speaker 2: on the staff anymore.
Speaker 1: I used to.
Speaker 2: I used to hand select people, and oh man, when
Speaker 2: I hired the first staff member, I got the opportunity
Speaker 2: to spend just hours and hours getting to know him,
Speaker 2: so I knew his strengths and weaknesses pretty well.
Speaker 1: But now I will ask someone about someone.
Speaker 2: I ask somebody that works with them and has had
Speaker 2: to work with them in a pressure hopefully if I can,
Speaker 2: if I can get somebody that has had to work
Speaker 2: with them when there was a deadline involved, or has
Speaker 2: seen how they managed a disappointment, you know, and how
Speaker 2: they treat others and things like that.
Speaker 1: So I will ask how is so? And so let's.
Speaker 2: Say that I wanted to know about JT.
Speaker 1: I would ask. I would be like, hey, how's JT?
Speaker 2: And I would wait for the person who knows them,
Speaker 2: not the person who met them, but the person who
Speaker 2: knows them to I would wait for them and see
Speaker 2: how long they hesitate before they answer the question, because
Speaker 2: I want to see how long they're going to scroll through,
Speaker 2: you know. And sometimes people will say the right thing,
Speaker 2: but it's the inflection in their voice they say it
Speaker 2: with that lets you know there's something else. I'd be like, hey,
Speaker 2: I've noticed JT on our staff. He seems like he
Speaker 2: seems like a great guy. And if the person's voice
Speaker 2: goes up when they answer.
Speaker 1: You got pay attention to that. And so it's like
Speaker 1: how's JT? And they'll go, oh, he's great.
Speaker 2: And when they hit that falsetto like unnatural soprano note,
Speaker 2: he's great, it's the.
Speaker 1: Sounds like axel rose, you know. Up there. I'm like,
Speaker 1: but what everybody say?
Speaker 2: But what? Because one thing that has really helped me
Speaker 2: in ministry and in life is to realize that everybody
Speaker 2: has two eyes, two ears, one nose, one neck, most
Speaker 2: people two arms, two legs, and everybody has at least
Speaker 2: one But he was a great man. But it's in
Speaker 2: the Bible, people, I'm not making it up. It said
Speaker 2: that this great man.
Speaker 1: He's great.
Speaker 2: But the problem with being a preacher is I can
Speaker 2: see your eyes.
Speaker 1: I can see your ears.
Speaker 2: I can see whether or not you're taking notes, and
Speaker 2: if you don't have a pin out, I'm judging you
Speaker 2: so hard right now. I hope you feel the vibrations
Speaker 2: of the flames of hell. The issue with this arrangement
Speaker 2: is I can't see your but and it's probably better
Speaker 2: that way. It's been a lot of my ministry preaching
Speaker 2: to people's heads, preaching to people's intellect. And I messed
Speaker 2: around and pastored this church now for over twelve years.
Speaker 2: And I messed around and got a few straight grays
Speaker 2: in my beard, and I messed around and got involved
Speaker 2: in a few people's lives. And I messed around and
Speaker 2: found out that everybody has a butt. And the only
Speaker 2: way I knew it is that a few people showed.
Speaker 1: Me there there.
Speaker 2: I know it's awkward, and you know, half the reason
Speaker 2: that sermons don't really register more than two hours sometimes
Speaker 2: is because we're all trying to cover our butt. That's
Speaker 2: the strategy most people come.
Speaker 1: To church with. See why, b cover your butt?
Speaker 2: You cover it behind a big smile and appraise.
Speaker 1: The Lord in a chanda. You know I could do that?
Speaker 1: Do you know what I'm saying? He was a great man,
Speaker 1: but he had.
Speaker 2: A skin issue, and nobody can see that on the
Speaker 2: battlefield because on the battlefield I got armor. And we
Speaker 2: all have something that we use to cover a spot
Speaker 2: in our life. Let's be honest, we're not talking about
Speaker 2: human anatomy here. You have multiple bucks, You are great
Speaker 2: with people, but you don't take care of yourself. You
Speaker 2: see what I'm saying. You are really good at succeeding
Speaker 2: and really bad at being content.
Speaker 1: So I'm successful, but I'm miserable.
Speaker 2: I'm killing it at work, but my fifteen year old
Speaker 2: do I even have to finish this?
Speaker 1: I got a.
Speaker 2: Great marriage, I'm great, but I'm not making any money
Speaker 2: right now. And I'm a good emotional provider, but financially,
Speaker 2: you know, I never learned.
Speaker 1: How to do that.
Speaker 2: The thing about a really good encounter with God, you
Speaker 2: can tell when you've encountered.
Speaker 1: God, it will expose.
Speaker 2: Your and the way it happens, it'll often be an
Speaker 2: unlikely way.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about this in three stages. The first is exposure.
Speaker 2: Nayman is perhaps changing one day in his own home,
Speaker 2: and verse two says, bends of raiders from aarm Remember
Speaker 2: he's a captain. He's a commander of these armies from Aram,
Speaker 2: which would often go out and take different people captive.
Speaker 2: And on one particular such occasion, the raiders from Aram
Speaker 2: had gone out and had taken captive a young girl
Speaker 2: from Israel. And she served Nayman's wife, and she said
Speaker 2: to her mistress, if only my master would see the
Speaker 2: prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him.
Speaker 1: Of his leprosy.
Speaker 2: And so the Bible says something really important in verse four.
Speaker 2: Because you are not blessed based on the word of
Speaker 2: God that you hear, or the word of God that
Speaker 2: you understand, you are blessed, and your life is changed
Speaker 2: in accordance with the word of God that you apply, obey,
Speaker 2: and act on. That's why you can hear thirteen years
Speaker 2: of teaching and still be mean as the serpent in
Speaker 2: the garden of Eden. No That's why you can hear
Speaker 2: a lot of teaching about love, but if you don't
Speaker 2: make the decision to forgive.
Speaker 1: The teaching about love will be snatched.
Speaker 2: Up by the birds of the air and will not
Speaker 2: take root in your heart. So verse four becomes really
Speaker 2: important if we really want to change, if we really
Speaker 2: want to get beneath the surface, and you know, not
Speaker 2: just have a skin deep spirituality and a skin deep
Speaker 2: relationship with God where we can fake it for a
Speaker 2: little while, and we create stages to impress people, and
Speaker 2: we have armor that.
Speaker 1: We put on to go out into our job.
Speaker 2: We come home and feel like miserable, miserable people to
Speaker 2: live with, or we feel like we don't know how
Speaker 2: to be intimate, but we know how to be impressive.
Speaker 2: And so as long as people only see us from
Speaker 2: a distance, they don't really notice we're starting to cover
Speaker 2: our skin and cover our souls and things that are
Speaker 2: just leaping out of us.
Speaker 1: At all the wrong time.
Speaker 2: Verse four says that Naman went to his master and
Speaker 2: told him what the girl from Israel had said. And
Speaker 2: this took courage, and it took humility for Naming to
Speaker 2: go to his master and show his butt, to show
Speaker 2: his vulnerability when he was a man with so many victories.
Speaker 2: I just want to stay there for a minute, because
Speaker 2: sometimes I feel like we use prayer as an opportunity
Speaker 2: to read God our resume, you know.
Speaker 1: And while I think it's great.
Speaker 2: To celebrate all the Elias that we killed, sometimes the
Speaker 2: giants in us are kicking our butt and we don't
Speaker 2: say anything about it until it's too late. And I'm
Speaker 2: getting bolder every year I passed her, as I commit
Speaker 2: more and more to preaching to the part of you
Speaker 2: that you would just as soon hide and never mention,
Speaker 2: because I think that's where real help is found.
Speaker 1: And Naman went to his.
Speaker 2: Master and told him what the girl from Israel had said.
Speaker 2: I mean, this is a servant girl. And Naman is
Speaker 2: what a great man?
Speaker 1: A great man. He's a great man.
Speaker 2: But he's got these spots that are starting to spread,
Speaker 2: and if he doesn't do something soon, there's no telling
Speaker 2: what might happen next. And since there are no essential
Speaker 2: oils for this particular form of leprosy at this point
Speaker 2: in antiquity, Nayman has to take the advice of a
Speaker 2: little girl. And now we have a great man going
Speaker 2: to an enemy nation in Israel because of the advice
Speaker 2: of a little girl. Are you willing to obey God
Speaker 2: even if he speaks through something that seems smaller than you,
Speaker 2: because I notice a lot of us won't. A lot
Speaker 2: of teenagers will listen to me preach and roll their
Speaker 2: eyes at their parents. And I don't understand that because
Speaker 2: I'm not paying for your college or your bracest.
Speaker 1: I'm not even buying you ramen noodles.
Speaker 2: And sometimes I've noticed that men will listen to me preach,
Speaker 2: but their wife knows them better than I do and
Speaker 2: could say some things that would actually help them. It's
Speaker 2: getting quiet, and even the women.
Speaker 1: Left me out on that one.
Speaker 2: It's like that, I'm a cancel reflective, y'all, don't help
Speaker 2: me with this sermon.
Speaker 1: It's something about exposure and when a spot in your.
Speaker 2: Life, everybody says spot a leprous spot, something that is
Speaker 2: consuming you that others can't see when it is exposed
Speaker 2: by an experience. That's the second stage I wanted to
Speaker 2: mention is experience, because things will happen in your life
Speaker 2: and you'll come up upon situations that will expose something
Speaker 2: that you would prefer to hide. And what you do
Speaker 2: next determines whether you get healed. So Naman went to
Speaker 2: his master and told him what the girl from Israel
Speaker 2: had said. Verse five says that the king said, by
Speaker 2: all means go, I will send a letter to the
Speaker 2: King of Israel. So Naman left, taking with him ten
Speaker 2: talents of silver six thousand shekels of gold. That's like
Speaker 2: seventy five pounds of each. So Naman is going to
Speaker 2: Israel with his resources to attain healing. He's gonna he's
Speaker 2: gonna deal with this like he always deals with things,
Speaker 2: because he's a great man. He's a persistent man, prepared man.
Speaker 2: He's a powerful man. These other things that start with
Speaker 2: the letter P as well and the letter that he
Speaker 2: took to the King of Israel read with this letter,
Speaker 2: I am sending my servant naming to you so that
Speaker 2: you may cure him of his leprosy. There's all kind
Speaker 2: of stuff wrong with that sentence. It's like the telephone
Speaker 2: game we used to play when you pass a message
Speaker 2: along to somebody and it starts out, we're having you
Speaker 2: chicken for lunch, and it ends with I'm dying of cancer,
Speaker 2: and you pass it down and it only takes three people.
Speaker 2: This chain of communication has polluted the message itself because
Speaker 2: number one, the servant girl didn't say the king can
Speaker 2: heal him.
Speaker 1: It said the prophet can.
Speaker 2: And sometimes we run to the wrong people because we
Speaker 2: have our own ideas about where our help comes from.
Speaker 2: Talk to me, and it's not the king that is
Speaker 2: going to have the faith to get him healed. It's
Speaker 2: the prophet. His name is Elisha. But the king sends
Speaker 2: the commander to the king because you know, this is
Speaker 2: to me, the most logical way to get him healed.
Speaker 2: We'll go straight to the top. But watch the king's response.
Speaker 2: And this is kind of interesting because when the king
Speaker 2: gets the letter and Naman shows up with all of
Speaker 2: the accumulated wealth that he believes it's gonna take to
Speaker 2: get him healed. You know how, we have our own
Speaker 2: ideas about what it's gonna take to make a change
Speaker 2: in our life. And I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: do it. I'm gonna go back, I'm gonna get my degree.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna get my degree. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna eat. I'm gonna eat so much kale it's gonna
Speaker 2: be coming out of my nose. I'm not eating gluten
Speaker 2: again until twenty twenty four. I'm gonna do hot yoga
Speaker 2: and cold yoga and powerlifting.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it all.
Speaker 1: Mariema Bible. I'm gonna delete.
Speaker 2: Every social media off my phone.
Speaker 1: I'm never going on Facebook again.
Speaker 2: I've got my face in the book. And he shows
Speaker 2: up with a lot of stuff that he thinks he
Speaker 2: canna need to get healed.
Speaker 1: But as soon verse.
Speaker 2: Seven, as the King of Israel read the letter, he
Speaker 2: tore his robes and said, am I God, you want
Speaker 2: me to do what?
Speaker 1: I got?
Speaker 2: This friend, y'all, his name is Alex Early. He was
Speaker 2: my college roommate and he used to make prank phone
Speaker 2: calls in college and they were hilarious.
Speaker 1: Most of them were clean.
Speaker 2: We were Christians, but he had the ability to push
Speaker 2: people to their breaking point. He was a big fan
Speaker 2: of a guy at the time who did prank calls
Speaker 2: named roy D Mercer, and this guy was famous for
Speaker 2: taking people right to the edge, and so we would laugh.
Speaker 2: And we still have these phone calls recorded and one
Speaker 2: day I'm going.
Speaker 1: To release them on SoundCloud.
Speaker 2: And these phone calls to me just bring me joy
Speaker 2: at times, in my life, because everybody's reaction was the same.
Speaker 2: He make up a million scenarios, you know. He would
Speaker 2: use this name, this alias Dwyane McGraw Duwaine, and put
Speaker 2: a thing over the e because it's French.
Speaker 1: My name is dew Wane McGraw.
Speaker 2: And he'd say, my boy Bobby is throwing up all
Speaker 2: over the shag carpet because I came to the.
Speaker 1: Grocery store and I bought bad milk.
Speaker 2: And they would always say this, no matter what scenario
Speaker 2: he made up. One time it'd be Bobby's throwing up
Speaker 2: on the shag car. One time it'd be I took
Speaker 2: my trousers to your laundromat and they shrunk up and
Speaker 2: now they're coming up around my thighs and I look
Speaker 2: like a European and you know, but whatever scenario he
Speaker 2: would bring up, their response was generally the same. What
Speaker 2: do you want me to do about it?
Speaker 1: The king?
Speaker 2: The king is like, you brought me a leopard? Do
Speaker 2: you think I'm God? I'm not a doctor, I'm a king.
Speaker 2: Have you ever felt like life brought you.
Speaker 1: Something that was above your pay grate to handle? God?
Speaker 2: They're doing that thing again where they sit there and
Speaker 2: look at me like they always have it together and
Speaker 2: they have all the answers. Because I looked at my
Speaker 2: kids the other day and said, I am not Google.
Speaker 1: I am not a search engine. I do not know. Furthermore,
Speaker 1: I do not care. Get out of my face.
Speaker 2: Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night
Speaker 2: and replay things that I've said to my kids and
Speaker 2: feel so bad that I have to get up and
Speaker 2: baptize myself in the baptob.
Speaker 1: And get saved again just as I am without one. Please,
Speaker 1: Oh Lamb of God, what do you want from me?
Speaker 1: I'm only a man? And the King says, I know
Speaker 1: what this is.
Speaker 2: This man can I kill and bring back to life.
Speaker 2: He's triggered because he is confronted with a situation that
Speaker 2: he is unable to transform. And whenever life presents you
Speaker 2: with something that you were.
Speaker 1: Not equipped for.
Speaker 2: So you got to be a dad and you didn't
Speaker 2: have a dad. You got to pay a bill, but
Speaker 2: God didn't.
Speaker 1: Give you a job.
Speaker 2: You've got to step into something that you've never seen
Speaker 2: before with the faith to believe that it's already done.
Speaker 2: And it can be exasperating to the point watch this
Speaker 2: that you allow your past experience to contaminate your perspective
Speaker 2: of the present moment.
Speaker 1: Remember what I said.
Speaker 2: The King of Aaron, Benedett the second would often go
Speaker 2: and invade Jehoram's land Jahamas, king of Israel. And so
Speaker 2: when he gets the letter saying, hey, can you help
Speaker 2: my guy name in can you heal my guy naming?
Speaker 2: It triggered within him a traumatic memory of the last
Speaker 2: time he was attacked, and so he goes off.
Speaker 1: Not because of the situation that.
Speaker 2: He's experiencing, but because of past experiences.
Speaker 1: Do you ever wonder why you go off?
Speaker 2: And it's inexplicable, like the level of the offense does
Speaker 2: not match the level of the outrage, and you wonder.
Speaker 1: Why what was that all about? Hell?
Speaker 2: You ever with the elevation church sticker on your car
Speaker 2: said some words that weren't blessed the Lord, Oh my soul?
Speaker 1: And wonder you know how y'all think Holly is so sweet?
Speaker 1: What time in college she was singing a worship.
Speaker 2: Song in her Ford contour, and the song said I
Speaker 2: was there, I was.
Speaker 1: In the passenger seat.
Speaker 2: The song said, you are so patient with me?
Speaker 1: Lord.
Speaker 2: She didn't get to Lord before she was screaming at
Speaker 2: the at the dodge ram that pulled out in front
Speaker 2: of her, and she's loud. Holly is like, when she's
Speaker 2: up here, it reflects she'll be smiling. But I'm gonna
Speaker 2: tell you something about Hollyford.
Speaker 1: What what is that all about? Where did that voice
Speaker 1: come from?
Speaker 2: We and then the devil starts telling you all, well,
Speaker 2: you know you're not a real Christian, you're hypocrite.
Speaker 1: Some of y'all are gonna lose it before the day
Speaker 1: is over.
Speaker 2: Because of your fantasy football lineup. No, not because of
Speaker 2: anything significant to anything having to do with real life
Speaker 2: in any way, because of other men that have absolutely
Speaker 2: no effect on you other than one hundred dollars at
Speaker 2: the end.
Speaker 1: Of the season. And you wonder why did I go
Speaker 1: off like that?
Speaker 2: It's understandable because we live in not only the age
Speaker 2: of anxiety, but if you noticed, we live in the age.
Speaker 1: Of outrage too.
Speaker 2: How trendy it is now to just get mad about
Speaker 2: anything that you don't like the first time you hear it. Well,
Speaker 2: you'll arent going to like this part of the sermon.
Speaker 2: I don't think too much, but can I be honest
Speaker 2: with you, I don't really care what shoes you were
Speaker 2: to church today. No, maybe my perspective is different, but
Speaker 2: I spend too much time seeing people's butts to care
Speaker 2: about what you have on your feet today.
Speaker 1: So I don't have time when teen suicide is.
Speaker 2: In an all time high to check and see if
Speaker 2: you're wearing Adidas or Nike, if you got yeezes, or
Speaker 2: you want to just do it.
Speaker 1: I don't really have time to debate with you.
Speaker 2: About a sluice or a commercial or getting.
Speaker 1: Mad about I really don't have.
Speaker 2: Time for it up here when people's lives are on
Speaker 2: the line. I really don't have time for it in here,
Speaker 2: when people are on antidepressants in a rate that's making
Speaker 2: them more depressed, but they.
Speaker 1: Don't know where else to turn, and we're run into
Speaker 1: all kinds of places that.
Speaker 2: Are leaving us empty, but we want to fight.
Speaker 1: There will be at least one comment on this YouTube
Speaker 1: video about the holes in my jeans? Are you for
Speaker 1: real right now? But it triggers something. You're not fighting
Speaker 1: me over shoes, You're not fighting me over jeans.
Speaker 2: One moment told me until you save your beard, I
Speaker 2: can't watch you anymore.
Speaker 3: This is psychotic, she said. I'm praying for you. I
Speaker 3: want to say, I'm praying for you. I'm a fast
Speaker 3: forty days. If you're that messed up.
Speaker 1: I don't know why I went off.
Speaker 2: I think like for me, this is just what I'm
Speaker 2: working through, and so this makes you think I'm crazy.
Speaker 2: You're right, but I'm going through this season of my
Speaker 2: life where I don't want to keep blaming my environment
Speaker 2: or consulting things that happened in my life, because the
Speaker 2: cross of Jesus Christ gives me a new reality and
Speaker 2: it really changes everything in the sense that all of
Speaker 2: my life has to be viewed through that lens of
Speaker 2: what He did for me and who he says I am.
Speaker 2: If I'm not careful, I'll be like the King who,
Speaker 2: when confronted with an impossible situation that reminded him of
Speaker 2: a past hurt, he inflicted the opportunity of his present
Speaker 2: moment with the pain of his past. Do you see
Speaker 2: what I'm saying He projected. See every time he dealt
Speaker 2: with aerm, it was an attack. And now it's an
Speaker 2: opportunity for this man to be healed and see what
Speaker 2: God can do. But if what you went through isn't
Speaker 2: healed by what Christ did for you, you will treat
Speaker 2: the opportunity like an attack.
Speaker 1: And I've noticed that.
Speaker 2: But like I spent a lot of my time fighting
Speaker 2: stuff that God is actually sending into my life. I
Speaker 2: spent a lot of my time fighting against people that
Speaker 2: I'm not really mad at.
Speaker 1: It's really not them. Tell the person next to you,
Speaker 1: it's not you, it's me. It's me. I'm a perfectionist,
Speaker 1: and so.
Speaker 2: Sometimes when things aren't just like I want them to be,
Speaker 2: or here's what really happens, it really happens with my expectation.
Speaker 2: Put that word up there, because when I expect it
Speaker 2: to be one way and it's the other.
Speaker 1: Like when I went off on my dad a few
Speaker 1: years ago, it was because I rented him a house.
Speaker 1: I moved him and my mom to Charlotte.
Speaker 2: Well, I didn't move him, I hired movers and then
Speaker 2: they got fired because my dad was crazy, and it
Speaker 2: was so funny. It really wasn't funny. It's funny now,
Speaker 2: can we laugh about it? How ah?
Speaker 1: Okay?
Speaker 2: But the day I went to see him, and the
Speaker 2: story has a happy end, and then we ended up
Speaker 2: being together and it was good and all that. But
Speaker 2: in between, remember naming gets healed at the end of
Speaker 2: this story. But there's some stuff in the middle that
Speaker 2: I want to talk to you about. Because in the
Speaker 2: middle of that, that whole messy situation with my dad,
Speaker 2: I remember going over to check on them one day
Speaker 2: and I was so proud of the house that Holly
Speaker 2: had found that we rented for them, and my mom
Speaker 2: liked it and she was happy, and my dad. The
Speaker 2: first thing he said, I walk through though, he said,
Speaker 2: this ain't gonna work, Bo, And I know honor your
Speaker 2: father and mother and the Lord.
Speaker 1: I know that Bible verse, I promise you, I know it.
Speaker 2: I even know that that honor is Cavat and Hebrew,
Speaker 2: and it can also be translated glory and wait.
Speaker 1: But the only thing I wanted in that moment, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna just be honest with you.
Speaker 2: I don't like to be disrespected, and it felt disrespectful
Speaker 2: to me, and so I went off. And it really
Speaker 2: wasn't what he said, because really what he wanted was
Speaker 2: just a few small tweaks. But I couldn't hear that anymore,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: Because my expectation was that he was going to meet
Speaker 1: me at the door and give me a big ol' hug.
Speaker 2: And say, my son and whom I am, well pleased,
Speaker 2: and the dove with the sin. But he didn't read
Speaker 2: my script. What do you do when people don't read
Speaker 2: your script? Meet your expectation? And here's where the story
Speaker 2: gets good, because I want you to notice that the
Speaker 2: same event that triggered the king and made him go
Speaker 2: into fear mode, which is usually what's happening when we're
Speaker 2: lashing out or withdrawing, because not everybody fights outwardly. Some
Speaker 2: of us bobble it up inwardly, and then we never
Speaker 2: go off.
Speaker 1: One day, we just.
Speaker 2: Tap out, and you wonder, how did they drop like that? Well,
Speaker 2: it's usually a series of met expectations. In this case,
Speaker 2: the King of Israel, jehosh he's traumatized to the point
Speaker 2: that he thinks that everything is a fight. It says
Speaker 2: it in the text. See how he is trying to
Speaker 2: pick a quarrel with me. That's verse seven. See how
Speaker 2: they're looking at me. See they didn't even wave at me.
Speaker 2: See I told this is a Southern thing. You're supposed
Speaker 2: to wave at people when you drive by them. The
Speaker 2: town I grew up in, you waived at everybody. And
Speaker 2: the first time that we were driving through the neighborhood
Speaker 2: and Holly didn't wave at people. I corrected her. I
Speaker 2: was like, what is wrong with you? She's not from
Speaker 2: Monks Corners, She's from Miami, and it's a different culture.
Speaker 2: It's an inferior culture of rudeness.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 2: Anytime that you've been used to in your life, you've
Speaker 2: been used to fighting. If life has really been a
Speaker 2: fight for you, if you've had to fight for your
Speaker 2: mental health, or you've had to fight for your emotional health,
Speaker 2: or if you've had to fight through issues of bitterness
Speaker 2: and forgiveness because of abuse, if you've had to fight
Speaker 2: for your own and fight to make it, or if
Speaker 2: you had to fight your own family, when you've had
Speaker 2: to fight over and over again, everything looks like a fight.
Speaker 2: Everything looks like a threat. Everything sounds like an insult.
Speaker 2: Every time somebody doesn't check on you, it feels like abandonment.
Speaker 1: It's the.
Speaker 2: Trauma that's being triggered. But what's encouraging to me what
Speaker 2: I got up here to tell you about today, Because
Speaker 2: this is pretty depressing so far. But the same stimulus
Speaker 2: that triggered fear in the King's heart triggered faith in Elisha's.
Speaker 2: The Bible says in verse eight when Elisha, the man
Speaker 2: of God, heard that the King of Israel had torn
Speaker 2: his robes. He sent him this message. Now watch this
Speaker 2: the king. The king said, who do you think I am?
Speaker 2: You think I can? You think I'm a healer? Elisha said,
Speaker 2: I know God is a healer. So watch the Have
Speaker 2: the man come to me, and he will know that
Speaker 2: there is a prophet in Israel. This man said, where
Speaker 2: you see, where you see opposition, I see opportunity. And
Speaker 2: the same thing that triggered you to tear your robes
Speaker 2: and freak out and fall down in fear triggered Elisha
Speaker 2: to rise up in faith. Elisha said, send him to me,
Speaker 2: because the word of God is with me. Now Elisha
Speaker 2: has an experience to build this expectation on.
Speaker 1: Elisha has healed the waters at Jericho. Elisha has multiplied
Speaker 1: the widow's oil.
Speaker 2: Elisha has spoken to parent wounds, and when that child died,
Speaker 2: spoke life and it resurrected from the dead. Elisha has
Speaker 2: dug ditches in dry valleys and seen God bring water
Speaker 2: from the direction of edom. Elisha has seen God do
Speaker 2: things that only God can do. And so when an
Speaker 2: impossible situation that is beyond him shows up, Elisha knows
Speaker 2: what do.
Speaker 1: Bring him here to me. I got something for nameMan.
Speaker 2: I heal lepers for breakfast. Bring him to me and
Speaker 2: he will know not how great I am, but how
Speaker 2: great God is.
Speaker 1: And so watch verse nine. I love this story.
Speaker 2: Naman went with his horses and chariots and his expectations
Speaker 2: and his leprosy and his greatness and his butt, and
Speaker 2: he brought it all because he wanted to be healed.
Speaker 2: I know you want to be healed of something today,
Speaker 2: even though you've been covering it up. And I know
Speaker 2: you use your charisma to cover your cracks. And I
Speaker 2: know that nobody knows how dark the thoughts can really
Speaker 2: get for you sometime.
Speaker 1: But I've been doing this too long to sit there
Speaker 1: and preach to your armor.
Speaker 2: Because a business leader walked up to me and told
Speaker 2: me that he had to kick his teenager out of
Speaker 2: his house.
Speaker 1: He said, we.
Speaker 2: Almost got in a fistfight, he said, I swung at
Speaker 2: him and missed.
Speaker 1: I realized this has gone way too far.
Speaker 2: And then the man had on khakis while he was
Speaker 2: telling me, pleaded khakis, double pleated khakis, no tattoos, but
Speaker 2: didn't look like the kind of guy that would swing
Speaker 2: on his kid. But I don't even really think you've
Speaker 2: seen your own butt until you've been through certain things.
Speaker 2: And then the weird thing is we all have short
Speaker 2: term memory loss if we have one devotion and read
Speaker 2: our Bible one morning.
Speaker 1: Now we start.
Speaker 2: Judging other people when they flip out.
Speaker 1: And so.
Speaker 2: Naming is on the verge of something. I travel a
Speaker 2: long way to get here. It's like a ninety mile trip,
Speaker 2: and he's got a big crew with him, and he
Speaker 2: needs a miracle, and.
Speaker 1: We admire him because.
Speaker 2: He went I do, at least I think to even
Speaker 2: get to this point takes faith. And maybe one of
Speaker 2: the reasons I don't put a lot of condemnation or
Speaker 2: I try not to in my preaching, is because I'm
Speaker 2: pretty proud of you who decided to show up anyway.
Speaker 2: I know how many things could have kept you from
Speaker 2: being here, and I'm pretty proud that you made the
Speaker 2: decision to bring your butt to church. Give yourself a
Speaker 2: hand for bringing your butt to church. And if you're
Speaker 2: watching online, you don't get to clap. It's different. So
Speaker 2: nae Man went with his horses and chariots, stopped at
Speaker 2: the door of Elicia's house and Elcius and a messenger, Oh,
Speaker 2: this is not gonna go well, because Naming is a
Speaker 2: great man. And when a great man comes to your
Speaker 2: doorstef you give him a great greeting and you welcome
Speaker 2: him by name.
Speaker 1: Man. I'm a retired This is my last sermon. Y'all
Speaker 1: enjoy it. He sent a.
Speaker 2: Messenger to say to him, go wash yourself seven times
Speaker 2: in the Jordan.
Speaker 1: In the what in the Jordan? You mean that muddy
Speaker 1: little excuse for a.
Speaker 2: River that y'all like to celebrate so much in this
Speaker 2: nation of Israel, which I don't even like anyway.
Speaker 1: And he didn't even come to the door and name.
Speaker 1: It went off.
Speaker 2: No, he literally went off, not in the figurative sense.
Speaker 2: He literally decided, I would rather go home with my leprosy.
Speaker 2: I'd rather go home and my arm fall off. I
Speaker 2: would rather go I would rather die than be disrespected
Speaker 2: like this. And when he heard this ridiculous command, he says,
Speaker 2: some very important.
Speaker 1: In the instruction. It was a simple instruction. It was
Speaker 1: a stupid instruction.
Speaker 2: It didn't make much sense, just like it doesn't make
Speaker 2: much sense when God tells you to forgive somebody so
Speaker 2: that you can be forgiven. And you want to say, well, God,
Speaker 2: if they ask for it, I'll give it. And God
Speaker 2: says to you, I'm not talking about what they deserve.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about your deliverance. I'm talking about your clean heart.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about your clear mind. So if you want
Speaker 2: to get cleansed, I need you to do something that
Speaker 2: makes no sense, because there is no cure for leprosy.
Speaker 1: It can't be cured.
Speaker 2: It's got to be cleansed, and it can only be
Speaker 2: cleansed if you obey this command. And verse eleven starts
Speaker 2: so sad, But there it is again. I'm gonna preach
Speaker 2: a whole series one day on the.
Speaker 1: Butts of the Bible. Stand in front of a miracle standing.
Speaker 1: I mean, the guys around him are like, Okay, that's
Speaker 1: all we gotta do. Naming.
Speaker 2: You could keep the seventy five pounds of silver and
Speaker 2: the seventy five pounds of gold, and you can pass
Speaker 2: out the ten sets of clothing.
Speaker 1: And we could go home. We can start back home.
Speaker 1: That's easy. Somebody start running the water. Naming.
Speaker 2: You want it hot, You want an extra hot naming.
Speaker 2: You want a rubber ducky, get the towel ready. You
Speaker 2: want some sunscreen. But it's a funny thing about pride.
Speaker 2: It's a funny thing about the small things. It's a
Speaker 2: funny thing about something that seems beneath you. Remember the
Speaker 2: King was triggered because of something that seemed beyond him.
Speaker 1: Am I God? And Naming is triggered because of something
Speaker 1: that seems beneath me. You want me to do what?
Speaker 1: Uh huh, I'm not doing that. Uh huh.
Speaker 2: No. See, because when your heart is filled with pride,
Speaker 2: you try to write your own prescriptions. This is how
Speaker 2: I want God to bless me. This is how I
Speaker 2: want God to come through. This is how I want
Speaker 2: God to heal me. This is how I wanted to
Speaker 2: respond this opportunity I want. This is so Naming went away,
Speaker 2: angry said, this is two very dangerous words. By the way,
Speaker 2: this is this is maybe the two most dangerous words
Speaker 2: for you to interpret your life through. I thought, I thought,
Speaker 2: maybe those two words are the two words that are
Speaker 2: standing between me and peace today.
Speaker 1: I thought, I thought my dad was going to be
Speaker 1: grateful for the house.
Speaker 2: Now he's telling me about getting somebody over here to
Speaker 2: fix the Huh.
Speaker 1: I thought I thought you'd say thank you.
Speaker 2: I thought you'd grow up and play piano and put
Speaker 2: you in lessons, I thought, I thought.
Speaker 1: I thought he would surely.
Speaker 2: Come out to me and stand and call on the
Speaker 2: name of the Lord is God. See, many men had
Speaker 2: it all planned out, because that's what great men do.
Speaker 2: Great men make great plans, and when those plans don't
Speaker 2: go the way that they were supposed to go, great
Speaker 2: men go off, great women go off. Because I had
Speaker 2: this family picture, and here's where you were supposed to stand,
Speaker 2: and here's where you were supposed to smile, and here's
Speaker 2: where you were supposed to and here's where you were.
Speaker 2: I thought, could those two words be standing between you
Speaker 2: and healing today? I thought, God says, my thoughts are
Speaker 2: not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways.
Speaker 2: For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
Speaker 2: so are my thoughts above your thoughts, and my ways
Speaker 2: above your ways. But Naman went away angry and said,
Speaker 2: I thought that I thought he'd come out to me.
Speaker 2: I thought, I thought he would see because I had
Speaker 2: this worked out. He comes to me, and then I
Speaker 2: give him the gifts and I get the healing.
Speaker 1: This is how this works.
Speaker 2: Not this time, name it, not this time, this transformation
Speaker 2: is not going to happen on your terms. God's not
Speaker 2: going to do it like you expected. He's not going
Speaker 2: to be held hostage to what you thought. So I
Speaker 2: thought that he would surely come out to me and
Speaker 2: stand and call him the name of the Lord is God.
Speaker 1: And waya his hand.
Speaker 2: So he's supposed to wave, he's supposed to wave his
Speaker 2: hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.
Speaker 2: He doesn't like the place God told him to get healed.
Speaker 2: Are not Abna and far part of the rivers of
Speaker 2: Damascus better than all the waters of Israel. I didn't
Speaker 2: have to come here for this. Couldn't I washing them
Speaker 2: and be cleansed. So he turned and went off in
Speaker 2: a rage, and one of his servants, this guy needs
Speaker 2: a raise, by the way, went to him.
Speaker 1: Notice how beautiful the story is told. It's chronicled like this.
Speaker 2: Namon went to his master and said, I need permission
Speaker 2: to go to Israel. So he went to the king,
Speaker 2: and the king said I can't do it. Then he
Speaker 2: went to Elisha with his chariots and horses. And now
Speaker 2: Namon went off in a rage, and he's about to
Speaker 2: He's about to miss the opportunity to be healed because
Speaker 2: he is going off. And here's why he went off,
Speaker 2: because he didn't go in, and he went off because
Speaker 2: he made his decision about what he thought about it,
Speaker 2: but he didn't go in. You know, I've noticed something
Speaker 2: about myself when I don't go into the presence of God,
Speaker 2: when I don't go in and ask God, what are
Speaker 2: you doing in this situation?
Speaker 1: When I don't go.
Speaker 2: Into myself and seek for the spirit of God to
Speaker 2: leave me, I start going off, and then I spend
Speaker 2: the next week fixing stuff that if I would have
Speaker 2: taken one moment and worshiped, if I would have taken
Speaker 2: one moment and sought God's wisdom, if I would have
Speaker 2: taken one moment and said, you know what, I don't
Speaker 2: want to fight about this.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be right. I want to be healed.
Speaker 1: I don't want to prove my own power. I want
Speaker 1: to receive your power God.
Speaker 2: And what happens next is really beautiful because some of
Speaker 2: you are going to do it today.
Speaker 1: Stand with me.
Speaker 2: The servant came to Namen and says something that I
Speaker 2: think is very prophetic, and I hope you can hear
Speaker 2: it on the level which it is intended. The servant
Speaker 2: Chase naming down Naman is on his way.
Speaker 1: Back to Damascus.
Speaker 2: He's gonna walk ninety miles back home with leprosy still
Speaker 2: on his skin because of something that seemed too small
Speaker 2: and insignificant for a great man like him to do.
Speaker 1: He's gonna spend.
Speaker 2: The rest of his life with this disease because he
Speaker 2: didn't want to do what he was told to do.
Speaker 1: And the servant said, hey man, sir.
Speaker 2: Nayman, if the prophet had told you to do some
Speaker 2: great thing, would.
Speaker 1: You not have done it? Well, of course I would,
Speaker 1: because I'm a great man.
Speaker 2: Well, if you're a great man, how much more should
Speaker 2: you be able to do a small thing? So when
Speaker 2: he tells you washould be cleansed, why not give it
Speaker 2: a try? You know, you've been fighting so hard justifying
Speaker 2: your side of the story and justifying yourself and why
Speaker 2: is all right?
Speaker 1: And why is okay?
Speaker 2: But hey man, why not if we already came ninety miles,
Speaker 2: if we already came this far, and that profit is
Speaker 2: telling you that if you dip in the Jordan you
Speaker 2: can be cleansed, isn't it worth a try? You already
Speaker 2: went to your master and got the letter. You already
Speaker 2: went with your horses and chariots. Now you've now you're
Speaker 2: going off in a rage. But verse fourteen is the
Speaker 2: happy ending, and I believe it's a new beginning for
Speaker 2: many of us today. The Bible says, so he went
Speaker 2: down and dipped himself in the Jordan. I'm glad after
Speaker 2: Naman went off, he went in, and he went in
Speaker 2: not just once, not just twice, not just three times,
Speaker 2: not just four times, not just five times, not just
Speaker 2: six times, but all seven. Often, when you're in the
Speaker 2: process of obeying God, you see no immediate effects of change.
Speaker 2: It's not like your skin gets healed a little bit
Speaker 2: with every dip.
Speaker 1: Woo woo woo.
Speaker 2: You got to have the faith to go through the
Speaker 2: motions even when you see no evidence. Go am I
Speaker 2: talking to him? You got to have the faith to
Speaker 2: go down and pray again, to lift up your hands
Speaker 2: and worship and say, I don't feel.
Speaker 1: A thing right now.
Speaker 2: But God is with me, and God is for me,
Speaker 2: And who can be against me? And I will not
Speaker 2: fear though a host of enemies and camps uponut me.
Speaker 1: I will not be afraid. The Lord is my helper.
Speaker 1: I lift my eyes to the hills. My help comes
Speaker 1: from the Lord. By your head, and close your eyes
Speaker 1: for a moment.
Speaker 2: I believe this is a significant word for someone in
Speaker 2: the room who is about to go off.
Speaker 1: Maybe you've been going off, maybe you already went off.
Speaker 2: I don't just mean temper tantrums, breaking stuff, throwing pictures
Speaker 2: around the room.
Speaker 1: I mean that there is something that God has given
Speaker 1: you to do in.
Speaker 2: Your life that seems so ridiculous that you, like naymen,
Speaker 2: are at the point of frustration. I want to speak
Speaker 2: a word over your life today that in this moment,
Speaker 2: the only way to receive healing is through your surrender.
Speaker 2: As long as you want to stay in control of
Speaker 2: those situations, they will continue to consume you. And that's
Speaker 2: what the presence of God is for. This is the
Speaker 2: Jordan river that you can dip in seven times. The
Speaker 2: Bible says that when he did it, his flesh was
Speaker 2: restored like a young boy. Isn't that amazing that the
Speaker 2: great man became like a young boy and he was healed?
Speaker 1: And isn't it interesting.
Speaker 2: That God's greatest golden Nayman's life was not to heal
Speaker 2: his skin, but to produce faith in his heart.
Speaker 1: Lift your hands in this moment, Father, I thank.
Speaker 2: You for every person, and I thank you for every problem.
Speaker 2: I thank you for the great things, and I thank
Speaker 2: you for the butt. Somebody in this room has an addiction.
Speaker 2: Somebody in this room has an illness. Somebody in this
Speaker 2: room has a heavy depression, and they see no signs
Speaker 2: of change. And they have really, really attractive armor, and
Speaker 2: so nobody can see but you what they're fighting with
Speaker 2: on the inside, and they keep pushing people away that
Speaker 2: you send to help them. In this moment, God, may
Speaker 2: this be the first dip in the process of their deliverance.
Speaker 2: And thank you for the Cross of Jesus Christ that
Speaker 2: we stand under and look to today for our healing
Speaker 2: and forgiveness and redemption has already been accomplished. I thank
Speaker 2: you that we are not healed, cleansed, or cured by achieving,
Speaker 2: but by receiving. Stretch your hands high as you can
Speaker 2: stretch them. We receive your grace in this moment, your mercy.
Speaker 2: In this moment, healing waters wash over our soul.
Speaker 1: Oh, 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
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Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. God bless you.