WEBVTT - Fill In The Gap (Larry Brey) 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:02.639 Well, we're gonna get to the message in just a moment, 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:05.840 but I wanted to make sure you knew about Elevation Nights. 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:11.240 It's gonna be amazing eight cities October twenty sixth through 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.800 November fourth. You got to go to Elevation Nights dot 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.360 com to see if we're coming to a city near you. 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:21.320 It's gonna be me, Elevation Worship, a few friends, and you. 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:22.640 I want to see you there. I want to see 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:24.959 you and everybody that you know there. Go to Elevation 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:27.639 Nights dot com. I can't wait to see you soon. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:32.600 Here's the message. We are blessed, and I just have 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.199 one verse of scripture for you. Then then we'll take 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:38.000 a seat in a second, and I'm going to preach 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:40.080 today out of a passage that really has been my 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:45.080 life verse is First Samuel thirteen fourteen. But about six 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.840 months ago, Pastor Stephen stood in this pulpit any said 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:53.159 a word that made me see it differently. That verse 0:00:53.200 --> 0:00:56.880 has been my life verse for sixteen plus years, but 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.720 one word made me see something that's always been there. 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.640 I just didn't have the potential to see it. And 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.280 I think that's gonna happen today. I think it's gonna 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:10.240 happen in a marriage. It's been seventeen years in motion, 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:12.640 but you've never seen the gift of your bride that 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.120 God wants you to see in her. It's gonna happen 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:17.959 in the blessing that He's given you. When you look 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:21.200 at everybody else, what they have makes you ungrateful for 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.320 what God's given you. You don't need something new, you 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.440 just need to see what you have differently. That's why 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:33.080 I'm excited to share this verse with you today. Those 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:36.240 that know me know that this is close to my heart, 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:37.959 and it's a verse A take with me wherever I go. 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:46.600 Verse Verse Samuel thirteen, Verse two says Saul chose three 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:50.800 thousand men from Israel. Two thousand were with him at 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:55.360 Micmash say mic Mesh and in the hill country of Bethel, 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.040 and a thousand worth Jonathan and Gibbia and Benjamin. The 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:03.360 rest of the men he sent back to their homes. So, Father, 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:05.840 we open up your word. Would you open up our 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.440 hearts and create an intersection that would allow your transformation 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:14.080 to happen in our hearts. We love you Jesus. Amen. Amen, 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:19.040 you guys can can have a seat and I grew 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.560 up one of five kids, and I grew up like 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:24.600 many guys, probably most kids. Up until about age seven 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:28.560 or eight, my dad was my hero. He everywhere he went, 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:30.680 I wanted to be with my dad. It was like 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:32.919 he was my hero, and so I just wanted to 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:34.799 go wherever he's going. I don't even care where you're going. 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:39.480 I'm just coming with dad. Let's go. And so I remember, gosh, 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:41.520 six seven, eight years old. We'd go to places and 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:44.720 he'd go inside, and I'd be out in the pickup truck. 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.280 We're in a farmtown in Minnesota. We'd be in the 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:50.480 pickup truck. I'd be out there for whoo, one person 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.079 from Minnesota, Praise God. I'd be out in the pickup 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.120 truck for a while, and then he'd hop back in 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:57.760 the truck and we'd drive home. And he seemed much 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.400 happier when he got back in the pickup truck. He 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.000 was talking a lot. He was jovial, but he was 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:06.160 kind of swerving around a little bit. And then finally, 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:08.400 at age about eight, I don't remember the exact day, 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.359 but we stopped at this place called the Delroy. It 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:16.120 was a bar in Minnesota, and I remember sitting out 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.760 in the truck and it was like cold, and I'm like, 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:22.880 I wonder what Dad's doing. So I waited a couple hours, 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.360 and finally I snuck in through the back door and 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:28.120 I walk in and I see Jerry, the owner. He 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:29.600 kind of looks at me, and I remember his face, 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:32.840 and I saw my dad sitting at the end of 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:36.280 the bar, and I remember in that moment the gap 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.280 that was created in my heart because up until that 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:41.880 point he had only been my hero. But now I 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.800 saw his humanity, and that's the gap I want to 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.880 talk about today. And that gap is what's called disappointment. 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:53.520 This is a message for anybody who has been, is, 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:57.400 or will be dealing with the gap of disappointment. Disappointment 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.080 is an equal opportunity employer. It will enslave you based 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:04.640 upon your socioeconomic status, your zip code, your square footage. 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.600 It does not care because every one of us has 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.760 the gap of disappointment. He's always been my hero, but 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.800 now I see his humanity, and I gotta deal with 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.760 the gap. It's that gap that's created because you've lived life. 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:21.080 This is what I've expected, Lord, but this is what 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:24.640 I'm experiencing. It's the space of I thought we'd be 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:28.039 further along right now, but this is what we're dealing with. 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:30.800 I've been believing for the promises God, but now I'm 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:33.920 just picking up the broken pieces. You hope you'd be 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.200 married by now, and if your grandmother asked you one 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:41.560 more time, if you found somebody, you're gonna I love you, Grandma. 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:43.560 It's you have the surgery and they said you'd be 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.280 better right by now. But you're dealing with that gap. 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.920 Because that gap, here's the title for today. It's called 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:54.640 Filling the gap. Filling the gap, because that gap of disappointment, 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.960 something's going to grow in it. It is very much 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:02.799 like your lawn, like your front yard. If you do nothing, 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:09.400 something will grow. Just because it's green doesn't mean it's good. 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:15.440 You don't need to do anything for weeds to grow. 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:19.000 And in the sinful nature of man, the seeds of 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:23.240 bitterness and defense have been sewed into our soul and 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:28.120 they don't need any help to grow. That's what I 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.800 want to talk about today. My assignment is to talk 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:37.120 about the gap. And in our story with In for Samuel, 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:41.080 you have a son named Jonathan and a dad named Saul. 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:44.400 Dad is the king of Israel and what's happened At 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.479 this point in chapter twelve, they'd had some small military victories. 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:49.760 So Dad and son divis a plan to keep the 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:53.159 momentum rolling. Hey, we're gonna keep these Philistines on the run. Boy, 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.719 let's get it going. So they devise a plan. All right, Sault, 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:59.599 you're gonna take two thousand men and you're gonna go 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:04.280 to Mickmash, say Micmash. And then Jonathan's gonna take a thousand, 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:07.640 and he's gonna go to Giba. So they hatch a 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:12.000 plan like, all right, ready, break, let's go. Here's what 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:16.560 we're gonna do. Verses three and four says Jonathan attacked 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:20.880 the Philistine outpost at Geeba, and the Philistines heard about it. 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.200 Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the whole land 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:28.480 and said, let the Hebrews hear. So all Israel heard 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:33.200 the news. Saul has attacked the Philistine outposts and anub 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:36.760 and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines, and 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:41.640 the people were soming to join Somel. What what Dad see? 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:43.839 I think in this moment, Jonathan saw some of his 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:47.240 father's humanity. They devised the plant says, I'm gonna do this, 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:49.800 and you're gonna do that. The son goes and does this, 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.440 but God, his dad does not do that. And now 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.400 when Saul announces it to the nation, he says, all right, 0:06:56.480 --> 0:07:01.040 let all of Israel hear Saul has attacked and it 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:03.400 says he had the trumpets phone. He's tooting his own horn. 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:08.200 He's taking credit for something he didn't even do. And 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:12.560 his son is looking like, Dad, you said you were 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:17.720 gonna do that, but you didn't do it. And now 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.640 he was looking at his father, going because of your indecision, 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:22.920 Because of your bad decision, we're all gonna have to 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.440 deal with the consequences of it. Isn't it amazing that 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:30.880 what choices the unintended consequences that can ripple in the 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:34.760 life of people. And I think that's what Jonathan is 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:37.440 dealing with in this situation. Because Saul's got two thousand 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:39.920 men and Jonathan has a thousand. Why can some people 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:43.080 do twice as much with half as much resource? Why 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.920 is it? That's the spirit of Jonathan. That's why I 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:48.200 love this guy. I'm going on record right now and 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.160 saying Jonathan is my favorite Bible character, and I want 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.960 to show you why, because your impact on this earth 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.480 is never determined by the size of your resource. It's 0:07:56.600 --> 0:08:04.760 termed by the size of your obedience. Jonathan demonstrates, but Saul, 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:07.880 why did you do that, Saul? Because I think there's 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:12.000 a connection between disappointment and disobedience. And on top of that, 0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:15.440 Samuel the Prophet had informed Saul just a few days earlier, Saul, 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:17.720 just wait till I get there to offer the offerings. 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:20.440 Just wait, don't don't pop the clutch, don't get started 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:26.360 on this thing early. And so but Dad struggles with disobedience, 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:31.920 and in verse eleven, Samuel the Prophet shows up on 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.080 the scene. The battle was supposed to be fought where 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:37.400 two thousand go this way, one thousand go this way. 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:40.920 But Saul didn't do the king did not do what 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:43.880 the king should have done. And now as a result, 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:47.240 the people of Israel see this whole thing happening because 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:50.760 because they became obnoxious, and all the Philistines they were like, 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.880 you just whooped the dog, baby, Because the feeling is like, oh, 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:56.320 you want to play like that, We're gonna show up 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:58.160 in force, it says. They assembled all of their troops 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.840 as numerous as the sands on this sea shore. And 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.480 now the Israelites, as a result of Saul's bad decision, 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:08.000 are staring at a situations. Oh snap, Philistines are coming 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:12.600 and we're all gonna die. That's what happens when the 0:09:12.679 --> 0:09:18.480 leader sometimes makes bad choices. And now all of Israel 0:09:18.480 --> 0:09:21.200 has to deal with the disappointment of an indecision from 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:24.600 their king. Samuel, the prophet shows up in verse LeMay says, 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:29.480 what have you done, asked Samuel. Saul replied, well, when 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:32.440 I saw the men were scattering and that you did 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:34.280 not come at the set time, and the Philistines were 0:09:34.280 --> 0:09:38.439 assembling it at Mickmass, say Micmash, I thought, now the 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:40.480 Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.679 have not sought the Lord's favor, so I felt compelled 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.520 to offer the burnt offering. You've done a foolish thing, 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:49.520 Samuel said, you have not kept the command of the 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.280 Lord your God gave you. If you had, he would 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:57.720 have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:01.720 now your kingdom will not in door, and the Lord 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:05.680 has sought a man after his own heart and appointed 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:09.080 him ruler of the people. Because you have not kept 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:17.880 the Lord's command picture. Jonathan watching this scene unfold, He's 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:20.800 just witnessed his dad be disobedient and they didn't execute 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:24.040 the plan that they had worked out. Now Dad takes 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:27.240 credit for what he didn't even do, and now all 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.040 of Israel is being punished, and they're hiding in caves 0:10:30.200 --> 0:10:33.439 and thickets and in bushes. And now Samuel the prophets 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:36.160 up and says, because of your disobedience, you will never 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.440 be king again. And I've found one who's a man 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:41.680 after my own heart. Now Jonathan realizes my dad's done 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:44.520 all of this stuff, and now the kingdom will no 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.920 longer be in his hands because Jonathan was supposed to 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:54.240 be the second king, and your decisions feels like it 0:10:54.320 --> 0:11:01.920 derailed my destiny. How about that disappointment. But before we start, 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:06.000 before we start jumping on the Saul's a bad guy bandwagon, 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:11.280 it's important that before you to understand the behavior, you 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:14.840 need to look at the backstory. It's really important. This 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:16.960 is a gap because what you put in that gap 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:18.839 determines what it becomes. There's that gap of when you 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:22.800 don't understand what do you put in it. So with 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:28.480 my dad, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's several years ago, 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:32.040 and he passed away. Because when you're in the middle 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.480 of the disappointment, you never see it for what it is. 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:36.720 You only see it when you look back at it. 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.520 It's only on the other side, but one second on 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:39.959 the other side. I don't want to look back at 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.720 it because I'm over it now. But if you don't 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:44.400 deal with it, the next time you see it, it's 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:48.560 just bigger. It's just bigger. That's what happens with this 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:52.120 gap of disappointment. So when I started asking people about 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:54.920 my father, they let me know he grew up on 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:58.680 a farm in Minnesota, and he had an eighth grade 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:01.400 education because his his dad forced him to drop out 0:12:01.400 --> 0:12:04.440 of school to work on the farm. It was an 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.040 alcoholic home. It was a lot of abuse going on. 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.439 I always saw the forty three year old that was 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:14.200 sitting in the bar, but Grace allowed me to see 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:16.199 the thirteen year old that was told you can't go 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:20.559 to school anymore. And my heart started to be tender 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:23.800 for the thirteen year old, and it made sense of 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:25.719 why when I was older, he would make me read 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:30.120 the instructions onto everything because he never felt smart, because 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:34.360 he forfeited his education because of somebody else's dysfunction. And 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.040 now the cycle was trying to be repeated in my 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:41.720 see that space of grace when you understand the backstory. 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:45.880 The backstory allows you to have some grace because in 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:48.520 that space, fill in the gap. It will either be 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:54.720 blessing or bitterness, your choice, and if you do nothing, 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.640 something will grow. And so when we look at Saul before, 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:01.760 because often when Saul has preached, he's like the poster 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:03.640 child for who you don't want to be. Don't be 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:07.080 like Saul. No, no, the goal is to not be 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.920 like somebody else, is to be like Jesus, and to 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.400 understand when you're like that person. Because here's the part 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:15.480 about Saul. Saul never wanted to be king of Israel. 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.839 He did not want it. It was the last thing 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:21.920 from his mind. Because nation Israel looked around and says, WHOA, 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.160 we want to be like all the other nations. We 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.320 want to be like the Kenites, the Hittites, of the Jebisides, 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.640 the Gurgashites. We want to be like everyel, So give 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:32.360 us a king. Isn't it amazing what happens when you 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.839 start to use other people as your comparison for what 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:38.400 you want to become. That's what Nation Israel had, That's 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:40.840 what they were doing. You have God as your king, 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:44.280 but you want to settle for a human king. But 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:46.679 the reason that they were pushed towards that was often 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:49.880 the religious system. Though So if you hop back to 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:51.920 chapter nine, if you want to do some more study 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:57.400 on this, Samuel the prophet is getting old. It says, 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.440 he's got a couple boys that are religious leaders, but 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:04.400 they're taking bribes. So Nation Israel is looking out and go, yo, Samuel, 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:06.319 you're about to die anyway, and your kids are a 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.280 little wicked, so we don't know what's gonna happen beyond 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:13.400 it suggests give us a human just give us a king. 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:16.320 And so the last thing often God wants to do 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.520 is to give you what you want. And the worst 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:21.600 thing that could often happen is you get what you want, 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.880 and Nation Israel gets what they want. So when Shawl 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:28.240 shows up on the scene as a boy, as a 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:32.720 teenage boy in Tewod Samuel verse chapter nine, verse two, 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:34.560 it says, I just want to read this. I'm gonna 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.480 do it in my best like James Earl Jones voice, 0:14:38.920 --> 0:14:43.000 because picture this The only reason Saul got picked is 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.920 because of how we looked. It was like he was 0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:49.200 being typecast for a role in a movie. Not established 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:52.360 as a king over a kingdom. This is an audition 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.040 and it says this kish had a son named Saul, 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.120 as handsome, a young man, as could be found anywhere, 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:05.520 and he was a head taller than anyone else. That's him. 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:09.680 You look the part. Let's take you. We all do it. 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:12.440 Some guy is watching church right now. It's eleven a m. Like, Lord, 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.080 I'm gonna hold out for missus. Right, I'm gonna hold 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:17.360 out for missus right eleven PM. You get a little lonely, 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:19.360 you start making making phone calls. You just start looking 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.920 for missus right now. So don't tell me you're not 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:28.040 like Saul. We all settle for the outward appearance. That's 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.600 what he did. And he was only picked because of 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.240 what he looked like. What a horrible place to be 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.400 to feel like you're being used for somebody else's game. 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:40.240 That's how the whole story was. Saul gets started. He 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.000 didn't want to be king. His father lost some donkeys, 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:46.080 so he sends his son Saul to go look for 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.480 the donkeys. Takes a servant with him. They spend three 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.000 days looking for the donkeys and they can't find the donkeys, 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:53.240 and he starts to stress, I bet my dad's gonna 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:55.480 be sad, or my dad's gonna be worried. I wonder 0:15:55.480 --> 0:15:56.960 if he's gonna think him a failure. And he goes 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.400 to all these things. Finally they bounced into like and says, 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:02.000 wyn't you go talk to priest, talk to the preacher man. 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:04.960 He's like, huh, we haven't tried God, so let's try God. 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:08.280 Isn't it funny how Saul represents doing everything in her 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.440 own effort before we ever seek God's help. Don't tell 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.440 me you're not like Saul. Well often use God as 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:19.360 the last resort, not a first option. That's Saul. He says, all, 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:21.040 let's go to the preacher man. So they go to 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:22.520 the preacher man and they walk up and said, are 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:24.120 you the preacher man? He didn't even know what he saw. 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:28.920 He says, yes, your donkeys have been found, and Samuel 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:33.240 the prophet speaks something over teenage Saul. He says, here 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.600 is the one in all of the hopes of Israel. 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:40.480 Lie you will be king. And he's like, uh, I ain't, no, no, no, no, 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:42.320 I'm like from the tribe of Benjamin. We're like the 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:45.160 smallest tribe. My klan is the smallest plan and like 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:47.480 I'm just my family's like the worst family. There's no 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:51.560 way I belong. That's how it got started. Saw Samuel 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.440 the Prophet takes him to a dinner for all the leaders, 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:56.600 and he puts him at the head of the table, 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:00.240 and Saul's looking at it like, I don't belong here. 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:04.680 I don't want any of this. So when you picture Saul, 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:08.679 don't just picture the king, picture the boy and allows 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.560 you to have grace in that space. Fill in the 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.399 gap with some of that grace. Next day, Samuel the 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:18.920 Prophet anoints him private anointing ceremony, sends him home. When 0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:21.159 Saul goes home, they ask him, what'd you do? What 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:24.240 we found the donkeys? But he never told anyone that 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.720 he was annointed to be king of Israel. He never 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:30.640 mentioned one word of it to anybody. And then when 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:32.679 Samuel the Prophet shows up some days later to do 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:35.399 a public anointing, he says, all right, nation Israel, you 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:38.560 wanted your king, let's pick him. Has all the tribes 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:40.479 come forward, then all the families come forward, and then 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.719 it's Kish's family and they're like, Saul could not be found. 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:48.560 He was hiding with the supplies. He didn't want to 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:50.960 be king. And the only reason they found him is 0:17:51.000 --> 0:17:54.919 because he was tall. Said, they bring him and they 0:17:54.960 --> 0:18:00.560 anoint him. And that's how Saul begins his reign, being 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.399 put in a situation he never asked for and he 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.520 never wanted. And I think what started as a teenager 0:18:06.600 --> 0:18:10.520 was a tremendous amount of insecurity. Here he is a 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.560 guy who couldn't find couldn't find the donkeys, couldn't find 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.280 his donkey with both hands, and now he's made king 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:19.719 of Israel. I mean, imagine, like some of you, you 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.119 know that feeling like I can't do it I've been 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:24.200 asked to do? How did I end up in this space? 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:26.520 I don't belong here? But what you do is you 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:28.159 fake it till you make it, but you feel like 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:32.399 you'll never make it. That's Saul represents doing everything in 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:36.120 her own strength and in her own power. But what 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:40.480 you put in that space determines what it becomes. You're 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:43.200 at work, or you're at the grocery store and somebody 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.399 you know walks by you and they don't even acknowledge you. 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:47.399 I think you put one of two things in that space, 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:52.919 insecurity or offence. Insecurity like, oh did I do something wrong? 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:55.879 Oh my god? Should I do something wrong? Or offense? 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.639 What's wrong with them? Think they're better than me? No, 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.320 their cat just died. It has nothing to do with you. 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:03.200 But why do I always put myself in the middle 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:06.640 of the equation. It's because I'm driven by insecurity, because 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:10.320 I'm a lot like Saul. Turns out, there's a little 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.800 bit of saw in all of us. But what you 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:16.880 put in that gap determines what it becomes. I remember 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:18.679 my wife and I we went on a cruise, probably 0:19:18.880 --> 0:19:20.479 a couple of years ago. I loved it. I'll never 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.320 get her back on a cruise ship ever again. I 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:25.159 could go on a cruise five times a year. She 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.040 will never set foot in another boat. The first night 0:19:28.080 --> 0:19:30.240 we were there, I go down to the restaurant because 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:32.880 I need to make a reservation, and I'm in line 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:34.760 to talk to the matre d right in front of 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:38.520 me as an elderly couple. Professional cruisers like live life 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:41.960 on a cruise ship. Long line behind me and up 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:43.760 talking to the matre d as a man who's taking 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.359 a very long time. And the couple in front of 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:49.240 me is using all kinds of colorful language that would 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:53.000 make a sailor blush, and they were entitled to make 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.720 their reservation at any time, and they were letting everybody 0:19:56.720 --> 0:19:59.080 know their displeasure with colorful Well. I can't ignore that stuff, 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:01.560 so I'm like, what do I do? So I tapped 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:03.800 him on the shoulder, said I'm sorry you probably didn't 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:07.320 know this, but that man's taking a long time because 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:10.200 he's on this cruise ship with his wife and she's 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:14.960 terminally ill with cancer, and he's planning their last meal 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:20.439 together so that every detail would be accounted for. I 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:21.800 just thought you might want to know that. And they 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:26.480 looked at each other like we're horrible people. Amazing what 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:30.600 a little bit of understanding does. Now, in full disclosure, 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:34.800 I made that story up and I never told them 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:44.480 it's a ray habline. But in our it's amazing what 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:48.280 a little bit of understanding does, a little bit of 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:52.720 grace changes the way you see everything. Maybe you walked 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:54.800 in seeing a fence for somebody, but God will give 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:57.600 you grace to see them as a thirteen year old, 0:20:57.680 --> 0:21:01.440 not a forty three year old. And in this story, 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:06.439 when Saul, when Samuel shows up on the scene in 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:09.840 verse eleven, he says to him, what have you done, 0:21:10.080 --> 0:21:12.199 asked Samuel, Saw said, well, when I saw that the 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:13.840 men were scattering, and that you did not come at 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:18.600 the set time, the Philistines were assembling at mic Mess, say, Micmash, 0:21:19.480 --> 0:21:21.600 let me show you what's going on in this scene. 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:23.640 I want to show you, Chris, I need your help. 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:26.200 Come stand at the top. What's your name right there? 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:29.280 Come here? Yeah, you you come on at the top 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:31.840 of the steps. So let me show you what's happening 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:33.040 right here. Go to the top of the steps. Your 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:36.359 guys are gonna be my philistines. Say, hey, philistines, some 0:21:36.359 --> 0:21:39.960 good looking philistines right here. So what happens, Philistine is 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:42.320 at the top of a mountain and we're Saul and 0:21:42.320 --> 0:21:44.720 everybody's else sat there down at the bottom. And what 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:47.399 you have is a positional disadvantage that Saul is staring 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:51.240 up at the Philistines and he's going, oh snap, Because 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:53.720 now when it says in verse eleven, when I saw 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:57.919 the Philistines assembling at Micmash, he's reminded of what he 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:01.120 should have done something with days earlier. If he would 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:03.199 have handle Mick Mash the first time around, he wouldn't 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:06.360 be seeing a second time visit. And he is reminded 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:10.240 of what he should have done, and now he's staring 0:22:10.680 --> 0:22:14.600