Coming Out Of The Drought

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:06.600 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.960 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.000 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.000 --> 0:00:14.720 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.400 I won't tell you the whole story, but just a 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:20.080 little part of it. 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:23.840 In One Kings eighteen forty one, and Elijah said to Ahab, 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.920 go eat and drink, for there is the sound of 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:27.640 a heavy rain. 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:31.080 So Ahab went off to eat and drink. 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:34.920 But Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:39.680 to the ground and put his face between his knees. 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:42.240 Maybe I'll read you a little bit more. This is 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:44.800 a good story. I'll reach you a little bit more. 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:47.320 How are you today? 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:47.519 Are you? 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:47.919 Are you. 0:00:50.000 --> 0:00:52.159 Me too? Me too? I used to have a guy. 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.640 Every time you'd ask him how are you doing, he said, well. 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.080 He's doing any better? I'd be twins. It's weird. You 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:02.280 know what that means? This other guy used to always say. 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:07.160 He said, I'm better than I deserve. That's pretty good. Yeah, 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:12.000 it's got pretty good. And so we have here a 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:13.960 picture of a nation coming out of a drought. And 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:18.200 then it's but it's a process, and it doesn't happen 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:20.320 all at once, and it happens in stages. 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:22.560 Look at verse forty three. 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.880 Elijah tells the king that he hears the sound of 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:27.759 the abundance of rain, and they haven't had any rain 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.000 in three and a half years. And then he tells 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.480 this servant go and look toward the sea. And the 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.040 servant went up and looked, and he came back and said, 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.840 there is nothing there. Seven times Elijah said go back. 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:42.080 The seventh time, the servant reported, a cloud as small 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.720 as a man's hand is rising from the sea. So 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.480 Elijah said, go and tell Ahab, hitch up your chariot. 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:51.920 And go down before the rain stops you. 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:56.040 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:59.280 a heavy rain started falling, and Ahab rode off to Jezruel. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.840 The power of the Lord came on Elijah, and, tucking 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.280 his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:10.040 all the way to Jezreel. I love that. I just 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:16.400 I think it's cool that Elijah ran seventeen miles and 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:19.680 he was out running the King's chariot because he was 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:21.920 ready for rain. Look at your neighbors, say I'm ready 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:26.120 for rain, and then comes to question are you really? 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:32.960 You know, then comes to question are you really? For 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:35.440 as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:37.240 by creative process. 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.320 So I like to hear how books were written. 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:42.200 Usually after I watch a movie, I will go on 0:02:42.240 --> 0:02:45.520 Wikipedia and study, and then I'll go read about how 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:47.840 they did it, and I'll find YouTube interviews. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:48.160 With the director. 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:49.760 If I liked the movie, or even if I didn't 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:51.560 like the movie, I want to know how did it 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:55.240 get that bad? You know, like what went wrong in 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:58.000 the creative process? Because I know at some point somebody 0:02:58.000 --> 0:02:59.560 thought this movie was going to be better than it 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:03.000 ended up being, Like what went wrong? And so I'm 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:08.040 a student of the creative process. When I hear a 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.680 song that I like, I love music and I've always 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:16.160 loved music. And even before I started trying to write songs, 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.760 of course, I started trying to write songs right around 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:20.720 the age I was like twelve or thirteen, I was 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:24.880 starting trying to write. So I just thought of one 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:26.519 that I tried to write when I was twelve or thirteen, 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:29.760 but that is not for public consumption. Okay, that's just 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:34.079 from my memories, but I remember reading about songwriting process. 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.000 I just always thought I was fascinating, And even to 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:39.440 this day, I'll ask someone if I hear a song 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:41.080 that I like and I get to meet the person. 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:42.840 Who wrote it, I'll say, how did it start? 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.520 To me, that's always interesting because sometimes when they tell 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:50.800 you how the song started, it started in such a 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:54.520 different place than how it was when you heard it. 0:03:56.360 --> 0:04:00.320 I could let you hear songs from Elevation worsh from 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:00.800 the album. 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:02.640 If I let you hear how they started, they. 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:04.760 Would make you cry, and not because of the presence 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:09.080 of God or the anointing. They were that bad when 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:11.560 they started. I let my kids hear a few of 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.280 the songs from our newest album, and I let them 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.760 hear it in Beta. I let I let them hear 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:20.159 the song from when it started, and they have told me, Dad, 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.040 you should never let anyone hear this again. You need 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:26.280 to delete this off of your phone. Nobody should hear this, 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:32.440 because there is something about starting that feels shameful. Have 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:37.800 you ever been to the gym and you know you've 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:39.760 got a lot of work to do? Have you ever, 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:42.560 I did this for for for one for one thing. 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:44.000 I want to say this, Okay, I want to say 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:48.039 this about going to the gym. When you start, it 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:51.960 always sucks. Okay, this is this is the truth about exercise. 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:55.320 It always sucks when you start, when you go to 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:57.920 the gym. I remember one time walking into a certain gym. 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:00.640 This has been years ago. I walked into a certain gem, 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.960 turned around and walked out. I didn't didn't touch a machine. 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:06.760 All I did was look at the other people who 0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:09.560 had been there consistently and walked out. Just turn around, 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:11.040 walked out, didn't even touch anything, just turn around and 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:12.880 walked out. They don't even work looked at the person 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:14.560 behind the counter, didn't even want to think about the 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:19.040 process of soreness that would accompany the workout. Something about 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:23.040 starting touch and never say get started, get started. And 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:24.880 as we begin this series, I want to take you 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:26.920 on a little bit of a journey. And I've kind 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.520 of committed myself today if it's okay with you, I 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:31.000 want to get in a little bit of a more 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.760 of a teaching mode because there is something about the 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:35.440 nature of faith that God has. 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:36.280 Been dealing with me about. 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:39.640 And if I start preaching and hollering and all that 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:44.120 stuff that do sometimes and all that wild stuff, I. 0:05:44.040 --> 0:05:45.360 Won't get my content across. 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:47.839 And I really feel like the content of this is 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:49.839 what is most important about. 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:50.440 The nature of faith. 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:52.279 The last time I was with you, we were talking 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:54.960 about harvest. Did any of you hear my message on 0:05:55.000 --> 0:06:04.200 harvest problems? And then what do we say? We talked 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:09.240 about how what you've been calling a problem, God calls 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:14.520 a harvest. Now, there is something about the nature of 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.760 faith that is illustrated by the rain in First Kings, 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:22.760 chapter eighteen, and so we see it when Elijah says 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:23.880 to Ahab, there is. 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:27.120 The sound of the heavy rain. There's the sound of 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:27.839 the heavy. 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:31.400 Rain that often, when it comes to the realm of faith, 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:33.839 we hear things. 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.040 That we cannot see yet. 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:38.640 That is, when a word of God comes forth into 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.240 your life, you will not immediately see a change in 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:45.240 your situation. It will first produce a change within you. 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.320 I just feel like teaching a little bit today because 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:51.080 there are a few stages that you're going to have 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:52.760 to go through if you are going to come out 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.000 of the drought. Now, when I say the drought, I 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:58.560 mean the dry season that you have been experiencing inside 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:02.480 of yourself. When I say the drought, I don't necessarily 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:05.680 mean that you're on the verge of bankruptcy or losing 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:09.080 your marriage. Even because one thing I found out about 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:12.880 dry seasons is it often my situation can be doing 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:20.720 a whole lot better than my soul. I found out 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:22.880 that everybody else can look at my life and see 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:27.840 evidences of success. But if my soul is dry, if 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:32.200 my heart is empty, if my motivations are not aligned, 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:40.480 I can be winning outside and weeping inside. So I 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:42.160 want to speak to you today about coming out of 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:43.760 the drought, but I want to do it a little differently. 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:45.040 What I want to do is I want to talk 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:50.080 about the enemies that will keep you in a dry place. 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.080 I believe that there are at least three, and they're 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:57.520 all illustrated in the text I just read you. And 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.880 really I'm using this text as a picture of the 0:08:01.960 --> 0:08:06.800 creative process. There is a creative aspect of faith. When 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:08.320 I grew up in the Baptist Church, I heard about 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:12.000 saving faith, and it was almost like that was all 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:15.119 that faith was for, just to get saved go to heaven. 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:19.320 But I found out that while I'm here on earth. 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:23.360 I need my faith in the meantime. I won't need 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:25.480 my faith when I get to Heaven. Faith is the 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:27.680 substance of things, hope for the evidence of things not seen. 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:30.120 So when I see Jesus, I won't need to believe 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.079 in Jesus. He will be right there. I need faith 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:37.200 now now. Faith is the substance of things, hope for 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.080 y'all going to mess up and make me preach. I 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.440 told you, I just want to stay here with my notes, 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:48.520 y'all like rite set out. But I'm living in this 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:52.559 stage where I have not seen him, but I love him. 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.040 And there are some things that I know in my 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:58.640 soul that I don't see in my situation yet. And 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.520 that's what faith is for. I guess I consider myself 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:06.200 at the core. If you cut me, I'm a faith preacher. 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:10.560 Not a faith preacher where we all have to act 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:14.240 like everything's all right, but a faith preacher, a deep 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:18.640 faith preacher. And nothing's happening, but I believe something's happening 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:22.880 when nothing's happening, because beneath the surface, my faith is 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:29.040 rising in hard times, fallow crowd, I got faith. Well, 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:36.600 sometimes it's invisible because there will always be a stage 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:39.920 of invisibility. There are three stages I want to mention, 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:42.839 and you can see where you find yourself today. But 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:49.400 I believe our faith must survive the invisibility stage, the 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:54.360 stage where you may be, like Elijah, have heard something 0:09:55.800 --> 0:10:03.160 since something precede something, believe something that you do not 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.880 yet see. I spent like seventy thousand dollars on my 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:08.920 seminary education, so every once in a while I like 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.240 to say stuff I learned there. They talk about the 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:16.560 already not yet eschatological tension. That is a seventy thousand 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:20.760 dollars word, eschatological. It just means that as things unfold, 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.640 there are certain realities of your new nature and Christ 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:28.640 that you will experience already, but there is a part 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:33.600 of it that is not yet fulfilled. So watch this, 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:35.600 you know. I just said to Ahab, go eat and drink, 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:39.000 for there is the sound of a heavy rain, which 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:42.520 isn't good news if you just washed your car, or 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.199 if you have an outdoor wedding, or if you're a pastor. 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.559 I can tell how stupid my staff members are by 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:49.920 how they act when it snow's on Sunday, if they're 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:52.839 posting stuff on Instagram. The snow is so beautiful. No, 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:59.160 snow sucks on Sunday. If you're a pastor, okay, it's 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.360 pretty for people don't go to church. But if your preacher, 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:04.760 that is the worst thing you can see on Sundays. 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:08.120 And now, which means that the conditions of the weather 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:11.760 and how they affect you depend on your expectation. So 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:13.840 if you've been in a famine like the nation of 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.360 Israel had for three and a half years, and you 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:21.280 hear the sound of rain, it is not inconvenient. See, 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:25.960 this is where people sometimes they'll go, well, I'm preaching, 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.199 they are not desperate enough yet for the word of God. 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:35.360 So while I'm preaching, they're like, but if you get 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:38.920 in a situation where you really need God to speak 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:43.760 to you, if you get in a situation where you 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:47.400 know that you that you need every word that proceeds 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.480 from the mouth of God, that you cannot live on 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:55.439 bread alone, you won't be like you be like, please God, 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.760 let him hold me two hours. Speak Lord, for your 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.640 turban is listening. I hear the sound of the abundance 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.680 of rain. As a matter of fact, I got seed 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:10.520 in the crownd and unless it rains, they can't come forth. 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:13.040 So bring the storm, Bring the rain. The storm will 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:16.520 only serve to reveal the foundation. I build my house 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:18.880 on the rock, and the rain comes down, and the 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.840 stream shries, and the winds blew and beat against that house, 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:24.559 and it did not fall because it had its foundation 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:25.719 on the rock. 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:27.120 Somebody shot, I'm ready for rain. 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.720 So Ahab goes off to eat and drink, and the 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:35.600 famine is over and the drought is over. But Elijah 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:37.959 climbed to the top of Carmel. Now, I love you guys, 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.200 and I like to demonstrate the Bible. We're appropriate, but 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.560 it does not seem to me to be appropriate to 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:44.800 demonstrate what he did here physically, So you just have. 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:45.400 To imagine it. 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:47.560 He bent down to the ground and put his face 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:52.600 between his knees. Now, I don't do that yoga preaching stuff, okay, 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:54.680 the hot yoga, cold yoga, none of I don't do 0:12:54.720 --> 0:13:01.199 any of that yoga, all right, So so watch everything's 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:05.679 in motion, right this refugee. I don't know if you 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.320 know about Elijah. He was He was a rain maker, 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:12.720 but he was also a refugee, okay, And everybody in 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:14.280 here is a little bit of both as well. By 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.719 the way, Okay, he's been hiding for three and a 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:20.360 half years because he called for the drought because the 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.760 people had started depending on sources other than God. 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.240 And anytime you depend on a source that. 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.920 Is not God, he will cut you off because He 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.640 will not allow your life to be sourced by something 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.600 that cannot sustain your life. So he will cut you 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.040 off for a little while so you will come back 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:39.680 to what you needed all along, because he loves you 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:48.440 that much. And Elijah is like hiding the whole time 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.560 because if Jezebel, who is in charge of all of 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:55.520 the rain gods, they serve this god called bail who 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:59.440 wasn't really a god. He didn't have all power, you know, 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:02.880 like politicians who say things, but they don't really have 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.160 the power to change all the stuff that they make 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.920 promises about. I'm not saying politicians are bad. We have 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:10.520 politicians in our church, and I love the politicians in 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:14.040 the church. And there's there's there's great politicians, and there's 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.600 there's politicians, there's other politicians, and there's all of that. 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.880 But but but God, being the true and living God, 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.760 will not be corralled or confined by human need. He's 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.880 not corralled or confined by human expectation. He will not 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:32.320 be manipulated by the mechanics of humanity. And so now 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:35.640 the rain has stopped falling, and you will come into 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:39.200 a season of your life where God will cut you off. 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.680 He won't stop loving you, he won't stop providing for you. 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:49.320 It's just that God will allow situations to get your attention. 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:52.760 And you can pray and ask him to change the 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:57.440 situation all that you want, But until you allow him 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:01.360 to change you, nothing is going to change in the situation. 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.280 When the time came for Elijah to come forth and 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:10.000 present himself before Ahab and Jezebel, that king and that 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:15.400 queen whose wickedness was responsible for the nation's famine, he 0:15:15.480 --> 0:15:19.120 comes before them boldly. He calls for a summit. By 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:21.200 this time, he survived so much. Did you ever see 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:23.720 that show Survivor? I think might still be on the 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:25.400 on the air. I'm not sure, do hem I still 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:26.080 watch Survivor? 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:26.520 No? 0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:31.280 Is it still on? Everybody over seventy three is raising 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.680 their hand they still watch Survivor. We watched it for 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:36.560 a couple of seasons. Holly used to tell me all 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:37.800 the time, isn't this a mean thing to say to 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:38.280 your husband. 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:39.920 She was like, you would be the first. 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:44.640 One voted off of survivor. I couldn't argue with her. 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:45.400 She's right. 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:49.640 I have no survival skills none. All I can do 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:52.040 is talk, and sometimes I'm not even that good at that. 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.520 This is the only thing I do. That's why I 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.280 hold the mic so tight, because I don't know what 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.520 I would do if I couldn't talk, and I have 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:05.200 no survival skills. On Elijah the prophet, he had the 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:09.000 skills to survive the drought, and he did. 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:11.640 He survived in. 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:13.400 The drought, he survived the dry. 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.800 Season, and he did it really well. 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:18.320 He did it by obeying the voice of the Lord. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:19.640 So when the voice of the Lord told him to 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:21.440 go to the brook, and I'll have birds there that 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:25.359 will drop your breakfast off. I'll have birds dropping off biscuits. 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:30.560 I'll have birds dropping off bow Jangles biscuits. I'll have 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:35.800 birds dropping off bow Jangles spicy Cajun filet biscuits. I'm 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:38.960 gonna say it till you get hungry. God will provide 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.640 for you in some strange ways. If you haven't noticed, 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.440 God had ravens, which is a dirty bird. I mean, 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:50.440 the only people who like ravens live in Baltimore. God use. 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:54.480 God used the dirty bird to feed his man in 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.240 a time of famine. Stop telling God how he can 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:00.000 and can't bless you. Stop telling God how he can 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.160 can and can't feed you. Stop telling God what style 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.480 he can and cannot use. Stop waiting on a song 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:09.440 you like in church to worship God. What if God 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:12.480 wants to bless you in a different style, bless you 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:16.680 in a different way. He's very creative, and so he's 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:19.080 supplying for Elijah at the brook. The brook drives up. 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.280 God sends Elijah to a widow. Why would you send 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:23.320 me to a widow to provide me with food? Because 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:25.919 sometimes God will show you how great a supply is 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.520 by sending you to someone with a greater need than 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.400 you had to begin with. And sometimes you will realize, 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.040 in the course of meeting someone else's need how great 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:38.720 God's supply already is in your life. So he does 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:41.879 all that, and for three and a half years he 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:45.600 is a refugee until it comes time for the refugee 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:48.040 to become a rain maker. 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:49.439 I love it. 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:52.880 That was almost my title of the sermon, from refugee 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:59.240 to rain maker. I like creativity. I like creative process, 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.000 all right, titles for every sermon I preach. I just 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:02.480 love it. 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.040 I love it. I love it. 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:07.240 And he stands up and he gets all the prophets 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:13.120 of Bail, all these little rain dancers, makes fun of him, 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:19.280 calls them names, he tells them. He's like, hey, maybe 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.560 Bail's in the bathroom. Maybe that's why he can't hear you, 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:24.960 because they had a deal. You call for fire, I'll 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:28.119 call for fire. And the God who answers by fire, 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:33.040 he is God. And when Bail didn't answer, Elijah said, 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:39.520 maybe he's in the bathroom. I love the Bible, And 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:42.800 at the end of the whole thing, the Bible says 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.399 that after wetting the wood, now watch this. This is 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:50.240 the nature of faith. You wood before you call for fire. 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.160 You do when you're walking by faith, because that's how 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:59.199 God often proves his presence by putting you in an 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:08.080 impossible sit situation, an impossible situation preaching to somebody today, 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.080 I'm gonna look all around this room in Valentine and. 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:11.840 Find out who it is. 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.520 You are in an impossible situation, and you are in 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:20.400 the stage called invisibility, that's where you don't see any 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:23.800 way that it could happen. Okay, I was even talking 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:24.320 to one of my. 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:25.040 Friends this week. 0:19:25.240 --> 0:19:28.439 He's very successful, but he has another level God is 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:30.840 calling him to. It isn't just for the people who 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:32.960 need God to heal them of cancer, although this message 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.520 would apply to you in that situation. This is somebody 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.160 who's going from one stage to the next. And here's 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.800 what he said to me. He said, I feel like 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:43.800 God is doing something new in me, but I just 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:49.560 don't see the path to it yet. Invisibility, I sense 0:19:49.720 --> 0:19:54.119 God doing it. I hear the sound of rain, but 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:58.439 I don't see anything yet. And so Elijah, while the 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:03.280 king goes off to eat and drink, buries his head, 0:20:03.920 --> 0:20:08.639 closes his eyes and believes by faith that what he 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:10.720 has spoken will come to pass. 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:14.280 And this servant come here, jjy. 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.760 The servant runs up to the top of the mountain, 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.760 going up there to the Yeah, I just want to 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:25.159 show you what he did. I don't know if the 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:28.600 camera can catch this. For the other campuses. Here comes 0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:32.440 goes up to the top. 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:35.440 We're gonna have some fun with this too. 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:39.359 We're gonna have some fun with this because he didn't 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:40.040 just do it one time. 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:40.920 Come here, Jonathan. 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:47.200 And now on the way back down, he's going slower. 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:49.240 On the way back down, he's going slower because he's 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:52.440 got to deliver some bad news to the Man of God. 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:55.919 And in case you hadn't noticed, you don't want. 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:58.080 To give bad news to Elijah a lot. 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:00.280 I mean, he's the kind of guy you do not 0:21:00.440 --> 0:21:03.760 want to give Elijah bad news. Elijah slaughtered all eight 0:21:03.840 --> 0:21:07.720 hundred and fifty false prophets. Okay, So now you've got 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:12.280 to come to the guy who just killed just under 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:14.600 a thousand false prophets, and. 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:15.639 He doesn't even look up at you. 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:18.760 He's in this weird position, this prayer, this prayer thing. 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:22.479 And now you've got to tell this guy who just 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:25.280 told the king, gets your chariot ready and go down 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:29.199 before the rain stops you. You just told you just 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:31.200 told the king that it's going to rain. You sent 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:33.520 your servant to go see it, and the servant comes 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:44.520 back and says, look at the phrase, there is nothing there. 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:47.800 Can I ask you a question? Was the servant wrong? 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:58.000 I feel like I'm being set up right now. 0:21:59.080 --> 0:21:59.680 Got on. 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:08.160 You are, because remember we're talking about a rain cycle. 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:12.720 And before you see the cloud form, it is rising 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:18.720 from the sea, So something is happening when nothing is seen. 0:22:25.560 --> 0:22:27.600 Whenever you're preaching, you say something so good that you 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:29.480 know God is on it, and they just look at. 0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:32.560 Flat for the word. 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:37.000 And so the guys like, I don't know if you 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:38.320 want me to go catch up with ay have and 0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:39.840 tell them to take it easy on the food and 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:43.280 drink because, uh, I don't know what you heard. But 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:52.720 whenever you start in faith, remember we were talking about 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:57.040 the start of the process, it always feels like nothing. 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:08.120 Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing nothing. You know what this church 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:13.479 started with, right, nothing? 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:19.280 You know what the disciples packed when Jesus went out 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:21.159 to teach one day and five thousand men and the 0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:22.879 women and children needed to eat. You know what they 0:23:22.920 --> 0:23:25.000 packed in their cooler that day? 0:23:26.720 --> 0:23:31.199 Nothing? Nothing, nothing. 0:23:31.880 --> 0:23:37.280 I wonder are you in the it's nothing stage? It's nothing, 0:23:37.400 --> 0:23:42.119 there is nothing, there is nothing. Maybe the doctors have 0:23:42.160 --> 0:23:46.959 told you there is nothing we can do. Maybe you 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:49.119 were told since you were a little girl there is 0:23:49.280 --> 0:23:55.719 nothing special about you. The invisibility stage is kind of 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:58.919 tough because you know what you heard, and you know 0:23:58.960 --> 0:24:03.760 what you sense some times, but what you see is 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:08.359 a direct contradiction of what you sense. Please talk to me. 0:24:08.440 --> 0:24:09.960 If I'm talking to you, I need a little bit 0:24:10.000 --> 0:24:18.480 of response, unless you're trying to illustrate nothing. Oh man, 0:24:18.560 --> 0:24:22.800 I know what it feels like to be looking at 0:24:22.840 --> 0:24:26.280 nothing and hearing something. Do you do you know what 0:24:26.320 --> 0:24:29.280 it feels like to be believing God for something and 0:24:29.480 --> 0:24:34.119 seeing nothing. I mean no change in your kids. I 0:24:34.160 --> 0:24:37.000 mean the more you pray for them, the wilder they get. 0:24:37.480 --> 0:24:40.320 I mean nothing, I mean no bit, I mean no 0:24:40.400 --> 0:24:45.240 new revenue, I mean no way forward. And Elijah does something. 0:24:45.240 --> 0:24:49.160 This is spectacular. Elijah says, go back, look at your neighbor. 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:52.640 Say go back. Everybody point to Jonathan. Jo says, even 0:24:52.640 --> 0:24:55.920 at the other campus, to say, go back and look again. 0:24:57.080 --> 0:25:02.480 So go back. It goes back again, and he looks again. 0:25:06.359 --> 0:25:11.440 Now look Jonathan, look, look, look, look, look, come on back. 0:25:13.520 --> 0:25:21.960 I got bad news. It's still nothing. Still nothing. Everybody says, 0:25:22.000 --> 0:25:25.360 still nothing. I'm gonna drag this point out because this 0:25:25.400 --> 0:25:29.080 is how it feels. This is how faith feels. This 0:25:29.119 --> 0:25:31.280 is how it feels to write a sermon. This is 0:25:31.320 --> 0:25:33.560 how it feels to write a song. This is how 0:25:33.600 --> 0:25:36.480 it feels to raise a kid. This is how it feels. 0:25:36.520 --> 0:25:39.639 This is how it feels to wait on God by faith. 0:25:39.960 --> 0:25:42.480 This is how it feels to worship God in a 0:25:42.560 --> 0:25:45.439 dry season. This is how it feels for three and 0:25:45.480 --> 0:25:48.400 a half years when you hear the sound but can't 0:25:48.440 --> 0:25:54.440 see the sight. Somebody's shouting nothing, go again, go again. 0:25:55.240 --> 0:25:59.960 Everybody pointed Jonathan, say go again, go again, go again. 0:26:00.440 --> 0:26:05.040 Look again. Now, Notice Elijah is not moving. He sends 0:26:05.080 --> 0:26:09.280 a runner. Maybe he knows that if he uses his eyes, 0:26:09.400 --> 0:26:14.040 his faith will die. Maybe he knows that where I 0:26:14.080 --> 0:26:17.520 am right now, and how it seems right now, I 0:26:17.560 --> 0:26:21.040 can't look at my situation. I gotta listen right now. 0:26:21.240 --> 0:26:23.960 I gotta hear what God says. If I go by 0:26:24.000 --> 0:26:27.160 what I see, I'll die in this trout. So come 0:26:27.200 --> 0:26:33.600 on back, come on back, come on back. Still nothing, 0:26:35.040 --> 0:26:45.080 still nothing, Go again. Here's my message. You ready? Still nothing? 0:26:46.119 --> 0:26:52.240 Go again, still nothing, Go again. One lap around the 0:26:52.320 --> 0:26:57.560 Jericho walls, still nothing. March again. Two laps around the 0:26:57.640 --> 0:27:02.199 Jericho walls, still nothing. Go again. One dip in the 0:27:02.280 --> 0:27:06.760 Jordan River, name and still nothing. Go again. Two dips, 0:27:06.760 --> 0:27:11.560 still nothing, Go again. Five trips up the mountains. Still nothing. 0:27:12.240 --> 0:27:17.520 Go again, still nothing, Go again, still nothing, Go again, 0:27:18.000 --> 0:27:23.399 still nothing, Pray again, still nothing, Sing again, still nothing. 0:27:23.760 --> 0:27:40.240 Praise them again. I will reason. Faith is the substance 0:27:40.280 --> 0:27:43.840 of things, hope for the evidence of things not seen. 0:27:53.080 --> 0:27:56.640 Just because you can't see it doesn't mean he didn't 0:27:56.680 --> 0:27:57.159 speak it. 0:27:59.320 --> 0:28:00.160 I can't see. 0:28:00.160 --> 0:28:03.800 Y'all at the University City location right now, but that 0:28:03.840 --> 0:28:06.840 doesn't mean I don't believe that you are shouting. I 0:28:06.920 --> 0:28:10.359 mean up on your feast shouting. I can't see it 0:28:10.440 --> 0:28:13.199 right now at Gaston, but that doesn't mean you're not 0:28:13.240 --> 0:28:16.480 on your feast shouting. I can't see you online, but 0:28:16.560 --> 0:28:20.399 I release the word of God into your situation, into 0:28:20.440 --> 0:28:22.600 your sickness, into your shame. 0:28:23.160 --> 0:28:32.000 Nothing it's impossible with God. Hold on, Nothing is impossible 0:28:32.760 --> 0:28:33.320 with God. 0:28:34.720 --> 0:28:40.760 The only thing that is impossible with God is nothing. 0:28:41.880 --> 0:28:45.600 Somebody's shout is never nothing, not if God is in it, 0:28:45.600 --> 0:28:49.400 it's never nothing. If God is in it, nothing is impossible. 0:28:55.040 --> 0:28:57.000 I don't feel appreciated today. I just want to teach 0:28:57.000 --> 0:29:01.959 you a little bit. So so the seventh time, if 0:29:02.000 --> 0:29:04.680 you how many times did you go, We're gonna pretend 0:29:04.680 --> 0:29:05.120 like you're seven. 0:29:05.160 --> 0:29:07.400 Come here, Come here, come here. I don't have time. Slow, 0:29:08.320 --> 0:29:09.120 you're so. 0:29:08.880 --> 0:29:13.840 Slow, Jonathan Josephs, everybody give it up for John. 0:29:19.120 --> 0:29:26.080 I see something. Huh, I see something. You see something there? Well, well, so. 0:29:26.000 --> 0:29:28.280 You're saying it's not it's not nothing, it's not nothing. 0:29:28.400 --> 0:29:32.320 Okay, it's not nothing. It's not nothing, but it's small though. 0:29:32.840 --> 0:29:37.440 Oh it's not it's not nothing. It's something. But now 0:29:37.440 --> 0:29:39.080 it's not much, not much. 0:29:40.920 --> 0:29:41.120 Yeah. 0:29:42.520 --> 0:29:44.920 So when he came back the seventh time, he said, 0:29:45.960 --> 0:29:50.480 it's not nothing. I see it, but it's not much. 0:29:50.520 --> 0:29:53.360 It's not invisible, but it's insignificant. 0:29:54.960 --> 0:29:57.840 Now this is this is. 0:29:59.720 --> 0:30:02.240 This is is the second stage that your faith must survive. 0:30:02.640 --> 0:30:06.160 It's insignificance. Sit down, a runner, do whatever you want 0:30:06.200 --> 0:30:11.240 to do. I'm dumb and say, now it's not nothing. 0:30:12.280 --> 0:30:14.840 There is a boy here, but he only has five 0:30:14.920 --> 0:30:16.960 loaves and two fish. How far will they go amongst 0:30:17.000 --> 0:30:20.240 so many? It's just a little bit of oil. It's 0:30:20.240 --> 0:30:24.480 not nothing, but it's not much. So now we've gotten 0:30:24.520 --> 0:30:26.520 to the place where, okay, I stood up in front 0:30:26.520 --> 0:30:28.440 of the church when we had who is this message hitting? 0:30:28.440 --> 0:30:30.920 Because right now, so it's so strong in my soul. 0:30:36.480 --> 0:30:39.840 I stood up in front of the church and you 0:30:39.920 --> 0:30:41.280 had two first time guests. 0:30:43.120 --> 0:30:45.160 Do you know what a disaster it would be now 0:30:45.840 --> 0:30:50.040 to have two first time, guests. But you gotta celebrate 0:30:51.320 --> 0:30:55.720 what seems insignificant when I teach leaders. When I teach leaders, 0:30:55.760 --> 0:30:57.360 how many have you own a business or run a 0:30:57.400 --> 0:30:59.560 division in your company, or you have somebody that reports 0:30:59.600 --> 0:31:01.840 to you where you breathe? Okay, raise your hand, all right, 0:31:02.440 --> 0:31:08.000 you need to learn this. Celebrate something. Let me tell 0:31:08.000 --> 0:31:09.640 you what to celebrate? Celebrate? 0:31:10.840 --> 0:31:13.600 Can I preach real? We'll edit this out for online, 0:31:13.600 --> 0:31:14.280 but it's just us. 0:31:14.280 --> 0:31:16.880 It's just you know, twenty five thousand of us, right, Okay, 0:31:17.200 --> 0:31:27.840 so that's a secret. Celebrate the sucky start. Celebrate the 0:31:27.960 --> 0:31:35.440 soreness the next day, celebrate the small start. Do you 0:31:35.480 --> 0:31:37.200 remember that first girl that got saved in our church? 0:31:37.240 --> 0:31:38.040 Her name was Crystal. 0:31:40.040 --> 0:31:42.040 There was a period of three months where she was 0:31:42.080 --> 0:31:45.160 the only person that we could get saved. So every 0:31:45.200 --> 0:31:49.440 week we talked about Crystal. I don't even know where 0:31:49.520 --> 0:31:51.960 Crystal is today. She left the church a long time ago, 0:31:52.320 --> 0:31:54.200 but she was our first salvation. I wish she was 0:31:54.240 --> 0:31:55.920 still here. That'd be great. I care about her, God 0:31:55.920 --> 0:31:56.640 bless her and all that. 0:31:57.600 --> 0:31:59.640 But it was a start. 0:32:00.000 --> 0:32:02.200 I can't tell you how many times on my sermon 0:32:02.320 --> 0:32:04.760 I'll start writing something down. Can I just talk to you. 0:32:04.840 --> 0:32:06.680 Can I talk to you because I know you're working 0:32:06.720 --> 0:32:08.520 on something. I know you're believing God for something. I 0:32:08.560 --> 0:32:09.840 know that you're working on something that don't have to 0:32:09.880 --> 0:32:11.080 be a song, that don't have to be a sermon. 0:32:11.120 --> 0:32:13.120 But I always start and the first thing I'm thinking 0:32:13.120 --> 0:32:14.640 when i'm writing it down, this sucks. 0:32:16.480 --> 0:32:21.000 This sucks. It always does to start with. 0:32:22.320 --> 0:32:24.400 That's why my kids said, you should never let anybody 0:32:24.440 --> 0:32:25.640 hear how these songs started. 0:32:27.280 --> 0:32:31.600 You know what, though, I'm proud of my sucky starts. 0:32:33.600 --> 0:32:42.160 Yeah, I'm proud. I am so proud of those sucky starts. 0:32:42.200 --> 0:32:46.120 I am so proud of all those little voice memos 0:32:46.200 --> 0:32:50.000 and type notes and gibberish. I mean all these notes 0:32:50.040 --> 0:32:52.480 that I wrote that you will never hear. I mean 0:32:52.560 --> 0:32:56.200 all of these ideas, all of this stuff that I tried, 0:32:56.680 --> 0:33:00.320 I'm proud of. I'm proud of my scraps, out of 0:33:00.360 --> 0:33:03.760 my frustrations. I'm proud of my problems. I'm proud of 0:33:03.800 --> 0:33:07.479 my failures. I'm proud of my strikeouts. It's the proof 0:33:07.760 --> 0:33:11.280 that I survived and I stuck it out when it sucked. 0:33:11.600 --> 0:33:14.520 I went back when it wasn't much. I stayed with 0:33:14.640 --> 0:33:20.440 it when it was little. Proud of that. I'm proud 0:33:20.440 --> 0:33:23.800 of that scribbling. I'm proud of that chicken scratch. I'm 0:33:23.840 --> 0:33:26.560 proud of everything I did that didn't work. It's what 0:33:26.800 --> 0:33:31.120 made me strong enough to sustain the blessing when it came. 0:33:38.360 --> 0:33:42.719 Oh yeah, you gotta shout over the small stuff. So 0:33:42.800 --> 0:33:47.200 the servant's like, it's a class of a man's and 0:33:47.240 --> 0:33:51.880 the life just like, let's go bump bump, bump, dump 0:33:51.960 --> 0:33:55.560 dum dum, doom, doom doom. 0:33:57.920 --> 0:34:00.640 And the servants like me, you don't hear me. Cloud, man, 0:34:00.680 --> 0:34:02.920 it's not a I know. We gotta go. We gotta go. 0:34:03.000 --> 0:34:03.600 We gotta go. 0:34:03.960 --> 0:34:06.160 We gotta go, We gotta go, we gotta go, we 0:34:06.240 --> 0:34:08.319 gotta go. It's building. We gotta go. It's working. We 0:34:08.360 --> 0:34:11.520 gotta go, it's building. We gotta ride this momentum. It's 0:34:11.600 --> 0:34:13.680 just a little cloud. But if we get out in 0:34:13.719 --> 0:34:16.560 front of it, watch what God will do if we 0:34:16.600 --> 0:34:19.080 get in front of it, if we'll start moving on 0:34:19.239 --> 0:34:22.040 a little bit of blessing, little as much when God 0:34:22.160 --> 0:34:30.160 is in it. I texted my friend the other day, 0:34:30.440 --> 0:34:32.200 I said, I want you to make this confession over 0:34:32.239 --> 0:34:35.080 your life for thirty days. I want you to look 0:34:35.080 --> 0:34:37.760 at everything that seems stupid that you're doing right now 0:34:37.960 --> 0:34:39.840 that feels like because I know moms feel like this. 0:34:40.040 --> 0:34:40.640 I know you do. 0:34:40.960 --> 0:34:43.239 I know that I know that employees and jobs that 0:34:43.280 --> 0:34:45.400 you don't really like feel like this. I know couples 0:34:45.440 --> 0:34:47.520 trying to get out of debt feel like this. I 0:34:47.560 --> 0:34:49.560 know people that are believing God to bless them in 0:34:49.600 --> 0:34:51.680 a bigger way. And you know you're in a small space. 0:34:51.880 --> 0:34:52.520 I know you feel this. 0:34:52.560 --> 0:34:52.799 West. 0:34:52.840 --> 0:34:54.279 I want you to make this confession over your life. 0:34:54.360 --> 0:34:56.680 I said, I want you to say, this is significant. 0:34:59.640 --> 0:35:04.960 This is significant. This is significant. Running a vacuum cleaner, 0:35:05.200 --> 0:35:10.000 this is significant, changing a diaper, this is significant, coming home, 0:35:10.120 --> 0:35:12.520 just being a good husband, this is significant. 0:35:13.480 --> 0:35:14.600 This is significant. 0:35:16.120 --> 0:35:18.120 The devil won't like it when you say that, because 0:35:18.600 --> 0:35:20.759 the way he gets you to leave your assignment is 0:35:20.800 --> 0:35:23.080 to convince you that it doesn't matter what you're working on. 0:35:25.000 --> 0:35:34.239 It's so small, it's so small. This is significant. And 0:35:34.280 --> 0:35:37.040 don't wait to say that until it seems significant, because 0:35:37.080 --> 0:35:45.920 that takes no faith. This is significant. This this not 0:35:46.160 --> 0:35:51.880 just that. This is significant. Have you ever wanted a 0:35:51.920 --> 0:35:54.520 new car and you picked out the kind of car 0:35:54.600 --> 0:35:57.320 you wanted and the next thing you knew. You started 0:35:57.360 --> 0:35:59.120 seeing that car everywhere you went. 0:35:59.760 --> 0:36:00.440 What happened? 0:36:00.960 --> 0:36:02.960 They just flooded the market with that car all of 0:36:03.000 --> 0:36:06.640 a sudden. Google has an algorithm in your brain, and 0:36:06.680 --> 0:36:08.760 so they put the cars in front of you. Perhaps 0:36:08.800 --> 0:36:13.680 we're probably coming to that day. But it wasn't Amazon, baby, 0:36:13.719 --> 0:36:20.400 It was your attention. You started seeing it when you 0:36:20.440 --> 0:36:27.200 started searching for it. You want a life that matters. 0:36:27.680 --> 0:36:34.120 Make it matter, make it matter, make it matter. 0:36:35.040 --> 0:36:36.200 This is significant. 0:36:36.800 --> 0:36:41.279 It's a cloud the size of a man's hand, and 0:36:41.320 --> 0:36:44.560 a lighter said, let's go. That's what we've been waiting for. 0:36:45.760 --> 0:36:48.839 It sucks, but it's a start. It's small, but it's 0:36:48.880 --> 0:36:51.920 a start. I barely see it, but it's a start. 0:36:52.160 --> 0:36:54.000 We got a long way to go because we got 0:36:54.000 --> 0:36:55.680 in this famine three and a half years ago, and 0:36:55.719 --> 0:36:59.080 it's not going to be over overnight. But it's a start. 0:37:00.000 --> 0:37:04.440 It's a start, and my start is significant. Can I 0:37:04.440 --> 0:37:08.480 show you one more thing? Can I? If you need 0:37:08.520 --> 0:37:09.960 to leave, go ahead and leave, But I'm gonna take 0:37:10.000 --> 0:37:13.680 ten minutes with everybody who wants to hear, because if 0:37:13.719 --> 0:37:20.080 the enemy cannot get you to stay listen, he wants 0:37:20.160 --> 0:37:22.040 And I don't know if you believe in the devil, 0:37:22.080 --> 0:37:25.400 but your brain, let's let's approach it from a psychological perspective. 0:37:25.400 --> 0:37:27.000 If you don't believe in the devil, you don't have kids. 0:37:27.040 --> 0:37:28.520 But just in case you don't have kids and don't 0:37:28.520 --> 0:37:29.680 believe in the devil. 0:37:32.800 --> 0:37:35.400 Your brain is wired for survival. 0:37:35.680 --> 0:37:38.920 Okay, So when you're living in your head, all you're 0:37:38.920 --> 0:37:42.839 thinking about is survival. What had Elijah been doing for 0:37:42.880 --> 0:37:49.680 three and a half years before the drought was over? Survival, 0:37:50.400 --> 0:37:53.840 which in that three and a half year span was success. 0:37:54.960 --> 0:38:00.640 Because sometimes just making it is what matters. Just making 0:38:00.719 --> 0:38:06.160 it is what matters. I mean, just still being in 0:38:06.560 --> 0:38:13.480 faith is victory sometimes. But when the shift happens, I wonder, 0:38:13.600 --> 0:38:15.879 will you be ready for the rain you've been praying for? 0:38:15.960 --> 0:38:20.200 Because your brain, if you stay inside your brain, your 0:38:20.200 --> 0:38:23.200 reflex will always be to run. What has Elijah been 0:38:23.239 --> 0:38:26.160 doing for the last three and a half years, Come on, 0:38:26.200 --> 0:38:28.840 talk to me, church. What's he been doing? He's been running, 0:38:29.280 --> 0:38:34.120 surviving and running and surviving and running and surviving. So 0:38:34.160 --> 0:38:37.320 when the rain comes, he runs, and for a little 0:38:37.320 --> 0:38:40.279 while he's running ahead of the rain. He's running in 0:38:40.280 --> 0:38:43.160 front of the chariot because he's ready for his next assignment. 0:38:43.520 --> 0:38:47.040 He's ready to survey have now he believes revival has 0:38:47.080 --> 0:38:50.440 come to the nation. The bail prophets have been destroyed, 0:38:50.680 --> 0:38:53.440 the asker of profits are all laying at their own altars, 0:38:53.440 --> 0:38:56.520 dead in their own blood. And now revival can come. 0:38:56.800 --> 0:38:59.600 And so he runs seventeen miles on the fuel of 0:38:59.640 --> 0:39:02.640 his eight, on the fuel of the promise of God 0:39:02.719 --> 0:39:05.560 coming to pass in his life. He runs ahead of 0:39:05.600 --> 0:39:07.640 the chariot, he runs ahead of the rain. 0:39:07.680 --> 0:39:08.840 And then something happens. 0:39:10.160 --> 0:39:12.960 Because if the enemy can't kill you in the invisibility 0:39:13.000 --> 0:39:18.200 stage or the insignificant stage, the only thing left for 0:39:18.280 --> 0:39:20.439 him to do to keep you from receiving what God 0:39:20.520 --> 0:39:29.800 is pouring out in your life is intimidation. He can't 0:39:29.920 --> 0:39:34.920 keep God from making it rain, but maybe he can 0:39:35.000 --> 0:39:36.359 keep you from receiving it. 0:39:39.320 --> 0:39:40.360 If he can get your running. 0:39:42.239 --> 0:39:46.840 Because I'm a runner, I'm a refugee, and I'm a 0:39:46.960 --> 0:39:47.480 rain maker. 0:39:49.280 --> 0:39:53.480 But now I'm a refugee. WA's what happens? What's what happens? 0:39:53.520 --> 0:39:57.879 When when Elijah should be celebrating the storm, I'll come 0:39:57.920 --> 0:39:58.919 back to that another week. 0:40:00.239 --> 0:40:03.080 Your storm, celebrate your storm. 0:40:04.000 --> 0:40:06.359 We always preach about storms like it's something we want 0:40:06.400 --> 0:40:09.040 to get out of. What if the storm that God 0:40:09.120 --> 0:40:11.840 sent into your life was to prove his presence. Celebrate 0:40:11.880 --> 0:40:18.080 your storm, Celebrate your storm, Celebrate your storm, Celebrate the 0:40:18.160 --> 0:40:21.640 storms you survive, and celebrate the storms when they come, 0:40:22.000 --> 0:40:24.240 because you know God is with you in the storm. 0:40:24.560 --> 0:40:27.120 He isn't ever present help in the time of trouble. 0:40:33.200 --> 0:40:36.480 And when the storm came and Ahab went down and 0:40:36.520 --> 0:40:39.160 told Jezbel what Elijah had done. 0:40:38.960 --> 0:40:45.439 She knew that her day's were numbered, So she sends 0:40:45.480 --> 0:40:47.839 a messenger to Elijah. 0:40:47.880 --> 0:40:49.880 And what happens next is going to shock you because 0:40:49.880 --> 0:40:54.040 you just watched the faith of a rain maker, but 0:40:54.080 --> 0:40:55.880 now you're going to see the fear of a renegade, 0:40:56.200 --> 0:41:02.600 run away a refugee. And the messengers come to Elijah, 0:41:02.719 --> 0:41:07.480 come on, let's play this out, and they say, Jezebel says. 0:41:08.000 --> 0:41:11.400 She's going to kill you. What we are thick the 0:41:11.400 --> 0:41:12.320 scripture off the screen. 0:41:12.360 --> 0:41:14.799 What we are expecting next is for Elijah to tell 0:41:14.880 --> 0:41:20.919 Jezebel where she can go with that noise and what 0:41:21.040 --> 0:41:24.120 she can do with her threats. Come on, would it 0:41:24.200 --> 0:41:28.480 you wish Jezebel would try. 0:41:28.280 --> 0:41:28.719 To kill me? 0:41:31.680 --> 0:41:34.200 So what comes next is shocking against the backdrop of 0:41:34.239 --> 0:41:37.000 the boldness of a prophet who put his head between 0:41:37.040 --> 0:41:40.200 his knees and waited for rain, who survived three and 0:41:40.239 --> 0:41:42.800 a half years of drought, who was fed by the 0:41:42.840 --> 0:41:46.000 mouths of birds, and at the house of a widow. 0:41:47.360 --> 0:41:52.840 And now the rain has come, and now the drought 0:41:52.880 --> 0:41:59.040 is over. And now verse three, Elijah was. 0:42:00.480 --> 0:42:00.960 Afraid. 0:42:01.120 --> 0:42:06.120 Never thought I'd see those three words. Never thought he would. 0:42:06.160 --> 0:42:09.799 I mean, I would have understood if he ran well, 0:42:09.840 --> 0:42:15.040 the drought was still in progress. But it's raining. Now 0:42:18.360 --> 0:42:23.520 it's raining, and Elijah, the one who survived three and 0:42:23.520 --> 0:42:28.680 a half years of drought, is running. The Bible says 0:42:28.719 --> 0:42:36.320 he's running for his life. I don't buy it. I'm sorry, 0:42:37.040 --> 0:42:41.560 I don't buy it. I don't believe Elijah that you're 0:42:41.600 --> 0:42:46.040 afraid that Jezebel can kill you, because if she could 0:42:46.080 --> 0:42:50.040 have killed you, she wouldn't have sent messengers to warn you. 0:42:54.760 --> 0:42:58.240 If she could kill you, she would send her bailiffs 0:42:58.600 --> 0:43:02.239 to arrest you. But she knows she can't kill you, 0:43:03.680 --> 0:43:07.560 so she's trying to contain you. Don't you know the 0:43:07.560 --> 0:43:10.880 devil found out a long time ago that he can't 0:43:10.960 --> 0:43:14.560 curse what God is blessed. Don't you know if the 0:43:14.560 --> 0:43:17.719 devil could have killed you by now, he would have killed. 0:43:17.560 --> 0:43:18.239 You by now. 0:43:20.560 --> 0:43:22.799 If he could have kept it from raining, he would 0:43:22.840 --> 0:43:25.080 have kept it from raining. If he could have taken 0:43:25.160 --> 0:43:30.360 you out, you'd be out. But since he couldn't kill you, 0:43:31.680 --> 0:43:35.319 and he tries to contain you, so he intimidates you. 0:43:36.320 --> 0:43:38.719 And now Elijah is running. Please catch this. 0:43:39.560 --> 0:43:43.439 He is running from the same reiin that he prayed for. 0:43:48.239 --> 0:43:53.239 Some of us are better at surviving in famine than 0:43:53.280 --> 0:43:58.279 we are at living in blessing. What I mean is 0:43:59.440 --> 0:44:03.759 what I mean. When the rain started, the one who 0:44:03.840 --> 0:44:07.479 ran ahead of the rain started running away from the rain. 0:44:09.360 --> 0:44:12.799 So the message God gave me for somebody today you 0:44:12.920 --> 0:44:17.560 know who you are, is that you are running from 0:44:18.200 --> 0:44:25.840 the rain. You are running from the blessing of God. 0:44:27.040 --> 0:44:31.319 You are running from something that is already defeated. You 0:44:31.480 --> 0:44:34.920 are running from shame that the Cross of Jesus Christ 0:44:35.320 --> 0:44:39.200 has already taken away. You are running from a power 0:44:39.280 --> 0:44:43.040 of sin that has already been broken. You are running 0:44:43.080 --> 0:44:47.359 from situations that God has already worked out. You are 0:44:47.440 --> 0:44:50.080 running from an outcome that you don't have to fear. 0:44:50.560 --> 0:44:53.400 Guess what God's gonna deal with Jessebel. 0:44:53.920 --> 0:44:54.879 Head back in the. 0:44:54.920 --> 0:44:59.080 Right direction and run toward the rain. It's raining now, 0:44:59.360 --> 0:45:02.680 the it is over come out of the drop. It's 0:45:02.800 --> 0:45:15.040 raining now, it's rating. Why would you run from the rain? 0:45:16.960 --> 0:45:19.320 Why would you run from the blessing of God? 0:45:19.600 --> 0:45:20.200 See, when you. 0:45:20.239 --> 0:45:27.279 Run from the resistance, you run from the rain. When 0:45:27.320 --> 0:45:32.239 you run from the battle, you run from the blessings. 0:45:33.920 --> 0:45:38.320 When you run from the problem, you run from the promise. 0:45:38.719 --> 0:45:42.200 When you run from the problem, you run from the harvest. 0:45:43.719 --> 0:45:47.120 Where you're running from. 0:45:47.400 --> 0:45:52.560 You really believe that Jezebel can kill you, after all 0:45:52.719 --> 0:45:57.720 you've already survived. You really think Jezebel has the power 0:45:58.120 --> 0:46:01.480 in her mouth to stop what God is doing in 0:46:01.520 --> 0:46:05.280 your life. No, somebody's said, I'm coming out of the drought. 0:46:05.600 --> 0:46:08.680 I'm coming out of the drought. I've been dry too long, 0:46:08.960 --> 0:46:13.040 defeed it too long to press too long, discourage too long. 0:46:14.120 --> 0:46:15.600 It's a new season. 0:46:15.239 --> 0:46:18.759 In my life. 0:46:19.960 --> 0:46:22.880 I feel the presence of God so powerfully in this place. 0:46:25.120 --> 0:46:36.560 I'm ready for rain. I'm ready for rain. I'm ready 0:46:36.600 --> 0:46:42.400 for rain. I'm not running from it now, I'm ready 0:46:42.400 --> 0:46:48.200 for it. I'm ready for rain. I'm ready for rain 0:46:48.880 --> 0:46:49.880 and all that it brings. 0:46:51.160 --> 0:46:54.040 I'm ready. I'm ready for. 0:46:53.960 --> 0:47:00.480 The storm and an amazing how you can be blessed 0:47:00.520 --> 0:47:07.600 situation and have a dry soul and have rain falling 0:47:07.640 --> 0:47:13.200 all around you. And Elijah ran for his life, and 0:47:13.239 --> 0:47:18.680 he went into a cave in the wilderness, and he 0:47:18.760 --> 0:47:22.800 isolated himself, and a voice came in the form of 0:47:22.840 --> 0:47:24.880 a gentle breeze, which was a whisper, and called him 0:47:24.920 --> 0:47:30.120 out of the cave. See, I don't believe that God, don't. 0:47:30.160 --> 0:47:31.960 I don't believe that God is calling you out of 0:47:32.000 --> 0:47:34.200 the drought today. I believe he's calling the drought. 0:47:33.960 --> 0:47:34.400 Out of you. 0:47:44.760 --> 0:47:48.400 Listen, listen. If this is for you, you'll know it 0:47:48.440 --> 0:47:51.080 when I say it. You've been you've been telling yourself 0:47:51.120 --> 0:47:54.040 you're in a dry season. Really you've just been in 0:47:54.080 --> 0:47:58.440 a dry place. And if you would come out of yourself. 0:47:58.440 --> 0:48:00.560 Do you know what God told Elijah listen to He said, 0:48:01.280 --> 0:48:04.320 you think you're the only one, because Elijah had convinced himself. 0:48:04.520 --> 0:48:06.600 You know how we do when we get inside ourselves. 0:48:06.760 --> 0:48:11.560 Nobody appreciates you, nobody sees you. It's nothing. There's no one. 0:48:12.200 --> 0:48:17.720 God said, I have seven thousand that have not bowed 0:48:17.760 --> 0:48:20.400 their need to beat. You think you're the only one. 0:48:20.520 --> 0:48:22.080 You're not the only one. 0:48:22.239 --> 0:48:27.080 You're not alone. It's not nothing. You're not alone. There 0:48:27.200 --> 0:48:35.640 is a cloud. There is a cloud, but. 0:48:35.680 --> 0:48:37.120 You won't see it in the cave. Now. 0:48:37.120 --> 0:48:38.680 I want you to stand to your feet because the 0:48:38.680 --> 0:48:40.719 spirit of the Lord is passing by it. 0:48:46.719 --> 0:48:49.680 This is going to be such an amazing season of 0:48:49.719 --> 0:48:52.200 faith in our church during this series. 0:48:52.680 --> 0:48:55.040 I trust that you can feel it already working in 0:48:55.080 --> 0:48:58.080 our midst, I said, I trust that you can feel 0:48:58.080 --> 0:48:59.799 at work in already in our midst. Why don't you 0:48:59.800 --> 0:49:06.800 respond by faith to what God has doing in your life. 0:49:07.320 --> 0:49:09.279 I see a few people leaving. I ask if you 0:49:09.280 --> 0:49:11.760 can stay. Please respect the presence of God. I promise 0:49:11.800 --> 0:49:15.000 we'll all be dismissed together in a moment. But for 0:49:15.080 --> 0:49:17.120 those of you who are ready to stop running from 0:49:17.160 --> 0:49:20.719 the rain that God has blessed you with, for those 0:49:20.760 --> 0:49:22.520 of you who have been in a place of watch 0:49:22.560 --> 0:49:27.840 this invisibility. I can't see it right now, insignificance. It 0:49:27.880 --> 0:49:33.279 doesn't matter because it's not much or intimidation. Sometimes God 0:49:33.320 --> 0:49:35.040 can bless you with the very thing that you are 0:49:35.040 --> 0:49:37.359 believing Him for, and you. 0:49:37.280 --> 0:49:41.000 Don't know how to stand in a season of success. 0:49:43.080 --> 0:49:45.200 What I'd like for you to do right now is symbolic. 0:49:46.760 --> 0:49:48.440 I want you to lift your hands to heaven like 0:49:48.480 --> 0:49:53.200 you are receiving the refreshing presence of God, the reign 0:49:53.520 --> 0:50:01.759 of His presence. And when we say we receive your rain, 0:50:01.920 --> 0:50:03.799 let's not picture our situations right now. 0:50:03.840 --> 0:50:06.440 Okay, let's sing it over our souls. 0:50:08.440 --> 0:50:10.480 Maybe you're in a good season, but you're just in 0:50:10.520 --> 0:50:13.719 a dry place inside. The only way to come out 0:50:13.760 --> 0:50:15.920 of the drought is to get the drought out of you. 0:50:15.920 --> 0:50:17.160 You've got to come out. 0:50:16.960 --> 0:50:20.520 Of yourself, out of your self consciousness, out of your 0:50:20.520 --> 0:50:23.879 self absorption, out of your obsession with what others think, 0:50:24.239 --> 0:50:27.400 out of your failures, out of your past, out of 0:50:27.440 --> 0:50:31.200 your fears. Come on, Elijah, the spear of the Lord 0:50:31.280 --> 0:50:35.000 is passing by. You don't want to miss your miracle 0:50:35.080 --> 0:50:40.840 because you are in the cave. Come out. It is raining, now, 0:50:42.120 --> 0:50:50.759 come out. It's raining. Now, receive it. Stop resisting it 0:50:52.520 --> 0:50:56.440 and receive it. Stop running. 0:50:58.200 --> 0:50:59.560 And receive it. I hear the. 0:50:59.440 --> 0:51:04.760 Sound of the abundance of rain. It starts like a whisper, 0:51:04.760 --> 0:51:10.200 and it's welling up. We declare over your life. The 0:51:10.320 --> 0:51:15.760 dry season is over. There is a cloud. The dry 0:51:15.800 --> 0:51:20.239 season is over. There is a cloud. There is a 0:51:20.280 --> 0:51:22.719 well springing up. There is a river who streams. Make 0:51:22.760 --> 0:51:27.080 glad the city of God. There is a cloud beginning 0:51:27.120 --> 0:51:30.959 to swell. Come on, worship and worship, and worship. 0:51:30.680 --> 0:51:31.920 And worship him. 0:51:31.960 --> 0:51:34.239 Worship and worship and worship him. 0:51:34.280 --> 0:51:34.720 Worship. 0:51:34.800 --> 0:51:37.440 Thank you for the rain, God, Thank you for the 0:51:37.480 --> 0:51:41.040 refreshing of your presence. Thank you for setting my feet 0:51:41.120 --> 0:51:43.400 on the rock, giving me a firm place to stand. 0:51:43.480 --> 0:51:46.600 Thank you Lord. I'm coming out of the drought. 0:51:47.800 --> 0:51:53.759 I'm coming out, coming out of myself, coming out of 0:51:53.800 --> 0:51:58.160 my insecurity, coming out of my inadequacy. I can't do 0:51:58.360 --> 0:52:01.520 all things through Christ, who gives me me straight. There 0:52:01.600 --> 0:52:06.440 is a cloud. There is a cloud. Greater is he 0:52:06.640 --> 0:52:09.280 that is in me, that he that is in the world. 0:52:09.320 --> 0:52:16.880 There is a cloud. Come on, release your fear. Receive 0:52:16.920 --> 0:52:18.520 it by faith. There is a cloud. 0:52:19.080 --> 0:52:25.560 There is there is Please, there is there is. Would 0:52:25.600 --> 0:52:30.839 you receive it today? Would you be free today? 0:52:30.840 --> 0:52:37.799 Peace? Would you drink it today? Come out, come out, 0:52:39.320 --> 0:52:43.600 come out, Come out he peace. It's lady is Ray. 0:52:46.560 --> 0:52:48.799 Lift that right head, lift. 0:52:48.520 --> 0:52:49.440 That very heart. 0:52:59.680 --> 0:53:02.279 Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of 0:53:02.320 --> 0:53:05.319 you who give generously to this ministry is because of 0:53:05.320 --> 0:53:08.279 you that this ministry is possible. You can click the 0:53:08.280 --> 0:53:12.040 link in the description to give now or visit Elevationchurch 0:53:12.200 --> 0:53:15.440 dot org slash podcast for more information and if you 0:53:15.520 --> 0:53:18.759 enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it 0:53:18.800 --> 0:53:21.080 with your friends. You can click the share button, take 0:53:21.120 --> 0:53:23.480 a screenshot and share it on your social stories and 0:53:23.520 --> 0:53:25.080 tag us at Elevation Church. 0:53:25.160 --> 0:53:31.799 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.