From What If To What Is

0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:05.280 Hello Evams, especially our West Coast family. We have an 0:00:05.320 --> 0:00:10.760 announcement for you, Elevation Nights twenty twenty two West Coast. 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:15.040 Are you ready for this? October twenty fifth through November third, 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.480 We're coming your way so exciting. You can get your 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.240 tickets right now at Elevation Nights dot Com. It's gonna 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:25.640 be me Holly, Elevation Worship. It's going to be amazing, 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:28.560 unbelievable these nights. Don't want to miss So if you're 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:35.320 in Glendale, Arizona, Las Vegas, Sacramento, California, Eugene, Oregon, Seattle, Oakland, California, 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:41.080 San Diego and La or anywhere near those areas, we 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:44.360 want to see you. Elevation Nights dot com. Don't miss it. 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:48.600 Elevation Nights dot com. Get your tickets Elevation Nights dot Com. 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:54.680 See there, let's go to the message today. I want 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.320 to have a conversation with you about a conversation that 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:05.720 God had with Moses in Exodus chapter four. You know what, 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:08.000 I just got to jump in right here. I was 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:09.560 going to back up and catch a little bit of 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:12.520 chapter three, but I want to be a little bit 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:15.160 conscious of the time. I don't want to be obsessed 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:20.960 with it, but there is parking issues at Valentine. Sometimes 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:23.920 I got long winded during COVID and I never fixed it. 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:26.880 So y'all can pray that the Lord would help me 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:33.880 get back to these forty minute thirty minute messages. Okay, 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:40.080 y'all are sweet, But for the sake of time, let's 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:44.520 jump into Exodus four. Verse one, Moses answered, what if 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.240 they do not believe me or listen to me and 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:52.360 say the Lord did not appear to you. And then 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.360 the Lord said to him, what is that in your hand? 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.040 A staff? He replied. The Lord said, throw it on 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:02.640 the ground. And Moses threw it on the ground, and 0:02:02.720 --> 0:02:06.720 it became a snake, and he ran from it, because 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:10.800 that's what you do, no matter how much faith you have. 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:16.440 Some stuff you should run from. Boom pull sermon, go home. 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:23.080 See you be blessed. Some stuff you should run from. 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:26.040 But then, in most encounterintuitive way, the Lord said, in 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:31.080 verse four, reach out your hand, take it by the tail. 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:34.880 So reach for what you were just running from. So 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.320 Moses reached out, took hold of the snake, turned back 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.400 into a staff in his hand. This said the Lord 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:44.120 is so that they may believe that the Lord, the 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:48.080 God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:54.080 of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you. 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:56.560 Give me my two key verses on this big screen 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:58.680 real quick, and let's work on this for a moment. 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:04.400 Versus one and two big screen. Moses answered, what if 0:03:04.440 --> 0:03:08.160 they do not believe me or listen to me and 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:11.440 say the Lord did not appear to you? Verse two. 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:15.000 Then the Lord said to him, what is that in 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.600 your hand? A staff? He replied, We're gonna work on 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:20.240 this a little bit today. Give me my next slide. 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:26.400 I want to talk about from what if to what is. 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:32.799 We're gonna go on a little journey today, from what 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:40.880 if to what is? Spirit of God, have your way 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:46.600 in Jesus' name, Amen, you may be seated. From what 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:52.320 if to what is? The Lord said, We're gonna deal 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:56.960 with this spirit of what if that has been making 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:01.800 you an insomniac, that spirit of what if that has 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:04.320 been running the show in your imagination. The Lord said, 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:07.240 We're going to deal with it today. In the Word 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:11.280 of God. I confess to you that I am a 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:17.280 world class what if, a world class what ifer. In 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:21.160 the beginning of this ministry, it worked for me to say, Man, 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.760 what if we started a church in Charlotte. What if 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.960 by faith we launched a worship ministry. What if we 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:30.719 did a second campus, What if we did a third, 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:33.680 What if we did a fourth. What if we dropped 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.680 eggs out of a helicopter on Easter? What if? What 0:04:37.800 --> 0:04:41.400 if we baptize people and had bathing suits and toothbrushes 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:44.479 and tooth paste and sports bras so they had no 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:47.920 excuse and we called on them and said, get baptized 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:51.479 right now, Not after seventeen weeks of class, not after 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:56.040 you memorize Augustine and Spurgeon, and not after you can 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.120 quote the Book of Romans, but right now, get up 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:02.320 here and get baptised. What if what if you just 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:05.000 did it? What if you just got up today and 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.760 gave your life to Christ. What if you just raised 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.200 your hand in the middle of the prayer that they 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.159 pray at the end and said, I'm coming just as 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.760 I am. What if it's kind of a recklessness that 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.800 can serve you well in certain seasons before you know 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:23.640 all the reasons to answer what if with a whole 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:30.479 lot of why nots? And I now find that what 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:37.400 if is a weapon that the devil uses to keep 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.800 me from doing things that I know good and well 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:45.479 in my spirit. God has called me to do so. 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.560 For the five people who are like me in church today, 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:55.680 and this what if thing has been really grinding in 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:59.400 your mind, we are going to have a talk just 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:04.240 me and the crazy people. The rest of you will 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:06.960 have more Bible verses by which you can pray for 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.400 us when we're finished with this twenty two minute sermon. 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:14.000 But I went all the way back of the book 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:19.320 to the Book of Exodus and introduced this character named 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:24.400 Moses to talk about what to do with the what ifs, 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:26.400 just so I can see if I heard from the 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:28.760 Lord or if I was off track this week when 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:30.960 I was praying, how many of y'all been wrestling with 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.839 some what if scenarios that have been messing with you? 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:35.960 And how many of you feel like it's getting worse 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:41.560 the older you get. Because Moses said, watch this, He said, 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.719 what if they don't believe me? And he had good 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:51.799 reason to ask that, because chances are they won't because 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:55.760 God just appeared to him in a bush and said, 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.800 I want you to go tell the most powerful person 0:06:57.800 --> 0:06:59.599 on the face of the earth, the Pharaoh of Egypt 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:03.560 to let my people going to release his entire slave labor, 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.640 which will decimate his economy, and do it. Do it, 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:10.160 by the way, while you while you're at it, do 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:14.440 it at age eighty and most said, well, if it 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:19.239 don't work, and I get it, because it probably won't. 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.760 I mean, by human standards, right, this is not gonna work. 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:28.520 So what if? What if? What if? Now? Holly, Holly 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:30.800 is a great I'm gonna just say this, She's the 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:36.239 best person I know, No, for real, She's just she's 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:40.080 less petty than me, she has more energy than me, 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.960 she's more definitely more optimistic than me. When we were 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.000 going on our twenty year trip, we went to northern 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.720 California and she was like, can we just make a 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:52.600 rule before we go on this trip that whatever happens 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:54.160 will just make it a part of the journey and 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:58.679 you won't like freak out too much because our whole 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:01.360 trip was to go, you know, drive to pch and 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:03.880 get out there and see stuff. And she's like, and 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.680 we're probably gonna get lost, and I need you to 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:09.200 commit to me before we buy these plane tickets that 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:12.040 that's gonna be okay, and we just be lost together, 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:13.920 and that'll be part of the day, is that we 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:15.800 got lost, and be part of the story later that 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:20.320 we got lost. Yeah, but what if what if we 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:22.640 get where there's no cell signal? What if we can't 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:25.720 get unlost? What if we starve out there? Did you 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.560 see that movie Wild with Reese Witherspoon where she got 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:30.720 out there? What if my feet get banged up in 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:32.400 my shoes? And what if I can't walk? And what 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:33.839 if you got carried me out? And what if you're 0:08:33.880 --> 0:08:35.400 not able to do that? And what if you get 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:37.320 a hernia trying to carry me out? And then we 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:39.280 have to tell the whole church that you're the new pastor, 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.199 but you have to pastor with a hernia? What if? 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:43.840 And she's like, can we can? We just go and 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:47.360 we'll figure that out, because horrible, because I can't even 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:52.680 let my phone get below eighty percent. I have issues. 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:56.560 I always pray before I preach, you, God, help me 0:08:56.600 --> 0:09:00.280 tell them enough where I can be relatable, but not 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:05.240 so much that they've become distracted by how ridiculous I 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:07.760 am and can't receive the word that I'm going to preach. 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.440 And so you know, you read about Moses and you 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.040 hear about the great things that he did. And I 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.240 want to take this apart for just a moment today, 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.720 because you know, God has been speaking to Moses for 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:25.360 an entire chapter of scripture about all the awesome things 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:30.840 that he will do. Not Moses, but God. He said, 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:34.520 I have seen the misery of my people. I have 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:39.160 heard their cries, and I will compel Pharaoh to let 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:42.400 them go. If he doesn't let them go, I'll put 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.240 a plague on him. If he still doesn't let them go, 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.079 I'll put another plague on him. And if he still 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:53.400 doesn't let him go, I have more plagues than Pharaoh 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:58.840 has patience. I'll kill everything that matters to him until 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:04.480 what matters to me he is accomplished. I will do it. 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:07.720 So Moses is like, all right, well who are you? 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:10.880 Because we hadn't heard about you much since Jacob and 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:14.000 Joseph and since a pharaoh died. Who didn't you know 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.640 who you were? And the pharaoh that rose now doesn't 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:19.920 really understand who you are. And God said, I am 0:10:20.480 --> 0:10:25.280 that I am, that you are that I am. So 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.480 this is an amazing conversation. You know, you got Moses, 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:32.320 who's eighty hearing from a God who's eternal about something 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:34.440 that God has seen, that he has promised to do, 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.640 that he will do, not might do, not thinking about doing, 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:41.839 not flipping coins. He's gonna do it. Somebody shout, He's 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:45.840 gonna do it. Shouted, like you're convinced about it. He's 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:49.720 gonna do it. Now. I'm not talking about somebody that 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.520 you work with. I'm not talking about I'm talking about 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:57.440 somebody who started this whole thing called the human experience, 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.319 who speaks into what he starts to tell you what 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:06.160 he intends to do. And Moses is like, cool, but 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:11.160 what if? What if? And I want you to notice 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:18.720 something very key. He doesn't really doubt God, he says 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:24.600 Verse one. Moses answered, what if they do not believe 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:29.040 me or listen to me? And what if they say 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:31.640 the Lord did not appear to you? Oh this is 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:37.000 so good because most didn't say what if you can't 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:43.240 do it? What if you aren't great? What if you 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:48.200 run out of plagues? What if you run out of strength? No, 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:53.560 it's not it's not about Moses's doubt directed toward God. 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:58.160 He said, what if they Now, as I was studying 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.480 this text, it was very interesting to me that Moses 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:06.440 is afraid of the Israelites, and he has called to 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:10.960 deliver the Israelites. And he said, what if they? Who 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:16.200 are they the Hebrews? Who is he afraid of the Hebrews. 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:21.240 Who's he supposed to help the Hebrews? Who is he 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:27.400 delivering the Hebrews? Who does he doubt the Hebrews. Isn't 0:12:27.400 --> 0:12:30.760 it interesting how the thing that you're most afraid of 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.240 can be a clue to the thing that you're assigned 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:40.560 to think about it the deepest insecurity in your life 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.640 reveals something about the assignment that God has given you. 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.560 The thing that the enemy resists most about you is 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:54.920 often the greatest thing that God has put inside of you. 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:58.280 I feel like preaching, but I need to teach a 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:01.600 little bit so you can underst stand what I'm hollering about. 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:08.960 He said, what if they? What if they? This is 0:13:09.000 --> 0:13:13.160 the crazy part about life. Not wondering about what if 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:16.800 God can't or what if God won't, but what if 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:21.240 they don't. What if the thing that you're speaking to 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:24.800 me about doesn't want to hear what I have to say? 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:27.319 What if the thing that you're calling me to? Now, 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:30.840 this is something I've come to believe that when God 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.400 calls you to something, he sees everything about it at 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:37.880 the moment that he's speaking to you about it. So 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.560 there is nothing that God did not see about you 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:44.959 when he spoke to you. There is nothing that God 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:48.200 does not know about you when he placed you where 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:50.400 he put you to do what he called you to do. 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:55.800 So when we doubt our capacity to do what God 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.120 called us to do, it is not us we doubt, 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:03.439 but it is God who made us and placed us 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:06.080 that we doubt. But we don't want to say we 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:10.640 doubt God, so we say what if? They? What if 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.560 I can't do it? But it's not really me that 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:17.600 I'm doubting, because I didn't manufacture me. And if I really, 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.640 for one moment, believed that God made me how he 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.840 wanted me, gave me what he wanted, did inside of 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:27.400 me what he wanted to do inside of me, put 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.240 me where I needed to be, planted me by what 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:32.960 I needed to be planted by. If I believe that 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:36.520 for one moment, it would kill my What if before 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:45.560 it got out of my mouth? Any view of God's 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:51.440 sovereignty that does not make room for your struggle is 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:58.800 a false claim. Any view of God's will that is 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:04.120 not wide enough to accommodate your mistakes. It's too narrow. 0:15:05.240 --> 0:15:10.240 Any any belief about God that you have that is 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.720 not big enough to take into account all the flaws 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:19.520 inside of yourself is too small. Certain times, asking what 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:23.440 if can be productive, But then it gets past the 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:27.920 point where you're making plans. I mean, there's good thing. 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:30.400 I'm just breaking down real quick, like before I come out. 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.920 I have a whole check all right. What if my 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.240 zipper is down? Okay, let me check that. What you know, 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:38.480 I got my undershirt, so I put my hands up. 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:40.440 I don't want anything to be showing that's not supposed 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:42.720 to be showing. You came here to see the Lord's glory, 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:45.280 all right, not to see nothing else other than the Lord. 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.240 So I gotta get this down. Okay. What if? What 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.320 if my mic isn't on? Okay, Okay, I gotta turn 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:51.920 it on. What if? But then it comes to a 0:15:51.960 --> 0:16:02.520 point where I stop solving problems and I still shrinking God, 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:10.040 cause I get caught up in my what if. What 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:11.560 if I get up to preach this and they don't 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:13.760 like it. What if I get up to preach it 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:16.200 and it doesn't go good? What if I get up 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:17.760 there to preach it and I forget what I'm supposed 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:19.440 to say. It takes faith for me to preach. I 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:21.800 preach because I don't look at notes. I mean, I 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:23.320 guess I could. I don't think the Lord would strike 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:24.920 me with anything if I looked at notes. I don't 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:26.880 think it's bad to look at notes. But I want 0:16:26.880 --> 0:16:28.120 to be in the moment with you, and I want 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:29.360 to see what God has to say. And it takes 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:30.920 faith because what if I forget? What if I get 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:32.360 to a point I can't even maarif I'm preaching on 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:34.200 Moses or Abraham. What if I say something in this 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:35.760 sermon and they clip it and they put it online 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:37.120 and take it out of context to make me look 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:38.880 like I said something I never said before. Oh, that 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:43.280 would never happen. That doesn't happen. Now, I gotta get 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:44.880 up here and think about not only what I'm gonna say. 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:46.720 It's not only what if I don't hear from God 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:48.360 and say it to you? What is I hear from God? 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:50.240 I say it, somebody takes what I said, puts it 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:52.320 where I didn't say it, says something around it I 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:54.320 didn't say it. It's enough to make you want to 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.440 stay back there and suck your thumb and sing Waymaker 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:09.600 by yourself. Then, But I gotta get through the what 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:18.000 if so I can get to what is and what 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.680 is today. Let me remind you if somebody is here 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:24.359 who is going to hell if they don't give their 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:27.919 life to Jesus. Somebody is in here who is living 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.680 in hell and they have given their life to Jesus. 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:34.199 Somebody is in here today who doesn't really feel like 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.159 going on next week and their life might be on 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.399 the line. So the big question isn't what if I 0:17:40.440 --> 0:17:43.159 got up here and preached and said something wrong? Is 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.320 what if I didn't give you what God gave me 0:17:46.800 --> 0:18:00.760 and you didn't make it because I didn't show up? Well, 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.320 what if I do it and fail? That's what God 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:08.119 gave you grace for to begin with. That's not the 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.119 real fear. See, the real fear is it what if 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.359 I fail? It's what if I'm not enough to recover? 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:21.520 What if they the moment Moses said they, he's in trouble. 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.160 Because there are few things in life that you can't control. 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:29.960 The weather is one, and just put your hand on 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:31.840 the shoulder of the person next to you real quick 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:40.080 would you do that. That's another one. Uh huh uh 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:50.080 huh mm hmmm mm hmm. But you had faith to 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:54.679 drive here. You had faith to drive here with all 0:18:54.720 --> 0:18:58.920 of the bad drivers that you passed on the way here. No, 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:02.600 not you, the other drivers. That's what you tell your 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:05.400 kids when they're learning to drive. It's not you I'm 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:08.040 worried about. It's the other you know, good and well. 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:13.240 It is them that you know. I have no business driving. 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.320 But I want you to think with me, because what 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:21.119 if is a game that you can't just play a 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:23.640 little bit. Once you start playing the what if game, 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:26.399 and I mean, you get in, you get in that 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:32.240 you know, well, what if? Let me think of one 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:38.160 from your life this week? Okay what if? Okay, okay, 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.280 I got one. I got one. Uh. You text somebody. 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:45.720 They start texting back, and you see bubbles. The bubbles 0:19:45.760 --> 0:19:54.439 go away. What happened? Aren't they mad at me? You 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:56.760 go back and read the text. You start looking maybe 0:19:56.800 --> 0:19:58.720 I should have put hard after the text. I'm not 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:02.359 going about that. Then you start sending a follow up 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:05.960 text to make sure you start learning at lol. Haha. 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:12.159 They hate me? I think they hate me. If they 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:14.280 hate me, if they never text me back, but nobody 0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:17.040 ever texted me back. Well, if I die alone right 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:22.240 here in this, in this, it's been three minutes, it's 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:26.520 been five minutes. And the more you love something, the 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:28.840 more opportunity the enemy has to get in it and 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:33.640 make you afraid about it. This is why every parent 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:35.720 wave at me. This is why at some point we 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:41.200 got we got to give our kids to God. No, No, 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:43.320 I know you got seven steps to raise in a 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:46.440 world changer, and I want you to do all of it. Man, 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:49.000 I promise you'd like. I think all the time about 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:51.679 what experiences I want to give my kids, how I 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:53.960 want them to be a parent, I mean, how I 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:56.600 want them to be, how I want them to talk 0:20:56.640 --> 0:20:59.440 about me. Not when I'm dead, but when they're a 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:02.320 little bit older. I'm dead, I don't care I'm gone. 0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:05.399 But I think about even more than what I want 0:21:05.480 --> 0:21:07.840 them to say about me, what I want them to 0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.720 see in me, What I want them to see in 0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:14.280 me that they can emulate later in their life when 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:23.439 they have their own struggles. The other day, I was 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:27.159 parenting one of them and the thought came to my mind, 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:31.320 what if you're being too easy on them? You know 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:37.120 you need to prepare them. The world is hard if 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:39.840 you don't come down on them. A prison warden is 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:43.000 going to one day like, is it really this serious 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:46.760 a prison warden? Yeah, because my mind, I promise you. 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:49.720 It's that quick too. It's that quick. My kid is 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:51.879 not doing their homework. They're in prison all in the 0:21:51.880 --> 0:21:59.160 space of three seconds. It don't take long. And then 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:01.480 so I went and then corrected him. I left, and 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:03.680 the same voice that said to me, what if you're 0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:05.680 too easy, I'm said, what if you were just too 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:09.000 hard on him? What if you just scarred them for life? 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:12.800 I'm not going to be emotionally available to their own 0:22:12.840 --> 0:22:16.439 children one day. The other day, Elijah was going fishing, 0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:19.400 and I was like, God, I saw I never taught 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:21.120 him to fish. Now his friends are having to teach 0:22:21.200 --> 0:22:24.240 him to fish. What if because his dad didn't teach 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:26.560 him to fish. What if he finds comfort in the 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:30.359 wrong friends. You know, what if those same friends that 0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:33.320 introduced him to fishing introduced him to hard drugs, Like 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:40.840 what happened just now that my kid went fishing. What 0:22:40.920 --> 0:22:42.639 if the same way that the hook was in that 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:45.720 fish's mouth, what if there's a hook from the enemy 0:22:46.280 --> 0:22:51.400 and my child's knowing why he's fishing. He's happy. Pray 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:54.159 for me, Pray for me. It happens that fast. What 0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:57.160 if what if you said too much in your sermon today? 0:22:57.160 --> 0:22:59.040 What if you didn't say enough? What if you mess 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:01.240 it up? If you know what you go? What is? 0:23:01.640 --> 0:23:08.040 What is? What if? What if? What if? What if 0:23:08.720 --> 0:23:16.000 God is bigger than any of the things you just listened? 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:23.680 What if Moses, the man who God called to deliver 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:27.880 his people, is a murderer who's been a fugitive for 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:31.760 forty years? What if God picks that? God? You know 0:23:31.840 --> 0:23:33.600 how you can tell if you have what it takes 0:23:33.600 --> 0:23:35.560 to do what God called you to do. If He 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:37.800 called you to do it, you have what it thanks. 0:23:41.240 --> 0:23:43.480 I don't know. It's kind of if he's not. If 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:48.119 he nor if he God's not iffy. Let me tell 0:23:48.160 --> 0:23:53.960 you why God chose you. He had no other options. Yeah, 0:23:54.000 --> 0:23:56.400 God was scraping the bottom of the barrel. He said, 0:23:56.640 --> 0:23:59.200 who shall I send and whom shall go for us? 0:23:59.480 --> 0:24:06.000 I guess Eric will do? You are shrinking God to 0:24:06.119 --> 0:24:09.359 the size of the scenario that you can understand because 0:24:09.400 --> 0:24:12.160 because watch God, God, Watch God? What's God? God? God says? 0:24:12.400 --> 0:24:14.639 He says what if they will listen to me? And 0:24:14.640 --> 0:24:18.520 God says, what is that in your hand? Now, this 0:24:18.600 --> 0:24:20.679 is this is what got my attention. In the text, 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:28.360 Moses says, what if God doesn't answer him because they're 0:24:28.400 --> 0:24:33.680 not gonna listen to him, right, because they're rebellious, because 0:24:33.720 --> 0:24:36.480 they're stubborn. Now here's what God will not do when 0:24:36.520 --> 0:24:39.680 you start worrying. He will not calm you down by saying, Oh, 0:24:39.800 --> 0:24:42.200 nothing bad is ever gonna happen. That's not gonna happen. 0:24:42.440 --> 0:24:44.800 Just just trust in me. Nothing bad is ever gonna happen. 0:24:44.880 --> 0:24:46.600 You're gonna You're gonna go to the right place, You're 0:24:46.600 --> 0:24:48.840 gonna meet the right people. You're never gonna get it wrong. 0:24:48.920 --> 0:24:51.400 You're never gonna make any bad decisions. There's always gonna 0:24:51.400 --> 0:24:53.399 be angels clearing out of parking space so that you 0:24:53.440 --> 0:24:56.399 will never have to walk even when you go to 0:24:56.440 --> 0:25:03.560 the gym to exercise. God is good. Instead, give me 0:25:03.600 --> 0:25:06.359 my two big verses again, because this is the lesson. 0:25:06.680 --> 0:25:10.399 Moses says, what if they don't believe me or listen 0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:14.959 to me? And then the Lord said to him, what 0:25:15.320 --> 0:25:18.240 is that in your hand? So here's what the Lord 0:25:18.280 --> 0:25:20.560 will do to help you break this cycle. If you 0:25:20.560 --> 0:25:22.480 will let him. If you want to stay in what if, 0:25:22.720 --> 0:25:24.960 you will wander in the wilderness. If you want to 0:25:25.000 --> 0:25:29.320 say what if? Hypothetical scenarios will have hypothetical baby scenarios, 0:25:29.480 --> 0:25:32.800 and you'll have hypothetical baby, grand baby, grand baby, grand baby, 0:25:32.920 --> 0:25:43.080 grandchildren scenarios. God moves Moses from what if? To what is? 0:25:43.080 --> 0:25:46.320 Is that good? Isn't that good? God gave it to 0:25:46.359 --> 0:25:48.920 me just that simple. This week, he said, I want 0:25:48.920 --> 0:25:54.879 to move you from what if to what is? None 0:25:54.920 --> 0:26:04.640 of your stress is in the present moment what if? 0:26:04.680 --> 0:26:09.440 Now Moses is having a conversation with God, and he's 0:26:09.480 --> 0:26:13.679 thinking about people. He's already playing out why this is 0:26:13.760 --> 0:26:16.879 not going to work. Some of you are in church 0:26:17.520 --> 0:26:21.439 already thinking about what comes after this today, and it's fine. 0:26:21.720 --> 0:26:24.080 I'm not here to rebuke you for that. I'd be 0:26:24.200 --> 0:26:27.359 doing the same thing I already told you. I'd be 0:26:27.480 --> 0:26:29.359 wondering is that his color? Does that really match your 0:26:29.400 --> 0:26:32.080 skin tone? I'd be thinking a thousand things if I 0:26:32.160 --> 0:26:35.560 were you. But you are not going to receive what 0:26:35.640 --> 0:26:40.679 you could receive if you will not be fully where 0:26:40.680 --> 0:26:50.280 you are. Moses is in Midian. He is in Midian 0:26:50.400 --> 0:26:53.440 because he made a mistake. He made a mistake by 0:26:53.520 --> 0:26:56.720 killing an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew. It was an 0:26:56.800 --> 0:27:00.119 honest mistake. He had a passion in his heart, he 0:27:00.160 --> 0:27:02.359 had a calling in his life, but he had to 0:27:02.359 --> 0:27:05.480 flee when he was found out. He's been hiding for 0:27:05.480 --> 0:27:10.800 forty years and God shows up one day and tells 0:27:10.880 --> 0:27:14.919 him you're gonna do something great. Now it's time. I 0:27:14.960 --> 0:27:21.200 want to use you. Now it's you. And Moses said 0:27:21.200 --> 0:27:30.000 what if? They and God said, what is that? I 0:27:30.040 --> 0:27:36.080 love it. It's two mentalities contrasted your mentality what if? 0:27:37.000 --> 0:27:42.040 And God's mentality? What is? God to bring you back 0:27:42.080 --> 0:27:45.840 to what is when you find yourself lost in what if? 0:27:46.880 --> 0:27:52.640 A couple months ago, my nephews and nieces came over 0:27:53.040 --> 0:27:55.840 and they taught me a game. We were swimming in 0:27:55.840 --> 0:27:58.720 the pool and they took a watermelon and they put 0:27:58.800 --> 0:28:01.919 vasoline all over the water melon, and they said, the 0:28:01.960 --> 0:28:04.800 object of the game is to get the watermelon with 0:28:04.880 --> 0:28:07.480 vasoline on it from one end of the pool to 0:28:07.560 --> 0:28:09.320 the other, and we're going to do it in the 0:28:09.359 --> 0:28:12.119 deep end, and everybody in the pool can try to 0:28:12.160 --> 0:28:14.320 stop you on the other team, and then you can 0:28:14.359 --> 0:28:17.480 pass it to your teammate. You know, that's about what 0:28:17.560 --> 0:28:20.320 it feels like to try to get a word from 0:28:20.400 --> 0:28:24.560 God about your life and then navigate the deep waters 0:28:24.560 --> 0:28:27.800 of your real life experience. You ever felt like you're 0:28:27.800 --> 0:28:32.280 holding onto something but slippery by design? And look, the 0:28:32.320 --> 0:28:35.239 watermelon was already heavy when I'm trying to swim with it. 0:28:35.480 --> 0:28:37.960 I don't need it to be heavy and slippery. And 0:28:38.000 --> 0:28:41.360 I certainly don't need people clawing and scratching and climbing 0:28:41.400 --> 0:28:44.240 on my back trying to drown me. This is not 0:28:44.360 --> 0:28:50.840 a game anymore. This is a lawsuit. I think like 0:28:50.880 --> 0:28:52.720 that too. I know they're my relatives, but I don't 0:28:52.720 --> 0:28:55.080 mean they won't sue me. I need you all to 0:28:55.120 --> 0:28:57.280 sign a waiver before we play. I mean, there's more 0:28:57.280 --> 0:29:01.840 to worry about now, especially with cancel culture, y'all. Especially. 0:29:02.920 --> 0:29:04.960 You know how much I think about when's gonna be 0:29:04.960 --> 0:29:06.720 the day I'm gonna say something in this pulpit and 0:29:06.720 --> 0:29:08.760 everybody's going like, all right, we're out. You shouldn't have 0:29:08.800 --> 0:29:12.680 said that. And yet at the same time, it is 0:29:12.720 --> 0:29:16.720 not you or them that I really need to fear. 0:29:21.760 --> 0:29:24.200 The fact of the matter is, now, receive this for yourself, 0:29:24.400 --> 0:29:29.800 If God be for you who can be against you, 0:29:31.920 --> 0:29:37.880 if God be for you, if it really came from him, 0:29:38.000 --> 0:29:41.760 if this is really God speaking to Moses, that question 0:29:41.920 --> 0:29:46.320 is irrelevant. What does it matter what they say? When 0:29:46.360 --> 0:29:48.360 the Great I Am is the one speaking to you, 0:29:49.120 --> 0:29:51.760 What does it matter what they think about it? God said, 0:29:51.800 --> 0:29:54.360 that is not The important issue is what they say. 0:29:54.520 --> 0:29:57.560 I'm not even gonna answer about what they say, because 0:29:57.560 --> 0:30:00.080 it is not about what they say. It's not a 0:30:00.280 --> 0:30:02.880 the problem that you're up against. It's not about the 0:30:03.000 --> 0:30:05.680 age or the stage of life. It's not about any 0:30:05.760 --> 0:30:11.560 of that. It's about what is that in your hand? 0:30:13.000 --> 0:30:16.040 What is the thing that God has given you right now? 0:30:16.960 --> 0:30:19.920 And will you trust that when you get to the 0:30:19.960 --> 0:30:24.400 next challenge of your life, it will be enough, because 0:30:24.480 --> 0:30:31.560 He is enough, it will. God said, I know you 0:30:31.680 --> 0:30:34.840 got some doubts, so let me do a little product demonstration. 0:30:35.440 --> 0:30:38.240 You have been seeing this stick as a staff to 0:30:38.520 --> 0:30:41.520 shepherd sheep, and that's what it has been up until now. 0:30:41.840 --> 0:30:44.240 But throw it down on the ground and watch it 0:30:44.360 --> 0:30:47.400 change into something else. The moment you let go of 0:30:47.480 --> 0:30:51.240 it is going to transform. The moment you release it, 0:30:51.240 --> 0:30:54.600 it's going to become something you've never seen before. The 0:30:54.720 --> 0:30:57.760 moment you take it out of your hand, I'm gonna 0:30:57.800 --> 0:31:04.280 turn it into something. God is doing a product demonstration, 0:31:04.440 --> 0:31:07.520 you see, Because Moses doesn't even know who he is yet. 0:31:07.840 --> 0:31:10.240 Moses doesn't even know what he can do yet. You 0:31:10.360 --> 0:31:13.240 hadn't even seen what God put inside of you yet. 0:31:13.520 --> 0:31:16.560 You haven't even met your gifted self yet. You haven't 0:31:16.560 --> 0:31:19.520 even met your free self yet. You haven't even met 0:31:19.520 --> 0:31:22.680 the leader inside of you yet, because you've been wandering 0:31:22.720 --> 0:31:25.960 in the wilderness of what if? What if they leave me? 0:31:26.240 --> 0:31:28.560 So now you won't love anybody because what if they 0:31:28.640 --> 0:31:31.600 leave me? So I'll withdraw my love from them before 0:31:31.640 --> 0:31:34.240 they can take their love from me. So I'm living 0:31:34.280 --> 0:31:36.920 in what if. And I'm lonely in what if. And 0:31:37.000 --> 0:31:39.640 I'm dying of thirst and what if? And I'd rather 0:31:39.720 --> 0:31:46.200 be in changed in what if because he as comfortable. 0:31:46.360 --> 0:31:49.440 As long as you're worrying, you're still the one controlling it. 0:31:49.560 --> 0:31:51.520 You think you can plan enough, and do enough and 0:31:51.560 --> 0:31:54.080 fix enough. But the real things that hit your life 0:31:54.120 --> 0:32:01.600 you won't even see coming. The moment, the moment that 0:32:01.680 --> 0:32:09.760 Moses focuses on what is in his hand, God starts 0:32:09.800 --> 0:32:16.120 dealing with what's not in his hands. Here's the word, 0:32:17.080 --> 0:32:25.480 Give it to God and he will give it to you. 0:32:25.520 --> 0:32:30.640 Give it to God. That situation, Give it to God, 0:32:32.720 --> 0:32:37.040 that issue. Give it to God and he will give 0:32:37.080 --> 0:32:43.000 it to you. The strength you need, the direction you need. Yeah, 0:32:43.360 --> 0:32:45.800 that next step that you're asking him about, Give it 0:32:45.840 --> 0:32:49.719 to God and he will give it to you. I'll 0:32:49.560 --> 0:32:52.120 tell you where you won't find your strength in the 0:32:52.160 --> 0:32:58.840 wilderness of what if but that staff man if Moses 0:32:59.080 --> 0:33:05.000 only knew that staff was something else. I want to 0:33:05.000 --> 0:33:06.880 appreciate this to you, but I want to prophesy it 0:33:06.920 --> 0:33:09.080 to you. So let me just say it. Your staff 0:33:09.160 --> 0:33:16.800 is something else. Yeah, your staff is something else, common object. 0:33:17.240 --> 0:33:20.480 But put it down and God will show you something else. 0:33:20.880 --> 0:33:23.880 And pick it up and God will show you something else. 0:33:24.440 --> 0:33:26.440 I almost wish God would have done it like they 0:33:26.480 --> 0:33:29.520 do when we bought the Rainbow vacuum cleaner, when we 0:33:29.560 --> 0:33:31.680 bought the knives that time, when we were buying it, 0:33:31.720 --> 0:33:33.720 they bring it in and show you everything it could do. 0:33:33.920 --> 0:33:35.760 This man came in my house to sell me some 0:33:35.760 --> 0:33:39.200 cook where he did a whole demonstration. He was cooking stuff. 0:33:39.440 --> 0:33:42.440 And God only showed Moses one thing his staff could do. 0:33:45.080 --> 0:33:49.200 God didn't even tell him about Oh, Yeah, once you 0:33:49.200 --> 0:33:50.960 get the people out of Egypt, they're going to have 0:33:51.040 --> 0:33:56.080 to cross the Red Sea. But what is that in 0:33:56.120 --> 0:34:01.240 your hand? See, when you need it to be something else, 0:34:02.160 --> 0:34:10.719 it'll be something else because I am that. I am, 0:34:10.840 --> 0:34:14.640 So when I need that staff to part water, it'll 0:34:14.680 --> 0:34:20.439 part water because I am that. I am. Moses said, 0:34:20.480 --> 0:34:23.320 what if they? What if it? What if I can't? 0:34:23.520 --> 0:34:26.920 What if? What if? God said? What is now? What 0:34:26.960 --> 0:34:29.360 it is right now is not all it's going to be. 0:34:30.120 --> 0:34:35.480 Stop measuring your future problems by your present strength. When 0:34:35.560 --> 0:34:38.399 you get to that stage, you'll have strength for it. 0:34:38.719 --> 0:34:41.880 When you get to that challenge, you'll have strength for it. 0:34:41.920 --> 0:34:45.399 God didn't make the staff part waters. Moses didn't need 0:34:45.440 --> 0:34:48.319 it to part waters yet. If it hadn't happened yet, 0:34:48.320 --> 0:34:51.279 it didn't have to happen yet. You gotta get out 0:34:51.360 --> 0:34:56.040 of the future and get into his presence and say, God, 0:34:57.640 --> 0:35:04.440 what is it my hand? This is the same stick 0:35:04.520 --> 0:35:07.319 that's gonna make water come from a rock. This is 0:35:07.400 --> 0:35:11.120 the same stick that's gonna hydrate in nation. This is 0:35:11.200 --> 0:35:16.319 the same stick that's gonna be something else. When you 0:35:16.360 --> 0:35:23.960 get to the next stage from what if to what is? 0:35:25.840 --> 0:35:28.520 And if all of that fails you. And what is 0:35:28.520 --> 0:35:37.560 isn't enough? Remember who is? Y'all want to have church 0:35:37.600 --> 0:35:42.359 for a moment, follow me all the way to the wilderness. 0:35:42.880 --> 0:35:46.239 Moses has led the people out of Egyptian slavery. They're 0:35:46.280 --> 0:35:49.760 coming upon a journey that's only supposed to take approximately 0:35:50.080 --> 0:35:53.240 two weeks, but they're gonna get stuck for forty years. 0:35:53.440 --> 0:35:55.520 And I'm gonna show you why. And I'm gonna show 0:35:55.520 --> 0:35:57.600 you why you've been stuck in your own head. And 0:35:57.600 --> 0:35:59.400 I'm gonna show you why you've been stuck in your 0:35:59.480 --> 0:36:01.959 last missa. And I'm gonna show you why you can't 0:36:02.000 --> 0:36:04.719 give God the last two years so you can't walk 0:36:04.760 --> 0:36:07.040 into the next two years. I'm gonna show you why 0:36:07.080 --> 0:36:09.560 you've been worrying about things that you have no control. 0:36:09.640 --> 0:36:12.239 I'm gonna show you why the devil keeps making you 0:36:12.320 --> 0:36:14.800 put a down payment on problems you're not even gonna face. 0:36:18.719 --> 0:36:23.120 Watch this. In the Book of Numbers, Moses sent out 0:36:23.360 --> 0:36:26.600 twelve spies to see about the land that God had 0:36:26.640 --> 0:36:29.600 called them into. You know this story. Ten of them 0:36:29.640 --> 0:36:34.200 come back talking trash, not about God, not about Moses, 0:36:34.440 --> 0:36:36.560 but about the people they have to defeat to take 0:36:36.600 --> 0:36:39.600 the land. That God promised. So they start talking. I 0:36:39.640 --> 0:36:42.000 want you to notice something about this speech. Give me numbers. 0:36:42.040 --> 0:36:46.000 Chapter thirteen or is it fourteen? They came back to 0:36:46.080 --> 0:36:48.799 Moses and Aaron, and the whole is their like community. 0:36:49.320 --> 0:36:52.440 You ready for this this thing. You've heard this before, 0:36:52.480 --> 0:36:55.839 But there's something you never noticed. They reported to them, 0:36:55.840 --> 0:36:58.240 and the whole assembly showed them the fruit of the land. 0:36:59.080 --> 0:37:02.040 They gave Moses this acount. We went into the land 0:37:02.040 --> 0:37:03.799 which you sent us, and it does flow with milk 0:37:03.800 --> 0:37:07.000 and honey. Here is this fruit. But the people who 0:37:07.000 --> 0:37:09.800 lived there powerful cities, are four to five, very large, 0:37:10.280 --> 0:37:12.959 and not a word of a lie. Nothing they said 0:37:13.040 --> 0:37:16.480 wasn't true. We even saw the sentence of anak there. 0:37:16.960 --> 0:37:20.759 The Amalekites living the Thegether, the Hittites Jepuzides, Amorites live 0:37:20.760 --> 0:37:23.239 in the hill country. The Canaanites lived near the sea 0:37:24.000 --> 0:37:28.200 along the Jordan. And Caleb silenced the people before Moses 0:37:28.239 --> 0:37:31.800 and said, we should go up and take it, for 0:37:31.960 --> 0:37:35.120 we could certainly do it. But the men who had 0:37:35.120 --> 0:37:36.719 gone up with them, so we can attack those people 0:37:36.760 --> 0:37:39.040 there stronger than we are. They turned a two week 0:37:39.160 --> 0:37:45.720 journey into a forty year wilderness. You know, Why because 0:37:45.840 --> 0:37:49.160 nobody in all of those verses that I just read 0:37:49.200 --> 0:37:55.000 you said one thing about God. Not one time was 0:37:55.040 --> 0:37:58.440 his name mentioned, not one time with his power considered, 0:37:59.239 --> 0:38:02.680 not one time with his arm invoked, Not one mention 0:38:02.800 --> 0:38:05.239 of God. I'll read you the whole thing again. Put 0:38:05.239 --> 0:38:07.600 the scripture back up. Let's go back through it. Make 0:38:07.600 --> 0:38:10.080 sure I didn't miss it. They came back, showed them 0:38:10.080 --> 0:38:14.080 the fruit. Next verse, we went into the land which 0:38:14.160 --> 0:38:19.320 you sent us it we you it milk, honey, fruit. 0:38:19.840 --> 0:38:22.680 But the people who live there and the cities are 0:38:22.719 --> 0:38:26.880 fortified and very large. We saw descendants of anac keep going, 0:38:27.160 --> 0:38:34.239 keep going, Malachis, hit ties, Jesusides, amrids, cellulites, canaanitis. And 0:38:34.280 --> 0:38:37.000 then even Caleb, look, man, he had great faith. He 0:38:37.040 --> 0:38:39.319 got to inherit the land. Caleb's a bad dude. But 0:38:39.360 --> 0:38:41.239 even he didn't have the good sense to say we 0:38:41.280 --> 0:38:44.239 should go up and take possession, for God is with us. 0:38:46.640 --> 0:38:50.040 He just said we, and that wasn't enough to convince 0:38:50.080 --> 0:38:54.319 him to go. Where is God in your What if? 0:38:57.239 --> 0:39:01.239 Where does God factor at? Where is the great I 0:39:01.360 --> 0:39:05.680 am in your? What if? You know? I understand all that? 0:39:06.560 --> 0:39:08.799 What if my kids meet the wrong friends. What if 0:39:08.800 --> 0:39:12.799 God loves your kids more than you do. How about that? 0:39:14.400 --> 0:39:16.200 What if I get up to me say I can't 0:39:16.239 --> 0:39:19.080 say it? What if God shows you what to say? 0:39:19.600 --> 0:39:22.360 What if God gave you the weakness to show his strength. 0:39:23.600 --> 0:39:27.640 What if God knows stuff you don't know. What if 0:39:27.719 --> 0:39:31.680 God sees something you don't see. What if God has 0:39:31.800 --> 0:39:34.600 something that you need but you don't need it yet. 0:39:35.080 --> 0:39:37.480 What if the staff is going to park the waters 0:39:37.520 --> 0:39:40.320 when you get there. What if the thing you're worrying 0:39:40.400 --> 0:39:51.239 about is already taken care of. Where is God in 0:39:51.280 --> 0:39:56.760 your What if so God said, we got to interrupt 0:39:56.760 --> 0:40:00.040 this thing today before it stops you from go I 0:40:00.080 --> 0:40:03.480 went into what he promised you. We got to interrupt 0:40:03.480 --> 0:40:06.680 this cycle today all this. What if at least Moses 0:40:06.760 --> 0:40:09.120 was having a conversation with God when he said, what 0:40:09.160 --> 0:40:15.080 if most of us have that conversation with ourself. And 0:40:15.120 --> 0:40:19.680 so now you're in the wilderness, the wilderness of what 0:40:19.719 --> 0:40:27.600 if or or the wilderness of what was? And God says, 0:40:28.640 --> 0:40:37.080 what is that in your hand? In other words, I 0:40:37.160 --> 0:40:40.600 gave you what you need for now. Oh that's not 0:40:40.800 --> 0:40:43.800 me free just now when I said it, because I 0:40:43.880 --> 0:40:47.239 keep thinking about what I'm gonna need for later. I 0:40:47.320 --> 0:40:49.560 keep thinking, I think it's going to take us. I 0:40:49.560 --> 0:40:52.360 don't know, the official staff one hundred and ten billion 0:40:52.400 --> 0:40:55.160 dollars to retire by the year twenty thirty. With the 0:40:55.160 --> 0:40:57.080 way inflation is going to go up, I think that's 0:40:57.120 --> 0:41:02.320 going to be the target retirement. But you're not retired yet. 0:41:04.239 --> 0:41:07.280 You're not retired yet, so now you're working on something 0:41:07.640 --> 0:41:12.799 out here or you're resenting something back there. And the 0:41:12.840 --> 0:41:15.680 Lord said, I want to take you from what if 0:41:16.880 --> 0:41:24.279 to what is? So when I was at I'm not 0:41:24.320 --> 0:41:26.279 going to say in the name of the person, but 0:41:26.360 --> 0:41:30.560 I was at their house and they had just they 0:41:30.600 --> 0:41:34.040 had just lost as There was a son who had 0:41:34.080 --> 0:41:36.400 just lost his father, a wife who had just lost 0:41:36.640 --> 0:41:40.800 her husband, and I wanted to give them some counsel 0:41:41.520 --> 0:41:45.480 to say how to get through this. And all that 0:41:45.520 --> 0:41:49.120 I could think to tell them is the only responsibility 0:41:49.160 --> 0:41:54.520 that you have right now is to take the next breath. 0:41:56.600 --> 0:42:01.279 That's it. That's it. You don't have to make peace 0:42:01.320 --> 0:42:05.280 with what you lost, you don't have to feel okay 0:42:05.320 --> 0:42:12.440 about it. Just keep breathing. I left that day. I 0:42:12.480 --> 0:42:15.560 felt so inadequate. I said, God, they needed a word 0:42:15.600 --> 0:42:18.000 from you, and all I could tell them was keep breathing. 0:42:19.239 --> 0:42:22.239 How I failed them, God, How I wish I could 0:42:22.239 --> 0:42:24.080 have told them something. How I wish I had an 0:42:24.120 --> 0:42:26.440 experience I could have drawn from that would have been 0:42:26.440 --> 0:42:31.400 more helpful. And I saw him again two years later, 0:42:32.719 --> 0:42:35.080 and they said, remember when you told us just keep breathing. 0:42:36.680 --> 0:42:41.719 That got us through. I said it did. They said yeah, 0:42:41.760 --> 0:42:45.160 because it just kept bringing us back to We're still here. 0:42:47.480 --> 0:42:53.160 We're still here. When my dad was diagnosed with ALS, 0:42:53.640 --> 0:42:56.280 I thought he was going to kill himself. He got 0:42:56.400 --> 0:42:59.359 very angry with us. His medications were out of whack, 0:42:59.800 --> 0:43:03.760 was out of his mind. And I called a professional 0:43:03.840 --> 0:43:07.200 Christian counselor and I said, I think he's gonna kill himself, 0:43:07.239 --> 0:43:09.640 and I don't think I can stop him. I'm scared 0:43:09.680 --> 0:43:11.879 to death he's gonna kill himself and I'm not there, 0:43:11.920 --> 0:43:16.440 so I can't do anything about it. And he asked 0:43:16.480 --> 0:43:18.400 me a question that sounde callous. He said, what if 0:43:18.440 --> 0:43:23.680 he did? I said, I couldn't take it. To know 0:43:23.719 --> 0:43:27.080 that I couldn't stop him. I couldn't take it. And 0:43:27.120 --> 0:43:32.160 he started to tell me that even if the worst 0:43:32.160 --> 0:43:37.719 thing happened, God would be with me in that too, 0:43:39.960 --> 0:43:41.680 I'm gonna do everything I can to stop it. I'm 0:43:41.719 --> 0:43:44.839 gonna do everything I can to change it. But see, 0:43:45.120 --> 0:43:53.640 even if it happens, I am it is still with 0:43:53.719 --> 0:44:01.360 me that look at me, look at Him. That is 0:44:01.400 --> 0:44:07.839 an unshakable faith. The enemy cannot defeat you when your 0:44:07.920 --> 0:44:13.120 faith is built on the foundation of nothing less than Jesus' 0:44:13.120 --> 0:44:19.000 blood and righteousness, that even in I, like Paul, Paul said, 0:44:19.719 --> 0:44:22.360 what shall separate us from the love of God that 0:44:22.480 --> 0:44:27.720 is in Christ Jesus our Lord? Shall height, shall death, shall, 0:44:27.800 --> 0:44:32.919 angels shall demons, shall the present, shall the future? Shall 0:44:33.040 --> 0:44:37.239 any other power? No, none of these things shall be 0:44:37.400 --> 0:44:40.960 able to separate us from the love of God that 0:44:41.120 --> 0:44:45.319 is in Christ Jesus. So I came to tell the 0:44:45.440 --> 0:44:51.800 enemy God can and he will. But even if he didn't, 0:44:52.160 --> 0:44:57.520 he still God. Even if they gets seven times hotter. 0:44:58.040 --> 0:45:07.760 He's in this furnest too. Give God the what if. 0:45:08.480 --> 0:45:12.080 He knows the future. You don't. Give God the what if. 0:45:12.280 --> 0:45:14.920 He'll show you where to partner and where to shut up. 0:45:15.200 --> 0:45:18.200 Give God the what if, and he'll show you what's 0:45:18.320 --> 0:45:24.279 in your hand and what's not in your control. So God, 0:45:24.320 --> 0:45:27.839 Everyone's standing God, whoever it is today, who needed to 0:45:27.880 --> 0:45:32.000 release something. I pray they won't wait another second to 0:45:32.120 --> 0:45:38.359 do it. Remind them that you've got this, Remind them 0:45:38.360 --> 0:45:41.360 that they got they got what they need on the inside, 0:45:41.640 --> 0:45:43.200 that you're going to bring them what they need on 0:45:43.239 --> 0:45:46.440 the outside. That they will never meet as see that 0:45:46.480 --> 0:45:49.799 your power won't be able to park. They will never 0:45:49.880 --> 0:45:53.760 meet a giant that your spirit can't bring down. And Father, 0:45:53.840 --> 0:45:57.600 I thank you today for the promise that we have 0:45:58.680 --> 0:46:09.320 in you to be with us even if. Now, Lord, 0:46:11.360 --> 0:46:15.840 by the power of your spirit, today and in the 0:46:15.920 --> 0:46:26.239 name of Jesus Christ, your Son, we declare that there 0:46:26.280 --> 0:46:32.919 will be freedom in the hearts of your people from 0:46:33.080 --> 0:46:40.200 everything that has been terrorizing and tormenting them and destroying 0:46:40.239 --> 0:46:45.000 their joy, and destroying their peace and making them wonder 0:46:45.040 --> 0:46:48.080 if they're going to make it. We declare that nothing 0:46:48.120 --> 0:46:50.200 will be able to separate them from the love of 0:46:50.239 --> 0:46:53.520 God that is in Christ. I want to pray a 0:46:53.560 --> 0:46:56.760 special prayer for those of you who have been wandering 0:46:56.800 --> 0:46:59.239 around into what if. And I want you to lift 0:46:59.239 --> 0:47:01.919 both of your hands. If that's you, Father, you see 0:47:01.960 --> 0:47:05.040 your kids, You see their stretched hands, you see their 0:47:05.080 --> 0:47:09.000 open hands, you see their uplifted arms. I thank you 0:47:09.040 --> 0:47:11.680 for a fresh feeling of your grace. As you lift 0:47:11.680 --> 0:47:14.160 your hands right now, just be giving it to God. 0:47:14.640 --> 0:47:16.960 Be giving it to God. Give it to him right now. 0:47:17.120 --> 0:47:18.960 Give it to him right now. If you made a 0:47:18.960 --> 0:47:22.040 bad decision, given that, ask him to redeem it. If 0:47:22.080 --> 0:47:24.240 you did a dumb thing, give it to him right now. 0:47:24.840 --> 0:47:26.920 If you fell back, you were walking forward and you 0:47:27.040 --> 0:47:31.000 fell back, give him your setback right now. Give it 0:47:31.000 --> 0:47:36.200 to him right now, and he will give it to you. 0:47:37.880 --> 0:47:43.319 I receive your strength, Lord, I receive your wisdom. I 0:47:43.480 --> 0:47:48.960 receive your power. I receive it by faith, not working 0:47:48.960 --> 0:47:52.000 for it, not striving for it. I receive it. Somebody say, 0:47:52.040 --> 0:47:56.120 I receive it right now in the name of Jesus. 0:47:56.719 --> 0:48:01.279 It's mine. It belongs to me. God gave it to me. 0:48:02.000 --> 0:48:06.000 It's a supernatural peace. Peace over your life right now. 0:48:06.120 --> 0:48:08.960 Peace over your mind right now, Peace over your business 0:48:09.040 --> 0:48:12.600 right now, Peace over your decisions right now. I speak peace, 0:48:12.920 --> 0:48:17.040 the peace of Almighty God, the presence of God the Great. 0:48:17.080 --> 0:48:23.000 I am Jehovah, Jirah, your provider, Jehovah sid Canoe, your righteousness, 0:48:23.200 --> 0:48:31.520 Jehovah Nissi, your banner, Jehovah Shalom the Lord give you peace, peace, peace, peace, peace, 0:48:31.600 --> 0:48:36.279 not panic peace, just breathe in the peace of God. Well, 0:48:36.280 --> 0:48:38.720 if you enjoyed today's podcast, there are a couple things 0:48:38.800 --> 0:48:42.080 I'd love for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, 0:48:42.400 --> 0:48:45.359 and review this podcast. You can also help us reach 0:48:45.400 --> 0:48:49.239 others by investing today at Elevationchurch dot org, slash give 0:48:49.680 --> 0:48:52.480 and thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast.