God Can Use This Too

0:00:01.600 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:07.800 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.720 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.920 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:13.520 in your life. 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.480 Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:21.400 All right, stay standing for just a moment. Those of 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.320 you that sat down, get a little exercise, stand back up. 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:27.880 If we do that enough, it can count a squats. 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:32.160 It's good to see you, Ti. 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:32.760 You been. 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:39.560 Welcome to our EPAM online. 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:43.440 Those that we can't see, but you're my favorite ones 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:45.760 to preach too, because I just picture like you're writing 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.560 notes on everything I say. I just picture you sitting 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.279 there really enjoying it. So in my imagination, you are 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:54.840 not distracted running around with kids spilling juice on the carpet. 0:00:55.840 --> 0:00:58.000 You are settled in ready to hear a word from God. 0:00:58.080 --> 0:00:59.760 Let's give it up for our EPAM around the world. 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:03.720 Just drop us a little comment, would you in the chat, 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:08.240 just your way of saying I'm here, or maybe put 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:10.560 a little prayer hand emoji into chat something like that. 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:11.840 That'll be amazing. 0:01:12.480 --> 0:01:16.240 God is good, Amen, I said, God is good. Amen, 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:20.600 God is good. God has been good to us. Well, 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:22.880 thank you, worship teams. Stay behind me for just a 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:27.000 moment while I read the scripture. And the reason we 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:29.680 stand for the word of God is so that nobody 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:36.839 falls asleep and to show our respect for what God speaks. 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:38.880 I'm thankful for the place where God speaks to me. 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:44.399 I value it, I honor it. There are things that 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:47.880 can only be said in the presence of God. You 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.720 can't say them to other people, and you can't hear 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:54.080 them from other people. And so God gives us moments 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:56.520 like this, whether we're physically together in a building or 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.840 whether we're connecting through technology, and He tells us things, 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:03.920 speaks things to us that our spirits understand, even if 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:05.680 our minds don't understand them yet. 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:08.080 The passage that. 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:09.640 I want to share with you from today is in 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:14.880 Acts chapter twenty eight, verses one through ten, And after 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.040 I shared this story with you, I'll give you my 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:22.280 thought and break it down today. 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.800 But it's really not just my thought. 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.240 It is something that the Lord wants to speak to you, 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:30.880 and it's going to help you with your perspective. So 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.600 in Acts chapter twenty eight, verse one through ten, the 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:38.720 Bible says, once safely on shore, we found out that 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:45.000 the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:48.920 They built a fire and welcomed us all. Because it 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:52.919 was raining and cold, Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.520 and as he put it on the fire, a viper, 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.280 driven out by the heat, fasten itself. 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:02.040 On his hand. 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:06.840 Out When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:10.280 they said to each other, this man must be a murderer, 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:15.000 for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:19.560 has not allowed him to live. But Paul shook the 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.800 snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.280 I thought y'all might be happy to hear that verse, to. 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:30.600 Know that it bit him, but it didn't kill. 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:34.600 Him, to know that it tried but it didn't work, 0:03:35.840 --> 0:03:37.720 because I thought that might help you think about some 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:40.720 of the stuff that the devil did to you, the 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:45.280 weapons that he formed that didn't work. But you don't 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:47.600 have to shout about it. I'm just thankful that everything that. 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:52.520 Bit me didn't kill me. Now let's take it further. 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:53.080 Verse six. 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:57.040 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:00.840 But after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:04.600 happened to him, they changed their mind and said he 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:08.240 was a god. So they're kind of flipping real quick. 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.520 Not that people ever flipped their opinion or anything like that. 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:14.640 But the Bible says something else that I want to 0:04:14.680 --> 0:04:17.000 read you before I give you the sermon title. It 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:20.560 says there was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:23.960 the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:28.320 his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:33.840 His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery, 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:36.360 and Paul went in to see him, and after prayer, 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.960 placed his hands on him and healed him. When this 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.880 had happened, the rest of the sick on the island 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:46.560 came and were cured. They honored us in many ways, 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.760 and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:53.640 with the supplies we needed. That's right there where I 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:56.640 want to stop. Everything you need is on this island. 0:04:57.839 --> 0:04:59.680 God's not going to send you from this season of 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.960 your life life without what you need. But I need 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.000 you to understand this fundamental truth and look at your 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:06.119 neighbor and give them my title. 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:15.599 Say God can use this too. That's it. That's the whole, 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:16.440 that's the whole thing. 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:20.680 You ain't on the next part, I said, look at 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:25.040 him again and say God can use this too. And Father, 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:27.080 I thank you that nothing comes to our lives that 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.160 doesn't pass through your hand. Right now, would you speak 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:33.360 a word in season to your people in Jesus' name, Amen, 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:35.240 he can use this too. 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:42.320 Be seated Amen now, LJ. 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.040 I'm gonna set this Bible story up with a little 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:49.839 personal example. I don't have any real hobbies, so in 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.599 my free time, I like to listen to podcasts about 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:57.679 people who do have hobbies. I like to listen also 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:01.440 to podcast about people's creatative process. And I really love 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.719 to hear, especially about songwriting. And I know that's boring 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:08.120 to some people, but I love to hear what happened 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:10.240 the story behind the song that was written. 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.240 And so I kind of collect these little. 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:16.320 Stories because it's almost like they're magical to me to 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.920 just see behind the scenes. One songwriter that I like 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:22.640 to listen to him tell the stories. His name is 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.200 Clay Mills, and he said that he went in to 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:29.359 write with Darius Rucker for the first time, and he 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:31.120 went in to write with Darius and he said he 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.720 really wasn't feeling it. Darius was fine, but Clay said 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.400 he wasn't really feeling it. He said he just got 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:40.760 broke up with the day before. And so about halfway 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:43.320 through the session of getting to know each other, he 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:44.839 looked at Darius and said, I just got to be 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:46.400 honest with you, man, I'm not in a really good 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:48.280 spot today. I just had my heart broken and I'm 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:50.680 second guests and everything and all I could have done 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.080 and all that. And Darius was like, oh, I get it, man, 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:57.400 we all have had a heartbroken. He said, I go 0:06:57.440 --> 0:06:59.440 back and think about a girl that broke up with 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:01.040 me in fifth grade and wonder what would have happened 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.880 if we'd stayed together. And Clay said really fifth grade 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:06.960 and Darius said, yeah, man, don't think I don't. And 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:08.640 Clay said when he said don't think I don't, he 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:11.200 kind of took his notebook and wrote that line down, 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.800 don't think I don't. And he went home that night 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:16.200 and he started to write a song called don't think 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:18.560 I don't think about it, and he took it back 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:21.239 to Darius the next day and they wrote the song 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:28.320 and it was Darius's first number one country hit. That's cool, huh. 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:31.760 And so he heard somebody say something and he did 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:33.560 something with it. Now you've heard a lot of people 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:38.240 say stuff. Did you make a hit with it? Here's 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.360 another example. I love one pop star. She was writing 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.880 with a Swedish producer named Max Martin and it was 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:44.320 her first time writing with him, and she was so 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.440 excited and they were working on a song and somebody 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:48.840 walked in the studio that claimed they knew this pop 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:52.600 star and so they claimed to be a friend. 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:54.240 Of this pop star's ex boyfriend. 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:56.680 And so they came to the studio and they started 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:58.800 talking and it was kind of an interruption, and the 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.840 dude who had busted into studio, he says, yeah, I 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:03.440 heard y'all are going to get back together. And so 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:05.000 they kind of got the guy to leave the studio 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.880 because he was unwelcome. And after he left, the pop 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:11.480 star turned to Max Martin and said, hey, trust me, 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:12.520 we are. 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:19.760 Never getting back together ever, ever, ever. 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:22.960 And Max Martin turned to Taylor Swift and said, we 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:26.880 got to write that song. So how many of you 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.240 in here have an X somewhere back in your past? 0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:33.080 How many of you made a hip hoop banger out 0:08:33.080 --> 0:08:36.000 of it, made millions of dollars out of it, and 0:08:36.000 --> 0:08:37.400 became a global pop superstar. 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:39.719 See here's my point. And you're like, wow, this is 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:41.439 really you've had too much time off. You've been You've 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:42.400 been by yourself too much. 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:47.760 Creativity is not defined by how many ideas you have. 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:52.800 Creativity is defined by how you implement the ideas you have. 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:57.840 So that a great songwriter, a creative songwriter. Here's somebody 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:00.960 say a phrase that may maybe they said hundreds of 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.560 times before, and go, that's a song, let's write it. 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:08.240 Or that a great songwriter goes through a heartbreak, and 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:10.760 you know, maybe some people go through a heartbreak and 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:13.719 become an alcoholic or a drug addict, but they make 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:16.720 a hit out of something that happens. They make a 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:20.200 hit out of something that they hear. That's creativity. 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:24.080 Now, I would suggest to you that as Christians, what 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:27.920 distinguishes our Christian faith from those who do not have 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:31.600 faith is not necessarily the things that happen to us. 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:35.560 It's not necessarily the things that we even hear in church, 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:38.960 but it is our ability to take those things that 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:42.040 happen to us and do something with them that will 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:46.959 be fruitful and productive. And the more painful the event is, well, 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:51.240 the greater the opportunity for God to show his creative power. 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:57.480 See, God is not creative, He is creator. Creative people 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:01.760 can take something and make it into something. God is creator. 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:06.560 He can take nothing and make it into something. Come on, 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:08.160 get my rhythm so I don't have to work too 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:08.720 hard today. 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:12.240 Tell your neighbor. God can use it. 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.080 I love how he spoke into the darkness, but the 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.920 word that he spoke into darkness carried the potential energy 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:25.040 for light, so it became kinetic because God called it 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:29.080 light when it was darkness. God calls those things that 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:32.040 be not as though they are, so if he calls 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.800 you forgiven, it doesn't matter how many times shame calls 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:35.240 your name. 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:39.000 God can speak into nothing and create something. 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:42.720 The Hebrew word for this is burah when it talks 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:45.600 about God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:48.640 there was nothing there, but it didn't stop God because 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:53.520 he is creator, not just creative. If you ask a 0:10:53.600 --> 0:10:56.840 creative genius where do you get your ideas from, they'll 0:10:56.840 --> 0:11:00.160 honestly tell you, well, I get them from every day. 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:04.560 I get them from something. I hear someone say, I 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:06.720 get them from something that I live through. 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:10.360 God didn't have to live through anything because he always was. 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:14.920 God didn't have to respond to anything, because when he spoke, 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:18.480 the light was the response to his word. I'm trying 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:22.040 to set this framework for this sermon around the idea 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:26.400 that the creator God lives inside of you. And so 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:29.040 if the God who can make something out of nothing 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.920 lives inside of you, it stands the reason that the 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:35.360 God with this kind of power Burrah is the Hebrew word, 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:39.360 can also take something in your life that does not 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:44.000 resemble what you prayed for, hope for, or preferred and 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:47.480 turn it into exactly what you need at the moment 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:48.520 you need it the most. 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:52.200 Because he's God like that, because he's good at that. 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.079 Because God doesn't have to hear anything to do something, 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:00.000 God doesn't have to have anything to do something. In fact, 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:04.240 God can take something so silly as a dumb decision 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.400 that you make and turn it into great wisdom for 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:11.920 your future. God can use this too. I read in 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:15.240 the Bible about a king called Solomon. He was the 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:19.319 wisest king that ever lived. But what surprised me about 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:24.880 Solomon's Wisdom Church was that his birth was actually the 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:29.360 result of a bad decision that his father, David made, 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:31.160 And if I teach you this, maybe it'll help you 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:33.640 feel not so bad about your dumb decisions. 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.480 Not that you made any in the last three years. 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:38.679 But you know, back when you were young and you 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.640 used to do dumb stuff, back before you were so 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:44.640 smart as you are now and you always get it right. 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.040 Just to let you know that God. 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:51.680 Prefers that you use wisdom as you're living your life. 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:56.160 But if you don't use wisdom, God is so big 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:00.480 and so good and so amazing that and you don't 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:02.760 use wisdom, God will use stupid. 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:09.719 That's a place to praise him. Right there, you missed it. 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:13.720 I know you can't clap because you might be sitting 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.920 next to him. I talked to one woman. 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:20.880 She said I never should have married him. Well, they 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:24.400 were married thirty two years, they had three kids. 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:28.400 She said, I was so stupid, stupid, stupid. She started 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:28.960 hitting her head. 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:30.760 I'm not going to do it up here for you, 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:34.640 just a little bit stupid, stupid, stupid. 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:37.319 She smacked herself hard. I said stop. I grabbed her hand. 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:41.839 I said, are you glad you have those kids. She said, yeah, 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:43.000 what dream I guess or anything. 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.000 I said, you had them with him? 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:48.400 She said, yeah, all three of them. 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:50.880 I was just checking, you know, I didn't pull out 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:54.079 a Mariy Povich paternity test or anything like that. 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:59.280 What that's a flashback? But she said, yeah, we've all 0:13:59.280 --> 0:13:59.959 had them all to God. 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:04.200 I said, huh, in't that crazy that God gave you 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:07.640 what you just called your greatest gifts through your stupidest decision? 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:12.080 Stupid, stupid, stupid. 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.240 So before you take your hand and hit yourself like 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.520 I'm doing up here, I'm not doing it any harder 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.000 than that, stop for a minute and think about the 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:25.560 things that God gave you in spite of stupid. I'll 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:27.960 take it a step further, and all the Pharisees can 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.040 just walk right out the church on this one. Not 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:36.480 just in spite of stupid, but through stupid. God can 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:40.640 do more through stupid then humans can do through wisdom 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:42.160 without him. 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.160 This is how great God is. Why are you telling 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:45.760 me to go out and do dumb stuff? 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.240 You telling me to drive drunk, You're you're telling me 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.480 to make bad decisions, marry the wrong people. I'm not 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:52.640 saying any of that, but the fact of the matter 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.040 is we start this sermon in Acts chapter twenty eight, 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:00.640 where Paul does a great miracle, but it's started with 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:06.680 something stupid that could have been avoided but wasn't. And 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:08.520 I believe that what keeps a lot of people from 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.720 believing that God can use their life or use their 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:16.160 situation is that you know necessarily some of the things 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.240 that put you in the problem state to begin with. 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:22.200 And it's hard for me to believe for God to 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.560 get me out of what I got myself into. But 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.480 I want to remind you from David's life that when 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:36.360 you don't use wisdom, God will use stupid. Touch your 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:38.240 neighbor again and say He's going to use you. Pastor 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:46.840 Stephen just said it. David slept with Bathsheba. Stupid killed 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.040 her husband who was fighting for him. 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.520 Stupid tried to cover it all up. 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.120 Stupid went in and repented before the Lord when the 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.800 prophet Nathan confronted him. When he finished repenting, he went 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.480 into his wife, Bathshid and made love to her again. 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:04.120 She conceived and gave birth to a son. 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:07.480 His name was Solomon. He was the wisest king that 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:08.200 ever lived. 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:12.600 How could God make something so splendid out of something 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:17.320 so stupid. That's called grace. You want a definition of grace, 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.240 all right, I got one for you. When you don't 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:25.360 use wisdom, so God uses stupid when you choose the 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.560 wrong thing. But God uses it anyway. Now, we would 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:30.720 like to eliminate the number of times in your life 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:33.280 that God has to use stupid. We don't want to 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:36.440 give God raw materials to work with unnecessarily. Shall we 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:40.760 continue and send that grace may abound? God forbid? But yet, 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:46.400 I know that this storm we read about in Acts 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.000 chapter twenty eight, now there's nothing about the storm in 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:50.920 Acts chapter twenty eight. So I know you might be 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:54.040 confused because Acts chapter twenty eight, verse one put that 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:54.760 on the screen again. 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:56.080 Please well, I love this part. 0:16:56.480 --> 0:17:00.200 It says, once safely on shore, we found out out 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.000 that the island was called in Malta. If you didn't 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.240 have context for the Bible, you might think Paul was 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.520 going on vacation so much needed R and R after 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.360 being stoned in Listra, you know, like trying to get 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:14.480 away from the crazy church at Corinth and turn off 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.320 his phone for a few days. But in Acts chapter 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.640 twenty seven, in fact, he has just spent the last 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:25.280 two weeks being blown by a hurricane force wind, which 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:29.400 is bad enough. But before the wind ever started blowing, 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:31.400 Paul tried to warn the other. 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:33.920 People on board. He said, this is not the time 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:34.639 for us to sail. 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.840 Trust me, you know sailing, But I know the Savior, 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:42.159 and I heard from God and I can sense that 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.960 this is bad. And they did it anyway, and Paul 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:47.680 was on board with somebody else's bad decision. 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:51.000 Now, I think this one of the toughest places to be. 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:55.560 It's one thing when you do stupid and to believe 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.280 God can use it, But what about when they do 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:03.119 stupid and they won't stop doing stupid and they wouldn't 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:06.080 even come to church with you today, and now you're 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:09.199 living in somebody else's stupid. Now, this is not a 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:16.720 parenting class, but one of the things that we have 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.760 to learn in our lives when we find ourselves in 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:23.480 situations that we didn't ask for, or when somebody else's 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.600 bad decision backfires and we catch some of it in 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:33.440 our own circumstance, is that when we don't use wisdom, 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:37.720 God can still use stupid. 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:40.800 I'll prove this to you in a couple of different ways. 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:41.399 From the text. 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.639 Number one, the storm that they went through was a 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.320 stupid storm. They could have easily Not every storm can 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.439 be avoided. They could have easily avoided this storm. They 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:53.080 didn't because of the advice that they failed to heat. 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:55.280 So that's number one. 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:56.879 The number two I don't know if you noticed this 0:18:58.119 --> 0:18:59.879 after they crashed. 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:02.399 And I really do apologize that I can't do this 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:04.600 story justice. I wish I could give you the prequel, 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:07.639 but since we just picked up in chapter twenty eight, 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.560 verse one, where they landed on an island called Malta, 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:12.080 isn't that crazy They didn't even know what it was 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.159 called till they got there. In life, kind of like that, 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.679 you don't really know what to call it until you 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:22.360 get there. You know what it looks like on other 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:25.840 people's Instagram, but you don't really know what to call 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.119 it until you get there. And what I love about 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:32.760 God is that on one hand, they crashed, but on 0:19:32.800 --> 0:19:36.359 another hand, they were called to help the people on 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.919 that island. Because we read about how Paul ended up 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.960 healing every sick person on the island, how many believed 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:45.520 that God was calling Paul. 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:46.919 To that island to help those sick people. 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:49.760 Come on clap your hands if you believe God was 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:55.800 calling Paul to that island. How many of you believe 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:59.240 that Paul crashed because the sailors didn't take his advice? 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:04.399 Clap your hands you believe he crashed. How many of 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.640 you are confused? And you're just clapping to be polite 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.280 to me because it's past their appreciation. 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:16.159 Money say, I'm confused. Is it a crash or a calling? 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:25.679 I'm confused. Did he crash or was he called? 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:29.600 And is it possible that sometimes God uses a crash 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:31.760 as a cover for a calling. 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:37.440 And is it possible that what you have called a. 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:42.000 Crash in your life, a crash in your relationship, a 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:44.439 crash in your finances, a crash. 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:45.800 I'm so glad you're still here. 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.120 I was watching a sermon from twenty sixteen the other 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:49.840 day and I saw you when you used to sit 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:52.240 down there, and I was wondering if you were still around, 0:20:52.359 --> 0:20:53.600 And I'm so glad you made it. 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:54.600 It is good to see you, brother. 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:59.520 Seriously, I was watching you, and the reason I noticed 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:02.840 in the video you were crying. You were crying and 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.880 you aren't gonna believe this. I was preaching on X twenty. 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:09.480 Eight I'm not making this up. Y'all are like this 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:11.280 sounds kind of stage. It's not stage. 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:13.920 I literally just looked, and what a way to confirm 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:19.919 a word, huh. I was preaching the same passage. And 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.640 I bet since that day, I bet you've been through 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:26.040 some crashes, and I bet you've been through some things. 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:28.679 But what blesses me about some of you in the 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:33.040 church is that you keep coming even after the crash. 0:21:33.880 --> 0:21:41.040 Come on, come on, no, no, no, no, no, don't try 0:21:41.040 --> 0:21:43.720 to trick me looking like you didn't. Some of y'all 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:45.919 crashed out on the way to church in the car. 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:49.720 Some of y'all were calling each other everything but child 0:21:49.800 --> 0:21:51.640 of God on the way to church in the car 0:21:52.000 --> 0:21:55.200 this morning. But you came, you came, you came, you came, 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:57.760 you came, you came, and. 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:04.800 They arrived safely. Everybody says faith on sure, Now say unsure. 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:07.040 Now say on shore. 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:12.679 You can be on shore, but unsure, which means that 0:22:13.560 --> 0:22:17.280 I'm not sure yet whether this thing that happened in 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:19.800 my life is something that is going to turn out 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:22.520 for my good or whether it's going to be my 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:26.440 bitter end. I'm not sure yet whether this person leaving 0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:29.000 my life was a good thing or whether it was 0:22:29.040 --> 0:22:32.320 a bad thing. I'm not sure yet whether losing that 0:22:32.480 --> 0:22:35.919 job was opening another opportunity or if it's just draining 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:37.080 my bank account. 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:41.240 I'm not sure yet. I'm on sure, but I'm unsure. 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:44.680 And what I love about God is that no matter 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:47.879 whether you call it a crash, whether you call it 0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:51.840 an accident, whether you call it a mistake, whatever you 0:22:51.960 --> 0:22:55.800 call it, God looks at it and says, don't think 0:22:56.440 --> 0:23:03.800 I don't know how to make something amazing and brilliant 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:09.720 out of a broken heart. Now, how about for somebody saying he. 0:23:09.640 --> 0:23:10.800 Can do it, he can do it, He can do it, 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:11.400 he can do it. 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:15.320 They need to hear you say that, because when we 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:18.960 find ourselves crashed out on islands where people don't even 0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:21.960 speak our same language. The version I put up there 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:24.520 was the politically correct version of the Bible. 0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:25.119 The NIV. 0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:28.119 It's more modern, so when it talks about these people, 0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:32.560 it calls them islanders, but in the original language it 0:23:32.640 --> 0:23:37.760 called them barbarians. Because to Paul and the two hundred 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:40.560 and seventy six prisoners don't even tell you this part yet. 0:23:40.800 --> 0:23:43.040 The reason Paul is on the ship is because he's 0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:47.560 going to stand trial before Caesar in Rome. So he 0:23:47.680 --> 0:23:52.600 is a preacher, disguised as a prisoner, headed toward a calling, 0:23:52.720 --> 0:23:59.719 disguised as a crash, looking at some people who are 0:23:59.720 --> 0:24:03.520 building him a fire, but don't speak his same language. 0:24:04.640 --> 0:24:07.400 Can I work on this for a minute. 0:24:07.600 --> 0:24:10.240 I wonder, have you landed in a strange place today, 0:24:11.880 --> 0:24:15.400 strange place in your life, strange place in your emotions, 0:24:16.280 --> 0:24:22.240 strange place at your particular season. If you have, I 0:24:22.280 --> 0:24:26.359 believe you have every reason to expect that God will 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:31.720 use a barbarian, which simply means something you're not familiar with. 0:24:33.200 --> 0:24:35.840 Everything in the text points in the same direction that 0:24:35.920 --> 0:24:37.160 God can. 0:24:37.119 --> 0:24:38.720 Use this too. 0:24:39.640 --> 0:24:44.679 Okay, when they get there, they meet barbarians, people that 0:24:44.680 --> 0:24:47.200 they're afraid of. But the barbarians are building them a fire. 0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:51.520 That's the favor of God. When God uses something that 0:24:51.600 --> 0:24:55.479 you think is barbaric to build something to keep you alive. 0:24:56.560 --> 0:24:57.600 When God uses. 0:24:57.359 --> 0:25:00.359 Somebody you don't even like to tell you it's something 0:25:00.359 --> 0:25:01.080 that you need to know. 0:25:02.000 --> 0:25:04.719 When God uses a process that you resist, that is 0:25:04.760 --> 0:25:06.200 the strange grace of God. 0:25:06.760 --> 0:25:09.760 Have you ever had God give you strange grace? I 0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:13.480 might should have called this message strange grace It's not 0:25:13.600 --> 0:25:15.639 the grace that comes from people that I counted on. 0:25:16.720 --> 0:25:19.200 It's the grace that comes from people that I don't 0:25:19.240 --> 0:25:22.000 even know what to call them. It's the grace that 0:25:22.080 --> 0:25:25.199 comes from places that I never chose to be. 0:25:25.280 --> 0:25:26.000 And listen to this. 0:25:26.760 --> 0:25:30.320 Just because you didn't choose it doesn't mean he won't 0:25:30.400 --> 0:25:37.320 use it. Paul wanted to go to Rome, but not 0:25:37.400 --> 0:25:42.240 as a prisoner. God used chains to get him to 0:25:42.359 --> 0:25:47.320 the place. When they started out on the journey, they 0:25:47.359 --> 0:25:50.720 were on a ship. Look at Acts twenty seven, verse 0:25:50.760 --> 0:25:54.480 forty four, right before they got to the island safely. 0:25:55.480 --> 0:25:58.160 Look how they got there safely. I'm doing air quotes 0:25:58.200 --> 0:26:00.600 for a reason. The rest were to get there on 0:26:00.760 --> 0:26:05.520 planks or other pieces of the ship. In this way, 0:26:05.600 --> 0:26:11.159 everyone reached land safely. Ain't that crazy? How sometimes you 0:26:11.200 --> 0:26:15.560 got to praise God for pieces? Think about it. They 0:26:15.600 --> 0:26:19.320 started out on a boat, They floated in on a board. 0:26:20.520 --> 0:26:23.359 Would you rather ride in on a boat or paddle 0:26:23.400 --> 0:26:27.000 in on a board. But it doesn't matter what you 0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:30.480 would rather do, because sometimes God will call you to 0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:34.199 grab hold of what you have and remember your swimming 0:26:34.280 --> 0:26:39.960 lessons and breast stroke your way to the shore with 0:26:40.040 --> 0:26:42.680 what you have, And I want you to learn how 0:26:42.680 --> 0:26:46.320 to praise God for pieces in your life, because I 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:47.560 know we would prefer the boat. 0:26:48.359 --> 0:26:50.480 I know we would prefer that the things stayed the same. 0:26:50.560 --> 0:26:54.159 None of us really like change, right, none of us 0:26:54.200 --> 0:26:56.560 really liked change at all. You were praying summer away, 0:26:57.240 --> 0:27:00.520 and they got cold for a day, but. 0:27:00.480 --> 0:27:01.280 You were so hot. 0:27:01.359 --> 0:27:04.240 We don't even want the season to change because it's uncomfortable. 0:27:05.000 --> 0:27:07.879 And yet sometimes the only way to really have peace 0:27:08.040 --> 0:27:12.160 in your heart, peace over your situation, is to take 0:27:12.200 --> 0:27:17.080 the piece that you have, piece and float in with 0:27:17.119 --> 0:27:20.680 what you have. Because everybody knows a boat can get 0:27:20.720 --> 0:27:24.679 you to shore, but so can a board. I got 0:27:24.800 --> 0:27:27.520 to say that again. Everybody knows a boat can get 0:27:27.600 --> 0:27:31.200 you to shore. That doesn't take a miracle. But when 0:27:31.240 --> 0:27:35.159 you made it in on a board, a piece of 0:27:35.200 --> 0:27:39.680 the boat, a remnant of the former boat. Yes, I'm 0:27:39.720 --> 0:27:42.239 talking to people who are older. You can make it 0:27:42.280 --> 0:27:45.639 in on boards. Your body might not work like it 0:27:45.720 --> 0:27:48.160 used to work, but you can still do what you're 0:27:48.200 --> 0:27:51.199 called to do. Your mind might not work like it 0:27:51.280 --> 0:27:53.640 used to work, but you can still do what you're 0:27:53.640 --> 0:27:56.920 called to do. One missionary said, when I can't pray, 0:27:57.240 --> 0:28:00.119 when I can't read, when I can't even think, I 0:28:00.160 --> 0:28:03.800 can still trust and the faith to know that if 0:28:03.800 --> 0:28:06.760 I can't make it in on a flotation device, I 0:28:06.800 --> 0:28:09.200 can make it in floating by the grace of God. 0:28:09.600 --> 0:28:10.920 That kind of faith is so. 0:28:11.080 --> 0:28:14.280 Necessary in this season of your life, when what you 0:28:14.480 --> 0:28:17.520 had was broken apart, when what you had was driven 0:28:17.600 --> 0:28:20.320 by the wind. Don't you believe in your life that 0:28:20.440 --> 0:28:23.720 the same God who brought them safely to the shore 0:28:23.720 --> 0:28:27.439 on a board is bringing you where you're supposed to 0:28:27.480 --> 0:28:31.399 be right now on the thing that you have that 0:28:31.560 --> 0:28:34.879 is with you. Because God will never call you to 0:28:35.040 --> 0:28:36.919 somewhere he can't get you with what. 0:28:36.800 --> 0:28:41.680 You still have. I still got it. I still got it. 0:28:42.760 --> 0:28:45.080 Maybe that's the message of this, to tell you you 0:28:45.240 --> 0:28:48.000 still got it. No, you don't have the ship how 0:28:48.000 --> 0:28:50.360 it looked. No you don't have the life that it 0:28:50.480 --> 0:28:52.800 used to be. No, you don't have the answers that 0:28:52.840 --> 0:28:55.280 you wanted to have. But somebody say, I still got it. 0:28:56.680 --> 0:28:58.760 The thing you got to realize is that the board 0:28:58.800 --> 0:29:01.040 they floated in on were of the boat that they 0:29:01.040 --> 0:29:03.880 had been riding on. So it wasn't that the boat 0:29:03.920 --> 0:29:06.840 went away, It just changed forms. 0:29:07.440 --> 0:29:10.200 God is going to continue to provide in your life. 0:29:10.240 --> 0:29:12.200 But He will do it in many different ways and 0:29:12.280 --> 0:29:16.000 many different layers, at many different levels. And the key 0:29:16.040 --> 0:29:20.960 to this is you believing God can use this too. 0:29:21.960 --> 0:29:23.440 If he can bring me in on a boat, he 0:29:23.480 --> 0:29:26.960 can bring me in on a board. If he can 0:29:26.960 --> 0:29:28.960 bless me with a lot, he can keep me with 0:29:29.000 --> 0:29:33.320 a little. Paul said in another scripture, I have learned 0:29:33.320 --> 0:29:36.520 whatever state I'm in, to be content. I know how 0:29:36.560 --> 0:29:39.720 to have plenty boat. I know how to have not 0:29:39.880 --> 0:29:45.560 much boards. Whether I got a boat or a board, my. 0:29:46.200 --> 0:29:49.560 Song is the same. God can use this too. Let's 0:29:49.560 --> 0:29:53.880 clap our hands and praise him for the times that 0:29:53.960 --> 0:29:59.560 he brought us to shore on a board. Now here's 0:29:59.560 --> 0:30:03.280 where it gets interesting, church, because when. 0:30:03.200 --> 0:30:04.520 You arrive on the shore and you got there on 0:30:04.560 --> 0:30:06.480 a board, and you see people building you a fire, 0:30:06.560 --> 0:30:09.280 you automatically assumed that the fire is a blessing. 0:30:10.520 --> 0:30:11.000 And it is. 0:30:12.640 --> 0:30:14.400 But but I don't know if I don't know if 0:30:14.400 --> 0:30:16.760 Paul made a bad decision here or not. It's really 0:30:16.840 --> 0:30:18.800 up for debate. I know that the storm was in 0:30:18.880 --> 0:30:20.720 his fault. I know that the chains were in his fault. 0:30:21.720 --> 0:30:24.440 This part is up for review. You can see what 0:30:24.480 --> 0:30:25.960 you think about it. 0:30:25.960 --> 0:30:28.720 It says in verse two, the islanders showed us unusual kindness, 0:30:28.720 --> 0:30:30.440 and they built a fire and welcomed us all because 0:30:30.480 --> 0:30:31.400 it was raining and coal. 0:30:31.960 --> 0:30:33.400 And here's the part I want to ask you about. 0:30:33.520 --> 0:30:34.120 See what you think. 0:30:34.640 --> 0:30:37.920 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put 0:30:37.920 --> 0:30:41.360 it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, 0:30:41.480 --> 0:30:42.920 fastened itself on his hand. 0:30:43.760 --> 0:30:44.880 So here's why I want to ask you. 0:30:45.000 --> 0:30:47.200 Should Paul have just stuck the preaching and not mess 0:30:47.280 --> 0:30:51.720 with fire building, because it looks like in his effort. 0:30:51.440 --> 0:30:54.400 To help, he got hurt. 0:30:56.640 --> 0:30:59.800 And I know Paul, like not personally, but I studied 0:30:59.800 --> 0:31:01.160 at him a lot. I spent a lot of time 0:31:01.160 --> 0:31:04.719 thinking about him. And I know Paul what he really 0:31:04.760 --> 0:31:07.560 wanted to do in this situation when he meets a 0:31:07.560 --> 0:31:11.480 group of barbarians, people that he's never seen before, what 0:31:11.560 --> 0:31:14.960 he really wanted to do was tell them about Jesus. 0:31:15.920 --> 0:31:18.920 That's all Paul ever wanted to do. Sounds like if 0:31:19.000 --> 0:31:19.360 it was. 0:31:19.400 --> 0:31:22.239 Jews who were circumcised, if it was Gentiles who had 0:31:22.240 --> 0:31:26.840 been ostracized, Paul wanted you to know about Jesus. So 0:31:27.560 --> 0:31:29.520 he shows up on the island, he doesn't know what 0:31:29.560 --> 0:31:34.640 it's called. And worse of all, he doesn't speak their language. Now, remember, 0:31:35.240 --> 0:31:38.760 Paul is good with words. If there had ever been 0:31:38.800 --> 0:31:41.080 a you know, a Kendrick and Drake, but with like 0:31:41.120 --> 0:31:43.440 Paul and Peter, Paul would have beat Peter senseless. 0:31:44.760 --> 0:31:48.600 Nobody did words like Paul. All the Foundational all. 0:31:48.560 --> 0:31:53.360 The Foundational doctrines that we quote by heart today came 0:31:53.400 --> 0:31:55.880 either from the pen or the tongue of Paul. 0:31:57.280 --> 0:32:00.240 Even the posters we hang in the weight room of 0:32:00.840 --> 0:32:02.840 our high schools, public high schools. 0:32:03.120 --> 0:32:07.080 I can do all things, That's something Paul said. He said, 0:32:07.080 --> 0:32:09.520 through Christ's strengthens me. But we don't have to finish it. 0:32:09.560 --> 0:32:10.680 We're just gonna take the first part. 0:32:10.840 --> 0:32:12.960 I can do all things. No, you can't unless Christ 0:32:13.000 --> 0:32:13.600 strengthens you. 0:32:13.840 --> 0:32:17.000 But Paul was not only brilliant in his ability to 0:32:17.040 --> 0:32:19.080 say pithy statements that would help motivate us. 0:32:19.160 --> 0:32:19.960 Paul actually could. 0:32:20.280 --> 0:32:22.960 Paul actually could make a legal defense from the Gospel. 0:32:22.960 --> 0:32:24.040 He could show you how. 0:32:24.240 --> 0:32:28.680 That Abraham, the progenitor of the Jewish faith, Abraham, Father Abraham, 0:32:29.200 --> 0:32:31.800 was actually justified by faith, not works. And then he 0:32:31.840 --> 0:32:34.920 could take you line by line by line, you do 0:32:35.000 --> 0:32:36.080 not want to get into. 0:32:36.000 --> 0:32:40.040 Debate with Paul. He is too good with his words. 0:32:40.880 --> 0:32:44.240 And God used his words everywhere he went to preach. 0:32:44.280 --> 0:32:46.280 Even if he showed up in a city like Athens, 0:32:46.280 --> 0:32:49.560 where they worshiped all kinds of idols, he would start 0:32:49.600 --> 0:32:53.760 with their idolatry instead of starting with his belief, and 0:32:53.840 --> 0:32:57.720 he could quote their poets but bring them to his 0:32:57.800 --> 0:33:01.200 point of view, so he would get them to Jesus 0:33:01.200 --> 0:33:04.280 from whatever starting place that they had, because he was 0:33:04.320 --> 0:33:08.040 so good with his words. Not just one language. Paul 0:33:08.080 --> 0:33:10.360 could speak Greek. One city he got in, he wasn't 0:33:10.400 --> 0:33:12.720 able to speak Greek coin a Greek, which was the 0:33:12.800 --> 0:33:14.880 language of the day, because they had a different dialect. 0:33:15.200 --> 0:33:17.560 So Paul started speaking in Arabic. And when he spoke 0:33:17.560 --> 0:33:19.880 in Aramaic, which was a local dialect, they all shut 0:33:19.960 --> 0:33:22.560 up and they were able to hear because Paul was 0:33:22.600 --> 0:33:24.920 able to speak the word of God. 0:33:25.760 --> 0:33:27.480 God really used Paul's words. 0:33:28.320 --> 0:33:30.680 As a matter of fact, he used Paul's words to 0:33:30.720 --> 0:33:33.440 the point that something like thirty percent of our New 0:33:33.480 --> 0:33:37.520 Testament that we read today came from the pen of 0:33:37.560 --> 0:33:39.600 a man who spent much of his life in a prison. 0:33:40.880 --> 0:33:44.120 While he was in prison, some thought rotting. He was writing, 0:33:45.360 --> 0:33:47.680 I'm trying to get you a vision today for the 0:33:47.760 --> 0:33:51.080 seasons of your life that you think are wasted, the 0:33:51.160 --> 0:33:54.680 seasons of your life that you think are waiting. God 0:33:54.760 --> 0:34:00.000 can use waiting seasons, not as wasted seasons, but those 0:34:00.080 --> 0:34:05.840 seasons can actually become if you choose. They choose, if 0:34:05.880 --> 0:34:08.720 you choose to take the instrument that you have. Paul 0:34:08.760 --> 0:34:11.920 proves that I can take a pin in a prison. 0:34:12.400 --> 0:34:14.680 And what he wrote with a pin in a prison 0:34:15.080 --> 0:34:18.200 is so powerful that we quote it from our pulpits today. 0:34:18.640 --> 0:34:21.120 Isn't that amazing? I had looked at y'all in the 0:34:21.120 --> 0:34:22.240 back very much, discermon. 0:34:22.520 --> 0:34:24.080 Isn't that amazing. 0:34:25.040 --> 0:34:28.200 That all the way from a prison cell, Paul could 0:34:28.200 --> 0:34:33.680 write something so powerful that we would understand our faith 0:34:33.800 --> 0:34:38.800 in Jesus through his words today his words, God used 0:34:39.160 --> 0:34:42.560 his words. But now Paul is in a situation where 0:34:42.600 --> 0:34:44.000 his words will not work. 0:34:44.760 --> 0:34:46.400 But he wants to preach Jesus. 0:34:46.480 --> 0:34:50.760 I know he does, because that's his mission, that's his purpose. 0:34:50.760 --> 0:34:54.439 That's his calling, that's what he's good at. But how 0:34:54.440 --> 0:34:55.400 do you preach. 0:34:55.200 --> 0:34:59.200 Jesus to people who don't speak your same language. Nobody 0:34:59.239 --> 0:35:03.160 on the ship's this language. That's why they called them barbarians. 0:35:03.640 --> 0:35:04.879 So while Paul is. 0:35:04.840 --> 0:35:07.719 Waiting to try to figure out why would God let 0:35:07.760 --> 0:35:10.520 me crash here? Of all the islands, why would God 0:35:10.560 --> 0:35:12.000 put me here? Now, this is where some of us 0:35:12.040 --> 0:35:14.080 are not like Paul. We never stop and ask the 0:35:14.160 --> 0:35:19.000 question God, why do you really have me here? We 0:35:19.120 --> 0:35:23.520 just settled for the surface story. I'm here because I'm stupid. 0:35:25.800 --> 0:35:27.520 But if you'd ever get past how stupid you were 0:35:27.520 --> 0:35:29.080 to get there, maybe you could see how God wants 0:35:29.120 --> 0:35:31.520 to use your stupid to keep somebody else from stupid 0:35:31.960 --> 0:35:35.920 in the future. Look, you are the solution to somebody 0:35:35.920 --> 0:35:37.200 else this future stupid. 0:35:40.239 --> 0:35:42.319 I like my own preaching sometimes. I like what I 0:35:42.440 --> 0:35:46.120 just said that helped me. I ran into somebody's car 0:35:46.200 --> 0:35:46.680 last week. 0:35:48.520 --> 0:35:51.600 Yeah, I ran right into it and they were parked 0:35:51.640 --> 0:35:54.880 and I couldn't find them. And I don't want to 0:35:54.880 --> 0:35:56.960 tell you this part, but I gotta be completely honest. 0:35:56.960 --> 0:36:01.640 I looked at Holly, I was like, should we stay? 0:36:03.480 --> 0:36:04.600 And this is what she said. Back. 0:36:04.640 --> 0:36:07.200 Listen how sanctimonious she sounds. Listen how self right she said. 0:36:07.840 --> 0:36:13.960 I would want a gentle review right now. Yes, you're 0:36:14.000 --> 0:36:14.760 a man of God. 0:36:15.400 --> 0:36:17.120 So I know what to do, so I couldn't find him. 0:36:17.160 --> 0:36:19.239 So I put a note on the thing and some 0:36:19.320 --> 0:36:20.759 money on the thing, and I put our number on 0:36:20.760 --> 0:36:21.560 the thing, and we're. 0:36:21.400 --> 0:36:22.239 Gonna have pay for it. 0:36:22.480 --> 0:36:24.759 They A week went by and we didn't hear from him. 0:36:24.800 --> 0:36:28.839 I'm like, prey, thank you Jesus rah. 0:36:29.360 --> 0:36:31.439 I was singing. I was singing, the Lord would for vide. 0:36:32.040 --> 0:36:33.480 But then they called and we got paid for it. 0:36:33.840 --> 0:36:38.040 But but listen to this in this funny, I was 0:36:38.040 --> 0:36:40.319 telling my brother in law we had dinner that night. 0:36:40.360 --> 0:36:43.440 I said, I ran into a car today, and you 0:36:43.480 --> 0:36:45.839 know he said, he said, huh, He said, how long 0:36:45.880 --> 0:36:47.040 before you put it in a sermon? 0:36:49.760 --> 0:36:51.719 I said, I hadn't even thought of that yet. 0:36:53.480 --> 0:36:56.680 If I gotta pay for it, I might as well 0:36:56.719 --> 0:37:02.439 preach it, because I know God can use when I. 0:37:02.360 --> 0:37:02.919 Do it right. 0:37:04.160 --> 0:37:09.200 But here I am looking at a stupid thing I did, realizing, huh. 0:37:09.280 --> 0:37:11.080 I can use an example of a time that I 0:37:11.160 --> 0:37:13.560 prayed for my kids. I can use an example of 0:37:13.560 --> 0:37:16.000 a time that I drove safely but I just hit 0:37:16.040 --> 0:37:22.400 somebody's fender. God can use this too. And I'm trying 0:37:22.440 --> 0:37:26.279 to get you to see about that thing in your 0:37:26.320 --> 0:37:28.720 life today bigger than a fender. 0:37:28.760 --> 0:37:32.120 I get it. Some failures are bigger than fenders. I 0:37:32.160 --> 0:37:32.520 get it. 0:37:33.000 --> 0:37:35.480 But it is just an illustration to let you know 0:37:36.360 --> 0:37:39.120 that the God that can make something out of nothing 0:37:39.280 --> 0:37:43.600 ex Nilo, the God who can Barrah can also asah. 0:37:44.040 --> 0:37:47.160 A sah is the Hebrew word in Genesis one sixteen. 0:37:48.239 --> 0:37:51.480 And when it says that God created in Genesis one sixteen, 0:37:51.480 --> 0:37:54.480 it doesn't mean to create something out of nothing. 0:37:55.080 --> 0:37:56.040 It means to take. 0:37:56.040 --> 0:38:00.520 Already existing things and make something that has ever been 0:38:00.640 --> 0:38:05.759 seen out of something that already exists. So it's when 0:38:05.800 --> 0:38:09.160 somebody says, don't think I don't and you say, think 0:38:09.200 --> 0:38:12.120 about it, and you put their words with your melody, 0:38:12.120 --> 0:38:15.600 with your chords and make a hit song. It's when 0:38:15.640 --> 0:38:19.239 somebody walks in the studio that you don't even want 0:38:19.280 --> 0:38:23.279 to see, and you say ever ever ever, and eventually 0:38:23.560 --> 0:38:28.560 you have a stadium of people saying ever ever ever See. 0:38:28.640 --> 0:38:30.080 Sometimes you don't get to. 0:38:30.080 --> 0:38:33.680 The thing that God wants to do because you do 0:38:33.760 --> 0:38:38.120 not recognize what has been brought into your life. 0:38:39.880 --> 0:38:43.520 As a gift. Yeah, gifts. 0:38:45.160 --> 0:38:51.200 Wait a minute, Paul got warmed by the fire and 0:38:51.239 --> 0:38:56.920 then check this out, Hally, the same thing that. 0:38:56.880 --> 0:39:01.680 Warmed him wounded him. 0:39:01.920 --> 0:39:04.920 You have been warmed by a thing one minute and 0:39:04.960 --> 0:39:10.200 wounded by it the next. The more warmth the relationship 0:39:10.200 --> 0:39:12.239 gives you, the greater the potential it can wound you. 0:39:15.480 --> 0:39:19.239 The more passion you have, the more susceptible to certain 0:39:19.280 --> 0:39:24.640 temptations you will be, The more creative you are, the 0:39:24.680 --> 0:39:29.080 more constrictions will try to keep you from creating. Because 0:39:29.080 --> 0:39:31.840 that was a powerful thought for me, Chris. He's standing 0:39:31.920 --> 0:39:35.000 by the fire and it's warming him. And then the 0:39:35.040 --> 0:39:38.640 same fire that one moment was bringing him warmth brought 0:39:38.680 --> 0:39:41.200 him a wound. Now let's read about the wound for 0:39:41.200 --> 0:39:43.120 a moment, because we may never know. We may never 0:39:43.200 --> 0:39:48.120 know if Paul was like doing too much by putting 0:39:48.120 --> 0:39:50.600 wood on the fire. It sounds like the islanders had 0:39:50.600 --> 0:39:53.279 it pretty well taken care of. And Paul's like, I'm 0:39:53.280 --> 0:39:54.200 not just standing around. 0:39:54.200 --> 0:39:56.520 This is ridiculous. I make this fire higher. 0:39:56.560 --> 0:39:58.799 And see he's not native to the island, so he's 0:39:58.800 --> 0:40:00.560 doing something that he doesn't naturally do. 0:40:00.680 --> 0:40:02.760 Remember, he's good with words, not wood. 0:40:05.200 --> 0:40:07.120 And sometimes when you step out of your comfort zone 0:40:07.120 --> 0:40:08.920 and try to do something that you're not naturally good 0:40:08.960 --> 0:40:09.319 at doing. 0:40:09.520 --> 0:40:12.160 Look what happens in verse four, out. 0:40:11.840 --> 0:40:15.040 Of the heat came a viper a snake, And the 0:40:15.080 --> 0:40:18.360 Bible says that I fastened itself on his hand. And 0:40:18.480 --> 0:40:20.560 verse four is the one that I really want you 0:40:20.600 --> 0:40:23.320 to look at. When the islanders saw the snake hanging 0:40:23.360 --> 0:40:27.080 from his hand, they said to each other, who said 0:40:28.120 --> 0:40:30.520 They said to each other, this. 0:40:30.480 --> 0:40:32.880 Man must be a murderer. 0:40:33.560 --> 0:40:37.080 Now what we know, because we've already read to the 0:40:37.239 --> 0:40:40.600 end of this story, is that the one they're calling 0:40:40.640 --> 0:40:44.400 a murderer is actually going to heal all of their sicknesses. 0:40:45.920 --> 0:40:49.320 So the man they're calling a murderer is actually carrying 0:40:49.360 --> 0:40:54.759 their medicine. Did my mic cut out? I thought, you 0:40:54.800 --> 0:40:58.680 say amen to that. The one that they were calling 0:40:58.719 --> 0:41:02.000 a murderer, the one that they were saying this is 0:41:02.640 --> 0:41:06.399 a proof of divine dissavor, the one that they saw 0:41:06.480 --> 0:41:09.319 the snake. Because track with me. He crashes on an 0:41:09.360 --> 0:41:11.399 island that God has called him to, but nobody knows 0:41:11.440 --> 0:41:14.719 that yet. He's building a fire, and out of the 0:41:14.760 --> 0:41:17.080 fire as he's building it, he gets bit. By the 0:41:17.120 --> 0:41:21.600 way bonus point, you can't build anything without getting bit. 0:41:23.560 --> 0:41:24.000 Anything. 0:41:25.520 --> 0:41:27.680 So if you ever want to start a church and 0:41:27.719 --> 0:41:29.440 you want to build a church, you're gonna get bit. 0:41:30.560 --> 0:41:34.800 Sheep bite, not y'all. 0:41:36.719 --> 0:41:39.200 You want to build a business, you're gonna get bit. 0:41:40.320 --> 0:41:43.640 You wanna build a family, you're gonna get bit. You 0:41:43.680 --> 0:41:45.480 ever heard the phrase bite the hand. 0:41:45.239 --> 0:41:45.799 That feeds you. 0:41:46.840 --> 0:41:50.239 That's what it means that whatever you try to build, Now, 0:41:50.440 --> 0:41:53.239 if you sit back and don't do anything for God, 0:41:53.480 --> 0:41:55.759 if Paul doesn't build a fire, he doesn't get bit. 0:41:57.360 --> 0:41:59.640 But if he doesn't get wounded, he doesn't get warmed. 0:42:00.400 --> 0:42:02.279 So what are you gonna do. Spend the rest of 0:42:02.320 --> 0:42:05.440 your life just trying to avoid being injured, trying to 0:42:05.520 --> 0:42:09.200 avoid being disappointed, try to avoid getting your heart broken. 0:42:12.719 --> 0:42:14.480 He's like, man, I wish I could preach to these people, 0:42:14.480 --> 0:42:17.240 I could lead them all to Jesus. I can't preach, 0:42:17.280 --> 0:42:19.600 So let me throw some fire on here. And then 0:42:19.680 --> 0:42:22.080 all of a sudden, because he is not native to 0:42:22.160 --> 0:42:23.840 this land, here comes a snake. 0:42:23.880 --> 0:42:25.400 He doesn't really know to look out for snakes. 0:42:25.400 --> 0:42:27.640 He's not from around these parts, and snake jumps up 0:42:27.800 --> 0:42:30.439 bites him on his hand. And now the Bible says 0:42:30.480 --> 0:42:32.400 they all started calling him a murderer for though he 0:42:32.560 --> 0:42:33.839 escaped from the sea, the. 0:42:33.800 --> 0:42:36.319 Godess Justice has not allowed him to live. 0:42:36.719 --> 0:42:38.560 Y'all, I need to slow down and tell you that 0:42:38.680 --> 0:42:42.600 anytime you try to interpret your identity through an event. 0:42:42.600 --> 0:42:51.160 You miss see it. The snake bit he must be 0:42:51.200 --> 0:42:51.800 a murderer. 0:42:52.520 --> 0:42:56.320 A bad thing happened. I must be a bad person. No, 0:42:56.840 --> 0:43:00.400 you made a stupid decision. God, can you stupid? And 0:43:00.440 --> 0:43:02.560 there is still time for you to take what you 0:43:02.719 --> 0:43:05.960 learned and throw another log on the fire and see 0:43:06.000 --> 0:43:12.319 God use your life. And in verse five, I think 0:43:12.360 --> 0:43:14.799 Paul preaches one of the most powerful sermons that he 0:43:14.840 --> 0:43:19.399 ever preached, and he didn't say a word. 0:43:21.320 --> 0:43:23.359 The one who changed the world. 0:43:23.040 --> 0:43:28.040 With his words preached a powerful sermon because see when 0:43:28.040 --> 0:43:29.960 they saw the snake on his hand, they saw it 0:43:30.000 --> 0:43:30.840 as a sign. 0:43:30.600 --> 0:43:32.200 Ooh, this is a bad guy. 0:43:32.320 --> 0:43:35.919 God lets bad things happen to bad people. When Paul 0:43:35.960 --> 0:43:37.879 saw the snake on his hand, he could have thought this, 0:43:38.920 --> 0:43:41.880 of all of the two hundred and seventy five prisoners 0:43:41.880 --> 0:43:47.640 on this ship who actually did something bad, You're gonna 0:43:47.719 --> 0:43:50.520 let all these bumps that aren't even help him build 0:43:50.560 --> 0:43:54.400 the fire, and you're gonna let the snake. Have you 0:43:54.400 --> 0:44:01.680 ever had a moment like really, God, really, they get 0:44:01.760 --> 0:44:10.160 to get married before I do them, I can understand them. 0:44:10.200 --> 0:44:12.759 But then the snake bites and Paul could go this, 0:44:14.680 --> 0:44:17.640 this is how you reward me for surviving the shipwreck. 0:44:18.960 --> 0:44:21.520 This is how you affirmed me for preaching the gospel. 0:44:21.840 --> 0:44:25.160 This is how you want to use me. See, I 0:44:25.200 --> 0:44:27.799 think the reason Paul got bit by a snake. I'm 0:44:27.840 --> 0:44:32.439 a little controversial on this. I don't think God made 0:44:32.520 --> 0:44:33.479 the snake bite Paul. 0:44:34.840 --> 0:44:36.160 I don't think the devil did either. 0:44:37.360 --> 0:44:43.720 I think the snake bit Paul because snakes bite. 0:44:44.520 --> 0:44:46.279 Okay, I know that's real deep. 0:44:49.960 --> 0:44:52.240 But what you got to remember while we're so busy 0:44:52.280 --> 0:44:56.400 trying to figure out why me? And why this? And 0:44:56.440 --> 0:44:58.319 when are you gonna get me off this island? God, 0:44:58.600 --> 0:45:01.160 I don't believe, and I think you could substantiate it 0:45:01.239 --> 0:45:03.960 from the New Testament. I don't believe that Paul was 0:45:04.040 --> 0:45:07.320 just waiting to get off the island. I believe he 0:45:07.400 --> 0:45:09.799 showed up with the question, why am I really here? 0:45:10.960 --> 0:45:13.759 Why am I really on this job? Why am I 0:45:13.840 --> 0:45:17.480 really in this season? Why am I really having this conflict? 0:45:18.280 --> 0:45:20.640 And not only why, but God, how do you want 0:45:20.680 --> 0:45:21.920 to use this? 0:45:22.520 --> 0:45:24.520 Say this? Now? 0:45:24.640 --> 0:45:27.640 It's one thing to want God to use your words 0:45:28.680 --> 0:45:33.080 Paul was used to that. This was different because when 0:45:33.080 --> 0:45:36.640 the snake bit him, he shook it off into the 0:45:36.640 --> 0:45:42.200 fire and suffered no ill effects. Isn't that amazing that 0:45:42.280 --> 0:45:44.960 Paul wanted a way to show them how great God was. 0:45:46.680 --> 0:45:47.240 And he knew. 0:45:47.280 --> 0:45:52.040 God knew that Paul couldn't speak their language, but he 0:45:52.120 --> 0:45:57.480 knew that everybody on that island could speak snake, because 0:45:57.560 --> 0:46:01.400 everybody on the island. I'm about to help you understand 0:46:01.440 --> 0:46:04.080 how some of the stuff you're going through it's not 0:46:04.239 --> 0:46:07.440 something that God did, but is something that He wants 0:46:07.480 --> 0:46:12.480 to use. And the sooner you decide God can use 0:46:13.040 --> 0:46:18.280 this too, say it. God can use this too. That's 0:46:18.320 --> 0:46:21.640 the whole lesson today. If I've confused you talking about 0:46:21.719 --> 0:46:25.759 barbarians and boards and winds, and if I've confused you 0:46:25.880 --> 0:46:29.960 talking about snakes and prison cells and pins and pulpits, 0:46:30.160 --> 0:46:32.759 if all of this rhetoric has done nothing but to 0:46:32.840 --> 0:46:35.640 confuse you, I want you to realize at the time 0:46:35.719 --> 0:46:39.279 when Paul could not use words to preach, God gave 0:46:39.360 --> 0:46:44.120 him something that speaks louder than words, and his wounds 0:46:44.640 --> 0:46:47.040 spoke louder than his words. 0:46:48.719 --> 0:46:50.840 Because when they saw him get bit. 0:46:52.320 --> 0:46:56.680 And he shook the snake off, and something bad happened. 0:46:57.120 --> 0:47:00.640 But after something bad happened, Paul did not debate with 0:47:00.719 --> 0:47:04.120 the snake. He learned that from Genesis chapter three, you 0:47:04.120 --> 0:47:05.160 don't talk to snakes. 0:47:06.160 --> 0:47:07.720 I said, you don't talk to snakes. 0:47:08.600 --> 0:47:11.280 You don't speak the stuff that's beneath you. 0:47:11.280 --> 0:47:12.160 You don't argue with. 0:47:12.200 --> 0:47:15.239 Stuff that's trying to kill you. You don't reason your. 0:47:15.120 --> 0:47:18.840 Way out of shame and condemnation. You shake that stuff off. 0:47:19.640 --> 0:47:22.720 So sometimes Paul would use his words and he would speak, 0:47:22.920 --> 0:47:25.400 and people would be saved, and he would speak and 0:47:25.440 --> 0:47:27.919 people would be healed, and he would speak and people 0:47:27.960 --> 0:47:32.080 would understand. And it's wonderful that God used Paul's words 0:47:32.080 --> 0:47:35.640 in such an unusual way, with such an unusual gift. 0:47:35.680 --> 0:47:38.720 But now he is in a situation where his words 0:47:38.760 --> 0:47:39.640 will not work. 0:47:40.360 --> 0:47:42.560 So if you have faith to believe it, here's what 0:47:42.760 --> 0:47:46.760 I think. The text proves that God knew that of all. 0:47:46.560 --> 0:47:50.479 The other prisoners on that island, there was only one 0:47:50.640 --> 0:47:54.239 out of two hundred and seventy six who still had 0:47:54.320 --> 0:47:57.799 enough faith after the shipwreck that if I let this. 0:47:57.840 --> 0:48:00.560 Snake bite him, I'm not going to send a snake him. 0:48:00.760 --> 0:48:04.160 Life just happens I'm not saying God is punishing you 0:48:04.320 --> 0:48:07.960 or God caused it. It doesn't matter, because even if 0:48:08.000 --> 0:48:08.960 God didn't do. 0:48:09.080 --> 0:48:13.840 It, he can use it. He can use it. He 0:48:13.880 --> 0:48:17.120 can use this too. High five three people say he 0:48:17.200 --> 0:48:18.120 can use this too. 0:48:19.719 --> 0:48:21.560 Come on, take your left hand in high five of 0:48:21.600 --> 0:48:22.879 them say he can use this too. 0:48:24.560 --> 0:48:27.160 I read so many of Paul's words. Oh, I'm sorry, 0:48:27.160 --> 0:48:30.360 that was sloppy. I can't go out like that. I 0:48:30.480 --> 0:48:31.640 have a nightmare about that. 0:48:31.719 --> 0:48:33.880 We gotta get at least three more to make up 0:48:33.920 --> 0:48:37.200 for that bad one. You ever have a bad DAP 0:48:37.200 --> 0:48:40.120 and it just haunts the rest of your life three 0:48:40.200 --> 0:48:42.560 years later, having flashbacks thinking about it. 0:48:42.600 --> 0:48:43.920 Don't think I don't think about it. 0:48:44.400 --> 0:48:50.640 And Paul took that snake and he said, Oh, this, this, this, this. 0:48:51.360 --> 0:48:54.120 I've been asking God for a way to reach these 0:48:54.160 --> 0:48:57.280 people since we got on this island. I've been asking 0:48:57.320 --> 0:48:59.839 God why he put me here. I've been asking God 0:49:00.000 --> 0:49:02.480 to use me in this season of my life. I've 0:49:02.480 --> 0:49:05.239 been asking God to show me a purpose. I've been 0:49:05.280 --> 0:49:08.239 asking God to turn it around. I've been asking God 0:49:08.280 --> 0:49:11.440 to make this situation new. I've been asking God to 0:49:11.520 --> 0:49:13.520 reveal to me why it's been so hard. 0:49:16.360 --> 0:49:18.120 So this must not be a snake. 0:49:19.080 --> 0:49:23.000 This must be a microphone, because I'm about to preach 0:49:23.120 --> 0:49:29.239 this gospel of the power of God. Oh yeah, I'm happy. Now, 0:49:30.360 --> 0:49:34.440 high five your neighbors say this too. I know you 0:49:34.520 --> 0:49:37.319 want God to use you in a certain way. I 0:49:37.400 --> 0:49:39.400 know you want him to get you there on the ship. 0:49:39.800 --> 0:49:42.200 I know you don't want the business to fail. I 0:49:42.239 --> 0:49:44.320 know you don't want your kid to flunk the class. 0:49:44.680 --> 0:49:46.640 I know you don't want to carry the illness in 0:49:46.680 --> 0:49:50.560 your body. I'm just saying that snakes bite because snake's bike. 0:49:52.800 --> 0:49:58.680 But God knows how to turn a snake into a sign. 0:50:01.320 --> 0:50:08.600 Oh God, blah blah blah. Now a few days later, 0:50:08.600 --> 0:50:11.880 Paul gets a dinner invitation after he shook that snake 0:50:11.920 --> 0:50:15.319 into the fire. Everybody you walk past, it's coming in 0:50:15.320 --> 0:50:16.480 for the eleven thirty today. 0:50:16.600 --> 0:50:19.440 When they walk past you, just do that, give him 0:50:19.480 --> 0:50:22.600 a little preview. And when they look at you kind 0:50:22.600 --> 0:50:25.279 of funny or they want to fight you, just look 0:50:25.320 --> 0:50:29.040 at him. Keep walking. Come on, you got some stuff 0:50:29.080 --> 0:50:31.880 you need to shake today. You got some stuff you 0:50:31.880 --> 0:50:34.400 need to shake today, and when you do, it's going 0:50:34.480 --> 0:50:34.719 to be. 0:50:34.680 --> 0:50:37.840 The loudest sermon that your life ever preached, and you 0:50:37.880 --> 0:50:38.800 will begin to discover. 0:50:39.160 --> 0:50:40.160 I'm telling you right now. 0:50:40.360 --> 0:50:42.880 If Paul would have started using his speaking gift in 0:50:42.920 --> 0:50:44.879 this moment to argue with the people who were saying 0:50:44.920 --> 0:50:47.800 he was a murderer, he would have died in that 0:50:47.840 --> 0:50:49.880 crazy off. He would have used his primary gift, it 0:50:49.920 --> 0:50:54.000 would have gotten him killed. His primary gift was words. 0:50:54.000 --> 0:50:57.040 But God said, your words won't work in this situation. 0:51:00.080 --> 0:51:01.759 So I need to trust you enough to give you 0:51:01.800 --> 0:51:06.600 a wound. Because when God really wants to reveal who 0:51:06.600 --> 0:51:11.320 he is, he gives a wound, and then the decision comes, 0:51:11.960 --> 0:51:17.520 will you use the wound. The snake didn't shake Paul's faith. 0:51:18.680 --> 0:51:24.440 Paul's faith shook that snake. He knew which. 0:51:24.200 --> 0:51:28.600 One could be bit and not be bitter. And I 0:51:28.680 --> 0:51:31.000 believe that for some of the. 0:51:30.920 --> 0:51:33.040 Precious people that God has given me to preach to, 0:51:34.520 --> 0:51:37.719 the miracle isn't that you didn't get bit, It's that 0:51:37.760 --> 0:51:38.600 you didn't get bitter. 0:51:45.320 --> 0:51:46.120 Oh you've been bit. 0:51:48.200 --> 0:51:50.280 Oh so when you were worshiping today you were lifting 0:51:50.280 --> 0:51:55.919 bit hands. I almost didn't notice. I almost didn't see 0:51:55.920 --> 0:51:56.680 your bite. 0:51:56.680 --> 0:51:56.919 Mark. 0:52:01.440 --> 0:52:10.520 This dude named Publius almost named you that son. This 0:52:10.600 --> 0:52:16.520 dude Publius, the Headman on the island. The Headman on 0:52:16.560 --> 0:52:21.560 the Island a few days later says, bring me a 0:52:21.560 --> 0:52:25.160 prisoner to have dinner with me. No, no, no, no, 0:52:25.920 --> 0:52:28.719 that's not what important people you think. Publius said, bring 0:52:29.080 --> 0:52:32.120 me a bring me a killer, bring me a prisoner. 0:52:32.120 --> 0:52:34.399 No no, no, don't worry about following me the light guys, 0:52:34.400 --> 0:52:35.040 that'll be distracted. 0:52:35.120 --> 0:52:39.520 Just let me walk, he said, bring me bring me 0:52:39.560 --> 0:52:40.040 a preacher. 0:52:40.120 --> 0:52:42.760 No, no, no, he didn't know Paul was a preacher 0:52:43.080 --> 0:52:44.760 because they couldn't understand his language. 0:52:45.960 --> 0:52:50.640 But he spoke snake. He said, there was a guy 0:52:50.680 --> 0:52:55.239 who got bid and didn't die. No, it was crazy, 0:52:55.360 --> 0:52:56.040 it was be a. 0:52:56.160 --> 0:53:03.120 He just just shut be a bold and assertive. He 0:53:03.320 --> 0:53:07.120 just shook that thing right off, and he just kept 0:53:07.160 --> 0:53:09.799 right on standing there. And pooblic said, I want to 0:53:09.800 --> 0:53:11.959 have dinner with him. Now, let me ask a question. 0:53:12.920 --> 0:53:15.160 If Paul didn't survive that snake, you think he would 0:53:15.200 --> 0:53:16.040 have gotten that invitation. 0:53:18.920 --> 0:53:20.240 So what is it that you've been. 0:53:20.120 --> 0:53:26.080 Through that God gave you that your bike marks become 0:53:26.080 --> 0:53:27.720 a passport to your purpose? 0:53:30.160 --> 0:53:35.560 Because look, I got to stop in a minute. 0:53:35.560 --> 0:53:38.440 Can I give you a little more, just a little 0:53:38.440 --> 0:53:40.480 more if you've got to leave, I understand, But this 0:53:40.600 --> 0:53:43.279 is for the ones who have been bit. And you're 0:53:43.320 --> 0:53:45.120 not just in a hurry to get off the island, 0:53:45.160 --> 0:53:46.719 and you're not just in a hurry to get out 0:53:46.719 --> 0:53:48.480 of church, and you're not just in a hurry to 0:53:48.520 --> 0:53:50.360 get back to Hell, and you're not just in a 0:53:50.520 --> 0:53:52.920 hurry to get back to fighting around your house about 0:53:52.920 --> 0:53:53.640 every little thing. 0:53:53.960 --> 0:53:56.080 Don't you want to know why you're fighting at the house. 0:53:58.880 --> 0:54:02.600 Paul who was a great order, Paul who was an expositor, 0:54:02.640 --> 0:54:06.279 Paul who was a prolific author, Paul who was a philosopher. 0:54:06.360 --> 0:54:09.200 All these things happened through his words. But you know 0:54:09.239 --> 0:54:10.000 what Luke. 0:54:09.800 --> 0:54:13.320 The medical doctor said about Paul in Acts, chapter nineteen, 0:54:13.400 --> 0:54:13.960 verse eleven. 0:54:14.160 --> 0:54:16.200 I just remembered this scripture. 0:54:15.760 --> 0:54:18.000 This week when I was studying, because I thought about 0:54:18.000 --> 0:54:21.600 how the snake bit Paul in his hand, and then 0:54:21.600 --> 0:54:24.480 he healed a man in a house with his hand 0:54:24.520 --> 0:54:27.800 that had been bit, and I thought that was so amazing, 0:54:27.840 --> 0:54:30.319 and I reflected on it, and I meditated on it, 0:54:30.360 --> 0:54:32.040 and I said, well, what do I tell them about that? 0:54:32.680 --> 0:54:34.879 And he took me to Acts nineteen, verse eleven. Look 0:54:34.880 --> 0:54:39.480 at this verse, Luke says, now, God worked unusual miracles 0:54:39.520 --> 0:54:44.680 by the hands of Paul. By the what what did 0:54:44.680 --> 0:54:46.560 the snake bite? 0:54:48.280 --> 0:54:50.960 The enemy always bites you where God has blessed you. 0:54:55.239 --> 0:54:55.399 Too? 0:54:56.200 --> 0:54:58.000 You too, you too. 0:55:00.239 --> 0:55:04.560 The fire and the fangs came from the same place. 0:55:05.680 --> 0:55:09.560 The pain and the purpose came from the same place. 0:55:10.440 --> 0:55:13.800 The hand that God used this is a healing hand. 0:55:14.200 --> 0:55:16.480 This is a hand that when Paul laid his hands 0:55:16.480 --> 0:55:18.239 on the believers. 0:55:17.760 --> 0:55:19.480 They received the Holy Spirit. 0:55:19.880 --> 0:55:24.319 God worked unusual miracles through the hands of Paul. And 0:55:24.440 --> 0:55:27.160 what I am learning the longer that I spend time 0:55:27.360 --> 0:55:33.279 in this human body is that wherever God has blessed you, 0:55:33.280 --> 0:55:34.160 you will be bitten. 0:55:35.880 --> 0:55:36.919 But listen to me good. 0:55:38.600 --> 0:55:43.920 The biggest breakthroughs happen after the biggest bites. 0:55:45.920 --> 0:55:46.560 I've learned that. 0:55:47.680 --> 0:55:50.640 It took me a while to learn that because I 0:55:50.719 --> 0:55:52.480 used to think this isn't fair. I used to think 0:55:52.520 --> 0:55:54.040 I want this to go away. I used to think 0:55:54.040 --> 0:55:56.280 this shouldn't have happened to me. I used to stand 0:55:56.280 --> 0:55:59.360 there and argue with snakes. I used to try to 0:55:59.400 --> 0:56:01.480 prove stuff people. I used to try to think that 0:56:01.520 --> 0:56:03.640 I needed to get to another place. I used to 0:56:03.680 --> 0:56:05.400 think I don't want to be on Malta. I'm supposed 0:56:05.440 --> 0:56:07.760 to be in Rome. I used to curse the boards 0:56:07.800 --> 0:56:09.920 because I missed the boat. I used to live in 0:56:09.960 --> 0:56:12.560 the nostalgia of the past because I couldn't embrace the 0:56:12.640 --> 0:56:13.880 uncertainty of the now. 0:56:14.840 --> 0:56:16.040 But then I learned. 0:56:15.719 --> 0:56:20.320 That that when I get bit, it is God marking 0:56:20.719 --> 0:56:25.439 that hand that he wants to use. So if your 0:56:25.880 --> 0:56:30.440 hand is going to be extraordinarily used by God. 0:56:30.480 --> 0:56:33.560 If it's going to be unusually. 0:56:32.760 --> 0:56:37.560 Used by God, the hand that has been unusually blessed 0:56:37.960 --> 0:56:43.040 will be unusually bitten. And Paul shows us and serves 0:56:43.160 --> 0:56:46.520 us in this moment to help us understand what to 0:56:46.600 --> 0:56:50.120 do in those moments where it's not where you planned 0:56:50.200 --> 0:56:53.120 or what you prayed for. To look at the thing 0:56:53.160 --> 0:56:56.640 that is hanging on your hand and confessed by faith 0:56:56.840 --> 0:56:57.760 you ready. 0:56:58.320 --> 0:57:12.719 God can use this too. God put it in the chat. 0:57:13.320 --> 0:57:15.600 God can use this too. 0:57:17.960 --> 0:57:22.240 What the enemy meant to kill you, God can use 0:57:23.320 --> 0:57:27.280 to develop you. What the enemy meant to burn you. 0:57:28.360 --> 0:57:31.760 God can use to free you. What the enemy meant 0:57:31.760 --> 0:57:35.680 to take you out. God can use to bring you in. 0:57:36.520 --> 0:57:41.280 God can use this. God can use this too. He 0:57:41.320 --> 0:57:44.880 has a history of doing it. God likes to use 0:57:44.960 --> 0:57:47.840 boards to bring people safely to shore. God likes to 0:57:47.920 --> 0:57:51.680 use barbarians to build fire. God likes to use snakes 0:57:52.400 --> 0:57:55.800 to heal eyelids. So I don't know what it is 0:57:56.840 --> 0:58:02.320 you're this, but I know God can use this too. 0:58:03.800 --> 0:58:08.200 The God who used Paul's words also used Paul's wounds. 0:58:10.000 --> 0:58:13.280 Don't be so quick to categorize the things in your life. 0:58:13.400 --> 0:58:16.680 You can never really understand what it is until you 0:58:16.720 --> 0:58:20.520 see how God uses it. And there are some snakes 0:58:20.520 --> 0:58:23.840 that need to go back in the fire today. There 0:58:23.840 --> 0:58:26.960 are some beliefs, there are some things that you have 0:58:27.040 --> 0:58:30.360 allowed to latch onto your life. 0:58:29.440 --> 0:58:30.920 That we just need to let go of in the 0:58:30.960 --> 0:58:31.760 presence of God. 0:58:32.800 --> 0:58:35.880 Because if you stand there and fight about it, if 0:58:35.880 --> 0:58:38.600 you stand there and blame about it, if you stand 0:58:38.640 --> 0:58:40.880 there and hurt about it, and just hurt about it 0:58:41.000 --> 0:58:43.840 and heard about it, your hands were not made for hurting. 0:58:43.880 --> 0:58:48.080 They were made for healing. And there is a next 0:58:48.160 --> 0:58:53.120 thing that God is calling you to do. Thank you 0:58:53.160 --> 0:58:53.920 for joining us. 0:58:54.240 --> 0:58:56.680 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:58:56.760 --> 0:59:00.280 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:59:00.680 --> 0:59:02.880 You can click the link in the description to give 0:59:02.960 --> 0:59:07.080 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org. Slash podcast for more 0:59:07.160 --> 0:59:10.920 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:59:11.240 --> 0:59:12.560 You can share it with your friends. 0:59:12.840 --> 0:59:15.120 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:59:15.160 --> 0:59:17.280 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:59:17.320 --> 0:59:24.880 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.