I'm Confused About My Calling

0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.600 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.120 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:10.480 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.520 it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:17.320 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:22.239 There is a passage of scripture that has always fascinated me, 0:00:22.680 --> 0:00:24.480 and I knew it was the one to start this 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:28.680 series with because most of my sermon ideas come from 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:32.800 a text, usually a text in the Bible. But this 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:34.720 whole series came to me through a text on my 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.199 phone and somebody texted me, but I didn't have their 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.760 number in my contacts, but they had texted me before 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.239 and their name was in the text. So you know, 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:47.080 Steve Jobs is so smart, even from beyond the grave. 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:51.000 He made a suggestion on my iPhone and he said maybe, 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.520 and then it said it could be this person. And 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:57.240 when I saw it on my phone, I realized that 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:00.200 that would make an amazing way to spend several weeks 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.880 in the Word of God talking about those times where 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:06.200 we don't know if it's God or not, and so 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:08.720 we're trying to lead our families some of us, or 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:10.959 we're trying to get our education, or we're trying to 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:16.000 decide about jobs or dates, or trying to decide about 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:19.120 moving to a new house or new apartment, or just 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.720 trying to figure out what it is that we were 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.480 put here on earth for. But the series is called 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:29.920 Maybe God, Maybe God. We worship a God who can 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:33.280 be best explained as mystery, and yet we live in 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:36.959 a culture that worships certainty. And so I want to 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:38.920 talk about that for several weeks with you. And I'm 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:41.440 so glad you're here. Touch somebody and say he's so 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.880 happy you're here. That preacher, That preacher is happy you're here. 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:50.280 That's true. I'm so glad you're here. And what I 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:51.920 need you to do right now is give your attention 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:55.800 just to this text in First Samuel, chapter three, where 0:01:55.880 --> 0:02:01.080 we will encounter a young man who's encountering God. And 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:03.480 I pray that we will encounter God in the process today. 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.440 First Samuel three, verse one. The boy Samuel ministered before 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:10.320 the Lord under Eli. In those days, the word of 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:16.120 the Lord was rare. There were not many visions. One night, Eli, 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:20.320 whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:24.919 see was lying down in his usual place. The lamp 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:28.040 of God had not yet gone out. Touch somebody say, 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:31.359 there's still time, There's still time. I know you might 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.520 have got off track in your life, but there's still time. 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:35.799 I know there might be some things out of order 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:38.519 in your house, but there's still time. I know you 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.040 might have wasted some years chasing your own ways, but 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:43.760 God brought you here because there's still time. God left 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.400 you here because there's still time. If you're still breathing, 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:51.480 there's still time. I got a friend named Perry Noble. 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:55.079 His favorite quote is, if you're not dead, God's not done. 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:58.919 And I just believe that. I believe it. So the 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:01.400 light had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:03.160 down in the house of the Lord, where the ark 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.360 of God, which symbolized the presence of God was, And 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:11.679 then the Lord called Samuel, and Samuel answered, here I am. 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:14.720 And he ran to Eli and said, here I am. 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:21.360 You called me, but Eli said, I didn't call go 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:25.080 back to sleep, man, wake me up in the middle 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:30.400 of the night. I didn't call you. Go back and 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:34.240 lie down. So he went and lay down again. The 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:39.600 Lord called Samuel, and Samuel got up and went to 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:44.760 Eli and said, here, I am. This is really strange, 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:48.840 right like, because you expect when God calls it'll sound 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:58.080 so deep. So baritone Samuel apparently it sounded. It sounded 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:00.560 so much like what he was used to be around 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:04.640 that he ran to the place where he normally went 0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:09.320 and he was like, here, I am, you called me, 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:16.040 my son, Eli said, I did not call, go back 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.320 and lie down, but you need an ambient, a weighted blanket, 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:25.839 some milk, a cookie. Now, Samuel did not yet know 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:27.960 the Lord. The word of the Lord had not yet 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:34.120 been revealed to him. A third time, the Lord called Samuel, 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:38.080 and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here, 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:40.440 I am, you call me. I know you're messing with me. 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:44.920 Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:48.640 So Eli told Samuel go and lie down. If he calls, 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:53.680 you say speak Lord, for your servant is listening. The 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:56.080 title of this message is something that I have heard 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:59.520 people say to me of all ages, of all ethnicities, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:03.280 of all economic status positions. And I want you to 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:05.279 look at the screen for the title of my message. 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:11.160 It goes like this, I'm confused about my calling. I'm 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:16.720 confused about my calling. I love God and I love 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.400 my family and I want to make a difference. But 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:22.520 look at somebody next to you and say you look confused. 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:30.000 Tell them I am, I'm confused about my call. Lord 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:33.839 have your way, speak your word. We're listening in Jesus' name. Amen, 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:44.280 Now be seated. You are forgiven. If when I say 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:48.440 calling you roll your eyes a little bit. It is 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:53.120 one of these terms that is so popular in culture 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:56.840 that it almost means nothing anymore, and it can be 0:05:56.920 --> 0:06:01.120 frustrating the older you get when people talk about lofty 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:06.560 ideals like finding your calling. You need to find your calling, 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:11.960 and you know, well, for most of us, that's way 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:15.800 outside of the realm of our everyday life where we're 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:18.480 trying to pay bills. It's like, you know, you need 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:20.880 to find your calling, and you're like, well, I'm doing 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:24.240 good to find my keys in the morning, and you 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:26.720 want to talk about finding your calling. And as much 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.240 as I understand that, I also understand that there's a 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.760 reason that the majority of questions that I have been 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:38.120 asked as a pastor in these thirteen years going on 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:42.360 fourteen years, the reason for it is that there is 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:46.200 something inside of you that wants to find the thing 0:06:46.240 --> 0:06:48.680 that you were made to do, and you will never 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.039 be satisfied with anything else. And no matter how much 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:55.840 sex you have, money you make, friends you meet, no 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.840 matter how big the house is that you build, no 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:01.280 matter how many cars you part in the driveway, there 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:05.359 will always be something unsatisfied in you until you find 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:09.800 that thing that we call a calling. And yet, and yet, 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:14.680 so much damage has been done in popular culture by 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:18.720 the concept of calling that it actually makes us discontent 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:22.760 with our lives because rather than understand the real nature 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.679 of a calling, we have a concept of a calling, 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:28.760 and often we spend our lives wishing that we were 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.440 doing something that God did not tell us to do. 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.000 So to break this first sermon down today, and there 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:39.000 will be several in this series, I'm praying that you 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:41.000 come to all of them. And I'm praying if you 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:42.720 can't come to all of them, you'll watch them all 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.880 because they're all online for free. And I can't figure 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:47.760 out a reason in the world why you couldn't spend 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.600 forty minutes with me on YouTube each week, even if 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:52.280 you have to do it while you're walking the dog, 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:55.560 even if you have to do it while you're falling asleep, 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:58.440 I'll put you to sleep. I don't mind. Whatever I 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:00.280 can get. I'll help you run on the treadmill. Just 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.840 whatever you have to do to get these messages. The 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:07.240 Bible says in verse one that in those days, while Samuell, 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:11.160 the twelve year old who was apprenticing in the tabernacle 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:14.160 because his mother Hannah, prayed that she could have a son, 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.120 and she had trouble conceiving. And when she finally had 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.840 the son, she dedicated him to the Lord. And she 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.400 dropped him off at age four and only saw him 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:25.000 once a year, and she put him under Eli, who 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.600 wasn't doing a very good job. He was letting his 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:30.880 sons run around in the tabernacle and have sex with 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:33.760 women at the entrance to the tabernacle, and he knew 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.600 about it, but he wouldn't do anything about it. And 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.240 he was letting his sons beat people up who had 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:42.079 brought their sacrifice to the temple, and they brought their 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.760 sacrifice to God, but the priests took it for themselves. 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.480 Hofney and Phineas Eli's sons, would send their messenger out 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:52.000 to the tent and say, hey, Hoffney said, you got 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.040 to give him the fat portion, And the people who 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:56.040 came would be like, well, that's for the Lord. They 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:57.960 can get the portion after it burns off. That's the 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:01.120 priest portion. But they had gotten confused about what it 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.319 meant to honor God, and they had started honoring themselves 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:08.000 and their opinions and their desires, and they started treating 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:11.480 God as common. And so the Bible says something interesting 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:14.040 in verse one. It says, in those days, with all 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:18.200 of that going on, the word of the Lord was 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:24.520 rare because they treated the Lord as common. The word 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:29.079 of the Lord was rare. Because we live in a 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:34.480 day where it is so easy to get information but 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:38.120 so difficult to get truth. I figured this verse would 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:42.760 apply to us. Would you agree with me that we 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:48.680 are drowning in information, drowning in opinion, drowning in agenda, 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:54.319 drowning in projections, but starving for truth. You know I'm 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:56.959 right about it. It's such a crazy time. You don't 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:59.880 know who to trust anymore. You don't know if it's real, 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:01.440 you don't know if it's fake, you don't know if 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.040 it's inflated. You don't know if it's a statistic. And 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:06.440 let me give you a statistic. Eighty three percent of 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:09.920 statistics are made up that's a statistic. I made it up. 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.320 It's a time where truth is hard to find. And 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.840 it doesn't mean that there wasn't access to the Bible. 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.880 God knows we have access to the Word of God. 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:22.920 You could pull out your phone right now and a 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:26.120 British person will read you the Bible on the Bible 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:29.920 app That made me think of something real funny. One 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:37.440 time Graham asked me do British people find American accents soothing? 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:41.560 Probably not. But here's the thing about it. It's not 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:46.160 access to the Word of God. It's our attitude to 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:50.440 the Word of God. It's our attitude. It's why some 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:54.880 people can come into church and look narcoleptic in church. 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.560 That's why some people can come into church and leave 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:01.680 during the invitation, because God forbid it takes you seven 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:05.559 minutes to get the cracker barrel. It's why some people 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:08.280 can click around to different sermons and be like, Ah, 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:10.280 I don't know Fredi's not on today. I'm gonna go 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:11.840 over here to this one and that one. And that's 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:15.640 what seeing. When the Word of God becomes common to us, 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.360 we will have access to the Word of God, but 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:22.720 it will not have impact on our life and So 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:25.800 the first thing I wanted to mention is the culture. 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:32.439 The culture in Eli's time was a culture of neglect, 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:36.200 a culture where the value of who God was and 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:40.920 what he said was negotiable. Therefore there was an absence 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.640 of that special presence of God. The word of the 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:48.920 Lord was rare because the Lord of the Word had 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:53.520 become common. And I just want to say to you 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:59.480 today that many of our cultural concepts of calling are 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:07.560 really just self help, individualistic, ambition oriented delusions dressed up 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:18.400 in Christian cliches. And because you got a trophy when 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.000 you were seven does not mean you get to play 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:27.200 Major League Baseball. And the culture of our day is 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:31.959 kind of like, instead of worshiping God, we worship our 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:37.200 idea of God's will, And rather than being in relationship 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:42.440 with God, we want God to be a resource who 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.960 is more like Siri than he is like a savior. 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:51.360 I don't know if you come back next week the 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.680 way I'm starting to discern him, but we need to 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.840 get something straight right off the bat that until I 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:01.760 treasure the voice of God, value the voice of God, 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:05.040 hearken to the voice of God, make time for the 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:09.680 voice of God, consecrate myself I can't get it by skimming. 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.160 I can't get it by just you know, running around 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:20.160 to this person and that person. It is the revealed 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:24.520 will of God that we're after. It is the revealed 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.240 will of God. Now, when I was in my twenties, 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.000 I did all this teaching and preaching. And now you know, 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:37.240 now that I'm wiser, I turned forty next year, you'll 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:38.960 better start working on my gift now, because it's a 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:45.360 big one. It's kind of cringey for me to look 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:50.720 back on the way I spoke about calling in my 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:57.160 twenties that probably left people feeling at the very least 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:02.400 confused at word, frustrated, and maybe even full of resentment 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.480 because the way it happened in my life is different 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:10.000 for all of us. Here's Samuel, who is receiving a 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:14.520 revelation of God. And in my life, I never heard 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:17.480 anything audible that God said to me. I never, you know, 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.800 the Lord never said, Ardich Steve, what God called you 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:22.320 by your last nammey for someone I don't know, but 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:26.760 he said. He never said, you know, preach to me 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:32.280 out loud. There were desires, there were opportunities. I noticed 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:35.800 some effectiveness. It's the weirdest thing. When I first got 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.880 up to pray for Pastor Mickey, who asked me to 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:41.920 pray at a Lions Club meeting. I noticed that people 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.600 seem to be blessed as I prayed, and they connected him. 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.800 And it took Pastor Mickey to explain to me that 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.640 that was the hand of God on my life. I 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.520 didn't know that. If he hadn't been there to guide me, 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:59.360 I would have maybe thought I was just a charismatic speaker. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.400 But he helped me to see that there was something 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:08.680 supernatural involved. And I was sixteen years old, and I 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:12.320 had someone who had been around long enough to see 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:15.320 some things to tell me it was special. Otherwise I 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:17.720 wouldn't have known him. Now here's what I did with 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:21.480 that knowledge. I preached in my twenties that just like 0:15:21.600 --> 0:15:25.280 God called me to preach, God has called each Christian 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:31.920 to do something. You agree with that. But here's the 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:35.360 part that I think was incomplete. While I'd be up 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.400 there saying to people, you need to find your calling. 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:38.800 You need to find your calling. You need to find 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:40.200 your calling. You need to find your calling. You need 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:42.200 to find your calling. You find your calling. You need 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:43.880 to find your calling. You need to find your calling. 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:45.880 You need to find your calling. You need to find 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:47.400 your calling. You need to find a calling, because he 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.120 gets annoying after a while. Right, It's like I'm just 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.560 trying to like I need a job. Man, I don't 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:57.120 know about a calling. I've seen a raise right now? 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:01.120 Is that it makes it sound as if it's something 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.520 that you can just get and just know. And yet 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:10.080 did you notice in the passage that even Samuel, who 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:13.400 was the link between the period of the Judges and 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.800 the monarchy of Israel a thousand years before Jesus, that 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:20.520 even Samuel, who none of his words fell to the ground, 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:26.440 even Samuel didn't get it right the first time. I 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:30.120 don't know why, but that encourages me just reading this 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:33.640 little story, to know that there's someone that God used 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.200 to do something great, and he called him and he 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:42.520 chose him. But even this great prophet didn't get it 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:46.960 right the first time. I want to set you free 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:51.280 today from the feeling that you have to find your calling. 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.400 That's a cultural concept, it's not a biblical one. You 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:59.800 don't have to find your calling. In fact, if the 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:05.760 is correct, if Samuel is an illustration, then I don't 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.679 have to find my calling because if I will serve 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.520 the purpose of the season that I'm in in my 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:18.439 life right now, watch this, get ready to shout. My 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:25.560 calling will find me in that good news, Christian soldiers, 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:30.880 aren't you too glad to know that? When Samuel heard 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:32.720 a voice and he didn't even know whose voice it was. 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:34.440 And here's the thing about it, I want to talk 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:36.959 about the culture, and then I want to talk about 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:42.160 the contact, the contact, because when he first heard the voice, 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:45.359 it sounded like something he had heard before. Have you 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:48.480 ever noticed is hard to know the difference between when 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.960 you're speaking to you and when God is speaking to you. 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.159 And watch out for the Christians who are running around 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:58.680 so sure that it's God speaking to them. Those are 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:01.879 the weird ones. Those are the crazy ones. I mean, 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:03.920 I'm serious. You gotta watch out for him. And they're 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:06.080 here at Elevation, just like they're at every church, and 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.199 they'll find you in the bathroom and they'll have a 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:10.080 word from the Lord for you, and they don't even 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:12.159 know you. And it's weird because it's the bathroom. Can 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.640 I wash my hands? If God spoke to you, he'll 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:16.720 do it in the lobby. Now, let me finish using 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.120 the bathroom. I'm serious because I'm a preacher and people 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:20.879 always think I want to be spiritual, and people will 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:23.080 stop me in the bathroom sometimes at a restaurant and 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:24.480 give me a word from the Lord. But if it 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:25.760 was really the Lord, he would have told you it's 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:27.399 weird to talk to people in the bathroom and wait 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:29.600 till a man gets outside, because there is such a 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:31.600 thing as germs, and God doesn't cancel out germs. I 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:34.520 don't want your prophetic word. Well, I'm trying to so, 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:40.840 but because he gets weird, because he gets weird, we 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:47.359 still have to realize that the only way that the 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:52.000 will of God, or the word of God or the 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:56.480 voice of God can be recognized. That's what the Bible 0:18:56.520 --> 0:19:00.480 said that Eli who was old, who couldn't see physically. 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.240 I've been on this thing lightly that we really need 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:06.040 people in our life who are older than us, who 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.640 have been along the journey, and to respect the price 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.440 that they paid, and to not just think that because 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.680 they don't go on SoundCloud or because they don't have 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:16.080 a lot of Instagram followers, that they have nothing to 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:19.560 teach us. I'm really seeing the value and people who 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.440 they may not have the physical vision that they used 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.000 to have, but they can discern spiritual things. And Eli 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:27.439 wasn't even a perfect priest. In fact, God was in 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:31.240 the process of moving him out of the way. And 0:19:31.320 --> 0:19:34.520 even in that transition, because the whole passage is about transition. 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:41.480 It's Samuel transitioning from a boy to a man, from 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.240 boys to men. I was just thinking, you know, it's 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:52.480 hard to say goodbye. But when Eli is transitioning out, 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:56.679 and when Samuel is transitioning up, and he's ultimately stepping 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:01.399 into the thing God created him for. God deals with Samuel, 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:05.639 but he does it through Eli. And whatever God is 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:09.120 going to speak in your life is going to come 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:13.240 in the context of relationships. And I chose the word 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:19.240 contact to describe it because whoever you put around you 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:24.399 the most will start to affect the voice inside of 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:27.960 you that speaks to you. And have you ever noticed 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:33.520 that God's voice sometimes in your life sounds like your wife. 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:38.320 Sometimes for me, it sounds like my kids. Sometimes in 0:20:38.359 --> 0:20:42.400 my life I've noticed that if I am not selective 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:47.440 about my contacts, I will start hearing I don't mean 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:49.440 like out loud voices. I don't want you to send 0:20:49.440 --> 0:20:51.440 me off after I've preached today or anything like that. 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:54.240 I mean the voice in my mind. A lot of 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:58.000 times when I was going through a counseling session to 0:20:58.000 --> 0:21:01.800 try to understand myself better, the one thing that the 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:06.480 therapist would keep saying, is whose voice is that? You 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:08.920 know these things you say to yourself, You go like, uh, 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:11.440 you know, I'm so stupid and you never get anything right, 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:13.000 and well, of course you screwed it up, you screw 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:15.000 everything up, you know all that. And she keeps saying, 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:17.720 whose voice is that? Whose voice is that? And I 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:19.240 didn't know if she was just trying to get me 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:22.240 to say, you know, it was my dad, you know, oh, 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:25.280 like the point of all therapy, my diapers were too tight. 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:31.760 I got it. But what I realized is that most 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:36.240 of us who are not clinically insane don't actually hear voices. 0:21:36.320 --> 0:21:40.440 We process thoughts, right, so we say the voice of God? 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:42.480 How does the voice of God come into your life? 0:21:42.520 --> 0:21:46.960 Through thoughts? Through thoughts? And that's why Samuel was confused, 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:50.919 right because he heard something, so he went where he 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:53.040 knew to go. And I want to point out something 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:58.000 about this. He did the right thing, He did the 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:01.480 right thing. He ran noticed the Bible said that when 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:05.880 he heard his name called Samuel. First of all, it 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:09.359 didn't sound it didn't sound strange to him. It sounded 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:13.320 like what he was used to. So he ran because 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:16.680 that's what he did, because he had the right passion. 0:22:17.960 --> 0:22:22.679 But he ran to the wrong person. Some of you 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:26.960 right now, you had the right passion, but you're running 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:31.280 to the wrong person or the wrong place. Now, this 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:33.800 is not only true in the case of Samuel. It 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:37.280 was true of Moses. God called him to deliver his 0:22:37.440 --> 0:22:41.560 people from the Egyptians. Moses had the right passion, but 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:44.080 where he messed up. Listen to this, U see when 0:22:44.119 --> 0:22:47.600 he killed the Egyptian it was the right passion, but 0:22:47.720 --> 0:22:50.840 it was misplaced. He tried to do it his way. 0:22:51.240 --> 0:22:54.000 He didn't get it right the first time. And some 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:56.359 of the things that you've gotten wrong in your life, 0:22:56.800 --> 0:23:00.720 some of the mistakes that you've made, it was God's up. 0:23:01.080 --> 0:23:04.600 But it was eli that you ran to. You ran 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:06.920 to the thing that God was trying to remove out 0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:09.480 of your life because that's what you were used to. 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:12.160 You ran to the thing that you were familiar with 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:15.440 because it's all your mind could understand. And so God 0:23:15.480 --> 0:23:17.960 gave you a gift, but you used that gift for 0:23:18.040 --> 0:23:21.240 you for a little while until you found out. Unless 0:23:21.280 --> 0:23:23.800 I offer the gift back to the giver, it's going 0:23:23.880 --> 0:23:26.920 to come back empty. But God brought you here today 0:23:27.359 --> 0:23:30.119 to let you know. That was my voice calling you. 0:23:30.960 --> 0:23:33.679 That was me that gave you that talent. That was 0:23:33.800 --> 0:23:36.159 me that made you good at that. That was me 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:38.800 that opened the door for you. That was me that 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:42.160 gave you that responsibility. That was me that gave you health. 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:44.560 That was me that gave you strength. That was Me 0:23:44.720 --> 0:23:50.359 that gave you that connection. It was him the whole time. 0:23:52.520 --> 0:23:55.879 It was It was the Lord that called Samuel, but 0:23:56.040 --> 0:23:59.280 it was Eli that Samuel ran to. What are you 0:23:59.400 --> 0:24:03.479 running to? If you run, if you're running to something 0:24:03.520 --> 0:24:07.720 that is not your purpose, you feel it. You feel 0:24:07.720 --> 0:24:09.359 it in several ways. But one of the things I 0:24:09.359 --> 0:24:12.680 want to mention is I'm trying to surround myself in 0:24:12.720 --> 0:24:15.680 this stage of my life with people who bring out 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:19.159 the God in me. And that's just me. Now. I 0:24:19.160 --> 0:24:21.000 don't mean I'm going to be mean to people who 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:23.040 don't know the Lord, or I'm gonna go out and 0:24:23.040 --> 0:24:26.280 live in a monastery or something like that. But you know, 0:24:26.680 --> 0:24:29.840 there are some there are some texts that I don't 0:24:29.840 --> 0:24:33.520 return in this stage of my life because I feel 0:24:33.520 --> 0:24:36.840 like I'm in a season where I'm trying to do 0:24:36.960 --> 0:24:41.399 important things and my calling is valuable, and so my 0:24:41.560 --> 0:24:47.879 contacts are very important because certain stuff is contagious, and 0:24:47.920 --> 0:24:50.840 I know there are certain people. When I get around them, 0:24:51.560 --> 0:24:54.520 I feel something rising me that lets me know I 0:24:54.560 --> 0:24:57.720 can overcome. And I need them around me. I need 0:24:57.760 --> 0:24:59.800 them to rub off on me. I need them to 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:02.800 speaking to my life. I need them to encourage me. 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:05.960 I don't need people who are laying back on the 0:25:06.080 --> 0:25:08.600 last thing God did in this season of my life. 0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:15.760 I need people to push me forward. Yes I do, Yes, 0:25:15.880 --> 0:25:20.480 I do. I gotta be careful reading the comments on 0:25:20.600 --> 0:25:24.440 my Instagram in this season because whatever I may contact 0:25:24.520 --> 0:25:27.000 with I catch and see. I need the word of 0:25:27.000 --> 0:25:30.600 the Lord. I need vision, I need hope, I need purpose, 0:25:30.800 --> 0:25:41.639 I need security. And so he runs to Eli, but 0:25:41.880 --> 0:25:44.840 Eli tells him is God you need to speak to 0:25:45.960 --> 0:25:48.000 and the right contact in your life will always point 0:25:48.000 --> 0:25:50.679 you back to the only one who has real power. 0:25:52.560 --> 0:25:54.719 Thank you God for this word. I feel your spirit 0:25:54.760 --> 0:25:57.200 on this one. This is gonna help you because the 0:25:57.280 --> 0:25:59.480 concept of calling that most of us have is that 0:25:59.480 --> 0:26:01.720 you're going to go on a forty day fast in 0:26:01.760 --> 0:26:04.360 the Holy Land, and God's gonna speak to you when 0:26:04.400 --> 0:26:07.000 you walk where Jesus walked and the Sea of Galilee. 0:26:07.119 --> 0:26:08.720 But the Lord is not gonna speak to you on 0:26:08.760 --> 0:26:11.160 the Sea of Galilee from a voice on the water. 0:26:11.359 --> 0:26:13.360 He's gonna speak to you. And I know you don't 0:26:13.400 --> 0:26:15.560 want to hear it because it's sexy to thing that 0:26:15.680 --> 0:26:18.760 someday there's gonna be a voice that speaks from heaven. 0:26:18.920 --> 0:26:22.320 It's not gonna be like that. It's gonna sound like Eli. 0:26:25.400 --> 0:26:30.720 It's gonna sound like Eli. And it is through Eli 0:26:31.119 --> 0:26:38.120 that God calls Samuel Eli. This isn't Billy Graham. This 0:26:38.200 --> 0:26:41.080 is the dude who blew it. And this is how 0:26:41.080 --> 0:26:44.280 bad he blew it. Watch what ultimately happens when Samuel 0:26:44.320 --> 0:26:49.480 laughter three times? Everybody say three times? How many times 0:26:49.480 --> 0:26:51.560 do I have to tell you? One time, Holly, she 0:26:51.640 --> 0:26:53.520 loses her temper with our kids a lot. Y'all pray 0:26:53.560 --> 0:26:57.600 for her. It's kiddy. It's a very patient mom. But 0:26:57.640 --> 0:26:59.440 one time she was so mad at Elijah. He was 0:26:59.480 --> 0:27:02.840 only about or She said, how many times do I 0:27:02.880 --> 0:27:04.680 have to tell you? You You? Got this real fear look 0:27:04.680 --> 0:27:12.439 in his eyes, He goes three times. Look at the 0:27:12.640 --> 0:27:16.640 verse eight again a third time. How many are glad 0:27:16.680 --> 0:27:21.439 that God has called waiting that God will call you again? 0:27:21.920 --> 0:27:25.720 Ask Jonah. Jonah wasn't even a talented preacher. He didn't 0:27:25.760 --> 0:27:29.440 have funny stories, he didn't have good charisma, he didn't 0:27:29.440 --> 0:27:33.560 even like people. But God used him because when God 0:27:33.720 --> 0:27:37.280 calls you, he will call back. You know how there 0:27:37.280 --> 0:27:39.240 are some people when you call them, you have to 0:27:39.280 --> 0:27:41.639 call them, and so you're secretly hoping you get their 0:27:41.720 --> 0:27:44.480 voicemail because you really don't want to talk to them anyway. 0:27:44.760 --> 0:27:46.800 Some of you think God is like that, like he 0:27:46.880 --> 0:27:49.439 really wants someone else and he's really glad that he 0:27:49.480 --> 0:27:52.080 doesn't have to deal with you. But God wants you. 0:27:52.480 --> 0:27:56.200 God wants you. God shows you. God put the genetics 0:27:56.240 --> 0:27:59.240 in you, the DNA in you, the passion in you, 0:27:59.480 --> 0:28:02.720 the opportunit unity is for you. What God has for you, 0:28:03.080 --> 0:28:05.320 it is for you. That's why you don't have to 0:28:05.359 --> 0:28:09.000 be jealous, insecure, bitter, resentful. That's why you don't have 0:28:09.080 --> 0:28:11.680 to get back. That's why you don't have to take revenge, 0:28:11.880 --> 0:28:18.800 because what God has for you is for you. Y'all awake, 0:28:20.359 --> 0:28:27.080 Somebody shout here I am. And that was really the answer, 0:28:28.920 --> 0:28:32.199 because it's not only the culture that confuses us in 0:28:32.280 --> 0:28:38.840 our calling. It's not only our contacts sometimes, but it's 0:28:39.400 --> 0:28:45.480 the conflict of calling. The conflict of calling is great 0:28:46.760 --> 0:28:52.040 on an internal and an external level. Now what Samuel 0:28:52.080 --> 0:28:55.360 did next, What a beautiful little story right to show 0:28:55.440 --> 0:29:01.200 us that God repeats things one way I know he's speaking. 0:29:01.680 --> 0:29:03.960 You ever notice this when God is trying to get 0:29:03.960 --> 0:29:06.080 your attention. It's kind of like when you're shopping for 0:29:06.080 --> 0:29:10.720 a certain car and you start seeing them everywhere. When 0:29:10.720 --> 0:29:12.480 God wants to get a message across to you, he'll 0:29:12.520 --> 0:29:16.400 he'll put you in the market for it, and you 0:29:16.480 --> 0:29:19.280 never even looked at anybody else's beats. But now you're like, well, 0:29:19.280 --> 0:29:21.040 what's that one? How's that one different than that one? 0:29:21.080 --> 0:29:23.880 And this one and the other one? Because I'm in 0:29:23.920 --> 0:29:25.760 the market for God. When you get in the market 0:29:25.760 --> 0:29:29.280 for God, you start noticing that He's He's been speaking 0:29:29.320 --> 0:29:34.480 all along, just like just like there was there was confirmation. 0:29:35.000 --> 0:29:36.920 I didn't have time to put this word in the sermon. 0:29:36.960 --> 0:29:38.400 It starts with the letter see, so it could be 0:29:38.440 --> 0:29:41.960 a bonus point confirmation God. God will speak something over here, 0:29:42.000 --> 0:29:44.360 over here, over here, and you'll start noticing it. You'll 0:29:44.400 --> 0:29:46.960 start noticing little things, and then it'll you hear it 0:29:46.960 --> 0:29:48.920 in the sermon, and then you hear it in a movie, 0:29:49.040 --> 0:29:50.680 and then you hear it in a song, and then 0:29:50.680 --> 0:29:52.360 you hear it you see it on somebody's the back 0:29:52.360 --> 0:29:54.800 of their window, and then you hear it through your 0:29:54.880 --> 0:29:56.959 your husband, and then you hear it through and you 0:29:57.000 --> 0:29:59.200 just see it and just hear it, and you start 0:29:59.200 --> 0:30:01.560 seeing it and you start and then you have to discern, 0:30:01.640 --> 0:30:04.360 which is to separate. That's what Eli did. He discerned 0:30:04.400 --> 0:30:07.160 the Hebrew word is being. He discerned, he separated, He 0:30:07.160 --> 0:30:09.800 made a distinction. He had a discernment to know. This 0:30:10.000 --> 0:30:14.920 is the Lord calling the boy. So he said, when 0:30:15.320 --> 0:30:17.760 it happens again, and this is the word of the 0:30:17.760 --> 0:30:21.080 Lord for you when it happens again. When it happens again, 0:30:21.160 --> 0:30:25.280 if it happens again, just say speak Lord. Your servant 0:30:25.360 --> 0:30:28.800 is listening, and I want to show you something that 0:30:28.840 --> 0:30:33.160 the Lord. Just show me. His greatest revelation happened in rest. 0:30:39.000 --> 0:30:43.560 Eli didn't say, Oh, that may be God. You better 0:30:43.840 --> 0:30:46.760 run out and catch him before he leaves. Well, if 0:30:46.800 --> 0:30:49.640 God spoke to you, better chase him down. No, if 0:30:49.680 --> 0:30:52.520 it was God's speaking, he'll come back. All you got 0:30:52.560 --> 0:30:55.520 to do is be in position for it. That's all 0:30:55.560 --> 0:30:58.400 you've got to do. You don't have to find it, 0:30:58.400 --> 0:31:01.840 it'll find you. Trust me. God is not playing hide 0:31:01.840 --> 0:31:05.400 and seek in the Tabernacle. God is not running around 0:31:05.400 --> 0:31:09.040 the tent. Ha haha. If I hide behind this table 0:31:09.040 --> 0:31:18.480 of showbred, Samuel will never find me back here. God's 0:31:18.520 --> 0:31:22.000 not hiding behind the labor you know, He's not hiding. 0:31:23.240 --> 0:31:26.160 And even though God is always moving, he's never hiding. 0:31:27.320 --> 0:31:29.400 That's what the Tabernacle was was a portable structure, and 0:31:29.400 --> 0:31:30.880 they set it up in the wilderness because they never 0:31:30.960 --> 0:31:32.640 knew when God was going to say stop, and when 0:31:32.680 --> 0:31:35.600 God was going to stay go. Why Because God does 0:31:35.640 --> 0:31:38.280 not want you to depend on his will. He wants 0:31:38.320 --> 0:31:41.600 you to depend on him. There's a difference. One is God, 0:31:41.680 --> 0:31:43.440 just show me what to do. That way I won't 0:31:43.560 --> 0:31:46.760 need you. The other one is God, I want you 0:31:47.080 --> 0:31:50.240 wherever you lead me, wherever you take me, whatever it means, 0:31:50.440 --> 0:31:57.160 whatever it costs, and whatever it looks like. But here's 0:31:57.200 --> 0:32:01.680 the conflict. Because Samuel goes in and he lays down 0:32:04.080 --> 0:32:07.600 Bible says he didn't know the Lord yet he knew. 0:32:08.240 --> 0:32:11.000 He knew how to bake the bread in the tabernacle, 0:32:11.040 --> 0:32:12.400 that was his job. He knew how to open the 0:32:12.720 --> 0:32:15.840 doors so people could come worship. He knew how to 0:32:15.880 --> 0:32:17.760 follow Eli around and get me this and get me that. 0:32:19.320 --> 0:32:22.600 But there's a big difference between the rituals of religion 0:32:23.280 --> 0:32:29.040 and a relationship with God. And if you're going through 0:32:29.080 --> 0:32:34.360 the motions, like you know, singing songs, not really thinking 0:32:34.400 --> 0:32:36.200 about the words, just kind of singing them, or just 0:32:36.280 --> 0:32:39.880 kind of like hearing little forgettable things that I say 0:32:39.880 --> 0:32:42.680 in my sermon that you know, you won't even remember 0:32:43.120 --> 0:32:48.960 what it was about fifteen minutes after I'm done. It's 0:32:49.040 --> 0:32:54.280 possible that you don't know the Lord yet. I don't 0:32:54.320 --> 0:32:57.239 mean you're not a Christian, not necessarily. I don't mean 0:32:57.280 --> 0:33:01.160 you don't believe in God. Don't mean not necessarily. But 0:33:01.200 --> 0:33:06.080 to know Him is to know his voice. And when 0:33:06.080 --> 0:33:09.600 you know him like that, you can hear things that 0:33:09.640 --> 0:33:13.280 are hard to hear. But you can know that even 0:33:13.320 --> 0:33:15.760 when he says things that are hard for you to hear, 0:33:16.960 --> 0:33:21.440 he says them from a spirit of love, grace purpose. 0:33:23.840 --> 0:33:30.600 One of my friends is a real overtext. I can't 0:33:30.680 --> 0:33:34.360 keep up with him, and I love him, but my 0:33:34.400 --> 0:33:37.800 thumb's hurt and I can't do it. And I don't 0:33:37.880 --> 0:33:40.440 voice text because it's annoying because it corrects the wrong 0:33:40.520 --> 0:33:42.240 words the wrong way, and you can get in trouble 0:33:42.280 --> 0:33:44.120 that way and say something you didn't mean to say, 0:33:44.680 --> 0:33:47.120 end up firing somebody you meant to hire. But it changes. 0:33:47.160 --> 0:33:51.160 It doesn't know because your voice anyway. One time he 0:33:51.200 --> 0:33:54.240 texted me, he said, how come our conversation is all 0:33:54.280 --> 0:33:59.520 gray on iPhone? When they text you, it's gray, when 0:33:59.560 --> 0:34:03.720 you text is blue. When he said that, I wondered 0:34:03.760 --> 0:34:09.360 if sometimes my relationship with God is all gray to 0:34:09.400 --> 0:34:14.080 where he is speaking and he is prompting and he 0:34:14.160 --> 0:34:19.720 is provoking. But God can speak, speak speak. Three times 0:34:19.760 --> 0:34:22.239 he did it. God didn't say anything different the third 0:34:22.280 --> 0:34:27.000 time except this when he said, speak Lord, your servant 0:34:27.040 --> 0:34:30.640 is listening, and he laid down in his place. I 0:34:30.680 --> 0:34:32.520 got to hit that real quick. I know we're running 0:34:32.520 --> 0:34:36.680 out of time, but it says Samuel went and laid 0:34:36.719 --> 0:34:39.440 down in his place. That's first nine. Put it up. 0:34:39.680 --> 0:34:44.200 Samuel went and lay down in his place, in his place, 0:34:44.880 --> 0:34:48.680 in his place. You will realize God's purpose when you 0:34:48.840 --> 0:34:51.719 get in your place, Touch somebody next to you, and 0:34:51.760 --> 0:34:55.200 say get in your place, because if God is dropping 0:34:55.239 --> 0:34:57.560 off the mail but you're not home, you won't get it, 0:34:57.920 --> 0:34:59.640 and you'll think he didn't send it, and you'll think 0:34:59.680 --> 0:35:02.560 he didn't speak. But I learned something with my friend. 0:35:02.840 --> 0:35:05.960 It was it was not just the conflict of the calling. 0:35:06.239 --> 0:35:09.440 It was the color. It was all gray. But the 0:35:09.520 --> 0:35:14.200 breakthrough is in the blue. It's not just when God speaks. 0:35:14.640 --> 0:35:17.320 It's when you get in your place and say, God, 0:35:17.680 --> 0:35:20.799 here I am the real me, the honest me, the 0:35:20.880 --> 0:35:24.120 open me, the ready me, the humble me, the broken 0:35:24.160 --> 0:35:26.560 down me, the me that is ready to do your will. 0:35:26.600 --> 0:35:28.640 Because I've done my will and I saw how that 0:35:28.719 --> 0:35:31.560 worked out, and I'm ready to do your will. That's 0:35:31.600 --> 0:35:34.640 what Isaiah said. He said, I'm an unclean man with 0:35:34.840 --> 0:35:37.799 unclean lips. But if you'll take that coal and touch 0:35:37.880 --> 0:35:41.360 my lips, I'll speak for you. Because Holy, Holy, Holy 0:35:41.719 --> 0:35:45.120 is the Lord God Almighty. So here I am. I'll go. 0:35:45.520 --> 0:35:48.279 Moses stood at a bush. He turned aside, took off 0:35:48.320 --> 0:35:51.160 his shoes and said, God, I'm slow of speech, I'm 0:35:51.160 --> 0:35:53.480 not eloquent, and you saw the things I did that 0:35:53.600 --> 0:35:56.520 put me in this predicament. But if it's you calling here, 0:35:56.600 --> 0:36:00.600 I am somebody shout here. I am Jeremiah. I'm too 0:36:00.640 --> 0:36:03.279 young for this, and your people are stubborn and you 0:36:03.360 --> 0:36:05.760 know they're not gonna listen. But if it's you calling 0:36:05.840 --> 0:36:09.759 me here, I am somebody shout here. I am. And 0:36:09.800 --> 0:36:12.640 the reason I'm confused about my calling is because I 0:36:12.680 --> 0:36:19.160 don't just have one. This is what I didn't know 0:36:19.239 --> 0:36:23.359 in my twenties because I felt like God called me 0:36:23.400 --> 0:36:25.279 to preach you. I felt like God called you to 0:36:25.280 --> 0:36:27.640 do something, put you somewhere. I mean, maybe it wasn't 0:36:27.640 --> 0:36:30.840 something big spectacular. Maybe you're not gonna do a halftime 0:36:30.880 --> 0:36:33.560 show at the super Bowl with it, but God called 0:36:33.560 --> 0:36:35.640 you to do something. I just saw your Patriots gear 0:36:35.680 --> 0:36:37.600 made me think of the super Bowl. God bless you man. 0:36:37.600 --> 0:36:39.680 Congratulations on that. I hope you're happy. Now. How many 0:36:39.760 --> 0:36:41.160 is it gonna take for you guys to shut up 0:36:41.200 --> 0:36:43.680 about it? But there's a there's a blessing in it. 0:36:45.080 --> 0:36:47.000 There's a blessing in it, even if it's a small thing. 0:36:47.040 --> 0:36:48.600 And you say, Okay, God called me to do this. 0:36:48.680 --> 0:36:51.000 But then what happens is, look, I was called to preach, right, 0:36:51.000 --> 0:36:52.839 so I start preaching. I start going on preaching. I'm 0:36:52.880 --> 0:36:54.960 preaching everywhere, preaching everywhere they asked me to come preaching. 0:36:54.960 --> 0:36:56.800 I'm preaching at the lock in I appreach. So I 0:36:56.880 --> 0:36:58.799 preached some one time, so late at the night. It 0:36:58.840 --> 0:37:01.200 was three am, and I had this sermon illustration where 0:37:01.200 --> 0:37:03.200 I would take a mirror and I'd break the mirror, 0:37:03.239 --> 0:37:05.840 and I preach Genesis one twenty six about the image 0:37:05.880 --> 0:37:08.120 of God. And Holly can tell you we knew where 0:37:08.120 --> 0:37:10.520 the mirrors were in every walmart in the state of 0:37:10.520 --> 0:37:12.759 South Carolina, because every time we get to a new 0:37:12.760 --> 0:37:14.920 little town to preach the fifteen kids, I'd go in 0:37:14.960 --> 0:37:16.400 and get a mirror and then I'd break it with 0:37:16.440 --> 0:37:18.520 a hammer, and I say, this is what send us 0:37:18.560 --> 0:37:21.360 to you, you know, put the condemnation on the young people. 0:37:21.800 --> 0:37:24.239 Just put it on them. Are breaking mirrors. And one 0:37:24.239 --> 0:37:26.719 boy went to the emergency room because the glass flew 0:37:26.800 --> 0:37:28.319 up and hit him in the eye. And I had 0:37:28.320 --> 0:37:30.520 to call his parents and tell him not to sue me. 0:37:30.640 --> 0:37:32.680 I'm a man of God and I got a ministry, 0:37:32.800 --> 0:37:34.840 and if you assume me, God's gonna curse you and 0:37:34.920 --> 0:37:37.080 make you. But I didn't say that, but I was 0:37:37.160 --> 0:37:40.120 running around preaching. Right, But then I married Holly and 0:37:40.200 --> 0:37:44.120 I realized I'm called to be her husband too. Come on, 0:37:44.200 --> 0:37:49.960 it's the conflict of calling. It's complicated. You can make 0:37:49.960 --> 0:37:53.760 it sound sup. Well, find your calling which one? Because 0:37:53.800 --> 0:37:56.760 then I was called to be a preacher and a husband, 0:37:57.880 --> 0:38:01.800 and sometimes they needed different techniques. What if I walked home, 0:38:02.040 --> 0:38:04.799 I said, Holly, give him a seal of praise. It's 0:38:04.880 --> 0:38:13.680 different callings. That's three people, just I guess it just does. 0:38:19.320 --> 0:38:22.400 And then by the time I'm getting these callings, you know, 0:38:22.440 --> 0:38:24.280 I got how many? You got at least two callings 0:38:24.280 --> 0:38:26.319 in your life, at least two things that you're responsible for, 0:38:26.600 --> 0:38:30.959 and they're in conflict. Sometimes Here she comes pregnant four 0:38:31.040 --> 0:38:34.520 years into marriage. Here she turns up pregnant. Now I'm 0:38:34.560 --> 0:38:40.440 called to be a parent. Now I'm called to you 0:38:40.520 --> 0:38:43.600 feel like you're not just putting on different hats, but 0:38:43.719 --> 0:38:48.480 you actually have like different heads. I read that in 0:38:48.480 --> 0:38:50.279 that Sitser book, The Will of God is a way 0:38:50.320 --> 0:38:52.200 of life. He said. I felt like I didn't just 0:38:52.239 --> 0:38:56.319 have different hats, I had different heads. And this is 0:38:56.360 --> 0:39:02.760 the conflict of calling. But the answer is allays availability, 0:39:04.400 --> 0:39:10.840 presence access. When he said speak Lord, your servant is listening. 0:39:11.760 --> 0:39:16.200 It created access not only for God's work to come 0:39:16.239 --> 0:39:19.719 to him, but for God's work to come through him. 0:39:21.760 --> 0:39:25.399 And what God said was difficult. He said, I'm transitioning. 0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:29.799 Not only am I transitioning you from an apprentice to 0:39:29.880 --> 0:39:31.759 a priest, from a priest to a prophet, but I'm 0:39:31.760 --> 0:39:34.880 transitioning Eli and his Son's out of the earth so 0:39:34.920 --> 0:39:39.680 that my purpose can be fulfilled. I'm transitioning. I'm transitioning, 0:39:39.800 --> 0:39:41.800 and you're gonna have to go through a difficult transition 0:39:41.960 --> 0:39:44.520 right now. But by the time we get to First 0:39:44.560 --> 0:39:51.000 Samuel four, verse one, the Bible says that Samuelil's word 0:39:51.920 --> 0:39:54.920 came to all Israel. I was curious why I didn't 0:39:54.920 --> 0:40:00.520 say God's word through Samuel. But by this point in 0:40:00.680 --> 0:40:05.360 First Samuel four, because Samuel said, here I am speak Lord, 0:40:06.120 --> 0:40:08.680 we have now gone from the word of the Lord 0:40:08.920 --> 0:40:13.520 was rare to the word of Samuel came to all 0:40:13.640 --> 0:40:17.520 Israel because he had gotten to a point where he 0:40:17.520 --> 0:40:20.760 heard God's voice on the level that when he spoke, 0:40:21.640 --> 0:40:25.680 what he spoke came directly from the throne of God. 0:40:27.000 --> 0:40:29.840 God wants to get us to the place where we 0:40:29.920 --> 0:40:33.000 are not running around all the time talking about what 0:40:33.120 --> 0:40:36.920 we're gonna do one day. Some of you are using 0:40:37.640 --> 0:40:41.400 the concept of a calling as a crutch to not 0:40:41.600 --> 0:40:44.279 fully embrace the season of life that you're in, and 0:40:44.320 --> 0:40:47.480 that is not the will of God for you. And 0:40:47.520 --> 0:40:49.480 you may be called to be a mom one day, 0:40:49.480 --> 0:40:51.960 but if you're not a mom right now, can you say, 0:40:51.960 --> 0:40:54.400 here I am to this season. And you may be 0:40:54.520 --> 0:40:56.839 called to own your own business one day, but can 0:40:56.880 --> 0:40:59.759 I just say that in the meantime, the only thing 0:40:59.800 --> 0:41:03.239 that God has ever wanted from you was all of you. 0:41:03.680 --> 0:41:06.520 The only thing that God has ever asked of you 0:41:07.160 --> 0:41:10.640 is here I am. It's what Jeremiah said, It's what 0:41:10.760 --> 0:41:14.840 Moses said, It's what Isaiah said, it's what Samuel said. 0:41:15.400 --> 0:41:19.560 And when he made himself available, the word of God 0:41:19.640 --> 0:41:24.600 became abundant. I want you to stand to your feet, 0:41:24.960 --> 0:41:30.120 because God has been speaking your whole life. He's speaking 0:41:30.200 --> 0:41:36.480 through hard things. He's been speaking through painful things. He's 0:41:36.520 --> 0:41:41.600 been speaking through pleasure, passion, he's been speaking through rejection, 0:41:42.520 --> 0:41:47.880 he's been speaking through restlessness. It wasn't that God wasn't speaking, 0:41:48.920 --> 0:41:52.160 is that the people had lost their ability to listen. 0:41:52.960 --> 0:41:56.400 And so God said to Samuel, before you can speak 0:41:56.440 --> 0:42:00.879 for me, I need you to learn to listen. This 0:42:00.960 --> 0:42:03.360 is what God wants to find tune in our lives 0:42:03.800 --> 0:42:06.879 over the next few weeks. This is what God wants 0:42:06.920 --> 0:42:09.240 to do in your heart over the next few weeks, 0:42:09.239 --> 0:42:12.520 because honestly, some of you are still running to Eli 0:42:12.600 --> 0:42:18.160 when it's really God. Some of you are running trying 0:42:18.200 --> 0:42:21.200 to find something out there when God is trying to 0:42:21.239 --> 0:42:25.920 speak to you in your place. That's what got me 0:42:26.000 --> 0:42:28.000 this time, because I didn't preach that last night, but 0:42:28.080 --> 0:42:31.360 when I was speaking to you, God was speaking to me, 0:42:31.680 --> 0:42:34.239 and I try to listen, and he said, tell him 0:42:34.440 --> 0:42:37.920 stay in your place. Samuel didn't wake up that morning 0:42:38.000 --> 0:42:41.399 looking for a calling. And maybe that's the problem with us, 0:42:42.480 --> 0:42:45.680 Maybe that we've made this thing about calling and what 0:42:45.719 --> 0:42:48.520 God has for my life. What if what God has 0:42:48.520 --> 0:42:56.719 called you to first and foremost is himself. Wouldn't that 0:42:56.760 --> 0:43:03.239 set you free? That the will of God is not 0:43:03.960 --> 0:43:07.440 which job, The will of God is not which school 0:43:07.520 --> 0:43:10.440 you put your kids in. My God. I was talking 0:43:10.440 --> 0:43:12.000 to Buck the other day. One thing I love about 0:43:12.000 --> 0:43:14.960 Monk's Corner better than Charlotte. There was two schools you 0:43:15.000 --> 0:43:19.960 could go to. There was just two. It was the 0:43:19.960 --> 0:43:23.080 public one and the one that everybody that smoked weed 0:43:23.120 --> 0:43:25.680 at the public one got sent to the Christian school. 0:43:29.680 --> 0:43:33.480 But listen to me. We've made the will of God 0:43:33.520 --> 0:43:37.120 a resource. It's not a resource. It's a relationship. It's 0:43:37.160 --> 0:43:45.239 a relationship. It's a relationship. So I want us to 0:43:45.280 --> 0:43:49.800 go through this next several weeks not looking for clarity, certainty, 0:43:50.480 --> 0:43:53.840 but confidence to know that if I will make myself 0:43:53.880 --> 0:44:00.640 available to this calling in this moment, his speak, he 0:44:01.360 --> 0:44:07.240 will speak. Question is will you respond? What I've learned 0:44:07.239 --> 0:44:11.680 to do now is not necessarily say this is God 0:44:12.280 --> 0:44:15.359 or this isn't God. I got this new thing. It 0:44:15.400 --> 0:44:19.600 may be God. I don't know. Only way for me 0:44:19.640 --> 0:44:22.840 to find out, The only way I can experience the 0:44:22.880 --> 0:44:27.840 breakthrough is in the blue. So speak, Lord, I'm listening. 0:44:28.880 --> 0:44:30.640 Say that to your life, say that to your pain, 0:44:32.000 --> 0:44:34.120 Say that to what you think was your mistake. You 0:44:34.160 --> 0:44:39.080 know what your mistake may be, God, he may. I'm 0:44:39.080 --> 0:44:41.439 gonna show you that next week. That's my sermon. Next week. 0:44:41.480 --> 0:44:44.040 I am going to show you next week how your 0:44:44.200 --> 0:44:50.960 mistakes are miracles in disguise, in disguise, the presence of 0:44:50.960 --> 0:44:53.720 the Lord is in this place. Would you lift your hands. 0:44:53.719 --> 0:44:56.080 God is here. Father. I thank you for the word 0:44:56.120 --> 0:45:00.160 that came forth today. We receive it. Somebody say I 0:45:00.200 --> 0:45:04.000 receive it. Quit sitting there with your lips just puckered up, 0:45:04.080 --> 0:45:07.000 just stressed out, open your mouth and say, I receive it. Lord. 0:45:08.160 --> 0:45:11.160 Everything that you're doing in my life, everything that you're 0:45:11.200 --> 0:45:13.160 calling me to be, all the things that you're doing 0:45:13.160 --> 0:45:15.640 that aren't really about me. Lord, I don't want to 0:45:15.680 --> 0:45:19.960 be self centered and just self consumed. I thank you 0:45:20.040 --> 0:45:23.080 that the wind of your spirit is blowing. So I 0:45:23.160 --> 0:45:26.799 set my sales on this new series. God, I'm not 0:45:26.880 --> 0:45:29.319 asking you just to speak to me. I'm asking you 0:45:29.360 --> 0:45:31.760 to open my eyes to see you in my ears, 0:45:31.840 --> 0:45:35.240 to hear you. Open the eyes of my heart, open 0:45:35.280 --> 0:45:39.640 my understanding, open my will to your will, and your 0:45:39.800 --> 0:45:46.440 will be done in my life. Thank you for your presence, 0:45:47.719 --> 0:45:53.120 Thank you for your purpose, Thank you for your provision. 0:45:54.880 --> 0:45:58.840 Lift your hands high as you can say, speak Lord, 0:46:00.760 --> 0:46:05.759 say it out loud, to speak Lord. I'm listening. I'm 0:46:05.760 --> 0:46:08.480 gonna listen to my life. This week, I'm gonna listen 0:46:08.600 --> 0:46:13.160 to I'm gonna listen to the still small voice this week. 0:46:13.320 --> 0:46:15.399 Too much noise, too much noise. Word of the Lord 0:46:15.480 --> 0:46:17.680 is rare when the Lord of the word becomes common. 0:46:18.480 --> 0:46:20.560 I'm gonna look for you this week. I'm gonna find you. 0:46:21.320 --> 0:46:27.759 I'm gonna seek you, seeking you fine. Thank you for 0:46:27.880 --> 0:46:30.439 joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give 0:46:30.520 --> 0:46:33.360 generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this 0:46:33.480 --> 0:46:36.319 ministry is possible. You can click the link in the 0:46:36.360 --> 0:46:40.720 description to give now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash 0:46:40.800 --> 0:46:44.080 podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, 0:46:44.360 --> 0:46:47.080 you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. 0:46:47.360 --> 0:46:49.640 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:46:49.680 --> 0:46:51.799 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:46:51.840 --> 0:46:59.400 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.