I'm Still Scared

0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.439 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:06.920 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:10.280 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:12.360 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.880 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:23.880 If He walk you up this morning, give him praise. Hallelujah. 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.319 Isn't it good to be together? However we have to 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:30.240 get together. Let's just let's keep coming together, you know, 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:34.360 forsake not the assembly of ourselves together. And it's a 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.040 difficult time to do that. But you know, when that 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.120 Bible verse was written, they were being persecuted for their faith, 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.000 cast out of their community. And so I'm just so 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:46.040 grateful that we live in a time where God has 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:50.000 enabled us to share the message with you. And I'm excited. 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:54.160 I'm excited to share God's word today, honestly, sincerely, not 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.560 in that preacher kind of way. Oh, I'm excited to 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.319 share the you know, not in a formal way. I 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:02.920 really really have something today that I want to share 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:05.520 with you, and I pray that God would enable me 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:07.720 to speak it. Of course, I want to do a 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:11.960 few shout outs real quick before we transition. If I 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:13.320 would have known we were going to break it down 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.760 like that, I wouldn't have worn this flannel it is. 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:22.039 I'm starting to sweat up your praise the Lord. Where 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.759 are you coming from today? I know church is coming 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.880 to you. You aren't coming to church today, but church 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:32.000 is coming to you. Somebody, tell me where you're watching 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:38.840 from today? Okay, I see somebody from northeast Pennsylvania. Tell 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.399 me your name, your first name, or what your friends 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:45.800 call you, because we're going to be friends, all right, 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:50.680 we be friends. And tell me where you're watching from, 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:56.040 your first name or your nickname if it's appropriate, and 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:57.880 where you're watching from. And if it's hard to say, 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:00.000 give me a pronunciation God, because I'm really bad at that. 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:02.760 I'm trying to get through this, but it's coming really fast. 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:07.480 I see Hong Kong, Jamaica, the UK, Boston, India, London. 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:09.720 Even if you're watching this later, put it in the 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:11.920 comments because I'll go through and read all of them, 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.760 and when i'm bored, it'll give me something to pray for. 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:16.800 I can pray for you, I can look at your 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:19.359 name and pray for you. And I know where you're from, 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:26.480 that'd be cool. Michigan, Oklahoma, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Romania. 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:35.120 You know this always amazes me. Brazil, Dubai, Jeremy, Jeremy Jeremy. 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:42.079 Isn't that a pearl Jen song? Let's see we got 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:46.200 Todd from Orlando. Heybody, do me a favor. I want 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:51.080 you to say Happy birthday to Chunks. Corbin. He goes 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:55.800 by Chunks and he's not overweight. That's the thing about it. 0:02:55.840 --> 0:03:00.880 He's really He turned forty three today. He was walking 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:04.160 around like he's in seventy seven, though he said it's 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:09.679 mohoo flexer. But everybody say Happy birthday, Chunks because it's 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.079 holly Amy and Chunks are out here. Of course, we 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.880 don't have a lot of people here. I think it's 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:17.960 responsible for us to have as few people as possible. 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:19.840 But I just want to put some people that I 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.080 loved in the room, just to remember that we're not alone. 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:24.560 So Happy birthday, Chunks. They're saying it from all over 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:28.120 the world. I wish you could see it. Wow, this 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.240 is more people than lived in Fernandina Beach where you 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:33.440 grew up, just saying happy birthday. Are you watching it? 0:03:33.840 --> 0:03:36.720 Happy Birthday? Man, Come on, I'm not going to sing 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:41.280 it to you. Chunks. You still got joy even though 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:46.360 you got an aching back and aching knees, torn rotator cuff. 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.040 But you still got joy because the world didn't give it. 0:03:51.280 --> 0:04:01.760 What kind of joy? Oh, that's Bible joy, Chris, Yes, joy, 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:14.120 not like endorphins, but joy. That kind of joy, joyous joy. 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:24.760 I still got joys, full of joy, joy speaking full 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:30.000 of Lord Joy. Father, we thank you for your love. 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.679 We thank you for your mercy, the things that can't 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:37.960 be changed and will never be taken away. I pray 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:40.760 for all of these who are gathered today, just even 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.560 closer than if they were in the building. Lord, I 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.760 thank you that the voice of your word is reaching 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.480 right now to all of these men and women, Desiree 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.120 and Ronda and Sean and Belinda and Bill and Dennis 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:56.279 and Shelley in Singapore and in Canada. I thank you 0:04:56.320 --> 0:05:00.000 that your joy is reaching right now. We will rejoice 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:02.920 you and boast in you and trust in you in 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:07.960 this time in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if you're allowed 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:09.880 to hug the person that you're with, go ahead and 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:13.920 give them a big hog, and let's get into the 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:19.760 word of God. Thank you Jesus. Wow. Hey, I'm still 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.440 getting used to this. This is still very new to me, 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:27.640 like preaching to just empty seats. But it's kind of 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:33.080 cool because obviously there's more people running cameras today than 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:37.599 when I started preaching. And one cool thing about going 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:40.800 through something that feels new is it makes you access 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.840 something that you may have started to take for granted, 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.120 like little things. You know, you find yourself grateful for 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:52.680 little things. And you know, there's probably a lot of 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.239 us who are getting in touch with some things inside 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:59.520 of ourselves during this time, more, maybe more than we want. 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:02.560 Is like, oh, I just don't want to be alone 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:06.200 with myself, and I'm kind of I'm kind of cool 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.200 with not having to be around too many people right now. 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:11.320 And I don't say that in a flippant way. I 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.320 know that it's a very serious situation in our world. 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.360 But I was telling my friend the other day, I've 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:19.520 been I've been trying to find a way to stop 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:21.520 hugging people for a couple of years. I don't like 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:24.160 I don't like hugging anymore. I used to like hugging, 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:26.360 and now only like the hug people with the last 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.240 name Verdict and so I've been looking for a way 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.440 out for years, so that part kind of suits me. 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:34.880 And but of course one of the things that you 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:37.039 really have to get used to is the contrast. Like 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:40.080 this right here is a contrast. When I preached last 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.839 week and I came off of the stage because remember, like, 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.320 there's nobody out here, So I'm just looking at empty 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.920 seats and I have a screen with YouTube comments that's 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:54.239 scrolling from A Penny and South Africa and Cape Town 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:58.039 and Derek from South Carolina. And while all this is happening, 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:02.200 you know, I'm just preaching to I'm not saying you're nobody, 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:04.279 but it's not that many people out here. Of course, 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:07.320 Holly's out here, and one Holly is worth a million 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:13.120 other people. And so I'm just working on my afternoon 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:18.040 quarantine plans right now, starting early. But you know, aside 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.600 from just having our amazing worship team and what a 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:23.720 beautiful time that was in God's presence, today, I'm not 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.800 seeing anyone. So when I got off the stage last week, 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:33.120 in a way it was disorienting because one of our 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:36.280 staff members was asking me, what did that feel like, 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.360 and I said, it felt weird, But in a way 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:46.960 it felt familiar because you know, when I started preaching, 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:51.400 I would preach like there would be three kids, three 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:54.200 seventh grade kids. You know, this is how I started. 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:56.520 And I would just come out and preach, but I 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:00.720 would try to preach like it was a Billy g crusade. 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:03.880 And me and Chris grew up in small towns about 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:06.600 two hours apart, and we used to play music. We 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:10.960 both had bands, and we would play music at Christian clubs. 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.760 Let me tell you what that's that's a real paradox, 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.000 right there a Christian club and we played at one. 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:19.200 I don't remember what it was called Psalm one fifty 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.440 or ps one fifty or something like that. It was 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:26.480 named after some Bible verse. And but there'd be three people, 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.280 five people, ten people was a ten people was a stadium, 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:33.200 you know. So for me, it's like it's kind of 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.240 getting back to my roots because I'm used to having 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:39.160 to close my eyes to see. You know, when I 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.880 used to preach, the kids would be like not paying 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:45.440 attention and probably because I wasn't interesting, but I would 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:49.680 have to close my eyes and just pretend, or maybe 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:51.640 it was something different than pretending. Maybe I was just 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:53.720 closing my eyes in order to have a perspective that 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:55.680 didn't come from what I saw with my natural eye. 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:57.600 And so last week it was kind of cool because 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.840 I was preaching and I was picturing people just gathered 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.120 together and need a word from God and need encouragement. 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.839 And I was picturing people that normally may not come 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.679 to church, but they need something for their soul during 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.960 this time, and there's very little other options for entertainment, 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.240 so here they come over, and I'll be picturing people 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.160 that maybe they've been drinking too much to numb the anxiety, 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:21.000 or maybe they've been fighting a lot in the house, 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:22.959 or maybe they've been lonely all by themselves. So I'm 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:25.480 preaching kind of to an empty room. But when I 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:27.880 walked off the stage, my staff member said to me, 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.280 what did it feel like to preach to the most 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:36.000 people you've ever preached to in your life? I said, 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.480 I didn't know I was doing it. He said yeah. 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.199 He said, the equivalent of who was on just at 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.400 that live service and this was just the first one 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.640 on Sunday. It was the equivalent of Bank of America 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:51.959 Stadium where the Panthers played. And he said, there were 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:55.720 so many people on that stream that it was actually spectrum, 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.480 which is where I went to see you too. That 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.800 spectrum was the overflow room. That's how many people I 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:04.720 was preaching to. And what I thought was weird was 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:08.840 the contrast between what I was seeing with my eyes 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:12.800 and what God was doing on the other side of 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.000 the screen. And what hit me about it, and what 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.280 I want to share with you about today a little bit, 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:22.520 is that God was doing the most when I was 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:27.240 seeing the least. And I want to bring a word 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:31.400 to you today about how sometimes when we see the least, 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:35.960 God does the most, even when I don't see it. 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:39.160 What were they sing in earlier? You're working even when 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:44.360 I don't feel it. You're working. No offense to Brother Leland. 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.280 I love his bridge that he put on the song, 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.559 but I would even I would even put a put a, 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:53.800 especially when I don't see it. You're working, especially doesn't 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:57.120 sing as good, especially when I don't precious stay with even, 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.680 but especially in those moments when I see the least, 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:05.880 feel the least, watch this, know the least, understand the least. 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.679 These are the spaces that God creates for revelation of 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.720 who he is. How would I know He's a waymaker? 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:15.200 If I never needed a way made. How would I 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:16.839 know he's a provider if I never had a need. 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.080 How would I know that he was resurrection if I 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.080 never experienced that. So we speak this word of the 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:24.480 Lord to you today, and I want to come from 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.600 a passage of scripture that I shared with our leaders 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.280 on Friday night. We had a gathering of just under 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:33.480 five thousand of our leaders just to encourage and strengthen 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.560 the church, and I was sharing along the lines of 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:39.719 your position for a miracle, and I'd love for you 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:42.240 to put that into chat. I mentioned it last week, 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.760 I'm positioned for a miracle, and then just put where 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.800 you're coming from. You know, if it's I see Wallyburg, 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:53.400 North Carolina. I never heard of Wallyburg, North Carolina. I'm 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:55.840 learning all kinds of stuff right now. I didn't know 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.240 there was a Wallybirg. But God is positioning me. Say 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:04.760 I'm positioned for a miracle, and that means that we 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:09.680 have to learn how to see in our spirit what 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:12.960 we cannot sense. And this is such an important skill 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.319 that I want to devote my whole sermon to it today. 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:18.400 Let me read you this story may be familiar to you, 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.040 maybe not, but just to jump right in the middle 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:28.679 of it. In tewod Kings, chapter six, verse fifteen, the 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.080 book says, when the servant of the Man of God 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:34.080 got up and went out early the next morning, an 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:39.199 army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. Now 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:40.960 what he said next is something a lot of us 0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:43.880 have been saying. Maybe we've been using different words, maybe 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.920 we've been using stronger language. But he said, oh no, 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:55.760 my lord, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:58.360 How many of young moms when you heard how long 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:03.880 they were canceling in school? Oh no, no, no, no, 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:06.680 how many of y'all when you met with your financial 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:10.679 advisor or clicked on your account, Oh no, oh no, 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:12.560 I wish I'll put that in the chat with a 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:16.080 bunch of o's, just say, oh no, I mean just 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:19.400 as many o's as your thumb can tie. And we 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.800 feel that way, you know, especially if we're if we're 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:27.360 worried about symptoms, or if we're struggling in an emotional way. 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.680 Oh no, And I love how that's right there in 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.760 the Bible. His first response, he's a servant of the 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.559 Man of God, right, But his first response wasn't praise God. 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.800 His first response was, oh no, and we want to 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.079 pretend to be real spiritual. You know, I see all 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:46.960 your prayer emojis, but you've been having some other emojis too. 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:49.960 You need to find that little devil emoji because really, 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:52.680 you know what happened to the servant in the passage. 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:54.280 And let me just take a moment to set this up. 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:55.959 You got anything else to do, I don't have anything 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:57.480 else to do. We may as well just hang out 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.199 for a little while. But he woke up to a 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.040 different world than the one he went to sleep in. 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:06.720 He woke up to a different world than the one 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:10.480 he went to sleep in, and he said, oh no. Now, 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:16.160 if you've ever woken up to a different world then 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:20.680 the one you went to sleep in, you'll understand that 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.880 it creates an impulse. Some people call it fear. I 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:31.400 just call it humanity. It's just like, oh, oh yeah, 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:34.200 if you ever lost somebody, if they ever left your 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:37.600 life suddenly, whether they died or just went away, and 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:39.440 you woke up to a different world that didn't have 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:43.120 them in it, Like maybe you remember the first time 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.120 you woke up in a world without your dad. Maybe 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:47.680 you remember the first time you woke up in a 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.680 world without a steady job. Remember the first time you 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:57.000 woke up in the world without you know, the NBA. 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.000 I remember when they started canceling everything a couple of 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:04.760 weeks ago. And I say it not in a humorous way, 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.800 but when things get canceled that you used to count on, 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:13.120 it makes you question everything. And so whether it's something 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:15.760 that we would say always entertainment or is this or 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:19.320 it's that, it's just the feeling of like, oh no, 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.920 and watch us question it gets even more specific, what 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:28.840 shall we do? Okay? So that's where you find yourself today. 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:30.960 I want to preach a message to you. What do 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:36.560 I do? What do I do? And the servant asked 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:39.560 the question, and the prophet gives the answer. In verse sixteen. 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:44.920 He says, don't be afraid. Those who are with us 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.720 are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, 0:15:48.840 --> 0:15:51.000 and we're going to get this prayer today, and we're 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.560 really going to pray it for the next seven days 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:55.920 until I see you again. In this format, we're going 0:15:56.000 --> 0:16:00.320 to pray this prayer over those that we love, and 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.800 we're going to pray this prayer over ourselves. And here's 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:04.720 the prayer. I've been putting this on all my text 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:07.760 messages because I've got business leaders in my church that 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:10.320 are like, oh no, what do we do? I've got 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:12.600 doctors in our church that are like, oh no, what 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:14.520 are we doing? I don't have the answer. So this 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:17.000 is the prayer. Okay, this is the prayer that I 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:20.520 want us to pray right about now. Open his eyes, 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:26.760 Lord that he may see, Open his eyes, Lord, that 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:30.640 he may see. Somebody put in the chat, open my eyes, 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.880 put in the comments, Open my eyes. Those of y'all 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.560 sitting on those stools behind me, say, open my eyes, 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.200 Open his eyes so that he may see. Then the 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:44.080 Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:48.160 the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:52.320 around Elisha. And you know, I love that text so much. 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.840 I love how God was protecting a servant. And I 0:16:56.880 --> 0:17:00.160 love how God was more powerful than the enemy. I 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:03.440 love how no weapon formed against us shall prosper. I 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.719 love all of that. But sometimes when you're in a 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:10.960 real situation or a circumstance, the cliches don't comfort you 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.680 very much. I didn't know what to call this message. 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:16.040 I don't know what we're going to call it when 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:18.520 we put it online. We'll figure that out later. But 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.600 I did flash back just reading this passage to the 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:25.680 other night Abby, who is our nine year old. All 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:27.199 of y'all who are part of the church, you kind 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:28.640 of know my kids. I got a nine year old, 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:33.000 twelve year old, fourteen year old. But Abby is the 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:35.399 most prone to come downstairs in the middle of the 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:36.919 night and wake us upcause she got scared. And she 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.520 came downstairs the other day and she's, you know, trembling 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.439 about something, something fell over in the bathroom. And I 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.280 wasn't quite asleep yet. If I had been totally asleep, 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:47.080 I would have done the spiritual thing and said tell 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:51.359 your mom true story. But I still wasn't asleep, so 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:53.400 I said, come here, baby, you know real good dad, 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:55.480 And I said, get up on my chest and sit here. 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:58.120 I said, what's wrong? She said, I'm scared, something fell over, 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:01.320 something's in the bathroom. I said, maybe nothing in the bathroom. 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:05.000 And besides, even if it is, you're here with me now. 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.600 I said, I feel this, and she gave me a 0:18:09.600 --> 0:18:11.680 little squeeze. Because we have this game. We played the 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:15.160 Squishy Wall, the Brickie Wall, the squishy wall, the BRICKI wall, squishy, squishy, 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:17.919 squishy wall, bricky, bricky, bricky wall. I said, feel a 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.600 bricky wall. And so she sat her life a little bit. 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:24.560 And she's still crying though, and I said, uh, there's 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:27.720 nothing in your bathroom, and even if there is, you're 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:35.280 with me now. She said, I'm still scared. I love kids. 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:37.760 I'm gonna call this message for just a minute. I'm 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:44.399 still scared because you know, while it's easy to quote 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:49.320 scriptures like don't be afraid, let's look at it for 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:54.120 a moment and take a perspective, because you know, we're 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:59.920 having a hard time even dealing with just a virus 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:04.000 right now. But this is not an invisible virus. This 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:07.760 is horses and chariots that came to get the Man 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:10.439 of God in Dothan. This is like I went to sleep. 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:13.080 We were good. I woke up, we were surrounded. I 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:15.280 went to sleep. I had a job. I woke up. 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:17.680 I didn't. I went to sleep and things were well. 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:20.160 I woke up to a different world. And he asked 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:23.080 him a question. And it's a reasonable question, right. This 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.480 is the man of God, this is the preacher, this 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.439 is the guy who speaks and God provides. This is 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.600 the guy who speaks in God's supplies. So he asked 0:19:31.600 --> 0:19:34.199 the question to the right person. He says, what do 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:36.919 we do? Now? Watch the answer that the Man of 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:42.760 God gives Elisha. He says, don't be afraid. Well, that's cute, 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:49.280 appreciate it. Thanks a lot. You know how people give 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:52.360 you advice that makes you want to slap him. Well, 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:55.560 I hadn't thought of that, And it's just it's this 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:57.879 is the time for well meaning Christians to shut up 0:19:57.880 --> 0:20:01.120 a little bit. You know, Oh, well you lost your job. 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:05.640 God will provide. That's fine in certain context. But sometimes, 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:07.960 and I want you to see how Elisha does this. 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:14.080 Sometimes it's more important what we don't do than what 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:18.960 we do do. That didn't come out exactly right, but 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:22.440 you know what I was trying to say. Sometimes sometimes 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.960 what I don't what I won't do in a season 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:30.080 where I'm uncertain, is even more important than what I do. 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:32.920 Because let's follow the text, and I really want to 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:34.840 take our time. We don't have another service coming in, 0:20:34.880 --> 0:20:36.960 so we could just we could just do this right, 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.520 put it back up. He said, what shall we do? 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:43.159 And then the prophet said, don't and this, so go 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.159 out to fifteen what shall we do? And the prophet 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:49.280 said don't? And the man said what shall we do? 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.159 And the prophet said don't. So I ask you a question, 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:58.800 what won't you do in a time where so many 0:20:58.800 --> 0:21:02.639 are desperate and and we're all kind of fearful, and 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:06.639 we all feel scared. If you're not scared right now, 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:10.960 I'm scared of you. If you're not scared right now, 0:21:11.119 --> 0:21:14.399 you are some kind of evil cyborg robi come to 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:18.639 destroy the planet, And I want you quarantined, okay, because 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:23.080 to have flesh means to feel fear. So while he's 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:25.639 wondering what does this new world that I woke up 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:28.399 to mean? And what do we do, the prophet starts 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:33.440 by saying don't. Don't. So maybe for you it goes 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:37.560 like this, Right now, I won't lash out at the 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:40.600 people closest to me because of the fear that I 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:46.520 feel about what's going on outside of me. Maybe it's 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:51.320 like that, what won't you do? What a question? Right? 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:54.800 What do we do? Well, the first thing you've got 0:21:54.840 --> 0:22:00.159 to do is decide what you won't do. So I 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:04.200 won't just make you know irrational stories up in my mind. 0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:11.000 I won't spend three hours reading conspiracy theories on Twitter 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:13.639 and then ask the Lord. Now I let me down 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:15.240 to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:18.760 You gave your soul away that day. So what I 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:22.840 won't do, what I won't do is spend time in 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:29.119 the hypothetical. What I won't do, what won't you do? 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:33.119 I would have been annoyed with the prophet. I'm just 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:36.000 being honest, you knowing, what do we do? What's the plan? Man? 0:22:36.160 --> 0:22:39.000 What is you gonna do? Fight them? There's so many 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:41.360 of them. It's just me and you, and by this time, 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:43.639 my life's just kind of old. You know, you can't fight, 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:46.320 so it's just meat versus all of them. What do 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:50.479 we do? What's the plan? What's the what's the strat, 0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:52.520 what's the What do we do? What's the deal? What 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:56.600 do we do? What to do? All? Right? Don't be 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:04.199 afraid and not working for me? Right now? How do 0:23:04.280 --> 0:23:07.800 I do that? How do I don't be afraid? I'm 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:09.480 not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. 0:23:09.520 --> 0:23:14.560 I'm not afraid. Still scared, she said, I'm still scared. 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:18.359 I know you're with me. I'm still scared. There's still 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:21.120 something in my bedroom. I'm still nine, I'm still weak, 0:23:21.240 --> 0:23:24.240 I still got bills, I'm still got to show up 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:26.560 at the grocery store and work. I still got a 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:29.800 relative who's eighty four years old who's starting to cough, 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:31.600 and I wonder will I get to see her again. 0:23:31.880 --> 0:23:38.719 I'm still scared. So why does he say, don't be afraid? Okay, 0:23:39.560 --> 0:23:42.880 I want to teach you a little bit. It's almost 0:23:42.920 --> 0:23:49.399 impossible to be strategic when you're scared. And so the 0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:52.000 first thing we have to do as people of faith. 0:23:52.240 --> 0:23:55.560 And I use that term not to mean as optimists 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:58.879 or people who believe in fairy tales, or people who 0:23:58.920 --> 0:24:02.119 float on clouds of cotton candy through the burning seas 0:24:02.160 --> 0:24:05.120 of sulfur and suffering in this world because we know Jesus. 0:24:05.119 --> 0:24:07.840 I don't mean that kind of faith. I don't mean 0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:13.000 formulate faith. I don't mean the the answer kind of faith. 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:16.639 I mean the better question kind of faith. What do 0:24:16.720 --> 0:24:22.040 we do? Okay, well, what do we don't? We don't 0:24:22.080 --> 0:24:24.960 give way to despair? Right? What good would that do? 0:24:26.119 --> 0:24:29.040 We don't? We don't. I know another thing we don't do. 0:24:30.000 --> 0:24:33.720 We don't minimize the sufferings of others. We don't do that. 0:24:35.240 --> 0:24:37.919 And how about this, y'all talk to me out there. 0:24:38.160 --> 0:24:41.159 We don't compare what somebody else is going through with 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:45.160 what we're going through. And we don't start running around 0:24:45.359 --> 0:24:47.400 just saying dumb stuff. You know what we don't do. 0:24:48.320 --> 0:24:50.760 We don't get on YouTube and comment how this is 0:24:50.800 --> 0:24:53.919 God's judgment. We don't speak about things that we don't know. 0:24:53.960 --> 0:24:57.720 That's above our pay grade. It's the judgment of God. 0:24:57.760 --> 0:25:00.240 What And somebody's mother died and you want to be 0:25:00.280 --> 0:25:03.280 some kind of closet theologian, some kind of armchair rookie, 0:25:03.320 --> 0:25:07.040 amateur theologian. Keep your day job. God is God, so 0:25:07.080 --> 0:25:09.240 I'm not gonna try to be God. That's his job. 0:25:10.280 --> 0:25:13.280 You remember Holly's story that she preached one time. She 0:25:13.400 --> 0:25:15.760 told about these boys that were fighting. This is a 0:25:15.760 --> 0:25:17.960 good quarantine story, all right, for all of y'all that's 0:25:17.960 --> 0:25:20.520 got real kids that don't have you know, halo's and 0:25:20.560 --> 0:25:23.320 harps and all that. And they fight sometimes even though 0:25:23.359 --> 0:25:25.520 you pray for him, they fight sometimes. They were fighting 0:25:25.560 --> 0:25:27.399 two brothers and if I mess it up, you can 0:25:27.520 --> 0:25:31.000 you can fix it for me. And the mom said, 0:25:31.280 --> 0:25:34.560 what are y'all fighting about, and one of them had 0:25:34.640 --> 0:25:37.159 a sandwich and wouldn't cut it in half and share it, 0:25:37.200 --> 0:25:41.320 and she said, y'all need to share. Be like Jesus. 0:25:41.440 --> 0:25:46.240 Jesus would share. And the boy that had the sandwich 0:25:46.600 --> 0:25:50.119 looked at it and he took a bite out of 0:25:50.119 --> 0:25:55.400 it and said, you be Jesus, you can share. I'm 0:25:55.400 --> 0:25:59.119 gonna take a bite. But when my wife preached that message, 0:25:59.160 --> 0:26:03.760 her message was let God be God. Let God be God. 0:26:04.440 --> 0:26:10.720 You be Jesus, you be humble, you be trusting. Jesus 0:26:10.760 --> 0:26:13.440 had a nevertheless attitude toward his relationship with his father. 0:26:13.520 --> 0:26:16.000 He was like, I don't want to go to the cross. 0:26:16.040 --> 0:26:18.160 I don't want to drink this cup. Nevertheless, not my will, 0:26:18.160 --> 0:26:22.359 but yours be done. So you be Jesus. But what 0:26:22.480 --> 0:26:26.560 I won't do in this situation is just as important 0:26:26.600 --> 0:26:30.320 as what I will do. So the Holy Spirit is 0:26:30.359 --> 0:26:33.280 on that statement right now. Reflect on it. What won't 0:26:33.320 --> 0:26:36.000 you do? What were we gonna do? What won't you do? 0:26:37.280 --> 0:26:41.159 I won't live in fear. I may feel fear, I 0:26:41.200 --> 0:26:46.879 won't live in it. I may experience sensations of fear. 0:26:48.080 --> 0:26:50.720 I felt my breath getting short the other day before 0:26:50.720 --> 0:26:53.440 I stood up to preach. Somebody asked me, how long 0:26:53.480 --> 0:26:56.639 were you preaching before you stopped feeling scared. I said, 0:26:57.119 --> 0:27:02.080 I'm still scared every time I preach. I was shaken 0:27:02.119 --> 0:27:04.560 before I came out here today. Now I know how 0:27:04.560 --> 0:27:07.679 to control my shake so you don't see it, but 0:27:07.800 --> 0:27:09.800 my hands still shaking when they're in my pockets. I 0:27:09.840 --> 0:27:14.880 mean this important to me. Somebody is discouraged, depressed, somebody's 0:27:14.920 --> 0:27:16.960 on the on the edge, and I get to preach 0:27:17.000 --> 0:27:19.600 the word like that's important to me. I don't. I 0:27:19.600 --> 0:27:21.400 don't want to be the weak link of what God 0:27:21.440 --> 0:27:23.679 wants to give to you. I don't want to come 0:27:23.720 --> 0:27:26.160 out here and miss the mark of what God wants 0:27:26.200 --> 0:27:29.480 to say. I'm still scared, but it doesn't have to 0:27:29.640 --> 0:27:32.840 stop me. So what I'm saying is not that I 0:27:32.920 --> 0:27:36.879 won't feel fear, not that I won't have questions, not 0:27:37.000 --> 0:27:39.960 that I won't Sometimes in my mind, when I'm praying prayers, 0:27:40.160 --> 0:27:43.800 I'm praying prayers that really don't even sound like prayers. 0:27:44.080 --> 0:27:46.960 I'm praying prayers like oh crap, I'm praying prayers like 0:27:47.040 --> 0:27:49.679 please God. I'm praying prayers. I'm not walking around the 0:27:49.720 --> 0:27:52.240 house all the time with my hands lifted. But I 0:27:52.320 --> 0:27:56.800 won't stop worshiping. I won't stop praising. Put it in 0:27:56.840 --> 0:28:00.160 the chat. I won't stop. I won't stop. I won't 0:28:00.480 --> 0:28:03.160 That's what I won't do. I won't stop. I won't 0:28:03.200 --> 0:28:06.520 back down. I will not give in. I will not surrender. 0:28:06.800 --> 0:28:09.080 I will not give away my joy. I will not 0:28:09.160 --> 0:28:12.600 give away my peace. My peace was purchased with the 0:28:12.600 --> 0:28:16.800 blood of Christ. It's too expensive. You can't have it. 0:28:16.800 --> 0:28:20.880 It's too valuable. It's the only treasure I've got. It's 0:28:20.920 --> 0:28:23.879 the only thing that moths can't eat up and that 0:28:24.040 --> 0:28:28.000 thieves can steal. I might be scared, but I'm still 0:28:28.600 --> 0:28:33.800 gonna stand on the word of the Lord. I won't 0:28:33.840 --> 0:28:38.600 bow to your statue, nebukanesser, I won't bow. Put me 0:28:38.640 --> 0:28:41.400 in a fire. If you have to put me, tie 0:28:41.480 --> 0:28:44.040 up my hands and throw me in a furnace. This 0:28:44.120 --> 0:28:47.480 is shad wrack, Mishak and Abed and Ago. They said, 0:28:47.520 --> 0:28:50.400 the God that we serve is able to deliver us, 0:28:50.680 --> 0:28:54.000 and we know that he will. But even if somebody say, 0:28:54.080 --> 0:28:57.960 even if even if he doesn't, I will not bow. 0:28:58.360 --> 0:29:01.320 And the only thing the fire what's gonna do is 0:29:01.480 --> 0:29:05.000 burn off what you tied me up with God said, 0:29:05.040 --> 0:29:08.080 I'm setting you free in this season. I'm gonna use 0:29:08.160 --> 0:29:11.200 the fire to set you free. I'm gonna set you 0:29:11.280 --> 0:29:15.000 free from addiction. I'm gonna set you free from bad priorities. 0:29:15.160 --> 0:29:20.360 I'm gonna set you free from distractions. So that's what 0:29:20.600 --> 0:29:24.520 the man said. He said, don't be afraid. You can 0:29:24.680 --> 0:29:28.280 feel fear. It can ride in the car, but it 0:29:28.320 --> 0:29:34.760 can't drive. I can't wait to hear testimonies on this 0:29:34.800 --> 0:29:39.640 message because you have been letting that joker drive. You 0:29:39.680 --> 0:29:42.720 have been letting you have been letting that crook, that robber, 0:29:42.800 --> 0:29:45.520 that thief, that devil have your life and your peace 0:29:45.560 --> 0:29:48.920 and your joy. And so he said, here's what we're 0:29:48.920 --> 0:29:53.120 not gonna do. He said, don't be afraid. Now who 0:29:53.160 --> 0:29:55.320 says it is just as important as what it said. 0:29:55.320 --> 0:29:58.560 How many will agree. So if my fourteen year old 0:29:58.640 --> 0:30:04.280 says to me, don't worry, dad, God's got this, I'm like, eh. 0:30:04.920 --> 0:30:07.840 When my mom says it, it has more weight because 0:30:07.880 --> 0:30:11.640 of who said it. So Elisha's ministry, you have to remember, 0:30:11.760 --> 0:30:13.920 was a prophetic ministry. Was a prophetic ministry. It's not 0:30:13.960 --> 0:30:18.200 about telling the future. It's about seeing. It's about seeing. 0:30:19.520 --> 0:30:25.400 It's about seeing the invisible. Would you agree with me 0:30:26.360 --> 0:30:28.160 that one of the lessons God is trying to get 0:30:28.240 --> 0:30:29.720 us to learn right now. I'm sure there are many 0:30:29.800 --> 0:30:33.240 lessons that will understand because of what we're going through 0:30:33.640 --> 0:30:36.240 as a society, But would you agree with me that 0:30:36.240 --> 0:30:37.560 one of the lessons he's trying to get us to 0:30:37.640 --> 0:30:43.280 learn is that sometimes what we can't see is more 0:30:43.280 --> 0:30:47.400 important than what we can see. I mean, just even 0:30:47.440 --> 0:30:50.480 thinking about it, Like how I stood on the stage 0:30:50.560 --> 0:30:52.880 last week and preached, and what was happening on the 0:30:52.920 --> 0:30:56.520 other side of what I could see was significant. And 0:30:56.880 --> 0:31:00.720 at the same time, the entire economy is rocking and 0:31:00.760 --> 0:31:05.600 reeling because of an invisible virus. And so the Bible 0:31:05.640 --> 0:31:07.440 started to get real to me when I thought about, 0:31:08.320 --> 0:31:11.040 you know, scriptures that used to sound good, but now 0:31:11.040 --> 0:31:13.560 they make more sense. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, 0:31:13.560 --> 0:31:16.360 but against spiritual wickedness, principalities, rulers. What he's trying to 0:31:16.400 --> 0:31:18.800 say is that, like what we're fighting, that we can 0:31:18.960 --> 0:31:21.200 see has to first be approached to the level that 0:31:21.240 --> 0:31:25.600 we can't see. And God is trying to show us 0:31:25.640 --> 0:31:28.720 some things today because watch this. Not only does he 0:31:28.800 --> 0:31:32.360 tell him, don't be afraid. And this is not coming 0:31:32.400 --> 0:31:36.160 from a man who has never had to face fear before. 0:31:37.120 --> 0:31:41.120 This is coming from a prophet who had to walk 0:31:41.160 --> 0:31:42.800 into a widow's house. If you want to do a 0:31:42.800 --> 0:31:45.400 Bible study this week, you know, if you just get 0:31:45.400 --> 0:31:49.120 tired of what's that show that everybody on my staff 0:31:49.160 --> 0:31:52.560 is watching with the tigers, Tiger King. If you get 0:31:52.600 --> 0:31:55.320 tired of Tiger King, I'm gonna be looking for a 0:31:55.360 --> 0:31:57.880 Netflix sponsorship check out of this. But if you get 0:31:57.880 --> 0:32:00.920 tired of watching that, read Second King's four or Elisha. 0:32:01.320 --> 0:32:03.040 This is the same guy that said don't be afraid 0:32:03.080 --> 0:32:04.960 to the servant when they were surrounded by the armies 0:32:05.000 --> 0:32:06.680 of Aaron, who came to lock him up because of 0:32:06.720 --> 0:32:09.400 what he could see. He had to walk into a 0:32:09.400 --> 0:32:13.280 woman's house who said, I'm about to go into debt. 0:32:14.120 --> 0:32:17.760 My husband is dead, I have nothing to pay it with, 0:32:19.040 --> 0:32:23.120 and I have nothing in my house at all except 0:32:23.200 --> 0:32:27.800 a little oil. Now, this prophet Elisha, had the ability 0:32:27.920 --> 0:32:31.240 to see in a little bit what the woman could 0:32:31.240 --> 0:32:34.280 not see because she was looking through a different lens. 0:32:35.920 --> 0:32:37.920 A lot of us have thought of faith as being 0:32:38.240 --> 0:32:41.360 this way that we manipulate God. But now we find 0:32:41.400 --> 0:32:45.400 ourselves in a season where we can't control almost anything. 0:32:46.360 --> 0:32:50.720 We can't control what's open and what's closed. We can't 0:32:50.720 --> 0:32:53.920 control at some level what happens in foreign markets that 0:32:54.120 --> 0:32:56.920 affects us at home, what happens in foreign places. So 0:32:57.160 --> 0:32:59.440 in the season of what we can't control, we have 0:32:59.520 --> 0:33:03.200 to read the fine faith right, Because I thought I 0:33:03.280 --> 0:33:08.240 thought faith was like a lever. Picture this, and like 0:33:08.720 --> 0:33:12.480 when we pull the lever, you know, have faith, give 0:33:12.560 --> 0:33:16.000 him a phrase, give him a praise. You know when 0:33:16.000 --> 0:33:19.520 praises go up, blessings come down. It's like transactional, right, 0:33:19.840 --> 0:33:23.320 It's like jack pot Jesus. It's like yes, Lord, you know, 0:33:23.640 --> 0:33:26.480 like I'm gonna pray, my kid's gonna make straight a's 0:33:26.600 --> 0:33:28.160 I'm gonna pray, and I say, I'm gonna stop my 0:33:28.160 --> 0:33:32.040 headache's gonna go away. I'm gonna pray and pray. But see, 0:33:33.560 --> 0:33:41.640 faith is not a lever. Faith is a lens, a 0:33:41.720 --> 0:33:47.480 way of seeing your situation. And sometimes faith changes the situation. 0:33:49.200 --> 0:33:53.920 Sometimes faith changes the way you see the situation. Sometimes 0:33:53.960 --> 0:34:00.120 God changes it, sometimes he changes me. But either way, 0:34:01.000 --> 0:34:04.560 even when I don't see it, even when I don't 0:34:04.560 --> 0:34:07.920 feel it, come on, you're supposed to say to line, 0:34:07.960 --> 0:34:10.880 y'all are the worship team after all, especially when I 0:34:10.920 --> 0:34:14.480 don't see it, even when I don't feel it, especially 0:34:14.480 --> 0:34:16.000 when I don't feel it, and when I don't know 0:34:16.080 --> 0:34:19.040 what do I do. Don't be afraid. So what the 0:34:19.080 --> 0:34:21.360 prophet told the woman in Second Kings four is what 0:34:21.400 --> 0:34:23.960 he's practicing in Second King six. Some of us are 0:34:23.960 --> 0:34:26.719 getting to put into practice for ourselves what we preach 0:34:26.800 --> 0:34:33.680 to others. We preach about peace, we preach about God's power. 0:34:33.719 --> 0:34:36.880 Now we get to prove that what God showed us 0:34:36.880 --> 0:34:40.239 in the light is true in the darkness, that what 0:34:40.280 --> 0:34:42.440 God showed us on the mountain is true in the valley, 0:34:43.239 --> 0:34:45.640 That what God showed us the night before is still 0:34:45.800 --> 0:34:49.280 true the next morning. And when that woman went around 0:34:49.280 --> 0:34:52.439 to her neighbors and she got all these jars right, 0:34:52.520 --> 0:34:55.920 and the oil started flowing, and the only limitation to 0:34:55.960 --> 0:34:58.719 what God could provide was her capacity to receive it. 0:35:00.000 --> 0:35:06.480 And that's still true. And so now Elisha knows that 0:35:06.600 --> 0:35:10.399 if this man's heart is filled with fear, he can't 0:35:10.400 --> 0:35:14.239 operate in faith because you can't be you can't be 0:35:14.360 --> 0:35:19.120 strategic when you're scared. And so that's why it's so 0:35:19.200 --> 0:35:23.640 important what He says next that we have a perspective. 0:35:23.760 --> 0:35:26.840 Put that in the chat perspective. This is a prayer 0:35:26.840 --> 0:35:30.040 for perspective. This is a prayer for perspective. I put 0:35:30.080 --> 0:35:32.439 it on Instagram the other day because the Lord told 0:35:32.440 --> 0:35:35.480 me that tewod King six seventeen is a prayer for perspective. 0:35:35.680 --> 0:35:38.719 Watch this. The servant was asking for protection. What do 0:35:38.800 --> 0:35:42.720 we do? God gave him perspective. What do you see? 0:35:43.320 --> 0:35:46.240 What do I do? Starts with what do you see? 0:35:47.800 --> 0:35:51.239 And if the enemy can keep you from seeing, if 0:35:51.239 --> 0:35:55.440 he can keep you from seeing them the blessings, he 0:35:55.480 --> 0:35:59.799 can keep you stuck in a place of brokenness. If 0:35:59.800 --> 0:36:02.719 he can and keep you from seeing the advantages or 0:36:02.760 --> 0:36:06.759 the opportunities, he can keep you running. That's That's a 0:36:06.920 --> 0:36:12.240 very important thing. Is that when you're when your vision 0:36:12.280 --> 0:36:15.280 of who God is is obscured by what you're going through, 0:36:16.360 --> 0:36:21.719 something very small can block out something much bigger. Can 0:36:21.760 --> 0:36:24.600 I stay here a minute? Like you're gonna say no, 0:36:26.760 --> 0:36:31.319 something very small can block out something much bigger. How 0:36:31.320 --> 0:36:34.279 could I illustrate this? I'm gonna try to illustrate this 0:36:34.360 --> 0:36:36.520 real quick. I know y'all aren't prepared for this. So 0:36:36.640 --> 0:36:39.920 for just a minute freaking out the camera people. But 0:36:40.040 --> 0:36:43.480 something very small. This is very small, but you're what 0:36:43.520 --> 0:36:48.480 you're supposed to see you can't see. Pray for me, y'all. Yeah, 0:36:48.520 --> 0:36:51.240 something very small. This is very small, right, it's very small. 0:36:51.480 --> 0:36:56.719 Something very small can block out something much bigger. Now 0:36:56.760 --> 0:36:59.880 you can't see anything that's supposed to be seen something 0:37:00.120 --> 0:37:03.719 very small. Maybe it's no coincidence that I'm using this 0:37:03.800 --> 0:37:06.239 iPhone that's got some of y'all with stomach ulcers because 0:37:06.280 --> 0:37:08.799 you won't come off of it and see what's right 0:37:08.840 --> 0:37:10.600 around you, or you won't use that Bible. Laugh. You 0:37:10.640 --> 0:37:14.120 got that other app open? What's it called Insta Insta 0:37:14.160 --> 0:37:20.520 What huh? Insta insta instat It's not Instagram right now, 0:37:21.080 --> 0:37:24.719 it's like Insta gross. It's like it just makes me 0:37:24.760 --> 0:37:26.640 feel if I stay on it too long. It's just 0:37:26.640 --> 0:37:29.040 like I'm in an alternate reality and now I can't 0:37:29.160 --> 0:37:37.120 see what is invisible. Something small can block out something bigger. Okay, 0:37:37.239 --> 0:37:40.040 is that camera on, y'all? We didn't plan any of this, 0:37:40.120 --> 0:37:43.080 So pray for your preacher right now. Pray for the cameraman. 0:37:43.160 --> 0:37:44.960 I'm still six feet apart. By the way, I want 0:37:44.960 --> 0:37:46.600 you all to know that. But I'm just showing you 0:37:46.640 --> 0:37:50.759 this illustration how something small. And this is what First 0:37:50.840 --> 0:37:54.719 King's nineteen says about it, that eli Jah, who was 0:37:54.760 --> 0:37:57.759 the great Man of God, who taught Elisha in Second 0:37:57.840 --> 0:38:00.480 King six everything that he knows, because as this is 0:38:00.560 --> 0:38:03.279 nothing new, because the same God that delivered me from 0:38:03.280 --> 0:38:04.839 the Paul the Lion and the Paul the Bear will 0:38:04.880 --> 0:38:08.040 deliver me from this uncircumcised philistine too. The only reason 0:38:08.120 --> 0:38:11.480 Elisha knew what to see in the situation that he'd 0:38:11.480 --> 0:38:15.279 never been in before, he had followed the great Man 0:38:15.320 --> 0:38:19.399 of God, Elijah, the prophet, the one who called down 0:38:19.680 --> 0:38:24.920 fire on Mount Carmel. Remember that Bible story Sean. I mean, 0:38:25.120 --> 0:38:28.880 he said, if God is God, serve him. If Bail 0:38:29.000 --> 0:38:32.600 is God, serve him. Choose this day who you will serve. 0:38:33.640 --> 0:38:37.520 And God answered by fire eight hundred and fifty false prophets, 0:38:37.560 --> 0:38:41.080 the prophets of Astrara had to bow their knee. And 0:38:41.440 --> 0:38:47.520 then when Elijah got done with that miracle, he went 0:38:47.600 --> 0:38:49.799 up on a mountain and prayed, Now, listen to this 0:38:49.840 --> 0:38:53.880 about perspective. From a perspective, he said, I hear the 0:38:53.920 --> 0:38:57.440 sound of the abundance of rain. I hear something that 0:38:57.480 --> 0:39:00.160 I can't see. I know something that I can't see. 0:39:01.160 --> 0:39:03.279 And when a servant went to check the sky, he said, 0:39:03.400 --> 0:39:06.439 I know you said you heard something, but there's nothing there. 0:39:07.760 --> 0:39:10.600 And Elijah said to a servant, what we need to 0:39:10.640 --> 0:39:14.440 say to our soul. Go back and look again, Go 0:39:14.560 --> 0:39:17.759 back and look again. Rejoice in the Lord always. I 0:39:17.800 --> 0:39:21.600 will say it again. Rejoice. I will say it again. Rejoice. 0:39:22.040 --> 0:39:25.319 Say it again. Say it again, Say it again, Check 0:39:25.400 --> 0:39:29.200 it again, look again, go again, look again. Say it again. 0:39:29.239 --> 0:39:31.000 Say it again. In the chap say it again. In 0:39:31.040 --> 0:39:33.520 the comments, say it again. Say it again. Say it again. 0:39:33.600 --> 0:39:35.920 God is good. Say it again. The Lord is my shepherd. 0:39:36.040 --> 0:39:38.000 Say it again. God is with me. Say it again. 0:39:38.040 --> 0:39:40.239 He has not left me. Say it again. I've never 0:39:40.280 --> 0:39:43.160 seen the righteous forsaken. Say it again. He is the 0:39:43.160 --> 0:39:46.239 bread of life. Say it again. He's a waymaker. Say 0:39:46.280 --> 0:39:48.800 it again. He's a miracle worker. And when he checked 0:39:48.800 --> 0:39:52.960 the seventh time, he saw something very small, a cloud 0:39:53.040 --> 0:39:59.000 the size of a man's hand, something so small. Three 0:39:59.040 --> 0:40:01.759 and a half years of drought came to an end. 0:40:02.400 --> 0:40:06.040 Because it's something very small. But you know what's weird. 0:40:07.400 --> 0:40:12.240 When jezebel Ahab's wife, AaB was the wicked king. Jezebel 0:40:12.360 --> 0:40:15.840 was the one really running the show. One preacher said, 0:40:16.080 --> 0:40:20.040 the last decision Ahab ever made was I do because 0:40:20.040 --> 0:40:23.400 after that Jezebel took over and she would kill the prophet. 0:40:23.480 --> 0:40:26.640 She was much more ruthless than Ahab was. But when 0:40:26.719 --> 0:40:32.120 Jezebel heard what Elijah had done, she said, we'll put 0:40:32.120 --> 0:40:35.440 it up there on the screen one King's nineteen. She 0:40:35.520 --> 0:40:37.520 sent a messenger to Elijah to say, may the gods 0:40:37.520 --> 0:40:39.319 deal with me, be it ever so severely. If by 0:40:39.320 --> 0:40:41.279 this time tomorrow I do not make your life like 0:40:41.440 --> 0:40:46.640 one of them, I'm gonna kill you. But she couldn't. 0:40:47.880 --> 0:40:52.000 She couldn't. There's certain things the devil can't do to you. 0:40:53.920 --> 0:40:57.000 But if he can get you to believe that, he 0:40:57.040 --> 0:41:00.719 doesn't even have to do it. If he can get 0:41:00.760 --> 0:41:04.960 you to get so blocked by something small, are you 0:41:05.000 --> 0:41:08.080 on this camera? Go back to this camera something? How 0:41:08.080 --> 0:41:11.080 could something so small? Look what Elijah, the Great Man 0:41:11.080 --> 0:41:15.440 of God did in verse three. So Elijah was afraid. 0:41:17.239 --> 0:41:23.080 He was afraid, so he fled and he ran, and 0:41:23.120 --> 0:41:28.000 he ran and he ran because Jezebel couldn't kill him. 0:41:28.920 --> 0:41:32.200 So since she couldn't kill him, all she could do 0:41:32.360 --> 0:41:37.960 was convince him. And so I believe this message is prophetic, 0:41:38.280 --> 0:41:43.440 not pathetic, prophetic in the sense that you are allowing 0:41:43.520 --> 0:41:48.800 something small to block out something bigger. And I promise 0:41:48.880 --> 0:41:54.400 you right now, God's calling is bigger than any crisis. 0:41:55.000 --> 0:41:58.200 Trust me on that and read your Bible if you 0:41:58.239 --> 0:42:01.440 don't believe me. That's how I can go through it, 0:42:01.640 --> 0:42:05.160 because I know that God's calling is bigger. And so 0:42:05.320 --> 0:42:09.240 why would I let something small block out something big? 0:42:10.040 --> 0:42:13.439 When he hung the stars and name them, why would 0:42:13.480 --> 0:42:16.600 I refuse to lift my eyes to the hills when 0:42:16.640 --> 0:42:19.440 I know where my help comes from. So there is 0:42:19.520 --> 0:42:23.080 something bigger, there is something greater. There is something other 0:42:23.320 --> 0:42:26.080 on the other side of this. I wonder what's on 0:42:26.120 --> 0:42:29.160 the other side of this that is so big that 0:42:29.239 --> 0:42:34.040 the enemy sent a storm to disrupt your peace, to 0:42:34.120 --> 0:42:38.239 destroy your joy. God is with us in this place 0:42:38.320 --> 0:42:42.600 right now. Do you feel that? And so the prophet said, 0:42:43.440 --> 0:42:46.520 those who are with us are more than those who 0:42:46.560 --> 0:42:49.840 are with him. He must have went to public school. 0:42:50.480 --> 0:42:55.080 This dude is bad and mad. Elijah is bad and mad. 0:42:55.280 --> 0:42:58.480 And the servant is like, huh, because he's counting right, 0:42:58.600 --> 0:43:01.040 He's like those with us or more than those with them, 0:43:01.120 --> 0:43:04.839 all right, so one, two, and then he starts counting 0:43:04.920 --> 0:43:07.839 enemy one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, nine, twelve 0:43:07.920 --> 0:43:11.040 because I know somebody sitting there listening, Well, preacher, this 0:43:11.120 --> 0:43:15.759 is this is this is cool, this is neat. But 0:43:15.840 --> 0:43:19.920 have you seen the news. I'm like, but yeah, I 0:43:21.280 --> 0:43:25.200 saw it. I see the statistics. But what good is 0:43:25.200 --> 0:43:28.799 it going to do for me to be afraid? Like 0:43:29.400 --> 0:43:32.480 I want to be aware, but there's a fine line 0:43:32.520 --> 0:43:36.080 between aware and afraid. And let me just say this 0:43:36.120 --> 0:43:37.920 and we can edit it out if it's too strong. 0:43:38.080 --> 0:43:40.680 I think it's dangerous when we start watching a death 0:43:40.760 --> 0:43:42.920 count on a ticker like it's a score in a 0:43:42.920 --> 0:43:47.560 baseball game, I think that kind of crosses a line. 0:43:48.880 --> 0:43:51.480 I think it puts us in a state where we 0:43:51.520 --> 0:43:55.200 have made entertainment out of misery, and then we become 0:43:55.239 --> 0:43:59.160 addicted to being afraid and it kind of feels comfortable. 0:43:59.160 --> 0:44:02.759 It's like, oh, this is normal. You know. One of 0:44:02.760 --> 0:44:06.880 the reasons Elijah ran from Jezebel he was used to running. 0:44:08.680 --> 0:44:10.640 He had been hiding for three and a half years, 0:44:11.320 --> 0:44:14.560 so he did what came natural. And a lot of 0:44:14.640 --> 0:44:17.200 us when we get in a fierce state it's because 0:44:17.200 --> 0:44:21.080 it feels familiar to us. This is like group therapy, 0:44:21.160 --> 0:44:25.719 isn't it to know that sometimes we feel more familiar 0:44:25.800 --> 0:44:27.040 in a state of fear than we do in a 0:44:27.080 --> 0:44:32.319 state of faith. And what the prophet gave him was 0:44:32.320 --> 0:44:35.359 a different way to do math. I wrote in my notes, 0:44:35.400 --> 0:44:38.719 I said, this is miracle math. Somebody put it in 0:44:38.800 --> 0:44:42.560 the comments, this is miracle math. Miracle math is like this, 0:44:42.680 --> 0:44:47.160 you're ready, there's more of us than them. Huh. Close 0:44:47.200 --> 0:44:50.640 your eyes and you'll see it. Because I'm not talking 0:44:50.680 --> 0:44:53.520 about what you can see. I'm talking about what's more 0:44:53.560 --> 0:44:56.040 real than what you can see. Close your eyes and 0:44:56.080 --> 0:45:00.799 you'll see it. This is miracle math. It's a miracle math. 0:45:00.840 --> 0:45:04.959 It's like Gideon, you have too many men. Too many men. 0:45:06.000 --> 0:45:07.960 I'm going to fight a battle. That's exactly what I 0:45:08.000 --> 0:45:11.040 need is soldiers. No, you got too many because if 0:45:11.040 --> 0:45:13.359 you go in with this many men, you will think 0:45:13.400 --> 0:45:16.120 it was you that won the battle. So when he 0:45:16.160 --> 0:45:19.080 gets down to three hundred, God says, now go in 0:45:19.160 --> 0:45:22.120 the strength that you have, Now go. It's miracle math. 0:45:22.400 --> 0:45:27.480 It's like Jesus, there's five thousand men and women and children. 0:45:27.680 --> 0:45:32.080 What do you have? Five loaves? Into fish. It's not enough, right, 0:45:32.200 --> 0:45:36.080 depends on whose calculator you're using. This is not Texas instruments. 0:45:36.440 --> 0:45:38.759 This is the Son of God. Put it in my 0:45:38.920 --> 0:45:41.359 hands once you got in your house. A little bit 0:45:41.360 --> 0:45:43.600 of oil, a little bit of time, a little bit 0:45:43.640 --> 0:45:46.040 of sanity, a little bit of praise. Just a weak 0:45:46.080 --> 0:45:48.920 Wi Fi connection, But I'm hooked up, hooked in to 0:45:49.120 --> 0:45:52.080 the presence of God. And God is a multiplier, and 0:45:52.120 --> 0:45:54.680 God is enough, and God is with me. This is 0:45:54.800 --> 0:45:58.240 miracle math. How long has he been dead? Three days? 0:45:58.520 --> 0:46:04.320 That's just right, this miracle mad God said, do a recalculation. 0:46:06.840 --> 0:46:09.279 I thought I was out numbered, but I'm not. I 0:46:09.320 --> 0:46:11.719 thought it was over, but it's not. I thought it 0:46:11.800 --> 0:46:15.520 was done, but it's not. This is miracle math. Y'all 0:46:15.520 --> 0:46:17.480 say something in the chat while I button my shirt. 0:46:18.480 --> 0:46:21.640 Miracle math preaching so hard I snapped my button opened. 0:46:22.680 --> 0:46:27.160 Oh well, that's all right, because the word of the 0:46:27.160 --> 0:46:30.719 Lord came to the servant and said, there's more with 0:46:30.840 --> 0:46:34.719 us than with them. And then here's the prayer. And 0:46:34.800 --> 0:46:39.840 I'm closing kind of. This is closing number one, closing 0:46:39.960 --> 0:46:44.879 number one lowercase eight. Look at this miracle math. Miracle math, 0:46:46.040 --> 0:46:49.120 how many praise God for this word, because we really 0:46:49.120 --> 0:46:52.560 need this in our life right now. We really need 0:46:52.560 --> 0:46:56.239 this in our life. He prayed. After he encouraged him, 0:46:56.239 --> 0:47:00.360 don't be afraid. Then he said, open my eye, eyes, 0:47:01.840 --> 0:47:07.919 open my eyes. There's the prayer. And that's that's really 0:47:07.960 --> 0:47:11.600 not a physical statement. Right. His eyes were working just fine. 0:47:11.640 --> 0:47:16.160 That's why he was scared. He's like, my vision is 0:47:16.160 --> 0:47:18.239 twenty twenty, bro, I don't know what you're looking at. 0:47:18.280 --> 0:47:21.040 He's like, no, no no, no, no, no, open his eyes. 0:47:22.560 --> 0:47:28.400 Paul called it the eyes of your heart perspective. Now, 0:47:29.200 --> 0:47:34.160 when the servant looked again verse seventeen, and this is 0:47:34.200 --> 0:47:39.440 the whole message. Okay, he opened his eyes after the 0:47:39.440 --> 0:47:45.759 Lord granted Elisha's request, and he looked and saw the 0:47:45.880 --> 0:47:53.120 hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Now, 0:47:53.200 --> 0:47:56.200 let me tell you what's really wonderful about that verse 0:47:57.920 --> 0:48:05.319 is that when Elishah prayed, help did not come. Help 0:48:05.440 --> 0:48:15.960 was already there. So when Elisha prayed, your Goodness, when 0:48:16.000 --> 0:48:20.640 he prayed, open his eyes, Holli, so that he may see. 0:48:21.000 --> 0:48:24.399 The Lord only had to show him what was already there. 0:48:26.400 --> 0:48:29.719 And we can pray for provision. And that's wonderful. We 0:48:29.760 --> 0:48:32.560 can pray for healing, and we should, and we really 0:48:32.600 --> 0:48:36.560 need to pray for everybody who's a nurse or a doctor, 0:48:36.719 --> 0:48:40.080 or a clerk, or a law enforcement officer, our first responders, 0:48:40.160 --> 0:48:41.799 like all of it. We need to pray for each other. 0:48:43.280 --> 0:48:44.920 But the thing we need to pray for more than 0:48:44.960 --> 0:48:50.759 anything else is perspective. We're coming into a time where 0:48:50.800 --> 0:48:54.520 what is invisible is more valuable than what is visible, 0:48:55.680 --> 0:48:57.680 when everything that can be shaken will be shaken, so 0:48:57.719 --> 0:49:01.080 that that which cannot be shaken will remain. We're coming 0:49:01.080 --> 0:49:04.280 to a time where peace is more profitable than bitcoin. 0:49:05.800 --> 0:49:08.920 We're coming to a time where joy cannot rest on 0:49:08.960 --> 0:49:13.640 external circumstances. And when he looked, he saw the hills 0:49:13.680 --> 0:49:16.680 full of horses, they were already full. He just couldn't 0:49:16.680 --> 0:49:21.160 see it. He saw the hills full of chariots of fire. 0:49:21.520 --> 0:49:24.759 The fire was already burning. But you know what didn't 0:49:24.800 --> 0:49:27.880 happen when he prayed. And I don't know if you 0:49:27.920 --> 0:49:30.560 want to hear this or not. And LJ, we're not 0:49:30.560 --> 0:49:32.160 going to be able to put a B three on this, 0:49:33.600 --> 0:49:36.400 but it's true and I need to say it. God 0:49:36.400 --> 0:49:41.880 did not answer Elisia's prayer by eliminating the enemy. Instead, 0:49:41.920 --> 0:49:48.399 he illuminated his presence. So faith is not a lever 0:49:48.520 --> 0:49:52.320 that I pull, God, make it stop. God is a lens. 0:49:52.640 --> 0:49:56.319 Faith is a lens that I look through to see 0:49:56.320 --> 0:50:00.680 that God has been there the whole time. He's with 0:50:00.719 --> 0:50:04.399 you right now. But I'm still scared. At you said, 0:50:04.800 --> 0:50:09.479 I'm still scared, Then just stay with me. Just stay 0:50:09.480 --> 0:50:12.760 with me, and whatever is going on up there, whatever 0:50:12.840 --> 0:50:15.480 is going on out there, you need to stay with 0:50:15.520 --> 0:50:16.960 your Father right now. And you need to stay in 0:50:16.960 --> 0:50:20.680 faith right now. And the only way that we can 0:50:20.719 --> 0:50:22.960 really deal with fear, because if we stay in fear, 0:50:23.520 --> 0:50:26.600 and then we stay in frustration, and then we get 0:50:26.640 --> 0:50:29.920 stupid because you are not very strategic when you're scared. 0:50:30.000 --> 0:50:32.880 So don't be afraid. Watch this. The only way to 0:50:32.920 --> 0:50:39.000 do that is to change the focus. To change the focus. Okay, 0:50:39.400 --> 0:50:44.120 the situation did not change in Second King six, The 0:50:44.160 --> 0:50:48.439 focus did. The only way I know to stop being 0:50:48.440 --> 0:50:52.840 afraid is to change what I'm focused on. And so 0:50:52.920 --> 0:50:55.920 I just need us right now to begin to ask 0:50:55.960 --> 0:51:01.640 the Lord to illuminate, not eliminate. God, take the fear away. 0:51:01.840 --> 0:51:05.120 It doesn't work like that. Oh God, give me all 0:51:05.160 --> 0:51:08.840 the answers, tell me the plan. I need the strategy. 0:51:08.880 --> 0:51:10.719 God said, before I give you the strategy, I want 0:51:10.719 --> 0:51:18.280 to give you your sight and shine light on your situation. Lord, 0:51:18.360 --> 0:51:23.000 shine your light in our hearts, to show us who 0:51:23.040 --> 0:51:29.279 you are, not who we thought you were. Show us 0:51:29.320 --> 0:51:31.440 what it means to believe that you are able to 0:51:31.520 --> 0:51:37.520 do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask, or imagine. 0:51:37.760 --> 0:51:39.520 Just right now in the chat or in the comments, 0:51:39.520 --> 0:51:42.880 as a prayer, say open my eyes, open my eyes 0:51:42.920 --> 0:51:47.360 to see that there's more for me than against me. 0:51:49.520 --> 0:51:56.520 And you're like, pastor, that's really cute, but that cliche 0:51:56.600 --> 0:52:01.040 is not very comforting. Right now I feel alone. I 0:52:01.080 --> 0:52:05.839 know you feel alone, but you're not alone. And even 0:52:05.880 --> 0:52:07.800 if you're alone physically, and even if you're trying to 0:52:07.800 --> 0:52:09.640 figure out how to provide for a lot of people 0:52:09.719 --> 0:52:12.080 right now, many of us are. I'm right there with you. 0:52:15.800 --> 0:52:20.239 The scripture says, if God is for you, who can 0:52:20.239 --> 0:52:26.160 be against you? So the math goes like this, Me 0:52:26.239 --> 0:52:30.680 and God is greater than anything. I face us and God, 0:52:30.760 --> 0:52:34.680 the Church and God. We're not alone, like right now, 0:52:34.719 --> 0:52:37.920 we're together, right now, in this moment, together, right now, 0:52:37.960 --> 0:52:40.759 we're fighting together worshiping together, spreading the word of the 0:52:40.760 --> 0:52:45.720 Lord together. Right now, We've got more reasons to trust 0:52:45.760 --> 0:52:50.040 God than we do to doubt him. Come on, We've 0:52:50.080 --> 0:52:54.160 got more victories behind us then we do reasons to 0:52:54.200 --> 0:52:57.520 fear in front of us. You hear me. We've got 0:52:57.640 --> 0:53:00.960 more reasons to be grateful right now than we do 0:53:01.120 --> 0:53:04.160 to be afraid right now, So come on in less, 0:53:04.239 --> 0:53:08.680 just with a perspective of praise, and with wide open eyes, 0:53:09.040 --> 0:53:11.520 and even with lifted hands. Come on, let your kids 0:53:11.560 --> 0:53:14.520 see you worshiping God. Let your kids see how you 0:53:14.560 --> 0:53:17.440 fight your battles. Let your kids see how you make 0:53:17.480 --> 0:53:21.520 it through a storm. Let a generation behold that we 0:53:21.560 --> 0:53:25.520 are that generation that will declare the works of the Lord. 0:53:26.080 --> 0:53:29.799 And there are more for us than against us. He 0:53:29.960 --> 0:53:34.120 is a mighty God, a present help, a prophesy over 0:53:34.239 --> 0:53:38.600 your life. Today. You might be scared, but that doesn't 0:53:38.640 --> 0:53:46.080 stop the presence of the Lord. Thank you Jesus, Thank 0:53:46.080 --> 0:53:51.279 you Jesus. And he is doing the most when we 0:53:51.360 --> 0:53:55.320 feel it the least. And I come to you today 0:53:55.320 --> 0:53:59.480 in Jesus' name from Elevation Church to let you know 0:53:59.600 --> 0:54:03.960 you're not alone. You are not alone. God is with you, 0:54:04.080 --> 0:54:06.520 and we are with you, and you are not alone. 0:54:06.680 --> 0:54:10.239 But I'm still scared. But you're not alone. But I'm 0:54:10.280 --> 0:54:13.680 still scared. But He's got you in the palm of 0:54:13.719 --> 0:54:16.759 his hand. How do you know that? How do you 0:54:16.840 --> 0:54:19.160 know he's got me? How can you say that? I 0:54:19.200 --> 0:54:23.439 say it by faith, not by feeling. And I thank 0:54:23.480 --> 0:54:28.160 God for his presence with us in this moment. If 0:54:28.200 --> 0:54:31.359 you receive this word right now, just say right there, 0:54:31.440 --> 0:54:35.279 I receive it. I receive it, I receive it, I 0:54:35.400 --> 0:54:42.960 receive it. I receive it by faith. I receive joy, peace, wisdom. Amen. 0:54:44.600 --> 0:54:47.120 Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of 0:54:47.160 --> 0:54:50.160 you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of 0:54:50.200 --> 0:54:53.120 you that this ministry is possible. You can click the 0:54:53.160 --> 0:54:56.440 link in the description to give now, or visit Elevation 0:54:56.600 --> 0:55:00.239 Church dot org slash podcast for more information and if 0:55:00.280 --> 0:55:03.560 you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share 0:55:03.560 --> 0:55:05.719 it with your friends. You can click the share button, 0:55:05.800 --> 0:55:08.240 take a screenshot and share it on your social stories 0:55:08.239 --> 0:55:10.960 and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. 0:55:11.080 --> 0:55:16.680 God bless you.