Pivotal Decisions (Put A Purpose On It)

0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.640 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.120 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.440 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 your perspective to 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.240 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message 0:00:17.480 --> 0:00:20.119 today I want to share with you in this part 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:26.239 two on the subject of pivotal decisions. Pivotal decisions, I'm 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:29.280 going to Judges thirteen. I don't know if I'll get 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.560 there in the next few minutes. So if you don't 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.200 know where Judge is in is in the Bible, you're 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:37.559 gonna have a good head start. If you prefer to 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.840 just look at the screen, that's okay too. But I wonder, 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:44.640 as I get started, how many of you right now 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:49.599 are in the middle of making a big decision for 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.239 your life. Would you raise your hand if you're in 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:55.200 the middle of making a big decision for your life 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:59.279 and keep it up, keep it up. So what are 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:04.000 you going to do? How are you gonna You're gonna 0:01:04.000 --> 0:01:08.600 do like pros and cons or you're gonna like flip 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.360 a coin if it comes to that. You gotta plan 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.800 for this. You're gonna you're gonna do, Like, ask a 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:16.640 lot of people till somebody tells you what you want 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.120 to hear, like, like we all do you know? Just 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.080 keep asking people till you get the answer that you 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:22.679 wanted so they can confirm the thing that you were 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:24.800 gonna do all along. Anyway, now you wasted everybody's time 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:26.960 just asking them stuff that you already knew what you 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:31.759 were gonna do. We're you gonna do? You're gonna like, uh, 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:34.800 just stress, eat and put it off to the last minute. 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:37.760 That's always a good plan. I like that. I like 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:41.080 to just watch Netflix instead personally, put it off to 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:43.039 the last minute, and then make the decision when the 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:47.640 pressure's on. The crazy thing is when I say that 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:52.920 a big decision. A lot of the decisions that you make, 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.800 you don't know if they're big or not when you're 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:02.560 making them. This is why God so much, because not 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.840 only can I not make the big decisions right without him, 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.160 but I don't even know which ones are big unless 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:14.679 he tells me. Because you know, big decisions, we get 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:19.280 caught up where we're gonna get married. That's me and 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.840 Holly spent so many weeks thinking about that, Like the 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.200 big decision of where we were going to have our wedding. 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:31.160 You know what, it didn't really matter as much as 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:34.240 some other things. What was important about our marriage was like, 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:37.840 how are we going to resolve conflict? Y'all don't want 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.519 to talk to me today. Y'all were singing so good, 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:42.360 and then I started preaching and y'all went to sleep. 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:48.000 And the big decisions, you know, it's not always the 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:50.840 ones that you think are big. And that's why I 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:55.840 prefer the term pivotal decisions, because a big decision is 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.760 not necessarily what city you're going to live in. That's 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:01.519 a big one, I get it. But a bigger decision 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:04.320 for us was what church are we going to go to? 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:07.480 Because out of the church that we attended, that's where 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.960 we made the relationships that were really instrumental, and the 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.160 will of God was accomplished in our life, not by 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:15.919 just what city we lived in. But and it's funny 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:18.720 how people will move for a job, or they'll move 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.880 for a school, but they'll put church at the bottom 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:23.920 of the list and then kind of find one. But 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.600 I think the pivotal things are sometimes not what we 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:32.240 consider to be the big things, and that's that's confusing pivotal, 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:35.600 you know what I mean? Like, I guess because it's 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:37.400 All Star weekend. I don't play basketball. I don't even 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:39.680 really like basketball. I was always terrible at it. I 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:43.760 wrestled a little bit, played a little baseball. But when 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:47.040 I watched basketball, I always see them pivot. I always 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:51.280 see that their ability to pass and you know, without traveling, 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.760 without getting called, it's all from this foot that they 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:56.920 pivot on. And I'm not going to demonstrate it for you, 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.320 because again I'm not very athletic, but when I watch 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:03.600 them pivot, I notice like, well, that's pretty important. And 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.440 the only way that they can pivot is if they're planted. 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.120 Now I'm going to preach that in about twenty eight minutes, 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:14.360 but hang on, I'm coming to judges thirteen. And I 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.400 notice that, you know, pivoting is not only for athletes. 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:22.240 It's also for politicians. And I'll be honest with you. 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:24.839 As a preacher, I get it because sometimes you get 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:30.760 asked the weirdest questions, the weirdest, most unanswerable, most non 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.880 germane questions. I'll sometimes be doing a Q and A 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.440 or something and someone will ask me, you know, what 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.160 kind of horse is Jesus coming back on. And there's 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:42.360 really no way to answer that without making them look 0:04:42.480 --> 0:04:45.200 dumb or you know, because it is a dumb question. 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:49.159 But I love people and the sheep, and so I'm like, 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.240 I'm like, well, you know, that's a great question. And 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:56.040 regardless of what horse he comes on, I think what's 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:58.279 important is that we have a sense of urgency. See 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:03.840 how I just and now you don't feel dumb, and 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:06.240 I don't have to answer your question, and so we 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:10.840 all win because I know how to pivot. Touch somebody say, 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:15.560 the power is in the pivot. Let's go to Judges thirteen. 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.599 Are you ready? Because you got some big decisions you're making, 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:20.880 And then you've got some decisions that you don't think 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:24.479 are very big, but they're pivotal, Like how you start 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.320 your day. That's not a big decision, but it's pivotal 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:32.320 because how you start your day Watch, it's a directional decision. 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:39.080 Watch watch me. It's directional. So I'm not watch watch watch, 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:43.400 I'm not moving much. It's not a big move. I'm 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:47.000 still standing where I was. But I get a completely 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:55.480 different perspective when I pivot. The Lord has really been 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:57.920 speaking to me. I can tell you want them to 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:02.440 speak to you too. And it means that sometimes it's 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:09.120 the small moves that set the direction, the small moves 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:13.839 that set the direction. And frankly, a lot of the 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.159 biggest things about your life will be decided outside of 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:21.640 your volition and will. Anyway, God is so much bigger 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:27.920 than your decisions. I know you're very successful in your business, 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.919 but you and I both know that the culmination of 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:33.919 everything that happened to you was bigger than you just 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:39.320 made good decisions. I mean, because honestly, you made some 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.160 really bad ones too. And even if you didn't, even 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:44.320 if you only make good decisions, you wouldn't have know, 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:46.520 You wouldn't even had the opportunity to make those decisions 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:51.040 if God didn't position you where He positioned you. God 0:06:51.080 --> 0:06:54.840 is bigger than my bad decisions. You know. It's not 0:06:55.040 --> 0:06:58.080 like God is just a synonym for good decisions, you know, 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:00.839 being in the will of God the will of God. 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:02.880 And I want to ask you this question, is your 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.560 view of the will of God big enough to accommodate 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:10.600 even your bad decisions? And that's what I wanted to 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.640 look at. Judges thirteen is a passage of scripture that 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:18.000 you've never heard a single sermon on before I polled 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.720 at least thirty people this week. None of them had 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:23.080 heard it. And all of them went to vacation Bible 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:25.480 School and grew up going to Wednesday night church. So 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.200 if they didn't hear it, you didn't either. But the 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:31.280 Bible says in Judges thirteen, verse one, remember in a 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:35.040 pivotal time for the nation of Israel, A pivotal time 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:40.040 because they were in a cycle of sin, judgment and deliverance. 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:45.040 A pivotal time because they didn't have a king, and 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.680 they didn't really want God to be their king, so 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.720 God would keep having to raise up different people to 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.520 lead them and deliver them from the hands of their enemies, 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:57.600 the Canaanites and Parasites, and Hittites, and the Philistines, the 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:00.760 Phoenician people who were good at metal, so they always 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:02.160 had a lot of weapons, and they were moving in 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:05.280 on the coast, and they were ruling them, but very loosely. 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:08.280 Now this is the pivotal moment for the nation of Israel, 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:11.800 and the Bible says again, the Israelites did evil in 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.160 the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:20.440 into the hands of the Philistines. Stop. You always hear 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:25.720 about God delivering us out of things, But here your 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:30.920 Bible says that God delivered them into the hands of 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.960 an enemy, and use their enemy. I don't know if 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:36.559 your theology is about to break wide open and something's 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:38.360 going to fall out on the floor. Let's get the 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:40.880 ushers ready in case your brain just melts right there. 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.280 But God didn't deliver them out of the hands of 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.920 their enemies. But the same God who is able to 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.360 deliver you out of the hands of your enemies. The 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.880 Bible says that at least the perspective of the writer 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.560 Samuel was, who we preached about last week, that God 0:08:54.600 --> 0:09:00.199 delivered them into the hands of their enemies. That's interesting me. 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.680 I don't have a category for that. But God is 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.920 bigger than my categories. I'm learning that. I'm learning that. 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:12.600 So he did it for forty years, and a certain 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:16.280 man of Zorah named Manoah from the clan of the Danites, 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.880 had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:25.880 Remember that barrenness in antiquity was a signal or a 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:28.960 sign of the displeasure of God. It didn't mean the 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.280 displeasure of God. But they perceived it to mean that, 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:35.280 so it brought with it a great stigma. A certain 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:37.480 man of Zora named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:39.440 had a wife who was childless unable to give birth. 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:43.600 The Angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:48.160 you are barren and childless, but you are going to 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:54.839 become pregnant and give birth to a son. Now see 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:59.199 to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink, 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.439 and that you do not eat anything unclean. You will 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.000 become pregnant and have a son whose head is never 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:08.280 to be touched by a razor. And my dad was 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.280 a barber, so that verse offends me because it would 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:12.480 have taken money out of my family's pocket. But anyway, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.719 because here's the reason. The boy is to be a Nazarite, 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:20.920 and the Nazarites don't cut their hair, they don't drink alcohol, 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:24.480 they don't touch anything dead, as the basics of being 0:10:24.520 --> 0:10:27.000 a Nazarite. In case you were thinking about doing it, 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:28.760 that's what you would do if you were going to 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:33.319 be a Nazarie. He is to be dedicated to God 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:38.600 from the womb. He will take the lead in delivering 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.440 Israel from the hands of the Philistines, which God delivered 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:43.800 them into so that he could deliver them from what 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:45.200 was in them that caused them to get in this 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.320 cycle to begin with. And he's going to use this 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:51.760 child to deliver them out. I love your word, Lord, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.400 thank you for thank you for what you're showing me. Now. 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.160 Now this is where it gets really, really, really good, 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:01.520 because then everybody say, then, woman whose name we don't know, 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:06.679 who's talking to a man whose name isn't given. These 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:10.040 unnamed people have a conversation, and the woman went to 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:14.679 her husband and told him a man of God came 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:20.160 to me. He looked like an angel of God. Very awesome. 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:26.040 I'm gonna be like, hold up, a man come and 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:31.120 talking to my wife anyway, you know, because he didn't 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:34.600 have wings or heart how we think God shows up. 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:37.640 She's like, I think it was maybe like an angel. 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:39.240 It was kind of you know, because that's how it 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:41.240 is when you hear from God. It's kind of like, 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.120 I think this might be this maybe God. I don't know. 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:45.679 I mean it like it looked like it felt like 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:47.079 it was different. I don't know, it's just different. I 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:49.160 don't know. I'm not sure. And she's telling her husband 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:54.000 because it's always revealed in the context of relationship. I 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.760 didn't ask him where he came from. He didn't tell 0:11:56.800 --> 0:12:00.920 me his name, but he said to me, you will 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:08.040 become pregnant. Uh huh. So this awesome looking man came 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:13.280 to my wife and said, what I love the Bible. 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:16.200 Though I love the Bible, he said, you will be 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.199 pregnant to have a son. Now, then drink no wine 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.000 or other ferm men to drink, and do not eat 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.440 anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazarite of 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:25.839 God from the womb until the day of his death. 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:32.079 Then Manoah name means resting place. Prayed to the Lord. 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:36.920 Pardon your servant, Lord. I don't mean to bother you. 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:38.560 I know you got a universe to run and all 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:43.800 that I beg you. Let the man of God you 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.360 sent to us because I didn't get to see him. 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.960 Let him come again, if you could just send him 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:54.240 back for a few minutes. I got a few questions 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.439 I need to ask him. I need him to teach 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.320 us how to bring up the boy who is to 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.640 be born. So I need you to speak to me, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.680 because you know how you need God to speak to 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.680 you and show you how I want to talk about 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:10.840 the plan. That's the first thing I want to mention 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:15.440 is the plan, because I understand that God wants to 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.520 use me, but I need to know what that's going 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:21.280 to look like. You understand I need some details. I 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.800 need some specifics. I need some marching orders. I need 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:29.600 some dates some times, some instructions. So please Lord, if 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:33.240 it's not too much trouble, send that guy back. And 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:34.640 he said we were going to have a son that 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.840 was going to like change the world and stuff. But 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:39.960 I need to hear it for myself, and I need 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:45.679 to know the plan. Any planners in the house, any planners, 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:50.040 any planners, any planners, Thank God for you, Thank God 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:52.520 for you, because all the people without their hand up, 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:54.719 they always come late and make the worship leaders lead 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:56.520 to the first two rows and is empty and they 0:13:56.520 --> 0:13:58.640 come crawling in the last minute. But I don't hate 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:00.360 you in the back. But I'm just saying that God 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.000 for the planners. But it can become a problem, and 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.959 I'm gonna show you why. I'm gonna show you why. 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:08.400 He said we need to know the plan if it's 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.599 going to be this big thing, you know, if you 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:12.840 gave us this promise, I need to know the plan, 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:16.280 because without a plan, the promise is just abstract rhetoric. 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:19.600 Without the plan, I can know God has for me. 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:21.880 He wants to use me. I'm spread the Gospel and 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.680 all that sounds good, but just send him back. If 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.880 I could get five minutes with this awesome looking man 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.040 who was talking to my wife and told her she 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:34.840 was about to get pregnant, I need to know the 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.960 plan now. I love the next phrase, God heard Manoah. 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:45.320 God heard Manoah, and interesting that the woman wasn't praying 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:47.680 to get pregnant when the angel said it was going 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.000 to happen. I don't know if she gave up. I 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:52.320 don't know if she did pray. I don't know if 0:14:52.320 --> 0:14:55.200 she didn't pray. Bible doesn't say it doesn't matter. And 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.320 then Manoah's begging God to show up and speak to him. 0:14:58.400 --> 0:15:01.440 You know, God initiates, we respond. God initiates, we respond. 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:07.720 But God heard Manoah. And when when Manoah prayed, God 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:11.960 didn't say figure it out yourself and trust me. Instead, 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:18.800 he obliged Manoah's need for more information. Let the person 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:21.240 next to you know something real quick, and it might 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:24.360 sound cocky, but tell him anyway, it's truth say. He 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:31.200 hears me. God hears me. He hears me better than 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:36.880 Siri and Alexa. He hears me. He hears me, he 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:40.000 knows my voice. He likes when I call him, When 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.720 I say help, he says yes before I can even 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:47.200 get out my mouth. He hears me. He hears my 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:52.360 groans where words don't come. He hears me. He hears 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:55.440 my heart and the secret petitions of things that people 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:59.520 don't know that I'm dealing with. He hears me. He 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.880 hears the unspoken. Did you go to youth group and 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.640 we used to say? I have an unspoken He hears 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.800 what I don't say, He hears what's behind what I 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:12.080 said that's really driving the behavior. He hears me. He 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.240 hears my secret frustration that I don't say around people, 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.680 because if I told him how frustrated I was, it 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:21.920 would scare him. But he hears me. He hears me 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.600 when I sing to him, when I tell him worthy 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.680 is the Lamb of God, he hears me. I know 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:30.120 there's better singers than me, and I know I don't 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:33.280 always sing on key, but he hears me. When I 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:36.960 sing thank you Jesus, he hears me. It blesses his 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:43.600 heart to hear me, and the angel of God came 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:46.240 again to the woman. Wait wait, wait, wait, wait to 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:51.280 the woman, Manoah asked for the visit, and this angel 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:55.040 is back out talking to his what because God is 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:57.480 not going to do it like you want him to 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.640 do it. He's gonna want to say see will you 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:06.200 trust him? So the angel God came again to the 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.360 woman while she was out in the field, but her husband, Manoah, 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.639 was not with her. No. Woman hurried to tell her husband, 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:16.640 he's here the man who appeared to me the other day. 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:20.760 Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:23.359 came to the man, he said, are you the man 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:27.520 who talked to my wife? Hold on, let me change 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:35.480 Manoah's accent. Are you the man who talked to my wife? 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:38.760 She said? An awesome looking man came and said that 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:43.440 she was gonna be pregnant? Was that you? Angel said? 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:49.160 I am so, Manoah asked him. When your words are fulfilled, 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:52.679 I don't doubt you're going to do it. I just 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.919 need to know the plan. What is to be the 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:58.639 rule that governs the boy's life and work? How do 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:02.639 we do this? How do we do this. We're in 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.440 a meeting this week about the church, and I know 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.679 what I want to see, but I don't know the 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.320 plan for it. And so a lot of times when 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:13.040 I get in that mode, I start trying to like 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.919 tweak stuff, and I start trying to manipulate stuff. I 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:19.720 know you don't do this, but I'm a control freak, 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:21.560 and so I'll be like, well, we could do this, 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:23.240 this and this, and it's all good. It's all good. 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:25.720 But I want you to watch what the Angel does 0:18:26.880 --> 0:18:30.720 instead of giving Manoah the plan, which is what he 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:32.919 asked for, what do we do with this boy that 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:34.359 you said is going to be born that's going to 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.120 do something great? What do I do with this calling? 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.040 What do I do in this situation? I need to 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:40.159 know the plan. I need to know the details. I 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:44.720 need to know the agenda. And the Bible says that 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:53.280 the Angel verse thirteen answered your wife. So now the 0:18:53.359 --> 0:19:02.200 Angel pivots from what Manoah asked to what he needed 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:07.600 to know right now. Now, sometimes when you pray to God, 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:12.000 he's going to pivot, and you're gonna be like, I 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.159 need the plan, but God will pivot. I mean, this 0:19:15.280 --> 0:19:20.240 angel would have made a great politician or preacher or 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.640 basketball player. He could have been in the All Star 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:25.439 Game because watch how quick he pivots. We need to 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:26.800 know what to do when the boys moren what we're 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:30.840 gonna do? How many times you know, Manoah's full of questions? 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:32.439 Right of course he is. Do we need to put 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:33.840 him in a special school? Do we need to get 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:35.399 him a tutor? Do we need to see some karate? 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:37.399 Do we need to sea some juu? You know? Should 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:39.040 we be straight? Should we do what? Do we do it? How? 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:41.080 Let me do it? And the angel says, just tell 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.399 your wife right now, don't drink anything or eat anything unclean. 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.080 That's all you need to know right now. The pivot 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:49.919 from what you think you need to know to what 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:54.400 you really need to know. And God, just watch his footwork. See, 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:56.600 we always want to see God's hand, but sometimes you 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:59.880 gotta watch his feet because sometimes he wants to set 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:03.199 a different direction to say, you're not even looking at 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:05.440 the right side of this. Watch the pivot, and when 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:07.320 he pivots, you got to be quick to go with 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:09.480 him and say, God, I don't want your hand, I 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:11.840 want your face, I want to know you, I want 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:14.080 to seek you. I want to see you. I want 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:16.400 to feel you. I want to know you. I want 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:23.000 to have you. I want to I want to understand 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.280 what you know I need to understand. And I wonder, 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:30.320 is God trying to pivot your prayer life? Is God 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.639 trying to pivot? You're strategizing. Is God trying to pivot 0:20:33.880 --> 0:20:36.960 because you're always trying to look for him in logic, 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.919 You're always trying to look for him in analysis and 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:43.200 in calculation. But God is spirit and you can't get 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.399 the spirit through strategy. You've got to come to God 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:50.399 like this. You've got to come to God with open arms, 0:20:50.640 --> 0:21:02.159 open hands, and an open hearts. The pivot. It's funny 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.919 thing about a pivot. Though it's a small move, but 0:21:06.000 --> 0:21:11.520 it sets a completely different direction. Man, Noah, you can't 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:17.280 handle the plan right now. You can't. My word is 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:20.680 a lamp unto your feet, a light into your path. 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:24.760 Funny thing about pivot. I've been doing this all week, 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:28.240 just studying this sermon. It's trying to get God to 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:31.200 show me different ways to see situations and to see 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:32.760 his will. And what I think is this will. What 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:34.720 I thought was his will, and I thought he was 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:37.640 always doing this, But sometimes he's doing that, and they 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.080 get this promises this is from the Lord. You know, 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:45.439 he didn't realize that at first, but he starts to sense. 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:53.879 He starts to sense that this may be God. This 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:57.200 may be God, because its too big to be anything 0:21:57.240 --> 0:22:00.760 I could do. I don't plan for it. I don't 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:03.720 have a context for it. I don't know this maybe God. 0:22:04.480 --> 0:22:11.000 This is the Lord. This is from the Lord. This 0:22:11.800 --> 0:22:15.600 gift set that I have, this talent, this child that 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:19.720 I'm raising, this is from the Lord. Somebody say this 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:24.840 is from the Lord. And so since it's from the Lord, 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:28.320 then I need him to show me how to do it. 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:34.359 But sometimes he won't answer the question that I ask. Instead, 0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:37.399 he will give me the wisdom that I need because 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:45.000 he knows a better question. My faith is not a formula, 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:50.480 and I'm not good at pivoting with my feet. I 0:22:50.480 --> 0:22:52.399 don't do it a lot. That's so I had to 0:22:52.440 --> 0:22:54.880 practice it, and I'm still not very good at it. 0:22:55.720 --> 0:22:58.720 But I want to get good at it with my faith. 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:04.400 I want to learn to pivot. And this is where 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:08.560 it happens for Manah and his wife. And you're gonna 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:10.159 see it in the text. It's just gonna blow up 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:12.439 when you see it. It's gonna help you understand why 0:23:12.600 --> 0:23:15.800 you've been trying to classify everything in your life. You know, 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:17.439 this is good and this is bad, and this is 0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:19.080 God and this is the devil, and this is it 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:20.919 and this is that, and you keep trying to do that, 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:26.040 but it doesn't work. And here's why, he said. Manoah 0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:28.920 said to the angel, we would like you to stay 0:23:28.960 --> 0:23:32.120 until we prepare a young goat for you. We want 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:36.920 to cook you a goat. I make a delicious goat kebab, 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:39.600 and I'll like you to stay and eat it because 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:42.480 this hospitality is appropriate and we appreciate you coming by 0:23:42.480 --> 0:23:44.280 to encourage us. So stay, We're gonna do it and 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:46.880 appreciate the worst and the Angel of the lure replot. 0:23:46.920 --> 0:23:49.040 Even though you detain me, I will not eat any 0:23:49.040 --> 0:23:51.320 of your food. I'm not gonna do it your way. 0:23:52.080 --> 0:23:54.960 You're dealing with God now, so you're not gonna do 0:23:55.040 --> 0:23:56.800 it like you do it with humans. It's gonna be different. 0:23:56.800 --> 0:23:58.680 It's gonna be different, different terms. It's gonna be a 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:00.760 whole different thing this time. It's not going to be 0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:02.239 all up here and what you think you should do. 0:24:02.359 --> 0:24:04.240 It's gonna have to come from a different place. This 0:24:04.280 --> 0:24:07.880 is the pivot. This is the pivot. And he said, 0:24:09.240 --> 0:24:11.280 but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to 0:24:11.359 --> 0:24:14.440 the Lord. See the pivot. It's not about this. It's 0:24:14.480 --> 0:24:18.280 about this. And I wonder if we would start deflecting 0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:20.240 some of the stuff in our life and say, you know, 0:24:20.320 --> 0:24:22.920 this is from the Lord. This is not from me. 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:25.960 So I need God to do it through me. I 0:24:26.000 --> 0:24:29.840 cannot do it by myself. This is from the Lord. 0:24:30.400 --> 0:24:33.480 Somebody shop, this is from the Lord. This is from 0:24:33.480 --> 0:24:35.600 the Lord. But if you prepare a burn offering, offer 0:24:35.600 --> 0:24:38.440 it to the Lord. I love this in parentheses. Manoah 0:24:38.440 --> 0:24:40.440 did not realize it was the Angel of the Lord. 0:24:40.520 --> 0:24:46.040 Maybe and maybe. And then Manoah inquired of the Angel 0:24:46.040 --> 0:24:47.600 of the Lord, what's your name? So we may honor 0:24:47.600 --> 0:24:49.720 your any word comes true? And he replied, this most 0:24:49.720 --> 0:24:53.600 annointed verse I've read in the last five years. Why 0:24:53.600 --> 0:25:00.280 do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding. That's 0:25:00.280 --> 0:25:07.119 the pivot. That's where you find God, beyond what you 0:25:07.119 --> 0:25:11.960 can understand. And so everything you can name that's not God. 0:25:13.160 --> 0:25:16.960 Everything you can explain that's not God. Everything you can 0:25:16.960 --> 0:25:18.880 figure out on your own, and you can make it work, 0:25:18.880 --> 0:25:20.560 and you can do it. It worked for a little while. 0:25:21.680 --> 0:25:24.920 But everything you can't name, that's God. And we've been 0:25:24.960 --> 0:25:27.200 looking for a name for God. That's why we need 0:25:27.240 --> 0:25:29.280 so many And that's why he had to tell Moses 0:25:29.400 --> 0:25:32.359 in a very special way. I am because I need 0:25:32.359 --> 0:25:34.760 to leave room for you to know that when you 0:25:34.880 --> 0:25:39.359 get past the point of your ability to reconcile your situation, 0:25:39.880 --> 0:25:42.320 when you get beyond your ability to work it out, 0:25:42.560 --> 0:25:46.639 that's where I am. That's where I live. That's where 0:25:46.920 --> 0:25:51.000 I dwell, in the mystery, in the uncertainty, in the tension, 0:25:51.080 --> 0:25:56.520 beyond your understanding. And we keep trying to find God 0:25:56.680 --> 0:26:00.640 in our logic, but he is not found with logic. 0:26:01.119 --> 0:26:07.159 He is beyond your logic. Manoah took a young goat 0:26:07.200 --> 0:26:09.760 and together with the grain offering and sacrificed it on 0:26:09.800 --> 0:26:13.040 a rock to the Lord. And since the word came 0:26:13.080 --> 0:26:15.520 from the Lord, I'm gonna make the offering to the Lord. 0:26:15.920 --> 0:26:18.280 And since my breath came from the Lord, I'm gonna 0:26:18.280 --> 0:26:21.159 offer it back to the Lord. And since this situation 0:26:21.400 --> 0:26:23.800 came from the Lord, I'm gonna need the Lord to 0:26:23.840 --> 0:26:26.120 deal with it. I can't do it on my own, 0:26:27.240 --> 0:26:30.639 and the Lord did something amazing. While Manoah and his 0:26:30.720 --> 0:26:33.760 wife watched as the flame blazed up from the altar 0:26:33.800 --> 0:26:35.919 toward the heaven, the Angel of the Lord ascended in 0:26:35.960 --> 0:26:38.719 the flame. He was not found in the logic. He 0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:45.240 was found in the flame, not in figuring it out, 0:26:46.320 --> 0:26:49.400 but in the fire of sacrifice and needing God. That's 0:26:49.440 --> 0:26:51.919 where you're gonna find him. That's where you're gonna get it. 0:26:52.119 --> 0:26:55.119 That's where you're gonna unlock it. That's where it'll be unleashed. 0:26:58.560 --> 0:27:00.760 I wish I could preach about g Us for thirty 0:27:00.800 --> 0:27:04.760 seconds right now, because see, all my hope is in 0:27:04.800 --> 0:27:09.040 his blood, all my faith is in his cross, all 0:27:09.280 --> 0:27:15.120 my righteousness is in his sacrifice. And when the flames 0:27:15.160 --> 0:27:21.639 went off, the revelation came through and he was like 0:27:23.119 --> 0:27:26.760 he was like Mineau was like, uh, I think we 0:27:26.920 --> 0:27:32.040 just saw God. Because when the Angel of the Lord 0:27:32.080 --> 0:27:33.720 did not show himself again Verse twenty one to know 0:27:33.800 --> 0:27:35.240 and his wife, Manau realized that it was an Angel 0:27:35.280 --> 0:27:37.720 of the Lord. We're gonna die. He said to his wife, 0:27:37.760 --> 0:27:39.840 we've seen God. But his wife answered, if he meant 0:27:39.840 --> 0:27:44.560 to kill us, if God was out to get you, 0:27:44.560 --> 0:27:48.840 you'd be God. That's how I know he still has 0:27:48.960 --> 0:27:52.679 mercy for my mistakes, because I already made enough. If 0:27:52.720 --> 0:27:55.639 he was gonna squash me for screwing up, I'd be 0:27:55.720 --> 0:28:02.240 a bug on this stage. If the Lord had meant 0:28:02.280 --> 0:28:04.119 to kill us, he would have done it. He wouldn't 0:28:04.160 --> 0:28:06.600 accepted the offering. He would he would he would have 0:28:06.600 --> 0:28:09.960 wiped this out. He wouldn't have shown us all these things. 0:28:10.119 --> 0:28:11.879 He wouldn't have shown you all these things. He wouldn't 0:28:11.880 --> 0:28:13.679 have seen you through all these things. Look at all 0:28:13.720 --> 0:28:16.280 he's shown you. Look at how many times you were 0:28:16.320 --> 0:28:18.920 off the path and somehow he got you back. Look 0:28:18.920 --> 0:28:20.679 at all the times you were going this way and 0:28:20.760 --> 0:28:23.560 something just you know, he just turned stuff around. I mean, 0:28:23.880 --> 0:28:26.080 just like you couldn't do it, and you were making 0:28:26.119 --> 0:28:28.600 all these plans for it, but it was the pivot 0:28:28.640 --> 0:28:35.200 that brought you back. And the woman gave birth twenty 0:28:35.200 --> 0:28:37.240 four to a boy. Oh, I forgot to tell you 0:28:37.320 --> 0:28:42.160 this and named him Samson. I forgot to tell you 0:28:43.160 --> 0:28:46.480 it got the haircut. You remember, because we always want 0:28:46.520 --> 0:28:53.800 to remember people by their worst decisions. But Samson, the 0:28:53.840 --> 0:28:56.640 strong one who was bench pressing three oh five and 0:28:56.720 --> 0:29:01.640 seventh grade Samson. This is how it started, and a 0:29:01.640 --> 0:29:03.400 lot of people didn't know that because all they ever 0:29:03.440 --> 0:29:07.200 saw was his head in Delilah's lap. But it was decisions. 0:29:07.200 --> 0:29:10.040 It was decisions. It was decisions, and you have a destiny, 0:29:10.840 --> 0:29:13.920 but you get to make decisions, and God is sovereign, 0:29:14.560 --> 0:29:19.880 but you're responsible. And so how you process your desires 0:29:19.880 --> 0:29:24.880 and your decisions right now is really critical. So she 0:29:25.600 --> 0:29:29.480 has a baby. She names him Samson, and the Lord 0:29:30.160 --> 0:29:38.600 blessed him. Grew biceps, triceps, laps and delts, and about 0:29:38.640 --> 0:29:42.240 all the names of the quadriceps, calf muscles. It's about 0:29:42.240 --> 0:29:46.120 all I know. And the Lord blessed them. In the 0:29:46.160 --> 0:29:49.120 spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he 0:29:49.200 --> 0:29:52.400 was in man. I pronounced that wrong. He was in 0:29:52.440 --> 0:30:01.880 this place. Now he's growing up and it's going good. 0:30:02.760 --> 0:30:06.680 And God's hand is on this boy's life. He's a 0:30:09.720 --> 0:30:13.640 he's a he's a he's a star football player. He's 0:30:14.560 --> 0:30:17.920 he learned to ride his bike at the age of three. 0:30:19.280 --> 0:30:26.800 Good things have happened then. The pivot than the pivot. Now, 0:30:28.040 --> 0:30:30.360 if you just if you just watch my feet and 0:30:30.400 --> 0:30:32.400 don't think about it, you go like, well, what's the 0:30:32.440 --> 0:30:35.800 big deal about the pivot? We'll see, you don't really 0:30:35.880 --> 0:30:40.280 know how big the move is until you walk it out. 0:30:40.560 --> 0:30:43.960 Because if I walk this way and if I kept 0:30:43.960 --> 0:30:48.880 walking that way, it would be a different completely if 0:30:48.920 --> 0:30:51.800 I but but if I if I walk this way 0:30:52.960 --> 0:30:58.400 and all I did was this, it's a small move, 0:31:00.040 --> 0:31:03.200 but it sets the direction. And that's what's happening in 0:31:03.200 --> 0:31:05.920 your life. When you decide, like how to speak to people, 0:31:06.080 --> 0:31:08.840 When you decide, like whether or not you're gonna whether 0:31:08.880 --> 0:31:11.000 you're gonna come back next weekend to church. It's a 0:31:11.000 --> 0:31:15.800 small decision, but it sets a direction. When you decide, 0:31:15.840 --> 0:31:17.800 am I gonna tie and put God first? Oh? Yeah, 0:31:17.840 --> 0:31:19.520 I'm gonna put tithe Inn in the Sermons series. I'm 0:31:19.520 --> 0:31:21.440 gonna put it in because it's a decision. It is 0:31:21.480 --> 0:31:23.080 the will of God for you to put Him first. 0:31:23.280 --> 0:31:25.320 And when you decide like I'm gonna do that, it 0:31:25.440 --> 0:31:29.480 sets a direction to seek God first. When you decide, 0:31:29.520 --> 0:31:32.360 like you know what, I'm I'm gonna text my I'm 0:31:32.400 --> 0:31:34.960 gonna text my wife. I'm gonna text her and tell 0:31:34.960 --> 0:31:36.320 her I'm gonna be home at a certain time and 0:31:36.360 --> 0:31:38.120 I'm actually gonna be home at that time. It's a 0:31:38.120 --> 0:31:41.200 little decision, but it sets a direction, because when you 0:31:41.240 --> 0:31:43.280 set a direction, you know I can count on you, 0:31:43.480 --> 0:31:45.280 and you're gonna do it. When you show up and 0:31:45.320 --> 0:31:47.800 eat with your family, that's not a big decision. We 0:31:47.880 --> 0:31:51.080 want big decisions, big things from God. No, No, it's 0:31:51.120 --> 0:31:54.520 the pivotal decisions. It's just it's the little things that 0:31:54.600 --> 0:31:57.760 you do that set the direction for your day and 0:31:57.920 --> 0:32:03.720 for your decade and even for generations to come. Now, 0:32:04.360 --> 0:32:09.120 it's all going good until one day. Chapter fourteen, verse 0:32:09.120 --> 0:32:15.120 one says that Samson pivoted and went down to Timna, 0:32:16.160 --> 0:32:20.320 went down to Timnah, not very far from where he 0:32:20.440 --> 0:32:24.240 was living at the time. But when he got there, 0:32:25.240 --> 0:32:29.280 he saw a young Philistine woman who was he supposed 0:32:29.280 --> 0:32:33.640 to deliver his people from. So now he's in love 0:32:33.720 --> 0:32:40.760 with what he's called to defeat, and he has a desire. 0:32:41.520 --> 0:32:44.600 Have you got some desires that don't look anything like 0:32:44.640 --> 0:32:46.840 Bible verses? Just at least one or two I do. 0:32:49.800 --> 0:32:53.040 He saw this young woman. This is not Delilah. That's 0:32:53.080 --> 0:32:55.240 the only woman we ever talked about in Samson's life. 0:32:55.280 --> 0:32:58.880 You know, the combed his hair and set him up 0:32:58.920 --> 0:33:03.400 and got his eyes gouged out. That's in chapter sixteen. 0:33:03.400 --> 0:33:06.320 We're not even close to that. Yet this is just 0:33:06.400 --> 0:33:09.920 his This is just his pivotal moment. Some of you 0:33:09.960 --> 0:33:13.320 are in a pivotal moment right now deciding things. And 0:33:13.440 --> 0:33:17.440 he came back and said to his father and mother 0:33:17.520 --> 0:33:19.600 verse too, I have seen a philistine woman. Oh, by 0:33:19.640 --> 0:33:21.880 the way, the key verse in the Book of Judges 0:33:21.960 --> 0:33:24.920 says many many different times. I don't know how many, 0:33:25.120 --> 0:33:27.360 but it says at least three times they did what 0:33:27.560 --> 0:33:30.400 was right in their own eyes. And so Samson says, 0:33:30.600 --> 0:33:35.720 I saw with my senses. I saw my senses, my feelings, 0:33:35.720 --> 0:33:39.200 my emotions. I saw a philistine woman in Timna. Now 0:33:39.280 --> 0:33:43.480 dinner for me is my wife. And his father and 0:33:43.560 --> 0:33:47.400 mother replied, I think heartbreaking. This is he's on the path, 0:33:47.440 --> 0:33:50.000 he's growing, he's being blessed, spirit of the Lord stirring him. Oh, 0:33:50.080 --> 0:33:52.400 it's just like I thought it was gonna be. You know, 0:33:52.600 --> 0:33:55.280 I graduated college, I got the job, I did the thing, 0:33:55.360 --> 0:33:58.560 and then all of a sudden, life will just pivot 0:33:58.600 --> 0:34:03.920 on you. And the kid was so cute, so cute 0:34:05.480 --> 0:34:13.959 until they started saying words, so cute until they start 0:34:14.000 --> 0:34:17.319 saying mine. You know, not just with children, but things 0:34:17.320 --> 0:34:19.040 in our life that just all of a suddenly is 0:34:19.080 --> 0:34:21.239 headed this way, is headed this way, just like I said, Oh, 0:34:21.280 --> 0:34:23.200 trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not 0:34:23.239 --> 0:34:26.000 on your own understanding. I hear you Proverbs three five 0:34:26.040 --> 0:34:28.839 and six. In all your ways, acknowledge him. And you know, 0:34:28.880 --> 0:34:31.560 I didn't drink the for a minute, drink like the 0:34:31.600 --> 0:34:33.799 angel said. And I didn't eat the unclean food and 0:34:33.840 --> 0:34:35.759 so and he's doing right. And all of a sudden, 0:34:35.800 --> 0:34:39.120 Samson said, I saw something in tim whoa come back. 0:34:39.600 --> 0:34:43.839 And now now watch this. The destiny of the nation 0:34:44.840 --> 0:34:50.760 is threatened by Sampson's bad decision. And the parents are like, please, 0:34:51.360 --> 0:34:54.960 please make a better decision. Please quit hanging out with 0:34:55.000 --> 0:34:58.839 those friends. Please. I'm telling you it's dangerous. I'm telling 0:34:58.840 --> 0:35:02.680 you it's wrong. Because the Philistines were known for child sacrifice, 0:35:03.000 --> 0:35:06.680 the Philistines were known for worshiping other gods. The Philistines 0:35:06.719 --> 0:35:11.640 were known for very abusive practices that were contrary to 0:35:11.760 --> 0:35:14.320 the word of God. And his father and mother replied, 0:35:14.680 --> 0:35:18.040 isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among 0:35:18.120 --> 0:35:22.840 all our people. Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines 0:35:22.880 --> 0:35:29.560 to get a wife. Bus Sampson had already made his decision, 0:35:32.480 --> 0:35:35.920 and now this child. I'm just thinking, as a parent 0:35:36.320 --> 0:35:42.920 who had so much promise, so much potential, needs a haircut. 0:35:42.920 --> 0:35:50.360 But even that's intentional. Now he's making the dumbest decision 0:35:50.400 --> 0:35:54.520 he could possibly make, to run too what he's supposed 0:35:54.560 --> 0:35:59.520 to be delivering the people from and they can't convince him. Now, 0:36:00.280 --> 0:36:02.239 this is where it gets tricky, because it's hard enough 0:36:02.239 --> 0:36:07.240 to make your own good decisions, but then you start, 0:36:07.560 --> 0:36:10.640 you start throwing in the decisions that other people make 0:36:11.960 --> 0:36:15.560 that you can't affect or control no matter how hard 0:36:15.600 --> 0:36:20.640 you try. And everybody who writes parenting books, I want 0:36:20.680 --> 0:36:22.360 to give them just one bad kid and see what 0:36:22.440 --> 0:36:24.759 they still write it the same way, because all this 0:36:24.960 --> 0:36:27.640 seven ways to raise your kid with the you know 0:36:27.680 --> 0:36:30.080 from the Book of Ruth whatever, I'll give you one 0:36:30.160 --> 0:36:33.040 demon child with a strong will, and you will burn 0:36:33.120 --> 0:36:35.400 your own book. Get out of my face, because some 0:36:35.440 --> 0:36:44.239 stuff you can't control. Hello, he was determined, he was determined, 0:36:44.320 --> 0:36:48.279 he was already he was already gone, So they went 0:36:48.320 --> 0:36:54.120 with him. And this is the pivotal moment of my message. 0:36:54.600 --> 0:36:57.919 Is this is the part God showed me that got 0:36:57.960 --> 0:37:02.600 me so excited, because everyone in here knows what it 0:37:02.719 --> 0:37:05.520 is to have the plan that you made right in 0:37:05.560 --> 0:37:08.239 your head, the model that you had that doesn't match 0:37:08.280 --> 0:37:10.840 the life that you're living. And now, all of a sudden, 0:37:11.200 --> 0:37:16.360 Samson whose name means son, Samson who's radiant, Samson who's blessed, 0:37:16.680 --> 0:37:20.440 Samson who's strong, Samson who carries the expectation of the 0:37:20.440 --> 0:37:23.480 deliverance of the nation on his shoulders, is making a 0:37:23.560 --> 0:37:25.759 dumb decision. And it doesn't have to be a kid, 0:37:25.920 --> 0:37:28.000 and it doesn't have to be a spouse, it doesn't 0:37:28.000 --> 0:37:30.120 have to be a relationship at all. You are going 0:37:30.200 --> 0:37:33.480 to go into some situations in your life that you 0:37:33.560 --> 0:37:36.960 will pray about, plead about, and plan about, and none 0:37:37.000 --> 0:37:39.040 of it will work, and you will be faced with 0:37:39.160 --> 0:37:41.960 the question, now what do I do? I want to 0:37:42.000 --> 0:37:49.080 suggest that when this happens, that you consider the parentheses. 0:37:52.800 --> 0:37:55.560 There's a little thing that Samuel will put into the record. 0:37:56.719 --> 0:38:01.520 And he was writing this record long after the events 0:38:01.560 --> 0:38:07.000 had happened, and all Sampson's parents knew us this is trouble. 0:38:07.640 --> 0:38:10.160 If he marries her, it's going to lead to all 0:38:10.239 --> 0:38:13.040 kinds of clashing values if he goes through with this, 0:38:13.200 --> 0:38:15.200 because that's all we know when we're in it is 0:38:15.320 --> 0:38:21.520 our plan. But watch how the text pivots with a 0:38:21.560 --> 0:38:25.200 parenthetical insert. Have you studied any grammar books lately? The 0:38:25.239 --> 0:38:28.720 parentheses is when you want to put something in the sentence, 0:38:29.160 --> 0:38:32.200 but the sentence makes sense without it, but you add 0:38:32.239 --> 0:38:36.000 it in to give additional information that might be helpful 0:38:36.000 --> 0:38:38.759 to the person reading it, but the sentence would make 0:38:38.800 --> 0:38:43.520 sense without it, But the parentheses. In Judges, chapter fourteen, 0:38:43.640 --> 0:38:48.000 verse four, says his parents did not know that this 0:38:49.960 --> 0:38:54.880 was from the Lord. They knew Sampson was from the 0:38:54.920 --> 0:38:59.840 Lord because the Angel spoke it and her wound was barren, 0:39:00.320 --> 0:39:03.319 So the only way it could have happened was that 0:39:03.400 --> 0:39:06.080 it was from the Lord. But now they've got to 0:39:06.120 --> 0:39:09.399 look at a disappointment. Look, it's no problem to look 0:39:09.440 --> 0:39:11.680 at your gifts, your blessings, and your strengths and say, 0:39:11.920 --> 0:39:14.680 this is from the Lord. I praise you for another day, 0:39:14.880 --> 0:39:17.440 how great and mighty you are, and I lift your 0:39:17.520 --> 0:39:22.520 name on high. But this this, have you ever had 0:39:22.520 --> 0:39:25.320 to walk through a situation where you thought, really, God, 0:39:25.600 --> 0:39:29.320 this like I didn't drink any wine and I didn't 0:39:29.320 --> 0:39:32.160 eat any unclean foods, and I did everything the Angel 0:39:32.239 --> 0:39:35.040 told me. And now this you're really gonna let this 0:39:35.120 --> 0:39:37.600 break out of my life. And the author said, yeah, 0:39:37.640 --> 0:39:43.000 this was from the Lord because he was seeking an occasion. 0:39:43.280 --> 0:39:46.760 The Hebrew really means he was picking a fight. God 0:39:46.800 --> 0:39:49.719 wanted to set his people free from the Phoenicians, from 0:39:49.719 --> 0:39:52.239 the Philistines, and he was gonna do it. But he 0:39:52.320 --> 0:39:55.000 wanted to do it not through a good decision, but 0:39:55.040 --> 0:39:58.040 through a bad decision. So watch what he does, because 0:39:58.080 --> 0:40:01.560 he's sovereign and almighty. The Lord is his name, and 0:40:01.600 --> 0:40:04.920 he is beyond understanding, and his ways no man can fathom. 0:40:05.160 --> 0:40:09.719 Watch what he does. He uses Sampson's dumb decision to 0:40:09.920 --> 0:40:13.960 deliver a nation. Now, if he did that for Samson, 0:40:14.680 --> 0:40:27.480 won't he do it for you? Won't he use this too? 0:40:28.520 --> 0:40:31.000 The more things that I can look at my life 0:40:31.600 --> 0:40:36.280 and say, this is from the Lord. Look he didn't 0:40:36.320 --> 0:40:38.560 give me my verse again, verse four. It's so good, 0:40:38.760 --> 0:40:41.279 and it's in parentheses because the sentence will make sense 0:40:41.320 --> 0:40:43.200 without it, but your life will not make sense without this. 0:40:45.520 --> 0:40:48.279 Trying to make sense of it, you need to put 0:40:48.280 --> 0:40:52.200 a parenthesis on it and be like, there's something that 0:40:52.239 --> 0:40:57.680 the author knows that I don't know of yet. And 0:40:57.719 --> 0:41:02.600 he who began I'm looking for, whoever God gave me 0:41:02.680 --> 0:41:04.799 this sermon for because it couldn't have just been me. 0:41:06.200 --> 0:41:09.520 Touch somebody say, put a purpose on it. Put a 0:41:09.560 --> 0:41:14.680 purpose on it, because when you find yourself beyond your understanding, 0:41:15.000 --> 0:41:17.799 you gotta pivot to the purpose God. I don't like 0:41:17.880 --> 0:41:20.680 this right now. I don't get this right now. I 0:41:20.719 --> 0:41:24.360 can't explain this right now. I can't rationalize it right now. 0:41:24.719 --> 0:41:27.640 But if you started it, you'll finish it. There is 0:41:27.800 --> 0:41:31.480 power in the pivot, there is power in praise, and 0:41:31.520 --> 0:41:37.440 there is a purpose in your situation. There's a purpose 0:41:37.480 --> 0:41:41.440 in it. There's a purpose in it. God's trying to 0:41:41.440 --> 0:41:43.719 pick a fight with the devil, and he wants to 0:41:43.800 --> 0:41:47.120 break some things free and shut some things down and 0:41:47.239 --> 0:41:50.239 get some things through. And he's gonna use this to 0:41:50.800 --> 0:41:56.040 This is from the Lord. I'm making a decision right now, 0:41:56.160 --> 0:41:59.600 a pivotal decision. I'm gonna turn from facing this and 0:41:59.640 --> 0:42:03.200 I'm face I'm gonna turn from what I don't understand 0:42:03.440 --> 0:42:06.920 to the God who, according to the mystery of his will, 0:42:07.120 --> 0:42:10.920 has predestined, according to his good pleasure, that all things 0:42:10.960 --> 0:42:14.799 work together for his purpose. I'm serving the God who 0:42:14.800 --> 0:42:17.600 could take an instrument of death called a Roman cross, 0:42:17.920 --> 0:42:20.080 hang on it. And then get down in the ground 0:42:20.280 --> 0:42:24.040 and come forward talking about I am resurrection power and 0:42:24.080 --> 0:42:26.600 I have the keys of death, hell and the grave. 0:42:31.880 --> 0:42:34.680 I hear the spirit of God saying, put a purpose 0:42:34.719 --> 0:42:37.200 on it. I know you're going through some pain, and 0:42:37.239 --> 0:42:39.400 I know your past was kind of rough and you 0:42:39.560 --> 0:42:45.719 made a lot of mistakes. But put a purpose on it. God, 0:42:46.680 --> 0:42:51.000 would you use even the dumb stuff that I did 0:42:52.640 --> 0:42:58.000 to deliver your purpose. This is bigger than me. This 0:42:58.120 --> 0:43:00.400 is bigger than what I feel right now. This is 0:43:00.400 --> 0:43:03.240 bigger than what my mind can fathom. This is bigger 0:43:03.239 --> 0:43:06.680 than what my heart can know. This is bigger than 0:43:06.680 --> 0:43:09.680 my senses. This is bigger than my This is bigger 0:43:09.719 --> 0:43:12.560 than this setback, This is this is bigger. This is bigger. 0:43:12.560 --> 0:43:15.560 This is bigger. He called me, he chose me, and 0:43:15.600 --> 0:43:20.600 I'm going to trust him that this is from the Lord. 0:43:22.160 --> 0:43:25.640 With a parenthetical insert, the NIV Translation Committee decided to 0:43:25.719 --> 0:43:29.080 let us know that there are some things that don't 0:43:29.120 --> 0:43:34.560 make sense in your life, but the parentheses, that's where 0:43:34.600 --> 0:43:37.520 you see the purpose. You just got to pivot and 0:43:37.560 --> 0:43:39.320 trust that is there even when you can't fill it 0:43:39.400 --> 0:43:44.239 in yet. I don't have to explain why people in 0:43:44.280 --> 0:43:48.239 this room, had children die, husbands that left them, addictions 0:43:48.239 --> 0:43:50.120 that were passed on to them. I'm not talking about 0:43:50.120 --> 0:43:52.400 whether God did that or not. We know that humans 0:43:52.400 --> 0:43:57.879 make decisions, but God is a bigger god then you've 0:43:57.880 --> 0:44:00.720 given him credit for, and he's above every human decision. 0:44:00.760 --> 0:44:08.799 God is bigger than human decisions. And if Samson didn't 0:44:08.840 --> 0:44:13.759 marry that woman, the one that he wasn't supposed to marry, yeah, 0:44:13.800 --> 0:44:15.719 I know it's crazy because we teach like, if you 0:44:15.800 --> 0:44:18.360 make good choices, God can use your life. I'm saying 0:44:19.040 --> 0:44:23.680 this too us from the Lord. He was looking for something. 0:44:25.160 --> 0:44:28.640 He's looking for something that he can work through, and 0:44:28.680 --> 0:44:33.400 he'll even use the dumb stuff. Because if he didn't 0:44:33.440 --> 0:44:36.799 marry this woman right when he was going down to 0:44:37.040 --> 0:44:39.640 get her and to pay the dowry for her with 0:44:39.760 --> 0:44:42.800 his parents and killed the lion and ripped the lion apart, 0:44:43.080 --> 0:44:45.520 and then came back by after he came back for 0:44:45.600 --> 0:44:48.040 the wedding and saw honey in the lion's carcass and 0:44:48.080 --> 0:44:49.799 gave the honey, which he wasn't supposed to do because 0:44:49.800 --> 0:44:51.759 he wasn't supposed touch anything dead, and gave it to 0:44:51.800 --> 0:44:53.680 his parents and licked some and then went to the 0:44:53.719 --> 0:44:56.080 wedding and sat around the table with thirty boys talking 0:44:56.080 --> 0:44:57.600 about I got a riddle for you. Out as strong 0:44:57.800 --> 0:44:59.239 came something to eat, and out of the eater came 0:44:59.280 --> 0:45:00.840 something to eat. Out of fr came something sweetf you 0:45:00.880 --> 0:45:04.040 can solve my riddle, give you thirty sets of linen clothing. 0:45:04.080 --> 0:45:05.960 But if you can't solve it, you're gonna get me 0:45:05.960 --> 0:45:07.719 thirty sets of clothing. And the boys got to his 0:45:07.800 --> 0:45:09.360 wife and they were like, tell us the riddle, or 0:45:09.360 --> 0:45:11.279 we're gonna kill your whole family. And then she was like, 0:45:11.280 --> 0:45:12.960 tell me the riddle, Sampson, tell me the riddle. And 0:45:13.000 --> 0:45:14.440 then he said, oh, okay, well I'll tell it to you, 0:45:14.440 --> 0:45:15.640 but don't tell it to them. But then she told 0:45:15.680 --> 0:45:16.840 it to them, and then they solved the riddle, and 0:45:16.880 --> 0:45:18.840 then he had to he had to go to Ashaakt 0:45:18.840 --> 0:45:20.560 to kill thirty men and beat him up and kill 0:45:20.600 --> 0:45:22.200 him to take their clothes to bring them back because 0:45:22.239 --> 0:45:24.120 of his dumb decision. But that's what set him on 0:45:24.120 --> 0:45:25.960 a course to be able to be able to have 0:45:26.200 --> 0:45:28.279 an opportunity to then go back home. And after the wedding, 0:45:28.360 --> 0:45:29.640 he went back home and he was so mad at 0:45:29.640 --> 0:45:31.600 his wife for betraying him that he went back home 0:45:31.640 --> 0:45:32.960 and didn't even stay with her, and by the time 0:45:33.000 --> 0:45:35.200 he got back, she'd been married to another man because 0:45:35.239 --> 0:45:37.440 his father in law betrayed him, because he figured, you 0:45:37.520 --> 0:45:38.839 never want to marry her now after what she did 0:45:38.880 --> 0:45:40.279 to you. But he came back and got so mad 0:45:40.320 --> 0:45:42.200 that he took three hundred foxes and tied their tails 0:45:42.239 --> 0:45:44.120 together in pairs, lit them on fire, sent them loose 0:45:44.120 --> 0:45:46.080 in the Philistine fields, and when they tore up the fields, 0:45:46.080 --> 0:45:48.440 the Philistines were mad. But Samson killed them because he 0:45:48.480 --> 0:45:50.520 was strong. Now, he never would have killed them if 0:45:50.560 --> 0:45:52.319 they hadn't hurt him, and he never would have been 0:45:52.360 --> 0:45:54.640 hurt by them if he hadn't made the wrong decision. 0:45:54.840 --> 0:45:58.320 And so it goes to show that God is using everything. 0:45:58.360 --> 0:46:00.280 If he never would have set the foxes loosen everyone 0:46:00.280 --> 0:46:01.719 to come to Judah and tied him up and tried 0:46:01.719 --> 0:46:03.360 to deliver them so we could break them free and 0:46:03.440 --> 0:46:04.840 kill a thousand of them with a job one of 0:46:04.840 --> 0:46:06.839 a donkey. If it never would have happened the way 0:46:06.880 --> 0:46:09.480 it happened, it couldn't be what it is. So stop 0:46:09.600 --> 0:46:12.640 looking at what it was and ask God what he 0:46:12.719 --> 0:46:15.600 wants it to be. God wants to use the dumb 0:46:15.680 --> 0:46:24.200 stuff too. You can't control it anyway. The spirit of 0:46:24.239 --> 0:46:27.160 the Lord is on you. The spirit of the Lord 0:46:27.280 --> 0:46:30.319 is on you. If the lion comes to attack you, 0:46:30.680 --> 0:46:33.080 he will give you the ability to rip it open 0:46:33.160 --> 0:46:38.719 because the spirit of the Lord is on And it's 0:46:38.760 --> 0:46:43.880 a pivotal decision that you make when you find yourself 0:46:44.640 --> 0:46:48.960 in these disappointing situations where it seems like you can't win. 0:46:50.440 --> 0:46:52.440 Whether I'm going to believe that there is a bigger 0:46:52.440 --> 0:46:56.480 picture or if I'm going to minimize God's presence to 0:46:56.520 --> 0:47:04.560 the level of my understanding. Right now, let's turn it around. 0:47:05.800 --> 0:47:09.439 Let's turn it around and instead of trying to tell 0:47:09.480 --> 0:47:12.880 God what's best for us, and instead of trying to 0:47:12.920 --> 0:47:16.760 do what's right in our own eyes, let's turn it around. 0:47:17.800 --> 0:47:20.200 Instead of groveling in the guilt of things that are 0:47:20.280 --> 0:47:25.080 already over, I'm telling you God uses the weirdest things 0:47:25.160 --> 0:47:32.360 about you. God uses that big nose that you hate 0:47:32.560 --> 0:47:35.960 and that little habit that you have. He uses that 0:47:36.920 --> 0:47:38.960 because when He delivers you from it, you could be 0:47:39.000 --> 0:47:41.640 a testimony. And He's going to use that too. This 0:47:42.120 --> 0:47:46.919 is from the Lord. How I don't know, I don't 0:47:46.960 --> 0:47:51.120 know a plan. But when I don't know the plan, 0:47:51.160 --> 0:47:55.680 I pivot to the purpose. And he's working it all in. 0:47:57.239 --> 0:47:59.799 He's working it all in. God, help me make better 0:48:00.000 --> 0:48:03.839 decisions in the future. But use the dumb stuff too. 0:48:05.680 --> 0:48:08.080 That's maybe the best prayer I ever pray. God, use 0:48:08.160 --> 0:48:13.080 the dumb stuff too. Father, I bless and honor your 0:48:13.080 --> 0:48:18.759 great name today, as together your people offer you the 0:48:18.760 --> 0:48:25.000 reverence of our attention and our affection. I don't know 0:48:25.040 --> 0:48:28.080 what they did. I don't know what was done to them. 0:48:28.800 --> 0:48:30.839 I don't know what they can't control. That's going down 0:48:30.920 --> 0:48:34.840 to Timna today to make a dumb decision. I declare 0:48:34.880 --> 0:48:38.560 over their life that this is from the Lord. Even 0:48:38.600 --> 0:48:43.000 if you didn't cause it, there is nothing you can't 0:48:43.120 --> 0:48:52.480 use with everyone standing, no one moving. You can pivot 0:48:52.480 --> 0:49:00.200 when you're planted. You can pivot when you're planted. When 0:49:00.239 --> 0:49:06.320 you know that he spoke it, you could be assured 0:49:06.320 --> 0:49:10.480 he will perform it. God's trying to turn your attention 0:49:12.680 --> 0:49:21.799 to something greater than your pain, greater than your insecurity. 0:49:21.960 --> 0:49:24.080 This is from the Lord. It's easy to say that 0:49:24.120 --> 0:49:29.359 when you're holding Samson, harder to say when you can't 0:49:29.360 --> 0:49:33.719 control him. But Samuel will put it in parenthesis to 0:49:33.800 --> 0:49:37.200 let us know this is what makes life make sense, 0:49:37.280 --> 0:49:41.600 that this is from the Lord. There's something bigger. I 0:49:41.680 --> 0:49:44.279 can't tell you what it is right now, but his 0:49:44.400 --> 0:49:51.400 name is beyond understanding. Father, thank you for your sweet 0:49:51.440 --> 0:49:55.200 holy spirit that gently reminds us of your love and 0:49:55.239 --> 0:50:00.840 compassion and concern for us. Now than in this moment, 0:50:00.880 --> 0:50:05.239 you would administer the gifts of healing, the portion of 0:50:05.320 --> 0:50:12.160 joy that belongs to your children but has often been robbed. Well, 0:50:12.160 --> 0:50:15.759 come against the thief now who has come to cause 0:50:15.800 --> 0:50:18.560 them to face in the wrong direction. We turn our 0:50:18.560 --> 0:50:22.919 eyes on you. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks 0:50:23.000 --> 0:50:25.560 to those of you who give generously to this ministry. 0:50:25.880 --> 0:50:28.840 Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You 0:50:28.840 --> 0:50:31.320 can click the link in the description to give now, 0:50:31.840 --> 0:50:35.200 or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more 0:50:35.200 --> 0:50:39.000 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:50:39.280 --> 0:50:41.359 You can share it with your friends. You can click 0:50:41.360 --> 0:50:43.600 the share button, take a screenshot and share it on 0:50:43.640 --> 0:50:46.520 your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks 0:50:46.520 --> 0:50:52.960 again for listening. God bless you