The Drop Zone

0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:02.840 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:07.800 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:10.960 Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:13.039 it gives your perspective to see God is moving in 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:14.800 your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:21.439 Well, let's go to the scriptures now, First Kings, chapter nineteen, 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:25.040 verse two through five contains my assignment. Hey, let's do 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:27.040 this in the Message translation of the Bible. 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:28.040 I think it's very vivid. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:31.840 How Eugene Peterson translated this passage. How many are excited 0:00:31.840 --> 0:00:35.600 that there is a cloud heavy with blessing hanging over 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:40.000 your life. We rejoice today for the reign of God's 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:42.360 presence in our life and the promise of things to come. 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:45.400 And so we're standing on the foundation of his faithfulness, 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:47.680 and we are declaring that He is with us in 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:49.240 every season of our lives. 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:50.320 Amen. 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:54.160 And so as we declare that we want to go 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:58.920 right here to First Kings nineteen, I am switching translations 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:02.760 on my Youth version Bible app Thank you Pastor Craig 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:06.600 Grosschell and Bobby Gruenwald and Life Church for creating this 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:12.600 wonderful application where I can stall while I tell it 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.200 I will update later and read as follows. 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.480 Let's go to verse three one Kings nineteen eight. No, 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:21.920 it didn't work. Hang on a second. Don't need to 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:25.720 fix this app, Pastor Craig. Now the app is fine. 0:01:25.720 --> 0:01:28.040 It's a user error. Okay, here we go. You're ready, 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:31.200 say I'm ready. Ask your neighbor. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:32.440 Are you ready? 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:32.960 Tell him? 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:33.440 I'm ready? 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:42.640 Now compliment them on something they're wearing. Your neighbor? All right? 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:48.560 Where to God? Where to God? Coming up on the screen. 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:52.360 When Elijah saw how things were, he ran for dear life. 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:58.880 To Beersheba, far south of Judah. Huh, a lot must 0:01:58.880 --> 0:01:59.920 be talking about Jonah. 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.440 I know Elijah's not going to run, especially with revival 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:06.320 breaking out in the nation, But no, he did. 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:06.920 He did. 0:02:07.960 --> 0:02:13.480 Strong faith doesn't preclude weak moments. Weak moments don't preclude 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:17.560 strong faith. Sometimes the two have to walk side by side, 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:25.519 and he is running Forrest Gump has nothing on this profit. 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:29.880 Running. Like we talked about last week, he's running from 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:31.680 the rain. Now. 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:34.560 His faith released the rain, and just as the nation 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.760 is coming out of a drought, he's entering into one. 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:39.480 It's not the kind you can see. 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:42.480 It's not that he's having to sell stuff on eBay 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:43.280 to pay the light bill. 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:45.079 It's not that kind of drought anymore. 0:02:46.520 --> 0:02:51.160 It is that inner wilderness that many of us live in, 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:54.320 and nobody can see it. And since they can see it, 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:57.480 they sometimes can't encourage us in it, because we're dealing 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:03.840 with it all alone. And Elijah is not just going 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:05.799 around the corner because he just received the death threat 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:08.720 from Jezebel, who he knows good and well can't kill 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:11.000 him because he just destroyed all of her prophets and 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:13.240 the gods that she swears by on a mountain called Karmel. 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:15.079 But the one who had the faith to. 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:18.760 Climb to Mount Carmel is now starting to cave. His 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:22.120 faith is starting to cave, his courage, his emotional resolve 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:27.480 is starting to implode. And it says that not only 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:30.280 did he run, but he left his young servant there 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:34.519 in Beersheba, and then he went on into the desert 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.480 another day's journey. He came to a lone broombush and 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:44.680 collapsed in its shade, wanting in the worst way, to 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:48.240 be done with it all, to just die. For some reason, 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.240 this seemed like an appropriate Mother's Day scripture to me, 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:52.880 you have to forgive me. 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:56.280 I have a bleak view of parenthood. But listen what 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:56.680 he said. 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:58.800 Doesn't this sound like something a mom would say at 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:03.560 some point? This? God, Oh, y'all are going to be 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:08.480 like that today, Like you're always baking brownies, your kids 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:11.440 always leave with matching socks. Get out of my face, 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:16.560 because sometimes you hit a place, come on a place 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:20.760 where you have had enough, and your kids know and 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:21.479 they hie. 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:26.279 It's like we have pushed the woman too far. Amen. 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:34.440 So it's actually it's actually a very serious scripture. I'm 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:37.160 just trying to bring some hopefully a little bit of 0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:38.960 a lift to it as we get into it today. 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:44.279 But he has come to this place called enough enough. 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:50.599 I've had enough. Listen how bad it is take my life. 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:52.400 I'm ready to join my ancestors in the grave. 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:57.480 Exhausted, he fell asleep under the lone broom bush, and 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:01.279 suddenly an angel shook him awake. I'm gonna try to 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:06.160 do that today, okay, and said, get up and eat. 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.480 I want to minister to you for a few moments 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.680 on this very special Mother's Day at Elevation Church. 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:14.920 And my subject is the drop zone. The drop zone. 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:18.679 Father, bless your word, open hearts to hear it in Jesus' name. Amen, 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:21.840 touch somebody and say God's trying to hook you up, 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:27.760 and then take a seat please. Where I first heard 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.240 this term drop zone was from my brother serves in 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:32.680 the United States Air Force. 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:35.520 Oh you can clap for that. 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:39.279 Yeah. 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:41.680 It takes a lot of pressure off of me because 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:43.520 I want my mom to be proud of her children, 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.400 and she only has two, and so if I screw 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:48.640 it up, she can always say, but I have a 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.640 son in the Air Force and so, you know, so 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:52.760 that's kind of cool. 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:55.000 I never really understood what he did. 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:58.000 He's been in the Air Force for like fifteen years 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:00.760 or so like that, and he tries to explain what 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:02.240 he does. I know it has something to do with 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:11.279 an airplane called the one. Yeah, and he drops stuff 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:13.520 and he was telling me about it one day. 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:15.039 It's not that I don't care about what he does. 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:19.080 It's just that sometimes I don't understand what he's trying 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:23.960 to tell me because he's bad at communication. And he 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:27.080 was telling me one thing that they did, which again 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:29.200 it's kind of I don't know. It makes me feel 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:31.800 like maybe what I do isn't that important? Because he 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:33.280 was telling me about this one mission and he got 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:37.919 my attention. He was saying that they they dropped for 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:39.440 Operation Christmas Drop. 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:42.599 They flew out and went to like the. 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:45.800 Remotest part of the Earth or something like that, the 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:47.120 Micronesian Islands. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.440 Did I say that correctly? Is that what it's called? 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:50.360 I don't know. 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.920 Let's pretend like it is altogether, okay, since none of 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:59.840 us know, we'll be collectively ignorant. And he said they 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.360 just drop stuff for people who would have never received 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:03.760 anything for Christmas otherwise. 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:06.120 And I was like, man, that's cool, you did that. 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:08.080 He's like, yeah, he's explained it to me. 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:11.680 He said they had to get down really low, like 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:15.960 I think he said three hundred feet, which I didn't 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.000 even know you could go down that low unless you 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:18.560 were landing. 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.200 But I don't know anything, so what do I know? 0:07:20.760 --> 0:07:23.440 And he said they have to first find it, and 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:25.120 he said we had to find the drop zone. 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:26.600 Now, when he said drop zone. 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:31.400 My mind went to preaching, because again, I'd never done 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:33.320 anything that cool in my life. I mean, he told 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.520 me he's dropped humv's off of the airplane. As he's 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:39.559 a crew member on that plane, the C one thirty. 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.880 He said that they have dropped refrigerators with concrete for 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:46.440 target practice, big heavy refrigerators off the but I've never. 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:47.640 Done anything like that in my life. 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.840 So he's telling me about all these air drops and 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:56.480 I'm like, well, yeah, well, well I drop wisdom. 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:05.640 So what you drop boats? I drop truth bombs. Amen. 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.240 I'm proud of me, momb mo. 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:19.520 And he's telling me all these things. So I'm thinking, 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:21.840 with my preacher's mind, I'm like a. 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:27.600 Drop zone that The term just got my attention, and 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:31.800 I was thinking about that in a preacherly way. I 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:36.040 was thinking about that as it relates to God's provision. 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:36.360 In our life. 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.600 And you know, isn't it cool how sometimes God will 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.360 get you what you need where you are. That's how 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:46.480 I was thinking about it, because Yeah, for me, I 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.000 feel like the Word of God is what I live 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:49.640 off of him. 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:52.960 And it is amazing to me how many. 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.680 Times in my life, even when I have felt so 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.320 remote from God. I know you've never been distant from God. 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:02.120 You stay close to Him through daily de voe and prayer, meditation, fasting, 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:06.360 and living a righteous life. But sometimes, like me and Elijah, 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:08.040 like these kinds of people. 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:13.160 We run to the Micronesian. 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:17.800 Islands spiritually speaking, now, and how does God find us? Like, 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.280 how does he locate us? And I know he's God 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:24.280 and He's everywhere, And I was thinking about all of 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.280 the ways that God provided for Elijah. Just got me 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.760 kind of grateful today, because if you will be honest, 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.720 you will admit that there were times that God provided 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:33.920 for you when you are not. 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:37.680 Even looking for Him to parachute into your situation. 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.600 I mean, that's the honest truth. That's the honest truth. 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.280 That is the honest truth. And the passage got my 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:49.040 attention in First Kings because on the surface, I would 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:51.960 assume that if Elijah is supposed to be prophesying in 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:55.720 a certain place and he leaves that place, that well, 0:09:55.720 --> 0:10:01.000 I always heard where God guides, he provides, and that 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.720 has been the case for Elijah up until this point. 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.640 He was guided by God to Ahab, where he declared 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.240 a drought over the land of Israel, and God directed him, 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:14.920 or you could say guided him to the Carrith Bravine. 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:17.000 Look this up in your Bible. You're gonna take any 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.760 notes or not. You're gonna sit there looking all pretty 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:25.440 Mother's Day all right, this is one king seventeen. God said, 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:31.400 I have some birds that I have directed to drop 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:35.760 off the supplies that you need so you can live 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:39.680 through the famine. Because even though the land is subject 0:10:39.760 --> 0:10:42.200 to famine, I will not allow my children to go without. 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.880 I will provide for you in the worst situations. I 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:49.319 will provide for you. Maybe not through who you expected 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:54.120 me to provide through, but I will provide. That's my name, Jehovah. 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:57.760 Jiro looked up and see it. Here comes the truth, 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:04.280 not somebody's. I got the draw, and no matter what 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:06.880 happens around me, I can always be confident in the 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:08.840 spirit of God, which is my supply. 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:10.680 I got to draw. 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:14.760 So then when the birds got done dropping off food 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:19.280 for Elijah, then there was this woman and she was 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:22.160 about to drop dead of hunger, and because there had 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.400 not been a drop of rain in the land, because 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:28.120 Elijah called for a drought, and yet God sent the 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.959 prophet to drop off something for her. But she didn't 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:34.160 know that because she was about to drop. 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.840 And so you got this exchange happening. 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.640 Like Carlinz one time in New York City. He just 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:41.760 stopped by this weird place in the middle of the 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.440 city and picked up something somebody had left for him. 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:46.439 And I said, what was that all about? Man? 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.320 Was that legal what you just did? He said, yes, 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:51.360 our drop spot. I grew up in Monk's corner. We 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:54.640 didn't have drop spots in Monk's corner. But he told 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:56.400 me there are certain places in the city where He 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:58.320 has arranged that, where is hidden, where you don't know 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:03.760 unless you know. But and God has those places. But 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:07.079 that's not really what I want to preach about today, 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:08.720 or intend to preach about today. I want to use 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:10.520 it in a little different sense. I want to talk 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:15.000 about that other kind of drop. And I hope you'll 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:18.440 go here with me, because you know, church people like 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:20.680 to come into church in a state of delusion and denial. 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:27.680 And sometimes when you get to this point, everybody looks 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:29.680 like you're talking about somebody that they knew once in 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:38.040 fifth grade. And look at how it happened for Elijah. 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:42.160 He came to a loan broombush and collapsed. 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:44.040 He dropped. 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:46.880 What could drop a man of God who is so 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:48.479 great that he dropped eight hundred. 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:52.439 And fifty false prophets? I'm Mount Carmon, What could. 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:54.680 Drop a prophet so powerful? 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:55.120 In word? 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:57.559 And indeed that when he said not a drop until 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:01.000 I say so, it didn't reign for three years. You 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:06.920 can't even control your kitchen sync that well. And he 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:14.360 drops collapses. The traditional interpretation is that he was afraid. Now, 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.000 certain English translations of the Bible do read that way. 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.960 But it's an interesting thing, you know, how we tend 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:29.400 to overgeneralize. He just up and left his wife, slept 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:31.360 with this other girl twenty five. I guess it was 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:35.439 a midlife crisis, But that's just an overgeneralization of something 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:39.160 that was probably accumulating for a long time. The truth is, 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:42.320 you have no idea why he really ran. You don't 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.480 know what happened in his childhood. You don't know how 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:46.200 well he was doing to even make it through the 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:48.560 first twenty years of marriage. So all you see is 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:51.400 he drops, and when they go to chronicle Elijah's life, 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:53.720 to me, it's unfortunate that all we get is Elijah 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.440 was afraid and ran for his life and collapsed in 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:56.800 the shade. 0:13:56.840 --> 0:14:00.400 Because there was a whole lot more going on than that. 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.880 I mean, what about all of those days that he 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:06.680 survived the drought, living as a refugee on the run, 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:10.120 Not because he disobeyed God. That's one thing. But because 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:12.400 he obeyed God. We heard a lot about the consequences 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:17.000 of disobedience, But sometimes obedience has consequences as well. Sometimes 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:20.800 following God will lead you straight into a famine, as 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:25.800 was the case for Elijah. So it caused me to 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:30.040 go back a little bit and just study why he 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:34.760 really dropped. I discovered four factors that I want to 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:38.800 share with you, and which one is for you. You'll 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.640 know it because I have a clear assignment today to 0:14:42.760 --> 0:14:43.280 drop this. 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:47.000 Word on somebody who is starting to cave in your faith. 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:48.680 Maybe you already have. 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:52.880 Maybe the whole thing of you being here at church 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:55.360 is external internally. 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:02.840 Can I drop this? Can I drop it like this? 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:07.240 Like it's the word of God. 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:16.320 So the first thing I thought about was Elijah's disappointment. 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:24.080 Usually when we talk about disappointment, we talk about the 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:25.200 disappointment of defeat. 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:28.680 We would expect Elijah to run. 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.400 Of course, if he had stood up on Mount Carmel 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:35.880 called fire from heaven and God said not today, buddy, 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:40.520 we would have expected for Elijah to drop. It's intuitive 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:43.120 that he would collapse and that his faith would cave, 0:15:43.160 --> 0:15:45.480 and that his courage would go away. If he had 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:48.680 stood up in front of the nation and declared war 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:52.760 on the false prophets of bail and when they called 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.440 on Bill showed up, did a dance and make rain, 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.120 you would run. Then you would run if you were 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:00.600 taunting false gods and they turned out. 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.280 To be true. I mean, you would run. 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:05.680 And sometimes we assume that the only disappointed people in 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:08.800 the world are the ones who don't have much. 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:10.760 Money or didn't get a husband. 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.720 But some of the most disappointed people in the church 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:17.400 are not single. 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:23.680 They cannot not. 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.240 In affirmation with this part of my sermon. 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:30.320 But some of the most disappointed people in this church 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:32.320 are not the ones who are waiting. 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.200 It's the ones who are waking up next to something. 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:41.600 There's a Bible story where. 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.920 Jacob was trying to marry one woman and he woke 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:45.600 up next to another, and you know a lot of 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:50.680 marriages feel like that. He woke up the next morning 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:54.760 and was like, who are you now? 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:56.440 I want to go on record and say this. I 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:58.920 love my kids. Now that we got that out of 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:04.040 the way, I was not prepared to be a parent. 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:08.160 I had a good mom, good dad, a great mom, 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:15.280 and then a good dad hey Man and that's not 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:16.600 what I mean by it. I mean, just like. 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.720 I think, I just had real, realistic expectations, honestly, unlike Holly. 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:25.840 Now again, for the record, Holly is a much better 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:26.359 parent than I. 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:28.320 Will ever be, as well as a much better human 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:29.360 being than I will ever be. 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.000 She is better at every single aspect of parenting than 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:34.119 I could ever hope to be. 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:36.840 Not that we've gotten that out. 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:41.760 Of the way, there's one way in which I was 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:44.400 prepared for parenting that Holly wasn't. I don't know where 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:47.439 she got her blueprint for what a baby was going 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:52.080 to be like. But when Elijah was born, yes, you son, 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:57.879 not that you were a disappointment. You have exceeded our 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:06.080 every expectation thus far. But you know, Holly had this 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:09.479 one year period because he was a little fussy, little fussy, 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.160 and she had this one year period of like. 0:18:15.480 --> 0:18:20.680 Of trying to reconcile. 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:28.320 The reality of a baby with the imagination of a baby, 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:31.320 the reality of motherhood. 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:34.399 I see couples fighting right now while I'm preaching. I 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:35.440 just see all kinds. 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:39.080 Of trouble because the advantage I had over Holly was 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:44.919 I expected it to suck. I told I was like 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.119 This is exactly why I told you that we should 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:51.520 wait seventy years and then have a baby like Abraham 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:54.400 and Sarah in their old age, and really trust God 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.520 a survivor. We should have done this later, because I 0:18:57.640 --> 0:19:00.040 knew that the moment we did this, we would no 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:03.680 longer have a life. What were you expecting. 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:08.200 Just having fun? 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:20.119 It's an interesting question, is who drew your blueprint? What 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:22.600 I think we see with Elijah in One Kings chapter 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:26.520 nineteen is someone who expected the rain and not the resistance, 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:32.439 who expected that when the drought was over, that the 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:35.840 battle would be over as well. But then he found 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:37.679 out something that you have to learn in life is 0:19:37.680 --> 0:19:42.200 that more blessings create more battles. More blessings create more battles. 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:44.480 Do you remember when the church was praying this for 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:48.280 the churchy people got enlarged my territory. Yeah, that's more 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:55.160 grass to cut and property taxes to pay. It all 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:58.720 gets bigger, all of it. And so for me, I 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:01.200 was like, what did you expect? That's what happened to 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:04.080 John the Baptist. Now, Jesus was sending a message to 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.120 John the Baptist, and he was comparing John the Baptist 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:09.119 to Elijah the Prophet. One thing they both had in 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:11.720 common is that they had a blueprint of what the 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.000 Kingdom of God would look like that did not match 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:17.639 the reality of what it looked like once God started 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:21.280 establishing it in his way. So John the Baptist has 0:20:21.320 --> 0:20:24.919 preached his way into prison. Jesus is moving forward in 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.360 the purpose of God. John sends a messenger to ask him, 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:31.520 are you the one or should we expect another? Is 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:34.240 this how it's going to be? Is this really what 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:37.520 serving God feels like? Is this what it really means 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:40.040 to be a Christian? Is this how it's gonna be 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:40.919 for the rest. 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:41.360 Of my life? 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:44.119 Am I gonna have to struggle like this forever? Am 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:46.600 I gonna have to hurt like this forever? Is it 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.160 really gonna be this hard? And look what Jesus said? 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:54.879 Go tell John this is Matthew eleven. Go tell John 0:20:55.800 --> 0:21:01.280 Matthew eleven. The blind see the lame walk lepers are 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:05.520 cleansed to death. Here the dead or raised, the wretched 0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:10.240 of the earth will learn that God is on their side. 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:17.639 That's good, right, It depends on your perspective. John wasn't 0:21:18.400 --> 0:21:21.800 expecting all of that when he preached. 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:24.480 He preached, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent. 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:28.840 I woke you up, didn't I? 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:36.840 You weren't expecting that blots have on the mic? And 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:39.600 WA's what Jesus said, because John was expecting judgment, and 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:45.959 Jesus came and brought mercy. His blueprint of the Kingdom 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:48.080 of God is now he's separating the chaff from the 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:50.320 whakness on the winnowing floor, and he's about to burn. 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:56.080 You all up. And Jesus said, be heal. What were 0:21:56.119 --> 0:21:56.760 you expecting? 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:59.280 That's what Jesus asked, What were you expecting? Is this 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:08.320 what you were expecting? Then count yourself most blessed. Disappointments 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:13.960 and expectations are correlated in such a way that if 0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:15.560 you expect. 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:15.560 The wrong thing. 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:18.200 A lot of the times that we're disappointed, it's because 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:19.360 we went in delusional. 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:26.400 And how could we not? How could we not when 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:27.679 we watch movies all. 0:22:27.520 --> 0:22:32.919 The time that end at the wedding, that end. 0:22:32.840 --> 0:22:36.280 With the kiss and show us. 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:37.560 Nothing of the conflict. 0:22:37.960 --> 0:22:41.280 How can a teenager grow up with a healthy view 0:22:41.320 --> 0:22:45.040 of sexuality when the blueprint of sexuality is we tear 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:48.080 each other's clothes off the first night, and that's passion. 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:53.840 When that's not passion. What that's called is hormonal realities 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:57.320 that need to be brought in subjection, or you will 0:22:57.359 --> 0:22:58.439 find yourself. 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:02.160 I don't feel like preaching on Mothers Day. God, They're 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:03.040 just gonna look at me. 0:23:05.760 --> 0:23:17.440 But I was talking about disappointment, and for Elijah, now 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:23.120 there is the reconciliation between how he thought it would 0:23:23.160 --> 0:23:27.480 be and how it was. You got to imagine that 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:30.639 for three years, while he's running in the drought and 0:23:30.720 --> 0:23:33.320 waiting for God to give him the word to release 0:23:33.920 --> 0:23:37.760 the rain, that he's imagining that when the rain finally comes, 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:39.160 the nation will turn back to God. 0:23:40.160 --> 0:23:43.040 When the rain finally comes, then they will repent. 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:46.600 When it is finally proven to be true that you 0:23:46.720 --> 0:23:49.120 are God, then the nation's hearts will be turned back 0:23:49.400 --> 0:23:54.200 to you. Remember, Elijah's goal was never really rain, It 0:23:54.240 --> 0:23:54.960 was repentance. 0:23:56.840 --> 0:23:58.320 And when the rain came and. 0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:01.760 The first drop fell with it fell the hope that 0:24:01.840 --> 0:24:04.119 maybe now the nation will turn back to God. So 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:10.560 when Jezebel, who was running the nation, when Jezebel, who 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:14.960 had promoted the worship of false gods, sent word to Elijah, 0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:18.800 I'm going to kill you. I believe his greatest fear 0:24:18.880 --> 0:24:24.480 was not that he would die, but that nothing would change. 0:24:25.080 --> 0:24:26.640 That's when it gets hard. 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:31.480 It's not hard to sacrifice when you see the significance 0:24:31.520 --> 0:24:34.239 of it. What's difficult is when you gave it all 0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:38.360 you had and nobody said thank you. That's the disappointment 0:24:39.560 --> 0:24:43.760 is when you raised your children right. I did not 0:24:44.119 --> 0:24:46.880 raise them to act this way. How am I down 0:24:46.920 --> 0:24:48.320 here at this school again? 0:24:48.640 --> 0:24:50.679 Who taught them this? It wasn't me. 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:55.199 See, it's not the dysfunction, because if I hadn't raised 0:24:55.200 --> 0:24:58.640 them right, I wouldn't be disappointed. It's the fact that 0:24:58.680 --> 0:25:01.720 I did everything I can good to show about an act. 0:25:02.000 --> 0:25:06.440 And here we are, and Elijah said, it's enough. 0:25:06.920 --> 0:25:11.919 I'm done. I'm out. I can't You can have them, 0:25:12.119 --> 0:25:13.080 you can have them. 0:25:14.240 --> 0:25:20.679 I don't want this responsibility anymore. Oh, the responsibility that 0:25:20.880 --> 0:25:22.120 used to feel like a privilege. 0:25:22.119 --> 0:25:23.080 That's my second word. 0:25:23.240 --> 0:25:24.639 I keep waiting for him to put it up on 0:25:24.680 --> 0:25:29.560 the screen, but they're a little bit behind. There's a word, responsibility. 0:25:30.040 --> 0:25:35.400 He said, I don't want this anymore. I don't want 0:25:35.440 --> 0:25:44.159 this anymore. I'm tired of being unique. I'm tired of 0:25:44.200 --> 0:25:48.320 being different. I'm tired of fighting against the culture and 0:25:48.359 --> 0:25:50.800 trying to raise my kids in a godly way when 0:25:50.840 --> 0:25:52.320 all it does is make them hate me. 0:25:52.560 --> 0:25:53.360 I'm sick of this. 0:25:54.200 --> 0:25:56.520 Oh I'm going to preach to the three real people, 0:25:56.560 --> 0:26:00.639 not the little angelic Christians who came in here like 0:26:00.800 --> 0:26:05.000 Seraphim floating above the trouble. I'm talking about the people 0:26:05.040 --> 0:26:08.600 that know that the blessing of God gets heavy sometimes. 0:26:14.800 --> 0:26:17.840 Hey hey, hey, the parents that never complain about being 0:26:17.920 --> 0:26:18.879 parents aren't. 0:26:18.600 --> 0:26:25.239 Doing it right. They gave up. 0:26:27.680 --> 0:26:29.359 It's only the one who gave it all that they 0:26:29.440 --> 0:26:34.080 had that can really know how much it costs. So 0:26:34.119 --> 0:26:35.800 I'm just going to break this down because I've never 0:26:35.840 --> 0:26:37.600 been a mother, so I can't talk about it like 0:26:37.680 --> 0:26:39.159 I want to talk about it. But I have been 0:26:39.200 --> 0:26:43.280 a preacher, and it is a privilege to preach God's word. 0:26:43.320 --> 0:26:47.720 Don't clap for that, you don't need to. It's a privilege. Oh, 0:26:47.760 --> 0:26:51.359 it's a privilege. It's a great privilege. And I'm sure 0:26:51.400 --> 0:26:53.800 Elijah felt that way too. You know, I can't find 0:26:53.800 --> 0:26:55.960 in the whole Scripture of Elijah, because I've been studying 0:26:56.000 --> 0:26:59.760 him now for years, probably Bible character I've preached the 0:26:59.760 --> 0:27:02.800 most sermons, I can't find one time that God gets 0:27:02.800 --> 0:27:08.240 mad at him, and here he is writing a suicide 0:27:08.280 --> 0:27:09.760 note when he should be celebrating. 0:27:10.720 --> 0:27:15.440 And what does God do? Because you have this idea. 0:27:14.119 --> 0:27:16.560 That if you really told God and got honest with 0:27:16.680 --> 0:27:19.680 God about how things were, that he would strike you down. 0:27:20.960 --> 0:27:24.199 According to this story, when prophets run from God and 0:27:24.280 --> 0:27:26.640 have the honesty to open up and say, here's where 0:27:26.640 --> 0:27:30.960 I am and here's how I feel, he puts Crispy 0:27:31.080 --> 0:27:36.480 Kream donuts beside their head. Can I fix the scripture 0:27:36.560 --> 0:27:38.160 like I want to fix it for others day? 0:27:39.560 --> 0:27:40.160 What do you want? 0:27:40.240 --> 0:27:42.479 Cream filled original glaze? 0:27:42.560 --> 0:27:43.720 Now I want you to notice this. 0:27:43.920 --> 0:27:47.920 Up until this point, God has provided for Elijah everywhere 0:27:48.000 --> 0:27:51.880 that God has sent Elijah. But now Elijah's going somewhere 0:27:51.880 --> 0:27:53.440 that God didn't send him. 0:27:53.200 --> 0:27:56.680 And he still provides. Can we take twenty. 0:27:56.359 --> 0:28:00.560 Three seconds and praise God for the provision we did 0:28:00.600 --> 0:28:14.760 not earn, for the mercy we did not deserve. Yeah, 0:28:14.880 --> 0:28:17.399 that kind of grace, that kind. 0:28:17.160 --> 0:28:18.399 Of God. 0:28:23.200 --> 0:28:27.480 Micronesian Island mercy. I said it wrong, didn't I? 0:28:27.480 --> 0:28:29.400 I don't care. God knows what I'm trying to say, 0:28:29.440 --> 0:28:30.040 and so do you. 0:28:30.440 --> 0:28:33.520 I'm trying to say that he collapsed and they're at 0:28:33.560 --> 0:28:36.280 the place of his fainting and the shade of the 0:28:36.280 --> 0:28:39.160 broom tree, which he never should have seen away from 0:28:39.240 --> 0:28:39.800 his post. 0:28:39.880 --> 0:28:42.040 There he wakes and finds bread beside. 0:28:41.720 --> 0:28:49.240 Him, so that he can continue the journey. Being a 0:28:49.280 --> 0:28:52.880 preacher as a privilege. But I'd be lying to say 0:28:52.920 --> 0:28:58.800 that there are not times. Oh man, how much should 0:28:58.800 --> 0:29:02.479 I tell him? Lord? I tell them too much. They 0:29:02.520 --> 0:29:06.640 won't respect me anymore. I don't tell them enough. They 0:29:06.640 --> 0:29:11.520 won't relate with me. I don't know what to if 0:29:11.560 --> 0:29:14.400 I preach too hard, they think I don't love them, 0:29:14.600 --> 0:29:16.560 but I don't preach hard enough. They won't have any 0:29:16.640 --> 0:29:20.080 change in their life because it all just be sugarcoated nonsense. 0:29:25.600 --> 0:29:28.680 The difference between me and you is you don't know 0:29:28.720 --> 0:29:31.520 what I meant to say when I get up here. Wow, 0:29:33.280 --> 0:29:38.280 you don't have the blueprint. So people will say that 0:29:38.360 --> 0:29:43.960 was a great sermon. And meanwhile, I'm I'm I'm. 0:29:43.560 --> 0:29:46.800 Telling God to take my life. I mean, I don't 0:29:46.800 --> 0:29:49.400 want to die, but I don't want to preach the 0:29:49.400 --> 0:29:58.239 eleven thirty either. Yeah, somewhere between those two. Because now, 0:29:58.240 --> 0:29:58.680 because I. 0:29:58.600 --> 0:30:01.400 Don't love it, please don't hear me. Oh so iron 0:30:01.520 --> 0:30:04.760 to be a fastor so hard as a sorry where 0:30:04.760 --> 0:30:06.200 you're a phrase where you fais. 0:30:06.360 --> 0:30:08.000 I'm not saying I don't appreciate it. 0:30:08.200 --> 0:30:09.720 That's what I used to think. It used to make 0:30:09.720 --> 0:30:11.680 me feel bad because I would feel like the fact 0:30:12.360 --> 0:30:15.240 that that I didn't want to do it anymore was 0:30:15.240 --> 0:30:18.400 because I didn't appreciate the opportunity to do it. Okay, 0:30:18.440 --> 0:30:19.880 we're gonna we're gonna break down this. 0:30:19.880 --> 0:30:20.600 Wall for a minute. 0:30:20.640 --> 0:30:22.480 Where y'all are looking at me like I'm the only one. 0:30:22.720 --> 0:30:25.760 How many parents have ever had a fantasy of just leaving, 0:30:25.960 --> 0:30:30.480 just just I mean, just out, Just fix your own 0:30:30.560 --> 0:30:34.000 easy mac, pop your own pop tars, how about it? 0:30:37.600 --> 0:30:40.280 No, no no map. 0:30:41.680 --> 0:30:43.440 See, y'all ain't got no kids. That's why you're not 0:30:43.520 --> 0:30:52.040 standing up. You had never been a preacher. That's why 0:30:52.080 --> 0:30:54.880 you can't relate. That's why I make Holly. I usually 0:30:54.880 --> 0:30:57.080 make a preat on Mother's Day. She said, if you 0:30:57.120 --> 0:30:58.560 do that to me this year, I'm gonna make you 0:30:58.600 --> 0:31:00.360 a stay home with the kids for a win. 0:31:00.600 --> 0:31:09.600 I said, O, Preaze, it. 0:31:09.640 --> 0:31:12.640 Costs you to carry something, It costs you to wear 0:31:12.680 --> 0:31:16.160 a mantle, It costs you to stay in Raso's kids. 0:31:16.520 --> 0:31:18.360 It costs you to stay. 0:31:18.040 --> 0:31:18.640 In the rain. 0:31:39.800 --> 0:31:42.840 But what happens to you over time. It's not that 0:31:42.880 --> 0:31:45.160 you're not grateful, and it's not that you're rebellious. That's 0:31:45.160 --> 0:31:50.120 not why you run. That's not why you run. The 0:31:50.200 --> 0:31:52.160 reason you say I've had enough is because you don't 0:31:52.160 --> 0:31:52.840 feel like you are. 0:31:56.160 --> 0:32:04.120 No, that's why he ran. I don't know what else 0:32:04.160 --> 0:32:04.520 to do. 0:32:05.920 --> 0:32:09.479 I called for the drought, I released the rain, and 0:32:09.560 --> 0:32:10.520 nothing's changed. 0:32:11.400 --> 0:32:12.560 I'm done. 0:32:13.240 --> 0:32:15.840 When he said I'm done, he wasn't telling God, I 0:32:15.840 --> 0:32:16.920 don't want to do it anymore. 0:32:16.920 --> 0:32:18.680 He was saying, I don't know what else to do. 0:32:24.800 --> 0:32:25.280 Let me draw. 0:32:27.880 --> 0:32:28.360 He's done. 0:32:30.520 --> 0:32:38.239 I can't carry this anymore. I can't do it. So 0:32:38.280 --> 0:32:43.560 I'm not necessarily gonna leave my house. I'm not necessarily 0:32:43.560 --> 0:32:51.920 gonna leave my marriage physically, but emotionally, I'm gonna withdraw 0:32:52.000 --> 0:32:53.080 fifteen percent of the time. 0:32:53.120 --> 0:32:55.280 And you'll never even know. I was taking my heart out. 0:32:55.120 --> 0:32:59.520 Of him one day at a time. 0:33:00.000 --> 0:33:01.720 He went into. 0:33:03.000 --> 0:33:07.000 The wilderness running from the disappointment. 0:33:08.200 --> 0:33:12.600 He wasn't running from Jezebel bro He had to drop 0:33:12.640 --> 0:33:13.240 on Jezebel. 0:33:14.480 --> 0:33:17.920 And it's interesting to me that the most dangerous place 0:33:17.960 --> 0:33:20.280 that he could have gone was away from the one. 0:33:20.200 --> 0:33:21.840 Who was threatening him. 0:33:22.160 --> 0:33:24.800 He would have been safer to walk right up in 0:33:24.800 --> 0:33:26.960 Ahab's palace and say, bring your wife out here. 0:33:27.080 --> 0:33:29.360 I want to tell her something. He would have been. 0:33:29.240 --> 0:33:32.240 Safer to drop a disc track on Jezebel and tell 0:33:32.240 --> 0:33:39.280 her what you want. Some to hashtag hey Jezebel. I 0:33:39.320 --> 0:33:44.200 thought about writing a letter to Jezebel. Hey Jezebel, you can. 0:33:46.040 --> 0:33:55.720 Go to. 0:33:52.840 --> 0:33:58.479 Write down the word opposition because certain battles you expect 0:33:58.480 --> 0:34:02.800 to have to fight. I went on Twitter one time 0:34:05.680 --> 0:34:10.719 that enough should produce tears. I went on Twitter one time. 0:34:12.080 --> 0:34:15.120 Now somebody said something. It was crazy. Now, please, I 0:34:15.120 --> 0:34:16.799 don't mean this to be a depressing sermon. We were 0:34:16.840 --> 0:34:20.400 just talking today, all right. They said they hoped that 0:34:20.440 --> 0:34:23.680 I had pancreatic cancer and died a slow, painful death. 0:34:24.080 --> 0:34:26.000 So I clicked on the profile. I was like, what 0:34:26.080 --> 0:34:29.600 kind of atheist is this? Their handle had a Scripture 0:34:29.680 --> 0:34:35.200 verse in it. What was weird about that is I 0:34:35.280 --> 0:34:38.040 expected to have to fight people who. 0:34:37.840 --> 0:34:44.040 Didn't know God. What I didn't mix? 0:34:47.000 --> 0:34:50.360 Why aren't church people some of the meanest people around. 0:34:57.200 --> 0:35:00.400 I expect to fight you if you're jer see, it's 0:35:00.440 --> 0:35:04.239 a different color. That's how the game goes, but you 0:35:04.360 --> 0:35:06.080 were supposed to be blocking for me. 0:35:08.440 --> 0:35:10.760 Elijah wasn't scared of jess about. 0:35:10.840 --> 0:35:12.440 Let me tell you what broke his heart? Can I 0:35:12.480 --> 0:35:16.040 show you this? Go to verse ten. I think it's 0:35:16.120 --> 0:35:22.000 nineteen first Kings, nineteen ten. When God asked him a question. 0:35:22.080 --> 0:35:24.360 It's a very strategic question. He said, what are you 0:35:24.719 --> 0:35:29.160 doing here? Elijah? By this time, Elijah has long passed 0:35:29.200 --> 0:35:32.280 through Beersheba where he left his servant. Now the enemy's 0:35:32.280 --> 0:35:35.560 got him right where he wants him, in isolation, because 0:35:35.560 --> 0:35:37.440 the first thing that the devil will do when he 0:35:37.480 --> 0:35:41.440 wants to drop you is make sure he catches you alone. 0:35:41.760 --> 0:35:43.840 The attack will not come here in the church. 0:35:44.239 --> 0:35:46.759 He's too stupid to show up and fight you here. 0:35:47.280 --> 0:35:49.359 It will be when you leave here. It'll be about 0:35:49.440 --> 0:35:53.640 three twenty six, when you go into a good carbohydrate comma. 0:35:54.120 --> 0:35:56.959 That's when the thoughts come. That's when the fears come. 0:35:57.160 --> 0:36:00.000 It's gonna come tonight, when you got nobody to talk 0:36:00.200 --> 0:36:03.560 to and nobody to message. And he leads his servant 0:36:03.600 --> 0:36:06.759 and he goes into the wilderness, and the thoughts come, 0:36:09.680 --> 0:36:11.799 and he's having this conversation with a god that he 0:36:11.840 --> 0:36:14.720 can't see about an opponent that he did not expect 0:36:14.760 --> 0:36:20.719 to have to fight. Here's why I ran, Here's why 0:36:20.719 --> 0:36:28.120 I want to quit. Here's why I dropped because I 0:36:28.120 --> 0:36:28.920 did my job. 0:36:31.000 --> 0:36:35.600 I was responsible, and. 0:36:35.520 --> 0:36:40.680 I'm disappointed because the Israelites. Notice how he has separated 0:36:41.280 --> 0:36:43.879 himself from the very people that he was called to serve. 0:36:46.200 --> 0:36:48.200 He is, He's talking about him like they're a third party. 0:36:48.600 --> 0:36:52.040 He is an Israelite. Okay, the Israelites. You know how 0:36:52.080 --> 0:36:56.239 you do your kids. She does that to me all 0:36:56.280 --> 0:36:59.080 the time. You need to talk to your son. I 0:36:59.120 --> 0:37:01.160 know it's not because he just mastering a new piece 0:37:01.160 --> 0:37:07.759 of piano music when she says it like that, better 0:37:07.800 --> 0:37:11.799 talk to your son. You better talk to your people. God, 0:37:11.840 --> 0:37:13.120 you better talk to your children. 0:37:15.000 --> 0:37:18.280 Because I did my job, and I did my best. 0:37:19.040 --> 0:37:24.799 Sometimes I talk to God like that about y'all. God, 0:37:24.840 --> 0:37:28.080 you better show these people how good I'm preaching right now, 0:37:28.320 --> 0:37:31.439 because they don't understand what it costs me to bring 0:37:31.480 --> 0:37:38.120 them this word. And there just looking at me real crazy. 0:37:39.040 --> 0:37:49.359 I did my job, but they they they tore down 0:37:49.360 --> 0:37:51.759 your altars, rejected your covenants, and try to put your 0:37:51.760 --> 0:37:56.799 prophets to death. And now I'm the only one and 0:37:56.840 --> 0:37:59.600 they're trying to kill me too. Now you know that 0:37:59.600 --> 0:38:01.480 they can't kill you, or else you wouldn't have said 0:38:01.480 --> 0:38:08.000 they're trying. But it's not Jezebel you're fighting. It's not 0:38:08.040 --> 0:38:12.920 even really the Israelites. I expected to have to fight people. 0:38:12.920 --> 0:38:15.040 I expected to have to fight for a parking space. 0:38:15.360 --> 0:38:18.280 I expected to have to fight against the corrupt world system. 0:38:18.520 --> 0:38:25.120 I expected that. What I didn't expect what's the enemy. 0:38:27.400 --> 0:38:30.120 To be my greatest enemy. 0:38:30.840 --> 0:38:34.120 I'm out, I'm done. 0:38:34.760 --> 0:38:37.399 I could fight the false prophet, I could even deal 0:38:37.440 --> 0:38:42.440 with Jezebel. But I'm sick of this. I'm sick of 0:38:42.520 --> 0:38:45.560 being like this. I'm sick of thinking like this. I'm 0:38:45.600 --> 0:38:48.799 sick of pretending like this. I'm sick of telling everybody 0:38:48.840 --> 0:38:49.760 fine when I'm. 0:38:49.600 --> 0:38:51.600 Really frustrated. 0:38:52.600 --> 0:39:00.680 Done and he drops I thought I might in the 0:39:00.680 --> 0:39:05.880 sermon here in the drop zone. 0:39:06.719 --> 0:39:10.760 You know, it's an interesting thing, is that when Elijah 0:39:10.840 --> 0:39:12.640 tells God how he feels, the spirit of God is 0:39:12.680 --> 0:39:14.319 in this place right now, and he's about to put 0:39:14.360 --> 0:39:20.400 something on a parachute and drop it right into your spirit. 0:39:20.480 --> 0:39:22.160 Let me tell you who he's speaking to right now, 0:39:22.280 --> 0:39:23.759 the one who doesn't even want to hear it. 0:39:26.760 --> 0:39:28.319 The one who doesn't even want to hear it. 0:39:33.719 --> 0:39:37.600 Elijah said, I don't even want to be a mom anymore. 0:39:37.920 --> 0:39:40.080 You know Bible, he went, he went and hit in 0:39:40.120 --> 0:39:42.840 a cave. We talk a lot about man caves, but 0:39:42.840 --> 0:39:49.440 how about mom caves. Wow, I'm sick of it. I 0:39:50.440 --> 0:39:53.080 am sick of all these other moms. I'm sick of 0:39:53.080 --> 0:39:54.800 their fake pinteresque. 0:39:55.760 --> 0:39:56.160 I'm sick. 0:39:56.239 --> 0:39:58.760 I'm sick of all of it. I'm sick. I am 0:39:58.800 --> 0:40:01.640 sick of this. Now, maybe you don't need this message today. 0:40:01.760 --> 0:40:03.600 You can either sit there judgmental, or you could file 0:40:03.640 --> 0:40:04.960 it for Tuesday. 0:40:04.719 --> 0:40:12.480 When you go into your own cave. I don't know 0:40:12.520 --> 0:40:13.560 what he's talking about. 0:40:13.640 --> 0:40:18.200 Your kid is five, When they are fifteen, you will 0:40:18.239 --> 0:40:21.200 need this message. Put it on your favorites on YouTube, 0:40:21.840 --> 0:40:25.759 because something will make you want to run. Help me 0:40:26.080 --> 0:40:31.000 preach left section of Balentine Spiritual Session. 0:40:32.000 --> 0:40:33.400 Elijah said about. 0:40:36.560 --> 0:40:40.520 Gus said, not so fast, because the reason that you 0:40:40.600 --> 0:40:43.960 have collapsed is not because of your situation. 0:40:45.000 --> 0:40:48.800 It's because of your position. Position. 0:40:50.840 --> 0:40:53.719 I never dropped a parachute with a refrigerator filled with 0:40:53.760 --> 0:40:57.640 concrete for target practice. I never dropped the gift supply 0:40:57.719 --> 0:41:00.520 for somebody who never received a pair of flo flops 0:41:00.600 --> 0:41:03.120 or a pair of shorts for Christmas. I never did that. 0:41:03.400 --> 0:41:06.680 But I found on my iPhone. I found air drop. 0:41:09.000 --> 0:41:12.239 I found air drop. Have you ever seen it? I 0:41:12.239 --> 0:41:14.160 don't use it much, but I have used it once 0:41:14.280 --> 0:41:17.600 or twice. And one thing I found out about airdrop. 0:41:17.280 --> 0:41:20.759 Is when do you have an iPhone? Stacey? You got 0:41:20.760 --> 0:41:23.040 an iPhone? Now? Now I don't need your phone. I 0:41:23.080 --> 0:41:23.800 want mine. 0:41:23.880 --> 0:41:25.520 And I got something I want to give you from 0:41:25.520 --> 0:41:27.120 my phone to your phone. Now we could do a 0:41:27.120 --> 0:41:29.879 couple different things. One thing we could do, I could 0:41:29.920 --> 0:41:31.600 text it to you. But what fun would that be? 0:41:31.640 --> 0:41:34.920 When I have air drops? Somebody shall drop it Because 0:41:34.960 --> 0:41:37.880 I found this thing on my phone, it says air drop. 0:41:38.400 --> 0:41:41.280 I found out that if our phones are close enough, 0:41:41.840 --> 0:41:45.200 and if we have a connection on Wi Fi and Bluetobe, 0:41:45.520 --> 0:41:49.120 come on, I'm about to preach this technology until somebody 0:41:49.160 --> 0:41:52.120 comes out of hiding. If I got something on my 0:41:52.320 --> 0:41:55.840 device and you need it on your device, if I 0:41:55.880 --> 0:41:59.560 can get close enough to your device with my device, 0:42:00.120 --> 0:42:04.120 what's on my device could sup on your device. If 0:42:04.120 --> 0:42:07.000 I got a connection, if I come out of the cave, 0:42:07.560 --> 0:42:09.880 if I get close to the one who created me 0:42:10.440 --> 0:42:13.120 close to the one who called me. If I stop 0:42:13.239 --> 0:42:15.520 running and return to the place of mile. 0:42:15.480 --> 0:42:19.239 Side, I got the dup. 0:42:28.320 --> 0:42:31.600 God said, I'm calling you closer. I'm calling you back. 0:42:32.080 --> 0:42:33.960 This day is for reconnection. 0:42:34.520 --> 0:42:37.000 I didn't bring you here so you could sit under 0:42:37.000 --> 0:42:41.360 a broom bush and die. 0:42:42.480 --> 0:42:43.760 This is the drop zone. 0:42:51.600 --> 0:42:52.120 Who is it for? 0:42:53.239 --> 0:42:53.800 Who is it for? 0:42:54.880 --> 0:42:58.000 Who is a form? Who is a form? Who is 0:42:58.040 --> 0:42:58.960 it fore? Gaston? 0:42:59.239 --> 0:42:59.759 Who is it for? 0:43:00.160 --> 0:43:00.680 You? See? 0:43:00.840 --> 0:43:01.520 Who is it for? 0:43:01.680 --> 0:43:03.160 Blakeney? Who is it for? 0:43:03.560 --> 0:43:06.200 You're under the covers. You didn't even come to church. 0:43:06.560 --> 0:43:08.759 God, I had to get this message to you through 0:43:08.800 --> 0:43:11.120 and half. But He's about to drop. 0:43:11.760 --> 0:43:22.520 Drops in your spirit to stringthen you. 0:43:23.040 --> 0:43:25.080 My brother said, they put out red flags. 0:43:26.719 --> 0:43:29.359 They put out red flags in remote locations to let 0:43:29.400 --> 0:43:34.440 me know that this is the drop zone. They put 0:43:34.480 --> 0:43:37.239 out a red flag and we fly down close. See 0:43:37.280 --> 0:43:40.759 that's the thing about God. He can't shout it to you. 0:43:43.239 --> 0:43:46.080 He has to get down to that three hundred foot level, 0:43:46.960 --> 0:43:49.600 real close, where you can't hide how you really feel. 0:43:53.520 --> 0:43:57.720 And maybe we should do today what Elijah had to do. 0:44:00.120 --> 0:44:02.200 To return to the calling and return to the rain 0:44:02.239 --> 0:44:06.160 and return to the blessing of God. Look, look, It 0:44:06.800 --> 0:44:14.000 doesn't require a change in feelings. It's a change in focus. 0:44:15.719 --> 0:44:20.280 You got it. I'm preaching to y'all in the back. 0:44:20.520 --> 0:44:22.920 I'm preaching to people who are too tired to stand 0:44:23.000 --> 0:44:23.319 up and. 0:44:23.280 --> 0:44:26.520 Say, Amen, this is your mail. 0:44:26.719 --> 0:44:29.600 This is your package, this is your supply. 0:44:29.880 --> 0:44:31.440 God's trying to drop it. 0:44:33.920 --> 0:44:36.760 And God told Elijah verse fifteen. 0:44:36.840 --> 0:44:41.080 Is so beautiful, He said, go back the way. You 0:44:41.200 --> 0:44:45.320 can change your position. 0:44:46.480 --> 0:44:50.560 To receive the provision that is already waiting in the 0:44:50.600 --> 0:44:54.680 place where you belong. Because I'm seated in heavenly places 0:44:54.920 --> 0:44:59.960 with Christ, I said, I've seated in a divine position, 0:45:00.719 --> 0:45:05.719 far above rulers, far above principalities. Who am I preacher to. 0:45:06.160 --> 0:45:08.480 I'm looking in the camera. I need to know where 0:45:08.560 --> 0:45:09.160 to drop it. 0:45:15.000 --> 0:45:19.000 So go back the way you came. Change your position. 0:45:21.239 --> 0:45:24.319 Go back to the place of your opposition. 0:45:24.440 --> 0:45:27.480 That's where your opportunity is. Did you hear me. 0:45:27.800 --> 0:45:32.239 Your greatest opportunity is in the place of your greatest opposition. 0:45:32.920 --> 0:45:35.520 If it were not hard, it would not be worth 0:45:35.520 --> 0:45:38.759 fighting for. If it were not hard, it would not 0:45:38.880 --> 0:45:40.319 be worth surviving for. 0:45:42.160 --> 0:45:48.920 Go back, go back, go back to the place of 0:45:48.960 --> 0:45:53.400 your responsibility. I've already got God told Elijah, I've already 0:45:53.400 --> 0:45:55.239 got Elijah, son of Shafat. 0:45:55.480 --> 0:45:58.680 He's your successor. He's waiting for your mantle. You weren't 0:45:58.680 --> 0:46:00.920 supposed to do this alone to again with, And the 0:46:00.960 --> 0:46:02.759 reason that I let you run out of strength is 0:46:02.840 --> 0:46:04.680 so that you would be in a place of surrender 0:46:04.840 --> 0:46:08.879 and dependence. You were not supposed to do this alone, 0:46:09.040 --> 0:46:10.920 so I had to let you run. 0:46:13.520 --> 0:46:17.280 All the way to the cave, all. 0:46:17.120 --> 0:46:19.880 The way to the disappointment, so you could get this drop. 0:46:28.040 --> 0:46:32.400 Have you been fighting lately? Have you been fighting yourself? 0:46:33.400 --> 0:46:35.480 Stand up and raise your red flag. If this message 0:46:35.520 --> 0:46:39.239 was for you. If you don't need it, sit there 0:46:39.239 --> 0:46:41.000 and receive it. But if you need it, raise your 0:46:41.040 --> 0:46:50.040 red flag. Until I realized that the same God who 0:46:50.040 --> 0:46:55.040 had birds dropping food for Elijah at the karth Ravine, 0:46:55.400 --> 0:46:58.080 the same God who had supply of oil and food 0:46:58.200 --> 0:47:03.400 for Elijah at the widow house inside in the same 0:47:03.440 --> 0:47:06.120 God who had provision waiting for Elijah in the form 0:47:06.160 --> 0:47:07.760 of wood on Mount Carmel. 0:47:07.840 --> 0:47:11.920 And fire from heaven. That same God, this is what 0:47:12.000 --> 0:47:12.319 I got. 0:47:13.880 --> 0:47:16.560 The same place where the enemy is fighting you the most, 0:47:18.440 --> 0:47:20.600 It's the same place where God's supply will be the 0:47:20.640 --> 0:47:22.280 greatest Lift your hands. 0:47:22.320 --> 0:47:25.080 This is the drop zone. Lift your hands. This is 0:47:25.120 --> 0:47:26.080 the drop zone. 0:47:26.280 --> 0:47:27.560 You are not going. 0:47:27.360 --> 0:47:35.360 To get it until you admit how much you need it. 0:47:41.120 --> 0:47:44.880 Brother, I thank you for the word you gave me today. 0:47:45.880 --> 0:47:48.160 I believe that it is the power of God for 0:47:48.239 --> 0:47:52.840 the salvation of those who believe. I believe that you 0:47:52.880 --> 0:47:55.200 want to change our blueprint of what a blessing looks like, 0:47:56.320 --> 0:47:58.440 to see that it is not always in the places 0:47:58.520 --> 0:48:01.880 of our greatest joy and the feelings of elation, but 0:48:02.000 --> 0:48:06.279 sometimes when we are exhausted and have had enough. 0:48:06.880 --> 0:48:08.520 That your provision is released. 0:48:08.920 --> 0:48:11.439 Lift those hands until your arms hurt, Lift those hands 0:48:11.520 --> 0:48:13.359 until your shoulders are sore. 0:48:15.280 --> 0:48:16.399 Thank you for joining us. 0:48:16.719 --> 0:48:19.160 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:48:19.239 --> 0:48:22.719 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:48:23.160 --> 0:48:25.359 You can click the link in the description to give 0:48:25.440 --> 0:48:29.600 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:48:29.600 --> 0:48:33.400 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:48:33.680 --> 0:48:35.040 You can share it with your friends. 0:48:35.320 --> 0:48:37.600 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:48:37.640 --> 0:48:39.759 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:48:39.760 --> 0:48:40.640 Elevation Church. 0:48:40.719 --> 0:48:47.360 Thanks again for listening. God bless you