The Other Hand

0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:04.680 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:07.200 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.520 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.600 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:17.200 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:19.439 I know y'all don't want to stand up anymore, but 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:22.560 will you stay standing for this scripture because God gave 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:28.560 us a good one today. Ah, God gave us a 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.400 good one today. You know how you were debating whether 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:34.919 to come or not? Can I go or not? You 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.600 did the right day, You did the right day, You 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:40.800 did the right thing. God gave us a good one today. 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:44.120 I shared on this topic with our kids Tuesday night, 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:45.600 and I was glad to and I thought it was 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:47.360 just for them. And I went back after I preached 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.720 and a few of my friends were here and all 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.440 my friends were crying and they're grown ups, and they 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:56.080 all said, that was for me. That was for me. 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:00.560 That was for me. And then when I prayed what 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:02.440 the Lord would have me share with our church today, 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.520 he told me to give you this. So I'm going 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:11.720 to share this with you today from Exodus chapter three, 0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:25.560 and well, okay, okay, okay okay. Exodus chapter three, verse nineteen. 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:31.399 Are you ready? But I know that the King of 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.880 Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:39.400 compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:43.080 strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:55.040 perform among them. After that, he'll let you go. I 0:01:55.040 --> 0:02:00.960 will read this again and you will respond or appropriate letter. 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:04.440 So'll make me come through that screen. I'll come through 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:07.200 that screen and snatch you right out of your pajamas 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:11.800 and make you shout. But I know the Lord says 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.799 it's to Moses. Moses is eighty years old, and I 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:18.200 appreciate this to the youth because I'm hoping they can 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:22.400 get early when it took Moses his whole lifetime to understand. 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:30.519 And he's telling Moses the ambiance of a burning bush 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:33.440 that isn't burning up. It's on fire, but it's not consumed. 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:35.639 And he's telling him, I want to use you to 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:39.680 set my people free, and have an assignment in mind 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:42.480 with your name on it. But I know that the 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:46.359 King of Egypt will not let you go unless a 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:49.160 mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:53.560 hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:58.639 I will perform among them. After that, he will let 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:05.320 you go. Now, if you have something in your life 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.720 today and it feels like it's got a hold of 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:11.640 you and you need God's help, it could be it 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.560 could be depression, it could be anxiety, it could be 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.720 a situation that's out of your control, but something that's 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:19.760 got a hold of you, like Pharaoh had a hold 0:03:19.760 --> 0:03:22.359 of the children of Israel, and you need God's help 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:23.920 with it. If something's got a hold of you, we 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:25.320 don't have to say what. I'm not going to make 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.160 you say it on the microphone. Don't be nervous. I'm 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:28.960 not going to ask you to name it. But if 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.800 there's something that has a hold of you and it 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:33.680 feels like it won't let go, and you need God's 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:37.200 help today, I want you to raise your hand right now. No, 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:43.560 the other hand, the other hair. That's actually what I 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.920 want to preach to you about today. This message is 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:56.120 called the other hand, the other hand. God, I thank 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.119 you that your arm is not short. You can reach 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:01.000 everybody under the sound of my voice. Do it now, 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:08.240 Lord in Jesus' name, Amen, Maybe see it. Oh, I 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:11.360 was thinking, Chris, you know how we did in quarantine 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:12.880 where y'all woud stay up here on the stools, and 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:14.480 so I wouldn't fill a lonely up here preaching where 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:16.960 to go by myself? Can y'all come like for y'all 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:20.120 where you can bring with you? Are the stools still 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:24.240 back there? Did the youth X steal it and throw 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:26.279 them through windows for a segment or something like that. 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:29.039 I don't know what they've been doing right here. Just 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:30.479 bring some people back. You want to come to Scott, 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:34.359 you should come, he should come, Skot coming fresh. I 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:35.920 did it during quarantine. I don't know if you're watching 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:37.720 it online. Did y'all stay connected during quarantine or just 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:43.960 watching that flips? And I would always have the worship 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:47.160 leaders stay up here. And it wasn't an aesthetic. It 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.320 was just survival, man, because y'all are so good to 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:53.880 look at while I'm preaching, most of y'all and then 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.039 I would say, well, I can't just do this without 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:57.719 someone to talk to. I can't talk to a camera. 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:01.080 So they became they replaced you for a little while, 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.000 but now y'all are back. But I thought it'd be 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:07.120 cool if y'all came out, so come on. We won't 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.839 wait for him. We'll just get started by ourselves. I 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:11.680 want you to go back in your mind, you're sixteen 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:14.640 years old. Close your eyes, you're sixteen. I do this 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:17.760 when I'm preaching to the youth. Before I preach to 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:19.599 the youth, I always put on the music I listened 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:27.799 to when I was sixteen, Pearl Jam, No Code and Okay, 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:29.640 so now open your eyes. So sixteen years old, you're 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.400 sixteen years old. I like to tell this story when 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.160 I speak to the students about one of the most 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.039 significant things that was spoken to me when I was 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:39.960 that age. Now, the coolest thing that ever happened to 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.839 me when I was a teenager is when Billy Joe Armstrong, 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:45.000 the lead singer of Green Day, called me on stage 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.880 to play his guitar at the North Trustan Coliseum. And 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.320 my best friend is here to verify that that really happened. 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:53.760 That was the coolest thing, Georgia, your dad was freaking out. 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:58.440 But the most important significant thing that happened to me, 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:02.960 at least this would be in the top three, was Well, 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:05.040 it's been twenty five years and I'm still telling you 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:07.200 about it. This is how big of a deal this 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:12.800 is that somebody saw something in me. Pastor Mickey, Pastor 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.000 Mickey White, I called him the other day and I said, 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.040 I'm still telling this story of when you came over 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.200 to our house twenty five years ago when I was sixteen, 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:27.200 because Pastor Mickey had just taken the job as the 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:30.560 pastor of Santie Circle Baptist Mission and he needed a 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:33.839 youth pastor, and he asked me to come work with 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:36.520 his youth And I think my mom kind of thought 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:40.640 that Pastor Mickey's church might be a cult. Oh y'all 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.240 have thought the same thing about elevation. You're sitting right 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:44.960 in a church you used to think that about, So 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:49.440 I'm going to look at me like that. But Pastor 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:51.560 Mickey said, well, I'll come over and talk to your mom. 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:54.200 And he used to be in the autoparts business, so 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:57.640 he was a good salesman. So he has to convince 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:01.080 my mom for me to leave the Methodist church and 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:03.279 come over to the Baptist church and be his youth 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.520 pastor at this little church that was meeting in a 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:08.720 Woodman of the World building. And what made it more 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.680 dramatic is big, big guy pastor Mickey's what six six 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:14.720 sixty seven, he's in his seventies now. But he sat 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:17.080 down on the middle of the floor. There's like plenty 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:18.640 of seats open in the house, so I guess he 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:21.960 can at a Gandhi flow going on the floor. So 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.520 and he sits down, big old guy, and he tells 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.840 my mom, I've worked with youth, I've worked with kids 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:33.320 for twenty years, and God has his hand on Stephen 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.040 twenty five years ago. I can see it, can you. 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:41.720 I can see him sitting on the floor saying, God 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:47.520 has his hand on Steven. He said in a way 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:49.600 I've never seen his hand on any of the kids 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:54.960 that I've ever worked with. And it did the trick. 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.120 My mom let me do it, and I served as 0:07:57.120 --> 0:07:58.880 his youth pastor. And I'm thinking at the time, like, 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:01.640 and this is a little thick. You're laying it on 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:03.560 a little thick right now? Does it really take all 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:08.360 that you know the most? But but what I felt 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:12.440 when he said that, I mean, on one hand, that 0:08:12.520 --> 0:08:15.640 felt cool, But on the other hand, it kind of 0:08:15.920 --> 0:08:21.160 was kind of scary. It felt like maybe it felt 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.600 maybe like I'm special, Like, oh, God's hand is on 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.560 your son. But on the other hand, I'm like, and 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:31.239 what exactly does that mean? And yet when he said it, y'all, 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:35.680 I can't exactly explain this to you, But inside I thought, Oh, 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:41.920 that's what I'm feeling. That's what I'm feeling. Because I 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.679 had made my personal commitment to Christ, not the one 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:47.160 where your parents make a commitment to raise you so 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:48.840 that you can meet Christ, but where you decide to 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:51.679 follow Jesus for yourself. I had to make that commitment, 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:55.120 and I sensed, you know, something is different. And so 0:08:55.480 --> 0:09:00.200 here's this man who has been in ministry for many years, 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:03.439 and he says something like God's hand is on Stephen. 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:06.880 And when I told this story to the young people Tuesday, 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:08.880 I looked right at him as many of them as 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:11.240 I could in the eyes, and I said, God has 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:18.200 his hand on you. Because a lot of them never 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.240 had Pastor Mickey sit on the floor chrisscross applesauce and 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:25.760 say that when they were sixteen, and maybe a lot 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.440 of them never even had anybody say something like I 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.960 believe in you, you know. And I think, what a 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:35.559 difference would it make if they get the revelation right now, 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:37.200 not that they're going to be a preacher or a 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:41.520 pastor one day. That's not what Pastor Mickey meant. That 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.240 was a part of my pack. But he meant something 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:50.360 different when he said God has his hand on Stephen. 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:53.719 I want you to say that out loud, or put 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:55.680 it in the chat, whatever the case may be. But 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:59.040 say God, Wait, hold on, don't say my name, say 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:05.120 your name God, God has his hand on y'all said 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:10.640 that so quiet. It was terribly unconvincing how you said it. 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:14.240 You said it with the wrong voice inflection. Say it again, 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:35.640 God has his hand on God has his hand on Graham. 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:37.960 One more time. This time, get the name of the 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.079 person next to you. This might be good for like 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.760 little Starbucks after church if you're single or whatever, but 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:44.880 I'm not using it for that music for illustration. Get 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:46.679 their name real quick, and now say their name. Look 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:50.240 I'm right in the eyes, and say God has his 0:10:51.000 --> 0:11:00.440 hand on Whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. You need to hear that. 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.280 You hadn't been feeling like that lately. I know you 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:05.680 hadn't been feeling that lately. It doesn't make it any 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:11.240 less true. He wasn't talking about a feeling. He wasn't 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:14.839 talking about something that necessarily has a physical sensation. I'm 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:17.199 seeing it in the chat. God has his hand on Dawn. 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.680 God has his hand on Leanna. God has his hand 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:22.360 on Esther. God has his hands on Say. God has 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:24.680 his hands on Adam. God has his hand on Peter. 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.640 God has his hand on me. It's his hand on me. 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.480 It's his hand on me. I'm glad Paster Mickey took 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:35.160 time out of his very busy life to sit down 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:39.160 on my floor and say something that bowld. I wonder 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:42.000 where would I be if I didn't believe that God 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:50.760 had his hand on me? And now I know he 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:57.080 was right, because now I know that the things that 0:11:57.120 --> 0:12:01.240 I've seen God do through me had nothing to do 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:05.839 with me. So I don't mean to preach this early, 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:09.080 and I plan to pace myself, but I'm excited to 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.000 have some of y'all back in the room with me 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:21.600 my testimony that it was his hand. I didn't know 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.440 what he meant. It sounded good, it sounded profound. God 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:26.640 has his hand on Stephen. I thought that many just 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:28.520 wanted me to come over and be talk to the 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.160 youth and work with the youth. But twenty five years later, 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:33.720 I don't have to just believe it. I've seen it. 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:41.160 I've seen it, and sometimes it was confusing because God's 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:45.560 hand didn't always feel like a Swedish massage. Do you 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.959 understand what I'm saying. God's hand didn't always feel like 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:53.520 you know, I've experienced God's hand in so many different ways, 0:12:53.559 --> 0:12:56.960 like the hem we growing up. Great is thy faithfulness, 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:01.520 Oh God, my Father, There's no shadow of turning with thee. 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:08.080 All I have needed, Thy hand has provided. And so 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:12.920 many times I've seen God's hand like this, offering me 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:16.400 what I needed in the moment. All I have needed, 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:22.920 all I have needed, Thy hand provided. You'll know I'm 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:24.680 gonna come out of retirement and do a hymns project 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:27.320 one day. Great is our faith on this I know 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.120 all four verses of every hemn zeke you can sing harmony. 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:33.160 I'm gonna take the lead on those. Great is our 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:37.199 faith on us. All I have needed, not all I wanted, 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:45.360 not all asked for. Thank God. One of the things 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:47.560 I've become grateful for in the last twenty five years. 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:49.160 Did he said, God's hand is on you is for 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:55.319 what he withheld. You know, you start off thanking God 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:59.120 for when his hand does this, and then you live 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:03.040 a little while and you learn to trust in Him 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:07.560 with all your heart, so you appreciate when He does 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:14.960 this too. I'm talking about his hand, because yes, He's 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:17.400 provided for me. I can tell you days and I 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:19.640 bet you've had them too. We're down to the dollar. 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:23.120 God came through for me, down to the dollar. I'm talking. 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:26.320 God didn't even round down. It was down to the dollar, 0:14:26.680 --> 0:14:29.120 down to the decimal. There have been times in this 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:33.400 ministry where down to the decimal God has provided. And 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:36.200 it's not just money, and it's not just stuff. And 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:39.280 if you still think it's about bags and sneakers, you 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.360 need to be back at youth x because you haven't 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:44.120 grown up enough yet to realize that some of the 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:47.440 greatest things God will give you in your life. God 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:50.720 better not preach me on this front. Row some of 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:55.360 the greatest things. Now we're talking about God's hand. And 0:14:55.520 --> 0:15:00.760 sometimes it's like this, and he'll bring the right person 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.280 into your life at the right time, and you'll think, 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:05.880 how did God know that that's who I needed to 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:11.120 meet at this point in my life. And yet the 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:19.920 same hand that did this, well sometimes do this. They 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:27.760 stopped shouting Scottie hand like job said he gives and 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:32.320 takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Have 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:37.920 you realized that God's hand that does this, it's just 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:43.080 as capable when he's doing this. I was on the 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:44.560 front road of the Lord told me, make sure you 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:51.720 tell him I'm a gardener, and that the same hand 0:15:51.760 --> 0:16:00.520 that plants also prunes. Make sure you tell them that 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.600 the same hand that plants the seed of all that 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:06.120 you're meant to be and all that your life is 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:07.960 meant to contain and do for his glory. It's for 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:11.040 his glory. It's for his glory. That's why Pastor Mackey said, 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.080 God has his hand on you. Don't you think that 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.000 God gave you a gift so that you could use 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.600 it for your glory. It's God's hand on you. So 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:22.520 it's God's glory through you, and it's God's purpose. But 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:25.680 the same hand that plants do you all know the 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:28.840 scripture John fifteen, It says that every branch that bears 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:36.640 fruit he prunes same hand. The same hand his hand 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:41.920 does this. His hand sometimes does this taking opportunities that 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:45.800 you you thought, well, that's it right there, and then 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:55.120 God goes, nah, I know stuff all right, So praise him. 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:56.640 How you praise him when he does this, when he 0:16:56.640 --> 0:17:04.560 gives you an opportunity praising him. Now, I'm gonna lift 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:06.720 your hands like you lift your hands. Can you lift 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:15.680 him when he does this? God's hand. Say it again. 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:23.639 God's hand is on say your name, God's hand. And 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.200 that's what the Lord told Moses. He said, I see 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:31.720 my people suffering. It's been four centuries, and I've chosen you, 0:17:32.840 --> 0:17:36.439 the fugitive murderer who has forgotten who he really is, 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:42.240 if he ever really knew. But I've seen my people suffering, 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:46.800 and I know that it's not going to be easy. 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:48.840 So I'm gonna stretch out. I'm going to show you 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.359 the verse again because I learned a few things about 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.879 God's hand. I learned that God's hand is provision. I 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:59.080 learned that God's hand is protection. But I also learned 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:05.919 God's hand is power. He said, I know that he 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:10.560 will not let you go unless a mighty hand Verse nineteen. 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:16.879 A mighty hand compels him, A mighty hand, and the 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:19.880 mighty hand of God in the judgment of the Ten 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:23.520 Plagues against Egypt, was what God used to release his 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:27.760 people into ultimate freedom. A mighty hand. And the Lord 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:30.920 tells Moses, it's not going to happen in your own strength. 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.680 It's not going to happen in your own intellect. It's 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:36.080 not going to happen in your own ability or your strategy. 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:39.639 It's not going to happen even in the leadership gifts 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:43.200 that I've given you. It's going to take another hand. 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:46.440 And the thing about it is, this is what God 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:48.639 showed me. I was looking at the passage, and I 0:18:48.760 --> 0:18:50.520 looked at it again a few times after I ap 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.399 preached it the other night, and the Lord said, you 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:54.680 miss something. I said, what did I miss? And he said, 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:56.680 you missed the other hand? I said, what's the other hand? 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:58.919 Look at him verse nineteen. He said, I know that 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:04.480 the king of Egypt, that's Pharaoh, will not let you go. He' 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.640 see it. I didn't see it either. He won't let 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:12.760 you go. That means your enemy thinks he has you 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:17.400 so strong in his grip, and he won't let go 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:26.160 unless unless there is another hand that has stronger than 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:30.320 his hand. So while you feel like the devil has 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:32.960 you like this, you know, let's be honest. A lot 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.320 of the chains in this room are forty two years old. 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.560 These are not saplings anymore. These are oak trees that 0:19:38.640 --> 0:19:41.560 go down deep. I mean there's some real deep stuff 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.080 that's holding you in here. It's got you like this. 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:46.840 I mean by the throat, I mean it's got you. 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:48.879 It won't let you breathe. You try to move, you 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:51.360 can't move. You try to move up, you can't move up. 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.000 You try to step into a new opportunity, you can't 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:56.560 do it with a free heart. It's got you like this, 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:00.679 It's got you so strong. But God's to tell you 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:05.399 about the other hand. And this is what Moses needed 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:08.280 to know. It's no different for everybody in the room 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:21.879 today that your father is stronger than your pharaoh. So 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.720 like with Graham. With Graham, he wrestles me. In fact, 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:26.600 since you're here, you want to do it real quick, 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:28.760 just illustrated. Come here, real quick, come here, Come go ahead. 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:31.360 I'm gonna show you. He hates when I do this 0:20:31.680 --> 0:20:35.880 because he's strong. Graham is so strong. He's thirteen. He 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:40.000 won the state championship for hold on for freestyle wrestling. 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:42.880 It was a small tournament, but it was still state championship. 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:46.959 And I won a state championship when I was in 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:49.399 eighth grade too, But there was nobody else in the 0:20:49.400 --> 0:20:51.840 weight class, and so I won the state championship. So 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:55.560 we'll have battles, and I'll say old man versus young man, 0:20:56.280 --> 0:21:00.080 South Carolina versus North Carolina state champions And he's so 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:02.560 quick and he's so good. But what I do. I 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:06.840 got old man moves. I got old man moves. I 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:11.520 got pressure points I can do right here, see right there, 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:17.960 right there, that spot right there, right there, in my hands, 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:24.480 I can stop him. All I need is this anointed 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:29.359 forty one year old thumb, and all of a sudden, 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:32.600 watch this. It doesn't matter how much youth you have. 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:35.639 I will put my thumb in his tech right there. 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:38.239 If he now, I'll let him wrestle me. But if 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:40.520 it gets too rough, because he's getting too strong for 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:42.760 me to play with him, I can't play with him anymore. 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:44.919 He'll get on my legs so quick, and I'm not 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:47.800 gonna go out like that. I don't know who's videoing this. 0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:50.600 I don't know if this is Instagram live. So sometimes 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:52.560 I got fup. Just put him right there, all right, 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:54.400 all right, you're done, go back down there. They want 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:56.239 to fight right now. I saw it. I saw him 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:58.840 getting in his status. I'm not getting taken down in 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:04.560 front of the world. Ah ah, God said, I know 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:07.920 where to put the pressure. See that's why I'm God. 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:11.840 I've been doing this a long time, and I'll see 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:15.639 your enemy shoot it in on you. But when I 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:20.400 use my hand, I got a mighty hand. I got 0:22:20.400 --> 0:22:29.080 a strong hand. I don't even have to flex I'm God. 0:22:32.160 --> 0:22:34.840 So Pastor Mickey didn't tell me that part. He told 0:22:34.880 --> 0:22:37.320 me God's hand was on me. I thought it meant 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:39.920 God is my provider. I didn't know that the same 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:46.040 hand that brings provision also brings pressure. And how God 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:54.480 will use the pressure of life to bring me into freedom. 0:22:54.640 --> 0:22:57.280 I know it won't let you go unless a mighty cant. 0:22:57.960 --> 0:23:03.200 A mike can't mighty hand. Twenty five years later, I 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:07.280 can tell you that God has a mighty hand. Ten 0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:11.080 plagues later, Moses and Pharaoh knew it's a mighty hand. 0:23:11.920 --> 0:23:16.439 It's a mighty hand. It's a mighty hand. It's a 0:23:16.560 --> 0:23:22.159 mighty hand. It's a hand that you can't always feel it, 0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:27.240 you can't always see it. But see, Moses was well 0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:29.359 acquainted with this hand, whether he knew it or not, 0:23:31.440 --> 0:23:34.800 because when he was a baby, all the little Hebrew 0:23:34.800 --> 0:23:41.080 boys were getting killed by Pharaoh, not him. His mom 0:23:41.080 --> 0:23:43.960 made a basket and put him in the Nile River. 0:23:44.040 --> 0:23:47.280 This is ect of this chapter two, and the Bible 0:23:47.320 --> 0:23:51.400 says that that basket floated to the daughter of Pharaoh, 0:23:51.400 --> 0:23:53.120 and she saw the basket and she drew it out, 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:55.679 and she felt sorry for Moses because he was crying, 0:23:55.880 --> 0:24:00.159 and she took him and God raised him. As a 0:24:00.200 --> 0:24:03.639 matter of fact, as I thought about that basket floating 0:24:03.640 --> 0:24:05.480 down the Nile River, I thought about your life and 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:10.639 my life, because what are the chances did a basket 0:24:11.280 --> 0:24:14.560 could float down the Nile River and miss all of 0:24:14.560 --> 0:24:31.359 the alligators unless there was a hand. I'm grateful for 0:24:31.440 --> 0:24:33.639 God's hand how he guided me past certain attacks. You know, 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:35.840 the same hand that did this sometimes does that, and 0:24:35.880 --> 0:24:42.000 sometimes God just did that with his hand. Anybody grateful 0:24:42.000 --> 0:24:51.040 for the times God did that and anxiety came for 0:24:51.119 --> 0:24:55.760 your life. You thought about ending your life, and the 0:24:55.800 --> 0:25:01.159 gators almost got you, but God's hand died that. We 0:25:01.200 --> 0:25:03.679 don't really even know how to praise God. When I 0:25:03.720 --> 0:25:06.199 say praise God, and I say, you know, what do 0:25:06.280 --> 0:25:08.719 you have to be thankful for? You don't even know 0:25:08.840 --> 0:25:14.119 the things that God did this and if he didn't 0:25:14.160 --> 0:25:18.359 do this, you wouldn't be here. I'm thankful that he provided. 0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:21.560 I'm thankful that he pruned and took some things out. 0:25:21.960 --> 0:25:26.399 I'm thankful that he protected with his mighty hand and 0:25:26.480 --> 0:25:30.560 an outstretched arm. God said, I see your struggle, and 0:25:30.600 --> 0:25:33.119 I know that it won't let you go easily. And 0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:35.680 so since you've been doing it in your own strength, 0:25:35.840 --> 0:25:39.199 making bricks without straw, doing everything that you know to 0:25:39.240 --> 0:25:43.359 do to be free, but never finding freedom, it's time 0:25:43.400 --> 0:25:47.520 for my hand to work in your life. In fact, 0:25:47.800 --> 0:25:52.560 the scripture says something powerful in Peter. He says, humble yourself. 0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:55.280 What a thing for Peter to say. He's not exactly 0:25:55.359 --> 0:25:58.480 mister humility and the senior superlatives if you read the yearbook, 0:26:00.440 --> 0:26:07.200 but he's learned. Now humble yourself under God's mighty hand. 0:26:07.320 --> 0:26:11.960 Say that phrase, God's mighty hand. How's Pharaoh gonna let 0:26:12.000 --> 0:26:16.359 you go? God's mighty hand. How in the world is 0:26:16.400 --> 0:26:18.399 it gonna happen this time? You don't even know the 0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:20.840 mess I'm in. I know you feel like Moses right now, 0:26:21.080 --> 0:26:23.680 But God came to reveal to you that his hand, 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:27.359 what is it? It's a mighty hand. God's mighty hand. 0:26:27.640 --> 0:26:33.639 Pharaoh's got a strong hand. God's is stronger. God's mighty hand. 0:26:33.880 --> 0:26:40.240 How many praise God for his mighty hand. God doesn't 0:26:40.280 --> 0:26:44.640 try to do anything. God does not intend to do anything. 0:26:44.680 --> 0:26:52.760 He can't do God's mighty hand. But that's not what 0:26:52.840 --> 0:26:57.840 I came to preach about today. I want to preach 0:26:57.880 --> 0:27:05.960 about the other man. See, it seems like Moses didn't 0:27:05.960 --> 0:27:09.560 have a lot of trouble believing that God was mighty. 0:27:09.760 --> 0:27:12.080 He didn't argue with God at all. God said, I am, 0:27:12.080 --> 0:27:13.560 the God of Abrahan, the God of Jacob. And all 0:27:13.560 --> 0:27:15.360 Moses wanted to know is what's your name? And God 0:27:15.359 --> 0:27:17.399 said I am. And I'm sure Moses waited around for 0:27:17.400 --> 0:27:19.040 a little bit more detailed, but God said, you better 0:27:19.080 --> 0:27:20.600 leave it blank, because I'm gonna do so much you 0:27:20.640 --> 0:27:22.600 will not be able to quantify me by one word, 0:27:22.720 --> 0:27:24.520 not a agative, not a verb, not an adverb, not 0:27:24.560 --> 0:27:29.280 a So the Lord, the very essence of true presence 0:27:29.280 --> 0:27:31.720 and being, says I am. And after he gets on 0:27:31.760 --> 0:27:33.880 telling Moses what he's gonna do and how he's gonna 0:27:33.880 --> 0:27:35.320 set the people free in a mighty hand and all 0:27:35.359 --> 0:27:41.199 of that. See, Moses doesn't argue with God about what 0:27:41.320 --> 0:27:44.480 God can't do. Now here's where I need to just 0:27:44.520 --> 0:27:47.920 talk to you. Can we just talk like we've known 0:27:47.920 --> 0:27:50.080 each other all our life? How many of y'all you'll 0:27:50.080 --> 0:27:52.160 feel sometimes when I'm preaching like we know each other. 0:27:52.800 --> 0:27:55.680 I feel that too. So I was praying about this message, 0:27:56.000 --> 0:27:59.720 and God said, it's not me. They doubt most of 0:27:59.760 --> 0:28:05.160 the time. They believe I'm big, they believe I'm powerful, 0:28:06.080 --> 0:28:10.480 and they believe I can do great things through others. 0:28:12.920 --> 0:28:15.080 Moses didn't say, how will I know that your hand 0:28:15.200 --> 0:28:17.560 is strong? How will I know that you're great? How 0:28:17.600 --> 0:28:19.879 will I know that you're stronger? How will I know? No, 0:28:20.080 --> 0:28:23.800 he didn't doubt God at all. And that's what I 0:28:23.800 --> 0:28:27.920 want to preach to you about. Because after God told 0:28:27.960 --> 0:28:33.000 Moses what he would do, Moses answered, And I'm only 0:28:33.920 --> 0:28:37.760 sharing this with you because I relate to Moses, not 0:28:37.920 --> 0:28:40.200 in the sense that I can deliver a nation or 0:28:40.240 --> 0:28:44.080 anything like that. I don't want to change jobs with Moses. 0:28:44.560 --> 0:28:49.400 I'm just saying how he feels I felt, because you 0:28:49.440 --> 0:28:52.600 can know that God's hand is mighty. But watch this, 0:28:52.760 --> 0:28:57.800 he answered Verse one Exodus. For what if they do 0:28:57.840 --> 0:29:03.120 not believe me or listen to me? And what if 0:29:03.120 --> 0:29:06.959 they say, the Lord did not appear to you, Let 0:29:07.000 --> 0:29:09.280 me give you a a little hand. When he's talking about they, 0:29:10.560 --> 0:29:15.800 it's not really their doubt that he's dealing with a 0:29:15.800 --> 0:29:19.120 lot of times when we try to identify what the 0:29:19.160 --> 0:29:23.600 obstacles are of us being who God called us to be. 0:29:23.600 --> 0:29:26.400 Because look what the Lord asked him Verse two. The 0:29:26.480 --> 0:29:32.120 Lord said to him, what is that in your hand? 0:29:33.920 --> 0:29:40.120 Whose hand? We talked about God's hand. We shout about 0:29:40.160 --> 0:29:43.720 God's hand. We need God's hand. It's a mighty hand. 0:29:45.400 --> 0:29:48.800 See for me, it's not that hand that gets me 0:29:48.800 --> 0:30:00.200 in trouble. It's the other hand, my hand, the mighty hand, 0:30:00.200 --> 0:30:02.920 that one my hand. That's a different story, because what's 0:30:02.960 --> 0:30:05.320 just Moses said, how are we going to do this? 0:30:05.560 --> 0:30:08.480 And God said, what is that in your hand? So 0:30:08.640 --> 0:30:10.959 now after God tells him what he's going to do 0:30:11.200 --> 0:30:14.600 with his hand, he points to Moses's hand. Now I 0:30:14.640 --> 0:30:17.320 think this is where I think this is where we 0:30:17.360 --> 0:30:21.720 should spend a little time today talking about the other hand. 0:30:23.120 --> 0:30:25.200 Oh God is awesome, and he's so great? And how 0:30:25.200 --> 0:30:27.080 great does our God? Sing with me? How great is 0:30:27.120 --> 0:30:29.400 our God? And all will see how great, how great 0:30:29.480 --> 0:30:32.720 is our God? That's not the part I have a 0:30:32.800 --> 0:30:37.200 problem with because twenty five years ago, when Pastor Mickey 0:30:37.240 --> 0:30:40.360 said that God's hand was on me, he only told 0:30:40.360 --> 0:30:44.520 me half of it. You know, God's hand can be 0:30:44.640 --> 0:30:47.560 on you in a great way, but if you don't 0:30:47.560 --> 0:30:52.400 believe it, if you don't receive it, do you know 0:30:52.480 --> 0:30:54.760 God can put you in position. That's one thing about 0:30:54.760 --> 0:30:57.760 his hand. The Bible says that if you humble yourself 0:30:57.840 --> 0:31:00.200 under the mighty hand of God, he will listen you 0:31:00.280 --> 0:31:02.840 up in due time. You don't have to do it yourself. 0:31:03.120 --> 0:31:05.520 You don't have to position yourself. You don't have to 0:31:05.560 --> 0:31:08.240 show off what you can do. God will do amazing 0:31:08.280 --> 0:31:11.520 things through your life if you stay under his hand. Yet, 0:31:11.560 --> 0:31:14.480 the hard thing for me has not been God's hand. 0:31:14.760 --> 0:31:18.160 I can trust his hand, I can believe in his hand. 0:31:18.160 --> 0:31:20.479 I can see the evidence of his hand. Only he 0:31:21.160 --> 0:31:24.960 listen to me. I'm from Monks Corner, South Carolina. The 0:31:25.000 --> 0:31:27.560 things God has done for me in my life, the 0:31:27.680 --> 0:31:30.960 places He has taken me are so far from where 0:31:30.960 --> 0:31:34.200 I started. I know it had to be him. In fact, 0:31:34.440 --> 0:31:37.520 even the people that mistreated me, they didn't know it, 0:31:37.720 --> 0:31:41.960 but God was using their hands to get me where 0:31:42.000 --> 0:31:47.840 I needed to be. Y'all don't believe me, Joseph. Joseph 0:31:47.880 --> 0:31:52.040 told his brothers, you intended to harm me, but God 0:31:52.120 --> 0:31:56.760 meant it for good. You sold me, but God sent me. 0:31:57.520 --> 0:32:03.040 How's that possible? Even what their hand did, even what 0:32:03.160 --> 0:32:05.440 they did to you or did not do for you, 0:32:05.640 --> 0:32:08.720 has to pass through God's hand. By the time it's over. 0:32:13.520 --> 0:32:17.960 It's not his hand I struggle with. It's the other hand. 0:32:20.400 --> 0:32:22.440 Are you all really on my second week back from 0:32:22.560 --> 0:32:24.600 vacation on the summer gonna look at me like you 0:32:24.640 --> 0:32:29.840 don't have another hand? What you're talking about here, Pastor, 0:32:29.880 --> 0:32:32.120 for me is pretty like I just you know, I 0:32:32.160 --> 0:32:34.880 am called, I am chosen, I am anointed, I am 0:32:34.920 --> 0:32:42.000 blessed and highly favored. You got another hand? I know 0:32:42.080 --> 0:32:45.800 you got it in your pocket right now. Oh, Jesus 0:32:45.840 --> 0:32:47.640 went to church one day. You'll know this. Jesus went 0:32:47.680 --> 0:32:50.520 to church one day. In Matthew chapter twelve, Jesus went 0:32:50.560 --> 0:32:54.320 to church one day, and while he was there, he 0:32:54.440 --> 0:32:57.960 noticed something nobody else saw. This is an amazing scripture, 0:32:58.200 --> 0:33:00.959 and I'm bringing it right now because I think it 0:33:01.240 --> 0:33:03.880 represents how a lot of us came to church or 0:33:04.280 --> 0:33:06.840 logged on this morning. It says, going on from that place, 0:33:07.000 --> 0:33:09.840 he went into their synagogue. Next verse, police and a 0:33:09.880 --> 0:33:13.400 man with a shriveled or some version say withered hand 0:33:13.720 --> 0:33:16.480 was there and looking for a reason to bring charges 0:33:16.520 --> 0:33:19.680 against Jesus. They asked him, is it lawful to heal 0:33:19.760 --> 0:33:22.520 on the sabbath? Now? He said to them, if any 0:33:22.560 --> 0:33:24.640 of you as a sheet and it falls into a 0:33:24.680 --> 0:33:27.520 pit on the sabbath, will you not take hold of 0:33:27.560 --> 0:33:33.800 it and lift it out? So Jesus is saying that, 0:33:34.000 --> 0:33:35.640 just like you would take your hand and something that 0:33:35.720 --> 0:33:37.920 was valuable, you would pull it out. That's what he 0:33:37.960 --> 0:33:42.040 wants to do for this man. He wants to take 0:33:42.080 --> 0:33:45.280 you where you are, in the place that nobody else 0:33:45.280 --> 0:33:49.960 can see that you struggle. Because here's the problem. All 0:33:50.000 --> 0:33:56.200 of us have one hand that looks just fine. All 0:33:56.240 --> 0:33:59.160 of us have one hand, and it's an amazing miracle 0:33:59.480 --> 0:34:04.040 because Jesus skips over the hand that's working to get 0:34:04.040 --> 0:34:07.320 to the one that won't work. He said to the man, 0:34:07.480 --> 0:34:09.680 this is such a crazy thing to say to somebody. 0:34:10.080 --> 0:34:15.839 Stretch out your hand. So he stretched it out and 0:34:15.880 --> 0:34:21.120 it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 0:34:22.840 --> 0:34:25.080 The Lord showed me something in this sermon it's kind 0:34:25.080 --> 0:34:26.759 of warm to wear a jacket, but I needed it 0:34:26.800 --> 0:34:30.160 to show you this that a lot of us walk 0:34:30.239 --> 0:34:35.480 around showing people the hand we want them to see it. 0:34:37.680 --> 0:34:41.560 I am coming for your other hand today, the one 0:34:41.600 --> 0:34:47.240 that won't work. And don't feel bad about it, because 0:34:47.360 --> 0:34:53.120 everybody that you're sitting next to has another hand. There's 0:34:53.160 --> 0:34:56.200 the one that they show you, and there's the one 0:34:56.200 --> 0:34:59.200 that they know about and God knows about, but they've 0:34:59.239 --> 0:35:03.560 learned how to keep it very carefully contained. So nobody 0:35:03.640 --> 0:35:05.640 other than the ones who live with them know about 0:35:05.680 --> 0:35:07.920 their anger issue because they're nice to the server at 0:35:07.920 --> 0:35:13.879 the restaurant. The other hand, nobody knows about the thing 0:35:13.920 --> 0:35:16.719 that they struggle within their own emotions because they make 0:35:16.760 --> 0:35:19.640 a lot of money. Nobody knows about the tears that 0:35:19.680 --> 0:35:21.840 they cry over, the things that they can't get straight 0:35:21.880 --> 0:35:24.960 in their mind, because in their life everything looks fine. 0:35:25.440 --> 0:35:30.160 But Jesus didn't want that hand. They wanted the other hand. 0:35:32.360 --> 0:35:35.480 And when the man stretched his hand out, the Bible 0:35:35.480 --> 0:35:44.480 says that it was completely restored. His hand has always 0:35:44.520 --> 0:35:50.680 been on you. It was his hand. How you just 0:35:50.760 --> 0:35:54.800 all of a sudden you felt like you could stand 0:35:54.880 --> 0:35:57.359 after thinking you had collapsed and something picked you up. 0:35:57.760 --> 0:36:01.200 That was his hand, That was his hand. It was 0:36:01.239 --> 0:36:07.759 his hand. But now it's time to stretch your hand 0:36:09.320 --> 0:36:13.520 because you still don't believe that. You still don't believe 0:36:13.840 --> 0:36:16.640 that you're the one He chose for that situation. You 0:36:16.719 --> 0:36:18.839 still don't believe you have what it takes. You still 0:36:18.840 --> 0:36:20.399 don't believe that He in you is more than nom. 0:36:20.600 --> 0:36:22.600 You still don't believe that you have a spirit without measure. 0:36:22.760 --> 0:36:24.200 You still don't believe that the gifts that you have 0:36:24.239 --> 0:36:25.400 are the ones that you're meant to have, and if 0:36:25.400 --> 0:36:26.680 you will grow and develop those, you will be able 0:36:26.680 --> 0:36:28.759 to accomplish everything God's called you to accomplished. You still 0:36:28.800 --> 0:36:31.080 don't believe that you still in the other people's hand, 0:36:31.200 --> 0:36:33.080 but you're looking at their good hand comparing it to 0:36:33.120 --> 0:36:41.400 your bad hand. The way this works in scripture is 0:36:41.400 --> 0:36:43.759 that Jesus is healing a man on the Sabbath, which 0:36:43.800 --> 0:36:46.520 is work, who has a condition that renders him unable 0:36:46.600 --> 0:36:50.120 to work. His entire identity has been consumed by this 0:36:50.160 --> 0:36:57.040 one issue, and God did a miracle for him. Can't 0:36:57.080 --> 0:37:01.360 he do the same thing for me? The other hand? 0:37:03.239 --> 0:37:08.680 The other hand, I said, Lord, let's talk about the 0:37:08.760 --> 0:37:12.400 mighty hand. But then he told me to talk about 0:37:12.400 --> 0:37:15.040 my hand, because to sit here and tell you, oh, 0:37:15.040 --> 0:37:16.520 God has had his hand on me, that makes it 0:37:16.560 --> 0:37:22.160 sound like God just makes it easy, like he just no. 0:37:26.160 --> 0:37:28.360 You know how many times I've almost called Larry Bride 0:37:28.480 --> 0:37:29.960 on a Saturday night to tell him, I'll bet you 0:37:30.040 --> 0:37:32.799 got to hope you got your backup sermon ready. And 0:37:32.880 --> 0:37:34.239 you think like, oh, well, you don't have much faith, 0:37:34.280 --> 0:37:38.719 you don't trust God. I trust God. This what's in 0:37:38.760 --> 0:37:42.640 my hand? I'm so glad y'all are up here. They're 0:37:42.640 --> 0:37:46.920 real judgmental, they're on judgment level ten today. What's that 0:37:47.000 --> 0:37:51.000 in your hand? He said, a staff. I'm kind of 0:37:51.000 --> 0:37:53.000 going back and forth between the man and the synagogue 0:37:53.040 --> 0:37:55.000 and God, and I know it's kind of confusing as 0:37:55.040 --> 0:37:57.440 I'm moving here. But you got to see Moses on 0:37:57.520 --> 0:38:00.480 the far far side of the wilderness, tending sheep for 0:38:00.560 --> 0:38:05.799 his father in law named Jethro, with a staff in 0:38:05.840 --> 0:38:09.080 his hand. And God said, what's said in your hand? 0:38:09.200 --> 0:38:11.560 And he said a staff? But when he set a staff, 0:38:11.680 --> 0:38:15.520 there's more symbolically contained in this answer than on the surface, 0:38:15.600 --> 0:38:20.920 because this is more than a stick. The only reason 0:38:21.000 --> 0:38:24.279 Moses is even holding a staff to begin with, is 0:38:24.320 --> 0:38:27.480 because of what he did forty years ago when he 0:38:27.560 --> 0:38:32.120 killed an Egyptian for beating one of his brothers. Because 0:38:32.160 --> 0:38:33.960 God's hand was on his life then, but he did 0:38:34.040 --> 0:38:39.240 not handle it. Yet. You understand that when God wanted 0:38:39.280 --> 0:38:41.440 to show Moses who he was and what he could do, 0:38:42.080 --> 0:38:44.520 he points to something that is in his hand that 0:38:44.640 --> 0:38:47.080 is a symbol of the mistake that he made that 0:38:47.200 --> 0:38:52.359 landed him in this place. And watch what he does, 0:38:52.400 --> 0:38:54.280 because this is the hand we need to talk about. 0:38:54.400 --> 0:38:56.839 You're holding on the stuff so tight. Some of you 0:38:56.920 --> 0:39:00.480 have such a death grip. Your knuckles are white, holding 0:39:00.520 --> 0:39:03.440 on to your staff, holding on to your identity that 0:39:03.480 --> 0:39:05.719 you've told yourself this who I am, This who I'm 0:39:05.719 --> 0:39:08.160 gonna be. This is what I did. Yeah, you did it. 0:39:09.560 --> 0:39:14.680 Nobody's hands are cleaning here. None is righteous, no, not one. 0:39:14.920 --> 0:39:18.080 Nobody lifted their hands because they don't have any blood 0:39:18.080 --> 0:39:21.239 on them. I lifted my hands because his blood will 0:39:21.320 --> 0:39:25.200 cleanse me of all unrighteousness if I confess it and 0:39:25.360 --> 0:39:30.600 own it and give it to him. So it's not 0:39:30.680 --> 0:39:34.479 about God's hands. You've got more than enough aptitude, You've 0:39:34.480 --> 0:39:37.839 got more than enough experience, You've got more than enough height. 0:39:38.080 --> 0:39:40.799 You got the right feet, the right inches, you got 0:39:40.800 --> 0:39:43.759 the right genetics. It's all right there. It's never been 0:39:43.800 --> 0:39:47.440 about his hand. Before you were born, he knit you together, 0:39:47.680 --> 0:39:51.640 before you were conceived, he set you apart. It's never 0:39:51.719 --> 0:39:56.880 been about his hand. God said, what's in yours? Before 0:39:56.960 --> 0:40:02.280 God could use him, I really wanted to use him. 0:40:02.560 --> 0:40:04.000 He had to do what we all have to do. 0:40:05.719 --> 0:40:08.640 He had to take what was in his hand, not 0:40:08.800 --> 0:40:13.319 God's hand. God's hand is already He's already got the 0:40:13.360 --> 0:40:17.120 plagues loaded. He's already ready to unleash. That's not the 0:40:17.239 --> 0:40:22.120 question anymore. But when Moses said his staff, God told 0:40:22.200 --> 0:40:28.560 him what to do. Throw it on the ground. And 0:40:28.640 --> 0:40:32.680 he threw it and it became a snake. And he 0:40:33.080 --> 0:40:37.120 ran from it because he wasn't an idiot. I heard preachers. 0:40:37.640 --> 0:40:41.040 I heard preachers here say, and Moses ran because he 0:40:41.200 --> 0:40:44.680 still had not recognized the sovereignty of God. No, he 0:40:44.840 --> 0:40:52.040 ran because it's a snake, and run from snakes. How 0:40:52.120 --> 0:40:56.120 stupid do we have to be to think that? Now, 0:40:56.200 --> 0:40:58.120 this makes it even more powerful with what God tells 0:40:58.160 --> 0:41:02.080 him to do next. Right, So he has to release 0:41:02.160 --> 0:41:08.600 what's familiar, and then he ass to watch this. Reach 0:41:08.640 --> 0:41:14.080 out Who's hand? Come on, y'all. I put it on 0:41:14.120 --> 0:41:18.080 the screen. Reach out your hand. And I know you're 0:41:18.080 --> 0:41:21.960 praying about God's hand, but God is saying, reach out 0:41:22.280 --> 0:41:25.040 your hand. Do you know there's nothing God's hand can't do. 0:41:25.160 --> 0:41:29.960 But there are some things God's hand won't do. God 0:41:30.040 --> 0:41:35.440 did not pry Moses's fingers from the stick. He didn't 0:41:35.480 --> 0:41:39.000 do it. He won't do it. It's in your hand. Now. 0:41:39.320 --> 0:41:42.520 There are some things that need deliverance. There are some 0:41:42.600 --> 0:41:47.560 things that need discipline. God will let you use your 0:41:47.600 --> 0:41:50.600 hand to lift a spoon with ice cream on it, 0:41:51.080 --> 0:41:53.920 or you can curl a dumbbell. It's in your hand 0:41:53.960 --> 0:41:56.880 at that point, there are some things God will not. 0:41:56.960 --> 0:42:02.279 Come on Moses. He throws it down, and then after 0:42:02.320 --> 0:42:05.200 he releases what's familiar. This is the process for me, 0:42:05.320 --> 0:42:07.799 for me because God has his hand on me, and 0:42:07.880 --> 0:42:10.960 I know that that's not the question. It's a mighty hand, 0:42:11.120 --> 0:42:16.600 but my hand. Sometimes what's in my hand? And now 0:42:16.600 --> 0:42:21.200 you have to release what's familiar, and he has to 0:42:21.280 --> 0:42:26.800 reach for what he's afraid of. And in whose hand 0:42:26.840 --> 0:42:33.719 Moses's hand a miracle happens. So what are you telling 0:42:33.760 --> 0:42:39.359 me preacher, you said the other hand, You said God's hand, 0:42:39.960 --> 0:42:45.760 then you said my hand. All right, well, the Lord said, 0:42:46.920 --> 0:42:51.640 everybody in here is going to need both hands in 0:42:51.719 --> 0:42:55.480 order to move forward. But the problem is the problem 0:42:55.560 --> 0:43:04.080 is you won't bring God. What's really wrong with you? 0:43:04.080 --> 0:43:08.200 You keep stretching out that good hand. You know what 0:43:08.239 --> 0:43:13.880 I never noticed after Moses' stick became a serpent, and 0:43:13.920 --> 0:43:15.920 then the serpent became a stick, and all these awesome 0:43:15.920 --> 0:43:17.960 things that happened when we let go and God transforms 0:43:17.960 --> 0:43:20.040 our greatest fears into instruments of faith, that he would 0:43:20.040 --> 0:43:21.720 go on to part the Red Sea with that staff. 0:43:22.239 --> 0:43:25.560 I know, I know all that I appreciate before. But 0:43:25.600 --> 0:43:27.759 watch what God told him to do next, because he's saying, 0:43:27.800 --> 0:43:29.160 what if they don't believe me? What if I don't 0:43:29.160 --> 0:43:31.120 believe me? God, I believe you? What if I don't 0:43:31.120 --> 0:43:33.440 believe me? What if they don't believe me? Look what 0:43:33.480 --> 0:43:41.560 the Lord said, verse six, Please be nice to detect people. 0:43:41.600 --> 0:43:46.080 They're tired. What's just most holding his staff? Remember it 0:43:46.160 --> 0:43:48.120 was a snake a minute ago. Ah, it's a staff. 0:43:48.120 --> 0:43:50.080 Now it's going to part waters. Wow, watch what God 0:43:50.080 --> 0:43:51.880 can do. He could change your greatest mistake into the 0:43:51.920 --> 0:43:57.640 instrument of your greatest miracle or no pastor. I've heard 0:43:57.640 --> 0:44:01.839 these cliches before. Your setback is sit up, shout all 0:44:01.880 --> 0:44:04.840 this stuff. Now I'm telling you what daily I have 0:44:04.920 --> 0:44:08.120 to experience in my life is picking up the thing 0:44:08.160 --> 0:44:10.160 I was afraid of. After releasing the thing I was 0:44:10.200 --> 0:44:15.080 familiar with, what is in your hand? But then he tells, Moses, 0:44:16.160 --> 0:44:20.759 put your hand inside your cloak. So how's he going 0:44:20.800 --> 0:44:23.920 to do this? He's got the staff in his hand. 0:44:25.360 --> 0:44:33.920 How's he gonna ohi's the other hand. The staff represented 0:44:33.960 --> 0:44:37.680 what he did, but the other hand represents who you 0:44:37.719 --> 0:44:44.239 think you are. Put your hand in your cloak, he said. 0:44:46.040 --> 0:44:48.040 Moses put his hand in his cloak, and when he 0:44:48.080 --> 0:44:53.759 took it out, the skin was lepros. What do you 0:44:53.800 --> 0:45:01.680 know about leprosy? Keeps you isolated, makes you ashamed, just 0:45:01.719 --> 0:45:06.400 like Moses has been for these forty years because of 0:45:06.440 --> 0:45:17.840 what he did. The other hand, nobody touches lepers. Remember 0:45:17.880 --> 0:45:21.399 the leper in scripture. Everybody would tell him six feet back, 0:45:21.480 --> 0:45:23.680 six feet back, six feet back. But one day when 0:45:23.719 --> 0:45:27.560 Jesus walked up, it was the first time that he 0:45:27.920 --> 0:45:33.000 saw this. See, because nobody touches lepers that's what I 0:45:33.040 --> 0:45:35.839 see God doing. We're all standing at a distance from 0:45:35.840 --> 0:45:37.440 what God gave us to do. I don't know if 0:45:37.440 --> 0:45:39.439 it's raising your kids. I don't know if it's fully 0:45:39.600 --> 0:45:42.160 entering into the life that God has given you right 0:45:42.160 --> 0:45:46.520 now or being content. But God said, put your hand 0:45:46.600 --> 0:45:50.239 back in your cloak and pull it out. And when 0:45:50.280 --> 0:45:55.520 he pulled his hand out next verse, it was restored 0:45:58.120 --> 0:46:02.560 like the rest of his flesh. God wants to restore 0:46:02.560 --> 0:46:08.360 your other hand. Your other hand, you know the one 0:46:08.760 --> 0:46:10.759 nod at me if you know the hand, and you 0:46:10.840 --> 0:46:13.560 hope I don't mention your specific issue in front of 0:46:13.560 --> 0:46:19.280 this whole August body of believers, know the one stretch 0:46:19.360 --> 0:46:26.000 that one forth. I see God restoring your hand today 0:46:26.160 --> 0:46:30.640 because His hand has always been on you. Holly preached 0:46:30.640 --> 0:46:33.440 an amazing message about the voice of God last night 0:46:33.480 --> 0:46:35.120 to our youth. But let me tell you something that 0:46:35.160 --> 0:46:38.719 she said that I really believe, and I wrote a 0:46:38.760 --> 0:46:40.520 song about it when I was sixteen. It was the 0:46:40.520 --> 0:46:43.840 first Christian song I ever wrote. Before that, I was 0:46:43.880 --> 0:46:49.239 writing some songs that well, let's just say we won't 0:46:49.280 --> 0:46:51.400 be singing them on the arena tour and putting it 0:46:51.440 --> 0:46:55.400 on a project on Spotify. It was some songs that 0:46:56.080 --> 0:46:58.759 never need to be heard by anybody, but I wrote 0:46:58.760 --> 0:47:02.279 one that said out of someone thirty nine, if I 0:47:02.320 --> 0:47:05.000 take the wings of mourning, or dwell within the sea, 0:47:05.080 --> 0:47:09.160 even there, your hand will lead me and your right 0:47:09.200 --> 0:47:15.120 hand will hold me fast. Who is it for today 0:47:16.280 --> 0:47:18.240 that the Lord said, I want to restore your hand? 0:47:21.680 --> 0:47:24.080 Did I see what you're grabbing onto that you identify 0:47:24.120 --> 0:47:27.440 yourself with? And the signs that God gave Moses were 0:47:27.440 --> 0:47:31.200 for God's glory, not for Moses. But before God's glory 0:47:31.239 --> 0:47:35.560 could be revealed, Moses had to release something, and so 0:47:35.800 --> 0:47:40.040 do you. And when he brought his hand back out, 0:47:40.840 --> 0:47:46.920 it was restored. It was restored. God wants to give 0:47:46.920 --> 0:47:51.000 you your hand back today. God wants to give you 0:47:51.000 --> 0:47:54.360 your hand back today. God wants to enable you to 0:47:54.440 --> 0:47:56.920 do by faith what you can't do in your own effort. 0:47:58.160 --> 0:48:00.879 God's hand is still on your life. And in case 0:48:00.960 --> 0:48:03.319 you have something in here that is bigger than you, 0:48:03.560 --> 0:48:05.480 I want you to know that is a job for 0:48:05.600 --> 0:48:10.879 God's hand. But God has given you a hand, and symbolically, 0:48:10.960 --> 0:48:12.680 right now, I want you to see the hand of 0:48:12.760 --> 0:48:15.960 God that has always been on your life in your 0:48:16.040 --> 0:48:18.160 hand that is holding onto What if you don't let 0:48:18.200 --> 0:48:20.960 go of it, you are never going to receive what 0:48:21.040 --> 0:48:24.560 you need for the season that you're in. And all 0:48:24.600 --> 0:48:28.000 over this auditorium, I want you to lift your hands 0:48:28.000 --> 0:48:32.000 to God, both of them. In fact, stand up on 0:48:32.040 --> 0:48:35.640 your feet. We started this way, We're going to end 0:48:35.640 --> 0:48:48.719 this way. What is that in your hand? We can 0:48:48.800 --> 0:48:50.600 stand here the rest of our life on the far 0:48:50.680 --> 0:48:55.600 side of the desert, Lord, clutching onto mistakes we made 0:48:55.640 --> 0:49:00.400 and things we did. But like you do for that 0:49:00.560 --> 0:49:03.040 man who has mentioned in Matthew chapter twelve, I believe 0:49:03.120 --> 0:49:04.640 you want to do for men and women under the 0:49:04.640 --> 0:49:08.880 sound of my voice today and restore their hand just 0:49:09.120 --> 0:49:14.440 like the other one. I thank you for the signs 0:49:14.480 --> 0:49:17.200 of your provision and faithfulness and protection on my life today. 0:49:17.200 --> 0:49:19.759 But I believe God that there are some people that 0:49:19.800 --> 0:49:22.600 because of shame, they're hiding in isolation. They feel like 0:49:22.640 --> 0:49:24.879 a leper themselves. They don't feel like they can do it. 0:49:24.960 --> 0:49:28.799 In fact, they've considered giving up. Today. You sent your 0:49:28.800 --> 0:49:33.839 word to heal them and restore their hand. With your 0:49:33.880 --> 0:49:37.440 hands lifted, just pray it out loud, God, restore my hand, 0:49:38.960 --> 0:49:42.719 restore my hand. I'm stretching it out now. I'm stretching 0:49:42.760 --> 0:49:47.359 it to you no other help. I know. I need 0:49:47.400 --> 0:49:51.240 your hand God for what has me in it script. 0:49:51.280 --> 0:49:54.239 I need your hand God for what I can't get 0:49:54.280 --> 0:49:58.239 away from from the memories and the thoughts and the fears. God, 0:49:58.320 --> 0:50:00.000 you know what they are. But I need your hand. 0:50:01.560 --> 0:50:06.160 Here's my hand. Here's the one I don't show anybody else. 0:50:07.680 --> 0:50:11.359 Here's the resentment I can't get let go of. Here's 0:50:11.400 --> 0:50:15.560 the thing I can't forgive. Here's the thing for which 0:50:15.560 --> 0:50:20.200 I can't forgive myself. That hand. Stretch it out right now, 0:50:20.239 --> 0:50:26.879 in God's presence. I believe God is restoring hands. He's 0:50:26.920 --> 0:50:28.920 gonna give you the ability to take hold of your 0:50:28.920 --> 0:50:33.359 calling again. Looks like a snake right now, but it's 0:50:33.360 --> 0:50:40.080 gonna turn back into a staff in your hand. I'm 0:50:40.120 --> 0:50:43.719 telling you, man, I'm telling you, you reach out and 0:50:43.760 --> 0:50:45.400 take that by the tail, and you trust him, and 0:50:45.400 --> 0:50:49.600 you're gonna watch it transform in your hand, in your hand, 0:50:49.920 --> 0:50:53.200 in your hand. The miracle is in your hand, not 0:50:53.320 --> 0:50:55.680 the good hand, not the look how great I am, 0:50:56.000 --> 0:50:59.839 how smart I am, how together I am? That other 0:50:59.840 --> 0:51:02.680 hand and that we can't that hand that hasn't been 0:51:02.719 --> 0:51:06.279 able to do it God said today, I'm touching that hand, 0:51:07.080 --> 0:51:16.520 that hand, that hand. Thank you Lord. When you showed 0:51:16.520 --> 0:51:19.000 me this message, I cried God, because you showed me 0:51:19.040 --> 0:51:22.720 that somebody is going home with the other hand working. 0:51:36.040 --> 0:51:37.759 I don't know who it is, God, but you do. 0:51:37.880 --> 0:51:41.200 You brought them here today. You wanted them to know 0:51:42.960 --> 0:51:48.120 they don't have to hide their head. You wanted them 0:51:48.200 --> 0:51:50.160 to know that your hand is still on them. You're 0:51:50.160 --> 0:51:57.480 not afraid to touch them. You wanted them to remember 0:51:57.520 --> 0:52:02.160 that you have a mighty hand and that even if 0:52:02.200 --> 0:52:06.480 their hand is withered, if they will stretch it out, 0:52:08.520 --> 0:52:13.120 then it'll be made home. Oh God, I feel so 0:52:13.200 --> 0:52:21.319 stupid right in front of these people right now. Oh God, 0:52:26.640 --> 0:52:31.160 And I know what it feels like to believe that 0:52:31.200 --> 0:52:33.120 your hand is strong, but to know that my hand 0:52:33.200 --> 0:52:39.720 is weak. And yet you've taught me that what Pastor 0:52:39.760 --> 0:52:49.800 Mickey told me, it's true God's hand. It's all my life. 0:52:51.360 --> 0:52:53.880 Thank you for joining us special thanks to those of 0:52:53.920 --> 0:52:56.920 you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of 0:52:56.960 --> 0:52:59.800 you that this ministry is possible. You can click the 0:52:59.840 --> 0:53:03.640 land and the description to give now, or visit Elevationchurch 0:53:03.800 --> 0:53:07.080 dot org slash podcast for more information and If you 0:53:07.160 --> 0:53:10.400 enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it 0:53:10.440 --> 0:53:12.719 with your friends. You can click the share button, take 0:53:12.719 --> 0:53:15.120 a screenshot and share it on your social stories and 0:53:15.120 --> 0:53:18.000 tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God 0:53:18.040 --> 0:53:18.400 bless you.