When The Battle Chooses You

0:00:02.080 --> 0:00:04.640 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:07.120 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.480 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.480 --> 0:00:12.520 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:15.240 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:20.880 I would like to share with you a verse of 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.079 scripture that I pray will go off like a bomb, 0:00:25.520 --> 0:00:28.560 like the promise that it is when I read it. 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:31.680 A certain number of you. I don't know how many, 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.000 and I don't know where you are, but a certain 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:37.200 number of you are going to know that this one 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.400 is for you when I read the verse. And I'm 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.160 not saying this for everybody, but if it is for you, 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:45.760 and how you can know if it's for you, If 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:49.519 you're currently facing a battle that is bigger than you, 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:55.680 then this verse is for you today. And so when 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.640 I read this verse, it's not for everybody. It's for 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:02.960 those who are facing a battle that is bigger than you. 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:07.800 And the scripture is found in Second Chronicles, chapter twenty. 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:10.240 In just a moment, I'll read it. I want to 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.319 give everybody who wants to turn to it a chance 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:18.319 to do that you got it, Rachel. When Rachel's ready, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:21.399 I'll read it, because she knows the Bible is so good, 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:23.240 so she hadn't found it by now. I know somebody 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:27.640 else is over in Galatians looking for Second Chronicles. You 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:33.520 got it twenty seventeen. Listen to this. You ready? I 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:36.760 don't think you are. This is the word of the Lord. 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:41.640 And really, I'm going to minister off of the song 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:44.840 that we just sang. We were singing I'm going to 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.480 see a victory, and we were singing Romans eight twenty eight, 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.600 Genesis fifty twenty, one of the major themes of scripture, 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:55.400 how God takes what the enemy meant for evil and 0:01:55.440 --> 0:01:59.840 he flips the intention of the enemy. And actually, you 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:05.000 is it to produce a purpose through your life? And 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:06.960 I'm going to minister off of that today. That song 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:08.880 went so well with my sermon. It's almost like we 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:12.520 planned it. It's almost like I texted LJ Wednesday and 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:17.280 told him to do that song before I preached Second 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:21.320 Chronicles twenty verse seventeen. The word of the Lord. You 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:30.120 will not have to fight this battle six of y'all 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:33.640 all right, if you want that to be your word? 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:38.080 Shot When I read it. You will not have to 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:44.960 fight this battle. Come on, punch somebody, say not this one, 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:49.920 not this one. You will not have to fight this battle. 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.160 You will not have to fight this battle. Tell them 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:54.160 you will not have to You will not have to 0:02:54.160 --> 0:03:00.440 fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm and 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:07.320 see Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.919 give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid, 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.960 do not be discouraged. Don't believe that devil when he 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:17.200 tells you that there's nothing you can do about it. 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:21.720 Go out to face them tomorrow and the Lord will 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.800 be with you. Let's give God a shout of praise 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:31.280 for his proper amen. You may be seated in the 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:39.880 presence of God. I should mention that yesterday marked seventeen 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.560 years since I made the best decision of my life 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.960 in Monks Corner, South Carolina, at the Old Santee Canal 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.200 State Park, where I send my vows to the Hollyanna 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:54.200 boyan out of my dreams. Sweating through my s and 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:58.000 K two sizes too big, standing out in one hundred 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:01.120 and four degree low country heat. Eric Phillips was a 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:06.720 groomsman sweating and six ministers stood on the rostrum to 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:10.720 share in seven different songs that we sang. It was 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.040 quite an occasion. We made a big deal about it 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:15.400 and everybody had to endure it. It was a big day. 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.159 I sang a song to Holly on my Taylor acoustic 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.760 guitar that I could barely afford that I had written 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.600 for the occasion, And I'm going to write her another song. 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:26.280 She doesn't know it yet, but I've already got the 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.640 chorus and I'm working on it before we get to 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:31.400 the twentieth anniversary, and I'm going to have it ready. 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:33.520 It's a good song. It's kind of got a Tom 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.400 Petty vibe with a little bit of Ed Sheeran, and 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.279 I'm praying that it'll help me to unlock the doors 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:41.440 of love that I need unlocked in moments of my 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.960 life where I want affection, attention and intimacy with my wife. 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:49.040 So y'all pray for me about that as well. Already 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:56.039 got the chorus praying about the verse. So now I 0:04:56.040 --> 0:05:00.360 think I'm qualified to give marriage advice seventeen years something 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.760 to say, not ready to do the parenting book yet, 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:09.440 but the marriage thing. Really, I feel unqualified to give 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.839 marriage advice because I feel like our marriage is strong 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:17.200 mostly because of who I chose, And that's the honest truth. 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.080 I'm not pandering now, I'm telling you the truth. I 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:23.880 think that selection is so important. And I don't mean 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:27.359 that God can't take a relationship that starts rocky and 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:32.200 turn it into something that is really, really beautiful. Of course, 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:35.520 he makes beauty out of ashes, that's what he does. 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:39.960 But I think I get sometimes credit for things about 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.000 our marriage that are really just a product of the 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.640 character of the person that I'm married. And one person 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:48.599 told me, who has a very psychologically based knowledge, that 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:52.719 the healthiest part of me chose Holly. And I didn't 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:53.919 even know what that meant when they said it, but 0:05:53.960 --> 0:05:59.280 it sounded true. So I'm saying it to you. When 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:04.279 I chose her, I chose a union with her strengths, 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:07.960 but I also chose to cover her weaknesses as her husband, 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:10.600 and then she chose to cover my weaknesses. And I 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.640 definitely got the good end of it. I promise you that. 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:17.599 But you know, the thing about marriage is sometimes it's 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:19.960 more helpful to look at an example than it is 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:25.080 to listen to advice. Even Jesus he loved the church 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.080 like he wants a husband to love their wife. So 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:32.680 it's more of an example than an explanation. And people 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:36.960 will give you marriage advice or life advice or parenting advice, 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:39.560 but they'll give it to you based on ideal situations. 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:43.520 And the problem with that is when someone is advising 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:47.240 you but they don't know the exact nature of your challenges. 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:50.600 They might give you a strategy that worked for them, 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:54.440 but it might not work for you. Because every relationship, 0:06:54.480 --> 0:07:00.200 every challenge, every battle is not created equal. And I 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:04.839 remember asking so many different couples before our wedding what 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:06.839 advice they would give, and mostly you get the same 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.560 old cliches, the same old tired cliches about you know, 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:13.440 never go to bed angry, which I want to say, 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:17.160 is a horrible, horrible thing to try, because the best 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:19.280 thing to do sometimes is get some rest and come 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:21.280 at it fresh in the morning before you say something 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:24.200 you regret with your sleep deprived, delirious self, with your 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.760 filter off. And now you're tired saying stuff that you 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:28.880 would never say if it wasn't three am. So go 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.480 to your corner and come out tomorrow morning. See I'm 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.960 saying some of this advice that sounds good like, choose 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:38.720 your battles. That's one advice you always get. Choose your battles. 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:43.560 Don't fight over everything, which is great advice. You know, 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.320 you have to decide in any relationship. This is not 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:49.160 a marriage seminar, by the way, I'm just using it 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.960 for an opening illustration. But you have to decide, like 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:56.440 is this really worth waging a war over? Is it 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:00.520 really worth If Holly still, after seventeen years, doesn't know 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:03.760 how to correctly load the silverware in the dishwasher, and 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.560 she thinks it's still okay to put the part of 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:08.840 the fork that you put in your mouth facing up 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:11.200 so that your hand touches the part that's going in 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.240 your mouth when you get it out the next day, 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.840 If she really still thinks that makes sense after seventeen years, 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.800 is it really worth fighting about. No, I'm bigger than that. 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:27.480 I'm not a petty man. I let it go. So 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:31.720 they'll tell you choose your battles. Let your kids play 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.120 the music too loud every once in a while, don't 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:39.199 always choose your battles. Don't get tripped up over tiny things. 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.800 Choose your battles. The question I want to ask today, 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:46.280 and I guess you could use it as a title 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.240 for the message as well. From Second Chronicles twenty is 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:53.480 it's wise to choose your battles when you can. But 0:08:53.559 --> 0:09:00.160 what do you do when your battle chooses you? You 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:05.040 do when something shows up on your doorstep and it's 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:09.200 not from Amazon Prime and you didn't order it. What 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:11.840 do you do when the devil drops something off for 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.440 you to deal with that you did not directly cause, 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:23.640 choose or definitely anticipate. Like Jehoshaphat in Second Chronicles twenty, 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.840 who is told one morning in verse one, might I 0:09:27.920 --> 0:09:31.560 add in a time of spiritual renewal for Judah, the 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:36.000 southern kingdom of Israel, in a time of great momentum spiritually, 0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:39.839 one day, just when everything's going good, you know how, 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:42.360 just when you get something figured out, and just when 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:44.440 you get in your groove, and just when you get 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.080 in your rhythm, and here comes some news. The Bible says, 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:51.400 after this first one, the Moabites and Ammonites and even 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:55.199 some of the men Unites came to make war on Jehashaphat. 0:09:55.679 --> 0:09:59.719 And some men came and told Jehashaphat, I'm not telling them, 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.000 you tell I'm not telling them. You tell him? Well, 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:05.559 I'll tell him. Let's all tell them together. A vast 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:09.400 army is coming against you from Edom, from the other 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:13.800 side of the sea. This means they're sneaking up from behind. 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.600 They're going around the Dead Sea and then coming back 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.080 up to attack the people of God on a little 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:25.560 known route because they can't use the normal trade route, 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:28.520 and so they're sneaking up from behind, and they're twenty 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:33.000 five miles out. That means that Jehashaphat doesn't have time 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:38.040 to develop a strategy. He doesn't have time to build 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.360 the armed forces to mount a defense. He doesn't have 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:44.320 time to rethink the occasions that led up to this 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.600 event is coming, and it is coming now. Have you 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:51.440 ever got that phone call, that text message, that moment 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.320 in time where something is sneaking up on you and 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.560 it's only a day's march away. That means I have 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.040 to deal with it tomorrow. I don't have time to 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:02.320 read a book. I don't have time to watch a 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:05.040 Ted talk. I don't have time to get my nutrition 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:08.040 in my sleep. This one caught me off guard. This 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:10.520 one slapped me up side the head. This one left 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.319 my ear ringing. This one I can't even believe is happening. 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:15.840 This one, I'm not even really sure if it's real yet. 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:18.160 This one. I don't have time to call twelve people 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:21.120 about this one. I don't have time to get everybody's opinion. 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.800 This one, I don't have time to get everybody's advice. 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:26.679 So watch what Chahashaphat did. He said, I don't have 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:29.439 time for all that, so I gotta go to God. 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:33.160 There's something about a surprise attack that will drive you 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.160 into the presence of God. There's something about the one 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.680 you didn't see coming that'll make you run to the 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:44.760 place you should have run too. All along, I'm getting 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:46.840 ahead of myself. But it said that they were coming, 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:53.400 and they were already in ingetti, and so the response 0:11:54.600 --> 0:12:00.440 of the king is urgent. It says that in verse 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:06.120 three he was alarmed, but yet he resolved. I really 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:10.600 liked that. I really liked that he had a determination 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:15.319 to seek the Lord even in the face of an 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:19.600 unexpected attack. He had made up his mind who he 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:22.640 would go to before he even knew what would come 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:27.880 against him. And of course he didn't always respond this way. 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:34.320 Nobody does. Come on, nobody does. Oh man, this is 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:37.240 so difficult to get across the hypocritical Christians who always 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:39.160 want to act like they always sought the Lord and 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:44.160 prayed about everything, like you always prayed in tongues, like 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.439 you always lifted your hands, like you always prostrated yourself 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.560 before the holiness of His Majesty, the Great Jehovah, who 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:55.560 fights your battles. No, Jehoshapad hooked up with Ahab and 0:12:55.679 --> 0:13:00.840 almost got himself killed two chapters ago because it seemed 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:05.960 like the right strategy. Because when they wanted to attack 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:10.920 a strategic city, the wicked king Ahab, and you might 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:16.040 recognize his name from the prophetic account of Elijah. That's 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.280 the one Elijah went to and he was like, Hey, 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:22.120 it's not going to reign until I say so. The 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:25.559 heavens are going to be like a voice activated shower system, 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:27.760 and until I say so, it's not going to rain. 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.560 That was ahap He said that too, And so Jehashafat 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:35.079 got with that same king and went out to do 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:39.840 what seemed smart, and they almost got killed. In fact, 0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:44.040 Ahab did get killed, and the prophet Makaiah tried to 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:47.120 tell him these false bail prophets, what they're telling you 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:48.480 is what you want to hear. But it's not what 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:50.760 you need to hear. If you go into that battle, 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:55.320 you're gonna get yourself hurt. And he did, and he 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:58.400 barely made it out because he fought the wrong battle. 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:01.720 Have you ever barely made it out because you fought 0:14:01.760 --> 0:14:06.840 a battle that you weren't supposed to fight. One time, 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:10.280 my father in law were driving it was actually on 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:14.080 the day of my wedding seventeen years ago, and we 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:17.480 passed a couple who on the side of the road. 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:21.960 They were fighting physically, But the interesting thing about it 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:28.560 was the man was in a headlock and the woman 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:31.920 seemed to have the situation firmly in control. I didn't 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:34.880 see that till ill when I pulled the car over. 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:37.280 I was going to get out and help because I 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.120 thought that the man was beating up on the woman. 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:46.640 But when I saw that the woman was taking care 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:50.440 of the man, I figured, you know, just praise God 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:56.440 for his sovereignty, that he knows what's best, and apparently 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.800 this woman doesn't need my help. So I just drove off. 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:02.720 But my father in law said, why did you stop. 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:04.240 I said, I was going to get out and help. 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:08.280 He said, no, no, no, never get in a fight 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.680 between a man and his woman, because you'll step in 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.280 to help them. And then if you step into their 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.680 fight and it's not your fight, but you get in 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.920 the middle of it, they'll turn around and both start 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:27.760 fighting you. It's good life advice. Don't try to take 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:32.040 on a fight that's not your fight, because you might 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:34.200 find out when you take on a fight that's not 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:38.240 your fight, you might find out that the surest way 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.000 for you to get yourself in trouble is for you 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:44.000 to take on a battle that doesn't belong to you. 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.640 This is why Christians don't always need to share their 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:57.040 opinion on every subject that is presented as a cultural issue. 0:15:57.200 --> 0:16:00.320 You've got to choose your battles and to know God. 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:03.320 This is what Jahasipha wanted to know. Is this my battle? 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.240 Is this my fight? Is this something that I need 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:08.840 to be involved in? Is this something that I'm called 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.320 to do? You'd be shocked how many people through the 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:14.000 years have tried to get me to be more political 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:19.280 from my pulpit. But that's not my fight. I vote, 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.560 I'm involved. I lead thousands of people to make a 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:27.400 difference in our community. I build something that represents and 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.160 reflects unity to a broken fragmented world, and we do 0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:35.800 it together every six days and through the week. But 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.680 you've got to be very careful that you don't expend 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:43.520 all of your energy fighting battles that are not yours, 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:46.840 and then you don't have any energy left for the 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:52.080 battles that are yours. And now you've gotten so tired 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.320 leaving comments on Facebook posts with people that you don't 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:58.080 know in Idaho that you don't have any strength to 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:00.280 engage with the people who live in your own house. 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:04.359 I'm not trying to run the White House. I'm trying 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.080 to run my house. And I got my hands full. 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:15.680 I got three people in my house who are dependents. Yeah, 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:17.960 I know, when you're wearing yourself out swinging that stuff 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:24.400 that's not even yours to fight. I'm bad about this though. 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:29.000 I sometimes it's as if I don't have enough drama 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:33.520 for my own self, so I start trying to control 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:36.600 other people. You know how you can tell if you're 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.280 fighting the wrong battles. If you are trying to control others, 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:46.119 you're fighting the wrong battle. You can't control others past 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.480 a certain point. You can only manipulate short term behavioral results, 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:54.280 but you can't change somebody's heart. That's why even the 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:56.479 New Testament says, as much as it is possible with 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:58.159 you live at peace with all men. There comes a 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:03.120 point where the peace of another person is not your responsibility. 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:08.119 Your piece is your responsibility. And there comes a point 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:14.080 where you have to say, that's not my battle, that's 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.560 not my battle. I've done all I can do, but 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:19.320 that's not my battle. In fact, let me give you 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:22.199 a great little line to use the next time somebody 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:25.280 tries to draw you into some gossip or draw you 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.639 into some drama, okay, And they'll usually say, what do 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:32.119 you think about so and so? You heard about so 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:33.720 and so? What you think about People ask me this 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:35.880 off time about another ministry, what do you think about 0:18:35.920 --> 0:18:38.119 so and so? And I learned this from an older minister. 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:40.400 They taught me what to say, what do you think about? 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:50.760 And here's what you say back, I don't. It'll work 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:54.760 for a variety of situations. It can work for a 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:57.560 situation that you're ignorant about and you only read headlines, 0:18:57.600 --> 0:18:59.359 so you really don't have anything to say because we 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:03.520 can't trust the information that we're given. It can work 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:06.000 about Donald Trump, It can work about Kanye West. It 0:19:06.000 --> 0:19:08.199 can work about somebody else that drops their kid off 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:09.960 at school next to you, and they're having trouble in 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:11.840 their marriage. What do you think about so and so? 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:18.720 I don't. My heart is a full time drama factory. 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:23.080 I do not need to borrow drama from anybody else's 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:29.080 personal life. I got my own drama byod bring your 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:32.119 own drama. I got enough. You brought your own drama 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:35.360 to church without judging somebody else from what you think 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:38.480 about them from ten seconds of their life compared to 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:40.919 the entirety of it. I don't have time for it. 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:43.640 And Jehoshaphat didn't run around looking at what other people 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:47.640 were doing. He went to seek the Lord. He went 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.840 to inquire of the Lord. And this is not just 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.480 some glib prayer or this is not just getting some 0:19:53.640 --> 0:19:56.080 feeling and going with it and calling it God. And 0:19:56.160 --> 0:19:58.919 this isn't just slapping a scripture verse on something that 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:01.320 you wanted to do any so that you can blame 0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:03.719 it on God when it doesn't work out. This is 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:06.639 really seeking the Lord. In fact, the Bible says that 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:11.240 he was shaken, but he wasn't. He wasn't. Maybe I 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:15.040 should say it this way. He was shocked, but he 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:23.400 wasn't shook who didn't see this coming. Amm and Moab 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:28.520 and the Edomites. That's three of them. I could fight one, 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:32.719 but there's three of them. It's bigger than me, and 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:37.960 it's coming up from behind me. You got something bigger 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:44.480 than you that came up from behind you. Jehoshaphat's prayer 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:48.880 is interesting because he's praying about Amm and Moab and 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:53.280 the Edomites from Mount Sierra. But we got three different enemies. 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:58.880 We got the world, the flesh, and the devil. That's 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:03.080 from first John, that's your the world, the flesh and 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:07.159 the devil, that's the values that oppose your purpose. The world, 0:21:07.560 --> 0:21:10.879 the flesh that's the patterns that oppose your purpose. And 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:14.640 the devil that is the principality that opposes your purpose. 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:18.240 And I could fight one, But how do I fight 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:22.240 the devil when I'm fighting my own flesh? How do 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:25.040 I fight the world when actually there's a part of 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:27.600 me that wants to do it like the world. I 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.520 could fight one, but I can't fight them all, and 0:21:30.560 --> 0:21:33.960 they're bigger than me and it's coming up from behind. 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:37.360 How do I raise kids in a culture where the 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:41.920 information of the history of the universe is in their pocket. 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:44.880 How do I have a sex talk with kids when 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:47.199 they don't have to go to a gas station to 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:50.639 see pornography, They can do it right beside their Bible lap. 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:57.600 The nature of the battle determines the nature of the strategy. 0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:02.000 When you don't understand and the nature of the battle, 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:06.240 you will not understand the nuance of the strategy. So 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:09.840 you will fight the battle not understanding the dynamics of 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:13.000 the battle, and you will lose the battle because you 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.600 will wrestle on the wrong level. Can I preach you 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:21.159 a little bit today? It's for fifty people that you 0:22:21.240 --> 0:22:25.399 are facing something that snuck up from behind. You didn't 0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:28.320 see this coming, and it's bigger than you. I don't 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:32.399 know which one to fight next. When you understand the 0:22:32.480 --> 0:22:37.239 nature of the battle, you can understand the nature of 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:40.560 the strategy. And that's why I got to ask God. 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:45.240 Jehasha Fat resolved to seek the lure. That means he 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:50.080 involved the priests, the levites, and they got together and 0:22:50.119 --> 0:22:52.280 he got surrounded by the right people. He's not going 0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:56.000 to Ahab this time. He's not asking all his friends 0:22:56.040 --> 0:22:58.919 what they think about at this time. He's not looking 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:02.520 for celebrity culture to influence his decisions. This time he's 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:05.879 going to the right place, but he doesn't have a plan. 0:23:07.000 --> 0:23:08.720 And I want you to see his prayer because it'll 0:23:08.760 --> 0:23:11.399 help you. If you're facing a battle that is bigger 0:23:11.400 --> 0:23:14.840 than you and it's snuck up from behind you. Every 0:23:14.920 --> 0:23:17.399 day this week, I want you to open your Bible 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:23.479 to Second Chronicles twenty verse three, and following read what 0:23:23.560 --> 0:23:28.000 Jahasapad prayed, and then pray it. Because verse five says 0:23:28.000 --> 0:23:30.040 out loud, I want you to pray this every day 0:23:30.080 --> 0:23:32.639 this week. If you're fighting a battle that is bigger 0:23:32.680 --> 0:23:36.280 than you and it's snuck up from behind you, get 0:23:36.320 --> 0:23:39.840 in God's face this week for a few minutes every 0:23:39.920 --> 0:23:43.920 day and pray this prayer. Because Jehasafad stood up verse 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:47.280 five in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the 0:23:47.320 --> 0:23:50.119 Temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard. 0:23:50.200 --> 0:23:53.040 This is Solomon's temple. This is the one they dedicated 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:55.600 to God. This is the one where God promised to 0:23:55.720 --> 0:24:00.159 pour out his presence for any problem you face. He 0:24:00.200 --> 0:24:05.440 starts reminding God of what God said, O, Lord, God 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:08.040 of our fathers, are you not the God who is 0:24:08.080 --> 0:24:11.520 in heaven. I love this man because he has already 0:24:11.560 --> 0:24:16.320 shifted his focus from what is coming against him to 0:24:16.400 --> 0:24:20.040 the one who reigns above him. O, Lord, God of 0:24:20.080 --> 0:24:22.600 our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? 0:24:23.320 --> 0:24:26.760 You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power 0:24:26.840 --> 0:24:29.640 and might are in your hand, and no one can 0:24:29.680 --> 0:24:33.600 withstand you, Oh our God, Did you not drive out 0:24:33.640 --> 0:24:37.480 the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel? Remind 0:24:37.520 --> 0:24:39.760 God of what he's already done when you're not sure 0:24:39.800 --> 0:24:42.960 what he's doing right now. Not so he can remember, 0:24:43.000 --> 0:24:45.640 but so you can. Come on, You need to remember. 0:24:45.720 --> 0:24:48.639 This is not your first rodeo cowboy. This is not 0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:51.280 the first time you cry. This is not the first 0:24:51.280 --> 0:24:53.439 time you were sort of breath. This is not the 0:24:53.480 --> 0:24:56.040 first time you didn't see away clear. This is not 0:24:56.119 --> 0:24:58.159 the first time you were hurt. This is not the 0:24:58.160 --> 0:25:00.520 first time your heart was broken. This is not the 0:25:00.520 --> 0:25:02.920 first time you didn't have enough money. This is not 0:25:03.000 --> 0:25:09.240 the first diagnosis that came up from behind phyllis presence? 0:25:11.680 --> 0:25:15.399 Did you not do it before your people Israel? And 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:18.879 give it forever to the descendants of Abraham, your friend. 0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:22.879 Watch this, He said you gave it forever. And since 0:25:22.880 --> 0:25:27.480 you gave it forever, it can't stop now, since you 0:25:27.720 --> 0:25:32.359 promised to fulfill your purpose. No enemy from Ammin, no 0:25:32.680 --> 0:25:36.960 enemy from Moab, no enemy from Mount Sierra, no Eedom 0:25:37.000 --> 0:25:40.320 I can take it away. And when he says it, 0:25:41.760 --> 0:25:45.240 on one hand, he's praising God, but it almost sounds 0:25:45.280 --> 0:25:50.240 like he's blaming God. Notice the tone it shifts in 0:25:50.359 --> 0:25:55.080 verse eight. They have lived in it and have built 0:25:55.240 --> 0:25:58.480 in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, if calamity 0:25:58.520 --> 0:26:01.760 comes upon us, whether the sore judgment or plague or famine, 0:26:01.920 --> 0:26:04.359 we will stand in your presence before this temple that 0:26:04.359 --> 0:26:06.760 bears your name, and will cry out to you in 0:26:06.840 --> 0:26:10.040 our distress, and you will hear us and save us. 0:26:10.119 --> 0:26:19.199 But now, God, Great God, respectfully, King Sir, the Righteous One. 0:26:19.440 --> 0:26:23.680 But now here are men from Ammin, Moab and Mount 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:28.879 Seer whose territory you would not allow Israel to invade 0:26:28.880 --> 0:26:34.399 when they came from Egypt. Oh Jehasha Fah said, this 0:26:34.480 --> 0:26:38.920 is not my fault. Now, last time when I hooked 0:26:39.000 --> 0:26:44.760 up with Ahab, that's on me. But this one, somebody 0:26:44.760 --> 0:26:48.280 shot this one. This one, we're doing the best we can. 0:26:49.600 --> 0:26:52.960 This one we're praying in the temple. This one we 0:26:52.960 --> 0:26:55.240 were acting according to the wisdom that we had for 0:26:55.320 --> 0:26:59.240 the situation we were in. This one. Nobody really knew 0:26:59.240 --> 0:27:01.119 how to do it this one, and we couldn't have 0:27:01.160 --> 0:27:06.560 prevented by obedience. This one is different. This one is different. 0:27:08.200 --> 0:27:12.000 And you're going through something right now that's a little different. Sure, 0:27:12.040 --> 0:27:13.720 you've got sin and you've got things you need to 0:27:13.760 --> 0:27:16.440 repent of, and I do too. And if you dare 0:27:16.480 --> 0:27:18.359 look at me with an angelic face when I say that, 0:27:18.400 --> 0:27:20.439 I promise I will prophesy and God will show me 0:27:20.440 --> 0:27:22.040 something about your life that you do not want on 0:27:22.080 --> 0:27:28.000 these imax screens. I'll do it. But this one, this battle, 0:27:30.160 --> 0:27:35.600 this coalition is three enemies. They joined up to fight me. 0:27:36.400 --> 0:27:40.280 And the whole reason they're even here is because when 0:27:40.359 --> 0:27:44.240 Moses led the people out of Egypt, you told him 0:27:44.480 --> 0:27:47.760 that he couldn't drive them out because they were the 0:27:48.040 --> 0:27:50.880 relatives of Esau. That's who the Edomites were. They were 0:27:50.880 --> 0:27:55.200 the descendants of Esau. And Esau was the son of Isaac. 0:27:55.480 --> 0:27:57.679 He wasn't his favorite son, but he was still his son. 0:27:58.119 --> 0:28:00.440 He gave away his birthright, but he was still son. 0:28:01.080 --> 0:28:05.280 And Isaac was the son of Abraham, and Abraham was 0:28:05.320 --> 0:28:09.080 God's friend, and so God did not let the Israelites 0:28:09.200 --> 0:28:12.640 drive out somebody that belonged to his friend. When you've 0:28:12.640 --> 0:28:15.400 got a friend who knows how to fight, it will 0:28:15.400 --> 0:28:18.680 make you confident. When you've got a friend who knows 0:28:18.720 --> 0:28:21.199 how to fight. I remember this kid we used to 0:28:21.200 --> 0:28:25.040 pick on in fourth grade called Eric Pye, but then 0:28:26.040 --> 0:28:29.840 Eric Pye made friends with Harry Walker. Eric Pye couldn't fight, 0:28:30.160 --> 0:28:33.920 but Harry Walker could. Harry Walker was seventeen with chest 0:28:33.920 --> 0:28:36.919 hair in the fourth grade. Harry Walker had a prison 0:28:36.960 --> 0:28:40.200 record in the fourth grade. Harry Walker said, you pick 0:28:40.280 --> 0:28:44.080 on him, you pick on me. Now look at somebody confident, 0:28:44.200 --> 0:28:47.800 say you fight me. You gotta fight my friend. This 0:28:47.920 --> 0:28:50.720 is a pold message. This is to know. It might 0:28:50.800 --> 0:28:53.480 be bigger than me, but it's not bigger than God. 0:28:55.280 --> 0:29:05.880 I'm a calm down. I'm a calm down. You wouldn't 0:29:05.960 --> 0:29:07.840 let us drive them out. We would have done it, 0:29:08.480 --> 0:29:14.760 but you wouldn't let us. This is not our fault. Well, 0:29:14.800 --> 0:29:16.280 you have to do when you fight a battle that's 0:29:16.280 --> 0:29:22.400 not your fault. Sometimes you fight against things that are 0:29:22.400 --> 0:29:28.160 in your genetics, but you still got to figure out 0:29:28.840 --> 0:29:32.640 what to do about that battle. And when it's that deep, 0:29:32.680 --> 0:29:38.240 it's that strong. Sometimes you fight against things that other 0:29:38.320 --> 0:29:42.080 people did, and if you go into shame and you're like, well, 0:29:42.120 --> 0:29:45.520 I take responsibility for my part, that's good. But it's 0:29:45.560 --> 0:29:49.520 tricky because before long, shame will drive you out of 0:29:49.560 --> 0:29:51.479 the presence of God, which is what you need when 0:29:51.520 --> 0:29:54.760 you're in a situation, even if you created it. So 0:29:54.800 --> 0:29:57.719 it's tricky because you can find yourself in a battle 0:29:57.880 --> 0:30:00.320 and you can say, well, I can't expect God's help 0:30:00.400 --> 0:30:03.280 in this situation because it was created by my hand. 0:30:04.520 --> 0:30:09.480 But Jehoshaphat is transcending all of that with his prayer, 0:30:10.400 --> 0:30:12.760 and he says, Oh, Lord, our God, we belong to you. 0:30:13.880 --> 0:30:18.120 We are your possession. And when we came into this 0:30:18.240 --> 0:30:21.000 land so many years ago, you would not let us 0:30:21.080 --> 0:30:25.080 drive out these enemies. And they're bigger than us, and 0:30:25.120 --> 0:30:28.360 they came up from behind us, and we're not to 0:30:28.400 --> 0:30:33.240 blame for this battle. And yet here it is so 0:30:34.520 --> 0:30:43.200 so now verse eleven, Oh Lord our God, see how 0:30:43.240 --> 0:30:45.360 they are repaying us by coming to drive us out 0:30:45.400 --> 0:30:48.760 of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. Now 0:30:49.680 --> 0:30:51.959 let me put this in here. I'm just going with 0:30:51.960 --> 0:30:54.400 the spirit today. I haven't opened my nose. I mean 0:30:54.440 --> 0:30:56.680 I got in my heart. I'ming. I'm preaching spirit to 0:30:56.720 --> 0:31:00.600 spirit today for whoever needs to receive it. And God 0:31:00.640 --> 0:31:03.480 gave me this word before I gave you this word 0:31:04.440 --> 0:31:07.160 for the battles that I face that are bigger than me. 0:31:08.320 --> 0:31:11.160 And he said, see how they are repaying us by 0:31:11.160 --> 0:31:13.320 coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us. Now, 0:31:14.640 --> 0:31:18.240 if it's God who gave it, then it's God's to 0:31:18.320 --> 0:31:26.440 protect it. That's about possession. It's not about how much 0:31:26.480 --> 0:31:29.840 power you have. It's about possession. And if you are 0:31:29.840 --> 0:31:33.960 God's possession and you are stewarding something that he gave 0:31:34.000 --> 0:31:37.240 you to possess, then it's not a matter of how 0:31:37.360 --> 0:31:41.400 much power you have that determines what happens next in 0:31:41.440 --> 0:31:55.440 this battle. When it's God's possession, it's God's problem. I 0:31:55.440 --> 0:31:58.800 don't want to cry telling you this if it hits 0:31:58.800 --> 0:32:03.560 your heart that if it's God's possession, is God's problem. 0:32:03.960 --> 0:32:08.640 And then you realize that you are his treasure, you 0:32:09.360 --> 0:32:15.200 are his possession, You are his daughter, you are his son. 0:32:16.000 --> 0:32:20.920 You are his friend, and your friend knows how to fight. 0:32:21.360 --> 0:32:28.560 It gives you the confidence, Oh, our God, will you 0:32:28.680 --> 0:32:32.280 not judge them? For we verse twelve. Have no power 0:32:32.360 --> 0:32:35.280 to face this vast army that is attacking us. It's 0:32:35.360 --> 0:32:38.440 bigger than us. It came up from behind us. We 0:32:38.520 --> 0:32:42.920 can't do it. We do not know what to do. 0:32:43.160 --> 0:32:45.320 If you're there right now, raise your right hand. I 0:32:45.360 --> 0:32:49.440 do not know what to do. I don't know how 0:32:49.480 --> 0:32:51.720 to fight. I don't know how to fix it. I 0:32:51.760 --> 0:32:56.120 can't control what comes against me. But our eyes are 0:32:56.240 --> 0:33:02.080 upon you, and God says, if you will change the focus, 0:33:02.400 --> 0:33:05.400 he will win the fight. If you will change the 0:33:05.440 --> 0:33:08.760 focus and stop looking at how big it is, but 0:33:08.880 --> 0:33:13.640 start praising him for how great he is. Help is 0:33:13.680 --> 0:33:22.520 on the way. Thirteen. All the men of Judah, with 0:33:22.560 --> 0:33:25.479 their wives and children and little ones, stood there before 0:33:25.520 --> 0:33:28.720 the Lord. Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jehazeel, 0:33:29.240 --> 0:33:32.240 son of Zachariah, the son of Benaniah, the son of 0:33:32.320 --> 0:33:34.840 j Eo, the son of matt and Aiah, a Levite 0:33:34.840 --> 0:33:37.440 and the descendant of Asath as he stood in the assembly. 0:33:37.520 --> 0:33:39.920 Why did you read all those names, pastor Steven? Why 0:33:39.960 --> 0:33:42.280 didn't you skip over that that's not important to the story. 0:33:42.320 --> 0:33:46.520 It absolutely is because every name that was represented represented 0:33:46.520 --> 0:33:49.680 a generation that God was faithful in, and it meant 0:33:49.680 --> 0:33:52.520 that every single time that God got ready to pass 0:33:52.800 --> 0:33:56.560 his purpose to another generation, he didn't drop it, and 0:33:56.600 --> 0:33:59.120 he won't drop it now, and it won't stop with you. 0:33:59.400 --> 0:34:07.400 And you won't lose the battle unless you lose your focus. 0:34:10.719 --> 0:34:16.200 It's not about your power, it's about your position. Can 0:34:16.239 --> 0:34:24.799 I show you you got like ten more minutes. I'm 0:34:24.800 --> 0:34:27.799 so thankful that that prophet stood up and said what 0:34:27.840 --> 0:34:31.120 he said, because you know, everybody was starting to get 0:34:31.160 --> 0:34:34.680 ready to fight, and you know if they had fought, 0:34:35.239 --> 0:34:39.520 they would have lost. Isn't that the craziest thing is ironic? 0:34:40.440 --> 0:34:44.400 If they had fought, they would have lost. When you 0:34:44.440 --> 0:34:47.799 don't understand the nature of the battle that you're in, 0:34:49.080 --> 0:34:52.600 you use the wrong strategy and some of us are 0:34:52.719 --> 0:34:58.759 losing because we are fighting on the wrong level. To 0:34:58.920 --> 0:35:01.880 unpack it, I could use Ephesian six twelve. We wrestle 0:35:01.920 --> 0:35:05.080 not against flesh and blood, but that's what we fight 0:35:05.080 --> 0:35:09.160 against flesh and blood. We fight every battle physically, We 0:35:09.200 --> 0:35:11.239 fight people. We even fight people that are trying to 0:35:11.280 --> 0:35:17.319 help us. Because we're insecure. We fight. We fight the 0:35:17.360 --> 0:35:21.360 battle to protect our ego and to protect our pride, 0:35:21.440 --> 0:35:23.600 and then we lose the battle in our spirit, because 0:35:23.600 --> 0:35:27.319 we were more concerned about protecting our pride than we 0:35:27.320 --> 0:35:29.759 were about receiving God's power and his help and his 0:35:29.880 --> 0:35:35.640 provision in our lives. I was talking to somebody this 0:35:35.719 --> 0:35:37.800 week and they were saying all kinds of crazy stuff 0:35:37.840 --> 0:35:43.160 to me, and the Lord said, not this one. Don't 0:35:43.160 --> 0:35:47.560 fight this one. Learn the twenty percent that he say 0:35:47.600 --> 0:35:51.120 in this true. Keep your mouth shut, save your energy 0:35:51.160 --> 0:35:57.719 for the real battle. Sometimes I see a comment on 0:35:57.760 --> 0:36:01.440 Instagram about my preaching or shoes or something like that, 0:36:02.560 --> 0:36:06.720 and the Lord says, not this one, not this one, 0:36:07.440 --> 0:36:09.759 because if you convince a fool, all you got for 0:36:09.800 --> 0:36:18.080 a friend is a fool. Not this one. Somebody say, 0:36:18.200 --> 0:36:23.120 not this one. Mm hmm. I watched the movie about 0:36:23.200 --> 0:36:25.880 Jackie Robinson forty two, and there was a scene in 0:36:25.920 --> 0:36:28.719 the movie where the owner was telling him Gonna, We're 0:36:28.719 --> 0:36:30.799 gonna put you in the system and hopefully get you 0:36:30.840 --> 0:36:34.040 to Brooklyn to play professional baseball. But there's one problem. 0:36:34.160 --> 0:36:36.920 What are you gonna do when they're screaming racist threats 0:36:36.920 --> 0:36:39.200 in your face? What are you gonna do when they 0:36:39.239 --> 0:36:41.440 attack you at every stop? What are you gonna do 0:36:41.480 --> 0:36:43.480 when they push you to the breaking point? And he 0:36:43.640 --> 0:36:45.839 jumped up in the depiction in the movie. I don't 0:36:45.840 --> 0:36:47.400 know if this happened in real life, but I like 0:36:47.440 --> 0:36:49.120 to think it did. And he said, what do you 0:36:49.200 --> 0:36:51.520 want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight? 0:36:53.160 --> 0:36:54.520 And he looked back at him and said, no, I 0:36:54.640 --> 0:36:56.720 want to I want a player who has the guts 0:36:57.120 --> 0:37:02.400 not to fight back. And here's the message. Sometimes it 0:37:02.440 --> 0:37:07.600 takes more faith not to fight back. Sometimes it takes 0:37:07.680 --> 0:37:11.680 more faith to just let God be God and be 0:37:11.880 --> 0:37:16.160 great in your situation, because if you manipulate it, you're 0:37:16.160 --> 0:37:19.319 gonna mess it up. If you start plucking tears, you're 0:37:19.360 --> 0:37:23.200 gonna pull up wheak. Sometimes it takes more faith to 0:37:23.360 --> 0:37:27.480 let God sort it out. And the prophet said, you 0:37:27.520 --> 0:37:30.240 have to understand the nature of the battle to understand 0:37:30.280 --> 0:37:33.600 the strategy. This is why we don't fight much in 0:37:33.680 --> 0:37:37.839 our marriage after seventeen years. It's not because we don't disagree, 0:37:38.120 --> 0:37:41.319 but we understand it's not me against her, it's me 0:37:41.400 --> 0:37:44.200 and her against it. If we thought it was me 0:37:44.320 --> 0:37:47.760 against her, we would fight each other. But we gotta 0:37:47.800 --> 0:37:50.400 line up on the same side of this problem or 0:37:50.440 --> 0:37:56.480 we're gonna lose this battle. And one time when we 0:37:56.480 --> 0:37:59.000 were first maybe a year and a half married. There 0:37:59.000 --> 0:38:01.880 came across our desk a bill for three thousand dollars, 0:38:01.960 --> 0:38:05.080 and I didn't have three thousand dollars, not just laying around, 0:38:06.239 --> 0:38:09.520 I didn't have it. So I did what I do 0:38:09.560 --> 0:38:12.880 when I'm afraid. I got angry. Did you hear me? 0:38:13.600 --> 0:38:17.880 When I'm afraid, I get angry because the anger is 0:38:18.000 --> 0:38:21.080 a camouflage for the fear, which makes me feel vulnerable. 0:38:23.200 --> 0:38:26.240 So I gotta get angry because that makes me look strong, 0:38:27.160 --> 0:38:30.640 because on the inside I feel weak. And I was 0:38:30.840 --> 0:38:34.200 yelling at Holly about the bill and it was only 0:38:34.800 --> 0:38:41.720 seventy percent her fault, and in the middle of yelling, 0:38:41.760 --> 0:38:44.080 I saw her countenance change. And I'm not saying this 0:38:44.160 --> 0:38:46.279 excuses me yelling I should have been more grown up. 0:38:46.400 --> 0:38:49.239 But she realized in that moment, he's not fighting me. 0:38:50.719 --> 0:38:55.960 He's not mad at me. He's scared about this, and 0:38:56.040 --> 0:38:59.120 if I can help him fight his fear, we can 0:38:59.239 --> 0:39:03.160 fix this thing together. But if you wrestle at the 0:39:03.200 --> 0:39:09.319 wrong level, you'll wear yourself out fighting it where it 0:39:09.440 --> 0:39:12.359 shows up. But where it shows up is not where 0:39:12.400 --> 0:39:15.359 it started. So if you got somebody and they have 0:39:15.400 --> 0:39:18.600 an addiction, you can't counsel them to win against addiction 0:39:18.760 --> 0:39:22.319 with willpower. It's not a matter of willpower, it's a 0:39:22.320 --> 0:39:29.760 matter of worship. Something in their life has started meeting 0:39:29.800 --> 0:39:33.440 the needs that only God alone can meet. And if 0:39:33.440 --> 0:39:36.120 you don't show them that God can meet those same 0:39:36.239 --> 0:39:39.640 needs that alcohol can, that God can meet those same 0:39:39.680 --> 0:39:43.080 needs that pornography can, that God can meet those same 0:39:43.160 --> 0:39:47.160 needs as overspending overeating can. If you don't fix the 0:39:47.200 --> 0:39:53.279 worship problem, you can't win it with willpower. Am I 0:39:53.400 --> 0:39:59.520 right about it? So you gotta fight with a focus. 0:40:00.120 --> 0:40:05.799 People say, focus, focus, fight with a focus. And the 0:40:05.840 --> 0:40:12.840 prophet said, this is not even about you. So don't 0:40:13.120 --> 0:40:18.840 be afraid. If it's too big for you, don't be afraid. 0:40:19.440 --> 0:40:21.120 This is what the Lord says to you. You got 0:40:21.120 --> 0:40:25.520 it on the screen verse fifteen. Don't be afraid, don't 0:40:25.520 --> 0:40:30.120 be discouraged, don't back down, don't get in your own 0:40:30.120 --> 0:40:31.359 head and try to figure it out. You can't figure 0:40:31.400 --> 0:40:35.600 this one out. And if you fight it, if you 0:40:35.680 --> 0:40:40.520 fight it, you're gonna lose it. If you try to 0:40:40.560 --> 0:40:42.799 meet the righteous requirements of the law in your own 0:40:42.840 --> 0:40:45.919 strength and don't let the power of Christ flow through 0:40:45.960 --> 0:40:48.479 you and the Holy Spirit direct you, you are going 0:40:48.520 --> 0:40:51.839 to keep losing the battles because you are wrestling on 0:40:51.880 --> 0:40:54.440 the level of what you can see. But it is 0:40:54.520 --> 0:41:01.520 not against flesh and blood. It's spiritual. He said, don't 0:41:01.520 --> 0:41:04.040 be afraid for this vast army. Vast army is the 0:41:04.040 --> 0:41:06.120 phrases they use when they were just saying it's too 0:41:06.160 --> 0:41:08.960 big for you. I know it's too big for you, 0:41:10.120 --> 0:41:22.080 but the battle is not yours, it's God's. When I 0:41:22.120 --> 0:41:26.359 say this, I want you to receive it like if 0:41:26.360 --> 0:41:31.480 it was just for you. If it's too big, it 0:41:31.520 --> 0:41:41.080 doesn't belong to you. If it's too big, you got 0:41:41.080 --> 0:41:44.920 to give it back to God. And we say the 0:41:44.960 --> 0:41:48.200 battle is the lord's, but we stress like it's ours. 0:41:49.640 --> 0:41:52.720 We say the battle is the lords, but we worry 0:41:52.800 --> 0:41:56.360 like it's ours. Now we've wasted all of our strength 0:41:56.440 --> 0:42:02.839 worrying when we could have been worshiping. The battle is 0:42:02.880 --> 0:42:08.000 not yours. Give it back. Quit doing God's job for him. 0:42:09.120 --> 0:42:17.800 God wants his battle back. God wants his battle back. 0:42:18.360 --> 0:42:22.040 Is too big for you. It came up from behind you. 0:42:22.040 --> 0:42:25.319 You can't do it. Give it back. You can't fight it. 0:42:25.560 --> 0:42:28.880 Give it back, you can't figure it out. Give it back. 0:42:29.000 --> 0:42:31.879 How do you give it back. That's a focus, that's 0:42:32.120 --> 0:42:35.920 looking beyond what's coming against you and looking toward what 0:42:36.080 --> 0:42:39.759 is within you, to know that greater is he that 0:42:39.920 --> 0:42:43.040 is in me than he that is in the world. 0:42:43.280 --> 0:42:52.120 And God wants his battle back. The battle is not yours, 0:42:53.120 --> 0:42:58.560 but God's. And tomorrow I want you to march down 0:42:59.640 --> 0:43:05.360 against them. I want you to march down against an 0:43:05.480 --> 0:43:11.160 enemy that you're not even gonna have to fight. I 0:43:11.200 --> 0:43:15.560 want you to get in position, not so that you 0:43:15.600 --> 0:43:20.759 can fight, not so that you can struggle, but so 0:43:20.840 --> 0:43:25.959 that you can see the deliverance that the Lord will 0:43:26.000 --> 0:43:30.520 bring about to Israel. This day, God is fighting for tudor. 0:43:30.880 --> 0:43:34.719 God is fighting for worshipers. God is fighting for praisers. 0:43:34.960 --> 0:43:39.680 God is fighting for his people. God is fighting for you. 0:43:38.280 --> 0:43:46.400 You're his friend. You get his help, you get his strength, 0:43:46.440 --> 0:43:49.640 you get his miracles, you get his wisdom, you get 0:43:49.680 --> 0:43:59.040 his provision, you get his angels. If you worship, you 0:43:59.120 --> 0:44:02.719 age the world. Where is too big for me? What 0:44:02.760 --> 0:44:06.200 do you do when the battle chooses you? You worship 0:44:06.640 --> 0:44:11.239 your way through it. Now that sounds good, but it 0:44:11.280 --> 0:44:18.520 feels stupid. Because here they come Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites. They 0:44:18.520 --> 0:44:22.480 were all big in their own right, and they're all 0:44:22.480 --> 0:44:25.040 fighting together, and so how are you gonna fight them? 0:44:25.120 --> 0:44:27.160 What are we gonna do, Jehasha bad, what we're gonna 0:44:27.200 --> 0:44:28.959 do about this situation? What are you gonna do about 0:44:29.880 --> 0:44:34.360 the prophet said you verse seventeen, will not have to 0:44:34.360 --> 0:44:40.080 fight this battle, but you're gonna experience the victory, not 0:44:40.200 --> 0:44:52.080 by fighting, but by focusing. If they would have fought, 0:44:52.080 --> 0:44:56.719 they would have lost. But because they focused on the 0:44:56.719 --> 0:44:59.560 goodness of God, you know what they did. I love 0:44:59.600 --> 0:45:05.960 this script sure. I think this scripture is a beautiful 0:45:05.960 --> 0:45:09.359 illustration and picture of the weapons of our warfare that 0:45:09.400 --> 0:45:12.840 pulled down strongholds in our life. It says that Jehasha 0:45:12.880 --> 0:45:16.120 fat verse eighteen bowed with his face to the ground, 0:45:17.080 --> 0:45:20.000 and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down 0:45:20.000 --> 0:45:26.400 in worship before the Lord. Then some Levites, that's the priests, 0:45:26.440 --> 0:45:30.840 some levites, the one who administered the levitical law, the 0:45:30.880 --> 0:45:35.000 priestly law, from the Coethites and Coralites stood up and 0:45:35.280 --> 0:45:38.399 praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very 0:45:38.480 --> 0:46:05.759 loud voice. Why why Because early in the morning they 0:46:05.880 --> 0:46:09.440 left for the desert of Tacoa, And as they set out, 0:46:09.520 --> 0:46:13.960 Jehosha Faz stood and said, listen to me Judah. Judah 0:46:13.960 --> 0:46:19.560 means praise, and people of Jerusalem have faith in the Lord, 0:46:19.600 --> 0:46:23.520 your God, and you will be upheld. Is fight or flight? 0:46:23.600 --> 0:46:28.480 Time is fight or flight. But when you can't win 0:46:28.520 --> 0:46:30.839 the fight and you can't run from it, watch this. 0:46:30.840 --> 0:46:33.759 This is amazing. They didn't have to fight it, but 0:46:33.880 --> 0:46:39.920 they did have to face it. And God wants to 0:46:39.960 --> 0:46:44.200 give you the faith to face it and to trust 0:46:44.280 --> 0:46:46.719 him to fight it. Do you have the faith not 0:46:46.880 --> 0:46:50.040 to fight it in your flesh, but to deal with 0:46:50.080 --> 0:46:55.720 it in your spirit? Jesus told Peter, puts your sword away. 0:46:56.239 --> 0:46:59.880 Sometimes it takes more faith not to fight. Sometimes it 0:47:00.000 --> 0:47:02.120 it takes more faith just to go to the cross 0:47:02.280 --> 0:47:05.359 and get over your pride and get over yourself and 0:47:05.440 --> 0:47:11.920 let him fight your battles. But what they did next 0:47:13.480 --> 0:47:18.799 is remarkable, especially considering the enemies. We're standing right in 0:47:18.840 --> 0:47:24.359 their face. The scripture says, after consulting the people, Johasapad 0:47:24.400 --> 0:47:30.480 appointed men to sing to the Lord. Singing is a 0:47:30.520 --> 0:47:35.319 strange strategy to fight three nations all at once. But 0:47:35.440 --> 0:47:39.520 sometimes the battle is so big that you know, I 0:47:39.560 --> 0:47:44.759 can't fight this on my own. I always thought that 0:47:44.840 --> 0:47:48.000 this scripture meant that when you're in trouble, you should sing. 0:47:48.840 --> 0:47:52.359 But some people can't carry a tune and they don't 0:47:52.440 --> 0:47:57.840 like music. Now I realize that the passage isn't about music. 0:47:58.880 --> 0:48:06.400 It's about focus. And I want you to look past 0:48:06.400 --> 0:48:09.680 your enemy and I want you to sing. It says 0:48:09.680 --> 0:48:12.560 that jehas fate appointed men to sing to the Lord 0:48:12.600 --> 0:48:14.960 and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness. 0:48:15.600 --> 0:48:21.280 Let's focus on him. Let's focus on what's right about 0:48:21.320 --> 0:48:25.480 God rather than what's wrong with our life. And if 0:48:25.480 --> 0:48:29.160 you will focus on that, if you will focus on that, 0:48:29.239 --> 0:48:31.440 if you will look past what's standing in front of 0:48:31.520 --> 0:48:34.359 you that's bigger than you, and look to the God 0:48:34.360 --> 0:48:37.960 who is bigger than it, and praise him for the 0:48:38.000 --> 0:48:41.200 splendor of his holiness. As they went out at the 0:48:41.239 --> 0:48:43.880 head of the army, saying, give thanks to the Lord 0:48:44.400 --> 0:48:48.320 for his love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord. 0:48:48.960 --> 0:48:53.799 I wonder, are there any praisers from the tribal Judah 0:48:53.840 --> 0:48:58.880 who are willing to use gratitude as a strategy for 0:48:59.040 --> 0:49:03.360 the battle that I'm in and magnify the Lord In 0:49:03.440 --> 0:49:10.640 the middle of the battle, And as they began to 0:49:10.760 --> 0:49:16.000 sing in praise, the Lord said ambushes against their enemies, 0:49:16.719 --> 0:49:20.360 and they were defeated by the angel armies of God. 0:49:20.840 --> 0:49:24.120 God is gonna fight what you can see by sending 0:49:24.160 --> 0:49:28.120 what you can't see. I declare an ambush against insecurity, 0:49:28.440 --> 0:49:32.520 and ambush against the diction, and ambush against depression, and 0:49:32.640 --> 0:49:42.759 ambush against the darkness in your life. And watch this, 0:49:42.880 --> 0:49:45.920 and I'm gonna pray for you. The men of Emmine 0:49:45.920 --> 0:49:47.839 and Moab rose up against the men of Mount Sir. 0:49:47.920 --> 0:49:55.040 That's the enemies, to destroy and annihilate them. The enemy 0:49:55.840 --> 0:50:01.719 started eliminating the enemy. That's what happens when you let 0:50:01.880 --> 0:50:09.839 God fight your battles. He's gonna use everything then came 0:50:09.880 --> 0:50:15.399 against ste He's gonna use everything that the enemy meant 0:50:15.400 --> 0:50:19.360 for evil. He's gonna use a cross to create a 0:50:19.440 --> 0:50:25.479 space for resurrection for the glory of the Lord. He's 0:50:25.560 --> 0:50:31.239 in this place. Give him a sound pray. Thank you 0:50:31.280 --> 0:50:33.759 for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who 0:50:33.840 --> 0:50:36.840 give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that 0:50:36.920 --> 0:50:39.800 this ministry is possible. You can click the link in 0:50:39.840 --> 0:50:43.640 the description to give now or visit Elevation Church dot 0:50:43.719 --> 0:50:47.040 org slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed 0:50:47.040 --> 0:50:50.120 the podcast. You can subscribe. You can share it with 0:50:50.160 --> 0:50:52.400 your friends. You can click the share button, take a 0:50:52.400 --> 0:50:54.959 screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag 0:50:55.080 --> 0:50:58.000 us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.