[0:00]You got a device, you got a Bible, whatever you got. If you don't have something, steal it, it's okay, we believe in grace. Lift it up, say this is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I choose to do what it says I can do. I have an open mind, I have a teachable spirit. From this moment forward, I'm never going to be the same. I refuse to stay the same. Say, I am changing. I'm not waiting. I'm starting right now. Shout this. Look out, devil! Here I come. Amen. Give him one more shout, one more praise. He's so good. Isn't God good? What a God.
[0:49]What a God. And and you know, there's probably situations that you're dealing with and going through and coming up, you know, circumstances and and it's like, shoot. I didn't want that to happen and here it is. Anybody ever been there? Where where things are going differently than you anticipated them to go. And not for the better. Anybody, anybody ever lived there? Come on, let him see your hand. No, everything's been real good for me since I got born again. I got a bumper sticker and a T-shirt. You're a liar. And the thing is, the thing is is, uh, it's it's, uh, it's skubalon, right? Skubalon. Paul said, Paul said that everything, everything that I've done in my works, all my works of flesh, all that, he said, I count it as dung as skubalon. Skubalon, we were at the bull riders only for heaven's birthday, the bull riders only and out in the middle of the arena, there was bull skubalon. Okay? You understand what Skubalon is now? You stepped in some skubalon. It's a Christian cussword. You can say, oh, Skubalon. And everything's good, right? And and it's like, in this world there will be Skubalon. But be of good cheer, right? You're gonna have you're gonna have situations and circumstances and and all kinds of things come up against you and that's that's just kind of normal. But there there are moments when it gets bad and we don't know what to do. And and I think some of us might be there in one area or another right now. You were really excited about the kids going back to school. And then you saw everything they needed. Skubalon.
[2:45]You're real happy to get that new job and then you found out everything they wanted from you. You were so thrilled to get married. Hallelujah. Let's just go to the word of God. Here here's the thing you need to know. One of the things God loves to do. Turn it around. To turn it around. You know, during, during, uh, worship and and and during the, you know, we were, we were praising God and and and, you know, we, we get what would you call it? Um, loud. We get, you know, it ain't nothing like I grew up with though. You know, and some of you guys can remember, how many of you guys grew up like with a Pentecostal background at all? I mean, just like, like they had songs and you had to act them out. I remember we used to do this song called I walk by faith and the entire church would walk back and forth across the stage, you know, and and then they, and when when they had the songs where you were turning, you you you would turn your whole body around and and jump, remember? And it's like, and we're pretty calm compared.
[4:05]Right? And so, I I thought about having everybody get up and jump and turn around. No, I thought, no, that'll kill them. They haven't had exercise in months. And and, uh, but, but you can do this. Hold, hold your hand up like this. Hold your hand up. Get one finger up. Come on, do it. Look at your neighbor. If they're weak, just help them lift that up. And and just, just do this. Just do this one time. Just turn around. Now look at some, now look at somebody you like, and say, God's gonna turn it around. Okay, that's not bad. That's not bad. But now I want you to do it with Gusto, so look at the people you don't like. That's the other one. Just look at them, say, no, no, God's going to turn it around. Come on, somebody. God. God is gonna turn it around. David said, I look behind me and you were there. It's talking about, I look back in my life and there were moments that I, there was no way I I would have dreamed that you were involved in that. Yet I look back and I can see, you were there then. Have you had one of those? You know, where you thought this whole thing was just some type of birth of the devil. Something's up. But then you look back and you're like, no, God was using that all along. And and he was, he was for me, and he wasn't against me, and he wasn't putting me down, he was picking me up, and he wasn't, you know, knocking me around, he was protecting me. And I look back and I see you're there. And what we need to learn is we can see that right now. We don't have to wait till we get farther out till look back. We can look and see it right now. And there are things in my life that I don't like the way it's going. But here's what I know, my final condition, it's always better than my current, right? And so, so you know, the, the end result's gonna be better in my current condition. He's gonna turn it around. I I think we ought to be giving God a hand today. He's gonna turn it. He's gonna turn it around. And you came to church today thinking you'd sing two fast, one slow and get an ice cream cone. And God's going to turn it around for you. Oh, what a God. What a God. Amen. I hope not too much of my Pentecostal background comes out today. What a God. He loves to turn it around. Amen. Hey, let's let's look at it in the Bible. Elisha is servant. They've taken a trip. They end up at Dothan. Second Kings chapter 6, starting at verse 8. Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, I will set up my camp in such and such a place.
[6:42]The man of God sent word to the king of Israel, beware of passing that place, because the Aramaens are going down there. So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again, Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, tell me, which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?
[11:19]When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?" the servant asked.
[13:23]Oh no! What are we going to do? Number one, don't be afraid. I get it, that sounds easier than it really is. I don't know, we've been doing this a couple of minutes and probably a thousand times or more people have come and they needed prayer and they had a certain, certain stance or certain situation or or they had Skubalon going. And you look them in the eyes and you say, okay, don't be afraid. And you can see it's all over their face. That's easy for you to say. I I get it. That it sounds easy, but you have to understand that that emotional, uh, response is not gonna make anything better. You gotta see it from the right perspective. Well, you you should you have to deal with what I'm dealing with. No, what you want is someone in your world that they they trained, uh, first responders, uh, we we got any first responders in the room? We just want to thank you. Got any police in the room? They they don't want to raise their hand. Uh, you know, anybody in here you're looking for, raise their hand. Okay, no, you know, you got first responders, police, military guys, any any military current previous military guys, hold your hand up. We just want to thank you. That's awesome. They've been trained to practice calm. Why? Well, because if if you let your emotions control, you can't make wise decisions in difficult moments. And the reality is, is that they're trained that way because they are going to be in situations, guaranteed. Uh they're gonna, they're gonna show up on people's worst day and they need somebody who isn't going to allow the circumstances, situation to start suggesting the responses. We need somebody that understands calm. And you've got to remember this, like, like one of the first things you have to do when it's an oh no moment, what are we going to do? Okay, how about this? Breathe.
[15:42]Do not be afraid. It's the most repeated command in the Bible. 365 times, fear not or do not be dismayed or don't let your heart be troubled. There's one for every day of the year. Why? Well, because every day of the year has the opportunity to get kind of freakishly scary. Right? So, don't be afraid. And here's, here's what you got to know. Those are who are with us are more than who are against us. You gotta remind yourself that you've got more on your side than are coming against you. Like, like you you have some real situations, some real struggles, some real issues. Not saying that ain't real, but you've got to know that greater is he who is in me. Oh, come on, somebody. Greater is he who is in me. I love this. I love what's, what's your girl's name? Sorry, my. Blake? Can I borrow you a minute? Everybody give it up for Blake. Just just walk with me. Blake is a young, full-hearted believer in Jesus. Blake is smaller than most of us.
[17:17]Greater is he who is in Blake than he who is in the world.
[17:29]I I don't think they're getting it. Scroll up. Blake's not real big. I want you to look at Blake. Greater is he who is in Blake, than he who is in the world. Right? Give me some. Your mom will give you money, buy you an ice cream cone right after. You got more for you than against you. I mean, how could God say, fear thou not? Well, cuz he knows that what you're, what you're looking at that's coming against you, does not compare to what's for you.
[18:33]You ready? Second Kings 6:17. And Elisha prayed. And Elisha prayed. I want you to want you to know something. This is the beginning of the turnaround. This is the beginning of a turnaround. Remember Jonah? The Bible says, and the Lord prepared a great fish for Jonah. Remember that part? The Lord prepared a great fish for Jonah. You know what I love about this story, is God prepared a fish for Jonah. He did not prepare Jonah for a great fish. Think about it this way. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered the heart of any man, the things that God has prepared for those who love him. I know when you hear that verse, you're thinking of bigger houses, faster cars, higher paying positions. But look at the Bible, the Lord prepared a great fish for Jonah. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered the heart of any man. It never even crossed Jonah's mind that he was going to go into a three-day fast in the belly of a great fish. I can't guarantee he fasted, but I'm pretty sure he did, unless he's into sushi. But the first three words of chapter two, then Jonah prayed. Maybe you are in the belly of hell, like Jonah said, out of the belly of hell, I cried. Maybe maybe you are in the belly of hell. But this is your then moment that you begin to pray and that starts the turnaround.
[20:43]That begins the turnaround in your life. Because when he prayed, he said, he said, hey, uh, uh, he prayed and he prayed this, open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see. This has been our prayer throughout this entire series on the great strain. Have you, have you enjoyed the great strain? Okay. So we're going through the great strain, but all the way through it, this has been our prayer for you is that the eyes would be open, that you would see some things, that grace is bigger than you understand, more powerful than you've ever realized. It's like, if you see it correctly, it changes everything. And it's like, open his eyes that he could see. Open his eyes so he could see. Let him see beyond the problem. Let him see past the challenge. Prayer was not, God, come help us. Why? Well, because man of God already knew God was already there and God was already helping. God has wisdom for you today. He needs our eyes to be open so that we can see it. He's waiting for us to see. We should choose Zoe. We need to do life God's way, seek first the kingdom of God, His righteousness. Amplified Bible says, his way of doing his way of being right. Seek his way, seek his way. Not doing what your friends think you should do, not doing what your emotions are telling you to do, not, you know, caving into what the culture wants us to do. But that we would see what God would have us to do. Some of you are dealing with relational conflict. And it's possible that you've learned the habit of blaming others. Maybe maybe you've developed a habit of not taking responsibility for your choices. It's just easier to blame somebody else. And then you're bouncing from group to group or job to job or church to church or, but see, just hear me. God wants to do something new in you. Something new for you. He wants to break that cycle and it starts with you lifting up your eyes and seeing beyond that situation and and don't just do what you've always done. Don't react the way you've always reacted. Don't just get fuzzed up and blame somebody else. Don't you hate it when you do the wrong thing again?
[25:24]Huh? You know, it's like, oh, shoot. Cuz most of the oh no's, what are we going to do now? Are the result of something I did. And it's like, oh, that old nature, that old mindset, that old thing. And and I said, I can't, I can't believe I said what I said. I can't believe I did it again. You know, oops, I did it again. And it's like, I hate that part. You know, I just I just hate that. Well, maybe it's because God's using a circumstance or a situation or a struggle or a challenge to bring something in me to the surface, so we can deal with it together. Maybe the issue that you're fighting isn't actually the issue that you need to have restoration from.
[26:18]Maybe your struggle is actually an invitation. You know, miracles come wrapped in invitations.
[26:32]A couple of weeks have passed maybe since we heard one couple's story, how that they ended up at church. You know, the, the, the father, right? He loved the garden and he kept inviting them to come and and and and they said, oh, we're going to come. We're going to come and then, uh, then the father passed away and then they called the church and then, uh, different people in A and different rockstar people started surrounding, uh, you know, his daughter and and and we helped with the celebration of life and and there was so much love expressed through them and it's so so much light shining at that dark moment that they looked at each other said, you know, we we should probably go to church. And so they they came to church and then they said, you know what, we should probably go next weekend and then they came next weekend. And then we had a corporate wedding and I think they got married at that. And then, you know, all the salvations and baptism and now they're leading teams and they're doing all kinds of stuff. But what the miracle of life change, where does it start? With an invitation from a father. None of that, none of that story would be real if it hadn't have been for an invitation. And I love it from a father. The invitation from your father to come to him. Maybe, maybe there's a, there's a gal in the Bible, there's her story. I hope you're reading your book. Uh there's a story, uh who, there's a guy, I think his name was Elkana. Elkana, you know, we could argue about how about the pronunciation, but today he's called Elkana. Elkana had a couple of wives. I don't suggest you try that. Okay. Penne and Hannah. Penne had a bunch of kids. Hannah couldn't have. The Bible says that the Lord closed her womb. That's that's another story. It's like, oh my gosh, why would you do that? Remember when you're reading the Bible and and they go in and say, hey, go tell Pharaoh, let my people go and over and over and over again. It says and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. The Lord hardened, you look at that word hardened, it's the same word is strengthened. Why did God strengthen Pharaoh's heart? Cuz he didn't want Pharaoh to choose to do the right thing because we've twisted his arm and making him do it. He wanted his heart to change so that he would choose to do the right thing because it was right. He wanted to strengthen his heart so that he could have complete control over his free will. But I want you to use that free will to do life my way. Maybe God closed the womb so that it was an invitation that, that because she was barren. The word barren means lacking results. Maybe there's an area of your life you're not getting the results you're after. You're working hard to get results, but no matter what you do, it doesn't work out. Oh, no! What am I gonna do? And you begin to pray like Hannah did. And she began to pray and she began to seek and she found out that as she would seek God, she didn't have time for sulking when she was busy seeking. And when she was seeking, something changed in her heart. She thought her value would be increased if she could just bring a kid to the table. She thought that her her purpose, her her, you know, her destiny would be fulfilled. No, your destiny is fulfilled when you collide with God. Not when you do what you want to do. It's not that God doesn't want you to have results, but if you, if you had great results, all right, you know, like all the sales are going through. You just see yourself as a great salesman. If all your kids are obedient and serving Jesus, you just see yourself with incredible parenting skills.
[30:03]If you see your marriage is perfect. Well, you just ain't married. No, it's like, you just see yourself. And it's like, maybe the struggle is actually an invitation to press into God. Because without the struggle, you wouldn't have bothered. Maybe it's an invitation. Open his eyes, let him see. And he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Maybe maybe you just need to see that what you're going through, the issue isn't the issue. The issue is, I need God. I need to need God. I need to be hungry for God. I need to take this moment and make this. Remember Dothan, Joseph, sold into slavery.
[31:10]I bet you there were moments, quite a few days that he just sat around dreaming about next time I see those brothers. Here's what I'm going to do. And he planned. I I bet I bet there was something in there. But he went through enough life to learn that sulking wasn't the answer, seeking was. So by the time his brothers showed back up again, he was in a position to to save, to heal, to restore. And he looked at his nervous brothers and said, hey guys, guys, guys, calm down. What, what you intended for evil, God has turned it around. Can I encourage you today that maybe maybe the challenge you're dealing with, maybe the struggle that is is causing you the pain. Maybe the issue that's keeping you awake. Maybe it's an invitation. Because here's what we know is we've got more for us than who could ever come against us. We, here's what we know, that our final outcome, always better than our current condition. Here's what we know that at the end of every chapter, the end of every sentence, the end of every story, what do we know? Jesus wins. We know that. Well, why am I so perplexed? Why am I so fuzzed up? Because you just need to turn you around.
[32:45]God, I need you. I don't need the bigger house. I don't need, I need the faster car. I I don't need the better friends.
[33:01]I don't need it. I need you. Open our eyes. Open our eyes so we can see what we've been missing. Like, like we the problem, I'm not saying the problem isn't real. I'm just saying, that what you need is bigger than the problem. And what I need is God. I think there's people in the room right now. And you're exhausted. You've worked hard to fix it. Still got no results. You ran as far as you can run.
[33:38]You've worked, you've done everything you can. Still, man, we need a turnaround. Then Jonah prayed. Then Hannah prayed. Then Elisha prayed. Guess what we're going to do? We're going to pray. And and if you need, if you need things to turn around, I I I'm encouraging you.
[34:15]In just a moment, we're we're ahead of time. Don't worry. I'm not, I'm not tapping into your football nap. We're we're right on schedule here. You got time that you need to press in and see Jesus. And in a minute, we're just all going to stand for a moment. But if you need a turnaround, you ain't going to just stand up. You're just going to come down and we are going to pray with you. And you say, well, I I really don't need to turn around. Then you're going to stand and you're going to sing and you're going to sing loud. And you're going to say, I don't sing good. That's why you're out there, not up here. But the Bible says that out of the mouth of babies and sucklings, you've ordained strength to silence the enemy. And so you're going to help us silence the enemy today. By singing, by worshiping God. And we're going to believe that as we come forward and pray, that this is going to be the beginning of a turnaround.
[35:12]You know, I mentioned Hannah, her name is Grace.
[35:19]Grace that empowers the turnaround. You're at Dothan, you got two Wells. Which one are you going to draw from? Let's press into Jesus. Let's get, let's let's celebrate the God who is more than enough. Let's let's realize, man, he's for me, not against me. And he can open blind eyes so I can see. that I can see what's right here. And so when I leave here, I'm walking out. Things are beginning to turn around in my life. Things are beginning to turn around in our family. Things are beginning to turn around on our job site. Things are beginning to turn around in our city, in our school district, in our county, in our state. We beginning to see things are turning around. Come on, somebody. Just go ahead and stand. Give God a, give God a praise. We're just going to sing. They're going to sing. You need, you need to turn around. Just make your way out. Come down and we we're just going to pray. Just just going to take a minute and here we go. You ready? Let's do it.
