Wind Vs Word

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.280 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.680 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.840 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.560 in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:18.200 Enjoy the message. 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:20.959 I'm going to share one verse and then I'm gonna 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:24.200 let you be seated. And the verse is actually an 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:28.720 Ecclesiastes eleven. I have unintentionally been working my way backwards 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:32.199 through this passage of scripture, and I haven't started a 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:36.400 series lately, but I've unintentionally just been using these thoughts 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:40.200 from Solomon, who has us enrolled in the school of wisdom, 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.440 and he has the right to do it because some 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:45.680 people called him the wisest man who ever lived. He 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:50.599 was like Elon Musk of the Old Testament. But the 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:54.640 only difference between Solomon and Elon Musk is he wrote 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.120 his treatise to help us see that if you succeed 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.920 but you're not fulfilled, or if you succeed but you 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.920 don't have peace, or if you succeed but you're succeeding 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:08.600 at things that don't have real meaning, you will come 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:11.400 up empty in the end, and so he helps us 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.319 with that with a few principles from the Word of God. 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:16.679 And this one today I want to share is very, 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.480 very simple from the school of Solomon. Ecclesiastes, Chapter eleven, 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:26.000 verse four says this, whoever watches the wind will not plant, 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:32.840 whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. So I 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:35.080 know I told you I's going to preach today, But 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:40.080 really this is more like an announcement of a fight. Okay, 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.440 So really we came to watch a fight today. And 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:50.000 the title of this message is called wind versus Word. 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:58.040 In this corner is the wind and his opponent is 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:01.640 the Word. And I believe this messages for someone today 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:06.639 who is conflicted between the wind and the Word of God. 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:09.640 And I believe today God is going to speak to 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:10.080 your heart. 0:02:11.240 --> 0:02:18.240 Do it Lord in Jesus' name, Amen, touch somebody, say ding, ding, Amen, 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:28.400 you may be seated. One thing that is interesting to me, 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:33.360 and the verse really suggests the same reality, is how 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:38.119 when your spirit makes a decision to do something, your 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.520 mind will find reasons not to do it. 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:47.200 Now, now, if you decide to do something. 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:51.919 Like go on a diet, your mind will immediately start 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:55.280 calculating why it's not a good idea to go on 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:55.919 a diet. 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:58.679 Now, some of y'all are already doing the math. Well, 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.160 you know, Christmas is right around the corner. It's like 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:05.640 months till Christmas, but you already got the countdown timer, 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:09.600 because it's easy to find a reason. And really, the 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:13.280 way that our human minds work sometimes is in opposition 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:16.880 to our spirit, which is divine. And that's why you 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:19.560 could find yourself even with the apostle Paul, who lamented 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:22.160 one time, what I want to do, I don't do. 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:24.040 What I don't want to do. 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:28.560 I do, because often your mind will contradict your spirit. 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.960 And it's actually deeper than that, because the. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:36.480 Way this works in daily life is that your heart 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:41.600 reaches a verdict and then gives evidence to support the verdict, 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.560 whether or not the verdict was true. In a court 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:48.720 of law, this would be a mistrial, but in our 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:53.480 lives this is often just standard operating procedure. Is that 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.720 we come to a conclusion, and then once we've come 0:03:56.760 --> 0:04:01.280 to that conclusion, our mind is brillian like some kind 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:05.880 of you know, four hundred dollars an hour attorney to 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:09.600 find evidence to support the conclusion, and in so many 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.600 areas of our lives we find a reason. I mean, 0:04:12.600 --> 0:04:14.680 you can find a reason. And this is what Solomon 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:18.599 is saying. If you look for a reason not to sew, 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:21.280 or if you look for a reason not to reap, 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:22.000 you will. 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:23.040 Find one every time. 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.640 It's very true, because right now, I promise you you 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:30.480 can find a reason. Your mind can find a reason 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:34.600 to complain, even though your spirit knows that God has 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:37.200 been good to me. How many of you, in your 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:39.120 spirit you know that God has been good to you 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:43.880 and better than you deserve, And yet you could find 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.839 a reason, couldn't you. I'll give you one. 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:47.480 You want one. 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:49.440 If you just need a reason to complain, I'll give 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:51.719 you a reason right now to complain. For some of 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:56.000 y'all is too cold in the auditorium. If you just 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:59.880 need a reason to complain, If the praise songs of 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.039 the Most High God didn't didn't give you enough reason 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.719 to praise, let's find something for you to complain about. 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:07.440 Some of y'all. This sermon is going to be too 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.479 long for you. Some of you, it's going to be 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:11.640 too short for you. Some of you don't like a 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:13.760 preacher in tight briches, and some. 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.400 Of you, you know you can find one if you 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:19.000 need one, And it's really not that hard to find 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:21.480 a reason to complain, in fact, if we want to 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:22.640 go even deeper than that. 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:23.760 And I don't mean to take. 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:25.920 A dark turn early in the sermon, because it's really 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:27.560 good atmosphere in here, and I don't want to mess 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:29.719 it up. But if you wanted to, you could find 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:31.520 a reason to go into a whole depression. 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:34.400 If you wanted to think about a certain problem in 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:36.400 your life right now, you could. 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.120 You could distract yourself with a problem that is not 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:41.440 in this room to the point that you don't hear 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:45.320 another word. I say this whole sermon because your your 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:48.520 mind will collect evidence for a verdict that you've already 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:49.120 decided on. 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:51.040 And that's why when you. 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:52.960 Wake up some mornings like I do and say is 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:55.640 just going to be one of those days, you will 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:59.239 find every reason why it's one of those days, because 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.000 your heart reach verdict, and now you've sent your mind 0:06:02.120 --> 0:06:05.760 in investigative search of the support y'all. 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:09.800 Know I'm preaching in my introduction. I'm rested for this message. 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:11.480 And see, even if you. 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:13.200 Want to try to be tired you can try to 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:15.520 be tired. If you want a reason to be tired, 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:16.560 you can have a reason to be. 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:17.520 Tired right now. 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:19.320 I mean if you want to find a re if 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.120 you just need a reason, you can find a reason 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.039 when you need a reason. And that's why it's a 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:29.919 bad idea. Watch a sharp turn to sit around watching 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:37.320 the weather. My least favorite thing about being a pastor 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:43.040 is when inclement weather. And by inclement weather, here's what 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:43.400 I mean. 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:44.159 For church people. 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:51.200 I'm about to have some group therapy. Inclement weather means 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:55.159 it could mean that is so beautiful outside that we 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:57.760 can't possibly go to church. We need to take this 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.240 time to go be outside. I'm not talking to y'all. 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.240 I'm talking to the people who skip church. Let me 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:05.280 look at the camera, because y'all are safe. Y'all are 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:09.440 here right now. Inclement weather. It's not too cold. We 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:11.200 don't have to go out in the rain. It's not 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:11.840 too perfect. 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:15.280 We're not missing anything outside. It is perfect church weather. 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:18.200 We actually have a little joke on our staff when 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:20.480 it's it's just a little too cold for you to 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.160 be outside, but it's not too cold where you have to, 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:25.840 you know, suffer for five seconds before your seat warmers 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:26.200 kick in. 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:28.239 Is perfect church weather. 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:32.200 And it's really hard to be a pastor, especially when 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:37.200 they are forecasting, you know, torrential weather that may or 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:41.920 may not even hit our state. And what's really difficult 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.160 about it, and I promise you this is in the text, 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:49.280 is that sometimes all the milk and all the bread 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:54.360 will be off of the grocery store shelves and there 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:59.080 will be no snow on the ground. But it was 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.960 the it was a threat, or I could say like this, 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:08.720 it was the forecast that created fear of something that 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:12.960 was never even in our future. Now you went to 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:17.120 Sam's and Costco bought out all the batteries, and the 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.239 sun was out and it was seventy seven degrees. Now, 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:22.960 one thing that I love about our church is when 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.760 a real tragedy happens, we've already got supplies on the 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:31.080 ground in the Bahamas because of your giving. We've already 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:38.880 got supplies moving toward people when there's an emergency. And 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:41.679 that's not the part that I struggle with as a pastor. 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:47.640 The hard part is knowing that so many people see 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:50.120 my dad used to wake up every morning and watch 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:53.640 the news and he would always I thought this was 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:54.040 so weird. 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:57.600 Growing up. He would always cuss out the weathermen. 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:02.160 And I need to give you full disclosure because this 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:06.480 is a very complicated part of my personal psychology. I 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.600 did not want to be a preacher when I was 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:13.440 a little boy. I wanted to be a weatherman. I 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:18.199 think it was a form of rebellion because I would 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:21.000 stand with my sesame street globe and an antenna that 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:22.920 I broke off my TV so I could point at 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.760 the globe and I would forecast the weather. This is 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:28.199 like six years old, seven years old, and I would 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.360 forecast the weather in places in the world that I 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:31.120 couldn't pronounce. 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:35.640 I liked it. I liked the ability to predict the future. 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:40.240 But then my dad he would cuss out the weatherman, 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:48.679 and I was conflicted. And what made him so mad 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.520 about the weatherman was that he understood that even though 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:53.400 I respect. 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:55.400 Meteorologists, remember I could have been one. If it had 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.280 just gone a little bit different, just a little different path, 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:00.640 I could have been one. But the thing that my dad. 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:04.400 Couldn't stand about it was to watch how people would 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.280 go into a frenzy over something that was in a forecast. 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:11.200 And now my dad is no longer living. But I 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:12.720 just want to say to him, if he's watching this 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.520 on a heavenly celestial livestream broadcast channel, that I get 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:21.600 it now, because it's frustrating when you're trying to plan 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:26.720 church and people don't come, not because it's snowing, not 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:33.120 because it's raining, but because it might You know how 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.800 many things that the devil has kept you from doing 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:41.800 in your life that God called you to do because 0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:46.480 of what might happen if you did. And a lot 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:49.840 of us, the enemy doesn't even have to fight us 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:55.600 with real events or circumstances. Just even the suggestion of 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:59.000 a disaster is enough to send some of us into retreat. 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.600 And so just even the thought that what if they 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:04.840 don't like you is enough to keep you in the house, 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:07.959 or just even a thought if what if they break 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.480 my heart is enough to keep you from extending yourself 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.080 in relationship, or just even a thought. 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:14.200 You know, many of. 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:16.640 You are reluctant to get involved in this church because 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:20.199 you had a previous bad church experience. And I understand 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:23.000 that because once you have been through a storm. I 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:25.679 lived through Hurricane Hugo. I was eight years old when 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:29.240 Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston, South Carolina. It terrified me. I 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:32.160 didn't want to spend the night away from home for 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.760 two years after that as a little boy, because one thing, 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.360 after you have survived a storm, after you have survived 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:43.280 bad weather, after you have survived abuse, what people don't 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.400 tell you about is that even after the storm is over, 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:48.400 it still rages. 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:49.440 On on the inside of you. 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.960 And the saddest thing in the world is to see 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:56.000 a Christian who has been set free by the love 0:11:56.040 --> 0:12:00.000 of Christ, to know that neither height, nor depth, nor 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:04.600 anything else in all creation, neither death nor life, neither 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:08.719 angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.120 any other powers, shall be able to separate me from 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:14.920 the love of God that is in Christ. Jesus, my Lord. 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.840 What I'm trying to say, some of us need to 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.840 fire the devil as our weather man. We have been 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:24.000 consulting the wrong source to find out what our future 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:24.560 looks like. 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:27.680 And so now we stay indoors, and we stay in. 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:35.080 Fear, and we stay in paranoia, and we never plant, 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:40.600 and we never reap. Solomon said, because we watch the wind, 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:45.400 what a weird image. You really can't see the wind. 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.560 You can only see the effects of it. And he says, 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.360 when you watch the wind, you know like, is this 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:58.320 a good time? I'll give you one. This one looks 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:01.240 like to watch the wind. About that phrase watch the wind? 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:03.439 And I was like, this is not a literal message. 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:05.679 I'm not using it to talk about physical storms. I'm 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:08.760 using it to talk about when the sewer goes to sew, 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.360 he wants the wind to work with him, and when 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:14.920 the wind is blowing the opposite direction, all your seed 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:16.480 smacks you in your face. 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.280 But you never feel like everything you so just you 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:19.880 ever feel. 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:21.360 Like stuff just backfires on you. 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:24.200 You're trying to be nice to somebody. That's the last 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.040 one of those I'm doing. I got appreciate this twice 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:27.320 tomorrow any my brain cells. 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.040 But you ever just been smacked by your own seat, 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:32.040 Because that's what he's saying. 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:35.520 When the wind is blowing against you. Some of you 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:37.920 have had the wind against you your whole life. 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:40.800 You didn't have the right shoes, your parents didn't make 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:41.560 a lot of money. 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:42.880 You had to learn to fit in. 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:44.640 You had to learn how to be tough, you had 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:46.480 to learn how to be hard, and you learned how 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:48.480 to survive a storm. But the problem with that the 0:13:48.480 --> 0:13:52.640 only problem with that is sometimes the wind isn't even against. 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:54.160 You, but you still feel like it is. 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.480 Because your mind is collecting evidence in support of a 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:00.960 verdict is no longer accurate. 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:08.760 See watch the wind. Try to find out what's popular, 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:15.480 it's not popular. I'm apprecious to our students. 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:18.760 They've got Rhythm Night coming up next next Sunday night. 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:21.080 And I want you to talk about this in some form. 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:22.840 Tim is that. 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:29.840 Watching the wind is like trying to determine what's gonna 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:36.080 gain you clout, and then you let clout overrule character. 0:14:38.680 --> 0:14:40.840 And watching the wind is trying to be like, oh, 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:43.320 do they like me? Do they like me? Is this 0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:45.040 what I need to be to be like that? That's 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.960 watching the wind? Can I give you another one that's 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:51.720 watching the wind is needing to be in a good 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:53.720 mood to keep your commitments. 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:55.960 That's watching the wind. 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:02.720 Because some of my weather system are internal and I 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.360 found out a long time ago that. 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:08.240 Usually the mood that you're in when you make a 0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:12.360 commitment will not match the mood that you're in when 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:13.720 it's time to keep the commitment. 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:18.960 And so to watch the wind is for those of 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.880 us who sometimes need to feel it in order to 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:29.240 fulfill it. And Solomon says, the wisest man, the richest man, 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:35.560 the man who said that to do things for Vanity's 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:39.160 sake is like chasing after the wind. He uses this 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:44.080 metaphor lot in his book Ecclesiastes the Collected Teachings, which 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:46.720 are like proverbs, but it's written in such a way 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:50.240 as to convince the knowledge of the universe and the 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.880 futility of vanity. He uses this image of the wind. 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:58.080 Why because it is an invisible force. And he says, 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:03.440 if you are always checking with and consulting how you feel, 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:12.160 you will always find a reason to contradict your responsibility. 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.000 So there will always be a reason watch this that 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:20.320 you don't feel like forgiving people. But if you want 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:25.359 to be free, you might have to go against your feelings. 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:30.040 In order to live in freedom. I'm saying you might 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:34.480 have to walk against the wind. You might have to 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:40.320 forgive against the wind, especially in marriage. I love Holly 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:44.200 so much because she decided a long time ago that 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.800 I was the man for her. She reached the verdict 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:55.720 on verdict before she ever took my name as her own. 0:16:56.360 --> 0:16:59.080 And because she reached the verdict that she loves me 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:02.960 and I'm a good man in our marriage. She works 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:06.560 to collect evidence to support that I'm the man for her. 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:11.000 She could just as easily do the opposite. She could 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:14.520 find fifteen reasons. Well, he's only five foot nine, he's 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.879 bigger on screen, you know. She could find fifteen reasons 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:19.360 I'm usually moody three. 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:20.480 And a half days out of seven. 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.720 She could find fifteen reasons not to feel that way 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:34.560 about me. But sometimes commitment means facing resistance with resolve 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:38.720 in your heart. You can find a reason to leave 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:43.320 this church in the next three days if you want one. 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:47.680 Matter of fact, the law of average says that there's 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.880 somebody on your row right now who if you get 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.840 to know them, they will give you a reason to 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:59.040 leave this church in the next three days because they 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.800 will disappoint you with their lack of Christian character. But 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.440 if you move one person over on the same row, 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:09.760 I bet you there's somebody on that row that loves Jesus. 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.600 There's somebody on that row who is honest. There is 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:20.359 somebody on that row that is sincere. But you'll never sew. 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:22.000 We'll see. 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.359 I'm gonna get my I'm gonna do I'm gonna get 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:26.600 my I'm gonna do the tithing thing, but I'm gonna 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.080 do it after I get my thing, because the thing 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:31.760 after the thing is gonna do the thing. And then 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:35.159 this thing happened. There was the thing, but the economy, 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:38.320 but the presidential election. You see how we do it 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:44.560 consulting the forecast instead of consulting our faith. He who 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:47.240 regards the wind or observes the wind will never sow, 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:51.000 and he who looks at the clouds will never reap 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:55.639 because it always looks like it could rain anytime, and 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:59.080 you can't get the harvest in when it's wet. And 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:05.359 Solomon didn't have a weather channel. App and Solomon didn't 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:08.920 have a weather channel. He's dealing with people who would 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:14.680 consult the conditions before keeping their commitments. 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:19.800 Watching the wind. How many people have not started. 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:22.600 What God told them to start because they've been watching 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:28.359 the wind, been waiting for more spare time. 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:33.520 I'm gonna write a book one day. You don't even 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:34.800 keep a journal right now. 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:38.960 I'm gonna write a book one day where you're gonna 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:39.240 write it. 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:41.720 Well, I'm gonna build a cottage in Maine. It's the 0:19:41.760 --> 0:19:44.560 thing I'm gonna do one day. You got some family landmope. 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:51.640 It's an imaginary scenario that keeps you from an actual opportunity. 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:52.520 Do you see it? 0:19:54.960 --> 0:19:58.280 Watching the wind is wishing that you had a different 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:01.359 wife instead of love the one that you've got. 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:09.040 Like Christ loves the church. This is getting good. 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:12.200 This message is gonna be better than your beard by 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:14.760 the time I finish with it, my brother, And that's 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:15.520 saying a lot. 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:20.720 But you know, Peter knew something about watching the wind, though, 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:21.159 didn't he? 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:28.119 Peter the apostle who was always wanting to do something impulsive. 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:33.160 Sometimes it worked for him, sometimes it worked against him. 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:35.480 But one thing that you got to love about him 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:39.080 he did not wait for perfect circumstances to say. He 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:41.800 didn't wait until he had knowledge to give his opinion. 0:20:43.400 --> 0:20:46.399 You ever lived with somebody like that, it's terrible. And 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:48.239 I noticed something about God and I wanted to give 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:49.920 this to you because they have these things in church. 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:52.919 They say, well, God is an on time god. 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:54.040 Yes he is. 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:58.760 He's an on time God. He's seldom early, but he's 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:02.440 never late. As if he was ever late, Laszar, he 0:21:02.520 --> 0:21:06.080 is about four days late. Decomposing body worms working their 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:09.080 way into the eye socket by the time Jesus got 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:12.040 there and Mary and Martha had set their watch by it. 0:21:12.520 --> 0:21:20.040 Ask Peter if Jesus was ever late, Ask him, Ask him. 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:24.480 If one time they did not get sent out into 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:29.480 a storm by the instruction that Jesus gave to. 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:31.080 Go to the other side. 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:33.880 Now, this has been really exciting to me as I've 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:38.639 studied it this week, because the real thing of faith 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:44.120 is do you trust God's timing? You know that, right? 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:47.720 And that was the test for Mary and Martha. Jes said, 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:49.880 I am the resurrection and the life. And she said, well, 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:52.680 you know, I am the resurrection. And she said, well, 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:54.080 I know my brother's going to rise again at the 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:57.160 last day. He said, no, I am the resurrection. It 0:21:57.240 --> 0:21:59.920 wasn't that she didn't trust what he was able to do. 0:22:01.600 --> 0:22:04.399 It was are you able to trust when God is 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:10.959 going to do it? You can trust somebody's intention, but 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:12.199 not trust their timing. 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:16.840 And since I already talked good about Holly ind the sermon, 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:22.560 let me just say I trust her with my life. 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:27.399 I trust her to be faithful to our marriage vows. 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:31.240 I trust her if she cooks for me or orders 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:33.280 for me off of a menu, I trust she knows 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:35.320 what I want to eat more than I want to eat. 0:22:35.400 --> 0:22:36.560 She knows me like that. 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:44.320 I trust this woman with everything but time. When she 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:48.840 says it's going to be thirty minutes, I allot three 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:54.320 hours because she taught me that her concept of time 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:56.320 is different than mine. 0:22:57.240 --> 0:23:02.720 One is correct, one is delusional. And I trust her, 0:23:03.000 --> 0:23:05.919 I really do. I trust her. I put her in 0:23:05.960 --> 0:23:06.600 a room. 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:10.640 Full of supermodels, men calendar men and trust her in there. 0:23:10.960 --> 0:23:12.840 But if she said we're gonna leave in an hour, 0:23:13.200 --> 0:23:16.719 I would set three alarms because I trust her with 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:22.000 everything but time. Some of us trust that God is 0:23:22.040 --> 0:23:24.560 going to get us to heaven one day. Some of 0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:27.480 us trust that he died on the cross for our sin. 0:23:28.080 --> 0:23:31.680 We trust him with everything, but let him not do 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:34.239 something at the moment that we want him to do it. 0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:38.639 Let him leave us in the fiery furnace. Four seconds 0:23:38.680 --> 0:23:41.560 too long and we'll be screaming, God, get me out 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:46.480 of this. But God said, the real test for a 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:52.120 mature Christian is do you trust me with my timing? 0:23:53.240 --> 0:23:59.040 Trusting him in the meantime is where maturity is developed. 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:05.359 And Jesus was always doing stuff at a bad time. 0:24:08.520 --> 0:24:11.679 He was always going to Jerusalem at the time when 0:24:11.760 --> 0:24:14.320 they all wanted to kill him. That's a bad time 0:24:15.320 --> 0:24:18.399 to show up when they're looking for you to execute you. 0:24:18.440 --> 0:24:19.240 It's a bad time. 0:24:20.880 --> 0:24:24.439 Five thousand men, women and children show up on the 0:24:24.480 --> 0:24:25.000 other side. 0:24:25.080 --> 0:24:26.760 Now, this is right after John the Baptiste. 0:24:26.760 --> 0:24:29.280 I just want you to know how often God does 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:32.919 things in our life at a bad time, because some 0:24:32.960 --> 0:24:35.440 of y'all are like, right now in your life, like, well, 0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:36.720 this is a bad time for me. 0:24:36.800 --> 0:24:37.080 God. 0:24:37.520 --> 0:24:39.240 And I used to have this friend. Every time he 0:24:39.280 --> 0:24:41.200 called me on the phone, he was so respectful. He 0:24:41.359 --> 0:24:43.720 was say good time or a bad time. Always wanted 0:24:43.760 --> 0:24:45.919 to know that before he said anything else. And I 0:24:45.920 --> 0:24:47.960 believe the Holy Spirit is say him to somebody today, 0:24:48.080 --> 0:24:48.680 good time. 0:24:48.560 --> 0:24:50.199 Or a bad time, And you're like, this is a 0:24:50.200 --> 0:24:52.359 bad time. I'm too old to be doing this now. 0:24:52.480 --> 0:24:54.399 I'm too young to be doing this now, I'm too 0:24:54.440 --> 0:24:56.159 busy to be doing this now. I used to have 0:24:56.200 --> 0:24:57.960 a better job, I used to have more money. It's 0:24:58.000 --> 0:25:00.880 a bad time. But God likes to bless people at 0:25:00.920 --> 0:25:06.080 a bad time. He likes to raise people. On the 0:25:06.080 --> 0:25:06.800 Fourth Day. 0:25:08.400 --> 0:25:11.679 And when Jesus had heard that John the Baptist had 0:25:11.680 --> 0:25:15.520 his head cut off by Herod, it was a bad time, and. 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:17.280 He wanted to get away from the crowds. 0:25:17.320 --> 0:25:20.600 So he went over to the other side with the disciples, 0:25:20.600 --> 0:25:23.000 and when they got there, there was a crowd waiting 0:25:23.000 --> 0:25:25.560 to get autographs and healing and fish and chips and 0:25:25.600 --> 0:25:26.360 all this stuff. 0:25:26.520 --> 0:25:28.640 As a matter of fact, when he. 0:25:28.600 --> 0:25:32.280 Did the miracle and feeds the five thousand, the first 0:25:32.280 --> 0:25:34.880 thing the disciples said was, what it's late. 0:25:36.040 --> 0:25:42.040 It's a bad time. It's a bad time. And Jesus 0:25:42.040 --> 0:25:42.480 when he. 0:25:42.400 --> 0:25:44.800 Took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it 0:25:44.840 --> 0:25:48.200 to them. He did the miracle at a bad time. 0:25:51.320 --> 0:25:54.240 Now I'm divorced, Now I'm a single mom. Now it's 0:25:54.240 --> 0:25:56.760 a bad time for me to be believing God. It's 0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:59.960 a bad time. I really wasted a lot of years, 0:26:00.320 --> 0:26:02.679 A bad time for me to be doing this. I 0:26:02.680 --> 0:26:04.840 think I made the wrong decision. I don't even think 0:26:04.840 --> 0:26:06.959 I'm supposed to live in Roanoke. I don't even think 0:26:07.000 --> 0:26:09.080 I'm supposed to live in Charlotte. I even it's a 0:26:09.080 --> 0:26:11.560 bad time. It's a bad place. That's what the disciples said. 0:26:11.560 --> 0:26:14.600 They said, it's a remote place, and it's already late. 0:26:14.840 --> 0:26:18.480 So send the crowds away, and. 0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:21.720 Jesus said, no, I want to bless him when it's 0:26:21.720 --> 0:26:27.360 too little and when it's too late, because I want 0:26:27.359 --> 0:26:30.200 to bless you when you think it's a bad time. 0:26:31.520 --> 0:26:35.000 So I can teach you how to consult your faith 0:26:35.920 --> 0:26:37.959 instead of consulting your forecast. 0:26:39.040 --> 0:26:40.400 You got the wrong weather man. 0:26:41.840 --> 0:26:44.200 You keep watching the weather, and so now you live 0:26:44.240 --> 0:26:46.960 in fear of everything that could happen and everything that 0:26:47.080 --> 0:26:49.440 has happened. And as long as you watch the weather, 0:26:49.480 --> 0:26:51.959 as long as you keep that wrong weather man, this 0:26:52.000 --> 0:26:54.240 is what God showed me. The weather is meant to 0:26:54.320 --> 0:27:00.840 be checked, not watched when you sit When you sit 0:27:00.960 --> 0:27:04.440 around and watch it all day, it scares you. Oh everything. 0:27:04.600 --> 0:27:07.240 It's good to plan, it's good to make provision, but 0:27:07.359 --> 0:27:10.440 don't watch the weather. If you watch the weather, you'll 0:27:10.440 --> 0:27:13.520 get in your feelings and you'll get out of your faith. 0:27:13.960 --> 0:27:15.680 And now the wind watch this. 0:27:17.160 --> 0:27:22.040 Will work against you to contradict the word that God 0:27:22.119 --> 0:27:28.760 spoke to you. So this is the point where Jesus, 0:27:28.960 --> 0:27:35.480 after feeding the five thousand, sends the disciples into a storm. 0:27:35.760 --> 0:27:38.320 And I want to read this to you for everybody 0:27:38.320 --> 0:27:42.399 who's been watching the wind in your life, worrying about 0:27:43.119 --> 0:27:47.760 uncertain situations that you cannot control. I'm not talking about 0:27:47.800 --> 0:27:49.160 those of you that are trying to make a plan 0:27:49.200 --> 0:27:53.879 to pay off your debt. That's good. That's not a 0:27:53.960 --> 0:27:59.480 lack of faith. That's a that's a presence of wisdom. 0:27:59.760 --> 0:28:04.399 Watching the wind is trying to calculate something that you 0:28:04.440 --> 0:28:09.359 can't control. You are worried your kid is going to 0:28:09.520 --> 0:28:12.119 end up dropping out of school, and they are three 0:28:12.160 --> 0:28:15.560 months old and they don't like Baby Einstein enough yet, 0:28:15.840 --> 0:28:19.159 and you are worried that they won't get into Harvard. 0:28:19.200 --> 0:28:21.560 You watch in the wind, trying to figure out stuff 0:28:22.280 --> 0:28:23.520 that's in the future. 0:28:23.720 --> 0:28:24.920 Now watch this. 0:28:24.400 --> 0:28:29.280 This is so weird because it says immediately after Jesus 0:28:29.280 --> 0:28:32.280 blessed all the multitudes and the crowds at a bad time, 0:28:33.520 --> 0:28:37.000 he made them go into the boat twenty two and 0:28:37.080 --> 0:28:38.720 go on ahead of him to the other side. 0:28:38.960 --> 0:28:41.880 Well, he dismissed the crowd. So at some point. 0:28:41.680 --> 0:28:44.479 During his instructions he told them, I will meet you 0:28:44.560 --> 0:28:45.480 on the other side. 0:28:46.160 --> 0:28:47.720 He gave them his word. 0:28:48.960 --> 0:28:54.520 He gave them his word, I will see you on 0:28:54.600 --> 0:29:00.800 the other side. He gave them his word. Touch somebody 0:29:00.840 --> 0:29:05.160 next to you and say he gave you his word. No, 0:29:05.280 --> 0:29:07.040 I need you to help me preach this, not look 0:29:07.080 --> 0:29:09.840 at me with a little little church face. Tell him 0:29:09.960 --> 0:29:14.520 he gave you his word. But the challenge is not 0:29:14.680 --> 0:29:17.080 believing that you will see him on the other side. 0:29:17.160 --> 0:29:18.840 Is how long is it going to be before I 0:29:18.840 --> 0:29:22.520 get there? He gave me his word that he would 0:29:22.600 --> 0:29:24.920 never leave me nor forsake me. 0:29:25.360 --> 0:29:29.040 He gave me his word in this corner. 0:29:29.000 --> 0:29:36.160 Weighing in at unlimited POWs hailing from eternity made flesh 0:29:36.200 --> 0:29:40.120 by the will of the Father to redeem humanity. Is 0:29:40.200 --> 0:29:45.160 the living, breathing logos word of God, Jesus Christ. 0:29:45.560 --> 0:29:47.719 In the beginning, what's the word? 0:29:47.920 --> 0:29:51.640 And the word was with God, and the Word was God, 0:29:52.000 --> 0:29:55.800 and all things were made by him and for him, 0:29:56.080 --> 0:29:58.800 for he was with God in the beginning. 0:29:58.840 --> 0:30:00.400 He gave me his word. 0:30:07.120 --> 0:30:08.880 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a 0:30:08.920 --> 0:30:10.600 mountain side by himself to pray. 0:30:11.640 --> 0:30:13.280 And when evening came, he was there alone. 0:30:13.320 --> 0:30:15.960 But the boat was already a considerable distance from land, 0:30:16.280 --> 0:30:17.680 buffeted by the waves. 0:30:17.760 --> 0:30:23.080 Because why the wind was against. 0:30:25.000 --> 0:30:32.200 And his opponent, raging on the storm tossed sea the wind. 0:30:34.040 --> 0:30:36.520 And we came to church really today to find out 0:30:36.520 --> 0:30:41.480 which one's gonna win. The calling that God put on 0:30:41.520 --> 0:30:49.000 your life for the circumstances that contradicted your faith or 0:30:49.040 --> 0:30:58.920 your fear. The wind versus the Word, the challenger. 0:31:00.080 --> 0:31:00.680 Or watch Emma. 0:31:02.480 --> 0:31:04.320 Sometimes I like to preach the word and then watch 0:31:04.400 --> 0:31:06.760 people beat each other after death on Saturday nights. 0:31:06.760 --> 0:31:08.240 This shah a recovery method. 0:31:08.280 --> 0:31:13.840 It's kind of my own spiritual cry of therapy. 0:31:16.200 --> 0:31:20.160 But the challenger then, and then you got the undefeated, 0:31:20.280 --> 0:31:24.280 undisputed heavyweight champion. 0:31:25.040 --> 0:31:28.160 Anyway, I'm gonna get back to the text because it 0:31:28.240 --> 0:31:33.160 said the wind was against the boat, and the boat 0:31:33.720 --> 0:31:37.520 did not represent disobedience like it did for Jonah who 0:31:37.600 --> 0:31:42.320 was going away from God. They were going into their assignment, 0:31:43.120 --> 0:31:48.600 which led them into a storm, which meant that they 0:31:48.600 --> 0:31:53.920 had to keep moving forward against the wind. 0:31:54.640 --> 0:31:57.120 Now, if you watch the wind, you'll never set out. 0:31:59.000 --> 0:32:01.200 If they would have had a weather channel app they 0:32:01.240 --> 0:32:04.320 would have never gotten in the boat. Sometimes we know 0:32:04.400 --> 0:32:07.760 too much. Sometimes we overthink things. Who's this message for? 0:32:07.920 --> 0:32:11.160 If you are a chronic overthinker, you are a wind watcher. 0:32:14.520 --> 0:32:16.080 Well, and Mike did a flat tier. They've been doing 0:32:16.120 --> 0:32:17.760 a lot of construction. I don't know if I should 0:32:17.800 --> 0:32:18.480 take this job or not. 0:32:22.440 --> 0:32:29.680 So verse twenty five, the fourth watch. The Romans divided 0:32:29.680 --> 0:32:32.200 it up into four quarters all right six pm to 0:32:32.280 --> 0:32:35.320 six am, four watches, three hours each six pm to 0:32:35.680 --> 0:32:38.600 nine pm. First watch, nine pm to midnight, second watch 0:32:39.040 --> 0:32:41.280 midnight to three am, Third watch. 0:32:42.680 --> 0:32:46.200 And when does Jesus show up? I mean, this. 0:32:46.120 --> 0:32:49.320 Dude, is that disrespectful to call him that he was 0:32:49.360 --> 0:32:53.760 fully God and fully mad? And he shows up not 0:32:53.840 --> 0:32:57.240 the first watch of the night, Second watch, third watch. 0:32:58.600 --> 0:33:01.479 What I like about the text is even the term 0:33:01.880 --> 0:33:06.320 watch has significance because if you remember what I just 0:33:06.440 --> 0:33:09.400 read you, it said that he went up on a 0:33:09.440 --> 0:33:10.600 mountain side to prey. 0:33:11.760 --> 0:33:14.440 Now, the sea was situated well below the. 0:33:14.400 --> 0:33:19.280 Mountain, which means that as they went through the storm, 0:33:19.800 --> 0:33:23.960 even though he didn't stop it, he saw them in it. 0:33:25.360 --> 0:33:27.800 I want you to be encouraged today. 0:33:27.840 --> 0:33:32.479 My sister, my brother, my fellow child of God. Just 0:33:32.600 --> 0:33:36.240 because the storm is raging doesn't mean God has left 0:33:36.280 --> 0:33:40.560 the scene. And just because he hasn't stopped it doesn't. 0:33:40.320 --> 0:33:41.600 Mean he doesn't see it. 0:33:42.040 --> 0:33:45.320 And just because the devil started it doesn't mean he 0:33:45.400 --> 0:33:48.560 won't use it. And just because I don't know how 0:33:48.680 --> 0:33:51.920 long until we get there, doesn't make me doubt his 0:33:52.080 --> 0:33:52.720 presence in. 0:33:52.720 --> 0:33:57.320 The middle of it. He was watching the whole time. 0:33:58.400 --> 0:34:00.680 He knew just when he wanted to step in so 0:34:00.720 --> 0:34:03.080 they could see him as he had never been seen. 0:34:03.960 --> 0:34:07.200 And I believe God is speaking over somebody's situation today 0:34:07.480 --> 0:34:09.920 that his eye is on you. I believe that He 0:34:09.960 --> 0:34:12.640 has numbered the hairs on your head. I believe that 0:34:12.680 --> 0:34:14.839 even the bad things that have happened in your life, 0:34:14.880 --> 0:34:17.399 he kept every tear in a jar. And I don't 0:34:17.400 --> 0:34:20.160 believe that one of them is beyond redemption. Now, the 0:34:20.200 --> 0:34:22.680 Bible says that when it got to the last watch 0:34:22.719 --> 0:34:25.560 of the night, after they have rowed four to five 0:34:25.719 --> 0:34:29.319 miles in their own strength, Jesus went out to them 0:34:29.719 --> 0:34:33.320 walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking 0:34:33.360 --> 0:34:34.279 on the lake. 0:34:34.440 --> 0:34:35.680 They were at peace. 0:34:35.840 --> 0:34:39.640 Nope, First, when you see God, your first response is fear. 0:34:40.000 --> 0:34:42.839 Why you don't know if this is really him. That's 0:34:42.880 --> 0:34:45.400 the problem. I don't know if this is God, or 0:34:45.440 --> 0:34:47.200 I don't know if this is the devil, or I 0:34:47.200 --> 0:34:49.320 don't know if I'm supposed to do this, or I 0:34:49.360 --> 0:34:51.360 don't know if I'm supposed to do that. And the 0:34:51.520 --> 0:34:55.200 challenge is trusting God in uncertainty, and you got to 0:34:55.239 --> 0:34:57.040 believe that the disciples. 0:34:56.440 --> 0:34:58.960 Were wondering, did we hear him right? Did he really 0:34:58.960 --> 0:35:01.239 take it in the boat? Surely he wouldn't have sent 0:35:01.320 --> 0:35:02.480 us into a storm like this. 0:35:03.080 --> 0:35:05.960 And now enters the mythology that the Jewish people would 0:35:05.960 --> 0:35:08.920 have believed at this point that underneath the sea was 0:35:08.960 --> 0:35:10.600 controlled by an evil spirit. 0:35:11.040 --> 0:35:13.239 So when Jesus comes walking to them and. 0:35:13.200 --> 0:35:16.240 They can't fully trace his silhouette because it's still dark 0:35:16.600 --> 0:35:19.839 and because it's foggy and the wind is against them, 0:35:20.080 --> 0:35:23.880 their first instinct is it must be a ghost. See, 0:35:23.920 --> 0:35:26.440 you keep thinking, when God shows up in the situation, 0:35:26.600 --> 0:35:28.480 it's going to feel better all of a sudden. 0:35:29.360 --> 0:35:30.560 But this will blow your mind. 0:35:31.040 --> 0:35:35.400 The Bible doesn't say they were scared at all until 0:35:35.480 --> 0:35:41.640 Jesus shows up. Now you see why you can't go 0:35:41.719 --> 0:35:49.560 by your feelings. Sometimes the moment when he's closest is 0:35:49.640 --> 0:35:54.600 the same moment when the wind is blowing the strongest. 0:35:58.160 --> 0:36:00.000 So they were terrified. 0:36:01.000 --> 0:36:06.040 It's a ghost, they said, and they cried out in fear. 0:36:07.360 --> 0:36:14.560 Now Jesus, instead of rebuking them for their fear, responds 0:36:14.600 --> 0:36:19.840 to their initiative, and he said, remember this is a 0:36:19.880 --> 0:36:24.080 significant term. Yahweh i am the name of God. It's 0:36:24.120 --> 0:36:26.640 a name that Jesus embodied in flesh. God is that 0:36:26.760 --> 0:36:30.040 in spirit. But Jesus shows us that in flesh. And 0:36:30.080 --> 0:36:33.520 when he says take courage, it is I. It's more 0:36:33.560 --> 0:36:34.920 than him just saying it's me. 0:36:35.040 --> 0:36:35.360 Boys. 0:36:37.160 --> 0:36:42.960 He's identifying his presence and connecting it to the eternal 0:36:43.000 --> 0:36:47.160 God and the eternal Word. When he speaks it is 0:36:47.200 --> 0:36:54.319 I don't be afraid. Peter in equal parts doubt, in 0:36:54.440 --> 0:36:59.040 equal parts curiosity, because he just got to participate in 0:36:59.080 --> 0:37:03.680 a miracle, a feeding five thousand, is like, I want 0:37:03.719 --> 0:37:06.560 to get in on this one too, and I'm tired 0:37:06.600 --> 0:37:07.359 of being in this. 0:37:07.320 --> 0:37:10.120 Boat with John. He gets on my nerves. He doesn't row, 0:37:12.200 --> 0:37:13.879 you know. John was laid back, and. 0:37:13.840 --> 0:37:17.960 Peter's like, if it's you, get me out of this boat, 0:37:18.600 --> 0:37:21.719 tell me to come. I preached this for a long 0:37:21.760 --> 0:37:24.680 time the wrong way, and I've corrected it since. I 0:37:24.760 --> 0:37:29.200 used to say that Peter walked on water. But if 0:37:29.200 --> 0:37:33.560 you look at verse twenty nine, Jesus said come, and 0:37:33.600 --> 0:37:36.840 then Peter got down out of the boat and walked 0:37:36.920 --> 0:37:42.000 on the water, but he was really walking on the word. 0:37:50.760 --> 0:37:52.440 I'm gonna just ask you something. This is not a 0:37:52.440 --> 0:37:56.040 preachery question. Have you ever had to just walk through 0:37:56.040 --> 0:38:00.920 something just on sheer faith that if God brought me 0:38:00.960 --> 0:38:04.680 out here, he will not leave me? Now, that's what 0:38:04.680 --> 0:38:07.839 it means to walk on the word. Have you ever 0:38:07.880 --> 0:38:10.840 had to move towards something in your life that scared 0:38:10.880 --> 0:38:11.440 you to death? 0:38:12.400 --> 0:38:15.640 And you don't have any experience for it, and your. 0:38:15.600 --> 0:38:19.279 Nautical knowledge did not prepare you for this incident, But 0:38:19.360 --> 0:38:24.920 all of a sudden, the sea became a hardwood floor 0:38:26.040 --> 0:38:28.920 underneath your feet with each step. 0:38:29.160 --> 0:38:32.320 That's what I mean by walking on the word. 0:38:33.320 --> 0:38:35.280 Have you ever had to take a promise from God's 0:38:35.320 --> 0:38:38.320 word and just hold on to it for dear life? 0:38:39.400 --> 0:38:42.600 A promise for someone that you love who's sick, A 0:38:42.640 --> 0:38:45.520 promise for provision when you don't see where it's coming from, 0:38:45.800 --> 0:38:48.720 A promise that God is going to fulfill his purpose 0:38:48.800 --> 0:38:50.759 for your kids, and even if you don't know how 0:38:50.800 --> 0:38:51.200 it's going to. 0:38:51.360 --> 0:38:53.960 Have you ever had to hold on so tight to something? 0:38:54.280 --> 0:38:56.799 In the fourth watch of the night, that's what I 0:38:56.840 --> 0:39:01.680 mean by walking on the word. And Peter is walking 0:39:02.239 --> 0:39:06.799 on the word, but he's walking against the wind, and 0:39:06.880 --> 0:39:07.399 so are we. 0:39:09.280 --> 0:39:37.800 See Jesus didn't stop the wind. He gave the word. 0:39:26.640 --> 0:39:31.359 Come he said, that's no more instruction than you give 0:39:31.640 --> 0:39:32.720 your golden retriever. 0:39:33.360 --> 0:39:33.640 Come. 0:39:35.680 --> 0:39:38.680 And maybe a golden retriever is smarter than some of us, 0:39:39.640 --> 0:39:44.000 because a golden retriever doesn't question the Master. But yet 0:39:44.120 --> 0:39:49.160 some of us the first trace of wind the first 0:39:49.600 --> 0:39:55.480 trace of disappointment. And I always thought Peter fell down 0:39:55.600 --> 0:39:58.520 walking to Jesus, because you know, he gets out there 0:39:58.560 --> 0:40:02.480 a little waves, and most of us do. We get 0:40:02.480 --> 0:40:05.560 out there a little ways, and we ingrain to have 0:40:05.719 --> 0:40:08.279 it for a little while, and we go in and 0:40:08.320 --> 0:40:11.400 do direction by faith and trust God for a time. 0:40:12.560 --> 0:40:16.480 But at somewhere during the process. The Bible says that 0:40:16.520 --> 0:40:20.800 after Peter had walked on the water and came toward 0:40:20.920 --> 0:40:25.000 Jesus verse thirty, he made a critical mistake. He saw 0:40:25.320 --> 0:40:32.560 the wind. Which one is stronger, the Word or the wind? 0:40:34.040 --> 0:40:37.360 I want to say, it depends which one you watch. 0:40:41.000 --> 0:40:43.480 I want to say that the wind did not have 0:40:43.560 --> 0:40:46.200 the strength to knock Peter off of his feet. 0:40:46.760 --> 0:40:48.960 The only reason he went down. 0:40:49.320 --> 0:40:52.200 Is because he took his eyes off. 0:40:52.040 --> 0:40:55.880 Of the Word and started watching the wind. 0:40:56.880 --> 0:41:00.280 See, faith is not an imaginary state where get myself 0:41:00.400 --> 0:41:03.319 worked up into a delusion like nothing's ever gonna go 0:41:03.400 --> 0:41:06.640 bad again, and then I'm surprised when bad stuff happens. 0:41:07.160 --> 0:41:11.560 Faith is a focus. Faith is the ability to say, 0:41:11.960 --> 0:41:15.319 I'm putting my eyes on the goodness of God in 0:41:15.440 --> 0:41:17.920 this moment, and I'm not looking back. 0:41:18.000 --> 0:41:21.000 And I'm not looking forward, and I'm not looking around. 0:41:21.400 --> 0:41:23.879 My mind has already reached a conclusion. 0:41:24.280 --> 0:41:26.600 God is for me. God is with me. 0:41:27.080 --> 0:41:29.840 If the wind be against me, if the world be 0:41:30.000 --> 0:41:33.759 against me, if all hell power nails him to a 0:41:33.880 --> 0:41:42.000 cross in three days, he will rise because my faith 0:41:43.320 --> 0:41:47.760 is focused on the word of God that I'm walking toward. 0:41:49.160 --> 0:41:52.320 And I want to prophesy over somebody today and declare 0:41:52.360 --> 0:41:55.600 over your life. The wind doesn't have to stop for 0:41:55.680 --> 0:41:59.680 you to keep walking toward Jesus, and the situation doesn't 0:41:59.680 --> 0:42:02.160 have to it better for you to see the glory 0:42:02.200 --> 0:42:05.240 of God. I'm telling you what I know. If everything 0:42:05.360 --> 0:42:09.520 goes worse, if everything gets crazy, if everything rises up 0:42:09.560 --> 0:42:13.280 against you, God is an army. God is a second circle. 0:42:13.520 --> 0:42:16.080 God is an ever present help in the time of trouble. 0:42:20.800 --> 0:42:23.960 And if your life is built on the foundation of 0:42:24.200 --> 0:42:27.160 His word, there is no wind that can rage against you, 0:42:28.880 --> 0:42:29.360 that can. 0:42:29.239 --> 0:42:29.879 Shake it off. 0:42:32.080 --> 0:42:37.480 Because I'm not walking on water, and I'm not watching 0:42:37.520 --> 0:42:43.760 the win. I love how the Old Testament prophet Elijah 0:42:43.840 --> 0:42:46.480 he went up on this mountain and there had been 0:42:46.520 --> 0:42:49.640 a drought in the land for like three and a 0:42:49.680 --> 0:42:53.040 half years, and he heard something. 0:42:54.320 --> 0:42:59.200 He heard the sound of the abundance of rain. He 0:42:59.200 --> 0:42:59.560 heard a. 0:42:59.480 --> 0:43:04.120 Prophetic indication that God was about to sin blessing on 0:43:04.160 --> 0:43:07.960 the land again. So he did something that looked weird, 0:43:09.360 --> 0:43:13.320 is that he put his head in a prayer posture 0:43:14.000 --> 0:43:17.680 by his knees, and he sent his servant to go 0:43:17.719 --> 0:43:20.359 look to check and see if there was anything at 0:43:20.360 --> 0:43:24.600 the sky. Now, when I read that passage, I thought, 0:43:26.000 --> 0:43:30.880 how at that point, if Elijah had looked at the weather, 0:43:32.160 --> 0:43:36.080 if he would have looked at the surface of his situation, 0:43:36.640 --> 0:43:38.880 or if he would have consulted. 0:43:38.440 --> 0:43:41.640 What he felt or what he saw, he would have 0:43:41.719 --> 0:43:42.400 lost his faith. 0:43:43.680 --> 0:43:46.280 And that's why he knew. You can't watch the weather. 0:43:48.400 --> 0:43:50.440 You can't spend all this time in your life. 0:43:50.640 --> 0:43:53.920 Look, man, the reason that you're stressed out might be 0:43:54.120 --> 0:43:54.760 over stuff. 0:43:55.000 --> 0:43:59.400 That is a hypothetical scenario that the enemy suggested to 0:43:59.480 --> 0:44:02.719 try to get you off track, because he knows if 0:44:02.719 --> 0:44:06.160 you walk on this word, no wind is strong enough 0:44:06.200 --> 0:44:14.440 to knock you off your balance. You're in a situation 0:44:14.600 --> 0:44:19.600 right now and it's wind versus word, and the one 0:44:19.600 --> 0:44:22.160 that is going to win is going to be the 0:44:22.200 --> 0:44:26.520 one that you focus on. I agree, And you can't 0:44:26.520 --> 0:44:28.359 afford to be doing like this to see if it's 0:44:28.360 --> 0:44:31.319 okay to serve God. Look, I can give you, I 0:44:31.360 --> 0:44:34.000 can give you ten reasons right now why you could 0:44:34.120 --> 0:44:36.440 question if God even exists. We could all do it. 0:44:37.440 --> 0:44:39.719 We see horrible things happen all the time. I could 0:44:39.719 --> 0:44:43.600 give you ten reasons. But see, I know that he 0:44:43.719 --> 0:44:49.160 is with me, and so I'm not collecting evidence to 0:44:49.200 --> 0:44:53.040 see if he's with me. I already know he's with me, 0:44:53.560 --> 0:44:56.920 because how would I have made it this far if 0:44:56.960 --> 0:44:57.640 he wasn't. 0:44:58.400 --> 0:45:02.040 How would I have life or great or grace. 0:45:04.400 --> 0:45:13.000 I know he is, and I just want us in 0:45:13.080 --> 0:45:14.960 this moment to be very sure. 0:45:17.040 --> 0:45:18.279 That if he has spoken at. 0:45:20.040 --> 0:45:22.640 That nothing you can see in your situation or nothing 0:45:22.640 --> 0:45:26.279 that you can see. Look, your eyes are tricky, your 0:45:26.280 --> 0:45:28.879 ears are tricky, Your senses are tricky. When he saw 0:45:28.960 --> 0:45:34.799 the wind, when he trusted his senses, he slipped. Your 0:45:34.800 --> 0:45:39.360 faith will always slip when you start consulting your feelings. 0:45:41.239 --> 0:45:46.520 It'll always slip. We just want to take a moment and. 0:45:46.440 --> 0:45:48.400 Do what the disciples did when they got back in 0:45:48.440 --> 0:45:48.799 the boat. 0:45:51.040 --> 0:45:52.839 Really interesting little phrase. 0:45:53.719 --> 0:45:56.880 That Matthew puts in the gospel that he says that 0:45:57.000 --> 0:46:01.200 after Peter sank and Jesus helped him back up. You know, 0:46:01.280 --> 0:46:05.919 Jesus is so gracious he doesn't hold him underwater for 0:46:06.400 --> 0:46:09.040 fifteen seconds, so he'll learn the lesson real good. 0:46:10.680 --> 0:46:12.319 You know that view of God that you grew up 0:46:12.360 --> 0:46:13.920 with that said that he was just looking for an 0:46:13.960 --> 0:46:16.799 opportunity to punish you. 0:46:16.880 --> 0:46:22.319 And nah, he was right there to catch him. Go 0:46:22.320 --> 0:46:25.200 go gadget arms or something like that. 0:46:25.200 --> 0:46:26.080 He could do anything. 0:46:28.120 --> 0:46:29.799 And when he asked him the question why did you 0:46:29.840 --> 0:46:33.480 doubt Verse thirty one, the answer was the wind. He 0:46:33.560 --> 0:46:38.000 doubted because he lost focus. And focus is about what 0:46:38.040 --> 0:46:41.800 you choose to look at. It doesn't make anything go away. 0:46:41.880 --> 0:46:45.840 It just redirects your attention to what you need to 0:46:45.840 --> 0:46:47.839 be thinking about, what you need to be looking at, 0:46:47.880 --> 0:46:51.360 what you need to be considering. So when they climbed 0:46:51.400 --> 0:46:57.640 into the boat, the wind died down. The wind die 0:46:57.719 --> 0:47:02.640 down so that the miracle could happen. In fact, the 0:47:02.719 --> 0:47:06.200 wind was against them to prove that God's word was 0:47:06.280 --> 0:47:11.440 greater than the wind. So let's just take a moment 0:47:11.520 --> 0:47:13.040 right now and clap our hands. 0:47:14.719 --> 0:47:16.360 That the wind may be against me. 0:47:18.239 --> 0:47:19.839 Come on, I'm gonna need you to stand up and 0:47:19.840 --> 0:47:23.040 worship for a moment, to get back in the boat 0:47:23.120 --> 0:47:26.600 and worship him. 0:47:25.239 --> 0:47:36.279 That he is God in this storm, by yours strives, 0:47:37.280 --> 0:47:38.239 I am he. 0:47:39.880 --> 0:47:47.760 With one s us I made you have. That's the word. 0:47:48.080 --> 0:47:49.000 In the honor. 0:47:54.280 --> 0:47:57.000 You've been in a storm. Lift your hands in this 0:47:59.280 --> 0:48:14.080 here fees in you. You have spoke, Hona bad is so. 0:48:18.840 --> 0:48:25.440 By your strikes f we wanted. 0:48:26.920 --> 0:48:28.359 I am made all. 0:48:30.080 --> 0:48:36.640 You have spoke in the honor bady is so. 0:48:40.719 --> 0:48:41.560 And in this. 0:48:43.880 --> 0:48:44.840 You have be. 0:48:46.880 --> 0:48:47.640 And you're. 0:48:49.000 --> 0:48:49.239 All. 0:48:49.560 --> 0:48:50.480 Let me go. 0:48:52.320 --> 0:48:58.759 You have spoke Ina bad is so. 0:48:59.600 --> 0:49:01.400 I want to pray in this moment with your head 0:49:01.440 --> 0:49:04.719 bow and your eyes closed for those of you who 0:49:04.760 --> 0:49:06.360 have been working against the wind. 0:49:07.600 --> 0:49:10.279 I understand that the nature of life is that all 0:49:10.280 --> 0:49:11.440 of us will. 0:49:11.239 --> 0:49:13.799 Face challenges in any twenty four hour period, and so 0:49:13.840 --> 0:49:16.520 it kind of depends on when we catch you. But 0:49:16.560 --> 0:49:18.680 what I mean is that you've been in a season where, 0:49:18.680 --> 0:49:22.680 like Solomon says, you've been watching the wind instead of 0:49:22.719 --> 0:49:26.080 remembering the word of God. And focusing on the things 0:49:26.120 --> 0:49:28.160 that He's placed in your life to help you. You've 0:49:28.160 --> 0:49:32.000 been thinking about things that didn't happen or might happen, 0:49:32.040 --> 0:49:34.279 and it's just got you watching the wind. I want 0:49:34.280 --> 0:49:37.560 to pray for you right now, fathering the name of Jesus, 0:49:38.000 --> 0:49:41.600 I lift up every wind watcher to you, because we're 0:49:41.640 --> 0:49:44.880 meant to be word walkers, not wind watchers, and we 0:49:44.920 --> 0:49:47.400 are meant to believe something deeper than what our eyes 0:49:47.480 --> 0:49:50.319 can see. And so I pray today that as this 0:49:50.440 --> 0:49:53.000 word that you gave me in my own personal time 0:49:53.040 --> 0:49:56.320 with you has gone forth to them, that they received 0:49:56.320 --> 0:49:59.080 it on the level that they needed it, That they 0:49:59.160 --> 0:50:01.759 received the world that they needed to walk on in 0:50:01.800 --> 0:50:04.359 the coming week. And they might just have to walk 0:50:04.400 --> 0:50:06.480 on it one moment at a time, one step at 0:50:06.480 --> 0:50:08.920 a time, one moment at a time, because I can't 0:50:08.960 --> 0:50:12.520 see and because I can't feel. But I'm walking on 0:50:12.560 --> 0:50:16.160 the word of God. And so I will survive because 0:50:16.200 --> 0:50:19.160 he gave me his word. And I will make it 0:50:19.560 --> 0:50:22.600 because he gave me his word. And I will do 0:50:22.719 --> 0:50:25.800 it because God is not a liar, and I will 0:50:25.840 --> 0:50:28.719 see it on the other side because the God I 0:50:28.920 --> 0:50:32.760 served has never failed. Come on Let's lift our voices 0:50:32.840 --> 0:50:38.000 in praise and worship and thanksgiving that He is God, 0:50:38.600 --> 0:50:41.560 that he is Lord over every storm. 0:50:41.840 --> 0:50:45.400 Come on, Let's give him worship. Give him worship. Albouff 0:50:45.440 --> 0:50:47.200 of wind, give him worship. 0:50:47.200 --> 0:50:49.680 Abouf of warfare, give him worship. 0:50:53.080 --> 0:50:54.200 Thank you for joining us. 0:50:54.480 --> 0:50:56.960 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:50:57.040 --> 0:51:00.520 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:51:00.960 --> 0:51:03.520 You can click the link in the description to give now, 0:51:04.040 --> 0:51:07.920 or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information 0:51:08.440 --> 0:51:11.080 and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:51:11.480 --> 0:51:12.800 You can share it with your friends. 0:51:13.120 --> 0:51:15.400 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:51:15.440 --> 0:51:17.560 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:51:17.560 --> 0:51:25.120 Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.