I'm Still Scared

forsake not the assembly of ourselves together. And it's a difficult time to do that. But you know, when that Bible verse was written, they were being persecuted for their faith, cast out of their community. And so I'm just so grateful that we live in a time where God has enabled us to share the message with you. And I'm excited. I'm excited to share God's word today, honestly, sincerely, not in that preacher kind of way. Oh, I'm excited to

share the you know, not in a formal way. I really really have something today that I want to share with you, and I pray that God would enable me to speak it. Of course, I want to do a few shout outs real quick before we transition. If I would have known we were going to break it down like that, I wouldn't have worn this flannel it is. I'm starting to sweat up your praise the Lord. Where are you coming from today? I know church is coming to you. You aren't coming to church today, but church

is coming to you. Somebody, tell me where you're watching from today? Okay, I see somebody from northeast Pennsylvania. Tell me your name, your first name, or what your friends call you, because we're going to be friends, all right, we be friends. And tell me where you're watching from, your first name or your nickname if it's appropriate, and where you're watching from. And if it's hard to say, give me a pronunciation God, because I'm really bad at that.

I'm trying to get through this, but it's coming really fast. I see Hong Kong, Jamaica, the UK, Boston, India, London. Even if you're watching this later, put it in the comments because I'll go through and read all of them, and when i'm bored, it'll give me something to pray for. I can pray for you, I can look at your name and pray for you. And I know where you're from, that'd be cool. Michigan, Oklahoma, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Romania.

You know this always amazes me. Brazil, Dubai, Jeremy, Jeremy Jeremy. Isn't that a pearl Jen song? Let's see we got Todd from Orlando. Heybody, do me a favor. I want you to say Happy birthday to Chunks. Corbin. He goes by Chunks and he's not overweight. That's the thing about it. He's really He turned forty three today. He was walking around like he's in seventy seven, though he said it's mohoo flexer. But everybody say Happy birthday, Chunks because it's

holly Amy and Chunks are out here. Of course, we don't have a lot of people here. I think it's responsible for us to have as few people as possible. But I just want to put some people that I loved in the room, just to remember that we're not alone. So Happy birthday, Chunks. They're saying it from all over the world. I wish you could see it. Wow, this is more people than lived in Fernandina Beach where you grew up, just saying happy birthday. Are you watching it?

Happy Birthday? Man, Come on, I'm not going to sing it to you. Chunks. You still got joy even though you got an aching back and aching knees, torn rotator cuff. But you still got joy because the world didn't give it. What kind of joy? Oh, that's Bible joy, Chris, Yes, joy, not like endorphins, but joy. That kind of joy, joyous joy. I still got joys, full of joy, joy speaking full of Lord Joy. Father, we thank you for your love. We thank you for your mercy, the things that can't

be changed and will never be taken away. I pray for all of these who are gathered today, just even closer than if they were in the building. Lord, I thank you that the voice of your word is reaching right now to all of these men and women, Desiree and Ronda and Sean and Belinda and Bill and Dennis and Shelley in Singapore and in Canada. I thank you that your joy is reaching right now. We will rejoice you and boast in you and trust in you in

this time in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if you're allowed to hug the person that you're with, go ahead and give them a big hog, and let's get into the word of God. Thank you Jesus. Wow. Hey, I'm still getting used to this. This is still very new to me, like preaching to just empty seats. But it's kind of cool because obviously there's more people running cameras today than

when I started preaching. And one cool thing about going through something that feels new is it makes you access something that you may have started to take for granted, like little things. You know, you find yourself grateful for little things. And you know, there's probably a lot of us who are getting in touch with some things inside of ourselves during this time, more, maybe more than we want.

Is like, oh, I just don't want to be alone with myself, and I'm kind of I'm kind of cool with not having to be around too many people right now. And I don't say that in a flippant way. I know that it's a very serious situation in our world. But I was telling my friend the other day, I've been I've been trying to find a way to stop hugging people for a couple of years. I don't like

I don't like hugging anymore. I used to like hugging, and now only like the hug people with the last name Verdict and so I've been looking for a way out for years, so that part kind of suits me. And but of course one of the things that you really have to get used to is the contrast. Like

this right here is a contrast. When I preached last week and I came off of the stage because remember, like, there's nobody out here, So I'm just looking at empty seats and I have a screen with YouTube comments that's scrolling from A Penny and South Africa and Cape Town and Derek from South Carolina. And while all this is happening, you know, I'm just preaching to I'm not saying you're nobody, but it's not that many people out here. Of course, Holly's out here, and one Holly is worth a million

other people. And so I'm just working on my afternoon quarantine plans right now, starting early. But you know, aside from just having our amazing worship team and what a beautiful time that was in God's presence, today, I'm not

seeing anyone. So when I got off the stage last week, in a way it was disorienting because one of our staff members was asking me, what did that feel like, and I said, it felt weird, But in a way it felt familiar because you know, when I started preaching, I would preach like there would be three kids, three seventh grade kids. You know, this is how I started. And I would just come out and preach, but I would try to preach like it was a Billy g crusade.

And me and Chris grew up in small towns about two hours apart, and we used to play music. We both had bands, and we would play music at Christian clubs. Let me tell you what that's that's a real paradox, right there a Christian club and we played at one. I don't remember what it was called Psalm one fifty or ps one fifty or something like that. It was named after some Bible verse. And but there'd be three people, five people, ten people was a ten people was a stadium,

you know. So for me, it's like it's kind of getting back to my roots because I'm used to having to close my eyes to see. You know, when I used to preach, the kids would be like not paying attention and probably because I wasn't interesting, but I would have to close my eyes and just pretend, or maybe it was something different than pretending. Maybe I was just closing my eyes in order to have a perspective that didn't come from what I saw with my natural eye.

And so last week it was kind of cool because I was preaching and I was picturing people just gathered together and need a word from God and need encouragement.

And I was picturing people that normally may not come to church, but they need something for their soul during this time, and there's very little other options for entertainment, so here they come over, and I'll be picturing people that maybe they've been drinking too much to numb the anxiety, or maybe they've been fighting a lot in the house, or maybe they've been lonely all by themselves. So I'm

preaching kind of to an empty room. But when I walked off the stage, my staff member said to me, what did it feel like to preach to the most people you've ever preached to in your life? I said, I didn't know I was doing it. He said yeah. He said, the equivalent of who was on just at that live service and this was just the first one on Sunday. It was the equivalent of Bank of America

Stadium where the Panthers played. And he said, there were so many people on that stream that it was actually spectrum, which is where I went to see you too. That spectrum was the overflow room. That's how many people I was preaching to. And what I thought was weird was the contrast between what I was seeing with my eyes and what God was doing on the other side of

the screen. And what hit me about it, and what I want to share with you about today a little bit, is that God was doing the most when I was seeing the least. And I want to bring a word to you today about how sometimes when we see the least, God does the most, even when I don't see it. What were they sing in earlier? You're working even when I don't feel it. You're working. No offense to Brother Leland. I love his bridge that he put on the song, but I would even I would even put a put a,

especially when I don't see it. You're working, especially doesn't sing as good, especially when I don't precious stay with even, but especially in those moments when I see the least, feel the least, watch this, know the least, understand the least. These are the spaces that God creates for revelation of who he is. How would I know He's a waymaker? If I never needed a way made. How would I know he's a provider if I never had a need. How would I know that he was resurrection if I

never experienced that. So we speak this word of the Lord to you today, and I want to come from a passage of scripture that I shared with our leaders on Friday night. We had a gathering of just under five thousand of our leaders just to encourage and strengthen the church, and I was sharing along the lines of your position for a miracle, and I'd love for you to put that into chat. I mentioned it last week, I'm positioned for a miracle, and then just put where

you're coming from. You know, if it's I see Wallyburg, North Carolina. I never heard of Wallyburg, North Carolina. I'm learning all kinds of stuff right now. I didn't know there was a Wallybirg. But God is positioning me. Say I'm positioned for a miracle, and that means that we have to learn how to see in our spirit what we cannot sense. And this is such an important skill that I want to devote my whole sermon to it today.

Let me read you this story may be familiar to you, maybe not, but just to jump right in the middle of it. In tewod Kings, chapter six, verse fifteen, the book says, 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. Now what he said next is something a lot of us have been saying. Maybe we've been using different words, maybe

we've been using stronger language. But he said, oh no, my lord, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. How many of young moms when you heard how long they were canceling in school? Oh no, no, no, no, how many of y'all when you met with your financial advisor or clicked on your account, Oh no, oh no, I wish I'll put that in the chat with a bunch of o's, just say, oh no, I mean just

as many o's as your thumb can tie. And we feel that way, you know, especially if we're if we're worried about symptoms, or if we're struggling in an emotional way. Oh no, And I love how that's right there in the Bible. His first response, he's a servant of the Man of God, right, But his first response wasn't praise God. His first response was, oh no, and we want to pretend to be real spiritual. You know, I see all your prayer emojis, but you've been having some other emojis too.

You need to find that little devil emoji because really, you know what happened to the servant in the passage. And let me just take a moment to set this up. You got anything else to do, I don't have anything else to do. We may as well just hang out for a little while. But he woke up to a different world than the one he went to sleep in.

He woke up to a different world than the one he went to sleep in, and he said, oh no. Now, if you've ever woken up to a different world then the one you went to sleep in, you'll understand that it creates an impulse. Some people call it fear. I

just call it humanity. It's just like, oh, oh yeah, if you ever lost somebody, if they ever left your life suddenly, whether they died or just went away, and you woke up to a different world that didn't have them in it, Like maybe you remember the first time you woke up in a world without your dad. Maybe you remember the first time you woke up in a world without a steady job. Remember the first time you woke up in the world without you know, the NBA.

I remember when they started canceling everything a couple of weeks ago. And I say it not in a humorous way, but when things get canceled that you used to count on, it makes you question everything. And so whether it's something that we would say always entertainment or is this or it's that, it's just the feeling of like, oh no, and watch us question it gets even more specific, what shall we do? Okay? So that's where you find yourself today. I want to preach a message to you. What do

I do? What do I do? And the servant asked the question, and the prophet gives the answer. In verse sixteen. He says, don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, and we're going to get this prayer today, and we're really going to pray it for the next seven days until I see you again. In this format, we're going to pray this prayer over those that we love, and we're going to pray this prayer over ourselves. And here's

the prayer. I've been putting this on all my text messages because I've got business leaders in my church that are like, oh no, what do we do? I've got doctors in our church that are like, oh no, what are we doing? I don't have the answer. So this is the prayer. Okay, this is the prayer that I want us to pray right about now. Open his eyes, Lord that he may see, Open his eyes, Lord, that he may see. Somebody put in the chat, open my eyes,

put in the comments, Open my eyes. Those of y'all sitting on those stools behind me, say, open my eyes, Open his eyes so that he may see. Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And you know, I love that text so much. I love how God was protecting a servant. And I love how God was more powerful than the enemy. I love how no weapon formed against us shall prosper. I

love all of that. But sometimes when you're in a real situation or a circumstance, the cliches don't comfort you very much. I didn't know what to call this message. I don't know what we're going to call it when we put it online. We'll figure that out later. But I did flash back just reading this passage to the other night Abby, who is our nine year old. All of y'all who are part of the church, you kind of know my kids. I got a nine year old,

twelve year old, fourteen year old. But Abby is the most prone to come downstairs in the middle of the night and wake us upcause she got scared. And she came downstairs the other day and she's, you know, trembling about something, something fell over in the bathroom. And I wasn't quite asleep yet. If I had been totally asleep, I would have done the spiritual thing and said tell

your mom true story. But I still wasn't asleep, so I said, come here, baby, you know real good dad, And I said, get up on my chest and sit here. I said, what's wrong? She said, I'm scared, something fell over, something's in the bathroom. I said, maybe nothing in the bathroom. And besides, even if it is, you're here with me now. I said, I feel this, and she gave me a

little squeeze. Because we have this game. We played the Squishy Wall, the Brickie Wall, the squishy wall, the BRICKI wall, squishy, squishy, squishy wall, bricky, bricky, bricky wall. I said, feel a bricky wall. And so she sat her life a little bit. And she's still crying though, and I said, uh, there's nothing in your bathroom, and even if there is, you're with me now. She said, I'm still scared. I love kids.

I'm gonna call this message for just a minute. I'm still scared because you know, while it's easy to quote scriptures like don't be afraid, let's look at it for a moment and take a perspective, because you know, we're having a hard time even dealing with just a virus right now. But this is not an invisible virus. This is horses and chariots that came to get the Man of God in Dothan. This is like I went to sleep. We were good. I woke up, we were surrounded. I

went to sleep. I had a job. I woke up. I didn't. I went to sleep and things were well. I woke up to a different world. And he asked him a question. And it's a reasonable question, right. This is the man of God, this is the preacher, this is the guy who speaks and God provides. This is the guy who speaks in God's supplies. So he asked the question to the right person. He says, what do we do? Now? Watch the answer that the Man of God gives Elisha. He says, don't be afraid. Well, that's cute,

appreciate it. Thanks a lot. You know how people give you advice that makes you want to slap him. Well, I hadn't thought of that, And it's just it's this is the time for well meaning Christians to shut up a little bit. You know, Oh, well you lost your job. God will provide. That's fine in certain context. But sometimes, and I want you to see how Elisha does this. Sometimes it's more important what we don't do than what we do do. That didn't come out exactly right, but

you know what I was trying to say. Sometimes sometimes what I don't what I won't do in a season where I'm uncertain, is even more important than what I do. Because let's follow the text, and I really want to take our time. We don't have another service coming in, so we could just we could just do this right, put it back up. He said, what shall we do? And then the prophet said, don't and this, so go out to fifteen what shall we do? And the prophet said don't? And the man said what shall we do?

And the prophet said don't. So I ask you a question, what won't you do in a time where so many are desperate and and we're all kind of fearful, and we all feel scared. If you're not scared right now, I'm scared of you. If you're not scared right now, you are some kind of evil cyborg robi come to destroy the planet, And I want you quarantined, okay, because to have flesh means to feel fear. So while he's wondering what does this new world that I woke up

to mean? And what do we do, the prophet starts by saying don't. Don't. So maybe for you it goes like this, Right now, I won't lash out at the people closest to me because of the fear that I feel about what's going on outside of me. Maybe it's like that, what won't you do? What a question? Right? What do we do? Well, the first thing you've got to do is decide what you won't do. So I won't just make you know irrational stories up in my mind.

I won't spend three hours reading conspiracy theories on Twitter and then ask the Lord. Now I let me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. You gave your soul away that day. So what I won't do, what I won't do is spend time in the hypothetical. What I won't do, what won't you do? I would have been annoyed with the prophet. I'm just being honest, you knowing, what do we do? What's the plan? Man? What is you gonna do? Fight them? There's so many

of them. It's just me and you, and by this time, my life's just kind of old. You know, you can't fight, so it's just meat versus all of them. What do we do? What's the plan? What's the what's the strat, what's the What do we do? What's the deal? What do we do? What to do? All? Right? Don't be afraid and not working for me? Right now? How do I do that? How do I don't be afraid? I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid.

I'm not afraid. Still scared, she said, I'm still scared. I know you're with me. I'm still scared. There's still something in my bedroom. I'm still nine, I'm still weak, I still got bills, I'm still got to show up at the grocery store and work. I still got a relative who's eighty four years old who's starting to cough, and I wonder will I get to see her again. I'm still scared. So why does he say, don't be afraid? Okay, I want to teach you a little bit. It's almost

impossible to be strategic when you're scared. And so the first thing we have to do as people of faith. And I use that term not to mean as optimists or people who believe in fairy tales, or people who float on clouds of cotton candy through the burning seas of sulfur and suffering in this world because we know Jesus. I don't mean that kind of faith. I don't mean formulate faith. I don't mean the the answer kind of faith. I mean the better question kind of faith. What do

we do? Okay, well, what do we don't? We don't give way to despair? Right? What good would that do? We don't? We don't. I know another thing we don't do. We don't minimize the sufferings of others. We don't do that. And how about this, y'all talk to me out there. We don't compare what somebody else is going through with what we're going through. And we don't start running around just saying dumb stuff. You know what we don't do. We don't get on YouTube and comment how this is

God's judgment. We don't speak about things that we don't know. That's above our pay grade. It's the judgment of God. What And somebody's mother died and you want to be some kind of closet theologian, some kind of armchair rookie, amateur theologian. Keep your day job. God is God, so I'm not gonna try to be God. That's his job. You remember Holly's story that she preached one time. She

told about these boys that were fighting. This is a good quarantine story, all right, for all of y'all that's got real kids that don't have you know, halo's and harps and all that. And they fight sometimes even though you pray for him, they fight sometimes. They were fighting two brothers and if I mess it up, you can you can fix it for me. And the mom said, what are y'all fighting about, and one of them had a sandwich and wouldn't cut it in half and share it,

and she said, y'all need to share. Be like Jesus. Jesus would share. And the boy that had the sandwich looked at it and he took a bite out of it and said, you be Jesus, you can share. I'm gonna take a bite. But when my wife preached that message, her message was let God be God. Let God be God. You be Jesus, you be humble, you be trusting. Jesus had a nevertheless attitude toward his relationship with his father. He was like, I don't want to go to the cross.

I don't want to drink this cup. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. So you be Jesus. But what I won't do in this situation is just as important as what I will do. So the Holy Spirit is on that statement right now. Reflect on it. What won't you do? What were we gonna do? What won't you do? I won't live in fear. I may feel fear, I won't live in it. I may experience sensations of fear. I felt my breath getting short the other day before I stood up to preach. Somebody asked me, how long

were you preaching before you stopped feeling scared. I said, I'm still scared every time I preach. I was shaken before I came out here today. Now I know how to control my shake so you don't see it, but my hands still shaking when they're in my pockets. I mean this important to me. Somebody is discouraged, depressed, somebody's on the on the edge, and I get to preach the word like that's important to me. I don't. I don't want to be the weak link of what God

wants to give to you. I don't want to come out here and miss the mark of what God wants to say. I'm still scared, but it doesn't have to stop me. So what I'm saying is not that I won't feel fear, not that I won't have questions, not that I won't Sometimes in my mind, when I'm praying prayers, I'm praying prayers that really don't even sound like prayers. I'm praying prayers like oh crap, I'm praying prayers like please God. I'm praying prayers. I'm not walking around the

house all the time with my hands lifted. But I won't stop worshiping. I won't stop praising. Put it in the chat. I won't stop. I won't stop. I won't That's what I won't do. I won't stop. I won't back down. I will not give in. I will not surrender. I will not give away my joy. I will not give away my peace. My peace was purchased with the blood of Christ. It's too expensive. You can't have it. It's too valuable. It's the only treasure I've got. It's the only thing that moths can't eat up and that

thieves can steal. I might be scared, but I'm still gonna stand on the word of the Lord. I won't bow to your statue, nebukanesser, I won't bow. Put me in a fire. If you have to put me, tie up my hands and throw me in a furnace. This is shad wrack, Mishak and Abed and Ago. They said, the God that we serve is able to deliver us, and we know that he will. But even if somebody say, even if even if he doesn't, I will not bow.

And the only thing the fire what's gonna do is burn off what you tied me up with God said, I'm setting you free in this season. I'm gonna use the fire to set you free. I'm gonna set you free from addiction. I'm gonna set you free from bad priorities. I'm gonna set you free from distractions. So that's what the man said. He said, don't be afraid. You can feel fear. It can ride in the car, but it can't drive. I can't wait to hear testimonies on this

message because you have been letting that joker drive. You have been letting you have been letting that crook, that robber, that thief, that devil have your life and your peace and your joy. And so he said, here's what we're not gonna do. He said, don't be afraid. Now who says it is just as important as what it said. How many will agree. So if my fourteen year old says to me, don't worry, dad, God's got this, I'm like, eh. When my mom says it, it has more weight because

of who said it. So Elisha's ministry, you have to remember, was a prophetic ministry. Was a prophetic ministry. It's not about telling the future. It's about seeing. It's about seeing. It's about seeing the invisible. Would you agree with me that one of the lessons God is trying to get

us to learn right now. I'm sure there are many lessons that will understand because of what we're going through as a society, But would you agree with me that one of the lessons he's trying to get us to learn is that sometimes what we can't see is more important than what we can see. I mean, just even thinking about it, Like how I stood on the stage last week and preached, and what was happening on the

other side of what I could see was significant. And at the same time, the entire economy is rocking and reeling because of an invisible virus. And so the Bible started to get real to me when I thought about, you know, scriptures that used to sound good, but now they make more sense. We wrestle not against flesh and blood,

but against spiritual wickedness, principalities, rulers. What he's trying to say is that, like what we're fighting, that we can see has to first be approached to the level that we can't see. And God is trying to show us some things today because watch this. Not only does he tell him, don't be afraid. And this is not coming from a man who has never had to face fear before. This is coming from a prophet who had to walk

into a widow's house. If you want to do a Bible study this week, you know, if you just get tired of what's that show that everybody on my staff is watching with the tigers, Tiger King. If you get tired of Tiger King, I'm gonna be looking for a Netflix sponsorship check out of this. But if you get tired of watching that, read Second King's four or Elisha.

This is the same guy that said don't be afraid to the servant when they were surrounded by the armies of Aaron, who came to lock him up because of what he could see. He had to walk into a woman's house who said, I'm about to go into debt. My husband is dead, I have nothing to pay it with, and I have nothing in my house at all except a little oil. Now, this prophet Elisha, had the ability to see in a little bit what the woman could not see because she was looking through a different lens.

A lot of us have thought of faith as being this way that we manipulate God. But now we find ourselves in a season where we can't control almost anything. We can't control what's open and what's closed. We can't control at some level what happens in foreign markets that affects us at home, what happens in foreign places. So in the season of what we can't control, we have to read the fine faith right, Because I thought I

thought faith was like a lever. Picture this, and like when we pull the lever, you know, have faith, give him a phrase, give him a praise. You know when praises go up, blessings come down. It's like transactional, right, It's like jack pot Jesus. It's like yes, Lord, you know, like I'm gonna pray, my kid's gonna make straight a's I'm gonna pray, and I say, I'm gonna stop my headache's gonna go away. I'm gonna pray and pray. But see, faith is not a lever. Faith is a lens, a

way of seeing your situation. And sometimes faith changes the situation. Sometimes faith changes the way you see the situation. Sometimes God changes it, sometimes he changes me. But either way, even when I don't see it, even when I don't feel it, come on, you're supposed to say to line, y'all are the worship team after all, especially when I don't see it, even when I don't feel it, especially when I don't feel it, and when I don't know

what do I do. Don't be afraid. So what the prophet told the woman in Second Kings four is what he's practicing in Second King six. Some of us are getting to put into practice for ourselves what we preach to others. We preach about peace, we preach about God's power. Now we get to prove that what God showed us in the light is true in the darkness, that what God showed us on the mountain is true in the valley, That what God showed us the night before is still

true the next morning. And when that woman went around to her neighbors and she got all these jars right, and the oil started flowing, and the only limitation to what God could provide was her capacity to receive it. And that's still true. And so now Elisha knows that if this man's heart is filled with fear, he can't operate in faith because you can't be you can't be strategic when you're scared. And so that's why it's so important what He says next that we have a perspective.

Put that in the chat perspective. This is a prayer for perspective. This is a prayer for perspective. I put it on Instagram the other day because the Lord told me that tewod King six seventeen is a prayer for perspective. Watch this. The servant was asking for protection. What do we do? God gave him perspective. What do you see? What do I do? Starts with what do you see? And if the enemy can keep you from seeing, if he can keep you from seeing them the blessings, he

can keep you stuck in a place of brokenness. If he can and keep you from seeing the advantages or the opportunities, he can keep you running. That's That's a very important thing. Is that when you're when your vision of who God is is obscured by what you're going through, something very small can block out something much bigger. Can I stay here a minute? Like you're gonna say no, something very small can block out something much bigger. How

could I illustrate this? I'm gonna try to illustrate this real quick. I know y'all aren't prepared for this. So for just a minute freaking out the camera people. But something very small. This is very small, but you're what you're supposed to see you can't see. Pray for me, y'all. Yeah, something very small. This is very small, right, it's very small. Something very small can block out something much bigger. Now you can't see anything that's supposed to be seen something

very small. Maybe it's no coincidence that I'm using this iPhone that's got some of y'all with stomach ulcers because you won't come off of it and see what's right around you, or you won't use that Bible. Laugh. You got that other app open? What's it called Insta Insta What huh? Insta insta instat It's not Instagram right now, it's like Insta gross. It's like it just makes me feel if I stay on it too long. It's just like I'm in an alternate reality and now I can't

see what is invisible. Something small can block out something bigger. Okay, is that camera on, y'all? We didn't plan any of this, So pray for your preacher right now. Pray for the cameraman. I'm still six feet apart. By the way, I want you all to know that. But I'm just showing you

this illustration how something small. And this is what First King's nineteen says about it, that eli Jah, who was the great Man of God, who taught Elisha in Second King six everything that he knows, because as this is nothing new, because the same God that delivered me from the Paul the Lion and the Paul the Bear will

deliver me from this uncircumcised philistine too. The only reason Elisha knew what to see in the situation that he'd never been in before, he had followed the great Man of God, Elijah, the prophet, the one who called down fire on Mount Carmel. Remember that Bible story Sean. I mean, he said, if God is God, serve him. If Bail is God, serve him. Choose this day who you will serve. And God answered by fire eight hundred and fifty false prophets,

the prophets of Astrara had to bow their knee. And then when Elijah got done with that miracle, he went up on a mountain and prayed, Now, listen to this about perspective. From a perspective, he said, I hear the sound of the abundance of rain. I hear something that I can't see. I know something that I can't see. And when a servant went to check the sky, he said, I know you said you heard something, but there's nothing there. And Elijah said to a servant, what we need to

say to our soul. Go back and look again, Go back and look again. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice. I will say it again. Rejoice. Say it again. Say it again, Say it again, Check it again, look again, go again, look again. Say it again. Say it again. In the chap say it again. In the comments, say it again. Say it again. Say it again. God is good. Say it again. The Lord is my shepherd. Say it again. God is with me. Say it again. He has not left me. Say it again. I've never

seen the righteous forsaken. Say it again. He is the bread of life. Say it again. He's a waymaker. Say it again. He's a miracle worker. And when he checked the seventh time, he saw something very small, a cloud the size of a man's hand, something so small. Three and a half years of drought came to an end. Because it's something very small. But you know what's weird. When jezebel Ahab's wife, AaB was the wicked king. Jezebel

was the one really running the show. One preacher said, the last decision Ahab ever made was I do because after that Jezebel took over and she would kill the prophet. She was much more ruthless than Ahab was. But when Jezebel heard what Elijah had done, she said, we'll put it up there on the screen one King's nineteen. She sent a messenger to Elijah to say, may the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely. If by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like

one of them, I'm gonna kill you. But she couldn't. She couldn't. There's certain things the devil can't do to you. But if he can get you to believe that, he doesn't even have to do it. If he can get you to get so blocked by something small, are you on this camera? Go back to this camera something? How could something so small? Look what Elijah, the Great Man of God did in verse three. So Elijah was afraid.

He was afraid, so he fled and he ran, and he ran and he ran because Jezebel couldn't kill him. So since she couldn't kill him, all she could do was convince him. And so I believe this message is prophetic, not pathetic, prophetic in the sense that you are allowing something small to block out something bigger. And I promise you right now, God's calling is bigger than any crisis. Trust me on that and read your Bible if you don't believe me. That's how I can go through it,

because I know that God's calling is bigger. And so why would I let something small block out something big? When he hung the stars and name them, why would I refuse to lift my eyes to the hills when I know where my help comes from. So there is something bigger, there is something greater. There is something other on the other side of this. I wonder what's on the other side of this that is so big that the enemy sent a storm to disrupt your peace, to destroy your joy. God is with us in this place

right now. Do you feel that? And so the prophet said, those who are with us are more than those who are with him. He must have went to public school. This dude is bad and mad. Elijah is bad and mad. And the servant is like, huh, because he's counting right, He's like those with us or more than those with them, all right, so one, two, and then he starts counting enemy one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, nine, twelve because I know somebody sitting there listening, Well, preacher, this

is this is this is cool, this is neat. But have you seen the news. I'm like, but yeah, I saw it. I see the statistics. But what good is it going to do for me to be afraid? Like I want to be aware, but there's a fine line between aware and afraid. And let me just say this and we can edit it out if it's too strong. I think it's dangerous when we start watching a death count on a ticker like it's a score in a baseball game, I think that kind of crosses a line.

I think it puts us in a state where we have made entertainment out of misery, and then we become addicted to being afraid and it kind of feels comfortable. It's like, oh, this is normal. You know. One of the reasons Elijah ran from Jezebel he was used to running. He had been hiding for three and a half years, so he did what came natural. And a lot of us when we get in a fierce state it's because

it feels familiar to us. This is like group therapy, isn't it to know that sometimes we feel more familiar in a state of fear than we do in a state of faith. And what the prophet gave him was a different way to do math. I wrote in my notes, I said, this is miracle math. Somebody put it in the comments, this is miracle math. Miracle math is like this, you're ready, there's more of us than them. Huh. Close your eyes and you'll see it. Because I'm not talking

about what you can see. I'm talking about what's more real than what you can see. Close your eyes and you'll see it. This is miracle math. It's a miracle math. It's like Gideon, you have too many men. Too many men. I'm going to fight a battle. That's exactly what I need is soldiers. No, you got too many because if you go in with this many men, you will think it was you that won the battle. So when he gets down to three hundred, God says, now go in

the strength that you have, Now go. It's miracle math. It's like Jesus, there's five thousand men and women and children. What do you have? Five loaves? Into fish. It's not enough, right, depends on whose calculator you're using. This is not Texas instruments. This is the Son of God. Put it in my hands once you got in your house. A little bit of oil, a little bit of time, a little bit of sanity, a little bit of praise. Just a weak Wi Fi connection, But I'm hooked up, hooked in to

the presence of God. And God is a multiplier, and God is enough, and God is with me. This is miracle math. How long has he been dead? Three days? That's just right, this miracle mad God said, do a recalculation. I thought I was out numbered, but I'm not. I thought it was over, but it's not. I thought it was done, but it's not. This is miracle math. Y'all say something in the chat while I button my shirt. Miracle math preaching so hard I snapped my button opened.

Oh well, that's all right, because the word of the Lord came to the servant and said, there's more with us than with them. And then here's the prayer. And I'm closing kind of. This is closing number one, closing number one lowercase eight. Look at this miracle math. Miracle math, how many praise God for this word, because we really need this in our life right now. We really need this in our life. He prayed. After he encouraged him, don't be afraid. Then he said, open my eye, eyes,

open my eyes. There's the prayer. And that's that's really not a physical statement. Right. His eyes were working just fine. That's why he was scared. He's like, my vision is twenty twenty, bro, I don't know what you're looking at. He's like, no, no no, no, no, no, open his eyes. Paul called it the eyes of your heart perspective. Now, when the servant looked again verse seventeen, and this is

the whole message. Okay, he opened his eyes after the Lord granted Elisha's request, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Now, let me tell you what's really wonderful about that verse is that when Elishah prayed, help did not come. Help was already there. So when Elisha prayed, your Goodness, when he prayed, open his eyes, Holli, so that he may see. The Lord only had to show him what was already there.

And we can pray for provision. And that's wonderful. We can pray for healing, and we should, and we really need to pray for everybody who's a nurse or a doctor, or a clerk, or a law enforcement officer, our first responders, like all of it. We need to pray for each other. But the thing we need to pray for more than anything else is perspective. We're coming into a time where what is invisible is more valuable than what is visible, when everything that can be shaken will be shaken, so

that that which cannot be shaken will remain. We're coming to a time where peace is more profitable than bitcoin. We're coming to a time where joy cannot rest on external circumstances. And when he looked, he saw the hills full of horses, they were already full. He just couldn't see it. He saw the hills full of chariots of fire. The fire was already burning. But you know what didn't happen when he prayed. And I don't know if you

want to hear this or not. And LJ, we're not going to be able to put a B three on this, but it's true and I need to say it. God did not answer Elisia's prayer by eliminating the enemy. Instead, he illuminated his presence. So faith is not a lever that I pull, God, make it stop. God is a lens. Faith is a lens that I look through to see that God has been there the whole time. He's with you right now. But I'm still scared. At you said,

I'm still scared, Then just stay with me. Just stay with me, and whatever is going on up there, whatever is going on out there, you need to stay with your Father right now. And you need to stay in faith right now. And the only way that we can really deal with fear, because if we stay in fear, and then we stay in frustration, and then we get stupid because you are not very strategic when you're scared. So don't be afraid. Watch this. The only way to

do that is to change the focus. To change the focus. Okay, the situation did not change in Second King six, The focus did. The only way I know to stop being afraid is to change what I'm focused on. And so I just need us right now to begin to ask the Lord to illuminate, not eliminate. God, take the fear away. It doesn't work like that. Oh God, give me all the answers, tell me the plan. I need the strategy. God said, before I give you the strategy, I want

to give you your sight and shine light on your situation. Lord, shine your light in our hearts, to show us who you are, not who we thought you were. Show us what it means to believe that you are able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask, or imagine. Just right now in the chat or in the comments, as a prayer, say open my eyes, open my eyes to see that there's more for me than against me. And you're like, pastor, that's really cute, but that cliche

is not very comforting. Right now I feel alone. I know you feel alone, but you're not alone. And even if you're alone physically, and even if you're trying to figure out how to provide for a lot of people right now, many of us are. I'm right there with you. The scripture says, if God is for you, who can be against you? So the math goes like this, Me and God is greater than anything. I face us and God,

the Church and God. We're not alone, like right now, we're together, right now, in this moment, together, right now, we're fighting together worshiping together, spreading the word of the Lord together. Right now, We've got more reasons to trust God than we do to doubt him. Come on, We've got more victories behind us then we do reasons to

fear in front of us. You hear me. We've got more reasons to be grateful right now than we do to be afraid right now, So come on in less, just with a perspective of praise, and with wide open eyes, and even with lifted hands. Come on, let your kids see you worshiping God. Let your kids see how you fight your battles. Let your kids see how you make it through a storm. Let a generation behold that we are that generation that will declare the works of the Lord.

And there are more for us than against us. He is a mighty God, a present help, a prophesy over your life. Today. You might be scared, but that doesn't stop the presence of the Lord. Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus. And he is doing the most when we feel it the least. And I come to you today in Jesus' name from Elevation Church to let you know you're not alone. You are not alone. God is with you, and we are with you, and you are not alone. But I'm still scared. But you're not alone. But I'm

still scared. But He's got you in the palm of his hand. How do you know that? How do you know he's got me? How can you say that? I say it by faith, not by feeling. And I thank God for his presence with us in this moment. If you receive this word right now, just say right there, I receive it. I receive it, I receive it, I receive it. I receive it by faith. I receive joy, peace, wisdom. Amen. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of

you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now, or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.