This Doesn't Fit (Dharius Daniels)

your dream, you go as far as your team. So come on, let's make some major noise for dream Teams in every location and online. Epham excited. I'm a part of the e fam because between my services, I'm pulling up on YouTube. But just incredibly excited to be here. I heard y'all talk back to the preacher at this church, so there's some on my heart I want to share. I want to read just a couple of verses of scripture from a story found in the Old Testament. It's

captured in a book called First Samuel. First Samuel seventeen, and I want to read just a couple of verses beginning at verse thirty nine, and I'm reading today from the new International version of the Scriptures, and this is what first Samuel seventeen, verse thirty nine says. It says David fastened on his sword over the tunic, and he tried walking around because he was not used to them. I cannot go in these, he said, Tasaul, because I'm

not used to them. So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag, and with his sling in his hand, he approached the philistine. I want to read verse forty if I can one more time. Verse thirty nine inns

with saying, so he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag, with his sling in his hand, and approach of the philistine. I think I'm gonna read that one more time. Verse thirty nine says, so he took off Saul's armor, And then verse five forty said, not only did he take off SAAL's armor, but then he took his staff in

his hand. He chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag, with his sling in his hand, and approach the philistine. I want to stop reading right there, and I want to tag a title to this text. I want to talk from this subject in our time together today. This doesn't fit, This doesn't fit. If you're excited about God's word, let's clap our hands wherever we are family. I want to start this sermon with a statement. It's a statement that

I think is extremely important, yet often overlooked. And here it is, how far you go and how much you grow? It's not just determined and by what you believe about God. It is equally impacted by what you believe about you. I'm gonna say that one more time. How far you go and how much you grow is not just determined by what you believe about God. It is equally impacted by what you believe about you. A sage named Solomon framed it this way in a book of the Bible

called Proverbs. Solomon says this, as a man or woman thinks in their heart, so is he notice now? Notice what Solomon did not say, He did not say, as a man, watch this or excuse me. As God thinks about a man or a woman, so is he, he says, as a as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. In other words, you will always behave in a way that is consistent with how you see yourself. Meaning there it is possible for there to be some inconsistency, some dissonance, a gap between what God thinks about you

and what you think about yourself. And what God is attempting to do on our journey of spiritual growth is aligned what He thinks about us with what we think about ourselves, so we can behave in a way that is consistent with what He thinks about us, and not just what we thinks about what we think about ourselves. And this may be the reason that God regularly and repeatedly and consistently all throughout scripture reminds us of who we are. When you really go from Old Testament to

New Testament, it seems a bit excessive. You will see God regularly and repeatedly telling you who you are, salt, light, royal, chosen, peculiar, beloved, special annointed head, not tail above only not beneath am I'm making sense. So if I am that, why does he have to keep telling me that? Because he knows who I am is my truth, that's his truth, but his truth and always my experience. So he says, that's who you are, that's truth, that's truth, that's what I know.

But it doesn't become what you experience until you believe it. If I'm making sense, say yes, and what I want us to see here? When we get this revelation, it should cause a revolution because when the enemy cannot change what you think about God, his next step is to try to change what you think about you. But I've got good news elevation. I said, I've got good news elevation. They would say it this way in the church I grew up in. The devil is a liar. Now, no,

this is what that means. It doesn't mean he just doesn't tell the truth. It means he can't tell the truth. Jesus said the truth is not even in him, which means whatever he is telling you about you can't be true. So instead of panicking based on what he's telling you about you, you ought to start praising based on what he's telling you about you. Because whatever he is telling you, the very opposite is true. And so if he's telling you you're not gonna make it, you're getting ready to

make it. If he's telling you you not coming out, you're getting ready to come out. If he's telling you it's over, it's just beginning. And I know, is there anybody online, anybody at the locations that will just pause and give God a praise? Because the devil is a liar. He's a liar, and one of the things he wants to lie to us about is our identity. There's this. Some embrace it, some don't. It's this principle of biblical interpretation.

We will call it a hermaeutic. It's called the law first mentioned, which means that that very often, specifically in the Book of Genesis, if you see something mentioned for the first time, that might be a picture or a pattern of how that thing's going to be seen throughout the thread of scripture. And when we see the enemy's interaction with the human species for the very first time, what did he try to create? He tried to create

an identity crisis when he is engaged watching this. Remember so, so whether this is literal, literal, or metaphorical, this is what's happening in the garden. There's a snake and why why is the snake significant in the garden. It's significant because you wouldn't be surprised to see a snake in one, because sometimes the devil shows up looking like he belongs. Right, So he's he's engaging in conversation with Eve, right and telling Adam and Eve listen, no, no no, no, it's okay,

you can you can eat that. You can eat that, And this is what he says. He says, he says, God knows if you eat that, you'll be like him. That's what he said, right, God knows if you eat that, you'll be like him. Well, you see this, this engagement happening in Genesis three. But you go all the way back to Genesis one, you'll see when God's having a conversation about creation. He says, let us make man in our image and likeness. So Satan tells Eve, god knows

if you eat that you'll be like him. But in Genesis one, when he created Adam and Eve, he created them in his image and likeness. They weren't God, but they were like God in some ways. So she's trying to become what she already is. Did you hear what I just said? I said, she's trying to become what she already is. Because what the enemy does is he can't take your worth, but he can't take your awareness of it. He can't take your value, but he can't take your vision. He can't take your gift, but he

can't take your grit. But I just believe I just feel something in this room and in your living room and that every location. I believe there are some people that are getting ready to make an exit and the exodus out of your identity crisis. And you're gonna start saying to yourself, I am who he says I am. I'm blessed, not cursed. I'm the head not to tell I'm above only not beneath. I'm not just a conqueror. We don't just barely conquer. I'm more than a conqueror.

I don't just survive. I thrive. Who am I preaching to today? And it's an identity crisis? And one of the ways he orchestrates this, man, I've seen this. I've been seeing this so much recently. One of the ways he orchestrates this is by infecting us. Infecting us watch this with inadequacy, can we just talk we family, y'all, my cousin, right, Okay, So this is I want to say this. Let's talk. The same enemy that orchestrates arrogance

is the same one that orchestrates inadequacy. But in a lot of our religious spaces, the emphasis is on arrogance. There is an obsession with arresting and addressing arrogance. Be humble, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and due season he will exalt you. That's important, that's necessary. It's not incorrect. But if that's all we address, is incomplete because in some ways the enemy is working attempting to

people to think too highly of themselves. But then in other ways the enemy is working causing people to think too low of themselves. And I am telling you that watch this, that inadequacy has assassinated just as many assignments as arrogance has. That the devil uses inadequacy just as much as he uses arrogance. As a matter of fact, very often, when we see people being called to do something significant in scripture, before they accept the assignment, God

has to talk them out of inadequacy. It's all throughout scripture. See, just because you aren't thinking low about yourself doesn't mean you're thinking right. He called Moses. Moses responds with inadequacy. He says, Moses, I'm gonna use you. You're gonna go back to Pharaoh, and you're gonna be a leader. You're gonna lead people out of a place and a space and a state that's inconsistent with my intention for their life. And most like, wait a minute, time out, hold up,

flagged on the play, Wait a minute. I don't you say I'm gonna I'm gonna go before Pharaoh and speak. No, I'm a background person, sus you're calling me to do something that is that watch this, that's in the exact area I feel inadequate in. He said, I'm slow a speech. I don't do that speaking thing. Moses is like, I can't do this without you, and God's like, exactly, that's why I picked you, because you know you can't do this without me, and you will never try to do

this without me. What you feel like is inadequacy, Moses, it's actually insurance, Moses. It's insurance because now I'm insured or assured that you're always gonna lean on me, depend on me, trust me, look to me, consult me. He called Moses. Moses's inadequacy responded when he called a gentleman named Jeremiah. Jeremiah responded with inadequacy. He said, I can't do this. I'm but a youth. I don't have the experience. And we could take that same text and oh, Jeremiah

talks about how young he is. We could take that text and just apply it generally to something called age in general, and some people would say, I'm too old, it's too late. He's calling him to do something, and he's and Jeremiah's using his age as a limitation inadequacy. He calls get in. Get in uses this family, he said, do you know who my cousin is? So you have generations of people who are waiting on them to unleash

what God put in them. And because the enemy cannot ungift them, he arrests their ability to use their gift by causing them not to see the value of what God has put on the inside of them. But I came today to be a matchmaker, and I'm not talking about Christian mingo. I came to be a matchmaker to hook you up, not with somebody else. But to hook you up with you, I want to introduce you to a you you hadn't met yet, a stronger you, a

wiser you, are more courageous you. There's some things on the inside of you that God wants to unleash and unlock. But he wants us to cultivate not arrogance, but confidence in the way you've been wired and how you've been crafted. And in my estimation, there are there is no better example of what I'm trying to articulate than the example that is seen in the life and in the leadership

of a dude named David. We read a brief part of his story found in First Samuel chapter number seventeen, but contextually his story begins in First Samuel chapter number sixteen, when God is looking for a successor to a king named Saul, and in First Samuel sixteen, verse one, this is one of the most interesting parts of David's story. This is what it says. It said the Lord said to a civil and spiritual leader named Samuel, how long will you mourn for Saul? Since I rejected him as

king over Israel? Samuel, how long are you going to nurture an emotional attachment to something I'm done with. Right, Saul represents an era of leadership in Israel. It represents a season, an age, and so it's like God's asking, Samuel, how long are you going to keep nurturing an emotional attachment to a season that I'm not going to revisit. It's like he's he's It's like you're saying, Samuel, now, if you're going to continue to walk with me, you

have to master moving on without closure. Did you hear what I just said? Because if you're like me, you want closure. You want an explanation. If they hurt me, I want to know why. I want to know what you were thinking. And I want to know how could you do this to me based on what I've done to you? Right? I want closure, I want closure. I want explanations. But watch this where where where Where trust is present, Explanations aren't needed. God says, if you have

an explanation, you don't need trust. But you need to trust my character and trust who I am when you don't understand what I'm doing. And He's like, Samuel, I know you enjoy this season with Saul, but this is done with I'm doing something new, So I want to know how long are you going to keep crying over this? Because your tears don't change my will? He said, Samuel, I need to know how long are you going to morn?

And the reason is, Samuel, as soon as you start stop talking about what was, I can start talking about what is, Samuel. As soon as you start stop talking about what you used to have, I can start talking to you about what you're getting ready to have. As soon as you stop talking about how it used to be, I can start talking to you about how it's getting ready to be. Because the ladder is going to be

greater than the flower. Let me just contemporize it. The best is not behind me, The best is in front of me. And God is saying I will never take something from you and give you something inferior in exchange. So if I took something you liked, I'm getting ready to give you something you lost. Somebody praised God in this room, in your living room, in every room, y'all. Okay, I'm almost done. Okay, here it is. He says, how long verse thirteen, Verse one, How long will you mourn? Oversaw?

Since I've rejected rejected him as king over Israel. Then he says this fill your horn with oil and be on your way. I'm sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. Watch what he says, fill your horn with oil, because I'm getting ready to send you to the right place to pour it. He's saying, your oil doesn't belong there anymore. See, you're trying to pour your oil on someone who no longer values it, no longer wants it, no longer respects it. See, your oil can represent your ability. The biblical word here

is annaying, right, that's what it represents. And he says, listen, I don't want you to watch this. I don't want you to waste the oil that I've given you, So I'm gonna give you direction on how to use it in this season. I want to tell some of you nothing's wrong with your oil. You've just been pouring it in the wrong places. So Samuel obeys it. He goes down. He goes to Jesse's house. He said, Jesse, do you have any you're ridden? He said, yeah, I got, I

got seven sons. And he called. He said, call the sons because the next king, Jesse is in your house. He say for real. He said, yeah, for real, for real? He said yeah. So he calls his sons and the first one walks up. His name is Iliab. He's swaggy. The Bible talks about his appearance and his vibe and his aura. He looks like what you think a king would look like. And Samuel looks at Iliab and say, this is surely this is the Lord's annoying. And God

has to correct Samuel. He's a judge. He has what's called prophetic gifting. He's able to see things that were called seers, and the seer couldn't see. His attachment to the past was affecting his discernment in the future because ili Ab kind of looked like Saul. The Bible describes Saul that way. So his attachment to the past was affecting his discernment in the present. And God has to tell Samuel and remind him we don't use the same

criteria when it comes to picking kings. He says, man looks at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart. There's heart criteria that I'm looking for to determine who I'm going to use. So he says, Iliab isn't it. So another son comes, he's not it. Another son comes, he's not it. Seven sons come to Samuel, and God's like no, no, no, no, no, no, no seven. And Samuel's confused, so he says to Jesse, he says, are these all your sons? He says, yeah, I got one more.

But I know he's not the one. Samuel said, you got one more? Call him. We won't sit down until he gets here. And the Bible says, here comes David, and God says to Samuel, that's the one. Now wait a minute, I want you to catch this. Seven people got to Samuel before David. Seven people got to the opportunity before David. Seven people got to the door before David. Let's contemporarize it. Seven people met Samuel before David. Seven people applied before David. But God held it in place

until David got there. Because when God has something for you, it doesn't matter who gets there first. They can see it first, they can apply first, they can call first. But if your name is on it and God has assigned you to it, what God has for you is for you. Notice what the text says for Samuel sixteen thirteen. It says, so Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him. Now I don't know. I love the Bible. I read the Bible. I try to read it objectively as I can. This seem a little petty to me.

I love it. I love it, though it's the pettiness for me, I just I love it. Here it is, he says, So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him. Listen to what the writer says, in the presence of his brothers. I don't see the necessity of that detail. I don't see how that's relevant to the story. It feels a little petty to me. But I'm here for it. I'm here for it all. He says. He

anointed him in the presence of his brothers. So the same people that did not think enough of him to even invite him to meet Samuel are the same people that have to sit there and watch him get what they didn't think he'd deserted. And I think this is a powerful picture of divine retribution, or what the apostle Paul calls vengeance. See, vengeance is not God inflicting harm

on your enemies. Vengeance is God empowering you to succeed in spite of what your enemies did, and then putting your enemies in close proximity, and their punishment is to watch you win. I want somebody online, somebody in every location, to give God praise because he's about to punish your enemies by making them what you win. Now, I want to tell somebody they watching. They're not commenting under the post, but they're watching. They're not pressing that light button, but

they're watching. They're seeing everything God's doing in your life. Here this from I want to see. It's here. None even President's brothers. That's not all it says. And from that day on, the spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David. You gotta see that. So it says, from that day on, the spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David. From that day on, spirit of the Lord came palp up David. Okay, but then this was this said this confusing to me. It says Samuel then went

to rama. This is the one point in the sermon. I'm okay. If you confused, I want you to be confused right now because this is I want you to picture this. Let's use imagery. Here. David is sitting outside greasy. He's just greasy, just allly everywhere greasy, right, Daddy, hugging him. You're gonna be king. I'm so proud of you. Samuel puts all this all on his head, has him greasy. Then leave now, you're not just about to greeze me

up and leave me. If I'm David, I'm like I'm the next king, right, Yes, you got all this oil on me. Yes, I'm sitting here cooking into crisco. Right, So so you're leaving? So what you know? You're gonna send the uber. You're gonna send the chariot uber back to get me because I'm annoying it to be king, my annoying has changed the spirit of the Lord came up on them that day powerfully. My ability has changed,

but my responsibility Hadn't you mean you annoyed? You mean you annoyted me for something I'm not about to do yet. Have you ever felt like your oil is greater than your assignment? Have you ever felt like your ability it's greater than your risk responsibility? You like? How am I sitting here this greasy and have to go right back to tending to my father's sheep? Because all of us go through seasons where our ability and our responsibility don't match.

That's not listen to me. That is not punishment. That's purposeful. It's what I call the God gap, and it's a gift to you, he says, because what I need to do is I need to use this length of time where your ability and responsibility don't match to do some development, not just on what you can do, but development on who you are. Because when you get to the palace, there's more than a throne waiting on you. There's a

jealous ex king Saul. So I need to develop the character in you, David, so that when you get to where I'm taking you, you have the character to handle what's about to happen to you. Because I know you, and I know you, and I know you defeated a lion and a bear with your bad hands. I know you, and I know if I don't deal with you. When Saul throw that first spear, you throwing one back. Let me see who's going to be honest at elevation, he says.

He said, you're gonna get okay, Saul, I respect you and everything, but we we got one more time to throw a spear. It's the God gap, he says. It's the time I use to get you ready for what you're ready for, but you're not ready for You're ready for it, like I'm ready, he says, but you're not ready for it because there's a backside to this. There's a front side to the blessing, that's the promotion. There's

a backside to it, that's the pressure. And he says, I'm gonna use the gap to You're ready for the front side, but I need the gap to prepare you for the backside, because when you get to destiny underdeveloped, what should feel like a blessing starts feeling like a curse.

And so God, God uses it's just a supernaturally like arrange his circumstances to get David in the palace and actually gets in the palace by working for Saul as a musician, and Saul loves David so much he moves in from musician to what's called an armor bearer, a person who would literally bear and carry and take care of the king's armor. And David would work for Saul and then go back home and tend to his father's sheep. So no matter what happened outside his father's house, he

was still faithful to the father's house. God blessed him outside the father's house. But he's still faithful to the father's house because he recognized I got found in the father's house and and he so he goes back to the father's house and one day he's getting ready to go to work, and his dad tells him, take this food to your brothers who are on the who are in the military when you go back to work. So

David is taking this brother's food. And while he's taking his brother's food before he gets ready to go to work, he hears this nose this talking. He said, what is that? And it's this philistine giant named Goliath who's just insulting Israel. And David's dropping off the ham sandwiches. He say, David start looking around. He say, uh, y'all, don't hear that? Nobody has a problem with that. Why are we just letting him talk to us like that? This is what

I call unique agitation. That God not only gives us anointings, he gives us customized agitations. That you and I can walk in the same room and you can see something and it bothers you, and it not bothered me. Because the problems that bother you the most are the problems that you're being created to solve. Purpose is an answer to a problem. And so did you hear what I just said? So God has to give you an agitation for the thing that you've been called to do something about.

And the reason other people could live with what Goliath was doing is because they weren't born to take him out. And there are some golias that exists in our communities, that exist in culture that you've been called to address and dress. And God gives you a unique agitation for the whose things? They say, who is this? It's feel estate who dares to defy the armies of the living God. He said, y'all scared? I'm not scared. Word gets back

to the king that David was in a fight. The King tries to talk David out of it, and David convinces the king. So the King says, all right, you're ready fight to life. This is no problem. Take my armor. This is the best in the land. I want you to wear this. Take my sword. It's the best sword available. I want you to use this. It's the King's army, it's the best. It was probably battle tested, it was probably something that was successful for Saul. Are you following me? Elevation.

But just because it worked for Saul doesn't mean it fit David. So in order for David to accomplish his assignment, David had to recognize what doesn't fit him. Can you imagine the tension he's dealing with with a king that he respects so much and honors and loves, and he has to tell a king. I know that's the way culture does it. I know that's the way everybody says it has to be done, and I know many people have done it that way and been successful, But that is not the way God wired me. And I am

telling you. One of David's most courageous acts wasn't just fighting Goliath. One of David's most courageous acts was rejecting that armor, because it took courage for David to say, everybody uses a sword, but I'm gonna use a rock because my rock will work if I work it right. And the Bible says that David goes out against that philistine, and that philistine is thinking he's about y'all excuse me. I grew up watching wrestling, not this new wrestling. I

grew up watching real wrestling, that old school wrestling. The Hulk Hogan Wrestling, the Ultimate Warrior Wrestling. I'm about to date some of y'all's. It's too old for some of y'all. The junk Yard Dog, Okay, okay, the Superfly, Jimmy Snooker. I'm talking about the role warriors wrestlings, right, And so I can imagine Goliath thinking I'm about to put him in a headlock. I'm about to I'm about to do him like Jake the Snake Robert. But he doesn't watch this,

He doesn't realize. Goliath doesn't realize his advantages only work in close. Comebat, that your sword only works in close. Comebat, that your strength only works in close. Comeback, that the spear only works at a distance. So what some people saw in David as a disadvantage was actually his advantage. The thing most people would have had inadequacy about is the thing that made him uniquely capable of taking out Goliath, because no one probably could have got him with hand

to hand combat. But David didn't fight him close up. David fought him at a distance because of your rock has been designed to work against the giant. You've been called to knock down. And if you don't use your rock you lose your advantage. I want to tell you you must be willing to live through a season where you feel weird so God can push you in a

season where you feel relevant. The same thing that makes you feel small in one season, it's the same thing God will use to enable you to do something big in another. And I just came to tell my cousin and my friends and my family at Elevation, your rock works. And don't you allow anybody, any enemy or the inner you to talk you out of using what God has given you. You stir up the gift of God on the inside of you, and you will knock your giant down because of your rock works. Your rock works, your

rock works. I'm done. I came for people today like me who for most of my life didn't quite feel like I ever quite fit in anywhere. Came for people like me who felt like I wondered was there something wrong with me because I felt so weird. Came for people like me who wrestled with inadequacy, and inadequacy is an inside job. I got a bunch of degrees I feel like a thermometer, but none of them made me feel any better about me. Just felt different, felt weird.

Even when I got called to ministry, I learned something. Your calling is not your healing. And I saw the way other people were approaching pastoral ministry and I was like, that's so amazing and it's working. I can't wear that though it doesn't fit. I gotta lead, but I gotta write, and I gotta lead, but I gotta teach. And I felt so weird until I got to a season where God began to show me that what makes you feel weird in one season is what makes you relevant in another.

You aren't weird. You're right because difference makers are different. So today I'm challenging you. I'm challenging us to embrace your unique design. I'm telling you that there are people depending on you to be you and use your rock, and I'm getting ready to pray for you that God. You know, we talk about miracles, but I think some of the most significant miracles are emotional ones. Is when God does something in my heart in a unique and

accelerated way. They're calling me epiphanies and culture a light bulb. I'm praying for that because your problem in this season, because I've been there. It's not that you aren't seeing God right, it's you're seeing you wrong. Number thirteen. We were like grasshoppers in our own eyes. You're not losing to the giant out there. You're losing to the grasshopper in here because you're grasshopper. It's bigger than your giant. So I want to pray for you for a miracle

in our hearts. So Father, in this room, online, at every location, I pray for spiritual epiphanies. You did it for Gideon, you did it for Jeremiah, you did it for Moses. I pray that you do it for us. That you give us the courage not to wear what doesn't fit us, but to be uniquely who you've called us to be, and to do what you've called us to do the way you've called us to do it. May our eyes be open to see us as you do. Lord, open our eyes. This is my prayer for your people,

and as we see ourselves correctly. May it be said of us as it was said of the early Church. These are they that have turned the world upside down in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, if you enjoyed today's podcast, there are a couple things I'd love for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. You can also help us teach others by investing today at Elevation Church dot org, slash give and thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast