This Doesn't Make Sense (Dustin Stradley)

In fact, he wrote me a handwritten letter this past week just telling me that he believed in me and that he loves me. And that's the same pastor that we get to see pour his heart out on this stage every single weekend. He's the same man off the stage.

But if I can share with you real quick, as we were singing that last song thinking about God moving mountains, we were not just singing lyrics and going through the motions of singing another song, but I started to think about the mountains that God has moved in my life even over the past couple of weeks. What it took for me to get here to this stage today. It wasn't any big life circumstance or anything that happened, but the battles that I faced over the past couple of weeks,

the resistance that I faced to get here today. It wasn't a battle in front of me or a battle around me. It was a battle inside of me. And oftentimes those are the hardest battles to fight. But I thought about what Pastor preached last weekend as he was laying right here on this stage, and he said, if the battle is too big for you, it's not yours.

The battle is the Lord's. And on Wednesday, I was laying face down on a couch in tears and infrustration, just all of these insecurities in my mind, just out of control. But in that moment, I vividly remember that picture of surrender the Pastor Stevens showed us last weekend, and that our battles are not gonna be won by fighting and working as hard as we can in our own effort, but it's gonna come through surrender. It's gonna

come through worship. And that's what I've been hearing today already. It's people who came ready to surrender people who came ready to worship. That's how we see victory. That's how we fight our battles. And it's an honor to continue in the flow today to see what God wants to speak through me. I have nothing to lose at this point. At this point, I'm here and I'm ready to open my mouth and allow God to speak through me into you.

I feel like I am here on an assignment, but I believe that you are also here on an assignment. And if you open your heart and open your mind, God's gonna deposit into you exactly what you need. So Valentine, I need you to help me welcome all of our locations, all of our campuses, tuning in Blakeney Campus, Lake Norman. You see my favorite campus, Roanoke, Virginia. It's my family are E fam tuning in online in living rooms, coffee shops around the world. It's amazing what we get to

be a part of. I hope that we never take that for granted. But I want to go ahead and dive into the Word of God. Thank you, choir. Were they not incredible? By the way. I believe that wherever you are, God's going to speak something into you today, we're going to dive into the Book of Luke chapter five. If you have your Bible, you can pull it out.

If not, you can cheat off your neighbor. I don't condone cheating in school, but you can cheat off your neighbor in this instance, I'm gonna dive in right now. So one day, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Gannessera, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He sow at the water's edge two boats left there by fishermen who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, also known as Peter, and asked

him to put out a little from the shore. Then sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into deep water let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, but, Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will elbow your neighbor. And said, because he said so, I will let down the nets. And when they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their

nets begin to break. I love the word of God, he is so faithful. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they begin to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus's knees and said, go away from me. Lord, I am a sinful man. For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch a fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee,

Simon's partners. Then Jesus set to assignmon, don't be afraid. From now on you will fish for people. You will fish for people. So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. I need you to turn to your neighbor and look at them with the most confused look on your face, and help announce my titles. Say this doesn't make sense. Now turn to your second option, not going to get into why, with a confused look on your face, and say this doesn't make sense. Jesus,

we are honored to be in your presence. It doesn't make sense God that you would choose someone like us. It doesn't make sense God that you would send your son into this world for our freedom God. But we're thankful you did. We're thankful that we get to be in your presence to send Jesus name that everybody said, amen, you can go ahead and take a seat. I'm just learning in life that there are many things that don't

make sense. Mattie and I have been married for three hundred and thirty eight days, twenty two hours, thirty seven minutes, fourteen seconds, but who's counting? And I remember last July when I saw this beautiful woman of God coming down the aisle, and this white boy jumped as high as he could jump, which is not too high, and yelled Hallelujah,

true story as she was coming down the aisle. Because in my mind, it did not make sense that a woman like this, a thoughtful, encouraging, intentional, anointed, empathetic woman of God like this, would want to marry someone like me, with all of my issues and all of my imperfections. And four months into marriage, we were having coffee one morning and Maddie said, hey, Babe, I've been listening to this new album. I think you'd really like it. I said, oh, yeah,

who's it? Bye? And she said, sir, mix a lot. I said, like, sir, Mix a Lot from the eighties nineties rapper producer Sir mix a Lot. She said yeah, I said, babe, I didn't know you rolled like that. That's amazing. Like, what's the name of this album? She said, Well, you were singing it all night last night. It's called Sir Snores a Lot. Now, my wife can call me whatever she wants. But with all of my habits and all of my annoyances, like she wants to be married

to someone like me, doesn't make sense. There's something else that doesn't make sense. Mathematics. I hated math growing up, still do to this day. In college, I had a full semester of math classes except for one class. That semester, I got a zero point four GPA. The only reason I didn't completely fail was because I had volleyball and that resurrected my GPA slightly. The following semester improved. I got a zero point five GPA. Almost flunked out of college.

But my dad, who is six foot for two hundred and seventy pound country boy from Thomasville, North Carolina, where I grew up, he's brilliant when it comes to math. So we would sit down at the dinner table, and he would teach me long division, mathematics, you know, one oh one, multiplication and all the things. And I remember my dad just telling me like, hey boy, man, if you just take this and you can divide that number right there, boy, and you carry the two over here,

and you just add sixteen right there, boy. You know, take that right there. If you meet my dad, it's exactly what it sounds like. And I said, Dad, this does not make sense. Shut up, boy. It doesn't have to make sense to work. And I realized more and more that it doesn't have to make sense to work. That's what I love about our church is unashamed when we talk about tithing. It doesn't make sense for me to take my heart earned money and just bring it

and give it back to God. But God said, when we trust him with what he's placed in our hands, that he will open the floodgates far beyond anything we can imagine. It doesn't have to make sense to work. And obeying God's word doesn't always make sense, but it always works. And as I was looking at this passage, there's so many things about Peter, and specifically in this story that just don't make sense. Like Peter, who is a pro fisherman and doesn't catch any fish at all.

Peter bro You've got one job. This is all you do to provide for your family and catch the fish. It didn't make sense for Peter. He was fishing all night long, couldn't catch a thing. And how many of you have been working so hard in this season yet it's still not working. You're going to the gym six days a week, sugar free, gluten free, dairy free, all the freeze, yet you still don't have a six pack, while Philip here eats McDonald's all day long, drinks Coca

Cola and has a twelve pack. Doesn't make sense. Not bitter about it. Promise you've applied for twenty jobs over the past two months, yet you're still unemployed. Doesn't make sense. God, I'm pouring everything I have into my kids, yet they're still running wild. Doesn't make sense. It also didn't make sense that Jesus shows up after Peter had been fishing all night, didn't catch a thing, tells him to throw the nets right back into the same empty waters that

he had been fishing in out. Peter responded very politely, very honoring, very obedient. I would like to think that I would do the same, but maybe not like Jesus. Bro You're really good at what you do, the whole healing thing, changing the world. It's amazing. But stay in your lane. I'm good at this fishing thing. I've been fishing these waters all night long and there's nothing in the water. But then he responded, and he said, but

because you say so, I will. And then Peter began to pull in so many fish that the nets begin to break, the boats begin to sink. Come on, boys, we don't even have enough room in our boats. So much blessing, more than he even thought possible. It was Peter's obedience that prompted God's provision. Breakthrough is always on the other side of obedience, but obeying God's word it doesn't always make sense, but it always works. And there's

something interesting about Peter that also didn't make sense. It doesn't make sense that Jesus would choose someone like Peter to be his right hand man, his disciple. Peter doesn't have a religious background. He's an interesting guy and maybe a little bit all over the place. And I feel like I'll relate to Peter in some ways. But it doesn't make sense that God would choose someone like Peter. And as we look at Peter's life, I think that you're gonna find yourself saying some of the same things

that Peter might be saying. You and I both it doesn't make sense that God would choose someone like you or choose someone like me. And so I want to go through a few things from the life of Peter that I think that you and I are both going to connect with if you're honest with yourself, because first, it doesn't make sense for God to choose you because

of your failures. Because of your failures, I want you to write that down, Peter said, Master, We've been working our butts off all night long, haven't caught a thing. Peter was staring at failure. It would have made more sense for Jesus to choose someone who is actually good at their job. I mean, if I'm an NBA scout for the Charlotte Hornets, probably gonna pick the guy who's making the shots. If you're not making any shots, not gonna pick you. It would have made more sense for

Jesus to choose someone who was succeeding. In this moment, and Peter was standing in the middle of an empty boat looking at failure. The empty boat to Peter represented failure, and many of you in this season, you're standing in the midst of a failure. Three weeks ago, you lost your job. You have no idea how you're going to provide for your family. You failed that class. You don't even know if you're going to graduate now. And now you're telling yourself you're so dumb and you don't know

if you'll ever amount to anything. You felt someone that you love so much, You felt at that opportunity that was given to you. Your failures, the failures that we have in our life. It doesn't make sense that God could use someone like us because of our failures. A couple of months ago, Maddie and I and now that we're married, I'm going to share lots of stories from my marriage. Are you good with that? Good? Because I'm

going too. But we were at the dinner table. It was one night after we had had a long week, a lot of travel that week, a lot of events, and we were tired. And this is our designated date night d d N. Just made that up and we were gonna we were gonna have some good conversation and just you know, look into each other's eyes and express our love for one another. And but I happened to have my phone out at this date night, And don't judge me, like you have these little sit down dinners

with your family technology free. Maybe you do, but we didn't. So I'm on my phone answering a couple of emails, answering a couple of text messages. Then I end up mindlessly scrolling on Facebook, just telling someone happy birthday that I haven't seen in fifteen years, very important things. Then Mattie just so gently and encouragingly I don't even know if that's a word, just slid her hand over and placed it on mine and said, hey, babe, is that urgent?

Because I would love just to have a date night right now. And I got so defensive in that moment. I'm not proud of how I responded. I got a little bit upset. I said, well, if you need kind of pressure, you know, going through now, I just she said, yeah, but were you not just like on Facebook as I gotta go. Yeah, but you know, I had to respond

to this message I got. I tried to even just I'm just making stuff up at that point, and in that moment, what she didn't realize is that I already felt like a failure as a pastor, as a leader, and now I feel like I'm failing her as her husband. It's nothing she did. I chose to feel that way. But we all have these moments where we're standing in an empty boat, like Peter, looking at her failure, trying

to make sense of it all. But because Peter's boat was empty, there was just enough room for Jesus to step in. If Peter had a full boat, there wouldn't have been any room for Jesus to step in. And if you've got some space in your life right now, some emptiness that you're looking at, some dreams that have died, some expectations that didn't align with your experience, maybe there's just enough space in your life for God to step in. Maybe you're exactly where God needs you for you to

rely on him. But I know for me, I like to fill my boat up with all kinds of stuff, busyness. I like to put busyness in my boat. We all have our boats filled up so many times, the money and success and likes and follows and accolades, and our boats are so full that we don't even have room for God. But I wonder if that empty boat represents that maybe God can step in and do something for you. But even then, I still like to come up with these excuses on why God can't use me because of

my failures. But not only my failures. It's my imperfections, imperfections. I want you to write that down. See Peter, he had many imperfections. He was a highly emotional guy. At one point, Peter's bitterly crying. At another point, Peter's passionately jumping up and down, cutting people's ears off. And even Jesus is like, yo, calm down, Peter, let us put that back on. Man little out of control. Oh, Peter was all over the place, constantly putting his foot in

his mouth. And we all have things about ourselfs, these weaknesses, these imperfections. We don't like the way that we look, we don't like the way that we talk, we don't like these gifts or those strengths. But we all have

these things. And I know that oftentimes for me, my imperfections are magnified the most when I'm scrolling and looking at everyone else's perfect life, or, as Pastor Stephen would brilliantly say, I'm comparing my behind the scenes to everyone else's highlight reel, and we think that God only sees our imperfections, even Moses. God calls Moses to deliver the Israelites, but Moses is like, no, no no, no, God, you can't use someone like me. I can't speak well, I've got

a speech impediment. God, my perfections. God, you can't use someone like me. But God said, no, I want to use exactly someone like you, Moses. God doesn't see your imperfections. He sees pasture imperfections into who he created you to be. God created you and his image, his perfect image. He sees you through the lens of grace, He sees you through the lens of love. He sees you for who you are, created by Him. But I still tell myself, but you still can't use me because of my imperfections.

But if it's not my imperfections, it's my sin, my sin. I want you to write that down because in verse eight, Peter responded, after he saw this miraculous catch of fish, he fell at Jesus' knees and he said, go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. What did Peter do that was so horrible that he turned his head in shame. What sin did he have in his life that he didn't feel worthy to be in the presence of God? Because sin will either make us run

to word shame or run towards salvation. And sometimes we think our sin is so much bigger than the person sitting next to us on our road right now. And if they knew what I did, and if they knew the kind of things that I thought about, what would they think of me? Or what would they say about me? Or if God knew? Well, God does know, and he loves you. Anyway, Jesus came for the very reason that he knew we all would sin and fall short of the glory of God. But he died of death that

you and I should have died. Then he rose again so that you and I could be set free from our sin. But I still justify why my sin disqualifies me from being used by someone like God. Peter said, turn away from me, Lord, my sin is too bad. You can't use someone like me. But if it's not my sin, it's my history, my history. I want you to write that down. Peter had an interesting history. Peter at one point said that he wouldn't deny Jesus, but then he denied him three times. Then he broke down

and he felt bad about it. Then at one point Jesus looks at Peter and says, get behind me, Satan, you're being a distraction. I mean, if God said that to me, I'd be like, oh, snap, does that disqualify? Am I done? Here? Like I think I'm fired from the job. I don't think you can use me at this point. And we all have a history experiences, we're all predisposed as well. And I wonder for even Peter

what was passed down to him from previous generations. Maybe your grandfather struggled with alcoholism, Therefore your father struggled with alcoholism, and now you're destined in your mind to struggle with alcoholism. There's no other way. The history says that's the way it's got to be. Or your grandmother struggled with abuse, and now your mother struggled with abuse. So now you're trying to figure out who you are in the midst

of this cycle and can you break the cycle? And is this what your history has determined for you as well? Or maybe you're just you're cynical because everyone around you is cynical, and that's the history, and that's what it's always looked like, and that's what it's always been like. And maybe you're criticizing all of these other people not because of anything that's wrong with them, but really you're

just not pleased with yourself. We all have a history, a background, experiences things that we disqualify ourselves to be used by God. A few years ago, before Maddie and I met one another, I was in another relationship and we got engaged, and this was obviously a significant decision for anyone in life to commit to something for a lifelong journey. And from the outside, we had this picture perfect relationship where everyone would think to themselves it together,

but on the inside not so much. And I don't know about you, but how many of you realized just because someone has it together on the outside doesn't mean they have it together on the inside. And I'm pretty good at putting a game face on and projecting outwardly confidence, and yeah, man, you look like you have it together, only if you knew the battles I fight, the insecurities

I wrestle with. And I remember waking up on a Thursday morning coming to this realization that this engagement was coming to an end, and nothing bad happened or immoral happened, but we realized that as hard as we tried to make this thing work, it wasn't gonna work, and we needed to go our separate ways. And I remember that day so vividly because I was driving a box truck from North Carolina to Virginia. I was I was taking

some church supplies back to Roanoke. And as I'm driving that box truck, I just had this rage and this frustration, and I'm sitting in the front seat driving and I just started to sob uncontrollably and to the point that I could barely even see the road anymore. And I pulled over into this abandoned parking lot and I set in the box truck for the next two and a half hours, yelling at God, God, why would you allow me to go through something like this? God, this doesn't

make sense. After everything, God, I believe that you had your hand on this. I'm walking in obedience with you, Yet my expectation in my experience are not aligning. God. Why And I started just throwing things around the box truck and it just didn't make sense. Why I would go through something of this nature. And I began to have these overwhelming thoughts that this is the thing, this

is the thing. If I can't even leave one person going to lead a staff, how am I going to lead thousands of people at our church back in Roanoke, Virginia. God can't continue to use someone like me. It's embarrassing. I've failed all of my imperfections. Nah, he's going to give up on me after after this one. And you never know in the moment why you're going through something like that. Of course, looking back, I see that God was closing one door to open the best door of

my life. But at the same time, God started to show me some things over the past few years. And God started to even show me something through this text that I found interesting. And I've read this and you've probably heard the story many many times. If you haven't, it's amazing to see what God does in the story. It's a miracle. But when I read verse ten, which I've read so many times, Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid. Easier said than done, God, don't be afraid.

From now on, you will fish for people, fish for people, fish for people. I felt like God was connecting me back to that experience years ago. And then I couldn't shake this phrase and I felt like there was a connection between the two, but it just didn't make sense. Okay, God, I hear you fish for people. It's great, it's awesome, Like, let's reach people for you. And Yep, that's what we're called to do. This's while we're on this earth. That's

what this church has always been about. But then God took me back to the moment that I came to this church for the first time ten years ago. At this point, I shared my story many times, but I was so broken and I was in a messed up place, trying to find my identity and drugs and alcohol, been to jail multiple times, and somebody cared enough about me to bring me into the presence of Jesus right here

Elevation Church. And it was through this church that I got saved and I experienced the tangible love of Jesus for the first time. That's what this church has always been about. Thirteen years ago when Pastor Stephen Holly, these core families started this entire church that God had called them to was always about reaching people far from God. That's the mission of this church, so that people far from God will be raised to life in Christ. I was that person far from God. We're all far from God.

They were relentless about bringing their friends and their family into the presence of Jesus so they could experience the same grace that you and I have experienced. And it's not about you and I not being far from God. And then we're gonna go reach the people who are far from God. We're all far from God. We all need this, by the way, but that mission carries on today even in Ronoke, Virginia, because in twenty twelve, it started with a handful of people. Philip knows the story

very well because he was from Roanoke. It started with a handful of people. But as of this year, we've now seen five five hundred people make decisions to follow Jesus in a city of ninety nine thousand people. And we're on a mission to reach every single person in the entire city of Rowano. That's what has always been about. Maybe someone brought you into the presence of God. I believe you're gonna bring somebody back with you next week so that you can see what God wants to do

through you in someone else's life. God reminded me in that moment that if I brought you through all of that back then I'm gonna bring you back through this. But it didn't stop there. I still couldn't shake that phrase. Fish for people, fish for people? What are you trying to tell me? Fish for people? And then I read verse ten, and God made it so clear. In verse

actually eleven, not ten. It said, so they pulled their boats up on shore, and all the fish they caught, everything they had worked for, they just left it there. They just left it all there, Jesus, fish for people. I got everything that I worked for God, but I'm just gonna leave it here. Fish for people, fish for people, Fish for people. What are you telling me? God? Fish for people? Show me fish for people. Stay with me, fish for people. A little bit louder, fish for people.

One more time, fish for people. I wonder if Peter in that moment, realized that the fish they were never meant for Peter, the fish were for the people. All the fish. Can I see my fish? All the fish that Peter caught up until that point? There were a few more in here A second ago. I think you had some all the fish, everything he had worked towards up until that point, just left it all behind. The fish were never meant for Peter. The fish were for

the people. Philip, take my fish. I'm gonna come down, because sometimes we think our failures, all the things that happened in our life. I know you lost the job, I know you messed up the opportunity. But what if you went through that not just for you, but what if you went through that to help someone else who's been through the same thing. The fish wasn't for me,

It was for the people. You're imperfections, the things that you think are weird about you, the things that other people are saying about you, the things that you don't like about yourself, the things that you think that disqualify you from being used by God. What if it wasn't for you, But what if all of that God wanted to use to help someone else who has the same imperfections. Your sin, the things that you've been hiding from in shame. I know you had the affair and you thought that

was the end. I know you're wrestling with looking at things on your phone that you know you shouldn't be looking at, and you're afraid to tell your spouse. And sometimes it's not even big things, it's the little things. It's the way we talk about people, things we had never say to their face, but how we like to talk about them behind their back. All of that sin. We think God can't use someone like us. But what

if God said, no, that's not for you. Everything you did, everything you've been through, Now I'm gonna use it to help somebody else. It wasn't for me. It was for somebody else else. Your history. I know the addiction is trying to make its way into your life, and if not already, I believe that God's gonna help you, through the power of Jesus, to break the addiction, but not just to set you free from him, but to also help someone else who's going through the same thing. It

wasn't meant for me, It was for someone else. The fish are not for me, They're for the people. And God will work all things together for the good of those who love Him, the good and the bad, the pretty and the ugly, the clean and the messy, the success and the failure. God works all things together for the good are those who love Him, according to his purpose, according to his plan. Every thing you've been through thus far, it's not wasted. The fish aren't for me, they're for

the people. The fish can be thrown back up real quick. The fish our failures, our imperfections, our sin, our history. God works all of these things together for a purpose. There is purpose behind your pain. You may not have seen it in the moment. You may not see it right now as you're standing in the middle of it, but God wants to use it to help someone else.

And just a few months ago, I was sharing the same story that I just shared with you about this engagement me to an end with someone else who was going through the same exact thing. And oftentimes you can't say anything when someone's standing in the middle of it to help them. And it's sometimes the worst when someone tries to slap a Christian cliche on your pain and dustin You're going to get through this, yeah, whatever, man, I know God is good, but it doesn't feel good

right now. But I said, hey, I know you're hurting. I know it doesn't make sense. I know that you're frustrated and you're mad at God and mad at yourself. But I believe that at some point you're going to be able to look back and see that there was purpose behind this, that God was with you, that he never left you. Then he reached out to me a few weeks later. I said, the very thing you just shared with me, all of that stuff. He said, that's the very thing I've been clinging to to get through

one of the worst seasons of my life. The fish were not for me. It was for somebody else years before I saw the purpose behind it. But God is using it to help someone else. I believe God wants to use you, even though it doesn't make sense because of your failures and your imperfections. It doesn't make sense that God could use you in your workplace. There's somebody in your workplace who needs the love of Jesus like you've experienced the love of Jesus. I believe God's going

to use you to reach them. There's somebody in your school who needs to know and see what you've seen, and your story is going to be the very thing that God uses to set them free, like God has set you free. What if Peter would have said, because you say so, God, I will, and threw the nets out into the water, but didn't bring any fish back. In what if Jesus was telling him to get rid of the nets because he had his identity in what he did and never actually saw the blessing on the

other side. What a breakthrough, oftentimes is never about what we get. It's about God breaking us so that we fall more in love with Jesus. What if it was about Jesus all along. Because you say so, God, I will even when it doesn't make sense God, even if I don't see the blessing on the other side, even if it doesn't show up the way I thought it would God, even when it doesn't align with my expectations. God, because you say so, I will, I'll take that step.

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tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you