When You Just Can’t Win

As our EPAM tells us where they're watching from right there in the chat and the comments, I want to appreciate our worship team and the reason the reason I want to do it. You know, it can be easy, if you're a good singer, good musician, to just come for a performance and to lock into that. But when you sense that your team is not just here for

performance but for presents. And I sense that today while each and every one of you were ministering, So thank you for showing up, for showing up, and while our e fam is joining in and telling us where they're watching from right there in the comments, look at your neighbor and say, you did good to show up today driving through all that fog. Was it still foggy when you came. See? I shouldn't say stuff like this because it localizes the message, but I was praying for you today. Lord,

help them to direct their paths. Lord, it is foggy. One thing about fog I just want to point out. Remember year over my house the other day, Chunks, and I said, it's so foggy outside, and you said, no, it's not. You said, that's just on the windows. So sometimes it's not foggy you are. And what I noticed about the Lord. A lot of times when we come together and worship like this, it's like I'll go all week long and just feel like I'm just stumbling around

in the fog. You know, can't think straight. And I don't know about you, but I get foggy. And it's amazing how worshiping wipes the windows. And I realized, like, oh wow, God really is still in charge. Oh wow, somebody say, wow wow, it stands for wipe our windows. I'm just freestylic I'm happy to be here. This year, I started praying a different prayer before I preached. I still prayed that the Lord would help you. But I start praying every time that he would let me have fun.

Not that I wasn't having fun before, but I just don't ever want these moments to pass by without appreciating them. I have a word for you today that I believe will will hit you right in your heart and help you with some of your habits. I started last week and by the way, the chat is going crazy was telling us where they're watching from. Everybody put a wow in the chat. Somebody say wow, wow, wow, wow wow.

And what was I saying? How last week I told you that in this year of your life, some of the greatest things that will happen in some of the hardest things that will happen, will not be in your strategic plan. So my challenge to you was this, to make presence your plan this year. Somebody say presence is the plan. I don't know what all I'm walking into this year, but I'm showing up for it. And to do that, you'll have to show up from time to time.

You have to show up hurting from time to time, and you have to show up sometimes when you wish you could pull up the covers and hide. But in this passage in Deuteronomy chapter twenty I want to read you verse one, and I want to pair it very briefly with the scripture from Ephesians chapter six, verse thirteen. And in Deuteronomy chapter twenty, verse one, Moses is giving a speech to the people of Israel to prepare them for what God has positioned them for. So I think

this might be relevant to us as well. Deuteronomy chapter twenty verse one. When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because this is where you got to be very careful if what you put after because is something that you can do. Your courage will melt when you face opposition. But Moses said, when you face something and you know it's greater than you,

do not be afraid of it. Do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. He will be with you. So touch your neighbor and say, He'll be with me. Whatever it looks like, whatever it feels like, wherever it goes either way, He'll be with me. And now for Ephesians, chapter six, verse thirteen. Put it on

the screen. Please, you might have heard this one before. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything to stand, after you have done everything to stand, Sometimes standing is the victory. Sometimes being here is the victory. So last week I talked to you about where you meet with God, and this week my thought is a little bit different. And uh, well hold on, let me read it to

you how I wrote it down. Yeah, I want to talk to you about something that you might be feeling in your heart when you just can't win, when you just can't win. And we'll talk about that for a moment. Father, I thank you that I since, even as I look into the eyes of the people who are in this room, that this message will not just live and die in this room. It's going forth, not only into our week, but it's going forth into the rest of our year.

We lean in now listening to you speak, Lord in Jesus' name. Amen, you may be seated well for the next few weeks. You'll probably hear me use illustrations from the sport of wrestling. It's not because I'm going through anything. Man Pastor's talking about wrestling a lot lately, he must really be going through a battle. No, it's just because every Saturday I'm in a gym watching Graham and while I'm thinking about you, I'm watching him wrestle. And so this is usually January.

I usually use a lot of wrestling illustrations. Yesterday I got a really good one. See, when people come to watch wrestling, it's really weird to them because it's, for most people, a sport that they're not very familiar with. And it's not like they're showing up to a basketball game or a football game. So often they have very

little context for what they're watching. And I guess, because I've seen the sport of wrestling since i was a teenager, there are certain things about it that I think everybody knows or understands. But it really takes somebody from the outside coming in to remind you how weird this is. And yesterday we had a couple people with us who had never seen wrestling, so they were just full of questions. Now, Holly is nicer than me, so she'll answer the questions

as they ask. I'll just kind of get frustrated, like, just watch, just watch and you'll figure it out. Sit here and watch and you'll figure it out. You some context, because people come in and they ask the dumbest stuff like or is there going to be a DDT? Or are they going to jump off the top ropes? Can you put them in a choke hold? And so I'm a little bit done with answering all the questions. But

Holly's so patient. And yesterday somebody was asking her what's her favorite thing about wrestling, and she said something that I thought was so deep. She said, what I love about wrestling, and I leaned in to listen. She said that even if the person is down by a wide margin of points, and even if there's not enough time left on the clock for them to come back, it's never really over because they can always get a pin. In other sports, it becomes mathematically impossible to come back.

If you are down by forty in the fourth quarter of a basketball game with a minute left, you will not score forty points in a minute, no matter how nbagm on fire you get. There is no amount of on fire that can close the gap in that scenario.

And the same is true with so many sports. But in this sport, there is always the chance that, even if you have been beat the entire six minutes, in the last six seconds, it is possible, oh though not probable, that if you can put your opponent on his back for just long enough for both shoulder black to touch, every point you were down by becomes irrelevant because of something that happened. When it looked like it was over.

Everybody else may stop watching. But there's always a chance that even when it looks like you have been completely dismembered and dismantled, even when it looks like you have been completely outmatched and overwhelmed in that last minute, there is always a chance that something could happen. She said,

I love wrestling because a pin is always possible. And when she said a pin is always possible, I thought, that is not just a wrestling lesson, that is a praise lesson, because I imagine the people who have never been to a church like ours before it must look really weird to see us doing what we do. I mean, here we are, we've got our own hang ups and issues, and yet our hands are lifted. And here we are with our own struggles, yet we're singing about the goodness

of God. And here we are still dealing with things that we've been dealing with for decades, and yet we are proclaiming Jesus is our freedom. And I imagine if you just walked in, you might have a lot of questions. You might wonder, how are they praising God? I know them, but you would be mistaken to think that they are praising God because they are always ahead. You would be mistaken to think they're praising God because they always get it right. You would be mistaken to think they're praising

God because the outcome is scripted. I'm praising him because anything is possible in his presence. Y'all slow down a little. We got a long way to go. But touch your neighbors say. You can still win. I don't care what the enemy says about it. You can still win. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses says in verse one, chapter twenty, call it back to the screen for me. Boys, when you go to war. Not if when you go to war, it's guaranteed. When you go to war, it is assumed.

So if spiritual battles are assumed by the Bible, why are they surprising to you when you go to war, and really you only have two options in the Christian life. One is to stay in the wilderness and the other is to go to war. Moses is speaking to a generation that has spent years in the wilderness. Now God is bringing them out of that wilderness place and he is preparing them for a war. They've never seen war before. All they know is wilderness. And if you've never seen

war before, it might feel kind of weird. Some of you who are growing closer to God, the proof that you are growing closer to God right now is that the temptation is intensifying in your life. I kind of have a problem with preachers who lie to you about what their life is like. And I hear their podcast, but I know them personally. And if there is one promise I will make to you, it is not that I will always be perfect. If there is one promise I will make to you, it is not that I

will always be polished. If there is one promise that I will make to you, it is not that I will always be making progress, but I'll be present. I'll be present. A fella came to me the other day and said, I'm really sorry I've been out of church for the last three years, and I apologize, I said, you don't know me an apology. You know where to find me when you need me. If you're drunken out of the church, I'll be here. If all you can watch is an Instagram clip, be here. If I'm not here,

I'll have a pretty good guest we'll be here. Somebody's gonna be here preaching for you. And watch this. The promise of presence is so much greater than the promise of performance. You cannot guarantee your performance. You do not know what your response or ability will be in certain situations. And that's why I want us to start this year

with a plan. B. What did the Lord say in Deuteronomy twenty When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, even if you did not anticipate them. Stay there for an Yes, Lord, do not be afraid of them, even if you did not anticipate them. Don't be afraid of the ambush, because before the enemy got there, God did, Before the medical diagnosis was spoken, God's word was before the sea rage. The

peace speaker was already on the boat. And this is our plan for the times in our lives this year when it looks like time is running out. When you go to war and the enemy that surrounds you is greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, will be with you. So what is your plan? What is your strategy? It's a plan, be you see it. He said he will be with me, and he promised to show up if I would. He promised to show

up if I would. Now, a lot of what keeps us from showing up is the feeling that we are not enough to show up. But if you show up enough, it will be. If you show up enough, it will be if you show up enough in the word of God this year, the word of God will be enough to empower you through your struggle. Tell them show up enough, your neighbor, just tell them real quick, show up enough.

That's something that the Lord gave me personally. I was going into an intimidating situation recently, and he said, you keep thinking that you have to go into situations and prove yourself. But you don't have to bring proof, just bring presence. So when you show up to that situation, look them right in the eyes, and show up, knowing if you weren't enough, God wouldn't have brought you into the situation. Is this helping anybody? Come on online, put

it in a chat, say show up enough. And the beautiful thing about bad odds are that is God's resting place for the Christian. When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord, your God, who brought you up out of Egypt,

will be with you. As the Lord is bringing his people into the Promised Land, there are battles that they are going to have to fight, which confuses some of us because we think that if God promised something, it will be automatic. God's promises are guaranteed, but that doesn't make them automatic. There are some things that God gave you that you didn't go for that are not in your possession now because you thought just the fact that

it was promised made it automatic. And for everybody who's in a war today, and the chariots and horses are greater than yours, for everybody who's dealing with mental disorders, and that thing seems stronger in your mind than your will and resolve. For everybody who's dealing today with the challenge that has been going on so long, you have convinced yourself it is insurmountable. I want to give you

a word, and I want you to listen. Good. If the battle is really the lord's, if the battle is really the lords, now, we need to stop right there. Is it his battle or is it yours? Because when we are fighting to protect our pride and we are deflecting to keep our ego intact, then the battle is ours. But see Moses is speaking to people who are taking land that God has promised to give to them under

the leadership of Joshua. And so he says, as you take this new ground, and some of you are in a season where God is giving you new ground, and you've never seen it before. So it feels weird to be at war. It feels weird to be fighting these battles that you're fighting at this stage of your life. But the Lord said, when you fight these battles that you've never fought before, if the battle is truly the Lord's, watch this, the math won't matter. The math won't matter.

And this is good for everybody who's more of an English kind of person, that the math won't matter. I discovered in my life that when it's God's battle, the math doesn't matter. I discovered in studying God's word that if it's his battle, the math doesn't matter. You can be five foot six like David, and he can be nine foot two like Goliath. If it's God's battle, the math won't matter. You can be a little boy with five loaves and two fish, and the crowd can be

five thousand strong, just in the men department. But if it's God's battle and he wants to feed the crowd through you, the math won't matter. You can have been stuck in something thirty eight years at the pool of bethesa John chapter five, verses one through seven, and everybody around you might be quicker than you, and you might feel like I just can't win. I just can't get there when the water is stirred, I have no one

to help me. But when Jesus shows up, if he wants to heal what's hurting in you, it doesn't matter how many people are in front of you that are faster than you. If it's God's battle. Hot five. Your neighbors say, the math don't matter, bad grammar, good preach, and the math don't matter. Don't care how long it was like that, One moment in his presence, one moment of his favor, one moment of his holy fire, can burn away all the dross. Because I'm coming out of

this becaus the mad. Do you hear what I'm saying to you? The prophet said, do not be afraid of them, for those with us or more than those with them. Stop looking at what's surrounding you, and stop looking at let's pace ourselves. Touch your neighbors say, I'm bad at math. I'm bad at math, but I'm good at faith. Oh, I'm bad at math, but I'm good at faith. I'm bad at math, but I'm good at faith. What do you mean I'm bad at math. I'm too old, but I got faith. I'm too young, but I got faith.

Don't have money, but I got faith. If it's God's battle, I don't know who needs to hear this. Your kid is developmentally disslayd, but they are gonna bloom in a season that is just right for them. Let me tell you another one. Oh, I love this. Some of you think you aren't good at anything. That's not true. You are good at something. You just think it's a small thing. But one small thing you're good at. In the hands of God, who gave it to you, can make everything

you're bad at irrelevant. Ask David what one stone can do. You can't fight a giant, Yeah, but I can kill a bear, and one one stone save the whole nation. Yeah. Because when it's God's battle, the math won't matter. You're gonna get there when you're supposed to get there. The math won't matter. God will make up for all the days that you called wasted, and the math won't matter. What you thought was a failure is gonna contain the

seeds of your growth, and the math won't matter. The conflict was kind of developing your character so that when you get to a place, you'll have the fruit of the spirit called patience, and the math won't even matter. So when you go to war and you face an enemy that's bigger than you, remember your plan. B I want to give you three things today because sometimes I think when I preach, I get so excited I don't

give you anything to write down. I feel bad about that that you would come all the way to church and not get a single note. So I'm gonna give you three notes words today for when you feel like you just can't win. Now, that phrase you just can't win can be taken two ways. Right In Deuteronomy twenty verse one, it says, when you face an enemy that you can't be I'll be with you. So you literally cannot win this, but God still will be with you and give you the ability and the way to connect

to that is number one. Remember, just remember, just as simple as that, he said, when you face an enemy that is bigger than you, more chariots, more horses, when you face something that's absolutely beyond your comprehension or your ability to deal with, and you know exactly what that is in your life right now, and do not lie to the Holy Spirit. I'm not even making you say out loud what it is. Just acknowledge it in your heart. When you face that, remember that the Lord who brought

you out of Egypt will be with you. And they keep taking my scripture down, but I need it one more time. I think they think, because it's just one verse, I read it and I'm done with it. But I can preach a verse for twelve weeks. When is this good? Because he said, I'm the Lord, your God who brought you out of Egypt, and I will be with you. One of those is what he did, and one of those is what he is. He's with you. So he said, okay, I'm done with it now, thank you. He said, just

remember that thing that I did for you. Then, So why is that so simple? And I suck at it so bad? Why do I constantly get into states of mind that pretend like this. This is the first time I've ever had a problem like this, And I'm so grateful for perspective. You know, one thing I love about singing songs about God is it just gives me perspective. And I need that so much in my life because for me, songs of worship are like streams that flow

to my heart when it's dry. And one of the things that it helps me access in that process when I begin to remember it, is like oh yeah, and I just have oh yeah moments in the presence of God, Like you can have an Aha moment where you realize something you never realized before, and then you can have a oh yeah moment where you remember something that you temporarily forgotten. Think about all the things that God has already done for his people by the time Deuteronomy chapter twenty,

verse one is spoken through the mouth of Moses. Think about how many odds they've overcome to be in this moment. Think about how many enemies God drown in the Red Sea just to bring this generation to the wilderness. About how He rebuilt their self image to see themselves no longer as slaves but as settlers. And now as they stand on the precipice of a new season, they need

to remember what God did. Say God did, I wrote a song that I released on Friday, so you can walk around your house and remember, so that when you face a war, you worship because you realize that you can have your back up against the wall and God can take one stick and split a whole sea and bring a whole nation through. You have seen God do that in your life. You have seen Him do things that were once unbelievable. You have seen him align opportunities

and appointments and assignments. You have seen God, time after time do things for you that the devil is hoping you will forget as you go through this. You have seen God time and time again, provide with one jar of oil and feed your whole family. You have seen God time and time again. Just when you needed the strength to come, it came all of a sudden, shout,

all of a sudden. And the temptation is is that we are expecting God sometimes to come like a flood, and when it comes like a trickle, we are tempted to displace our trust because our trust was in when it would happen, not who was going to do it. So it goes like this. If I was gonna get it, I would have it by now. If I was gonna be it, I would be it by now. This is why people stop coming to church. This is why people stop going to their counselor this is why people stop

trying to eat better. Because I tried to eat better for three days and it tasted bad, and I was mad, and I wanted to kill everybody on road rage, and so I decided it was better for me to be fat than to kill somebody on road rage. And if that's not enough, watch this. Everybody in here is tempted to forget where you're winning because of where you currently feel weak. Yesterday, Holly came out and spoke for just about fifteen minutes to many of the leaders in our church.

I think some of y'all stayed over I knew I thought something special over here. Are y'all serious? Wow? I should have come over here a long time ago. I wasted thirty minutes over there on the side of the room. When we got home, I said, that was so beautiful. I said, how did you even find the time to do that? Because I know the week that she's had, it's been insane. She was filming a study for our youth that's coming out. She filmed five sessions for that.

She attended a wrestling match I already told you that, and a volleyball game. She made meals for our family. Now, I'm not up here just to get points. I'm up here to make one. But if you can do both at the same time, why not. And we just had a moment, and I want to teach you this in case you don't know how to do it. Where we listed her wins, the Lord said, to tell you list your wins. List your wins. List your wins. Ain't that bragging. It depends on who's behind it. Because when we went

through all the things that she did that week. It was no doubt in my mind. Only God could have strengthened her to do all that. And then a little bit later that night, she said something kind of weird because we were talking, thinking about goals and my sermon. I was sharing a little bit of what I was thinking about preaching with her, but I didn't tell her. I was just working it out with her, but she didn't know it. And she said, you know one place

I didn't win this week my workouts. Now here's where she's different than me. She has the ability to laugh at that and to rebalance it, and she realizes that that's probably not going to be the most significant defining event of her year, that she didn't get her number of workouts this week. Me, on the other hand, no, I'm gonna come to this side of the room if I miss the workout. If I miss a workout three days in a row, I don't feel saved. What does

lifting weights have to do with lifting them up? I don't know. But it just spills over into every area of my life. I mean, it just gets it's so quick because I realize somewhere in my mind and in my soul, an expectation was planted that I'm supposed to be winning everywhere all the time. And when you live in that kind of captivity, everything feels overwhelming. You have no strength for the enemy in front of you because you gave God no praise for the victory behind you.

But when you begin to integrate these things that God has brought you through and you draw from them not as pride but as strength, when you draw from them as a sense of knowing that God promised to be present with me. And the proof of that is that he was. The proof that he will is the fact that he was. The proof that he will is the fact that he was. The proof that he will is the fact that he was. When you begin to do these things in your week and in your day, I'm

telling you, it's gonna make a big difference. The truth of the matter is you are winning somewhere right now. But where you are not winning is causing you to feel weak. And where you feel weak, you become susceptible. Now I'm right where I want to bring you. Number one is remember, and number two is resist. Resist. Moses says, when you go to war, and you will go to war to take new spiritual ground, even Paul said, you gotta put on the armor. Well, I'm not putting on

the armor to take a nap. The only reason we're suiting up with the armor of God, you know, the breastplate of righteousness and the shoes of peace, and the sword of the Spirit and the belt of truth. The only reason that I'm getting dressed in this armor is something is going to attack me. So the provision of the armor is the prediction of the attack. So God gets you a really good when you're gonna go through

a really big war. And when you get in that situation, Moses says, there are certain stipulations for how you are to fight God's battles, and I wish I could give you all of Deuteronomy twenty, but he talks about send the priests out before the people and send everybody home who doesn't really want to fight, because not everybody can go with you into everything. I'm gonna say it again, somebody in the back just needed to have a delete party on your phone. Not everybody, come on, delete them

right now. You know exactly who they are. They're right there on the recess. Do it right now, Do not pass go delete their number right now, because not everybody can go with you into this. You don't have to hate them, you don't have to flash their tires, you don't have to cuss them out, you don't have to fire them as your friend. But he says, send the people home that can't go home. And when you come up on a city, now, this is really powerful here. And I don't want you to get tired of him,

because we've already said a lot. But I want you to get this thing about resist. He says, when you get to the cities that God is calling you to take over the Hittites, to Parasites, the Canaanites, the Jebucides, all of these people who are in the places that God has promised you. Just because an enemy is there doesn't mean God isn't bringing you into it. Just because

it's hard doesn't mean God isn't in it. Doesn't mean he didn't speak, doesn't mean he won't do it, doesn't mean he isn't doing it, doesn't mean he's not working. Doesn't mean you should turn back and go home. No, no, no. When you see the enemies there, offer them a condition of peace. But if they won't make peace with you, you will have to put everything to death that would teach you to follow anything other than God. And then we get to verse nineteen. Verse nineteen says something very

strange to the people. He says, when you lay siege to a city for a long time, for a long time, when you lay siege to a city. Now, laying siege to a city meets, you can't beat them immediately. They don't just give up quick. So God gave you this land. So you come up on the land, because he tells Joshua, every place you set the soul of your foot, I'll give you. But when you get there, you'll still have to fight for it. But sometimes when you're fighting for it,

you will have to lay siege to it. And you know what a siege is. I'm not insulting your intelligence, but this is when you have captured the enemy, but you haven't conquered the enemy. When you lay siege to a city and you fight them for a long time. Now, wait a minute, God, I thought you were going to give us the victory. God says, some of my gifts are gradual, and just because it's gradual doesn't mean he's

not giving it. Sometimes it happens so slow you think it's not when you lay siege to a city and it takes you a long time, a little longer than you thought it was, and you just can't win. But you got them captured, but you don't have them conquered. Am I describing some of your sins today, some of your cities, some of your insecurities. I got them captured. I know what they are now, but I don't have them conquered yet. I got them identify I'm in the

right place. And that's when you remember, I'm not in Egypt anymore. I'm not in Egypt yet, but I'm not fully settled in here yet either. And this is where you need a plan B he says, when you get in the city and you got it in a siege. It was so clear to me while I was studying that there are so many people who are no longer enslaved to sin. They're set free by Jesus, but they are no more free in Christ because they're in a siege season. A siege season is when you can see it,

but you don't quite have it. You experience it momentarily peace, You experience it momentarily joy, You experience it momentarily selflessness. You experience it momentarily goodness, patience, self control, the fruit of the spirit. But you're not living in it yet. That's a siege season. You're not a slave anymore. You're out of Egypt, but you're not exactly free yet either, are you. It's a siege season. Now we have to

be really careful. This is where my pastoral instinct kicks in, and I want to be protective of you in a siege season, because Moses says, when you are in a siege season, remember it's not them that are under siege, it's the enemy. You're right there. It's really happening for you. You really are breaking these chains. But you're in a siege season. And when you are, the man of God says, fighting against it for a long time to capture it. Do not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them,

because you can eat their fruit. Don't cut them down. Are the trees people that you should be sieged them? Verse twenty. However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls. Deuteronomy chapter twenty is over. Everybody, God bless Moses out, good night, don't chop down trees. Why'd you read that

weird scripture? Because you're doing it. You're doing it when you go to war and you are in a siege season and you are frustrated because it's taking what a long time? What is your tendency when something is taking a long time, when you've been fighting something for a long time, what do you start doing? Deuteronomy twenty verse nineteen says you might start chopping down things that God wants you to leave for your future. When you are

in a siege season. You might start bringing an acts to things that God is raising up to bless you at a later date. When you are in a siege season, you are frustrated and you are asking God for answers, and you are lashing out at the messengers that He sends to give you those answers, because it would be easy for you, if you're going through a siege season, to just start chopping down everything you see, because you need these trees in order to build ramps and towers

and battering rams. So sometimes you get in a season in your life and well, just anything will work to make you feel better, Anything will work to knock down a door, anything will work to survive. I don't even care if it's right or wrong. I don't even care if it's good or bad. I don't even care if it benefits my future. I just want to feel good right now. But I want to tell you relief is not the same as freedom. God doesn't intend for you to stay in this siege season forever. Oh yeah, I

said it. It's not always gonna be like this. It's not always gonna be like this, you know how I know. Verse twenty tells me everything I need to know. He said, you can cut down the trees that don't bear fruit and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls, until means it will. I'm gonna try that again until means it will. It will. It will fall, just not when you want it to.

So the test for you now is this, what do you do until and God says it's important for you not to start cutting down stuff that I am bringing forth in your life to feed you for who I created you to be. And this is kind of difficult to describe if you've been in the wilderness since you've been born, because there's no fruit trees in the wilderness. The only thing this generation has ever seen God feed them with was manna. Look at Exitus sixteen. This is

an annoying the scripture. The Lord gave it to me while Zeke was singing, thank you Zee. The Israelites ate Mana forty years until they came to a land that was settled. They ate Mana until they reached the border of Canaan. They ate something until the moment where God fed them something else. And I am concerned that God is trying to feed you something better, and you keep cutting it down. And I came to tell you, stop fighting what God is using to feed you. Stop fighting

the processes that God is using to mature you. Stop fighting those corrective moments that God wants to sit with you in and say, see this, do it different next time, because he will. He He will bring about everything he accomplishes in your life. He will bring about everything that He assigned for your life. He will bring about everything that He imagines and plans for your life. It's his plans. He will be with you as you face the things

that are too strong for you. But notice what Moses said, don't take an axe to the tree that's got your future fruit on it. And the thing about them was they didn't know much about trees. So they don't know that this tree is gonna bring me fruit because all I ever had was nana. When you never had good love, it's easy for you to settle for lust when you never had good friendship. It's easy for you to settle

for codependency when you never had real fruit. It's tempting for you to become frustrated and you say it is taken too long. I'm gonna handle this. I'm gonna handle this another way. Yeah, I'm gonna lay hands on them. Isn't that in the Bible. I'm gonna handle this the way I used to handle this. I got a Bible verse for it. Be careful. You might be chopping down something God wanted you to chew on. Later. You might be taking down a tree that is capable of bearing

much fruit. But watch this, it just isn't the season yet. It just isn't the season yet. Nobody's gonna chop down a tree that has fruit visible on it and use it for a battering ram. But what if the tree was bare, not because it didn't have the ability to bear fruit, but because it wasn't the season. For fruit. And what if you've got something in you, come on,

use your holy imagination for a moment. And what if there is something working in your life that Jeremiah twenty nine to eleven really is true, that He knows the plans he has for you, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. What is this really in me? But it's just not my season yet? Blessed this a man who walks not in the path of the wicked, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law

he meditates day and night. They will bear fruit in season, You will bear fruit in season. You will bear fruit in season. Do not eliminate in a season of frustration what God intends to use to bless you in the season of your favor. So then we have a question to ask, what am I attacking that God has actually to embrace. That's why I looked at you the other day. I said it happened for a reason, because I don't know why yet. But I'm not cutting down that tree.

I'm gonna let God do what God wants to do. When I saw the picture, Holly, I was like, well, it makes sense if I tell them stop chopping down trees that are gonna bear your fruit for the future. And I was like, you know what, they'll know exactly what that tree is for them, because the whole Bible started when somebody didn't know what to do with a tree and Moses said, we gotta get this tree thing right.

Eve Adam, y'all were buck naked all along. You're just now knowing that because you don't know what to do with the tree. We don't know how to do with a tree. Tell Jesus who took a tree and turned the instrument of death called the cross made from wood into the emblem of victory for the church that would bear his aim. You ever heard that part where Jesus said, I could call it do on legions of angels and

back all of y'all up wouldn't be anything either. And at the moment where they thought he said it is finished because he lost, he was winning. What if you're winning. What if you're winning where it really matters. What if you're winning where it really counts. What if you gained twenty pounds but it's not because you're undisciplined. What if you've been running your kids around and that's going to last a lifetime and you can lose twenty pounds in

three months. What if you're winning where it really matters. Resist the temptation to cut down something that God is growing because you don't have the patience to wait for it to become what it can be. I think I got to come on Coffee fam this week and break that down further. Chad, make space for me. I'm going to try, because the last thing I want to leave you with is remain, remain. Let that tree grow, Remain, remain. I just can't win. Man. If I'm making my family happy,

I'm making my boss mad, I just can't win. If I'm making my boss happy, I'm making my wife mad. I just can't win. I haven't made my wife happy in twelve years. I just can't win. I've heard it all, I've thought it all, except that last thing. I make all it pretty happy all the time. But I came to you with the beginning of last year, and I taught you the power of what the one day when, and I taught you that faith is not something simply for the future. Faith is the recognition of what God

is already doing right now. It's the one day, not wh e N, but the wi N of this day. And the Man of God said, when you go to war, and you will, you know you only got two choices, brother, the wilderness of wandering around in the same thing, or the war of trusting God to be with you as you go forward. And when you face that war, he said, I'll be with you. I will be with you. Now, that statement, as simple as it sounds, is really all you need to believe for what's next in your life.

And there are trees growing right now in your life that if you don't cut them down, they will be your future food. They will be future food. Moses would not go into the Promised Land himself, but he sent a generation because some of the things that are happening in your life right now that feel like failure, they

are actually just for your future. And the most beautiful thing about God's word in my life is that every time, every time I feel surrounded by the enemy, I have an opportunity to become even more connected to the vine. I read a scripture that helped me through one of the hardest seasons of my life in John fifteen, verse four, where Jesus said, remain in me as I also remain in you, because no branch can bear fruit by itself. Stop cutting yourself off from Christ when you struggle. Come

to him quicker when you sin. Come to him quicker when you doubt. Come to Him before you start drowning, and say help. Ask Peter it works. Come to him quicker in this season, And no matter how long it takes, he says, remain in me as I also remain in you. As the worship team begins to play, I want to remind you that you can't bear fruit by yourself. You must remain in the vine, and neither can you bear

fruit unless you remain in Jesus. There are some things in your life that are taken a little longer than you want them to take. I know. There are some victories in your life that, although promised, are not automatic. I know. And if you've never been to a wrestling match before, it looks kind of weird. If you've never worshiped through a storm before, it might feel kind of weird because you're so used to taking matters into your own hands. But I want to remind you what Holly

told Khalia. She said, a pin can happen anytime. A pin is still possible. God can turn your entire life around, and every regret can become a blessing if you remain in Him. So let's stand all over the auditorium. Please, no one trying to get to the doors. Let's respect the Holy Spirit enough to give a moment in his presence. Presence is to plan this year. Presence is the plan this year. I'm showing up for stuff this year. I'm staying in the vine. I'm letting the things that God

has planted in my life grow this year. And you know what, every bit of fruit that's not supposed to be on my tree anyway, somebody else can grow it. I'm done being busy just to be impressive. I'm done trying to post stuff to prove that I did stuff. Not this year. This year is going to be a root system year for me and Father. I thank you for the word. Oh it's so good to me. Lord. I could stay in it so much longer. But I thank you that long after I have stopped speaking, you

will still continue to speak. Now, God, I want to partner with you in this process because what I said is what I said, But what you say is what only you could say to each person in this room today. This message will mean something very different. There's an area in their life where they feel like they just can't win. I get the victory for a little bit, it slips away. I do better. For a little bit, it goes away. God, may we realize that some of the greatest growth in

our life happens underground. Some of the greatest cultivation will be of our character, and some of the fruit for our future. I pray that you would give them the armor of God today and that they would stand therefore, after they've done everything that they know to do, that they would stand like a tree planted, that they would not quit, not cut it off, and not stop, but that they would stand and a bye in the vibe,

bearing much fruit. Father. I even pray for those right now who are going through a pruning season where your gardenershears have been cutting back in their lives, and they've been perceiving it as a loss. But it's not a loss. It is preparation for the next stage of their fruitfulness in you. They will bear more fruit, they will teach more truth, they will have more wisdom, They will share more. Peace. Father, we are just branches. We only can grow if we

are in you. I thank you that they're in your hands. God. Amen. Amen, will you do the simplest thing in the world. I know it looks weird if you never did it, but just lift your hands in worship. And before one of the singers sings, I want you to open your mouth. Yeah, all over the room. Open your mouth and don't stop. Respond to the Lord. Tell him, Lord, I'm staying. I'm staying. I'm staying in faith in this seats. And God, I trust you in this seats, and just tell him what

you need to tell him. I don't want to just leave you with my words. I want you to have his spirit. Lord, I trust you in this Seatson. I thank you that you're greater. Lord. I thank you that you're greater, greater than what I faith, greater than what I fear. I thank you Lord that the is mine. I thank you that the victory is already won. I thank you has already worked out as it is in heaven,

shall it be on earth. In the name of Jesus. Now, let's begin to praise him, because we know anything could happen when we do anything is possible when we praise him. Might look weird if you never saw it before, but I'm praising him because it could turn around. I'm praising him because he's growing me by his grace. 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 Elevationchurch 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.