How to Behave in a Cave

can we stand can we stand i want us just to stand to our feet and and uh uh i'm just gonna read the first two verses and then i'll allude to the other verses i'm gonna read the first two verses then i'll allude to the other ones of this text this is what it says it says i cried unto the lord with my voice with my voice unto the lord did i make my supplication i poured out my complaint before him i showed before him my trouble let us pray god with our heads bowed and her hearts receptive to your word ask you today to make our tongue a ready writer's pen i ask you today to meet the needs of the people god i truly believe that you placed a message on my heart for such a time as this and to the best of my ability i want to preach this message because i believe it is a word in season god i believe for such a time as this you've given me this word now anointed i pray in jesus name amen you may be seated i want to talk to you about how to behave in a cave how to behave in a cave now now let me give you the background of the story david at age 17 was anointed to be the king of israel but i want you to know something he was 30 before he actually became king so it was 13 years after he was anointed until he actually became the king now if you know the story saul became very jealous see saul was the king and he became very jealous of david especially after david killed goliath the people would sing this is the song saul's killed his thousands but david's killed his ten thousands jealousy by the way folks the bible says jealousy is as cruel as the grave jealousy will destroy you it will destroy your life and he was very jealous and literally was trying to kill david david was in a cave at a duluth hiding out for his life he was discouraged he was disoriented he was depressed he was disenchanted he was dismayed he was hiding out for his life here in this cave and here's what i want you to know i truly believe if god's going to use a person greatly you're going to have some cave experiences in your life if god's going to use a person greatly you're going to have some cave experiences a.w tozer said i doubt that god can use a man or woman greatly until he first hurts them deeply i doubt that god can use us greatly until he first hurts us deeply charles stanley said god can't bless you until he bleeds you jerry falwell said the life that pleases god is often painful and difficult somebody said i want to be a leader well make sure you know this if you're leading you're bleeding if you're leading your bleeding because that goes with it they will be cave experiences in genesis 32 we read about a man by the name of jacob and you know the story of jacob jacob wrestled with the angel of god and finally wrestling with that angel jacob said to the angel of god i'm not going to let you go until you bless me the bible says that angel took his hand and touched jacob's side and his help was out of socket from that point on his help was out of socket because he had the blessing of god now if we saw jacob he would have walked up limping and we would have said jacob what happened and he would have said i got blessed i got blessed let me tell you something you know how you can know if a person's been blessed you know how you can know if god's done a deep work in somebody's life they're no longer strutting they're limping they're no longer strutting they're limping because they've been in a cave and they've had an experience and god's done a deep work in their lives and genesis 32 verse 28 it says your names no longer going to be called jacob but israel for as a prince wait he wasn't a prince before his hip got out of socket but because your hip's out of socket you're a prince now and you've got power with god and with men and you've prevailed you want power with god you want influence with men i'll tell you what it's going to mean it's going to mean some time in a cave it's going to mean you're limping and not strutting it's going to mean your world's collapsed and you had no choice but to depend on almighty god see i'm talking this morning about how to behave in a cave and this is what i've learned it's easier to act like a christian than it is to react like a christian it's easier to act like a christian than it is to react like a christian let me tell you something any old dead fish can float downstream but it takes a live one to swim against the current amen let me tell you something any dog any dog will run while the trail's hot but it's when the trail's cold that that dog stays in the race that really matters get what i'm saying david was in a cave going through a very difficult time you say pastor i'm in a cave well let me let me make a statement you're either in a cave you just got out of a cave or you're heading into a cave i'll promise you that and folks it's how we behave in the cave that makes all the difference in the world so what should you do pastor when you're in a cave let me tell you something let me give you six things and these are these are not my things these are right out of the word of god first of all when you're in a cave you need to pray you need to pray look what david said in verse 1 he said i cried unto the lord i cried unto the lord you know what i've learned there are things that's going to happen in your life that you can't talk to nobody about but you can talk to god about it there's things that are going to happen that you can't talk to nobody about you're not comfortable talking to anybody about it but you can talk to god about it and i want you to know something i want you to know something you can do more than pray after you've prayed but you can't do any more than pray until you have prayed you can do more than pray after you've prayed but you can't do any more than pray until you have prayed so if you're in a cave what do you recommend pastor you cry out to god you pray and you talk to god you pray and you talk to god there's a second thing you need to do i need to do when when we're in a cave we need to trust we need to trust i i love this verse i'd never noticed it till i started putting together this message when i'm overwhelmed that means like when my spirit is muffled you alone know the way i should turn wait so they're going to be times that you can't trust anybody else and you can't trust yourself they're going to be times that you can't trust anybody else and you can't even trust you you say well i i can trust me i don't know why you would trust yourself hey listen i don't know why i would trust me when god said my heart is desperately wicked here's what i want you to say god i don't i don't understand but lord i'm just going to lean in and i'm just going to trust you i don't understand god i don't understand why it's happening but i'm going to trust you i don't even hey let me tell you something when you don't know what to do you better get a verse in the bible when you don't know what to do somebody said well i just feel let me let me tell you something feelings are fickle feelings come and go i'm just i'm just not in love oh get real to quote the infamous tina turner what's love got to do with it no it's about obeying god and doing what god says when i don't trust me so i'm going to lean on the word of god charles spurgeon uh i recently read a great book by the way i read a great book by charles spurgeon's wife called susie susie a wonderful wonderful uh christian lady susie spurgeon she gave away over 200 000 books to poverty-stricken pastors it's a wonderful she's just a she was a wonderful godly lady spurgeon's wife you know what i believe behind every successful man is a surprise woman but spurgeon said these words he said god's too loving to be unkind he's too wise to be mistaken and when you can't trace his hand you trust his heart you trust god let me let me tell you there was a man in the bible jacob and uh there was a famine in the land and people were starving to death and jacob thought his son joseph was dead there was a famine in the land he thought everybody was going to starve to death he thought his son joseph was dead he thought another one of his sons simeon was a was dead and he made this statement look what he said all these things are against me folks you ever feel like that goodness gracious everything's against me everything's against me if i made my mark they paint the wall everything every everybody's against me and that's how he felt but you know what he didn't know joseph wasn't dead he was over the entire food supply in the land joseph wasn't dead he was alive over the food supply and his other son simeon was with joseph now joseph said everything is against me everything is against me but look what god said in romans 8 and 28 all things work together for good to them that love god jacob thought everything was against him and god said i'm working on things for you here's what i want you to see when you're in that cave you pray when you're in that cave you trust when you're in that cave you stand alone if you must you stand alone if you must i want you to know something when you please god it doesn't matter who you don't please but if you don't please god it doesn't matter who you do please here's what i want you to be look here you can have peace with everybody you can be a people pleaser your favorite color can be plaid you can stand firmly on both sides of every issue but you hear me if you're not at peace with god you'll be miserable if you're not at peace with god you'll be miserable and i'll say stand alone if you must look what david said look what he said he said i looked on my right hand i looked on my right hand and beheld there was no man it's like the lone ranger long ranger gets surrounded by all those indians and he says what are we going to do tonto tonto said what do you mean we white man i looked on my right hand and no one was there and no one knew me refuge failed me no one cared for my soul see pastor it will never happen to me let me tell you something i wouldn't rule that out the great apostle paul in second timothy said at my first hearing no man stood with me but all men forsake me wait but the next verse he said notwithstanding the lord stood with me not with hey listen he may walk out but the lord won't walk out she may walk out but the lord won't walk out you may lose the job but god won't leave you i want you to know no matter what happens stand for god stand for god stand alone if you must let me tell you the fourth thing i'd say to you delighting god delight in god notice what verse 5 says i cried unto the lord i said god you're my refuge you are my refuge psalms 46 and 1 says this god is our refuge i thought well that's good what what does it mean refuge you ever think about it what does it mean it means a safe place in the middle of a storm a safe place in the middle of a storm let me tell you something safety is not the absence of storms safety is the presence of the savior i want you to know i'd rather be in a storm with jesus than be in a calm without him amen i was preaching in fredericktown missouri and i got up naked made a statement i said sometimes god calms the raging storm but sometimes he lets the storm rage and he calms me a young lady was sitting in the crowd and when i said that he calms me she said that's a song and she wrote a song he comes to me true story went to number one in the charts they forgot my name but it went to number one in the chart he's my refuge but look look he's not only my refuge he's my portion he's my portion see when the children of israel went into the promised land according to deuteronomy 10 and 9 they got an inheritance the land was divided among the tribes but the levites didn't get a portion because god said i'm your portion they didn't get a portion he said i'm your portion you know what god wants us to know he's our portion he's our source he's our resource he's our happiness he's our joy he's our blessing i am your portion let me let me say something you know this is the best thing out this is the best thing i'll say psalms 37 and 4 says delight thyself in the lord and he'll give you the desires of your heart you want to make sure that you don't let your desires exceed your delight you want to make sure you don't let your desires exceed your delight delight yourself in the lord let me let me tell you the fifth thing sympathize sympathize you said pastor what are you talking about attend under my cry look i am brought very low not just low but i'm broke very low let me tell you something i believe that most of the things that happened to us god allows to happen to us so we can be a help to other people i believe most the things that happen to us in life we think it's totally about us but it's not because second corinthians 1 4 says who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves we're comforted of god we go through things in life and god helps us but god does not comfort us to make us comfortable god comforts us to make us comforters we go through things in life because god wants us to be able to sympathize and help other people one of the saddest cause i ever got was from a man years ago i'll never forget it said pastor benny my wife and i didn't get together the right way i said is that right he said we didn't get together the right way i said i hate that but you're together now he said my wife started being unfaithful to me and he said i picked up the phone and i called her first husband and i said i want to apologize to you for what i did to you i didn't know how you felt but i know how you feel now let me tell you something folks there's something about i know how you feel now whatever that is and god uses the struggles in our lives so i know how you feel now so we can be a help to other people let me tell you the sixth thing that you gotta learn in a cave is to praise it's to praise look look what he said in verse seven bring my soul out of prison look that i may praise thy name this is what i believe i believe folks when you're walking through a difficult time that praise comes from a different place i believe when you're walking through hail i believe your praise comes from a different place that's why the bible says in isaiah for the spirit of heaviness put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness put on the garment of praise see here's what i've come to realize you can't always praise the lord for your family because she might have just walked out he might have just left you can't always praise the lord for your health because you may be dying of cancer you can't always praise god for your job because you may have lost your job you can't always praise god for your children because even though you raised them right doesn't mean they'll always do what's right you can't always praise god for all of that but i'll tell you what you can do you can always praise god for who he is you can always praise god that he'll never leave you nor forsake you you can always praise god that he's that friend that's sticking closer than a brother you can always praise god that though we go through hardships he's going to see us through he's going to see us through he's going to see us through what i've learned on the way to the throne there's going to be some trials what i've learned on the way to the palace there's going to be some persecution on the way to honor there's going to be some hurt on the way to promotion there's going to be some pain and on the way to the coronation they're gonna be some caves they're gonna be some caves last night i didn't mean to share this but i closed with it i'm reading a biography on d l moody d l moody said in 1871 he was pastoring in chicago when the chicago fires came d.l moody said my church burnt down my home burnt down all was salvaged from my home was a little cast iron stove i lost it all he said i went through a tough depressing time and he said one day i was thinking god we can build the house back we can build the church back deal moody said god who's going to build me back who's going to build me back and he said i was walking in new york and i started praising the lord and god inhabits the praises of his people god inhabits the praises of his people and he said the presence of god came upon me he said the presence of god came upon me in a great way and i went to a house and said to a friend of mine can i have a room i just need to be alone with god and he said god's presence was so great i finally said god just stay your hand because if it's any greater i can't stand it god's dl moody said after that i preached the very same messages but he said all the results were different he said there was a blessing on my life like i've never been on my bless all my life let me tell you what dl moody did he behaved in the cave he lost everything and decided i'm gonna praise the lord though he slays me yet i'm gonna trust him though he slays me yet i'm gonna trust him no matter what happens in my life we have to make a commitment i am going to praise the lord that's behaving in the cave

Channel: Rock Springs Church

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Keywords: Rock Springs Church, rock springs, rockspringslive, rockspringschurch, RS_Macon, RS_Branch, benny_tate, Benny Tate, Dr. Benny Tate, Pastor Benny Tate, Milner GA, Rocksprings Church, Rock Springs Worship, Rocksprings Worship, rs_college

Id: N1iiIrjv7CE

Length: 28min 4sec (1684 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 15 2021