When in Ziklag

[Applause] good morning everybody great to see you today welcome to The Rock welcome online welcome guests in the room what an honor to worship with you I hope you'll be encouraged today you have a Bible turn with me to first samuel chapter 30 first samuel chapter 30 sometimes you go through seasons that are exhausting I prayed for some people this morning I don't know who you might be but I asked that God would bring them through the door or maybe they'd be watching somewhere that are going through a struggle I'm hoping there's some people here this morning that are going through a battle that are tired in your soul and sometimes life can be tiring can it Bible says in the book of Job a man is born of woman in a few days and full of trouble I'll tell you what that's the truth he doesn't take long to exist and breathe air in this world and you're full of trouble heartache and pain and questions and exhaustion where do we go you know somebody here today you wonder like what am I gonna do next where do I turn where do I find hope where do I find strength is there such a thing man David faced something like this I'm gonna jump into the middle of circumstances of David's life he's about to find the storm of his life where do we go Bible says in verse 1 then it happened you never know when a storm is gonna happen you never know when your life is going to become dust and ashes but when it happens it happens and you're in it then it happened when David and his men came to sick Lag on the third day that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Togeth and on Ziklag and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire and they took captive the women and all who were in it both small and great without killing anyone carried them off and went their way when David and his men came to the city behold it was burned with fire and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive then David and all the people who were with him lifted their voice and wept until there was no strength in them to weep now David his two wives have been taken captive I had known the jezreelite us and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him for all the people were embittered each one because of his sons and his daughters but David strengthened himself in the Lord his God Ziklag some people here this morning living in Ziklag maybe you know maybe what is that place he comes and he comes back from dealing with the Philistines it's almost like you leave one battle and sometimes before you finish that when you look and you got a new battle over here that's greater than the last it comes into the town of Ziklag where everybody's wives and children and homes and things were and as they're riding over the hill and Ziklag is down below you see the smoke rising from the disaster that used to be the town in which they lived nobody's there nobody's home there are no homes their wives are gone their children are gone and everything is burned with fire and their possessions have been raided by the Amalekites says they began to weep David's men and battle hardened mighty men of war wet until they had strength to weep no more one if you've ever been at that place I've heard people say it and I've lived it you have the same emotion you have the same pain you have the same outpouring to cry but you can cry no more and you sit and you stare and you feel the aching wrenching pain in your soul they wept until they could weep no more and just when it was awful and just when it was terrible David turns to those that were loyal to him those that loved him those that protected him in the cave a long time ago against King Saul and the betrayal that had happened those that provided for him and stood guard for him he looks to them and will they give him comfort will they give him words of encouragement absolutely not the very men who stood side-by-side to fight for David were picking up stones to stone him because they were embittered and blamed him for the loss of their sons and daughters there's nobody sick lag is the place where it feels like there is nobody Ziklag is the place where you're already down breathing your last breath and circumstances come and stomp on your ribs Ziklag is the place where you've lost your job you're driving home you're staring out the window wondering what can happen and how am I going to pay for these bills and just when you think that and feel that weight fall on your soul something goes wrong with your car right you have you been to Ziklag but the Ziklag is the place where that where everything is falling down and your family and you're trying everything you can try and nothing works and just when you're trying to resolve these problems with your children and do battle against rebellion and do battle against adolescents you go to seek comfort in your spouse and now you find that you only have a problem with your spouse Ziklag is when you leave the doctor's office with a fatal diagnosis and come home and find divorce papers on the counter burned with fire Ziklag Zig lag is the place where your past accomplishments don't matter I understand that David we're talking about right here David is a warrior David is a hero was David had already long ago calm down when Goliath of Gath had the Israelite army paralyzed in fear in the valley and David came to deliver supplies to his brothers and he hears the mockery of Goliath of Gath and who is this guy I will fight him nobody had heard of David before that David comes down and he's brought before King Saul and King Saul's like what is a shepherd boy and David says I guard my father Jesse's sheep and one time a lion came in and tried to take a lamb and another time a bear and I seized him by his beard and I struck him down and I will fight this giant just the same Saul says try this armor on David said I don't need this armor I don't need that I come in the name of the Lord my God and David does not walk skip or crawl to the battlefield he runs to meet you lieth head-on with a sling in his stone slays the Giant takes his own sword and cuts off his head and walks into town in a parade of which he is the hero where people are singing songs David was a hero but it doesn't matter now does it old stories don't mend doesn't matter what your degree was in it doesn't matter what education you had it doesn't matter what kind of hometown hero you were it doesn't matter what kind of promotions you got at your job it doesn't matter what your health used to be it doesn't matter what your family used to be because now we're in Ziklag it doesn't matter who was loyal to you because now they're picking up stones and where do you go verse 6 says in the middle of that living nightmare maybe you're in it David strengthened himself in the Lord his God David does not quit on God David does not blame God he does not leave God he does not find fault with God he does not curse God's name David honkers down in the only place left sometimes I think the Lord brings us into a Ziklag season of our life to remind us that he is all we need and he has all we have ever needed he is the only source of our strength he is the only true power he is the only true provider it is from his hand that we call for help and sometimes we lean on so many things we forget that we needed him as bad as we do and when we come to Ziklag there is no one and nothing and david strengthens himself and the Lord his God to the point where he would later write some boast in chariots and summon horses but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God some boast in the things of this world the things they have their past accomplishments the crutches upon which they lean but we will boast in the name of the Lord our God David would write I will lift up my eyes to the mountains from where so my help come my help comes from the Lord somebody here this morning you need to strengthen yourself in the Lord your God because I'm here to tell you sometimes there's nobody left I think about Joseph in the prison Joseph a righteous man godly man you understand Ziklag is not punishment Ziklag is not consequence of sin sometimes for those that have set gasoline on their life and burned your own life down with sin that's a different sermon Ziklag is not your fault sometimes things happen that are not your fault and we're tempted to ask what did i do why do I deserve this what's wrong in my life that this is happening to me sometimes nothing sometimes you're just in Ziklag he's just funny you didn't do anything wrong you didn't light your life on fire you didn't rebel and deny against God sometimes you just live in Ziklag because that's what this broken world is Joseph's feet he didn't deserve it didn't do anything wrong hidden sin against God and he wasn't being chastised or disciplined or anything judged Joseph was a righteous young man his father Jacob loved him gave him a present coat of many colors Joseph I made this coat for you and he puts it on him and he loves him and his brothers are jealous they're out there out in the field they're out in the wilderness doing their father's bidding and the brothers hatch a plan some of them want to kill Joseph one of the brothers intervenes I don't think we should kill him guys so they pushed Joseph in a pit and they strip his coat of many colors a symbol of his father's love for him and they rip it all up and they put animal blood on the coat they sell Joseph on a slave train a slave caravan down to Egypt some gypsies are coming by they they hate want a slave sure here you go they sell Joseph into slavery headed to a foreign land of a foreign god they come back to their father Jacob and they crush his soul your beloved son Joseph this is his coat this is all we could get he was torn apart and he was killed by wild animals and he is no more and his father weeps bitterly till he can weep no more Joseph has gone into Egypt nobody knows he's there his brothers will never tell Joseph is a slave he's a foreigner he's beholden to an owner as a piece of property where do you go does it matter that your father loved you it doesn't matter that your father was wealthy it doesn't matter that your family is known it doesn't matter that you were a good boy it doesn't matter nothing matters now because now you're in a zig lag of your own kind and it's just getting started he works for a man named Potiphar he's owned by him Joseph is faithful because he doesn't blame God he understands that sometimes things are burning down around you but you trust that God knows more than you know many people they blame God and walk away at the first sign of fire but Joseph trusts God knows more than I know and I'm still going to be faithful to him and I still call out to him and Joseph strengthened himself in the Lord and so he does the bidding of his slave owner Potiphar's Egyptian man and he does so well that Potiphar begins to entrust him and give him more influence and give him more domain over his estate and he becomes the supreme manager of all of Potiphar's affairs he manages his house his affairs his finances and one day Potiphar says I have to leave town on business and I'm leaving you in charge of everything and I'm leaving you in the care of my wife and that's when Potiphar's wife comes to Joseph with an offer and Joseph says I cannot do this thing against the Lord my god Potiphar's wife grabs Joseph's coat cloak whatever grabs onto his garment and Joseph trying to pull Joseph into sin sometimes Satan will try to pull you into sin try to urge you to light everything on fire in your life and Joseph lets it go in her hand and he runs out the door and she screams and she calls for the guards and she tells a lie this will be the second time lies have been told about Joseph first time well well your son Joseph was ripped up by wild animals and he's dead it's a lie but nobody knows now she says he tried to assault me he tried to attack me and I barely escaped him this is his coat this is his garment look I was able to grab this off him to prove that he attacked me everybody believes her nobody believes Joseph and the only man that ever trusted him his most angry Potiphar and he is thrown into the prison Ziklag is when you're a slave in Egypt and you get falsely accused of assault and thrown in prison and you know what the Bible says the Lord was with Joseph in the prison the Lord was with Joseph in the prison sometimes and Ziklag God is just getting started doing what he's doing in your life sometimes that's exactly where he needs you to do what he's going to do Daniel in the lion's den he was faithful to his God he too like Joseph before him was an exile from a foreign and a slave of sorts in battle on a foreign country of foreign gods and evil kings and he was faithful to his God he was faithful and his responsibility and he climbed in the ranks and he was given great responsibility under King Darius and so much so that he had the jealousy of the other government officials and they hatched a plan to play to the Kings ego that for thirty days no one could pray to any God except you O king and it was not to be unsealed by the law of the Medes and the Persians and they say the King signed it Daniel was not around to stop it the king signed it into law and the Bible says when Daniel knew that the injunction had been signed he went back to his house and he opened the windows he was unashamed he was not gonna hide he was like gonna fake it he opened his windows like he did before and he prayed three times a day as was his custom they were ready they had set the trap in regard to his God and they come in and they arrest Daniel they bring him before the king and they remind the King the law can not be undone according to the seal of the Medes and the Persians and Daniel must die by mouth of lion Ziklag but you're trying to do right you're trying to be faithful you're trying to be righteous you're trying to be honorable and it seems that something only piles on top of it and runs you into the lion's den in the Bible says they open it up and they throw Daniel down we would later learn that these were starving Lions looking to tear someone apart and they throw Daniel down there and they seal it over top and the King does not eat and the King does not sleep all night he has an agony in his bed and at the break of dawn King Darius comes running and he call you opened the den and they opened the den and he calls down and desperation Daniel are you in there and through a divine miracle he hears back Oh King live forever and the first words out of Daniels mouth my God has shut the lice sent his angel and he shut the lion's mouth who was in there nobody who was in the prison with Joseph nobody that mattered there was nobody to help the one that loved him and the only one in there lied to him Joseph said when you get out of here when you go back to the fair you tell him I'm here and you tell him what happened you tell him the true story and what God has done in me he said okay okay okay and he doesn't do it Daniel is thrown down in the Lions and there's nobody there except a lion pacing back and forth staring Daniel down where did he go not the Christian bookstore there's no book for that where did he go there's no podcast to download and Ziklag you understand there's nowhere to go where did he go there's no antidepressants on the Shelf at this point and that's pretty depressing like anybody's gonna have a condition in that moment and there's nowhere to reach there's no friend to call there are no friends left and there's no pastor to meet with you're all alone sometimes there are circumstances where everything has been burned so far to the ground that there's nowhere to go there's no clever anecdote for it there's no motivational speaker for it you've got nowhere to go except one place the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and Daniel said God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth he strengthened himself and the Lord is God Jonah fainting away and the fish remembered the Lord Spence what sick leg does you remember who God is because you have no choice you somebody this morning needs to remember the Lord needs to remember the Lord that the Lord is with you in the prison he is with you in the den and when everybody is gone and all the promises were false and people that said they would be there aren't God stands next to you let's look at Romans chapter 8 what do we need to remember oh man somebody in Ziklag be strengthened this morning in the Lord be strengthened in the Lord your God do you know the Lord the Bible says he is our refuge and our strength in our ever-present help in time of trouble maybe you're in a time of trouble Jonah remembered the Lord maybe you need to remember the Lord what do you need to remember Romans 8:35 says this who will separate us from the love of Christ who will separate us will tribulation maybe you're in tribulation David was in great tribulation when he came into Ziklag it's full of tribulation or distress David was greatly distressed maybe you're distressed will that separate you from the love of Christ or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword well any of that separate you from the love of Christ just as it is written for your sake we are being put to death all day long we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered sometimes our life feels like that but in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us he said for I am convinced that neither death nor life some people some people on their death bed you're talking to somebody right now you were just diagnosed and you're staring death in the face because of what they told you somebody on a hospital bed somewhere they're looking death in the eye will that be able to separate you from the love of Christ is that what finishes you off in your soul absolutely not it says for death neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities spiritual darkness attacking your mind attacking your heart attacking your family things present whatever's going on now things to come what you're worried about tomorrow powers height depth or any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord you need to remember that God loves you the Bible says through the Prophet Jeremiah I have loved them with an everlasting love and maybe your dad didn't do that maybe you had a terrible father in this world and he said he would love you but he didn't maybe your mom didn't do that she said I love you but their actions spoke far different maybe your husband stood at the altar of marriage and pledged things to love you till death do us part but it was only a few years until you parted things in this world separate us from the love of each other there were things in David's men and in their hearts and the circumstances of Ziklag they said they'd be with David forever they were in the cave and they said they would give their very lives for him until the right circumstances came and they picked up stones to stone him maybe your wife said she would love you but she did your friends they promised things and they said they would be there no matter what and I will never leave you and I got your back until the right things happened and then they were gone never to be seen again the Bible comes along amidst all the lies of man all the disappointment of people in this world where their love was conditional their love was broken and their promises were they were empty in the end and God says nothing I don't know about all that but I will never book of Hebrews I will never leave you nor forsake you I have loved you with an everlasting love and no matter what comes death hell high water I will not stop loving you I will never leave you high debt spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places nothing will separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus it is why he declared it a believer sometimes we are told by the enemy we are told by people that Satan is using in our life that the sins of our past have separated us from the love of Christ or the sins of yesterday and you may know the Lord and you may believe for salvation but you made some mistakes and you fell into some trouble and you got some problems and now you start to wonder it has God left me does God no longer love me because I did this thing and I have this thing and there's this list of problems that are going on in my life lately and maybe God doesn't love me anymore you need to be reminded you need to remember like Jonah while he was fading away who your God is because your God has said when he took your sin to the cross he declared it finished at the cross it is finished Satan tries to unfinish it all the time our sins our mistakes our past our former captivity says he came to set the captive free and he nailed our sin what sir Colossians 2 says it says the decree against stuffs he has taken out of the way and nailed it to the cross and Satan and people and people that we thought loved us often tried to take it off the cross and nail it back to your soul and then we question is this and Ziklag we question it's like we can't see clearly through the smoke of the battle that surrounds us and we have all these fights that this is because of your past and God doesn't really love you and you're not really saved and you stand condemned and you deserve it to be so and we need to rehear the words of Jesus speak to our heart and defeat the lies of the enemy when he said it is finished God loves you sometimes we forget that in Ziklag God loved David what a mess but God loved him what a mess Joseph's life what a colossal mess this was and you know why the Lord was with him in the prison because he loved him you know why he shut that lion's mouth down in that dark lion's den in a foreign land because he loved him I don't know why Ziklag happens sometimes I really don't but I know God is there he strengthened himself and the Lord his God I wonder what David remembered when he strengthened himself in the storm let's look at 1st Samuel chapter 16 got some babies up in here it's okay they're gonna hear a guy with five kids complain about fussing babies that would be the pinnacle of hypocrisy for me [Music] that's all right if babies aren't born the whole church is going to get old and die and it'll be boring and awful so we got to have some babies have some kids right I got to have some some fresh blood in here challenging us a long time ago before David got to Ziklag he was just a shepherd boy what did he do he strengthened himself in the Lord and Ziklag he was a shepherd boy nobody knew him family wasn't known his father wasn't some powerful man necessarily anything like that and nobody knew him God spoke through the prophet Samuel that Saul had forsaken his calling as the king and God was gonna replace him as the king and it was going to come out of Jesse's house so he sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse's house listen to this sends him to his house and he says need to take a look at the boys please need to take a look at your sons a lot of handsome sons that Jesse had starts marching the boys out in handsome strapping order brings one out you say what about this one Samuel the Prophet no nice kid no brings another one out handsome capable smart strong leader nope he brings another one I read like six or seven boys out he's a marching him out marching him out whatever it brings a bunch of kids out big big guys and he's like nope nope nope nope What's it saying Zach like David strengthened himself in the Lord did God take his mind back to this moment and David David at this point in isn't even important enough to invite to the party look what the Bible says Samuel Sarah he's like wait a second he's like is this it verse 11 and Samuel said to Jesse are these all the children and he Jesse said there remains yet the youngest and behold he is tending the Sheep I love this Samuel said to Jesse send and bring him for we will not sit down until he comes here you go get that boy and nobody's sitting down until he comes in this room he wasn't even important enough to invite as is this these all the boys this is where God told me to come here and he said it's gonna be one of your son's gonna be anointed king and I've seen them all and God is not spoken there anybody else I mean I guess there is one there's the youngest he describes him he describes him by what he thinks disqualifies him you understand that there is the youngest why did he need to say that still a son what well there's the youngest like what is it my fill it in Jesse obviously it's not gonna be him he's tending the Sheep he describes him by the duty that is so low he the youngest tending the Sheep we're talking about a king here we're not talk about a shepherd boy that's the youngest kid in the house how is it not these guys you ever feel like that Satan makes you feel like that that you're not even important enough to invite to the party then you hear the voices of the enemy but God is calling God has spoken to your heart just the same and he's called to your soul and he saved you for a purpose and he gifted you for a function in the body of Christ to bring him glory but the enemy has people paralyzed in their seats not functioning in the body because he's trying to show you all the other sons of Jesse and go well if they're not doing it how do you think you're gonna do it if them who is greatly more qualified than you are how do you think you're ever gonna do it because they're not even doing it yet you feel God mysteriously calling I think the Lord is speaking I think the Lord is God well if they don't have the past that you have why would you think you would be called to do that with the past that you've got and all of these disqualify you're just the youngest tending your father's see if you're not that man Samuel the Prophet says go get the kid did one of the boys try to sit down and wait whoa a wolf son stand back up ain't nobody sitting down until that other kid walks in here I always imagined Jesse shined up all his other boys knowing that Samuel was coming that guy son this is we're talking King talk here yeah let's get some clothes clean it cooling the hair let's clean it up like we're talking one of you as a king walk like a king dressed like a king act like a king David he said somebody go get the kid hurry up about so David comes in from the sheep pasture what do you smell like look what the Bible says he sent and brought him in now he was ruddy you know kind of sun-baked red-faced you know dark tan middle-eastern boy coming all dirty you know he's got his sheep gear on got his sandals on what was he stepping in you know he's wrestling sheep herding isn't like you see in a movie where you're like come cheap to me and you know like might my neighbor ten sheep and I watched my neighbor Throwdown with sheep like he I watched him put him in a headlock and throw get in there he's me and home and he's got one leg up I'm not kidding anyone I'm telling you like sheep hurting and he's pushing and pulling in there like pushing back and bumping heads and he's a filthy mess his feet are just flattening everything I've watched it happen I got a backup I'm like well this is a mess that's how David came in David comes in somebody call me there's no one watching the Sheep what's what's who are you who are these people it was ruddy he was young he was a shepherd boy he was unqualified he was uneducated listen to this part he was unimportant too man with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance and the Lord said arise anoint him for this is he that's the one that dirty kid right there that young boy the one that wasn't important enough by man to invite pour the oil on his head this boy is the king praise the Lord Samuel took the Horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers all the important people stood around all right and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward what does the Bible say in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 consider your calling brethren consider your calling brethren not many mighty not many noble not many wise not many strong is that God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the wise that's all of us sitting here right now like we look around he tries to draw our attention to the mighty to the wise to the nobles of the important of the rich all of these things and the Lord is calling he says consider your calling he doesn't say for the few of you that are called in the rest of you sit and watch he says consider your calling brethren you know him if you've been saved by him if he is your Redeemer if he is your Savior he has called you for a reason he has saved you for a reason and called you for a purpose to bring him glory and to function and fulfill part of the Great Commission because he is our king you have a calling did David when he strengthened himself in the Lord his God after all of that after the oil was poured on his head years later in a mess what did he think when he stood up from that anointing ceremony what did he think when he walked okay I got she to take care of he's got oil on his head he did he walk back out and in space like what like the king like when he sat down in the hot Sun watching those sheep later that day what was he thinking about was he scared to death it was that real was he excited did he pray they'd cry I would have thrown up years past and now he's in sick leg he's still not the king and everybody hates him and everything is burned with fire and everybody's gone strengthened himself you know what somebody needs to remember here today some of us you were saved I don't know when I don't know where I don't know how I don't know what you were saved in Jesus and somewhere along the line God spoke to your heart powerfully you had a moment there's only a handful sometimes of those moments in our lives those trajectory changing moment that changed David's life he was a shepherd boy gonna manage to be a part of the fire I'm gonna run the farm until that day he met Samuel and he knelt down and that oil came over his head and he said this is he his trajectory changed forever there aren't a ton of those moments in our lives but some believers here this morning maybe it was five years ago 10 years ago 20 years ago 40 years ago you had a moment with God and you felt in your soul the Lord speak this is your purpose this is what I saved you for I remember that I think about it sometimes I have to remember it sometimes because we get in sick like we forget who we are and what we were called for I remember that old man preaching maybe I was 20 years old or something I remember sitting there and he said he said maybe I'm talking to some young man and I felt like like I just thought there were 5,000 people in that room I knew I knew I'm not the guy that wants to think that God's always talking to me like I thought what like so maybe I'm talking to some young man here I want to tell you something right now maybe God is talking to some young man here right now right in here today I remember that old guy voice above a whisper and he said God is calling you God is speaking to you and you know his voice and I thought I started losing it I just thought I've never I've never there's only a handful of those times I don't have 50 of those stories I had that one and it was so clear that wasn't my salvation that was my purpose that Jesus saved me for it was so crystal clear I thought I said with the prophet Isaiah in my soul here am i Lord send me I I hear you it was a razor-sharp calling it was a laser-focused purpose that I thought and I said to God I say still I will go where you want me to go I'll say what you want me to say if you provided if you I was scared to death I wanted to vomit and I thought I know that this is my thing this is my thing and I will do it and I will do it forever it was like God sat down at the table of my life and wiped it clean every plan every ambition every business idea every childhood dream this shoved it all on the floor of the table and sat down said come and follow me and you do this and I thought when I walked away that old man he prayed for us that in the morning I'd be preaching Jesus to people I thought what did David think when was it gonna it still hangs in Ziklag it still hasn't happened he works for solid he wants to kill him he's throwing spears across the pallet this is how it was gonna go this is what I was anointed for sometimes sometimes God calls you but it isn't the moment sometimes God calls you but it isn't the season but he plants that seed in your heart you can't shake it I couldn't shake it I work jobs I got married I had kids I couldn't shake it and I knew I mean I would just go back to that and back to that I thought man I know God called me to do something and then and then God opens doors at the right time and Ziklag what David doesn't realize his sick flag was the door in the next chapter Saul will fall dead on the battlefields and David will arrive the crown will fall on his head and it will go all the way back to that anointed moment in sick lag when we question the most sometimes that is the door through which God calls us to say now is the time now is the moment it was so clear but sometimes it gets so foggy in the fight listen I don't say this to to be annoying or to be I'm not in a mood I'm not mad I just just trying to maybe encourage somebody's heart sometimes I have to remember the calling I have to remember wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute what did God call me for because what I didn't see when I got prayed for by that old man when the Lord spoke to my heart and I said here am i Lord send me I didn't see all the emails that would come okay you can email me it's okay I just but I didn't see all the emails hate just hate I'm not sad I'm not fussing I don't need you to come up and hugs and kisses it's okay pass to us we love even if people though I don't need them I just didn't see it I didn't see the perpetual criticisms like woodpeckers in my soul like just just I didn't see the life sucking meetings about nothing where I feared at times I hope Jesus doesn't come back right now and find me doing this I want him to come back now and find me doing this right this is what I want this is what he called before let's see I told you how to do it you said lay like this is what I want I don't want to head to be debating silliness i i i don't want to you know some people the bible says there's a gift of administration's and praise god for people that are here and serve in that capacity and help but there are times i get pulled into administrative duties and the management and project listen i'm excited about what's going on in the church I'm excited about the future I'm excited about the impact of the gospel down the road but I'm here to tell you and I'm okay saying it God didn't call me on that day to build a building like that's not what he saved me for and it's a tool it's as tool as much of a van or a bus or a computer and I'm fine with that but that's not my purpose and that's not what I'm giving my energy to I'm not out there I'm not gonna put a hard hat on and be a project manager like and I have felt that pull and I have felt this and go to this and go to that and do this and listen to this and let me suck the life out of you for this and I think man oh and sometimes I have to come back on a Sunday morning right now during the worship in tears encouraged and sometimes I have to get down and strengthen myself in the Lord and we go wait a second what did he call me for I'll tell you what he called me for he called me for this he called me for here he called me to proclaim him and bring him glory and all of the other peripheral stuff can burn down if we proclaim Jesus as the king remember what he saved strengthen yourself in the Lord he loves you in the storm he called you for a purpose and sometimes the only thing that carries me through is I have to say out loud to myself Jesus is coming like no matter what I'm yeah I come in too sick lag well Jesus is coming soon and he said it let not your heart be troubled if I go to prepare a place for you I'm coming again to receive you unto myself that where I am you may be also and I say come quickly Lord Jesus but until he does have to remind myself that though though these temporal things and though our flesh decays the Bible says we are we are looking not at the things which are seen but the things which are not seen things are seen are temporal the things which are not seen are eternal and sometimes we're all caught in the temporal caught in the visible and I have to look to the eternal and goal oh yeah oh yeah did David when he strengthened himself in the Lord remember that moment as a shepherd boy with the oil dripping off his head and in sick let go that's right that's right though this still this would you bow for prayer this morning maybe you're discouraged man I hope God sent somebody here discouraged and I hope the Word of God I hope the Spirit of the Living God not a pastor not a song I hope this power of God strengthens your soul what is it are you in a storm do you know Ziklag well let the Lord have you in it that might be the door to what God has spoken to your heart but his truth and his word warm your cold tired soul call out to him right now Lord I'm sick lag I don't know what to do I don't know where it ends asking for hope asking for encouragement Joseph's in the prison the Lord was with Joseph and the Lord is with you maybe you're in the prison and everybody's gone the Lions are stalking the den is dark do not look at the things which are seen close your eyes surrender your heart and set it on the things which are not seen because though your heart is troubled Jesus said don't let it be troubled I will not leave you as orphans I'm coming I'm coming take a minute and strengthen yourself in the Lord this morning

Channel: The Rock Church

Views: 2,429

Rating: 4.9215684 out of 5

Keywords: the rock church, rock, church, Fenton, God, Jesus, Byron, Linden, Michigan, Saved, Baptism, Christ, christian, faith, non-denominational, 1 samuel 30, david (religious leader), religion (tv genre), Ziklag, old testament, bible study, bible study methods, jesus is the one

Id: 1EeIfxhm8hc

Length: 45min 14sec (2714 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 11 2019