Elevation with Steven Furtick - Just The 2 Of Us

Episode Date: September 28, 2020

Whatever you’ve been struggling through, dreaming about, or praying over… God already knows what you need. In “Just The 2 Of Us,” Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church turns to a story of the prophet Elisha to remind us that God can still bring a breakthrough to your life. (Even when you’ve given up on it.)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. You too. Whether you're in a suit or a bathrobe, come on give him praise today. Oh, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Thank you, thank you. How are you doing?

I know my sermon last week was called, Did I Ask? But I'm asking, how are you? Come on, let me know how you're doing right there in the chat. Use your favorite emoji to tell me how you're doing. Your favorite church-appropriate emoji. You've got to specify. Got all kind of people that tune in. You never know what they'll.

I don't want the Holy Spirit to leave the YouTube page. Give God praise. Hold on, we're going to bring it back. Give God praise if you're doing better than could be expected. So in other words, like, hey, preacher, that's a complicated question. But when I think about where I could have been, should have been, would have been, I want to put up one of those worship hand emojis. Come on throw a worship hand emoji in the chat all the way from Hong Kong to If you got a reason to praise him, praise it. So anyway, I just, I thank God for this opportunity to minister the word of God to you. And you may notice that it feels a little different.

We're going to do it a little different today. We're having to do almost everything different right now anyway. So what happened to me was that after I got done preaching to you last week, God kept speaking. It's a weird sensation to be done preaching, but God's not done speaking. I wasn't seeking God for a sermon or anything. Me and Holly went for a walk, and she started sharing with me something God was speaking to her. What God was speaking to her was kind of like what God was speaking to me.

I said, I'm going to take that and preach it. She said, you can't. I'm preaching soon. I'm going to preach it. I said, you can't have it. I said, you're like our kids when we go and buy them. them, did you ever buy your kids a whole meal? And then you wanted one fry. And you wanted one fry. And it wasn't even a hot fry. It was one cold fry in the bag. It was one of those bottom

of the bag fries. And you went to get that one fry. She told me about this one verse in the Bible. I'm going to show you. I said, I want to preach that. She said, you can't have it. I said, give me that fry, girl. So this sermon today was stolen from the woman of God, Holly Ferdick. How appropriate. I told her I'm taking your sermon, but you can come here me preach it. And I said, to make it up to you, I'll preach it just to you. And so I've got some of the most amazing musicians in the world here today and some of our staff that snuck in who were here working. I told him you could sit in the back. But I wanted to, in addition to just those who are here helping me get this recorded, I asked them, how quick can you get over

here and helped me record this message that God gave Holly that I hanged from her. They said, we can do it in an hour. And so here we are to bring God's word to you, fresh and relevant. And I believe that God is going to give you a personal... You know what you might want to say in the chat right now? Say this one's for me. This one's for me. And those of you who are in the room, come on, Shay tell Dom, this one's for me.

This one's for me, little drummer boy. Look back at Shea and say, oh, no, you long-haired bass playing hippie, this one's for me, this one's my. Come on, if you know this one's for you, say it in the chat, this one's for me. This one's for me. Amen. I want to share with you a scripture today from 2nd Kings chapter 4, kind of a continuation of, did I ask? We were saying last week that when we stop asking God what he wants to do in our lives and what put inside of us and start assuming. We limit the potential that is in us because we kind

of confine ourselves. And I believe that there's so much more that God wants to do than what we can ask or imagine. And so I want to share this passage with you today. LJ, since it's only three of us in the room, go ahead and keep playing for a moment. And the message that I want to minister today is actually appropriate. that it's just a few in the room. Because I want to talk to you today about just the two of us. Just the two of us. And so as we share this time together today, I want you to hear it in a personal way.

The Bible says in verse 8, one day, Elisha went to Shunum. And a well-to-do woman was there who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. And she said to her husband, I know that this is, I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Let's make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, what else, a chair, and a lamp. Let's put a lamb too.

Go over there to IKEA and let's hook up this man of God. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us. Now, one day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. So he said to his servant, Gahezi, called the Shunamite. So he called her, and she stood before him. Elisha said to him, tell her, you have gone to all this trouble for us. Now, what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?

She replied, I have a home among my own people. It can be done for her, Elijah asked. I wonder what I could do for. I wonder what I could do for. What if God is not conspiring about how to curse you? What if God is brainstorming how to bless you today? What if God isn't up in heaven trying to figure out when to hit you with a lightning bolt or a hernia or a flat tire to get you back for what you did in 10th grade? What if God is thick?

What if God and the angels today are brainstorming away to bless you in this season? So, Gahezi said, she had no son, and her husband is old. Then Elisha said, call her. So he called her. And she stood in the doorway. I love this. She stood in the doorway. About this time next year.

How many of y'all are ready for next year? About this time next year, Elisha said, you will hold a son in your arms. No, my Lord, not that. Gave up on that. Not that. Man of God. Don't mislead your servant. The woman became pregnant.

And the next year, about that same time, she gave birth to a son, just as Elijah had told her. Can I read a few more verses? Because the child grew. and one day he went out to his father who was with the reapers. He said to his father, my head, my head. His father told a servant, carry him to his mother. After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died.

She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. Then shut the door. Shut the door and went out. She called her husband and said, please send me one of the servants. a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return. Why go to him today? He asked, it's not the new moon or the Sabbath. That's all right, she said. She sat at the donkey and said to her servant, lead on, don't slow down for me unless I tell you. She set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel, and when he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant,

I've been saying Kahazi and Kahazai. I don't know how to pronounce his name, but he was a scoundrel anyway. And so watch this. The man of God said to Gehazai, Kahazi, look, there's the Shunamai. Run to meet her and ask her, are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right? Everything is all right, she said. When she reached the man of God at the man of God at the mountain. She took hold of his feet. Gahazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, leave her alone. She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it for me and has not told me. Why? Just the two of us. Lord, would you fill every heart with your presence in this moment? Would you make it so that there is a direct connection from heaven to their heart and they could

hear from you the words that they need to make it in this season of their life? We thank you that anything is possible in your presence. We thank you that nothing is impossible for you. Is there anything too hard for you? There's nothing too hard for you. Is there anything too small for you? Nothing is too small for you. You can do anything.

We believe it, and we receive it in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, you may be seated, Holly, and others. Just the two of us. This kind of cool girl, you get a personalized sermon. Never before. Well, this has been close because people were asking me, what's it like preaching in an empty room?

That's one of the questions. I was preaching about questions last week. And people will say, what's it like preaching in an empty room? I said, it kind of takes me back. I said, I kind of like it. And then I could see they were offended. They were like, you don't like having us there? You don't want us there?

You don't want us in the room? I was like, it's not that. Sometimes it's good to go back. Sometimes it's good to go back. And there were times when we first started like, our ministry didn't start when people saw it. And what you see now is not how we started. How many would say that about your life? You should have seen me.

You should have seen the beta version of me. Oh, you think I'm messed up now. God's really been working on me. And the crazy thing about this season of quarantine was, I kind of knew when they were saying, you know, we can't have mass gatherings of church and all that. I knew that if it came down to it, that Holly would hold the camera. In fact, the first thing I did when they started shutting everything down, I called many of these same people who are in here running the cameras today in this building. I called them in.

I said, get over to my house. I want a camera in the basement. I want a laminated instruction thing printed out so I can see how to run. it because if it comes to it, I know that I can put Holly behind that camera, and if I can have that camera, and if it can go out, we can find a way to get the word out. It might not be pretty, professional, well lit in a big room, but God will find a way to get his word out. God will find a way to get his word out.

So we didn't have to do it, but we could have. As a matter of fact, what a lot of people don't know is even before competent, professional musicians like LJ, we're here to play. Me and Holly. So when you're first starting out, I just want to take you all back for a minute. When you're first starting out in ministry, you might not have all of the desired instruments. You know what I mean? And when we would travel around, I told you last week how Holly was on my summer impact team. I was the leader, and we would go into these little churches. A lot of times we'd be with little kids at a backyard Bible club in the morning, and then we would

be with some senior adults in the afternoon. So we had to diversify. And so I would go out there with the kids in the morning, and Holly was like on my praise team. Sometimes we would go just the two of us. Somebody say, just the two of us. Come on put it in the chat. the two of us. And this is what I always remember.

Like, if the whole worship team quit, I could grab this Martin guitar. I could, and I could tune it myself by ear because I've had experience. Sometimes it's good to go back. And one reason I said, Holly, I want to go over and preach it just with you. And I want to remember how we used to walk into those churches, and I would strum a debarcore and say, cast your burdens unto Jesus, he cares for you. Cast your burdens unto Jesus. He cares for you.

And you'd be going into these places where nobody really wanted to worship, and it would be like you'd have to start it from zero. I mean, it was worse than this. This empty room, at least the camera operators want to be here. But in those rooms, you'd have somebody who got dropped out of it, want to be there so you make them do hand motions right Holly show them what we used to do I did not ask her if she would do this I just figured if I turned on the cameras and told her to she would do it stand up do it real quick show how we do it higher higher higher

higher higher higher higher higher show them how to lift them higher jesus higher higher higher higher higher higher higher higher lift jesus higher y'all are ready lower lower lower lower lower lower lower lower lower Lower, lower, lower, lower, lower. Stop Satan lower. Lower, lower. Lower, lower, lower, lower, lower, lower lower, lower lower lower. Stop Satan lower. Super, supa, see, man.

Oh, it's good to go back. Because I just, I figure if they didn't let anybody come out and run a camera or we couldn't get in the church, we could go in the basement. And if I had Holly, if I had the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost, we can preach this word. Come on, if it's just the two of us. We can stomp him. We can lift Jesus and stomp Satan. Just the two of us. That's how we started.

And then, you know, we couldn't do that at night because the people we were ministering to at night were over 80. Be a Baptist Church revival. Everybody in there was, you know, doing their best to walk. in, they weren't trying to lift him or stomp him or nothing like that. They were just trying to. So you slow it down, you do something like, um. When I think about the Lord, how he saved me, how he raised me, how he filled me with the Holy Ghost, how he healed me to the uttermost.

Then Hollywood hit the harmony for me. When I think about the Lord, how he picked me up and turned me around, how he placed my feet on solid ground. I'm going to shout, hallelujah, thank you, Lord you're worthy of all the honor and all the praise. It's good to think back, you know. And I think about the Lord, man. You remember that? It's just me and you. Me and you.

Singing stuff like, What a friend we have in Jesus. Our sins and greets to bear. What a privilege to carry to God in prayer. A little D-run Chris Brown. And then after you get done with that hymn, with a little James Taylor, You just call

Have my name Little Carol King And you know Wherever I am I'll come running You again No, you're not alone Even if it's just the two of us

Winter, spring, summer, fall All you got to do is call And I'll be there Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, make it Christian. Thank you, Jesus. You got a friend. And then I like those hymns that nobody knows too.

Like, Consolet it all comes back, man. It's good to go back. It's good to go back. Come on, give him praise. It's good to go back. Oh, man. So I like the worship team that we have now, and I don't want to go back to doing it all myself. I'm not trying to take anybody off the person.

payroll, but it's just good sometimes to go back. Put it in the chat. It's good to go back. And I know you're thinking, like, I thought we were supposed to go forward, you know, and all that. Well, sometimes you've got to look back to go forward. Say amen. Because sometimes if I look too far forward, I'll freak out. Just look back real quick. Lion, bear, cool. God is strong. I believe that God's resume, he gives me reason to believe in resurrection, gives me reason to rejoice. I just need to know how many of you, even though you felt lonely in this season, and you don't really know what God's going to do, but you have some kind of faith in some kind of way, the same God that did the things for you, did the stuff back then, he's going to do the stuff tomorrow that I need him to do. Wow. Even if it's just me and Jesus, some of us are watching this by ourselves. We'd rather be with other people, but we're watching it on a screen. But even through this screen, the Spirit of God is speaking to me. God's got a word for me today. I just felt something. Paul and Silas were in Philippi all by themselves. I feel like preaching in a semi-empty room. I feel like preaching. I feel like preaching. Holly, I'll be Paul.

You be Silas. We're not where we wanted to be. The situation looks bleak. Got a chain on our wrist. Been in quarantine. Been on lockdown. Been persecuted. Felt abandoned.

But you be Paul. I'll be Silas. The church isn't full. But if we start praising at midnight, change, break, doors open, things happen. Miracles come. Just the two of us. We can get this son. We can get this son.

It doesn't take many if you got much. Just the two of us. So something about that just comforted me. Just walking around the block with Holly and God was using her to speak to me. And I was like, wow. Thinking about how God is enough in my life in every season. In the passage that we read, we talked about Elisha, the prophet. You know, Elisha's ministry is interesting because it was very lonely.

The ministry of a prophet was a lonely life. Not only were you standing up the kings in ways that made you popular. Oh, prophets would have got canceled so quick in 2020. Every prophet would have been out of business. You had some of them walking around. naked. Some of them were lighting up animal excrements for their sermon illustration. Tim, do not get any ideas for rhythm night. I could see your wheels turning right now. You're like, oh, you're done, nudity? No. I'm telling you right now, you're not going to do any of

this stuff that the prophets did. Because the prophets, man, they just really had to rely on God. And yet the thing about saying, you know, all I need is Jesus, just me and Jesus. What a friend I have in Jesus. He can't hug you. Yes, he does. He embraces me in my... Shut up. I'm talking about like a human hug. A human hug. He can't hug you like that. And so as simple as this sounds, I want you to write it down. God uses people. God uses people. God uses people. And sometimes when we ask God to use us, we have no idea what we're asking. Have you ever asked a question you wished immediately you didn't ask? I asked somebody one time, how was my sermon?

And they started telling me everything theologically incorrect that I said in the sermon, and I mispronounced Gahe's eye, and I called him the wrong thing. I said, man, I'll never ask you again. I will never ask you again. I've learned don't ask your kids unless you really want to know. Other people have this layer of professional politeness that comes with maturity and adulthood. But if you ask your kids, they'll tell you. They'll tell you.

Graham told me in Singapore preaching over there in Singapore, he said, Dad, watching you try to say that Moses at the burning bush was lit was the cringiest moment of my childhood. You can never use that joke again. Dad, it was so bad. I said, I got it, Graham. I got it. But did I say anything good? He said, I couldn't hear anything you said after you said, but Moses at the burning bush was lit. Please, Dad, don't try to be cool. Don't try to be relevant. So don't ask your kids. I feel pretty cool compared to, you know, If I ask Larry Brigh, I feel pretty cool. Don't ask your kids. Sometimes it's best not to ask. And what I love about the passage is that God provided for Elisha. Now get this if this is for you, because I promise you God has a word for you today. And if you'll stay with me, you'll see exactly what it is. God met the prophet's needs through someone who he didn't even ask to do it. Remember last week? The crowds got fed, and they didn't. even ask for a meal. Remember those times in your life where God had people walk away from you and you didn't even ask him to remove them, but he was so good that he knew they would

screw up the rest of your life. So he took them right out even though you cried and begged for him back and God took them out even though you were begging them to leave them in. God is so good like that. He is good enough to give you what you ask for. And so while we're quoting Ephesians 320, he's able to do immeasurably more than we ask. Have you ever noticed how while we're saying that he can do more than I ask at the time we're saying, God, I thank you, you can do more than I ask. We secretly want him to do exactly what we planned. How is he going to do more than you ask if he does exactly what you plan? And none of us asked for the situation that we're in right now.

And so what drew me to this passage was that Elisha did not even ask the woman for a host home. When we used to go out, y'all don't know nothing about host homes. We didn't stay at hotels when we would minister in Bamberg, South Carolina. No, sir, you got the host home. And if you were lucky, you had the bedroom to yourself, or you might be staying with their eight-year-old. You never knew until you got to the host home. If you were lucky, they could cook.

If you were lucky, they didn't keep you up until 2 a.m., but they don't know anything about a host home. You didn't have a contractor or a writer. And so the prophet is staying at Carmel, and it's lonely to be a prophet. But God uses a woman. The Bible calls her a well-to-do woman. But the Hebrew word is great. She was a great woman. She was a great woman. She was great materially. She was also great in the ways that you can't see. She was great. She was so great as a woman that she had the means to do something for God and the humility to do it. That makes you great. And what got my attention was that Elijah didn't even have to ask. Does God have to ask you to do everything? You remember when Graham asked a few weeks ago? Actually, I think it was a few months ago.

Maybe it was a few years ago. When did he ask you? Mom, am I supposed to brush my teeth every day? Mom, am I supposed to change my underwear every day? These are things kids ask and it's like, do you really need to ask that? Do you really need to ask God certain stuff? There's some stuff that God shouldn't have to put a sign in the sky to get you to do. There's some stuff.

You shouldn't have to ask God. You mean you want me to praise you today? God shouldn't have to ask you for praise? If he gave you breath, you ought to want to give it back. It belongs to him. There are some things you should. I love when I'm dealing with somebody and you don't have to ask them to do every single little thing. Maybe it's just me as a pastor, but I love when you don't have to ask for every little

thing. I shouldn't have to ask everything. That's what I love about our staff at the church. You don't have to ask everything. I don't have to ask every single thing. All I said is get me a guitar, so in case I want to play it when I preach just the two of us in the empty room, I didn't have to ask him to tune it. He just did that.

He just did that. I texted Chris this morning. I said, I'm going over to preach. I'm doing it on just the two of them. just the two of us. I'm going to put just Holly out there in the cameras and the musicians, but I want you to come over too. He said, I'm already on my way. I didn't even have to ask. He wanted the word. He's like, oh, you think I need to be on a stage to support you? I want this work. You don't have to ask me. I want to do it. I want to serve God. I want to preach.

I don't have to. I get to. I get to. I used to walk around thanking our volunteers. We would have these nights back when I used to be able to shake people's hands legally. Back before it was against the law and human customs and social etiquette to shake a neighbor's hand, I would shake their hand. We would have these nights where I would thank all the volunteers and I would preach and I would shake their hands and say, thank you for serving, thank you. And almost every time they say no thank you. And I say no thank you. They say no thank you. I'd be like, quit canceling out my thank you. I'm giving you gratitude. You receive it. We're both standing there trying to thank each other.

I get to do this. I get to do this. I get to do this. Elijah said to me the other day, not the prophet Elijah, my son Elijah. He said, thank you for working out with me. I said, I wanted to. Fun to work out with you. I love working out with you.

I can do more weight than you, so it's good for my ego. And I love talking to you. I didn't have to beg her to come preach this sermon today. She said, what time? I said, I don't know yet. She said, I'll clear the schedule. You know what it's like to know that in such an uncertain moment of ministry, you got somebody you can count on it?

That I don't have to ask you. Are you still with me? That I don't have to ask you. We used to say, like Jonathan's armor bearer said, do whatever you have in mind, I'm with you. I'm with you. Do you have that kind of spirit? God, I'm with you.

If the wheels fall off, I'm with you. If they shut it down, I'm with you. If it's good, I'm with you. If we're in the limo, I'm with you. If we have to hitchhike, I'm with you. If we have to get on a scooter, if we have to walk, I'm with you. I love it. I love it.

And God will send you somebody in every season. God will send you. It might not be who you expected. It might not be who you asked. But God will find a way to get it to you and he will use someone. was someone he didn't even ask. Someone he didn't even ask. She just had an idea. She didn't go into a trance. Lord, I want to be used by you. God, speak. Will you speak to me? Speak. You know how we do. Lord, show me your will. What is your will, Lord? For thine is the kingdom. Bust up the King James English asking God to do stuff. Like if you get real deep, God will show you something real deep. She did something simple.

She did something simple. Notice the connection. The deepest desire of her life was met when she did something simple. And it's even more powerful when you consider her disappointment. Because this great woman with a great big house and an old husband, the Bible says he was so old that when the boy got sick, he couldn't even carry him upstairs, had to sense. him to his mom. That's who she was living with. And she said to the prophet, come over and eat some spaghetti. Come over. And you know what the Bible says? The Bible says she urged him. Yeah. See, I didn't even ask them to put the scripture back up. They just did it. I didn't

even have to ask. They just put it up there. You see how this works? I didn't even have to ask. They just did it. That's how God, that's called a prompter. That's called a prompter. This is crazy. They are so in tune. The people who are running this today, they are so in tune with my spirit and my flow that the moment I said urged them, they put the prompter on. Now, I want to ask, how sensitive are you to the prompting of the Holy Spirit? Or does God have to push you? Or does God have to prod you? Or can he just prompt you? How hard is it for God to get you to say, I'm sorry when you're wrong? How hard is it for God to get you to do something encouraging when he lays it on your heart? How hard is it for God to get you to do something that you ought to just naturally do as a child of God? It's not hard.

It was harder for her to convince him to come eat than it was for God to get her to feed him. She had to urge him. Please come eat. She had to ask him more than once. Now I'm going to sit down because this is too rich to rush through. Y'all ready for this? Come on, I know where you're watching this from. It's just the two of us right now.

I want to show you something. I wanted to share this message with just the two of us. I wanted to show you how God will send people into your life even in the loneliest seasons. Even in the seasons, Elisha, the prophet, he had a servant who was a scoundrel. He had a servant, Gahezi, who had no character. And see, Elisha knew what it was like to stand by somebody in a season of loneliness. You remember? Can I go back to when Elijah with a J, the prophet, was hiding in a cave because he had lived

through a three-year drought and he stood up on the top of Mount Carmel. But even on top of Mount Carmel with so much power, there's often a difference between what you show publicly and what you wrestle with privately. Did you hear me? You can have great power publicly and great pain privately. And when he was up on the mountain, he said, I'm the only one of the Lord's prophets left, and he called down fire. You remember this? You remember this?

Holly, he said, I'm the only one left. Then when Jezebel threatened him, he ran for his life 40 days he had to run, and he left his servant, and he went in a cave, and God sent him to fire, and God sit there. him to win, but he spoke in the whisper, because God speaks in the whisper, because God doesn't have to shout, because he's not far away, God doesn't have to shout. That's what the devil does to scare you away, but he whispered, and he said, what are you doing here? He asked him a question. And Elijah said, I'm the only one left. You ever felt like that? I'm the only one who cares. I'm the only one in this marriage, who cares? I'm the only one carrying this responsibility. I know you've felt this way as a leader before, Chet. I'm the only one who

sees what needs to be done. And God told him, go back the way you came. Because I've already got somebody to support you. His name is Elijah. It sounds a lot like yours, because y'all are meant to go together. And when you get to him, I want you to take your cloak and throw it on him. And I know you feel alone, but I've got somebody plowing the field right now. I don't mean to turn this into a dating seminar, but sometimes we get so lonely. And in our seasons of loneliness, we isolate. But God said, I have put somebody in your path. I have put somebody, even if you are not married right now, Even if you don't have the support system you want to right now, I know what that feels like. I've been lonely and I am married.

I've been lonely and I have kids. I've been lonely in this room filled with 2,000 people, and they were shouting. And on the inside, I was crying, and on the outside I was smiling. But on the inside, I was crying. And nobody knew what I was carrying. And nobody knew what had just happened 30 minutes ago backstage. And nobody knew the hate that I was dealing with from. critics, but I had to smile and show love and see in these moments of isolation, you might

feel like the only one, but God has somebody for you. Even if it's just this moment, what if God sent this message today? You've been on the brink of suicide. You've been on the brink of giving up. And God prompted my heart to come in this room and put Holly and Todd and Doug and all them, and they're back there. But it's just the two of us right now. God is trying to bring you back to a place of understanding that before you even asked,

he answered. He hears before I call. And Elisha followed Elijah for many years. The two of them had a special connection. You don't read many of the details, but they must have been so close. Because when it came time for the Lord to take Elijah from Elisha, on the day that Elijah was taken up in. Cheritzafire.

By the way, bonus point. Elijah was scared that Jezebel was going to kill him, but he's one of the few characters in Scripture that never experienced physical death. The thing that you're worrying about may never even happen. The thing that you're running from. Who's this for? Who's this for? Is it for you? Come on, I'm asking. I'm asking. Is it for you?

Say it in the chat. This is my word. I don't have to run from it. And I love Elisha, because when Elijah said, stay here, the Lord has called me away. Look what Elijah said in verse 2, 2. Stay here, the Lord's Semino to Bethel. But Elijah said, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. I will not leave you.

That sounds like Jesus. I will never leave you nor forsake you. So if somebody else did, and it's just the two of us, the Lord sent me to tell you you're not alone. God will give you someone that you need in every season of your life. And I've been praying a new prayer lately. Every morning I've been praying this. In my heart, it doesn't take me long. I just say, Lord, put somebody on my mind today.

Put somebody on my mind today. Somebody I can call. Somebody I can bless. Put somebody on my mind today. And then I've got to be honest. I'm selfish. God put me on somebody's mind today. Put me on somebody's mind today.

Because God uses people. See, yes, just me and Jesus. But God uses people. So the way that he meets people. needs us through people. So the prophet, Elijah, he's used to a lonely life. He's been with a mentor who hid in caves. He's been with a mentor who was unpopular at times. So he knows how to be lonely. So when the woman invites him, this woman, this Shunamite woman, who is a great woman, who has an old husband. And she looks at her husband one day and says, you know, it's just the two of us.

It's just the two of us. I get tired of just cooking for the two of us. Let's have the prophet over. Look, she didn't even pray about it. You don't have to pray about everything. Just do something for God. She didn't go on a 40-day fast to see if she could have the profit over. Well, Lord, I just don't know. If you want me to give to the church, give me a sign. What other sign does he need to give you than his son that died for you?

Really? Give me a sign. She didn't have a sign. She had an idea. I want to keep going. How is it? How you like your personalized sermon? Aren't you glad I took your french fry?

All right. Now listen, when she said to the husband, you know how it's hard to calculate how many when you're cooking for people? Holly was cooking for me and the boys when we were a couple years ago when the boys were smaller and Abby doesn't eat much, but the boys now, we got a 15-year-old and a 12-year-old, and so their needs change. And the other day we realized we're always running out of food because she has not upgraded the quantities of the food.

It's still just as good, but there's not enough because, see, seasons change, and a seasons change needs change. And who God uses in one season of your life, whom I preach into, might not be who he uses in the next, and he'll give you what you need for the season that you're in. I'm anointed right now to preach to somebody. Come on, it's just the two of us. It's like I'm talking to you, and she turns to her husband. And she says, let's have him over. And she urged him. She begged the prophet, please let me cook for you. Please, please, God, let me do it. Ah, just let me do it.

One of my friends said the other day, I'll beat up one of your staff members to come to church right now. I will beat them black and blue with a tire iron. I said, calm down. This is disturbing. They said, I'll beat them unconscious to get in the room. I want to be there so bad. And some people in the room probably just feel like, I've got to get over there.

When did you start having to do what God gave you as a privilege to do? It's a privilege to serve God. It's a privilege to preach to you. It's a privilege. It's a privilege to do ministry. She said, will you please come eat? She urged him. He probably pushed her away the first time.

You know how you get used to pushing people away when you're not used to people being good to you. When you're used to being unpopular, Elisha finally accepted. And he got there and he found out. She can cook She can cook She can cook So he came back

He said he would come there often He stopped by and he would eat And one day She said to her husband I think we ought to take the extra room we have in this house The room that we had in case God ever gave us a child but he didn't You know this woman

This woman had probably prayed for years, God give me a child. She probably asked God many times, God, give me a child, and he didn't. She would ask again, and she would ask harder, and he didn't. And so eventually, at some point, she stopped asking. I don't know when, if it was the first year, or the fifth year, or the 10th year. Remember, her husband is old, so they've been praying about this a long time, and now it's too late. And she stopped eventually. She stopped asking. And instead of asking God to give her something, she decided to offer God what she had. There comes a point where instead of being bitter about what you didn't get, it's better to offer God what you have.

She said, we've got this extra room here. And this man who keeps coming by, I keep feeding him. But I feel bad every time he has to leave. Because I don't know where he stays on his way back to karma when he passed. is through Shunum. Since it's just the two of us, since we didn't get the child that we wanted from God, since I didn't get the opportunity that I want, since we can't have church full on Sunday, why don't you meet me over at the church early, and why don't we just take advantage of the opportunity we do have? See, I was complaining. The first few months of quarantine,

I was complaining. I can't preach with no crowd in the room. And God said, I thought you didn't preach for them. I thought you preached for me. So then I stopped asking, God, why can't the people come back? And I started asking, God, what are the opportunities that we have? Here's a great question. God, what are the opportunities that I have right now that are in my life because of my disappointments? She offered God the place of her disappointment.

She said, we have that room on the roof that we never got to finish. We never got to buy a bed for our son because God didn't give us one. We never got to put a desk in his room for his homework because God didn't give us one. We didn't get to give him a lamp or a night light. We never got to buy him any pajamas, but there's a man of God who passes through here, and I refuse to stay stuck in the bitterness of what I didn't get. You be Paul. I'll be Silas, and we will turn this prison into a place of praise.

will turn this. I'm telling you, if two of you will touch and agree concerning anything in his name, he will do it. So you might be saying, I'm all alone right now. No, you're not. There's no stipulation on geography in Matthew 1820. He said if two of you will touch and agree, so even if you're watching this by yourself, and even if you just signed divorce papers last week, or even if your kid just told you they hate your guts, or even if the third person just told you, no, we do not have the position available, or even if you're dealing with the addiction that makes you feel like a fraud when you smile at people, but there's chains on the inside. God came to tell you, you are not alone.

I'll be Paul. You be Silas. And let's make a space for God to fill. I feel praise rising up. in this place right now. I'm glad I came over today. Come on, it's just the two of us. Let's, we got more house than we have family. Come on, I got more time than I ever had before. God, I didn't plan on having all this extra time. God said, I gave you the extra to see, would you trust me? What would you do with it? What would you do with it? What would you

do with the extra? In this place. What place? The place of her disappointment? Don't you realize this is what Holly told me on the walk before I ripped off her sermon. I started preaching it back to her. I said, this is too good to keep just between the two of us. I got to go preach it. I got to preach it for the weekend. I got to preach it for the EFAM. I got to preach it to all of the different countries and all of different people.

But it started with just the two of us. She turned to her husband and said, since it's just the two of us, let's meet the needs of this prophet. You know that room that we were going to, yeah, when we built this house, we built it with extra room for the kid God was going to give us. But why don't we just, you know, I thought by now in my life I was going to be here. I didn't ask for this situation, but let me offer this situation. I didn't ask for this disappointment.

I didn't ask for this storm. What would it be like to offer God your disappointment? The deep one. The one you smile over. Elisha is laying down one night. He's getting comfortable now. At first she had to urge him for a meal. Now she can't get rid of him.

I'm telling you, if you make God a place, if you make God a place, he doesn't want to visit. He wants to stay. He wants to stay. He doesn't just want to speak to you. You're like, oh, man, I just wish I was, I wish I could listen to you, preach. all day. You don't have to listen to me to preach all day. God will speak to you long after I shut up. Just make him a place. So, Elish is laying down, right? And he asked,

Gahezi, what can we do for this woman? That's what drew me to preaching it, because last week I preached on the question, how far will they go? I talked about how Jesus asked 308 questions and only directly answered eight of them, and how God is a God of questions, even though we want so many answers. Put a question mark in the chat. That's God's favorite punctuation. I think his second favorite is a comma. Because the comma means it might have stopped, but it's not over.

Okay, I'll give you 10 seconds. I've got to give you 10 seconds for the comma. He's the God of the comma, but he's the God of the question. And the question is, what will you do? with this disappointment. She turned it into a place that God could use. Are you doing that right now? Are you bitter? Are you in resentment, regret, shame, all those places that we stay? You know what's crazy, Holly? And since it's just the two of us, I can show you this. The question that led me to this text wasn't the question that told me I needed to preach it.

When he asked her that, the first time she pushed him off. She said in verse 13, Part B, I have a home among my own people. But Elisha asked again what can be done for her. Now, this is amazing. Can I drop this on you? Okay. He's up there asking God for something that she stopped asking him for a long time ago. You know how you can learn to live with certain things?

I'll give you a version of this. I'll never be free from that. I'll just learn to finesse it. That could be anything in your life. Somebody thought of drugs. Somebody thought of sex. Somebody thought of negative thought patterns. It doesn't matter.

So you say, I'll never be free from it. I'm just going to stop asking. Especially if you raised your hand in church and went down and prayed and, okay, this is the time. This is the breakthrough. This is the one. You know, this is it. And so now it's kind of a way.

where you click on church and watch church, but you only let God's word in so far. So you get God's word to cope with stuff, but you've lost hope that it can change. This is the woman. She's a great woman. She's a great woman, and God is using her, but there is still something that she stopped asking God for. What is that for you? Because after you've done everything you can do, this is a proactive woman. Then you see, her pushing the prophet around? If you're going to boss Elish around, you've got to be a proactive woman. She's proactive. You see how she's talking to her husband? Get a table, get a lamp, go down there. I know you're old. I know your knees hurt, but we got to take care of the man

of God. Let's get this room set up. She's not some passive woman, but in this area, and everybody has one. Well, I guess I'll never be happy. I'll be happy when I get to heaven. I'll be happy when I get to heaven. Down here on earth, I'm going to just make it through. Oh, this, the valley of shadow of death. God said, I didn't want you to make the valley of the shadow of death your permanent mailing address. I guess I'll just stay in the cave. I guess I'll just be anxious. I guess I'll just live in this state. I guess this is just what it is. This is not all it is. What can be done for her? Elisha wanted to know. I know she said nothing. I know she said she's all right. I know she said she's good. I know she's stable. I know she's great. I know I'm staying in her

house, but everybody has a need in their heart. Everybody, even if nobody else knows it. And Gahezi, the scoundrel said, she doesn't have a son. And Elijah said, get her back. I heard God saying, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back, come back. You remember how he told Elijah, go back the way you came, you don't belong in a cave, you don't belong in this low state, you don't belong in this pattern, you don't belong in this place. This is not you, you're a child of God, bring her back, bring her back. I got to do it. I want to bless her. I've been brainstorming ways to bless you. Nothing can cancel it. Nothing can stop it. I came all this way. I'm not going to stop now. I brought you this far. Come back.

And then he made her the promise that she had stopped praying about. About this time next year, it's one thing to tell her she's going to have a baby, but he said you're going to hold it in your arms. That's emotional. He's giving her a picture. of something that has caused her so much pain that she stopped praying. I went through a depression. The thing about me and Holly, when we were talking about this the other day, and I didn't know if I could share this with you, but she was saying how there were times where she would see me hurting and she can only help so much, and she would feel so helpless.

And she would see me hurting, but she would see me continuing to do what I had to do. And it would come and it would go, and it would come and it would go. And during that time, I think I started to convince myself that I didn't deserve to feel good. So I would cover it up by saying, well, I'm just going to serve God. It doesn't matter how I feel. But to bury your disappointment is not a sustainable strategy. And Elisha said, about this time next year, the thing that you are you.

You've stopped asking. Don't you love the passage? He didn't ask for a bed and she didn't ask for a baby. And God is giving them both what they didn't ask for. Is God giving you right now what you didn't even ask for in a way that you could have never anticipated? Come on, it's just the two of us right now. You don't have to put it in the chat, but between me and you, is there something that

you've buried? Something that God promised. He said, he said, I'm going to be out of a guest room soon, because about this time next year, there's going to be blue all over these walls. About this time next year. Oh, man, I could just see us right now on December 31st, 2020. Like bringing in the new year, you know, like, oh, next year is going to be better. But she did not respond with praise.

Her instinct was to push him away. You know, when God really speaks something significant to you, you push it away. I can't hear that. No, no, no, no, no. That doesn't feel it. Even when something good happens, you get threatened by it because the last time that I got my hopes of, this is what the woman said. Don't mislead me. I've been down this path before.

I've hoped before. And it hurts the hope. It hurts the hope. I'd rather just show everybody publicly how good it is. I'd rather just pretend like everything's okay. But just like the prophet said, just like God said, just like he said. Verse 17, the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elijah had told her. And before we stop and shout over that, the Bible only gives one verse to this little boy's life.

The whole chapter has been about her frustration. One verse about his life. Here's the verse, verse 17, or verse 18. The child grew, one day he went out to his father who was with the reapers. Verse 19. He said to his father, my head, my head. His father told a servant, carry him to his mother. Verse 20.

After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. The only thing the boy ever said in the text is, my head. That's the only words he got to say, and then he died. And this is what brought me to the sermon, because after the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, he sat on her lap and died. In verse 21, oh, this is so amazing. Holly, I got to show you this.

I got to show you this. God showed me this. It was so good. When we were walking around talking about it, I didn't even know this was in it. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door. Somebody say, shut the door. That's important. Shut the door.

She shut the door and went out. She called her husband and said, please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly in return. Notice what she didn't ask her husband to do, what he didn't have the power to do. She said, you can give me a donkey, but you can't give me a miracle. Stop expecting out of people what only God can give. This is why we get depressed. We keep waiting on people to complete us.

Renee Zellweger was lying to you. If you wait on somebody to complete you, you are going to be in a constant state of suspension, LJ. They can help you. God can use people to bless you, but there are some things that are just between you and God. Only God, just the two of us. I hear God saying, quit putting demands on people that are unreasonable. Let me fill those spaces. Let me have that room.

Let me have that question. She said, give me a donkey. You can give me a donkey, but that's all you can do. Because I got to go back to the one who gave me the promise. I've got to go back to the one. And I want to ask you a question. They used to ask us in middle school when we got in a fight. Who started it?

Who started it? That's what my dad wanted to know. I'd come home. I didn't get in many fights, but he wanted to know two things. Who started it and who won? And if the answer was him and me, he was happy. He started it, and I won. He was like, all right, let's go to Ryans, let's go to Quincy's, let's eat a yeast roll.

So she says, I got to go to the one who started it, because watch this, it's good to go back, it's good to go back, it's good to go back. That's why I wanted them to show on the camera. It was like this. You've always been on my front row. You've always been on my front row. A lot has changed, but it was us then and it's us now, but somebody's saying, I don't have Holly.

I don't have the Holy Spirit. You got the Holy Spirit. You got the Holy Spirit. You've got the Spirit of God on the inside of you. So she said, give me a donkey and saddle him up. And she's calling the shots, too, man. Remember, this woman is not waiting on God. Oh, God, show me what to do.

No, the boy is dead. She carries him upstairs. She put him in the bed that never would have been there if she hadn't been proactive. If she would have been bitter about the child she didn't have, She wouldn't have had a bed to put the child in when he died. She laid him on the bed that was a result of the prompting of the Holy Spirit. She didn't know what it would lead to, but God did. And she said, saddle up the donkey.

The King James says a difference. Saddle up the donkey. Put a saddle on the donkey. I know where to go to. I know who the bread is. I know who's spoken. I know where this started. I know who called me.

Do you know who started it? He'll begin. A good work in you. Who started it? She said, lead on. Don't slow down for me unless I tell you to. I love this woman. She's like, lead me and do what I say.

I love her. What I love about it is she's so proactive to build a room. She's so full of faith and boldness to say saddle the donkey. But watch how humble she is. This is what makes her great. This is what's going to make you great. This is what's going to make this year, not the worst year of your life, but the greatest. This is it right here.

She came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. I know what comes next, so I'm happy. Because you're like, her son is dead. What's wrong with you? I know what's about to happen. I know what's about to happen in the story. You can praise God in places that make no sense when you know what happens next in the story. Not the details of it, but I know who started it, so I know that he who began a good work in me.

I didn't learn much Greek, but Alpha is the first letter. Omega is the last one, and he's both. He's both of those. He finishes what he starts. And so when she came to the prophet at Mount Carmel, first of all, she's coming up, And I want you to know a couple things from this passage. He saw her in the distance. He saw her in the distance.

He saw her in the distance. That blesses me, even if I'm far off from where I'm supposed to be. He sees me in the distance. Does that remind you of the prodigal son or is it just me? He saw him coming. He saw her coming. He told Gehazai, he said, look, the shoot. Shuna, my 26, he told Kehaz, I run to meet her and ask her, this is a loaded question,

okay? Are you all right? What if I asked you that, just the two of us? Are you all right? It's one of those questions that we ask that we really don't want to know the answer to. You know? How you doing? You all right?

Yeah, man, I'm all right. Got this thing on my back. I don't know what it is. changing colors, I'm all right. It's a complicated question. Are you all right? That depends, because this woman would say I've got a lot of money, but I just lost my son. You all right? Well, that depends. I'm kind of disappointed about what's going on with my company, but you know what? God's been doing a miracle of my family. What a question. Are you all right? Ask her, Are you all right?

You know the difference between God and people? He really wants to know. The other people who ask you that, they do not expect a detailed answer with subpoints. And I love the woman because Gahezi comes to ask her, are you all right? He's not the one who prophesied the baby to begin with. So watch what she does. Watch what she does in verse 26. I know she said, we said she's a great woman, but he said, are you all right?

Is your husband all right? Is your child all right? None of these are all right. She's not all right. The husband is so old, he can't carry Bobby up the stairs. We're going to give the boy a name. And the son that he's asking about is dead, and she does something. Even though she's a great woman, she lies.

Everything is all right. She's lying like you. Everything's all right. No, then it's here. I'm good. She's lying like your Instagram feed. I said she's lying like your Instagram feed. She is lying like that picture you posted from the family vacation on Facebook.

She is lying. Why did she lie? Maybe she wasn't lying. Maybe she just knew something. Maybe she knew I don't need to talk about my problems to somebody who doesn't have the power to solve them. This is a word for somebody. I don't need to process this.

in a place that is powerless to help me. I want to stop asking everybody else about stuff that only God can fix. I want to stop trying to fix things publicly that can only be dealt with privately. I want to quit seeking affirmation in public places and let God speak to the place. Come on, is this for you? I'm asking. Tell me right now in the comments, is this for you? She said, I'm all right, but I'm not really.

And look what she did next. She pushed right past the person who had no power to solve it. Quit talking to everybody about everything, quit complaining to everybody about everything, quit letting everybody know all your business, quit trying to cover up stuff for people, and go back to the one who spoke it to start with. When she got verse 27 to the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. She's great enough to saddle up the donkey. And she's humble enough to fall at his fee.

And you've got to be both. She came down. And Gahe's eye came to push her away. I bet you got something right now as I preach this word trying to push you away. Don't listen to him. Don't listen to him. He doesn't know. This isn't for you.

This is someone else. You're not good enough for that. You know what I mean right to expect that. But the man of God said, leave her alone. Leave her alone. This is between the two of us. See, I spoke this to her. I spoke this to her.

She's in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me, and I don't know why yet. Holly, the next verse is what brought me over. Because after I preached last week, sermon, I saw this verse. Did I ask? Of course. Of course you want me to preach this, Lord. For everybody who's dealing with something they didn't ask for. I was just trying to take care of you.

I wasn't trying to invite this in my life. I didn't even want all this. God, you shouldn't have called me to do this if you were going to let it be so hard that I couldn't do it. Did I ask? She's at his feet now. She's off her donkey now. Did I ask?

I asked you to come eat. I asked you to come stay. I didn't ask you to ruin my life. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for this. You did this. You started this. I told you it would end like this.

I didn't want to get my hopes up. It hurts the hope. The more I hope, the more open I am to disappointment, I told you this was going to happen. Every time I try, I fail. Every time I start, I stumble. I told you it would be like this. I knew it would end like this. I knew I shouldn't feel good.

I knew I shouldn't try. I knew they would betray me. I knew they would let it. Did I ask? She had the good sense to know how to get back to the one who started it. I know you didn't ask for a special needs child. I know you didn't ask for the economy to do what it's doing right now. I know you didn't ask for it.

But just because you didn't ask for it doesn't mean you can't handle it. You just got to know what to do with it. Put it back on the bed. Put it back in the place. She stood in the doorway where the prophet made the promise. She put the boy that God gave her on the bed. She went to the prophet. She fell at his feet.

And look what she said. Are you ready for this? Oh, this is so annoying. Because in verse 30, after Gahezi went back to do what he could do, the child's mother said, As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. Where have we heard that before? That's the same thing Elisha said to Elijah. That's the same thing Elisha said to Elijah.

That's the same persistence that started his ministry. I will not leave you. I will not forsake you. And God is saying, if I did then, I will now. If I spoke it, I will perform it. in an empty room, in a full room, with many, with little. Abounding or abased, I will not leave you. She said, you spoke this, you started this.

Now, you've got to do something about it. You know how you know you're growing in your relationship with God? When you can tell him the real stuff at his feet. And trust him like that. Everybody else sees what you do. Oh, she's got a big house. She keeps the preacher over there. They didn't know the depth of disappointment of her barren wound.

Only God knew that. Some things only God knows. First Corinthians 2 says, the spirit of a man searches the man. Only God in you knows it. There are some things that I can't say through this camera today. It's just between you and God. So maybe God put you in this moment so he could tell you a few things, just the two of us. I said, I need your attention right now.

I need you at my feet right now. I'm trying to bring some things to life, but I need this to just be the two of us. I'm going to use people, but when Elisha followed the woman back to the house, look at it. The boy was there on his couch. And the mom, the woman, the great woman, the proactive woman, she did something. that we all have to do sometimes in our life. After you've done all you can do, the Bible says, verse 33, Elisha went in, shut the door on

the two of them. And now the woman who birthed this boy has to stand outside the door and trust God's prophet to do what only he can do. Are you standing on the other side of a closed door today? how God is going to get your kid out of this one. I imagine that this woman who was proactive enough to tell her husband saddle up the donkey and by a lamb rushed into the room. And maybe she thought she was going to stand there and give orders, you know? She's that kind of woman. But the prophet knew something about when God wants to do something really amazing in your life.

He turned to the woman and said, I know that you gave birth to this boy and I know you're great and I appreciate you. But right now it's just the two of us. He sent her out the room. He sent her out the room where she couldn't see. He sent her out the room. Verse 34 says he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. Somebody say out loud, it's personal. It's personal. He didn't just lay a staff on him. Cahez, I tried that and it didn't work. It's going to be personal what God does in your life. This is a personal word.

God says, I'm going to actually connect with you. Your eyes you see so you can touch and feel. It's personal. He laid down on the boy and stretched himself out on him, and the boy's body grew warm, but he still wasn't alive. So Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room. Walked back and forth in the room. He say, it's a process.

Come on, say it out loud, it's a process. I want you to say that Shea about everything in your life that you don't understand. He's pacing around the room. He's pacing in the room. And the woman has no idea what's going on on the other side of that door. And you have no idea what God is doing behind the scenes in your life. And the prophet is pacing. I think he's sinner out of the room not just because it was personal and not just because it was a process,

but because it was private. it. I hear the Spirit of God saying right now, I need some alone time with your problem. I don't need you standing over me so much telling me what to do. So I'm going to close this door. I'm going to spend some time with that thing you've been worrying about. And I need you to just go right now and you can walk around downstairs. And I'll walk around upstairs. But the Bible says that she had to stand on the other side of the door. You know how much faith it takes? to stand there with the thing that you gave birth to. Some of you, God is saying,

Give me my promise back. I'm the one who gave it. I can't have you standing over me, telling me how I'm supposed to do it and when I'm supposed to do it. Leave this thing with me for a little while. You've been stressing so much, and every time you stress about it,

it interrupts what God is doing. So shut the door. Like the woman with the oil earlier in Second King's 4, she shut the door in the oil, And he shut the door and he got with the boy and the Bible says how many believe the Bible How many believe in miracles that on the other side of that door? The word of God did for that woman what she could not do for herself. I feel the word of the Lord coming forth into your situation today.

And when he got back on the boy, the boy sneezed seven times. That's the number of completion. God said, let me finish this. I started it. Let me finish this. I've got your promise. I've got your dreams. I've got your destiny.

I've got your hope. I've got your petitions. I've got your prayers. God says, give it back to me just the two of us. God's working while you're waiting. He's working while you're waiting. We thank God for open doors. We thank him for closed doors.

Because what he's doing in this moment is greater than you know. What he's doing in that room in your life is greater than you know. You thought you built it for one thing, you really built it for another. Give him that space. This is a Holy Spirit moment. What do you do when the thing that you didn't ask for happens in your life? The thing that you were holding in your arms one moment dies. in the shifting seasons, I hear God saying, take it back.

Put it in that place, because today is a day of miracles. Elisha, verse 36, summoned Gahazi and said, called the shunamai, and he did. And when she came, he said, take your son. She had no idea that he had been pacing the floor in there. How many of you you don't know what God's doing right now, but you trust that whatever He is doing, lift your hands, right where you are. Come on. God said, do you really need to be in a crowd to worship me, or can you worship me when it's just the... She came in, verse 37, fell at his feet, bowed to the ground, and then she took her son.

Lord, I thank you that today your people are receiving back. joy, peace, hope, and a right spirit. We trust you today, Lord. As much as we thank you for open doors, we trust you with closed doors. I thank you that just like your prophet, Elisha, was working a miracle in a room that a woman built by faith. You are working a miracle in every place where we will, by faith, trust you today. You know who's on the other side of this message. You know what's happening in their house.

You know what's happening in their heart. Lord, if they feel alone right now, I touch and agree with them in Jesus' name. That you are the God who sees beyond the surface. You are the God of the question and the comma. I thank you that you're doing a great thing in our lives. Just the two of us. If this message was for you today and you know it,

I want you to tell me in the comments. you to tell me in the chat, say, that was for me. And then we'll know together, God spoke this word to me so I can share it with you, just the two of us. We're praying for you. We're believing God for great things in your life. And God wants you to know today that anytime something in your life dies and anytime you feel like it's over, go back to you started. Stand with the one who will never leave you nor forsake you. She said to the prophet, as the Lord lives and as you live, I won't leave you. God is saying that to somebody today. I didn't leave you. Just give me some time. Close the door. Worship on the other side.

Don't wait until you hold it again. Come on, lift your hands right now. now, that God who will never leave you nor forsake you is with you in this moment. And no matter what people do, and no matter how the world ebbs and flows, God wants you to know that His presence is your promise, now and forevermore. What a friend we have in Jesus. Our sins and griefs to bear What a privilege to carry everything To God in prayer

Go back to the one it started with He's always been for you Oh, what peace we often forfeit And oh, what needless pain we bear This is a different season, It's the same God. Oh, because we do not carry. God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? What is it? We should never be discouraged. It to the Lord in prayer. Just me and you now, God. Just me and you. You know what I wonder about.

You know what I deal with. Do thy friends despise forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer. And here's what I want you to know. In his arms he'll take and shield thee. We'll find us all. A solace there. Just the two of us.

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