0:02

Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of

0:04

Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

0:06

I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope

0:08

this inspires you. Hope it builds your

0:10

faith. Hope it gives your perspective to see God

0:13

is moving in your life. Enjoy the message.

0:18

I would like to share with you a verse

0:20

of scripture that I pray will

0:22

go off like a bomb, like

0:25

the promise that it is when

0:28

I read it. A certain number

0:30

of you. I don't know how many, and I don't know where

0:32

you are, but a certain number of

0:34

you are going to know that

0:36

this one is for you when I read

0:38

the verse. And I'm not saying this

0:41

for everybody, but if it is for you,

0:43

and how you can know if it's for you, If

0:45

you're currently facing a battle that

0:48

is bigger than you, then

0:51

this verse is for you today.

0:55

And so when I read this verse, it's not

0:57

for everybody. It's for those who are

0:59

facing a battle that is

1:01

bigger than you. And

1:03

the scripture is found in Second Chronicles,

1:06

chapter twenty. In

1:08

just a moment, I'll read it. I want to give everybody who

1:11

wants to turn to it a chance to do that you

1:15

got it, Rachel. When

1:17

Rachel's ready, I'll read it, because

1:20

she knows the Bible is so good, so she hadn't found

1:22

it by now. I know somebody else is over in Galatians

1:24

looking for Second Chronicles. You

1:27

got it twenty seventeen.

1:30

Listen to this. You ready? I

1:33

don't think you are. This is

1:35

the word of the Lord. And

1:39

really, I'm going to minister off of

1:41

the song that we just sang. We

1:44

were singing I'm going to see a victory,

1:46

and we were singing Romans eight twenty eight,

1:48

Genesis fifty twenty, one of the major

1:50

themes of scripture, how God takes what the

1:53

enemy meant for evil and

1:55

he flips the intention of

1:57

the enemy. And actually,

1:59

you is it to produce a purpose through

2:03

your life? And I'm

2:05

going to minister off of that today. That song went

2:07

so well with my sermon. It's almost like we planned

2:09

it. It's almost like I texted

2:11

LJ Wednesday and told him to do that song before

2:13

I preached Second

2:17

Chronicles twenty verse seventeen. The

2:19

word of the Lord. You will

2:22

not have to fight this

2:25

battle six

2:29

of y'all all

2:32

right, if you want that to be your word? Shot When

2:34

I read it. You will

2:36

not have to fight this

2:39

battle. Come

2:42

on, punch somebody, say not this one,

2:45

not this one. You

2:48

will not have to fight this battle. You will

2:50

not have to fight this battle. Tell them you will

2:52

not have to You will not have to fight this battle.

2:56

Take up your positions, stand

2:59

firm and see

3:02

Stand firm and see

3:05

the deliverance the Lord will give

3:07

you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do

3:10

not be afraid, do not be

3:12

discouraged. Don't believe that

3:14

devil when he tells you that there's nothing you can

3:16

do about it. Go out to face

3:18

them tomorrow and the Lord

3:21

will be with you. Let's

3:23

give God a shout of praise for his proper amen.

3:30

You may be seated in the presence of God. I

3:35

should mention that yesterday

3:39

marked seventeen years since I made the

3:41

best decision of my life in

3:44

Monks Corner, South Carolina, at the Old Santee

3:46

Canal State Park, where I send my vows

3:49

to the Hollyanna boyan out of my dreams.

3:53

Sweating through my s and K two

3:55

sizes too big, standing

3:57

out in one hundred and four degree low country

3:59

heat. Eric Phillips was a groomsman

4:02

sweating and six ministers

4:05

stood on the rostrum to share in seven

4:08

different songs that we sang. It

4:10

was quite an occasion. We made a big deal about

4:12

it and everybody had to endure it. It was a big

4:15

day. I sang a song to Holly

4:17

on my Taylor acoustic guitar that

4:19

I could barely afford that I had written for

4:21

the occasion, And I'm going to write her

4:24

another song. She doesn't know it yet, but I've already

4:26

got the chorus and I'm working on it before

4:28

we get to the twentieth anniversary, and

4:30

I'm going to have it ready. It's a good song.

4:32

It's kind of got a Tom Petty vibe with a

4:34

little bit of Ed Sheeran, and I'm

4:36

praying that it'll help me to unlock

4:38

the doors of love that I need unlocked in moments

4:41

of my life where I want affection, attention

4:43

and intimacy with my wife. So y'all pray

4:45

for me about that as well. Already

4:49

got the chorus praying

4:51

about the verse. So

4:55

now I think I'm qualified to give marriage advice

4:58

seventeen years something

5:00

to say, not

5:02

ready to do the parenting book yet,

5:05

but the marriage thing. Really,

5:07

I feel unqualified to give marriage

5:09

advice because I feel like our

5:12

marriage is strong mostly because of who I chose,

5:16

And that's the honest truth. I'm not pandering now, I'm

5:19

telling you the truth. I think that selection

5:21

is so important. And I don't mean

5:23

that God can't take a relationship that

5:25

starts rocky and turn it into

5:28

something that is really,

5:31

really beautiful. Of course, he makes

5:33

beauty out of ashes, that's what he

5:35

does. But I think I get

5:37

sometimes credit for things about

5:40

our marriage that are really just a product of the

5:42

character of the person that I'm married. And

5:45

one person told me, who has a very psychologically

5:47

based knowledge, that the healthiest part

5:49

of me chose Holly. And

5:52

I didn't even know what that meant when they said it, but it sounded true.

5:54

So I'm saying it to you. When

5:59

I chose her,

6:01

I chose a union

6:03

with her strengths, but I also chose

6:06

to cover her weaknesses as her husband, and

6:08

then she chose to cover my weaknesses. And I

6:11

definitely got the good end of it. I promise

6:13

you that. But you know, the thing about

6:15

marriage is sometimes it's more

6:17

helpful to look at an example than it

6:19

is to listen to advice. Even

6:23

Jesus he loved the church like

6:25

he wants a husband to love their wife. So

6:28

it's more of an example than an explanation.

6:31

And people will give you marriage

6:33

advice or life advice

6:35

or parenting advice, but they'll give it to you based

6:38

on ideal situations. And

6:40

the problem with that is when someone

6:42

is advising you but they don't know

6:45

the exact nature of your challenges.

6:48

They might give you a strategy that worked for them,

6:51

but it might not work for you. Because

6:53

every relationship, every challenge, every

6:56

battle is not created equal.

6:59

And I remember asking

7:01

so many different couples before our

7:04

wedding what advice they would give, and mostly

7:06

you get the same old cliches, the same old tired

7:09

cliches about you know, never go to bed

7:11

angry, which I want to say,

7:13

is a horrible, horrible thing to

7:15

try, because the best thing to do sometimes

7:18

is get some rest and come at it fresh in the morning

7:20

before you say something you regret with your

7:22

sleep deprived, delirious self, with your filter

7:24

off. And now you're tired saying stuff that

7:26

you would never say if it wasn't three am. So go

7:28

to your corner and come out tomorrow morning. See

7:31

I'm saying some of this advice that sounds good like,

7:34

choose your battles. That's

7:36

one advice you always get. Choose your battles. Don't

7:39

fight over everything, which is great

7:41

advice. You know, you

7:44

have to decide in any relationship.

7:47

This is not a marriage seminar, by the way, I'm just using

7:49

it for an opening illustration. But you have

7:51

to decide, like is this really worth

7:53

waging a war over? Is

7:56

it really worth If Holly still,

7:58

after seventeen years, doesn't know how to correctly

8:01

load the silverware in the dishwasher, and

8:03

she thinks it's still okay to put the part

8:06

of the fork that you put in your mouth facing

8:08

up so that your hand touches the part

8:10

that's going in your mouth when you get it out the

8:12

next day, If she really still thinks

8:14

that makes sense after seventeen years, is

8:17

it really worth fighting about. No, I'm bigger

8:19

than that. I'm not a petty man. I let it

8:21

go. So

8:27

they'll tell you choose your battles. Let

8:31

your kids play the music too loud every

8:33

once in a while, don't always choose your battles.

8:36

Don't get tripped up over tiny

8:38

things. Choose your battles. The

8:41

question I want to ask today, and

8:43

I guess you could use it as a

8:45

title for the message as well. From Second

8:48

Chronicles twenty is it's wise to choose

8:50

your battles when you can. But

8:53

what do you do when your battle

8:56

chooses you?

9:00

You do when something shows

9:02

up on your doorstep and

9:04

it's not from Amazon Prime and you didn't

9:06

order it. What

9:09

do you do when the devil drops something

9:11

off for you to deal with that

9:13

you did not directly cause, choose

9:17

or definitely anticipate. Like

9:20

Jehoshaphat in Second Chronicles

9:23

twenty, who is told one

9:25

morning in verse one, might

9:27

I add in a time of spiritual renewal

9:30

for Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel,

9:33

in a time of great momentum spiritually,

9:36

one day, just when everything's going

9:38

good, you know how, just when you get something

9:40

figured out, and just when you get in your

9:42

groove, and just when you get in your rhythm,

9:45

and here comes some news. The Bible says, after

9:47

this first one, the Moabites and

9:49

Ammonites and even some of the

9:51

men Unites came to make war

9:54

on Jehashaphat. And some men

9:56

came and told Jehashaphat, I'm

9:59

not telling them, you tell I'm not telling

10:01

them. You tell him? Well, I'll tell him.

10:03

Let's all tell them together. A vast army

10:06

is coming against you from Edom, from

10:09

the other side of the sea. This

10:11

means they're sneaking up from behind.

10:15

They're going around the Dead Sea

10:17

and then coming back up to attack

10:20

the people of God on a little

10:22

known route because they can't use

10:24

the normal trade route, and so they're sneaking

10:26

up from behind, and they're twenty five

10:29

miles out. That means that Jehashaphat

10:32

doesn't have time to develop

10:34

a strategy. He doesn't have time

10:37

to build the armed forces to

10:39

mount a defense. He doesn't have time

10:42

to rethink the occasions that led up

10:44

to this event is coming, and it

10:46

is coming now. Have you ever got that

10:48

phone call, that text message,

10:50

that moment in time where something

10:52

is sneaking up on you and it's only

10:54

a day's march away. That

10:57

means I have to deal with it tomorrow. I

10:59

don't have time to read a book. I don't

11:01

have time to watch a Ted talk. I

11:03

don't have time to get my nutrition in my

11:05

sleep. This one caught me off guard.

11:07

This one slapped me up side the head. This

11:10

one left my ear ringing. This one I can't

11:12

even believe is happening. This one, I'm not

11:14

even really sure if it's real yet. This one.

11:16

I don't have time to call twelve people about

11:18

this one. I don't have time to get everybody's opinion.

11:21

This one, I don't have time to get everybody's

11:23

advice. So watch what Chahashaphat

11:25

did. He said, I don't have time for all

11:27

that, so I gotta go to God. There's

11:30

something about a surprise attack that

11:32

will drive you into the presence of God.

11:34

There's something about the one you didn't see coming

11:37

that'll make you run to the place you should have run

11:39

too. All along, I'm

11:44

getting ahead of myself. But it said that they were

11:46

coming, and they were already in

11:49

ingetti, and so the

11:52

response of the

11:54

king is urgent.

11:59

It says that in verse three he was alarmed,

12:02

but yet he resolved. I

12:05

really liked that. I

12:08

really liked that he had a determination

12:11

to seek the Lord even

12:13

in the face of an unexpected

12:16

attack. He had

12:18

made up his mind who he would go to

12:20

before he even knew what would come against

12:23

him. And of

12:25

course he didn't always respond

12:27

this way. Nobody does. Come

12:30

on, nobody does. Oh

12:33

man, this is so difficult to get across the hypocritical

12:36

Christians who always want to act like they always

12:38

sought the Lord and prayed about everything, like

12:42

you always prayed in tongues, like you always

12:44

lifted your hands, like you always prostrated

12:47

yourself before the holiness of His Majesty,

12:49

the Great Jehovah, who fights your battles. No, Jehoshapad

12:54

hooked up with Ahab and almost

12:56

got himself killed two chapters

12:58

ago because

13:00

it seemed like the right strategy. Because

13:03

when they wanted to attack

13:06

a strategic city,

13:08

the wicked king Ahab, and you might

13:11

recognize his name from

13:13

the prophetic account of Elijah.

13:15

That's the one Elijah went to and he was like, Hey,

13:18

it's not going to reign until I say

13:20

so. The heavens

13:22

are going to be like a voice activated shower

13:25

system, and until I say so, it's not

13:27

going to rain. That was ahap He said that too,

13:30

And so Jehashafat got with

13:32

that same king and went out

13:34

to do what seemed smart, and

13:38

they almost got killed. In fact, Ahab did

13:40

get killed, and the

13:42

prophet Makaiah tried to tell him these

13:44

false bail prophets, what they're telling

13:47

you is what you want to hear. But it's not what you need to hear.

13:49

If you go into that battle, you're

13:51

gonna get yourself hurt. And he did,

13:55

and he barely made it out because

13:57

he fought the wrong battle. Have

13:59

you ever barely made it out because you fought

14:01

a battle that you weren't supposed to fight.

14:06

One time, my father in law were driving

14:09

it was actually on the day of my wedding

14:11

seventeen years ago, and we

14:14

passed a couple who on

14:16

the side of the road. They were fighting

14:18

physically, But the interesting

14:21

thing about it was the man was

14:24

in a headlock and

14:28

the woman seemed to have the situation firmly

14:30

in control. I didn't see that till

14:32

ill when I pulled the car

14:34

over. I was going to get out and help because

14:37

I thought that the man was beating up on the woman. But

14:40

when I saw that

14:44

the woman was

14:46

taking care of the man, I

14:48

figured, you know, just praise God

14:50

for his sovereignty, that

14:53

he knows what's best, and

14:55

apparently this woman doesn't need my help. So

14:57

I just drove off. But

15:00

my father in law said, why did you stop. I said,

15:03

I was going to get out and help. He said, no,

15:05

no, no, never

15:07

get in a fight between a man and his woman,

15:10

because you'll step in to help

15:12

them. And then if you

15:14

step into their fight and

15:16

it's not your fight, but you get

15:18

in the middle of it, they'll turn around

15:20

and both start fighting you. It's

15:24

good life advice. Don't

15:27

try to take on a fight that's

15:29

not your fight, because

15:31

you might find out when you take on a fight

15:33

that's not your fight, you might find

15:36

out that the surest way

15:38

for you to get yourself in trouble is

15:40

for you to take on a battle that

15:42

doesn't belong to you. This

15:45

is why Christians don't always

15:47

need to share their opinion on

15:49

every subject that is presented

15:52

as a cultural issue.

15:57

You've got to choose your battles and

15:59

to know God. This is what Jahasipha wanted

16:01

to know. Is this my battle? Is

16:03

this my fight? Is this something that

16:05

I need to be involved in? Is this something

16:08

that I'm called to do? You'd be shocked

16:10

how many people through the years have tried

16:12

to get me to be more political from my pulpit.

16:15

But that's not my fight. I

16:18

vote, I'm involved. I

16:21

lead thousands of people to make a difference

16:24

in our community. I build

16:26

something that represents and reflects unity

16:28

to a broken fragmented world, and we do it together

16:30

every six days and through the week.

16:35

But you've got to be very careful

16:38

that you don't expend all of your energy

16:41

fighting battles that are not yours,

16:44

and then you don't have any energy left

16:46

for the battles that are yours. And

16:50

now you've gotten so tired leaving

16:52

comments on Facebook posts with people

16:54

that you don't know in Idaho that

16:56

you don't have any strength to engage with the people

16:59

who live in your own house. I'm

17:01

not trying to run the White House. I'm

17:04

trying to run my house. And I got

17:06

my hands full. I got three

17:08

people in my house who are dependents.

17:15

Yeah, I know, when you're wearing yourself out swinging

17:17

that stuff that's not even yours to fight.

17:22

I'm bad about this though. I sometimes

17:27

it's as if I don't have enough drama for my own

17:29

self, so

17:32

I start trying to control other people. You

17:35

know how you can tell if you're fighting the wrong battles.

17:38

If you are trying to control others,

17:40

you're fighting the wrong battle. You

17:43

can't control others past

17:46

a certain point. You can only manipulate short term

17:48

behavioral results, but you can't

17:50

change somebody's heart. That's

17:53

why even the New Testament says, as much as it

17:55

is possible with you live at peace with all men. There

17:57

comes a point where the peace

18:00

of another person is not your responsibility.

18:03

Your piece is your responsibility.

18:06

And there comes a point

18:08

where you have to say, that's

18:11

not my battle, that's

18:14

not my battle. I've done all I can do, but

18:16

that's not my battle. In

18:18

fact, let me give you a great little line to use the

18:21

next time somebody tries to draw you into some

18:23

gossip or draw you into

18:25

some drama, okay, And they'll usually

18:27

say, what do you think about so and so?

18:31

You heard about so and so? What you think about People ask

18:33

me this off time about another ministry, what do you think

18:35

about so and so? And I learned this from an older

18:37

minister. They taught me what to say, what do you think

18:40

about? And here's what you say back, I

18:42

don't. It'll

18:50

work for a variety of situations.

18:53

It can work for a situation that

18:55

you're ignorant about and you only read headlines, so

18:57

you really don't have anything to say because we can't trust

18:59

the information that we're given.

19:03

It can work about Donald Trump, It can work about

19:05

Kanye West. It can work about somebody else

19:07

that drops their kid off at school next to you, and they're

19:09

having trouble in their marriage. What do you think about

19:11

so and so? I don't. My

19:14

heart is a full time

19:17

drama factory. I

19:19

do not need to borrow drama from

19:22

anybody else's personal life. I

19:24

got my own drama byod

19:28

bring your own drama. I got enough.

19:30

You brought your own drama to church without

19:33

judging somebody else from what you think

19:35

about them from ten seconds of their

19:37

life compared to the entirety of it.

19:39

I don't have time for it. And Jehoshaphat

19:41

didn't run around looking at what other people were

19:43

doing. He went to seek the

19:46

Lord. He went to inquire

19:49

of the Lord. And this is not just some glib

19:51

prayer or this is not just getting some feeling

19:54

and going with it and calling it God. And

19:56

this isn't just slapping a scripture verse on

19:58

something that you wanted to do any so

20:00

that you can blame it on God when it doesn't work

20:02

out. This is really seeking the

20:04

Lord. In fact, the Bible says that he

20:06

was shaken, but he wasn't.

20:09

He wasn't. Maybe I should say

20:11

it this way. He was shocked,

20:14

but he wasn't shook who

20:20

didn't see this coming. Amm

20:22

and Moab and the Edomites. That's three of

20:24

them. I could fight one,

20:28

but there's three of them. It's

20:30

bigger than me, and it's coming

20:33

up from behind me. You

20:36

got something bigger than you

20:39

that came up from behind you. Jehoshaphat's

20:44

prayer is interesting because he's praying

20:46

about Amm and Moab and

20:49

the Edomites from Mount Sierra. But

20:52

we got three different enemies. We got the world, the

20:55

flesh, and the devil.

20:58

That's from first John, that's your the world,

21:01

the flesh and the devil, that's

21:04

the values that oppose your purpose.

21:06

The world, the flesh that's the

21:08

patterns that oppose your purpose. And

21:10

the devil that is the principality

21:13

that opposes your purpose. And

21:15

I could fight one, But how do

21:17

I fight the devil when I'm fighting

21:19

my own flesh? How

21:22

do I fight the world when actually

21:24

there's a part of me that wants to do it like the

21:26

world. I could fight one,

21:28

but I can't fight them all, and they're bigger

21:31

than me and it's coming up from

21:33

behind. How do I raise kids

21:35

in a culture where the information

21:38

of the history of the universe

21:40

is in their pocket. How do I have

21:43

a sex talk with kids when they don't

21:45

have to go to a gas station to see

21:47

pornography, They can do it right

21:49

beside their Bible lap. The

21:52

nature of the battle

21:54

determines the nature of

21:56

the strategy. When

21:59

you don't understand and the nature of

22:01

the battle, you will not understand

22:03

the nuance of the strategy.

22:06

So you will fight the battle not understanding

22:08

the dynamics of the battle, and you

22:11

will lose the battle because you will

22:13

wrestle on the wrong level. Can

22:16

I preach you a little bit today? It's

22:18

for fifty people that

22:21

you are facing something that

22:23

snuck up from behind. You didn't

22:25

see this coming, and it's bigger than

22:27

you. I don't know which one to fight next.

22:31

When you understand the nature of

22:33

the battle, you can understand

22:36

the nature of the strategy. And

22:38

that's why I got to ask God. Jehasha

22:41

Fat resolved to seek the lure. That

22:44

means he involved the priests, the levites,

22:48

and they got together and

22:50

he got surrounded by the right people. He's not going

22:52

to Ahab this time. He's

22:54

not asking all his friends what they think about

22:56

at this time. He's not looking

22:58

for celebrity culture to influence his decisions.

23:01

This time he's going to

23:03

the right place, but he doesn't have a

23:05

plan. And I want you to

23:07

see his prayer because it'll help you. If you're facing

23:09

a battle that is bigger than you and

23:12

it's snuck up from behind you. Every

23:14

day this week, I want you to open

23:16

your Bible to Second Chronicles twenty verse

23:19

three, and following read

23:23

what Jahasapad prayed, and

23:25

then pray it. Because verse

23:27

five says out loud, I want you to pray this every

23:29

day this week. If you're fighting a battle that

23:32

is bigger than you and it's snuck

23:34

up from behind you, get in

23:36

God's face this week for

23:38

a few minutes every day and

23:40

pray this prayer. Because Jehasafad

23:43

stood up verse five in the assembly of Judah

23:45

and Jerusalem at the Temple of the Lord

23:48

in the front of the new courtyard. This is Solomon's

23:51

temple. This is the one they dedicated to

23:53

God. This is the one where God promised

23:55

to pour out his presence for

23:57

any problem you face. He

24:00

starts reminding God of

24:02

what God said, O, Lord,

24:05

God of our fathers, are you not the

24:07

God who is in heaven. I love this

24:09

man because he has already shifted

24:12

his focus from what is coming

24:14

against him to the one

24:16

who reigns above him.

24:19

O, Lord, God of our fathers, are you

24:21

not the God who is in heaven? You

24:23

rule over all the kingdoms of the nations.

24:26

Power and might are in your hand, and

24:28

no one can withstand you, Oh

24:31

our God, Did you not drive out the inhabitants

24:34

of this land before your people Israel? Remind

24:37

God of what he's already done when you're not

24:39

sure what he's doing right now.

24:41

Not so he can remember, but so you can.

24:44

Come on, You need to remember. This is not your

24:46

first rodeo cowboy. This is

24:48

not the first time you cry. This is

24:50

not the first time you were sort of breath. This

24:53

is not the first time you didn't see away clear.

24:55

This is not the first time you were hurt. This

24:57

is not the first time your heart was broken.

25:00

This is not the first time you didn't have enough money.

25:02

This is not the first diagnosis that

25:04

came up from behind phyllis

25:08

presence? Did

25:11

you not do it before

25:14

your people Israel? And give it forever

25:16

to the descendants of Abraham, your friend.

25:19

Watch this, He said you gave it forever.

25:22

And since you gave it forever, it

25:24

can't stop now, since

25:27

you promised to fulfill your purpose.

25:30

No enemy from Ammin, no

25:32

enemy from Moab, no enemy

25:34

from Mount Sierra, no Eedom

25:37

I can take it away. And

25:39

when he says it, on

25:41

one hand, he's praising God, but

25:44

it almost sounds like he's blaming God.

25:47

Notice the tone it shifts

25:50

in verse eight. They

25:52

have lived in it and

25:54

have built in it a sanctuary for your

25:56

name, saying, if calamity comes upon

25:59

us, whether the sore judgment or plague

26:01

or famine, we will stand in your presence

26:03

before this temple that bears your name, and will

26:05

cry out to you in our distress,

26:07

and you will hear us and save

26:09

us. But now, God,

26:13

Great God, respectfully,

26:16

King Sir, the Righteous One.

26:19

But now here

26:21

are men from Ammin, Moab and Mount

26:23

Seer whose territory

26:26

you would not allow Israel to invade

26:28

when they came from Egypt. Oh

26:33

Jehasha Fah said, this is not my

26:35

fault. Now, last

26:38

time when I hooked up with Ahab, that's

26:40

on me. But this

26:42

one, somebody shot

26:45

this one. This one, we're

26:47

doing the best we can. This

26:49

one we're praying in the temple. This

26:52

one we were acting according to the wisdom

26:54

that we had for the situation we were in. This

26:58

one. Nobody really knew how to do it this one, and

27:00

we couldn't have prevented by obedience. This

27:02

one is different. This

27:05

one is different. And

27:08

you're going through something right now that's

27:11

a little different. Sure, you've got sin and you've got

27:13

things you need to repent of, and I do too.

27:15

And if you dare look at me with an angelic face when

27:18

I say that, I promise I will prophesy and God will

27:20

show me something about your life that you do not want on these

27:22

imax screens. I'll do it. But

27:25

this one, this

27:27

battle, this

27:31

coalition is three enemies.

27:34

They joined up to fight me. And

27:36

the whole reason they're even here is

27:39

because when Moses led

27:41

the people out of Egypt, you

27:43

told him that he couldn't drive them out

27:46

because they were the relatives of Esau.

27:49

That's who the Edomites were. They were the descendants

27:51

of Esau. And Esau

27:54

was the son of Isaac. He wasn't his favorite

27:56

son, but he was still his son. He gave

27:58

away his birthright, but he was still son. And

28:01

Isaac was the son of Abraham, and

28:04

Abraham was God's friend, and

28:06

so God did not let the Israelites

28:09

drive out somebody that belonged to his friend.

28:12

When you've got a friend who knows how to fight, it

28:15

will make you confident. When

28:17

you've got a friend who knows how to fight. I

28:19

remember this kid we used to pick on in

28:22

fourth grade called Eric Pye,

28:24

but then Eric Pye made

28:26

friends with Harry Walker. Eric Pye

28:29

couldn't fight, but Harry Walker could.

28:31

Harry Walker was seventeen with chest

28:33

hair in the fourth grade. Harry Walker

28:36

had a prison record in the fourth grade.

28:38

Harry Walker said, you pick on him,

28:41

you pick on me. Now look at

28:43

somebody confident, say you fight me. You gotta

28:45

fight my friend. This

28:47

is a pold message. This is to know.

28:50

It might be bigger than me, but it's

28:52

not bigger than God. I'm

28:55

a calm down. I'm

28:58

a calm down. You

29:05

wouldn't let us drive them out. We would have done

29:07

it, but you wouldn't let us. This is

29:09

not our fault.

29:14

Well, you have to do when you fight a battle that's not your

29:16

fault. Sometimes

29:21

you fight against things that are in your genetics,

29:26

but you still got to figure out what

29:29

to do about that battle. And

29:31

when it's that deep, it's that strong. Sometimes

29:36

you fight against things that other people

29:38

did, and if you go into

29:40

shame and you're like, well, I take responsibility

29:43

for my part, that's good. But

29:45

it's tricky because before

29:47

long, shame will drive you out of the presence

29:50

of God, which is what you need when you're in a situation,

29:52

even if you created it. So

29:54

it's tricky because you can find

29:56

yourself in a battle and you can say, well,

29:58

I can't expect God's help in this situation

30:01

because it was created by my hand. But

30:05

Jehoshaphat is

30:07

transcending all of that with his prayer,

30:10

and he says, Oh, Lord, our God, we belong to

30:12

you. We are your

30:15

possession. And

30:17

when we came into this land so many years

30:19

ago, you would not let us drive

30:21

out these enemies. And they're

30:23

bigger than us, and they came

30:25

up from behind us, and

30:27

we're not to blame for this battle. And

30:30

yet here it is so

30:34

so now verse eleven,

30:38

Oh Lord our God,

30:42

see how they are repaying us by coming to drive

30:45

us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance.

30:48

Now let me put this in here.

30:51

I'm just going with the spirit today. I haven't

30:53

opened my nose. I mean I got in my heart. I'ming.

30:55

I'm preaching spirit to spirit today for whoever needs to

30:57

receive it. And

31:00

God gave me this word before

31:02

I gave you this word for

31:04

the battles that I face that are bigger

31:06

than me. And he

31:09

said, see how they are repaying us by coming

31:11

to drive us out of the possession you gave us. Now, if

31:14

it's God who gave it,

31:17

then it's God's to protect it. That's

31:23

about possession. It's

31:25

not about how much power you have. It's about possession.

31:29

And if you are God's possession and

31:31

you are stewarding something that he gave

31:34

you to possess, then

31:36

it's not a matter of how much power you

31:38

have that determines what happens

31:41

next in this battle. When

31:44

it's God's possession, it's

31:46

God's problem.

31:55

I don't want to cry telling you this if

31:58

it hits your heart that

32:00

if it's God's possession, is God's

32:02

problem. And then you realize

32:05

that you are his treasure,

32:08

you are his possession,

32:11

You are his daughter, you

32:14

are his son. You are

32:16

his friend, and your

32:19

friend knows how to fight. It

32:21

gives you the confidence, Oh,

32:27

our God, will you not judge them? For

32:29

we verse twelve. Have no power

32:32

to face this vast army that is attacking

32:34

us. It's bigger than us. It came

32:36

up from behind us. We can't

32:38

do it. We do not know

32:41

what to do. If you're

32:43

there right now, raise your right hand. I do

32:45

not know what to

32:48

do. I don't know how to fight. I don't

32:50

know how to fix it. I can't control what comes

32:52

against me. But our eyes

32:55

are upon you, and

32:58

God says, if you will

33:00

change the focus, he will win

33:03

the fight. If you will change

33:05

the focus and stop looking at

33:07

how big it is, but start praising

33:09

him for how great he is. Help

33:13

is on the way.

33:21

Thirteen. All the men of Judah, with their wives

33:23

and children and little ones, stood there

33:25

before the Lord. Then the spirit of the

33:27

Lord came upon Jehazeel, son

33:29

of Zachariah, the son of Benaniah,

33:31

the son of j Eo, the son of matt and Aiah,

33:34

a Levite and the descendant of Asath as

33:36

he stood in the assembly. Why did you read all those

33:38

names, pastor Steven? Why didn't you skip

33:40

over that that's not important to the story. It absolutely

33:43

is because every name that was represented

33:45

represented a generation that God

33:48

was faithful in, and it meant that every

33:50

single time that God got ready to pass

33:52

his purpose to another generation,

33:55

he didn't drop it, and he won't drop it

33:57

now, and it won't stop with you. And

33:59

you won't lose the battle unless

34:05

you lose your focus. It's

34:10

not about your power, it's

34:13

about your position. Can

34:16

I show you you got

34:18

like ten more minutes. I'm

34:24

so thankful that that prophet

34:26

stood up and said what he said, because

34:29

you know, everybody was starting to get ready

34:32

to fight, and you know if they had

34:34

fought, they would have lost. Isn't

34:38

that the craziest thing is ironic? If

34:40

they had fought, they would have lost.

34:44

When you don't understand the

34:46

nature of the battle that you're in, you

34:49

use the wrong strategy and

34:51

some of us are losing because

34:54

we are fighting on the wrong level.

34:58

To unpack it, I could use Ephesian

35:00

six twelve. We wrestle not against flesh and blood,

35:04

but that's what we fight against flesh and blood. We

35:07

fight every battle physically, We fight

35:09

people. We even fight people that are trying to help

35:11

us. Because we're

35:13

insecure. We

35:16

fight. We fight the battle to protect

35:18

our ego and to protect

35:20

our pride, and then we lose the battle

35:22

in our spirit, because we were more concerned about

35:25

protecting our pride than

35:27

we were about receiving God's power and his

35:29

help and his provision in our lives.

35:34

I was talking to somebody this week and they were saying

35:36

all kinds of crazy stuff to me, and

35:39

the Lord said, not this one.

35:42

Don't fight this one.

35:45

Learn the twenty percent that he say in this true.

35:48

Keep your mouth shut, save your energy

35:51

for the real battle. Sometimes

35:56

I see a comment on Instagram about

35:59

my preaching or shoes or something like that,

36:02

and the Lord says, not this one, not

36:05

this one, because

36:07

if you convince a fool, all you got for

36:09

a friend is a fool. Not

36:15

this one. Somebody

36:17

say, not this one. Mm

36:20

hmm. I watched

36:22

the movie about Jackie Robinson forty

36:24

two, and there was a scene in the movie where

36:26

the owner was telling him Gonna, We're

36:28

gonna put you in the system and hopefully get you

36:30

to Brooklyn to play professional baseball.

36:33

But there's one problem. What are you gonna do

36:35

when they're screaming racist threats in your

36:37

face? What are you gonna do when they

36:39

attack you at every stop? What are you gonna

36:41

do when they push you to the breaking point? And

36:43

he jumped up in the depiction in the movie. I

36:45

don't know if this happened in real life, but I like to think

36:47

it did. And he said, what do you want a player

36:50

who doesn't have the guts to fight? And

36:53

he looked back at him and said, no, I want to I want

36:55

a player who has the guts not to

36:57

fight back. And

37:00

here's the message. Sometimes

37:02

it takes more faith not to fight back.

37:06

Sometimes it takes more faith to just

37:09

let God be God and

37:11

be great in your situation,

37:14

because if you manipulate it, you're

37:16

gonna mess it up. If you start plucking

37:18

tears, you're gonna pull up wheak. Sometimes

37:21

it takes more faith to let God

37:24

sort it out. And the prophet

37:26

said, you have to understand the nature

37:28

of the battle to understand the strategy.

37:31

This is why we don't fight much in our

37:33

marriage after seventeen years. It's

37:36

not because we don't disagree, but we

37:38

understand it's not me against her, it's

37:41

me and her against it. If

37:43

we thought it was me against her, we would

37:45

fight each other. But we gotta

37:47

line up on the same side of this problem

37:50

or we're gonna lose this battle. And

37:55

one time when we were first maybe

37:57

a year and a half married. There came across

37:59

our desk a bill for three thousand dollars,

38:01

and I didn't have three thousand dollars, not just

38:04

laying around, I

38:06

didn't have it. So I did

38:09

what I do when I'm afraid. I got angry. Did

38:12

you hear me? When I'm afraid,

38:15

I get angry because the anger

38:17

is a camouflage for the fear, which

38:19

makes me feel vulnerable. So

38:23

I gotta get angry because that makes

38:25

me look strong, because

38:27

on the inside I feel weak. And

38:30

I was yelling at Holly about the bill

38:33

and it was only seventy percent

38:35

her fault, and

38:40

in the middle of yelling, I saw her countenance

38:42

change. And I'm not saying this excuses me yelling

38:45

I should have been more grown up. But she realized

38:47

in that moment, he's not fighting me. He's

38:51

not mad at me. He's

38:53

scared about this, and

38:56

if I can help him fight his fear, we

38:58

can fix this thing together. But

39:02

if you wrestle at the wrong level, you'll

39:06

wear yourself out fighting

39:08

it where it shows up. But where

39:10

it shows up is not where it started.

39:13

So if you got somebody and they have an addiction,

39:16

you can't counsel them to win against addiction

39:18

with willpower. It's not a matter

39:20

of willpower, it's a matter of worship.

39:27

Something in their life has started meeting

39:29

the needs that only God alone can

39:31

meet. And if you don't show

39:34

them that God can meet those same needs

39:36

that alcohol can, that God

39:38

can meet those same needs that pornography

39:41

can, that God can meet those same

39:43

needs as overspending overeating

39:45

can. If you don't fix the worship

39:47

problem, you can't win it with willpower.

39:53

Am I right about it? So

39:56

you gotta fight with a

39:59

focus. People say, focus,

40:01

focus, fight with a focus.

40:05

And the prophet said, this

40:08

is not even about

40:10

you. So don't

40:13

be afraid. If

40:16

it's too big for you, don't be afraid.

40:19

This is what the Lord says to you. You got it on the screen

40:21

verse fifteen. Don't be afraid,

40:25

don't be discouraged, don't

40:27

back down, don't get in your

40:30

own head and try to figure it out. You can't figure this one out. And

40:32

if you fight it, if

40:35

you fight it, you're gonna lose it.

40:39

If you try to meet the righteous

40:41

requirements of the law in your own strength and

40:43

don't let the power of Christ flow through

40:45

you and the Holy Spirit direct you, you

40:48

are going to keep losing the battles

40:50

because you are wrestling on the level of

40:52

what you can see. But it is not

40:54

against flesh and blood. It's spiritual.

41:00

He said, don't be afraid for

41:02

this vast army. Vast army is the phrases

41:04

they use when they were just saying it's too big for

41:06

you. I know it's too big

41:08

for you, but the battle

41:12

is not yours, it's

41:16

God's. When

41:21

I say this, I

41:24

want you to receive it like

41:26

if it was just for you. If

41:29

it's too big, it

41:31

doesn't belong to you. If

41:37

it's too big, you

41:40

got to give it back to God. And

41:44

we say the battle is the lord's, but

41:46

we stress like it's ours. We

41:49

say the battle is the lords, but

41:52

we worry like it's ours. Now

41:54

we've wasted all of our strength worrying

41:57

when we could have been worshiping. The

42:02

battle is not yours. Give

42:04

it back. Quit doing God's

42:07

job for him. God

42:10

wants his battle

42:12

back. God

42:15

wants his battle

42:17

back. Is too big for you.

42:20

It came up from behind you.

42:22

You can't do it. Give it back. You

42:24

can't fight it. Give it back, you

42:26

can't figure it out. Give it back.

42:29

How do you give it back. That's a focus,

42:31

that's looking beyond what's coming against

42:34

you and looking toward what is within

42:36

you, to know that greater is

42:38

he that is in me than

42:41

he that is in the world. And

42:43

God wants his battle back.

42:50

The battle is not yours, but

42:53

God's. And tomorrow

42:57

I want you to march down against

43:00

them.

43:02

I want you to march down against

43:05

an enemy that you're not even gonna

43:07

have to fight.

43:11

I want you to get in position, not

43:15

so that you can fight, not

43:17

so that you can struggle, but

43:20

so that you can see the

43:23

deliverance that the Lord

43:25

will bring about to Israel. This day,

43:29

God is fighting for tudor. God

43:31

is fighting for worshipers. God

43:33

is fighting for praisers. God is

43:35

fighting for his people. God is

43:37

fighting for you.

43:38

You're his friend.

43:43

You get his help, you

43:45

get his strength, you get his miracles,

43:47

you get his wisdom, you get his provision,

43:50

you get his angels. If

43:55

you worship, you

43:59

age the world. Where is too big

44:01

for me? What do you do when the battle

44:04

chooses you? You worship

44:06

your way through it. Now

44:09

that sounds good, but it feels

44:11

stupid. Because

44:13

here they come Ammonites, Moabites,

44:17

Edomites. They were all big

44:20

in their own right, and they're all fighting together,

44:23

and so how are you gonna fight them? What are we gonna

44:25

do, Jehasha bad, what we're gonna do about this situation?

44:28

What are you gonna do about the prophet

44:30

said you verse seventeen,

44:33

will not have to fight this battle, but

44:36

you're gonna experience the victory,

44:40

not by fighting, but

44:43

by focusing. If

44:51

they would have fought, they would have lost. But

44:54

because they focused on

44:56

the goodness of God, you know what

44:58

they did. I love this script sure. I

45:02

think this scripture is

45:05

a beautiful illustration and picture of

45:07

the weapons of our warfare that pulled down strongholds

45:10

in our life. It says that Jehasha

45:12

fat verse eighteen bowed with his

45:15

face to the ground, and

45:17

all the people of Judah and Jerusalem

45:19

fell down in worship before the Lord. Then

45:22

some Levites, that's the priests,

45:26

some levites, the one who administered

45:29

the levitical law, the priestly law,

45:32

from the Coethites and Coralites

45:34

stood up and praised the Lord, the God

45:36

of Israel, with a very loud

45:38

voice.

45:58

Why why

46:03

Because early in the morning they

46:05

left for the desert of Tacoa, And

46:08

as they set out, Jehosha Faz stood

46:10

and said, listen to me Judah.

46:13

Judah means praise, and

46:16

people of Jerusalem have faith in

46:19

the Lord, your God, and you will be upheld.

46:22

Is fight or flight? Time is

46:25

fight or flight. But when

46:28

you can't win the fight and you can't run from it, watch

46:30

this. This is amazing. They didn't

46:32

have to fight it, but they did have to

46:34

face it. And

46:39

God wants to give you the

46:41

faith to face it and

46:43

to trust him to fight it. Do you

46:45

have the faith not to fight it in your

46:47

flesh, but to deal with

46:50

it in your spirit? Jesus

46:53

told Peter, puts your sword away.

46:56

Sometimes it takes more faith not

46:58

to fight. Sometimes it it takes more

47:00

faith just to go to the cross and get

47:02

over your pride and get over yourself

47:05

and let him fight your battles. But

47:10

what they did next is

47:13

remarkable, especially

47:15

considering the enemies. We're

47:18

standing right in their face. The

47:21

scripture says, after consulting the people,

47:23

Johasapad appointed men to

47:26

sing to the Lord. Singing

47:30

is a strange strategy to

47:32

fight three nations all at once. But

47:35

sometimes the battle is so big that

47:39

you know, I can't fight this on

47:41

my own. I always

47:43

thought that this scripture meant

47:46

that when you're in trouble, you should sing. But

47:49

some people can't carry a tune

47:51

and they don't like music. Now

47:54

I realize that the passage

47:56

isn't about music. It's

47:59

about focus. And

48:05

I want you to look past your enemy and

48:08

I want you to sing. It says that jehas

48:11

fate appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him

48:13

for the splendor of his holiness. Let's

48:15

focus on him. Let's

48:18

focus on what's

48:20

right about God rather

48:22

than what's wrong with our life. And

48:25

if you will focus on that, if

48:28

you will focus on that, if you will look past

48:30

what's standing in front of you that's bigger than you, and

48:33

look to the God who is bigger than it, and

48:36

praise him for the splendor

48:38

of his holiness. As they

48:40

went out at the head of the army, saying, give thanks

48:43

to the Lord for his love

48:45

endures forever. Give thanks

48:47

to the Lord. I wonder, are

48:49

there any praisers from the tribal

48:52

Judah who are

48:54

willing to use gratitude

48:57

as a strategy for the battle

49:00

that I'm in and magnify

49:02

the Lord In the middle of the battle,

49:08

And as they began to

49:10

sing in praise, the Lord said

49:13

ambushes against their

49:15

enemies, and they were defeated

49:18

by the angel armies of God. God

49:21

is gonna fight what you can see

49:23

by sending what you can't see. I

49:25

declare an ambush against insecurity,

49:28

and ambush against the diction, and

49:30

ambush against depression, and ambush

49:33

against the darkness in your life. And

49:42

watch this, and I'm gonna pray for you.

49:45

The men of Emmine and Moab rose up against the

49:47

men of Mount Sir. That's the enemies, to

49:50

destroy and annihilate them.

49:54

The enemy started eliminating

49:56

the enemy. That's

49:59

what happens when you

50:01

let God fight your

50:03

battles. He's

50:06

gonna use everything

50:09

then came against ste He's

50:11

gonna use everything

50:14

that the enemy meant for evil. He's

50:16

gonna use a cross to create

50:19

a space for resurrection

50:22

for the glory of the Lord.

50:25

He's in this place. Give

50:27

him a sound pray. Thank

50:31

you for joining us. Special thanks to

50:33

those of you who give generously to this ministry.

50:35

Is because of you that this ministry is possible.

50:38

You can click the link in the description to give

50:41

now or visit Elevation Church

50:43

dot org slash podcast for more information

50:46

and if you enjoyed the podcast. You can subscribe.

50:49

You can share it with your friends. You can click

50:51

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50:53

it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation

50:56

Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.