Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer – When It Feels Like God Is Doing Nothing
Priscilla Shirer (born December 31, 1974) is an American author, motivational speaker, actress, and Christian evangelist. Her father is Dallas mega-church pastor Tony Evans and her brother is Christian entertainer Anthony Evans.
The daughter of Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas,[1] Priscilla grew up well acquainted with the Bible. As a freshman at the University of Houston, she interned with a Christian radio station. Soon listeners were calling the station, inviting Priscilla to speak at their Bible study groups and other events. Soon she was invited to lead a weekly Bible study at the Zig Ziglar Corporation and then to join its speaker team. Priscilla has worked as an independent contractor for CBS and hosted a local television show, but recently she has focused solely on Christian ministry opportunities. She calls Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, her mentor in ministry.
Together the Shirers established Going Beyond Ministries, a speaking bureau featuring Priscilla. The parents of three young boys, the Shirers share ministry and family responsibilities. While Priscilla continues to minister full-time, Jerry manages his schedule and other business aspects of Going Beyond Ministries.
Priscilla speaks around the world at churches and other events, including the LifeWay Christian Resources-sponsored Going Beyond conference and Deeper Still: The Event, where she shares the stage with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur. She has also authored several books.
Shirer graduated from Duncanville High School and Dallas Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree from the latter in Biblical Studies.
In 1993, Shirer was a freshman at the University of Houston. Shirer was married in 1999 to Jerry Shirer, former Hilton Hotels executive. The couple has three sons.
In 2013, Shirer was a speaker at the 2013 Women of Faith conference. In 2015, Shirer made her film debut in the Kendrick Brothers film War Room. In October 2016, Shirer was recognized as one of four prominent women of faith during the 10th anniversary of God’s Leading Ladies Life Enrichment Program at The Potter’s House.[1] Shirer also featured at the 47th GMA Dove Awards.
[Applause]
it’s a privilege to be with you again to
have the opportunity to be it designed
for life I love gathering with you I
love the Lindo so much I love this
incredible church that sponsors this
conference and the amount of Prayer you
can tell can’t you that they’ve already
been praying for us planning for us that
they didn’t just throw this together
last night there’s been a group of
people that really have been on their
knees asking God to meet us in this
place and and so I celebrate that and I
wonder even if before we jump in to just
a few simple thoughts I want to share
with you today I wonder if you join me
in celebrating the lindell’s and
celebrating James River Church and
celebrating the volunteers in the way
for us we are so grateful we’re so
grateful no small task I mean how would
you feel about hosting 10,000 women at
Joe house Lord Jesus thank you for this
morning thank you that we get to be in
your presence in worship thank you that
we get to be amongst the people of God
in your presence father but also I thank
you for your word I thank you that it is
living and active and sharper than any
two-edged sword lord I pray that in
these next few moments that we have
together over a simple portion of
Scripture that you would do what only
you can take this one simple message
would you divide it about six or seven
thousand different ways so that every
single person in the room will know they
have been in the presence of God this
morning that they heard your word
we’re expectant Lord where your
daughter’s were sitting on the edge of
our seat to hear what it is that you
will speak to our hearts it is in Jesus
name the matchless name of Jesus Christ
the name at which every knee will bow
and every tongue will confess it is in
that name that we pray come on let the
daughters of God say Amen
as Savannah mentioned to you just a
moment ago I am the mother of three boys
that is my full-time job trying to feed
these people
I have giant children I’ve got three
giant boys 14 he’s getting ready turn 15
a couple weeks and then I have a 13 year
old that I have a nine year old and
y’all they are just big big old boys my
14 year old is 62 and wears a size 14
shoe so I’m just trying to feed them
that is my whole life mission is to try
to figure out a new way to cook chicken
for dinner every day so that I can get
enough food into their bellies and it is
our joy to rear them and raise them me
and Jerry I was thinking about something
that happened with Jude and I our
youngest Jackson Jerry jr. and Jude Jude
is our surprise boy we still don’t know
how you got here and I’ve told you this
before but when I had him he was our
surprise boy and we named him Jude on
purpose because that’s as close as I
could get to revelation cuz it is
finished it’s over it’s the end of the
line and I was sitting on an airplane
with Jude we were happen to be sitting
looking out the window that was right
over the wing of the airplane and I
could see my little boy he must have
been about 7 or so at the time I could
see him just sort of pensively staring
at the wing of the airplane and
considering it thoughtfully and finally
after a few moments he looked back over
at me and he said mom how do they get
that thing to stick on the plane how do
they get that thing connected how do
they make it stay well I looked back at
him and answered the only way I knew how
mmm
I said but buddy you can ask your uncle
Vaughn Gerry’s brother their dad’s a
brother is uncle Vaughn and Vaughn
happens to work in the airline industry
that’s what he does is he connects the
wiring and the veins that makes the
pieces of the airplane stick together so
this was kind of a little teachable
moment I was having with Jude I said
listen when we get back home you got to
talk to your uncle Vaughn because he can
explain this to you it’s really actually
pretty exciting I’m sure he can he can
try to make sure you understand the
nuances of how the wing gets on the
airplane and I thought I’d take it a
step for further this conversation and I
said to him Jude do you know that when
you grow up you can be anything in the
world that you want to be you do know
that right like you can do exactly what
your uncle Vaughn does when you grow up
if you want to you know if you want to
be a doctor you can be a doctor if you
want to be a lawyer you can be a lawyer
if you want to be a singer you could be
a singer you aren’t you have so much
potential and you can do exactly what
your uncle Vaughn does when you grow up
if you’d like to he looked back at me
and he said mom I don’t want to do what
uncle Vaughn does when I grow up I want
to do what you do when I grow up
[Applause]
you know where you have that moment your
heart gets warm your kid does something
and it just makes you want to melt and
say baby just whatever you want what do
you want I will do it for you today and
then in the next moment it all comes
crumbling down has that ever happened so
I looked back over at my boy and I said
well buddy
what does mama do I had expectations
about what his answer could be I didn’t
know if he would say mama would love to
tell people about Jesus I didn’t know if
he’d say I’d love to write when I grow
up I didn’t I didn’t know exactly what
his answer would be but he looked back
at me and he said mom I wanna do nothing
when I grow up just like you you do
nothing all day every day you do nothing
[Applause]
I said buddy you see them clean clothes
you got on today how do you think you
got those clean clothes so you know how
you eat a homemade meal on a fairly
regular basis how do you think those
meals are getting cooked he was like
what you know that’s just like regular
mom stuff I said buddy do you know how
every now and then I have the privilege
to stand in front of a group of people
and share God’s Word and and that means
I have to study first you know every now
and then there’s a new book or a Bible
study in it and I have to write that
thing he said yeah but you’re just
sitting behind the computer all day
every day doing nothing now I share this
next part with you just to make a point
I hope that at least many of you will
know me well enough to know that I just
really want to make a point by sharing
this part with you yesterday or the day
after I had this conversation with Jude
I thought the timing was interesting
that our publisher emailed me send me an
email to keep me updated on something
that she knows that I don’t normally
keep keep myself updated on she wanted
me to know that a little book I had
written called fervent several years ago
she wanted me to know that that book was
on the New York Times bestseller list
and that it had won several awards
that’s what she emailed to tell me she
knows that you know when you’re trying
to feed three boys you ain’t got time to
keep up with such things and so she
emailed me to let me know that I
appreciated the email but I could only
chuckle when I read it because I
immediately thought back to my
conversation with Jude the day before
that while I was doing what to him look
like absolutely nothing I was actually
crafting something that hopefully had
amounted to something that had brushed
people’s lives and I thought to myself
how often it is that I consider my
relationship with God in the exact same
way but I feel like God is doing nothing
that I’m playing and he’s not hearing my
circumstances are not changing
at the details of my life and I feel
like he is absolutely doing nothing all
day every day disconnected from my life
when all the while most often when we
feel like God is doing nothing y’all he
is crafting chapter after chapter with
the story of your life
that he’s fully engaged and fully
invested in the details of all of our
everyday living he is never not doing
nothing I believe in the sovereignty of
God somebody say sovereignty God
sovereignty is one of his
characteristics that I am most intrigued
by there are many but I love thinking
about the sovereignty of God when you
get a grasp on it it really does give
you a sense of rest and peace and
stability in your life God’s sovereignty
is his overarching orchestration of all
that happens in time and eternity God’s
sovereignty means that God existed
before time began that is pre Genesis
1:1 cuz y’all know the only reason why
there was a Genesis 1:1 was because God
was already there so that he could say
let there be and there was he was in
eternity past he has been there and done
that he has seen all of time from the
beginning of the spectrum of time
Genesis 1:1 all the way through to the
end of time which you and I have not yet
yet yet seen and he has already been
into eternity future the entire spectrum
of eternity and time he’s already been
there and done that
but sovereignty does not just mean he’s
seen it all sovereignty means listen
that the whole thing is in the palm of
his hand
sovereignty is what lets us do what
Psalm 46:10 says be still chill out
relax and know that I am God Providence
is his overarching control of the throes
of the universe I’m sorry sovereignty is
his overarching control of the thorough
of the universe but within that big
umbrella of his sovereignty there is
Providence
Providence is the working of the details
of your life in mind when we feel like
he’s doing nothing when we feel like our
days are just filled with regular 8 to 5
things or when we run into tragedy or
difficulty Providence is knowing that
God is orchestrating the details of our
days and our lives and our encounters
and our opportunities that he’s actually
ordering our footsteps Providence is
Jeremiah 29:11 I know the plans I have
for you I’ve got plans that are designed
to give you a hope and a future
Providence is Ephesians 2:10 that we are
his workmanship created in Christ Jesus
for good works which God prepared
beforehand
Providence means you can trust God with
the stuff of your life because he’s
orchestrating it all I love God’s
providence as seen throughout scripture
that his shows up everywhere even in the
most unlikely places even in the places
when he seems and the seasons of our
life God when he seems most distant or
most disengaged that we can trust that
when we can’t trace his hand we can
trust his heart that is there fully
present fully engaged fully invested in
the details of our life that’s what we
get from Scripture because he’s
everywhere even in the books of the
Bible you know and Esther the name of
God isn’t even really overtly mentioned
and yet he’s there in the book working
and orchestrating all throughout the
scriptures from the beginning to the end
it reminds us about the sovereignty and
the Providence of God right from the
very beginning in Genesis you always see
that he is the breath of life in Exodus
he shows up as the Passover lamb in
Leviticus he is our high priest in
numbers he’s the fire by night in
Deuteronomy
he’s Israel’s guide and Joshua he’s
salvations choice and judges he is his
regard and Ruth
he’s the kinsman redeemer and 1st and
2nd samuel he’s our trusted prophet in
and chronicles we see him as sovereign
and Ezra he’s the true and faithful
scribe in Nehemiah he’s the one who
rebuilds walls and he rebuilds lives and
Esther he is our courage and job
he’s the timeless Redeemer in Psalms
he’s our morning song in proverbs he is
our wisdom in Ecclesiastes he’s a time
in a season in the Song of Solomon
he’s the lovers dream in Isaiah he’s the
Prince of Peace in Jeremiah he’s the
weeping prophet in lamentations he’s the
cry for Israel in Ezekiel he’s the call
from sin in Daniel he’s the stranger
that will show up in your fire in Hosea
he’s the forever faithful and Joel he’s
the spirit’s power and Amos he’s the
strong arms that carry in Obadiah he’s
the Lord our Savior in Jonah he’s the
great missionary in Micah
he’s the promise of peace in mayhem he’s
our strength and shields in Habakkuk and
Zephaniah he’s the one that brings
revival and Haggai he restores anything
that has been lost and in Zechariah he
is our fountain and in Malachi at the
end of the Old Testament we see him as
the Sun of righteousness
rising with healing in his wings and
that’s just who he is in the Old
Testament
cuz you give him a little time wait
about 400 years and then in Matthew Mark
Luke and John you’ll find out he’s not
just God now he’s your Messiah and in
the spirit-filled book of Acts he’s the
reigning fire from heaven in Romans
he’s the grace of God Corinthians he’s
the power of love Galatians
he’s freedom from the curse of sin in
Ephesians
he’s our glorious treasure in
Philippians he’s the servants heart in
Colossians he’s God and the Trinity in
Thessalonians he’s our Colin King in
Timothy Titus and Philemon
he’s our mediator and our faithful
pastor in Hebrews he’s the everlasting
courage in James he’s the one who will
heal you when you’re sick in 1st and 2nd
Peter he’s our faithful Shepherd in John
and Jude he’s the lover coming for his
bride and in the revelation in the very
end he was and is and will always be the
first the last the beginning and the end
amen the scriptures remind us that he is
always there woven throughout every
story and as Debbie was so beautifully
unwrapping for us the mystery of God
that sometimes it sounds to us regular
old girls like us it sounds so big and
so grand and so beyond us that we tend
to disassociate our regular lives from
that mystery we can’t imagine that a
regular housewife like us or a corporate
woman like us or that a single woman
like us or a teenager in high school or
college student in university you can’t
imagine that someone with regular skills
and regular talents and and who lives in
a normal neighborhood and works on a
normal job you can’t imagine that you
could fit into that mystery and I came
to tell you that the details of
all of our regular lives our threads in
the great grand huge miraculous glorious
mystery of our great God there’s nobody
here that’s removed that is too far gone
that your story doesn’t count in that
mystery there is a story in scripture I
think they’re gonna put it on the
screens I’m gonna read several portions
of First Samuel Chapter nine to you
because this is not ever to me more
clearly seen than in this one little
portion of scripture about the life of
Saul Saul the one who would be the king
of Israel his story starts this way in
1st Samuel chapter 9 I’m gonna read
several verses throughout this chapter
listen verse 9 says now there was a man
of Benjamin whose name was Kish that
verse goes on to to list all the lineage
of Kish and then it says at the end of
verse 1 that he was a Benjamite a mighty
man of Valor verse 2 says and he had a
son whose name was Saul listen to Saul’s
resume he was a choice and handsome man
there was not a more handsome person
than he among the sons of Israel he
stood from his shoulders up taller than
any of the people verse 3 now the
donkeys of Kish Saul’s father was were
lost so kiss said to his son Saul
take with you one of the servants and
arise go and search for this donkey talk
about a mundane regular ordinary old
task verse 15 now the day before Saul’s
coming
the Lord had revealed this to Samuel the
Prophet he had told Samuel verse 16
about this time tomorrow I’m gonna send
you a man from the land of Benjamin and
when he shows up you shall annoy him to
be Prince over my people Israel and he
shall deliver my people from the hands
of the Philistines for I have regarded
my people because their cries come up
before me verse 17
when Samuel saw Saul the Lord whispered
to him hey
it’s the guy I spoke to you about this
one shall rule over my people verse 22
through 24 then Samuel he took saul and
his servant he brought them to this
great hall he gave them a place at the
head of those who were invited who were
about thirty men and Samuel said to the
cook hey remember that portion that I
told you to set aside yesterday
verse 24 this is the time bring it out
set it before Saul and Samuel said here
is what has been reserved somebody say
it’s been reserved for me here is what
was reserved set it before you and heat
because it has been kept for you until
the appointed time it’s amazing to me
how sometimes it’s just donkeys that are
connected to destiny sometimes it’s just
the most regular mundane assignment that
we don’t even recognize in the moment is
actually the pathway to something bigger
and grander that the Lord has allowed us
to be included in in the story that he
is crafting in this generation I have a
tendency you have a tendency to despise
the small things the small little
errands that we’ve been requested to run
the needs that arise in a regular daily
life like yours and mine in this case
there is a man named Saul he has been
described as distinct among all the
people he stands head and shoulders
above them all he is more handsome than
them all if he were to be on Instagram
we would definitely be following him
because he had perfectly lit selfies
verse 2 tells us and shows us his
selfies he is choice he is handsome his
resume is one for the record books
and yet what is going to connect him to
his God assignment to his part of the
mystery that the Lord is allowing his
thread to be connected with in the
bigger story that he has for his people
will not be how choice he
in verse 2 it will be a simple mundane
errand that he’s asked to run in verse 3
I love that verse 2 and verse 3 are so
closely connected to each other you know
I believe in the inerrancy of Scripture
meaning that I believe every T is
crossed every I is dotted as it should
be
I not only believed there are no errors
in the scripture I actually believe that
the placement of the books of the Bible
as they are and the verses as they are
the chapters as they are that those are
inspired as well and so when I come
across two verses that do something
either contrasting or comparatively that
draw my attention I lean in carefully to
see why the Lord would have placed these
two particular portions of scripture
that closely connected to each other
that’s why I’m drawn to the fact that in
verse 2 we see Saul’s resume and in
verse 3 we see a simple errand that he
is humble enough that he’s willing to
submit all of the grandeur of verse 2 to
be willing to run this mundane ordinary
errand in verse 3 it occurs to me that
in most of our lives we are riding on
the coattails of our virtue we want
people to be impressed with the way we
appear on social media we want to be
savvy and flashy and we’re hoping that
that will sustain us and carry us and
include us in the bigger plans of God
that if we’re gifted enough if we’re
talented enough if we stand head and
shoulders above everybody else or at
least appear to that will be what
includes us in the plan of God but in
Saul’s story it’s not verse 2 it’s verse
3 his willingness to run a simple errand
that connected him with the promises of
God I want to ask you if you’ve been
turning up your nose at the mundane
regular things that God has set before
you to do I want to ask you if you’ve
ignored the simple details of your life
the errands that you’ve got to run the
dishes that need to get done you know
the laundry that you washed and you
drive but it’s just dumped out on the
dining room table waiting for
somebody to come and fold it the dinner
that needs to be cooked to the
assignment that needs to be written the
details that need to be crafted
throughout the regular course of your
day just to make life work day in and
day out sometimes we turn our noses up
at those errands not realizing that
sometimes it’s the donkey’s that lead to
destiny sometimes it’s the simple
errands that we that we want to somebody
else to take care of because we were
made for bigger and better things
riding on the coattails of our verse2
and we don’t even realize that that
verse two is not the connection it’s not
what God is looking for it’s the one
who’s willing faithfully and diligently
to say yes sir to the assignment that is
in front of them to do listen to me you
want to know what God’s will is for your
life that’s the question we have what is
God’s will for my life I want to know
what God wants for me to do and what we
really mean when we ask that question is
that we want to know what he has for us
for the next 20 years isn’t that what we
want to know we want to know 20 years
from now what his will for our life
looks like and most often when we want
to know what God has for us for 20 years
from now his response is if I can just
get you to be obedient for the next 20
minutes we’ll be on our way somewhere
[Applause]
Elizabeth Elliott said you want to know
God’s will
here it is do the next thing that is
God’s will you here in this conference
be fully here cuz guess what here you
are
be fully and engaged and invested in the
tasks that it is at hand
instead of trying to so busily we so
busily with our ambitions are trying to
climb some ladder trying to look a
certain way and in doing so we miss out
on the beauty and the bounty of the the
regular mundane ordinary tasks to which
he has assigned us we miss out on the
character that it’s supposed to build in
us the backbone it was designed to
fortify in us the humility it was
supposed to develop in us we miss out on
it because we think that mundane tasks
couldn’t be for me because I’ve got some
verse to stuff going on I’ve got some
important less about me some giftedness
some potential in me and I want to use
that and so I’m just gonna wait till God
calls me to bigger and better things so
we ignore the donkey’s not realizing
that the donkey is connected to your
destiny just waiting he’s just waiting
for somebody to be willing to do the
next thing to do what he’s called us to
do I am stunned y’all and how many
divine occurrences throughout the course
of Scripture were connected to regular
ordinary people who were willing to do
regular ordinary things I’m drawn to
Rebekah who was just going to a well to
draw Rockwater a regular ordinary daily
sometimes more than once daily
assignment it would have been a taxing
duty for her to have that water on her
shoulders day in and day out drawing
enough to meet the needs of her family
but on this one particular day she goes
to do this mundane task in obedience and
diligence and by the way she doesn’t go
upset and mad and frustrated and with
the wrong attitude to do the tasks she
goes with an attitude of willingness
humility and generosity she has no idea
that on this day that regular assignment
that regular mundane detail is going to
lead her to the meeting of her spouse
because on that day abraham has sent a
servant saying look for the one who the
Lord will send to marry Isaac she’s just
going to draw water from a well
or Joseph he has no idea when he’s in
prison a circumstance that she does not
particularly care for that
does not want to be in he has no idea
that even while he’s there his
willingness to use his gift to interpret
the dreams of two people two years later
his willingness to do that would
literally be the key that unlocks the
prison doors that set him free in Exodus
chapter 1 a mother who’s just afraid for
the life of her little baby she has no
idea that when she just does the best
that she can and she crafts the little
basket for him to set him a sail on the
NAM rivers and hopefully he will find
some safety she has no idea that just in
being the best mother that she can that
she is sending off a man named Moses who
will be raised as the Prince of Egypt
and who will become the deliverer for
the children of Israel and then there
are some shepherds in Luke 24 of these
Shepherds are out just doing what they
do just tending a flock of sheep they
have no idea that why they sit out under
the star let sky but this will be the
day when they’re just about the business
of doing the ordinary task at hand they
have no idea that this is the night that
the sky will break open and the heavenly
house will announce the arrival of Jesus
Christ the Lord if he’s asked you to
tend sheep y’all tend the Sheep if he’s
asked you to go to the well and draw
water well then you go to the well and
you joke with draw water whatever it is
he’s called you to do come on y’all we
got to do it with all of our minds we do
not know that if Saul’s father lost this
donkey because of a neglect because he
was not doing what he needed to do and
lost his donkey he wasn’t responsible
and lost the donkey we don’t know if it
was because of neglect or just because
life happens because some things like
that just occur we do not know the
details of why the donkey is lost I love
that that detail is left out because
then I can just make it broad enough for
all of us to consider the fact that that
there are some burdens I know in a group
this size you’ve been asked to bear and
some of it is just a reality of the life
that you’re living right now the season
of life that you’re in that this this a
bucket of water you’ve been asked to
carry is heavier than
you expected it to be in this season
this errand you’ve been sent on to chase
this donkey is taking longer for solit
did it took him through three different
provinces and took much longer than he
anticipated in fact he got so frustrated
at how time-consuming this was he
actually wanted to throw in the towel
you can read there in that chapter he
wanted to give up and just go back home
and it occurs to me that in a group this
size there are some of you that are
bearing some mundane ordinary life tasks
and really it’s not as a result of just
life some of it has happened because of
the neglect of other people in your life
that your spouse really isn’t pulling
his weight but your mom or dad have
dropped the ball that your coworker if
that co-worker you know that one
co-worker that one that if she says one
more thing to you you gonna knock her
out that one man if she just pulled her
weight you’d have less to bear it occurs
to me that in a group this size there
are very many of us that are burdened
with tasks that because of someone
else’s neglect we are carrying more than
we ever thought we we would or that we
think we should and yet
Saul was willing and because he was
humble enough to just say okay it
doesn’t matter why the donkey got lost
but I’ve been tasked my father has asked
me to go find the donkey so I’m going to
be willing to do the mundane assignment
to wash the dishes again to change yet
another dirty diaper to go back up to
the school to meet with the teachers
about my teenage son or daughter that
I’m gonna be the one who will faithfully
study who will faithfully be in God’s
Word whether or not there is an audience
listening to hear what it is that my
Bible study produces that I’m gonna be
willing and diligent to write the lyrics
to this song whether or not there’s a
recording contract on the other end that
I’m gonna be diligent to put pen to
paper and write this blog post that I
feel like the Lord is giving me whether
or not anybody comes to my blog and
actually reads it because I’m not doing
it to impress people I’m doing it in
surrender and humility to my great God
what has God called you to do do it do
it your God assignment is waiting on you
when you walk back home tomorrow it’s
what’s right in your house it’s what’s
right on your job the job that you’ve
been trying to leave for the last year
and for some reason the Lord won’t move
you on the neighborhood that you’ve been
trying to get out of you’ve been trying
to buy a house in this neighborhood but
the Lord for some reason keeps you in
this neighborhood those deals keep
falling through and you just can’t move
and you’re hemmed in on every side you
can’t figure out why the Lord won’t let
you move on to that organization or
leave this church to go to this church
he’s got you hemmed in in this place
where you are that is where he wants you
to be and if you’ll be faithful to the
task that is at hand in this season in
this place you’ll be amazed how that
particular donkey is designed to lead
you to your destiny because Saul could
never have known that the Lord had gone
before him that he had already whispered
his name in Samuel the prophets ears he
has said to him there is someone coming
I will point him out to you when he gets
here if Saul will be humble enough
faithful enough to go on the assignment
that he has been given mundane regular
ordinary assignment if he’ll do it he
will intersect his path with yours and
when he shows up I’ll make sure that you
know it’s him I need somebody in the
room to know that God has already
whispered your name to somebody he has
already said this is what Providence is
y’all Providence is when the Lord goes
before you and lights up steps you don’t
even know you’re gonna take yet
Providence is when he goes before you to
set up answers to problems you don’t
even know you’re gonna have Providence
is when he makes provision for you when
he’s whispered your name
but it needs to know in the room there
is an employer that already has your
name on their hearts there’s already a
spot that is in need of your gifts and
your talents and what you can bring to
the table it’s waiting on you if only
you’ll do what he’s put in front of you
to do today you will be on the right
path to intersect with the divine plan
that God has for your life and for this
generation do you know in 1st
Corinthians chapter 16 it says that the
Lord is looking for something it says
that the Lord is looking it boggles my
mind that he’s looking for anything that
our God could be looking for anything it
says that God is on the lookout he’s
looking he’s trying to find somebody
whose heart is holy his who’s fully
surrendered and submitted who’s not
trying to be impressive and applauded by
the people who’s not so arrogant and
needy and has so much hubris that
they’ll only do the things that that put
them in the position of verse 2 he said
I’m looking for some verse 3 people some
folks that can just go ahead and take my
assignment whatever it is for them he
says in a 1st chronicles chapter 16
verse 9 I’m looking for those kinds of
people when I find them he says I’m
going to lend my strong support and my
strong favor to anybody whose heart is
wholly mine I don’t know about you but
I’m after the strong support of God
anybody I want is favor on my life more
that I want to impress people
forgive us Lord when we book bit more
interested in verse 2 standing head and
shoulders above the rest having more
followers and and more friends and more
applause than all the rest forgive us
Lord for making everything so
whitewashed and clean and perfectly
looking in our life that we have
forgotten we were not made to impress
people we were made for the applause of
heaven
do you know most of the people that we
admire most of the people you all at
least me I’m sure I can get a witness in
the house about this but most of the
folks that we really want to be close to
and I mean like women that have gone
before us women that maybe have walked
the road a little bit longer than us
the people who I want to sit at their
feet and just listen for a little while
and hear what they’re saying and what
they’re thinking and where they’ve been
and what they’ve done what attracts me
to them is not because they were
impressive what attracts me to them is
this quality right here that’s what
draws us in it draws us in that they
stayed the path that’s Bobby Houston
would say they stayed the course like
how’d you how have you been married for
54 years what you raised your your kids
and they’re doing well you got grandkids
now I want to sit at the feet of women
like that I want to know what tell me
about your story they might not have the
most notoriety they might not be
impressive to people but what they did
was chase whatever donkey that the Lord
put in their life to chase they were on
a mission to be obedient to God no
matter what that looked like and the
reason why we’re drawn to people like
this the reason why we want to know
about them and we want to be connected
to them is because of this
characteristic of humility and
willingness to do what is assigned to us
that characteristic is more like Jesus
than almost anything else because Jesus
being in the form of God did not regard
equality with God as a thing to be
grasped but taking on the form of a
bondservant he humbled himself he
humbled himself even to the to the point
of death on a cross y’all he emptied out
himself and you and I are often so full
of ourselves that we can’t do what it is
that God has called us to do work so
busy climbing up the ladder we get to
the top of the ladder of success only to
look down and realize that Jesus is
still at the bottom washing feet
so what have you been asked to do the
beautiful mystery of God in our
generation requires that you and I do
what he’s called us to his Providence
makes it so that none of those ordinary
things are disconnected from his glory
being displayed it’s leading you
somewhere it’s taking you somewhere to a
divine intersection and once all showed
up Samuel said hey I got a meal for you
I didn’t just cook it yes just cook it
five minutes ago actually yesterday saw
we were making this meal and I already
told the cook put some aside so Saul
come on over here sit at the head of the
table and he says to the cook listen do
you remember that meal I had reserved
somebody say it’s been reserved I need
somebody to know that you are not
delayed you are not behind even if you
think you’ve wasted a few years and
you’ve not been on the mission that God
has compelled you to be but you feel
like you want to go home and go ahead
and put your hand to the plow and stay
the course and get back in the game I
need you to know there’s some good news
today what God has for you has been
reserved for you it’s got your name on
it it’s been put off to the side just
waiting for you to show up and when you
do it’ll be placed in front of you to
enjoy I want to tell you in closing
there’s a woman named Karen Abercrombie
you all know Karen Abercrombie as Miss
Clara in the movie war room
Karen Abercrombie Karen Abercrombie is a
real actress that’s what she does for a
living it is her craft she went to
school for it
Karen Abercrombie came up with the in
the ranks with other actors and
actresses who if I said their names you
would know all of them she went to
school with them
she lived in LA with them they have all
now won Oscars and climbed the ladder
and are in magazines and she came she
came up in the ranks with these same
contemporaries and she explained to me
how through the years she has sat back
and been so discouraged because she
watched them get all the parts for all
of these blockbuster movies she watched
them continue to excel in their in their
craft and in their field and she just
felt so left out matters got worse when
she would turn down roles that she was
offered because as a person of faith she
just didn’t want to say that and she
didn’t want to do that it just didn’t
gel well with her she felt conviction
about certain things so she would just
say no her agent she told me when she’s
in Los Angeles her agent thought she was
crazy that she would turn down some of
those roles for which now other people
were gonna get awards and recognition
but she just couldn’t do it so she just
said no matters got even worse when her
husband needed to move out of Los
Angeles for work he moved into Charlotte
North Carolina and anybody that is in
the field of acting knows if you’re
serious about it you do not move out of
Los Angeles to Charlotte North Carolina
and there she sat in Charlotte and you
know what
she just said okay I’m discouraged I’m
disappointed this is not what I had
planned for my life but you know Here I
am so she started an acting school and
she just heard him teaching young people
who wanted to be thespians and who
wanted to know about the craft and the
skill of acting and then she just kept
auditioning for small roles and doing
things as she could she just was
faithful with what was in front of her
her husband her son the students that
the Lord had given her little did she
know that there were some movie
producers that of all the places in the
world where they could have filmed a
movie there was just something about a
little suburb 20 minutes outside of
Charlotte North
Linna called Concorde where they decided
it would be the best place to film a
movie called war room and I remember
when we started shooting I arrived two
weeks early and we sat in a casting room
with the directors and the writers of
the film and they said to me Priscilla
we need to pray we need to pray because
the heart and soul of this movie is this
miss Clara character and we have
audition P person after person woman
after woman and we can’t find anybody to
capture this role will you pray with us
that God somehow will providentially
bring the right person at the right time
to fill this position we grabbed hands
together y’all two weeks before we
started and we ask God to bring us a
Miss Clara the last resort for the
writer and the director was to send word
to send word throughout the churches in
Charlotte if there’s anybody that would
like to audition for this role we’d love
to see them we’ve tried every which way
we can the traditional ways to find an
actor and we cannot so please let us
know if there’s anyone in your church a
couple of days later Karen Abercrombie
with a wig on dressed in a big robe
waddled in in her 70 something year old
way she’s in her 50s but she waddled in
as Miss Clara and they knew immediately
she was the one when war room began to
influence people the way it did on such
a broad scale we were not anticipating
that we’re so grateful that the Lord
really galvanized his people in all
walks of life toward the power of prayer
when that happened and it began to
spread far and wide miss Clara
Karen Abercrombie called me up one day
with tears rolling down her face and she
said now I realize I realize why the
Lord didn’t let me do all of that
because what she discovered is that the
directors of the film any actor they
hired they wouldn’t look back at the
resume if there was anything
would compromise the integrity of their
role in this film they would not hire
them no matter how good they were so she
said to me Priscilla I realized that
this was reserved for me and even if the
Lord had to move me out of the place I
thought I needed to be to move me to an
obscure little city which was the place
I needed to be I’m so glad that I didn’t
resist I just went where he asked me to
go and I just did just faithfully
serving in her church and there was word
that she that it was her time to receive
what was reserved for her I want to tell
you that some of you when we leave this
conference tomorrow we still have so
much more that the Lord wants to impart
to us but I’m gonna tell you right now
that when you go back home the question
on the table is going to be will we do
the regular everyday stuff we’ve been
asked to do trusting that his
providential hand is maneuvering and
orchestrating and aligning and preparing
for us what he has for us or will in our
hubris and our arrogance our pride will
we shrink back from the regular stuff of
life expecting something different or
something more I believe that the Lord
is preparing a table for anybody in this
room who’s willing to say yes Lord
Amen