Are you living in fear of what might happen or walking on God’s promise in faith? He knows what He’s doing, but you’ve got to trust Him.
you know how many things that the devil
has kept you from doing in your life
that God called you to do because of
what might happen if you did and a lot
of us the enemy doesn’t even have to
fight us with real events or
circumstances just even the suggestion
of a disaster is enough to send some of
us into retreat and so just even the
thought that what if they don’t like you
is enough to keep you in the house or
just even a thought if what if they
break my heart is enough to keep you
from extending yourself in relationship
or just even a thought you know many of
you are reluctant to get involved in
this church because you had a previous
bad church experience and I understand
that because once you have been through
a storm I lived through Hurricane Hugo I
was eight years old when Hurricane Hugo
hit Charleston South Carolina it
terrified me I didn’t want to spend the
night away from home for two years after
that as a little boy because one thing
after you have survived a storm after
you have survived bad weather after you
have survived abuse what people don’t
tell you about is that even after the
storm is over it still rages on on the
inside of you and the saddest thing in
the world is to see a Christian who has
been set free by the love of Christ to
know that neither height nor depth nor
anything else in all creation neither
death nor life neither Angels nor demons
neither the present nor the future nor
any other power shall be able to
separate me from the love of God that is
in Christ Jesus my Lord what I’m trying
to say some of us need to fire the devil
as our weatherman we have been
consulting the wrong source to find out
what our future looks like and so now we
stay indoors and we stay in fear and we
stay in paranoia
and we never plant and we never reap
Solomon said because we watched the wind
what a weird image you really can’t see
the wind you can only see the effects of
it and he says when you watch the wind
you know like is this a good time I’ll
give you one this one looks like to
watch the wind gusting about that phrase
watch the wind and I was like this is
not a literal message I’m not using it
to talk about physical storms I’m using
it to talk about when the sower goes to
sow he wants the wind to work with him
and when the wind is blowing the
opposite direction all your seed smacks
you in your face but you never feel like
everything you soldiers you feel like
stuff just backfires on you are you
trying to be nice to somebody that’s the
last one of those I’m doing I gotta
preach this twice tomorrow I need my
brain cells but you ever just been
smacked by your own seed because that’s
what he’s saying when the wind is
blowing against you some some of you
have had the wind against you
your whole life you didn’t have the
right shoes your parents didn’t make a
lot of money you had to learn to fit in
you had to learn how to be tough you had
to learn how to be hard and you learned
how to survive a storm but the problem
with that the only problem with that is
sometimes the wind isn’t even against
you but you still feel like it is
because your mind is collecting evidence
in support of a verdict that is no
longer accurate so you watch the wind
try to find out what’s popular is it’s
not popular
I’m appreciates to our students they’ve
got rhythm night coming up next next
Sunday night and I want to talk about
this in some form tim is that watching
the wind is like trying to determine
what’s going to gain you clout
and then you let clout overrule
character and watching the wind is
trying to be like oh do they like me do
they like me is this what I need to be
to be like that’s that’s watching the
wind now give you another one that’s
watching the wind it’s needing to be in
a good mood to keep your commitments
that’s watching the wind because some of
my weather systems are internal and I
found out a long time ago that usually
the mood that you’re in when you make a
commitment will not match the mood that
you’re in when it’s time to keep the
commitment and so to watch the wind is
for those of us who sometimes need to
feel it in order to fulfill it and
Solomon says the wisest man the richest
man the the man who said that to do
things for Vanity’s sake is like chasing
after the wind he uses this metaphor a
lot in his in his book Ecclesiastes The
Collected teachings which are like
proverbs but it’s written in such a way
as to convince the knowledge of the
universe and the futility of vanity he
uses this image of the wind why because
it is an invisible force and he says if
you are always checking with and
consulting how you feel you will always
find a reason to contradict your
responsibility so there will always be a
reason much this that you don’t feel
like forgiving people but if you want to
be free you might have to go against
your feelings in order to live in
freedom I’m saying you might have to
walk against the wind you might have to
forgive against the wind especially in
marriage I love Holly so much because
she decided a long time ago that I was
the man
and for her she reached the verdict on
fur day before she ever took my name is
her own and because she reached the
verdict that she loves me and I’m a good
man in our marriage she works to collect
evidence to support that I’m the man for
her she could just as easily do the
opposite she could she could find 15
reasons we’ll he’s only 5 foot 9 he’s
bigger on screen you know she could find
15 reasons I’m usually moody three and a
half days out of seven she could find 15
reasons not to feel that way about me
but sometimes commitment means facing
resistance with resolve in your heart
you can find a reason to leave this
church in the next three days if you
want one matter of fact the law of
averages says that there’s somebody on
your row right now who if you get to
know them they will give you a reason to
leave this church in the next three days
because they will disappoint you with
their lack of Christian character but if
you move one person over on the same row
I bet you there’s somebody on that row
that loves Jesus there’s somebody on
that row who is honest there is somebody
on that row that is sincere but you’ll
never so we’ll see I’m gonna get my
woman do I’m gonna get my I’m gonna do
the tithing thing but imma do it after I
get my thing because the thing after the
thing is gonna do the thing and then
this thing happened there was the thing
and but the economy but the presidential
election you see how we do it consulting
the forecast instead of consulting our
faith he who regards the wind or observes the
wind will never sell and he looks at the
clouds will never reap because it always
looks like it could rain anytime and you
can’t get the harvest in when it’s wet
and Solomon didn’t have a Weather
Channel app and Solomon didn’t have a
Weather Channel he’s dealing with people
who would consult the conditions before
keeping their commitments watching the
wind how many people have not started
what God told him to start because
they’ve been watching the wind been
waiting for more spare time Imma write
a book one day you even keep a journal
right now I’m write a book one day when are you gonna write it i’ma build a cottage
in Maine it’s the thing I’m gonna do one
day you got some family land nope it’s
an imaginary scenario that keeps you
from an actual opportunity do you see it
watching the wind is wishing that you
had a different wife instead of loving
the one that you’ve got like Christ
loves the Church
this is getting good this message is
gonna be better than your beard by the
time I finish with it my brother and
that’s saying a lot but you know Peter
knew something about watching the wind
though didn’t he Peter the Apostle who
was always wanting to do something
impulsive sometimes it worked for him
sometimes it worked against him but
one thing that you got to love about him
he did not wait for perfect
circumstances to say he didn’t wait
until he had knowledge to give his
opinion you ever lived with somebody
like that it’s terrible and I noticed
something about God and I wanted to give
this to you
because they have these things in church
they say well God is a on time God yes
He is He’s an on time God He’s He’s
seldom early but He’s never late ask
Lazarus if He was ever late Lazarus
He’s about four days late decomposing
body worms working their way into the
eye socket by the time Jesus got there
and Mary and Martha had set their watch
by it ask Peter if Jesus was ever late
ask him ask him if if one time they did
not get sent out into a storm by the
instruction that Jesus gave to go to the
other side now this has been really
exciting to me as I’ve studied it this
week because the the real thing of faith
is do you trust God’s timing you know
that right and that was the test for
Mary and Martha Jesus said I am the
resurrection and the life and Jesus said
well you know I am the resurrection and
she said well I know my brother’s gonna
rise again at the last day He said no I
am the resurrection it wasn’t that she
didn’t trust what He was able to do it
was are you able to trust when God is
going to do it
you can trust somebody’s intention but
not trust their timing and since I
already talked good about Holly in this
sermon let me just say I trust her with
my life I trust her to be faithful to
our marriage vows I trust her if she
cooks for me or orders for me off of a
menu I trust she knows what I want to
eat more than I want to she knows me
like that I trust this woman with
everything but time when she says it’s
gonna be 30 minutes I a lot three hours
because she taught me that her concept
of time is different than mine one is
correct one is delusional and I trust
her I really do I trust her I put her in
a room full of supermodels men calendar
men and trust her in there but if she
said we’re gonna leave in an hour I
would set three alarms because I trust
her with everything but time some of us
trust that God is gonna get us to heaven
one day some of us trust that He died on
the cross for our sin we trust Him with
everything but let Him not do something
at the moment that we want Him to do it
let Him leave us in the fiery furnace
for seconds too long and we’ll be
screaming God get me out of this but God
said the real test for a mature
Christian is do you trust me with my
timing trusting Him in the meantime
is where maturity is developed and Jesus
was always doing stuff at a bad time
He was always going to Jerusalem at the
time when they all wanted to kill Him
that’s a bad time to show up when
they’re looking for you to execute you
it’s a bad time 5,000 men women and
children show up on the other side now
this is right after John the Baptist I
just want you to know how often God does
things in our life at a bad time because some of y’all are like right now
in your life like well this is a bad
time for me God and and I used to have
this friend every time he called me on the phone he
was so respectful he’d say good time or
a bad time always wanted to know that
before he said anything else and I
believe the Holy Spirit is saying to
somebody today good time or a bad time and you’re like
this a bad time I’m too old to be doing
this now I’m too young to be doing this
now I’m too busy to be doing this now I
used to have a better job I used to have
more money it’s a bad time but God likes
to bless people at a bad time
He likes to raise people on the fourth
day and when Jesus had heard that John
the Baptist had his head cut off by
Herod it was a bad time and He wanted to
get away from the crowds so He went over
to the other side with the disciples and
when they got there there was a crowd
waiting to get autographs and healing
and fish and chips and all this stuff as
a matter of fact when He did the miracle
and He feed the feeds the 5,000 the
first thing the disciples said was what
is late it’s a bad time it’s a bad time
and Jesus when He took the bread
blessed it broke it and gave it to them
He did the miracle at a bad time
now I’m now I’m divorced now I’m a
single mom now it’s a bad time for me to
be believe in God it’s a bad time I
I really wasted a lot of years it’s a
bad time for me to be doing this I I
think I made the wrong decision I don’t
even think I’m supposed to live in
Roanoke I don’t even think I’m supposed
to live in Charlotte I mean it’s a bad
time it’s a bad place that’s what the
disciples said they said it’s a remote
place and it’s already late so send the
crowds away and Jesus said no I I want
to bless them
when it’s too little and when it’s too
late because I want to bless you when
you think it’s a bad time so I can teach
you how to consult your faith instead of
consulting your forecast you got the
wrong weather man you keep watching the
weather and so now you live in fear of
everything that could happen and
everything that has happened and as long
as you watch the weather as long as you
you you keep that wrong weather man this
is what God showed me the weather is
meant to be checked not watched when you see when you sit when you sit around and
watch it all day it scares you Oh
everything it’s good to plan it’s good to
make provision but don’t watch the
weather if you watch the weather you’ll
get in your feelings and you’ll get out
of your faith and now the wind watch
this will work against you to contradict
the word that God spoke to you
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