Instead of wearing yourself out, choose your battles wisely.

you got to be very careful that you

don’t expend all of your energy fighting

battles that are not yours and then you

don’t have any energy left for the

battles that are yours and now you’ve

gotten so tired leaving comments on

Facebook posts with people that you

don’t know in Idaho that you don’t have

any strength to engage with the people

who live in your own house I’m not

trying to run the white house I’m trying

to run my house and I got my hands full

I got three people in my house who are

dependents yeah I know when you’re

wearing yourself out swinging it’s stuff

that’s not even yours to fight yeah I’m

bad about this though I sometimes it’s

as if I don’t have enough drama for my

own self so I start trying to control

other people you know how you can tell

if you’re fighting the wrong battles if

you are trying to control others you’re

fighting the wrong battle you can’t

control others past a certain point you

can only manipulate short-term

behavioral results but you can’t change

somebody’s heart that’s why even the New

Testament says as much as it is possible

with you live at peace with all men

there comes a point where the Peace of

another person is not your

responsibility your peace is your

responsibility and there comes a point

where where you have to say that’s not

my battle

that’s not my battle I’ve done all I can

do but that’s not my battle

in fact let me give you a great little

line to use the next time somebody tries

to draw you into some gossip or draw you

into some drama okay and they’ll usually

say what do you think about so-and-so we

heard about so-and-so what do you think

about people ask me this all time about

another ministry what do you think about

so-and-so and I learned this from an

older Minister they taught me what to

say

what do you think about and here’s what

you say back I don’t

[Applause]

it’ll work for a variety of situations

it can work for a situation that you’re

ignorant about and you only read

headlines so you really don’t have

anything to say because we can’t trust

the information that we’re given it can

work about Donald Trump it can work

about Kanye West it can work about

somebody else that drops their kid off

at school next to you and they’re having

trouble in their marriage what do you

think about so-and-so I don’t my heart

is a full-time drama Factory I do not

need to borrow drama from anybody else’s

personal life I got my own drama BYOD

bring your own drama

I got enough you brought your own drama

to church without judging somebody else

from what you think about them from 10

seconds of their life compared to the

entirety of it I don’t have time for it

and Jehoshaphat didn’t run around

looking at what other people were doing

he went to seek the Lord he went to

inquire of the Lord and this is not just

some glib prayer or this is not just

getting some feeling and going with it

and calling it God and this isn’t just

slapping a scripture verse on something

that you wanted to do anyway so that you

can blame it on God when it doesn’t work

out this is really seeking the Lord in

fact the Bible says that he was shaken

but he wasn’t he wasn’t maybe I should

say it this way he was shocked but he

wasn’t shook

well didn’t see this coming

Ammon Moab and the that’s three

of them I could fight one but there’s

three of them it’s bigger than me and

it’s coming up from behind me you got

something bigger than you that came up

from behind you jehosophat spur is

interesting because he’s praying about

Ammon Moab and the from Mount

Seir but we got three different enemies

we got the world the flesh and the devil

that’s from first John that’s your enemy

the world the flesh and the devil

that’s the values that oppose your

purpose the world the flesh that’s the

patterns that oppose your purpose and

the devil that is the Principality that

opposes your purpose and I could fight

one but how do I fight the devil when

I’m fighting my own flesh how do I fight

the world when actually there’s a part

of me that wants to do it like the world

I could fight one but I can’t fight them

all and they’re bigger than me and it’s

coming up from behind how do I raise

kids in a culture where the information

of the history of the universe is in

their pocket how do I have a sex talk

with kids when they don’t have to go to

a gas station to see pornography they

can do it right beside their Bible app

the nature of the battle determines the

nature of the strategy when you don’t

understand the nature of the battle you

will not understand the nuance of the

strategy so you will fight the battle

not understanding the dynamics of the

battle and you will lose the battle

because you will wrestle on the wrong

level can I preach a little bit today

it’s for 50 people that you are facing

something that snuck up from behind you

didn’t see this coming and it’s

than you I don’t know which one to fight

next when you understand the nature of

the battle you can understand the nature

of the strategy and that’s why I got to

ask God Jehoshaphat resolved to seek the

Lord that means he involved the priests

the Levites and they got together and he

got surrounded by the right people he’s

not going to Ahab this time he’s not

asking all his friends what they think

about it this time he’s not looking for

celebrity culture to influence his

decisions this time he’s going to the

right place but he doesn’t have a plan

and I want you to see his prayer because

it’ll help you if you’re facing a battle

that is bigger than you and it snuck up

from behind you every day this week I

want you to open your Bible to second

chronicles 20 verse 3 and following read

what Jehoshaphat prayed and then pray it

because verse 5 says out loud I want you

to pray this every day this week if

you’re fighting a battle that is bigger

than you and it snuck up from behind you

get in God’s face this week for a few

minutes every day and pray this prayer

because Jehoshaphat stood up verse 5 in

the Assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at

the temple of the Lord in the front of

the new courtyard this is Solomon’s

Temple this is the one they dedicated to

God this is the one where God promised

to pour out his presence for any problem

you face and he starts reminding God of

what God said Oh Lord God of our fathers

are you not the God who was in heaven

I love this man because he has already

shifted his focus from what is coming

against him to the one who reigns above

him Oh Lord of God of our fathers are

you not the God who is in heaven you

rule over all the kingdoms of the

nation’s power and might are in your

hand and no one can withstand you O our

God did you not drive out the

inhabitants of this land before your

people Israel remind God of what he’s

already done when you’re not

what he’s doing right now not so he can

remember but so you can come on you need

to remember this is not your first rodeo

cowboy this is not the first time you

cry this is not the first time you were

sort of breath this is not the first

time you didn’t see a way clear this is

not the first time you were hurt this is

not the first time your heart was broken

this is not the first time you didn’t

have enough money this is not the first

diagnosis that came up from behind

Phylis presence did you not do it before

your people Israel and give it forever

to the descendants of Abraham your

friend watch this he said you gave it

forever and since you gave it forever

it can’t stop now since you promised to

fulfill your purpose no enemy from Emin

no enemy from Moab no enemy from Mount

Sierra no Edom I can take it away and

when he says it on one hand he’s

praising God but it almost sounds like

he’s blaming God notice the tone it

shifts in verse eight they have lived in

it and have built in it a sanctuary for

your name saying if calamity comes upon

us whether the sword or judgment or

plague or famine we will stand in your

presence before this temple that bears

your name and we’ll cry out to you and

our distress and you will hear us and

save us but now God

Great God respectfully King sir the

righteous one but now here are men from

Ammon Moab and Mount Seir whose

territory you would not allow Israel to

invade when they came from Egypt uh-oh

Jehoshaphat said this is not my fault

now last time when I hooked up with a AB

that’s on me but this one somebody shot

this one

this one we’re doing the best we can

this one we’re praying in the temple

this one we were acting according to the

wisdom that we had for the situation we

were in this one nobody really knew how

to do it this one

we couldn’t have prevented by obedience

this one is different this one is

different and you’re going through

something right now that’s a little

different sure you’ve got sin and you’ve

got things you need to repent of and I

do too

and if you dare look at me with an

angelic face when I say that I promise I

will prophesy God will show me something

about your life that you do not want on

these IMAX screens I’ll do it but this

one this battle this this coalition is

three enemies they joined up to fight me

and the whole reason they’re even here

is because when Moses led the people out

of Egypt you told him that he couldn’t

drive him out because they were the

relatives of Esau that’s who the

were they were the descendants

of Esau and Esau was the son of Isaac he

wasn’t his favorite son but he was still

his son he gave away his birthright but

he was still a son and Isaac was the son

of Abraham and Abraham was God’s friend

and so God did not let the Israelites

drive out somebody that belonged to his

friend when you’ve got a friend who

knows how to fight it will make you

confident when you’ve got a friend who

knows how to fight I remember this kid

we used to pick on in 4th grade called

Erik pie but then Erik Phi Erik PI made

friends with Harry Walker Erik PI

couldn’t fight but Harry Walker could

Harry Walker was 17 with chest hair in

the fourth grade Harry Walker had a

prison record in the fourth grade Harry

Walker said you pick on him you pick on

me now look at somebody confidence say

you fight me you gotta fight my friend

this Apple message this is to know it

might be bigger than me but it’s not

bigger than God hey thank you for

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watching