Transcription
This is not the season, nor is this the moment for you to be an individual who hears but does not do. Not the way the world is set up, not the way culture is set up.
This is not the time for you to come to church week in and week out. Get your religious spiritual hit. Check off on your religious box that I went to church today and do not change. Okay?
This is the time for us to be aligned and obedient to scripture. As we are continuing our transition sermon series, this is installment number seven. There is something that the Holy Spirit was revealing to me as I was engaged in sermon prep throughout this week. There is this blockade, this hindrance that's causing for many of us to not walk through the doorway of obedience. Many of us to not experience our land of milk and honey. That's your promises, the blessing that God has for you. And unfortunately, this is causing for many of us to die in the wilderness, die in the transition. And that is we wrestle against the pace of divine process. Oh, we fight it. We wrestle against the pace of divine process. We wrestle with trusting God in transition. We wrestle against the furnace of sanctification. We wrestle against the Holy Spirit inducing you. Meaning, I have to make you uncomfortable because if I left you to yourself, you would never change. I have to induce you so that everything that God put on the inside of you, you will give birth to while you're in time. Oh, we resist that. We resist and we rebel against the purifying flames of sanctification that's designed to burn up your taste buds that has you drooling over Egypt.
So we must become people who don't just claim to trust God, but we also trust his timing. Can I get everybody say timing? Timing. And I know some of us say, "Well, I do trust the Lord." But my question for you is, what about what you're believing for? You say you trust God or you believe he's going to do it, but what about when he doesn't do it fast? You can't expedite it. There's no microwave. There's no add 30 seconds. There's no Amazon Prime. I'll pay an extra $2.99 to get it today. There is no same day delivery. I know that you say that you trust God and you believe he's going to do it. But what about when everything around you doesn't match that the word the word that God told you? Nothing around around you is moving. Do you still trust then? Can you trust God's not yet without transcoding it into never? Did y'all hear what I just said? Can you trust the not yet of God and not transcode it or translate that to mean never? Can you dance in the delay? Can you worship in the hallway? Can you worship in the stillness when you've been praying about it and it seems as though God hasn't answered your prayer? Can you wait without whining? What God does in us does not require speed. It requires surrender. It requires obedience. And here it is. It requires trust. Trusting his timing. Trusting his timing. Trusting his timing.
Simply put, time is not just ticking, it's teaching. Can you not perceive the times that you are living in? Look how divided the America church has gotten in just a month. Time is not just ticking. It's teaching. It's exposing what's been in the hearts the whole time. It just took for the right situation to expose that it's still there. It's exposing wolves from true shepherds. Time is not just ticking. It's also teaching. But here's the thing, family. If I was a noteaker, I'd write this down. Faith doesn't just believe in what God said. It also trusts when God decides to do what he said. Did y'all hear me? Faith is not just trusting what God said. It's also trusting in the timing when God does what he said he's going to do.
So I want you to journey with me to Exodus chapter 13 verse 17. It is tight in here. Thank you Holy Spirit. This is a topic that has been plaguing the body. Exodus chapter 13 verse 17. It says, "When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.' So God led the people around by the desert road towards the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle."
I want to direct your attention and your focus to roughly the midpoint of verse 17 in our foundational text in Exodus chapter 13 where the text tells us, "God did not lead them on the road through Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.'" I have a whole problem. I have a whole problem. And what stood out to me while I was studying this are these four words. It was bothering me, family. Four words in Exodus chapter 13:17 where the text tells us, "though that was shorter." Time out. Flag on a play. Traveling. Offsides. Clipping. Hold up. You mean to tell me there was a quicker route out of bondage? You mean to tell me there was a faster route to freedom? You mean to tell me that we did not have to go through the Red Sea? You mean to tell me that there was a straight path? There was a shortcut. There was a direct exit. God saw it and said, "Nope, not that way."
So, in God's sovereignty, there is a route that's shorter. I'm like, we could have avoided the wilderness. We could have bypassed the Red Sea, all of those detours. God saw all of it and said, "No, we're going to go the long way." I want y'all to see this. I want you to look at the map, the first map. I want you to see this so that you can fully understand it. Okay. The red line represents God's route. God took them from Egypt all the way over here to cross the Red Sea to Mount Zion. Now go to the second map. Canaan is right there. Go back to the first map. God saw this the shorter route. You don't have to go through no sea. You don't have to go through any of that. You just have to cross right here. God saw the shortcut. God saw the map. God saw the route and said, "No, we're going to take the scenic route."
See, see family, can we talk for a second? When I looked at this as I was studying, I was like, "Man, I know I'm not the only one who have been praying, God, skip all that. Anybody skip all that. Let's just get to the good part." This is what my son does. He says, "Daddy, I want to watch Oliver and Company." I said, "Okay, put it on." As soon as he puts it on, he starts fast forwarding. I said, "I thought we were watching the movie." He said, "No, I'm skipping to the good part." And I was like, "Man, many of us pray like that. Lord, skip all this. Get to the good part. Skip developing me. Get to the thriving part. Skip purging me. Get to the get to the other part of this. Skip the wilderness. Let's get to the good part. Skip wait until the building is ready. Let's go in there today. Skip the skip the valley. Let's go there right now."
And as I was studying this, the Holy Spirit put this in my heart. Inform this to my people. You don't get to fast forward this process. Yes, Lord. All of this, you don't get to fast forward that. This is the classroom of transition. It is the ER of heart detox. It is the med center where I can perform surgery on your soul. It's the middle. It's the transition. It's the wilderness where I detox that bitterness out of you. It's the wilderness that I detox that profanity off your tongue. We in the house. It is the middle. That's why I extract all of that venom of resentment that you have towards your mother, that you have towards your father, that you had towards the person who hurt you. I'm talking to somebody and you're wondering why I haven't answered your prayer. It's because there's unforgiveness still in your heart. So, I have allowed for there to be a season where I can get the venom out of you. This is the place where I deal with all of the fake. Say how I want to say it. This is why I deal with all of the fakery that you keep posting online to make people think that you're at some spiritual level that you're not. And God is not going to bless your public betrayal and ignore your private betrayal. Talk Holy Spirit. He's not going to just ignore what you proclaim in public is not who you are in private. This is the place where I deal with that because some of us teach Holy Spirit. Some of us, all it takes is a former devil that you missed to apologize and you go right back to bondage. The reason you're not moving fast is because you're hoping that they come back and get you. All it takes is a former devil to come back and say, "I'm sorry. I was tripping. You know, I was on one." You say, "Okay, cuz I really was just wondering." That's all it takes. This is the place where God deals with it. Hear me. This is the place where God deals with your obsession for closure. And that obsession for closure. Why did they do this? And why did they do me like that? And how could how could they do this? And I never did them. Your obsession for closure is causing for there to be a foreclosure on your joy. Yesterday is taking it. What happened is taking it. Hear me, family. The person who hurt you is not going to come back and heal you. The Lord is the one who heals you. The Lord is the one who keeps you. The Lord is the one who redeems you. This is the place where God could do it. You're not ready for warfare yet. That's good. You're not ready to fight yet. Well, well, Lord, I I believe I'm ready. There's a faster route. We can go that way. I'm willing to fight. Here's the thing, family. God is not raising up sprinters. Uh-huh. He's raising up soldiers.
I want to show this to you in Second Timothy chapter 2. A little context of this just so that we could fully understand it. Second Timothy chapter 2. This is considered the last letter that the Apostle Paul is writing as he is in prison waiting imminent execution. The time frame of this is roughly 64 AD to 67 AD. The Apostle Paul is writing to this young pastor who is a pastor at the Ephesus church called Timothy. And so he's using this soldier-like imagery to get him to understand the need for perseverance, resilience, and endurance. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 3. The Apostle Paul says, "You therefore must not, you should not, you might, you must endure." What does that mean? It means to stay put even when the desire to stay put has left you. "You must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." See, some of us don't understand this. The Apostle Paul is saying, "When it gets hard, stay right there. When it gets uncomfortable, stay right there. They're talking about you, stay right there. They don't like you, stay right there. Their rebuke and persecution does not mean, oh, my season's up. Oh, they don't accept me. I'm only go where I'm celebrated." What if God is putting you in a place where you're not celebrated so that he gets the glory because they need a light in the midst of darkness?
It's only the wilderness where God begins to display his wonder. The wilderness. This was the place. Put my map back up. The wilderness. This was the place where God said, "Okay, you don't have resources for yourself. I'm going to provide manna from heaven, which all points to Christ, the bread of heaven. You don't have water to drink, I'm going to have a rock give you water to drink, which points to Christ, the living water. Even when Moses got mad and struck the rock, that still pointed to Christ because when Jesus was on the cross and they struck him in his side with a spear, blood and water flowed from the rock of ages." Y'all missing it? I don't want just his blood because the blood is for my sin. I also need the water because the water is for my life. The water helps me think right. The water helps me speak right. If you only want the blood, you're guilty of vampire Christianity. I just want your blood and that's it. Don't change me. Don't try to detox me. Don't try to purge me. Don't try to wash me. I want just your salvation, but I don't want your sanctification. I just want your salvation. Oh, but I don't want your purification. I want your sanctification. Oh, but I don't want you to wash me from my heart and my ways of Egypt. I need them both. It's only the wilderness that God gave us the commandments that we follow. It's the wilderness that God raised up the next leader, Joshua, so that this next generation coming after them won't repeat the same cycle. If you skip the wilderness, you skip all of that. You skip all of it.
So God did not lead them the route through Philistine country, though that was shorter. Here's a whole word I want you to write down. The shortcut comes with warfare. The Lord's route comes with wonder. The shortcut comes with warfare. The Lord's route comes with wonder. I'm looking at this and I'm like, these people obviously thought that they were ready for war. Because if you read at the end of verse 18, it says, "The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle." So this means they left here thinking they're going to go here. Y'all missing it? Yes. They were dressed for a route that they expected. They were preparing for warfare. God's looking and said, "No, you're not ready yet." Because if you see how they fight over there, you got to remember the Philistines had people like Goliath. You thought Pharaoh was bad and Goliath had brothers. Study it. Goliath had brothers. So they're like, "Okay, if if you see that, you might turn back." And the Lord gave me a powerful revelation. I didn't just take them this route to display my wonder. I took them this route to make sure they can't go back. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm not done yet. Not done. Not only did I take them the Red Sea route to ensure that they can't go back. Because we're speaking about roughly 2 million Israelites. I also took them this route so Pharaoh couldn't follow them. Because if I took them this route, your past could haunt you. The whole way you're trying to walk towards your promise. So, I'm going to take you a long way so I can backdoor the person who's trying to come behind you. I'm ready for them. I'm going to backdoor. Sometimes God takes you the long way because you don't even know what's coming behind you. Though that route was shorter, he didn't take them through Philistine country. Though that route was shorter.
Family, I don't want you to miss this. I want you to see that God knows the timing where you can handle it. Yeah. Can I go a little deeper? If you study it, the first fight that the Israelites actually had, they didn't even need a fight. The first battle was the battle of Jericho. So, not only did he not take them a route that they weren't ready for, he was saying, "I'm going to take you a route that when I give it to you, you're not even going to have to fight for it. All you have to do is shout for it. All you got to do is praise for it." And I wonder if there's anybody under the sound of my voice who's arrived to this place. Praise is my weapon. And certain things I don't even have to fight for. I just give God thanks for. I just give him praise for. I just give him worship for. However, on the other side of that, I wonder if there's anybody under the sound of my voice who has taken a shortcut. Oh, it's about to get rough. I wonder if there's anybody under the sound of my voice. You've tried to take the shortcut only to experience fights that you want grace to war in. I wonder if there's anybody under the sound of my voice. You tried to shave time off of the journey. You try to skip steps not recognizing that you spend in strength that you're going to need for the next place that God takes you. I wonder if there's anybody who has taken a shortcut in your relationship and it caused unnecessary heartbreak. I wonder if there's anybody who's taken a shortcut in your business and it caused for the IRS to come after you. It caused for people to look over your shoulder. Y'all don't want to talk to me. I wonder if there's anybody who has tried to force open a door that God has not opened yet. And now you find yourself fighting something that you're not graced to fight. Right now you're dealing with a shortcut and you're tired, exhausted, and watch it. You're thinking about going back to Egypt, too. Because hear me, premature fights cause relapse. I'm in the Bible. God did not take them the road of the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they see war, they could return and go back to Egypt." Premature fights make you romanticize Egypt because you're losing and not understanding. How is it I'm called a disciple of Jesus, but this particular warfare is kicking my butt? Could it be because you're trying to take a shortcut? Shortcut. Every shortcut is not a God cut.
And this is the revelation I want us to get. Just from this, just from this passage alone, we're just executing this passage alone. I see that God does not guide based on convenience. He guides based on capacity. You don't even have the capacity to fight right now. You don't have the capacity for warfare right now. So, let me take you in a place where it's just you and me. See, now I see this as beautiful because I recognize you don't have the capacity for what's in here. You're still trying to see, do you really believe everything that you say that you believe? Let me give you a season and a space where it's you and me. Let me heal you so that you're not thirsty for their affirmation. Let me give you clarity so that you're not deceived when some prophet comes to you and says, "Well, God told me." Let me give you understanding so that you value my scriptures and you don't just open the Bible when you're going through a crisis. Let me give you an introduction of who I am so that you don't just seek my face when it gets bad in culture and bad in your bank account and bad in society. I am not an ornament that you just put on in a season and decorate your defense of doubting what you're going through. I am the God that healeth thee. I want to be your everything. You don't just come to me when you want something. I want you to come to me because you value me. Period. So teach us, Lord, to trust your timing.