Elijah: Faith Over Fear

Welcome this morning. If you're joining us on Livestream. Thank you for joining us today.

Let's start with this. Do you want to leave the same way you

came?

Maybe. Today'S a real

opportunity, I believe, for

you to leave in a different way than what you came.

And it's really up to you to open your heart and open

your spirit to what the Holy Spirit wants to do today. And

so I'm believing that the Lord wants to set some people free.

And the minute I say that, some of you go, oh, well, that does not

pertain to me. Well, I would maybe submit that some. Of us are

probably locked up in. Some caves this morning that we don't know anything about. And

the Holy Spirit's going to minister to us through the message today.

And. And I believe that he wants to do something. So let's not make this

just, you know, a mundane Sunday.

Why don't we actually believe in the. Holy Spirit of God

and his ability to infiltrate our hearts and do something mighty today?

Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, before we get started with that,

let me give two quick announcements. Number one, we have something called

Open Tables that we're doing every second

Sunday. And some of you have been a part of this. And essentially, if

there's one thing I know about churchgoing folks, it's we like to eat lunch after

church. And so the question is, why not do that

with somebody else? Why not build a community and do that with people

around you? So on the app, you can sign up for Open Tables.

There's just a variety of restaurants around town, and there's groups that are gonna

be meeting at those restaurants, and you can sit down and meet with them and

eat with them and get to. Know them a little bit better. So we encourage

you. How many have been a part of Open Tables before? Raise your

hand. Okay. Oh, lots of you. Okay, so you're familiar with this. So go

and eat with people and. Get to know somebody

from Spring House. And then the second thing is,

guys, you don't want to miss this. If you are an entrepreneur, business owner. On

Tuesday morning, Josh McLeod's going to. Bring fire

because of the Holy Spirit inside that man. For the business collective at

8am free breakfast. Come and be a part of it. If you

are a business owner, manager, entrepreneur, that is for you.

Business collective Tuesday, 8 o'. Clock. Does that sound good? All right, here

we go. We are in part two of Faith Over Fear.

And last week, there were so many of you who shared

testimonies of God's faithfulness. Anybody still have their lighters?

You know, I had the whole bucket of lighters left over. And I thought, we

need more faith in this church, like 70 or 80 more lighters.

And I thought we'd give them out to the kids at vbs, so that would

be great.

And tell them, go light up your home in the Lord. Of course,

we're talking about Elijah in First Kings 17

through 19. And last week we went up through faith

and we talked about how Elijah was met by God

through the feeding through ravens and how he met a

widow and the Lord provided for him food there, and he

helped raise her child from the dead. And then after

that, we saw Elijah be used to. To

encounter the most evil king in Israel. And.

And then, of course, we. We saw Elijah, or we read about Elijah

calling down fire from heaven and God answering that prayer. What

faith it must have taken to call fire down to

a wet trench in the Lord. To lick that trench up with fire,

man. God is so, so faithful. We also learned last week

that without fire it is, what, Impossible to

please God. It's impossible to please God without faith. I

want you to think about that for a second. I want

to be a pleaser of Jesus.

I want to please the Lord God Almighty, and I can't do it

without faith. And so today I believe that our

faith is going to be challenged and stretched in a different way,

because a lot of times we have faith to believe that he'll provide for this

or he'll heal this, or all this. But I believe that today

God wants us to stretch our faith internally with some of the things that

we may be contending with. So if you'll stand with me this morning, we're going

to read two brief scriptures that are not from First Kings, but they

are connected to the direction we're going today. So if

you will read this as. If

your soul is on fire for the Lord Jesus. Here we go. Let's read it.

There you go. I knew that was coming. Thank you, Connie.

Here we go. God has not given us a spirit of

fear, but of power and of love and of a

sound mind. It is for freedom that

Christ has set us free. Stand firm then.

And do not let yourselves be burdened again by

yoke of slavery. Father, thank you for your word. I thank you for its

truth. I pray, Lord, that you would transform our lives today in Jesus

name. And everybody said, amen. High five someone you don't like on the way

down

and then sign up to go to lunch with them next week.

If you know me at all you know that I have a strong aversion towards

spiders. I do not like spiders. Anybody relate.

Spiders just kind of creep me out. And, you know, several years

ago, I was preparing a message on fear. And

ironically. Well, not ironically. Every Saturday I would come and I would tread

this carpet back and forth. I'd be praying for you. I'd be praying for the

message. Asking the Lord to share with me what he

would want me to share with you. And I got over here in this section.

This is where the youth used to sit. I got over here, this youth section.

As I'm walking, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, this spider plops down off

the ceiling in front of my face. Can I just tell you, I was glad

I was the only one in the room at that moment. Because my

reaction would have gotten some definite responses from. From a

crowd. But boy, let me tell you, after my scream, I moved this way and

I started treading carpet. Only about halfway. I just started

going back and forth. Now, isn't it silly to think, man, this spider, that

was. You know. And of course, we always make it larger than it really was,

right? When we tell the story. It was like a dime size or a nickel,

you know. And so anyway, so this small spider, and it's on the ground.

And I'm like. I start to laugh at myself. Because I'm

only going to right here. Cause there's a spider over there. And I thought to

think, kevin, you. Are so much bigger than this spider.

Like, there is not a reason for you not to go to this half of

the room. This half of the room needs the anointing as well. So I need

to come over here and pray as well. So I get over here and of

course, the Lord illuminates the spider on the ground. And I. Forgive me.

I crushed. Breathed its last that day.

And I took a picture of it. Cause I wanted to show the car congregation.

But, you know, I didn't take the picture from up here. I got real close

to the spider. You know why? Because I wanted y' all to see how big

it was, you know. But it was really that big. Hey, there's a saying

that goes like this. It says, you need to face your fears. Have you ever

heard that? You need to face your fears. And I don't know. I don't know.

I'm still chewing on this. But I don't know that that's biblical.

Because when somebody says, go face your fears, it solicits the idea that on your

own strength, you need to go face your Fears. I think instead of going after

and facing our fears, we need to face God and allow

God to do what. He'S going to do in and through us. So

today, we're talking about fear. We're talking about

fear. Now, sometimes when we talk about fear, we can kind of

check out, because when we think of fear, we think of that moment like when

the spider falls and you jump, okay. And that type of thing.

There's different levels of fear. And may I suggest that some.

Some of us have actually ordered the. Steps of our lives based on.

Fueled by fear. Fueled by fear. And

so today we're going to continue the story of

Elijah. Like I said last week, it starts with a man named Ahab. Ahab is

the evilest king, most evil king in all of Israel. He's married to a

lady named Jezebel. And Jezebel is man. She is a warrior.

She is a force to be reckoned with. She is out to kill you if

you get in her way. She's strong and mighty. And

Ahab, I believe, was an insecure, insecure king. I think that's probably why he was

the most evil king, because I think. He just did what everybody told him to

do. And he pouts. He pouts. And when he

pouts, Jezebel comes to his rescue

and will make things happen for him. And then God raises up in the middle

of 1st Kings 17, he raises up this guy named Elijah. And Elijah means the

Lord is my God. Would you say that the Lord is my God?

Say it again. The Lord is my God. Oh, that. Would

that be, like, our names that I could say? Kevin, the Lord

is my God. Tina, the Lord is my God.

What would it be like that we would actually have that anthem about our name?

When somebody spoke about us, they knew the Lord God, the

true living God, is their God. And so he raises up Elijah

seemingly out of nowhere, though we believe. I believe he's got a story that

we. That we don't know about, because I believe the Lord was maturing him

and getting him ready for that appointed moment. But he's raised

up for such a time as this. And God takes him through these things and

builds his faith. Builds his faith. We stood with Elijah on

Mount Carmel. He prayed boldly, and he poured

water on that altar. And God answered with fire.

The people fell on their faces and declared, the Lord, he

is God. It was a defining moment of

faith, boldness, and power. The power of God fully

on display. Display. But today, just one chapter

later, we find Elijah is hiding in a

cave. Exhausted

Discouraged, afraid,

and alone. Have you ever felt exhausted,

discouraged, afraid,

or alone? What happened here?

In one moment, you're calling down fire. From

heaven, and the next moment you're running for your life

and hiding in a cave.

Now, we like to look at that story. And like I told you a few.

Weeks ago, sometimes I look at characters. In Scripture and I read the story. And

I go, how foolish is that, man? How weak of a person. But,

man, if I'm honest with you, Kevin is one

that will call down. Fire and in the next moment, be hiding in a

cave. Be hiding in a cave.

I wonder how many people here are. Hiding in caves this morning.

And so, after the fire comes down,

God is going to address this issue of no rain. Okay?

Jack. Come here, buddy.

All right. Now, the last person did this broke my sign. But I want you

to hop over on stage and don't break the sign on your way up, okay?

All right. Can you sit down here

and. No, put your legs over. No, back up. Okay. Put your head between your

knees. Okay. And put your hands on your head and stay right

there. Okay.

Elijah said to Ahab, go eat and drink, for there is

a sound of heavy rain. Just like insecure Ahab. He just

does what he's told to do. Ahab went off and eat and drink. And

Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, bent down to the ground and put

his face between his knees. Now, I don't know

about you, but this does not look like a position. Of faith to me.

This posture does not look like a faith posture

to me. The word of God continues. Go and look toward the sea, he

told his servant. And he went up and looked. There's nothing there. He

said seven times. Elijah said, go back,

go back, go back.

I wonder what it would look like. If we would have the faith to believe,

to go back one more time.

You see, Elijah was going to give this. He had already given the

word. He told Ahab, hey, hitch your chariots. There's a

sound of rain coming. The boldness of faith

gave him the Holy Spirit. The God of the universe gave

him the boldness to say, there's rain coming, but there was no cloud in the

sky. You see, he had just called fire

from heaven. He just called fire from heaven. And now

he's in a position where it seems that God is causing

him. To wait on the answer.

Can I tell you that sometimes God does not answer

immediately, but he's going to answer

time. There are times in our life where he

will cause us to wait on him until

he's ready to move for the appointed time. Can you

imagine if Elijah had only sent his servant back three or four

times? And some of us will throw in

the towel on time number four or time number five. And

God's saying, I need you to come back to me one more time. I need

you to come back one more time. What is your one more time

thing this morning? What is that thing that you just

wanted to throw in the towel and give up on? Is your head between your

knees not believing the Lord that he's going to do it? I believe that

Elijah began to have a moment where

he was going, Lord, are you actually going to answer this prayer? Are you actually

going to do what you say you're going to do? And on the seventh time,

it says that a cloud the size of the. Fist shows up

and God answers the prayer. What would it look

like if we. Went back once more, guys? I lose

my keys all the time. Anybody can relate. I lose

my keys all the time. And I will go and look for my keys, and

I will go look in the spot that they should be in, and I'll be

fretting and I'll be upset. And then Shari will say to me, did you pray

about it? No, I didn't pray about it.

And then I pray about it, and I go back once more

to the spot that I thought they were in. And guess what's sitting right there?

The keys. I wonder. I wonder if you have

a once. More in your spirit this morning. I wonder if you have

given up so much that you've thrown in the towel and you just conceded the

race. But God is saying, come back once more. Come back once

more and see what I might do. Now, as fun as it is

to watch you do this, the whole service, I'm going to let you get down

now. Thank you. Give him a hand.

Here's the point. The move of God yesterday lays the foundation for faith

action today. The move of God yesterday lays the

foundation for faith action today. This is why it's so important for us to

tell our stories, people, to write them down.

Can I confess to you this morning that I am ashamed at how little

faith I often have in certain situations after having

been around and part of such an amazing move of God.

The move of God yesterday sets a foundation and is

a springboard for your faith action today.

Remembering what God has done, how he's been faithful. When

you're sitting there, when Elijah is sitting there, sitting there, and God has given him

the promise of rain, it doesn't mean God's promises

are null and void. God's promises are yes and amen. And so

he's got this promise of rain. And God has answered at the

ravens. He's answered with the widow. He's answered on the. On the mountain. He's done

all of these things. And God is going to answer Elijah

this time, too. And can I tell you, he's going to answer you as well.

We have to remember. We have to remember that he

healed that person, that he brought the prodigal home. We have to

remember what he's done in our lives. We have to remember because we're so fickle

and we forget. But it is a bolster of faith.

To hear testimonies of God's supernatural move in our lives.

And when he moves and when we share those stories, it enables,

it renders us, it puts us in a place where we can say, man, maybe

I can have that type of faith for what I'm needing God to do

now. For what I'm needing God to do now. Revelation

tells us that they overcame by what? The blood of the and

the Word. Of the Word of the testimony. Our

testimony doesn't mean squat without the blood of Christ. We

need the blood of Christ. And then there's power in the

testimony. There's power in the Word. There's power

in your story. Share your story. We've started to do a

moment every service where we tell stories. Is that just because we. We don't have

enough to do? No, it's because I want people's faith to be bolstered and we

sing about this great, glorious God. There's nothing better than to come in and get

our mind off of the distraction we walked in here with and say, let me

tell you what God did for me. And now let's go praise Him. Now let's

go to the King and praise him. Guys, we gotta tell the story. We gotta

tell the story. So Jezebel hears what happens on

Mount. Carmel and sends a message.

And the message is, Elijah, I love you. You're great.

You're wonderful. She says, I'm going to kill you.

I'm going to kill you. By this time tomorrow, you're dead. I'm going to kill

you. And Elijah

responds with this, says, Elijah was afraid

and ran for his life. Would you say that Elijah

was afraid and ran for his life? Guys, this doesn't make sense.

Why would Elijah run for his life?

You just saw God move. You know his

promises are yes and amen. You just listened to that podcast on

faith. You just went to church on that Sunday and heard the pastor preach. You

just prayed for somebody and they got healed. You just saw the

supernatural move of God. You just witnessed the move of God, and you

were just telling somebody else to believe by faith.

Yet you end up running for your. Life the minute you

come up against something hard. Can I tell you, there is

nothing that you will come up against that your God is

not bigger than and stronger than. There is nothing that you are

contending with that your great glorious God won't meet you in

the middle and fight valiant for you. More are you

surrounded by right, Lord, than your

enemies. He has you. He will carry you.

He is faithful and just to supply. Your needs,

to be with you.

To give you the victory. By this tomorrow, you're going to

be dead. And Elijah runs. He runs into the

wilderness, collapses under a broom bush, and says this.

And I wonder if we've said this before. I've had enough, Lord.

Take my life. I am no better than my

ancestors. Now, I know that

Elijah is about. To have this moment with the Lord on the mountain, but I

believe that this is the moment where he woke up and realized,

I've made a mistake. Because he says I'm

no better than my ancestors. Why would he say that?

He's saying that to say, you've done all of this

stuff through me. But here I am running for my life,

not trusting your word. Take my life. Take

me home. Is there

anybody in this room who has gotten to that point?

Lord, the fight's too tough. I'm ready to throw in the

towel. I'm sick and tired

of contending with the same old, same old God. Just take

me out.

And if we're honest with ourselves, there would be a large percentage of people. In

this room who have prayed that prayer, who have thought that

thought. And somebody may be in this room this morning carrying that

weight and hiding behind a smile that you walked in with.

I've had enough, Lord.

I've had enough.

I like roller coasters. Anybody like a good roller coaster?

Took my family, my extended family, to a theme park

a while back and. Took my niece, Brooklyn. She's back there

in the back. She's much older now. She's so happy I'm telling this story.

And I really wanted to go on the roller coaster,

but, you know, you had to be a certain height to go on the roller

coaster. And she was scared. And she's like, is it scary? Is it

gonna. Like, are we gonna. And I was like, no, it's gonna be fine. You're

gonna be Absolutely fine. Going on this roller coaster. And so we

took her on this roller coaster. Now she is the small one there

beside her dad. Now, in case you can't see her face, this is

her holding on for dear

life because she believed her

crazy uncle Kevin when he said, this is gonna be fine.

Here's my point. Fear doesn't need a lot of evidence. It just needs a small

voice with the right lie.

Fear does not need a lot of evidence. It just needs a small voice with

the right lie. And can I tell you, some of. You have built your life

around this lie. You've built

your camp, your house, your actions, your family,

your relationships, your decisions. Around a small

lie. You have allowed the enemy to come into your

life and say something that is completely opposite than God's

truth, God's word.

And God is saying, I want to. Speak truth into that situation

this morning. I want to speak truth

into that lie that you've bought into. But God, I've so bought into this lie

that I'm so far deep, there's no coming back. Can

I tell you that's a lie. From the enemy, too?

The mighty arm of the Lord is never, never too short to

save. And he can save you today. He

can save you today. In other words, you can leave here. Not the

same way you came. You can leave here

not the same way you came.

When fear wins, we forget what God has just proved to us.

We run from the very places where we saw his glory fall.

Listen, Elijah is physically, emotionally, and

spiritually done. But notice what

God does. See, we have made up in our. Mind when we get to places,

when. We bought into the lie, when we. When we're in shame, when our heads

are between our legs, we have made up in our mind that this great big

God is out to smite us and punish us for not having the faith that

we need to render cause. Because when we're in this place and we're

depleted, when we're in our flesh, that also is symptomatic

because there's sin attached to it. Because we will soothe. We will go after things

to make us feel better. And so we've got this whole realm of sin. And

we. And we make up in our mind that this God is out with a

big fly swatter just to swat us.

But that's not what God does. Here to Elijah,

the man of God. Whom he's chosen to use, it says

that he didn't correct him. He didn't

rebuke him. It says he sent an angel with food,

water, and Rest. He says this

get up and eat. For the journey is too much for

you. It's not a rebuke, it's a reminder.

You're not finished yet, Elijah.

And can I tell you this morning, you're not finished yet, Sam.

You're not finished yet, J.D. you're not

finished yet. You're not finished yet.

Some of us are expecting God to. Scold us in our weakness, but instead he

meets us with mercy.

Before God speaks to your fear, he. Will minister to your need. Do you ever

notice if you read. The Gospels, do you ever notice that. Jesus

always took care of the physical. Needs of people before he ministered to them

spiritually? If you read the Gospels, you look at Jesus and he's all

about touching them physically, blind seeing and

supplying their needs. He's always moving in them physically before he

ministers to them spiritually. And guys, can I tell you, this is a little side

note, but we probably could take a beat from Jesus in this because it's so

much easier for me to send a text sitting on my couch where I'm comfortable

than it is to get up and go do something to encourage somebody who needs

me present. Might we be

a people who put our faith in action by

not just encouraging people? Listen, there's nothing wrong with a good text

message. I send text message scriptures all the time. I call people and do scripture

all the time. When the Lord's telling me to do. That, I think that's a

good thing. There's power in the Word.

But if you're sitting there and the person is hungry, I can quote

scripture at them all day long. If I got a loaf of bread in my

hand and I'm not feeding them the loaf of bread,

maybe that person just needs you to come sit with them. Maybe

that person needs needs to go hang out with somebody. Maybe there's, there's a ton

of things. But may we be people who put our faith in action.

And guys most. Of the time, at least from my experience, and this might not

be yours, but my experience is it is rarely convenient.

It's rarely convenient when the Lord has me to go encourage somebody

or to be a raven to somebody like he was to Elijah.

It's rarely works well with my schedule. It rarely is

convenient. But man,

the blessing of the sacrifice. The Word tells us obedience is better than sacrifice.

The blessing of being obedient and sacrificing my time.

Oh my goodness. I really see the work of the Holy Spirit.

Before God speaks to your fear, he. Ministers to your need.

Elijah travels 40 days to Mount Horeb and finds a cave.

And the Lord says this, and I. Want to read it. This is the

portion that we're familiar. With in the cave. The word of the Lord came to

him, and he says this. What are you doing here, Elijah?

He replied, I've been very zealous for the Lord God

Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your

covenant, torn down your altars, and put your

prophets to death with the sword. I am the only

one left. Bull.

When we get isolated and alone and we throw our tantrums,

I'm the only one. This only happens to me,

right? I'm the only one here. This is

just me. Have you ever. Anybody got little kids throw a temper

tantrum, and it's like the problem's this big, but boy, their fit is

this huge, right?

Careful, we can get that way with the Lord real fast.

The Lord said, go out and stand. On the mountain

in the presence of. The Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.

It says, then a great powerful wind tore through the mountains and tore apart.

And shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind.

Say that the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind,

there was an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. Say it.

The Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire.

But the Lord was not in the fire. Say it. The Lord was not in

the fire. And after the fire came a

gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it,

he pulled his cloak over his face and went

out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then

a voice said to him, what are you doing here,

Elijah? Now, I want

us to notice the. Sequence of events here, because when I. Used to just gloss

over the story. Really quickly, I missed something very important.

When the fire fell and the wind. Came and the earthquake

happened, where was Elijah?

He wasn't at the mouth of the cave. The Lord told him to go to

the mouth of the cave, but he was not at the mouth of the. Cave

at that point. He was inside the cave when the

fire fell. When the earthquake happened and the wind happened, it wasn't

until he heard the whisper of the Lord that he moved.

Guys, can I tell you some of the largest mistakes we make is we try

to move in the middle of the chaos. We try to make our moves and

we try to fix things. When things, big things are happening, we're looking to

see the earth shatter around us. And that's when we want to fix her. We

want to see a move of God. And God is saying, be still and. Know

that I'm God. He's saying, be still and wait for my whisper in

the midst of the chaos surrounding your life.

But sometimes we move. The Lord was not in the wind. He was not in

the earthquake or the fire.

He didn't move during the chaos. He waited for the whisper.

And even though God had told him. To step out, Elijah didn't move

through the shaking around him.

God is holding Elijah steady. And God is holding you

steady as well. He's holding you steady.

God was saying to Elijah, I'm not in the noise.

I'm not in the chaos. I'm in the whisper.

We don't step out when things get loud. We step out when God speaks.

And that's a fundamental truth that we. Need to own church.

Even if it looks like we're. So here's the thing. He just called down fire

from heaven. It would make sense to me. I see fire. That must be the

Lord. But you got to know his voice in order

to know and delineate whether it is the Lord. Because let me tell you, the

world's got some schemes that can make things look a whole lot

like God that are not God. But if you know his voice,

then you can say, that's the Lord. But it

looks like. It looks like the T shirt looks like. It looks like it's

decorated like the Lord. It sounds like the Lord. If

you don't know his voice. If you don't know his

voice, you. Might be running your life off of something that's carnal, something that's of

the. World, something that looks like the packaging. But doesn't have any type of gift

inside. We need to know his

voice. We need to know his voice.

But guys, we're so distracted.

In order to know his voice, we have to stop and

slow down and listen.

Well, I listened for 30 seconds yesterday,

last week. I don't know about you, but when. I get into

my listening time, I think I was talking to Joshua about this a few weeks

ago. Get in my listening time. I'll go to the park sometimes. I'll walk that

mile. I'll get in my listening time. Do you know I have to walk. Before

I start listening? Because my brain, for the first time, I've shut myself

down enough. And my brain's like. It's catch up time. And so everything

floods to the front of my mind that I've been thinking about and worrying about.

And then before I can get to a place where I actually quiet my spirit

down and listen, I've actually got to walk that whole Mile. And then I can

start listening.

So maybe when you're doing your devotional time and you're like, man, I read four

pages, but I have no idea. What I just read because my mind's going so

fast. Anybody. You might need to increase your time. In your word,

get you a moment. To write down all those thoughts and get them out, get

them out, get out. And here's the crazy thing about the Lord. You get out

all those thoughts that are in there. He might minister to you about all that

stuff you've been holding onto in your mind right in that moment.

Something. Think about. Sometimes we want God to

silence our. Fears, but instead he gently redirects us

to what's true. Jezebel isn't the point.

God is. God is the point.

So he asks, what are you doing here, Elijah? What are you doing

here? And here's what we want, guys. We want God to fix the

fear. But instead he fixes our focus.

How many times have I prayed, God. Remove this situation from

my life. Remove this person from my life. I'm sick of feeling this way.

Remove this thing, remove this obstacle. And God just continues to put that

thing right here. Just right here, Just right here. And you know what he's saying?

Get your eyes off the obstacle and. Start looking at me. If you start

looking at me, then I will give you what you need to overcome the

obstacle. But God just. He's just not

in the business of. Making it disappear all the time. Can

he do it? Sure. Rarely does he do it in my life. And

here's the point. Whenever I trust him and focus on him and get

the tools I need to overcome the obstacle, he's teaching Kevin. To become more

like Jesus. And, guys,

I'm a far cry from looking like Jesus. I

need him. I need him to minister to me.

Jezebel's threat wasn't worth addressing. Do you notice that

God never addresses Jezebel? That's the

reason he's in the cave. That's what driven. And God didn't say a thing. You

know what we want God to say? Well, I'm going to take care of that

Jezebel. I'm going to make sure. I'm going to. I'm going to be after her.

You don't have to worry about that Jezebel. I'm going to surround her. God doesn't

mention Jezebel one time.

Because Jezebel's threat wasn't worth addressing. Because she

doesn't hold Elijah's future. God does. And the thing that

you fear doesn't hold your future. God does.

God has a plan for your life. God has a plan to address

the thing that is holding you captive.

So what is it that drives out the fear in our life? This is what

the Word says. There is no fear in love.

Perfect love drives out fear.

Perfect love drives out all fear.

Fear isolates. Fear lies.

Fear convinces you that you're the only. One that feels this way. But what

does God say? He says, you're not the only one. Elijah,

what are you doing here? And that's the question I have for you guys

today. What are you doing here? Tina,

what are you doing here? Joshua, what are you doing here? Merlin.

Jeremy. Arwin, what are you doing? Taylor, what are you doing in this

cave? Ronnie, what are you doing in this cave? Dana,

what are you. What are you doing in this cave? Griffin,

God's saying, I want to set you free.

But you know what you did in the cave? You bought some curtains. You got

yourself a bed. You started painting the walls.

You started to make that cave so comfortable, it's

easier just to stay put. But God's saying,

I've got something so supernaturally wonderful on the outside of

this cave that far supersedes a little shabby check

you created for yourself in that cave. Are

you willing to come out? Why are you in

this head space? This despair, this isolation?

The question of where are you, Elijah. Is not one of

geography. It's one of perspective. Why

are you here in this state. Of mind while I'm still on the throne?

Why are you in this cave when you've already seen my fire and know

what I can do? Why are you afraid of Jezebel when I am Yahweh,

you do not have to be afraid.

And so some of us are sitting in a cave of

discouragement this morning. In the cave of pride, in

a cave of lust, in a cave of. Shame, in a cave of

comparison, in a cave of control, in a cave of

bitterness, in a cave of unbelief cave.

And a whole litany more of caves. That I haven't mentioned. We're sitting in them.

And we can leave here today and. Go right back

into that same cave and cook some breakfast tomorrow morning

and live there. Or we can truly, by faith,

experience. The supernatural move of God.

It's your choice. It's your choice.

God has not wavered. God doesn't change

like the shifting wind we do. He doesn't change. He's the same

God yesterday, today, and forever and

forevermore. With those who are going to minister to elements, please

come Forward this morning. We're going

to close the service. A little different today.

Have you ever been in a moment. Of silence and it's uncomfortable?

No. Yes. Okay.

Allow yourself to get uncomfortable this morning

because we're not going to have ambient music to let your mind drift away.

We're going to come and take the Lord's table. Guys, why

do we do the table every week? We go to the table every week

because we are to remember what God

has done. And so this morning, as we go to the table,

I believe that the God of the universe has a whisper. For you in

this room. And so we're going to take the body and the blood,

and I want you to go back to your seat, and I'm going to ask

you to do something for me. I'm going to ask James to scoot over so

I can get this chair. First, I'm going to ask you to take your chair

if you can. If you can't, it's fine. I want you to make it an

altar space. And I want us to just

spend a few moments and see if we might hear the

whisper of an almighty God.

And don't be surprised if that whisper says something like,

why are you here, Belle?

Why are you in this cave? Scotty,

why is your cell phone on in the middle of service?

So I'm going to pray, and you're going to be released. After a few

moments of silence and us hearing his voice, I've asked the team to do a

very special song, and I'm going to come back and wrap things up. Father,

thank you for today. Thank you for the greatest gift you ever gave us. Your

son, Jesus. Holy Spirit, I'm boldly asking

right now that you would whisper to us in this

moment, in Jesus name, you're released to take

communion.

My daughter Hadassah had a splinter when she

was 6 or 7. And

I got her, and she was crying

real hard. She was scared. She was

upset because she was

hurting. And I picked her up and I

put her on the counter, and I looked at her

swelling eyeballs and said, hey, listen,

if you'll let me pull this splinter out, the pain will go

away. She didn't want to. She

was screaming and crying. I tell you

what, I grabbed her hand and I pulled that

splinter out. And can I tell you, the moment I pulled that

splinter out, the pain went away.

Have you ever seen somebody cry and then they turn to laughter, but the tears

are still there because she felt kind of silly,

I think, for crying so much after the pain had

begun. So the next morning, I'm driving to. School,

and I said, see, Hadassah,

the pain can go away. All you needed to do is trust Daddy.

And she replied, daddy, I trust you.

Except for when it hurts.

Sometimes we trust this God

with everything that feels good,

but not when it hurts.

I believe that some of us have been living in some

caves, and it's not going to feel

good to come out in your mind, get out of that

cave. But I believe that if you'll take a faith

step and step out of the cave this morning,

the freedom that you will experience in the Lord will

pale to anything that you've experienced in your

life in this season.

I know that you guys want to have a strong leader in your

pastor this week. This week.

I am weak. I'm not a strong leader

right now. My cave

is not just one cave. My cave has corridors and hallways and

rooms.

I'm dealing right now. I'm hurt and disappointed

relationally. Right now. I am

discouraged in my body right now, physically,

I have questions that continuously are going

unanswered. And, guys, I just. The Lord keeps saying, what are

you doing here, Kevin? You've seen me move.

And so, I don't know, maybe the message is just for me this morning. Guys,

and I'm sorry to confess to you. I

am vulnerable and I am weak,

and I need this God to do something in my life.

I don't want to be in the cave anymore.

So I've asked the team to do this song,

and we talked about, without faith, it's impossible to please him.

And so I'm taking a faith step. In front of all of you people,

and I'm just going to kneel before the Lord here at the opening of. This

cave, this altar space, and I just

want to be set free. If you want

to join me, you can. You don't have to. The

team's gonna do this song.

Psalm 46 says this.

God is our refuge and our strength. A very

present and well proved help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear. Though the earth should change,

though the mountains be shaken and slip into the heart of the seas,

Though its waters roar and foam, Though its mountains tremble at its

roaring. There is a river whose streams make.

Glad the city of God, the holy

dwelling places of the most high. God is in the

midst of her. She. She will not be moved. God

will help her. In the morning when it dawns, the. Nations

make uproars and kingdoms totter, and we're moved.

But he raises his voice and the earth melted. The Lord

of hosts, he is with us. The God of

Jacob is our stronghold.

Would you guys stand and let me give you a blessing Today,

may we be a people who have the faith to listen to his whispers.

In Jesus name, amen.