SUMMER TOGETHER | Part 7 | Don’t Waste Your Wilderness

Hey, welcome to Grace Summit Church

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>> Hallelujah. Grace Summit Church, how we

feeling,

>> man. About 35% of you are doing awesome.

Grace Summit Church, how we feeling,

>> man. It's just a good day to be alive.

Amen. It's a good day to be a follower

of Christ. Uh hey, if you're a first or

second time guest, uh my name is Ben. I

have the opportunity to serve as lead

pastor here. And uh we're going to dive

in. You guys ready for the word?

>> Praise the Lord. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you, Lord, for revival

breaking loose in our spirit and our

soul. Father, we have chose to not serve

you casually, but Father, we've chose to

go allin with you, Lord. We've chose,

Father, to make you lord of every part

of our lives, God. And father, we thank

you today for taking us deeper, growing

us stronger, Lord, that when we leave

this house, Father, we are more like

Jesus than we ever dreamed possible. So,

Father, I speak blessing and anointing

and grace upon the preaching of your

word now in Jesus name. Amen.

>> Every season

has a purpose.

Amen.

Every season

has a purpose. I want to read just a few

scriptures out of Ecclesiastes.

We're going to talk about seasons today.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3.

Ecclesiastes 3 · chapter mention

Says for everything, say everything.

>> There is a season

and a time for every matter under

heaven.

A time to be born. A time to die. A time

to plant.

Time to pluck up what is planted. A time

to kill and a time to heal. A time to

break down and a time to build up.

There's a time to weep and a time to

laugh. A time to mourn.

A time to dance.

I want to stop right there. And there's

several more. The scriptures continue to

kind of do this compare and contrast of

what we would call good seasons versus

bad seasons, good moments versus bad

moments.

Every season

has a purpose.

What I have found in my own life is that

seasons that we don't like prepare us

for seasons that we love. Amen.

H here's the issue I've seen

and I'm preaching to myself this morning

as well. We have a fleshly or a human

tendency to want the promotion without

the process.

Anyone?

I mean, God will reveal something to you

or speak something to you or you'll

you'll see a an amazing believer that

that has everything that you desire.

And God will you'll even pray that way.

God, I I'm praying for this. I want

this. I want that. I don't want this.

And then God will lay it the process

right before you of how you actually get

there. And we get three steps in and get

uncomfortable and aggravated and going,

man, I'm not willing to to do what it

takes to get where I want.

We do it in the natural as well. Amen.

We want the promotion without the

process.

We want the anointing

without the wilderness. We want the

palace

without the pit,

man. We want the six-pack abs

without the gym membership.

Amen.

Yeah, man. I used to used to have that

six-pack going on. And somewhere along

the way, I looked in the mirror. Matter

of fact, my kids were picking on me. I

go, "Wait a minute. Where did it go? It

used to be there.

We we uh want all the blessings without

the work.

We don't really want to earn it

sometimes, do we? Can I say this? This

is my experience. There's only one way

to get from here to there, and that's to

go through it. And sometimes that means

uncomfortability.

That means hard work, dedication,

faithfulness.

You have to go through it to get it.

I know this. If God allows the season,

God has purpose for the season.

My conviction is that God is so much

larger than the devil that there is no

such thing as accidents or coincidence

or happen stance. If God allows you to

walk through a season, there's a purpose

in it. Every season

has a purpose. I just don't think God

wastes time. Amen.

I think every season is just loaded.

Every season is for us. And the question

is whether we have the spiritual

eyesight, spiritual sensitivity to know

the season that we're standing in.

You know, when we were young, back when

I had abs, hallelujah,

my wife and I used to snowboard. And uh

man, it was great when I met her. She

was a a skier snowboarder and the

summertime she's a wakeboarder behind

the boat and I I married a pretty cool

chick. Amen.

>> So she got I had skied before, but man,

she got me in the whole snowboarding

thing. So we get all the gear and maybe

we travel all around and and uh before

we had kids, we had money to spend and

time and stuff like that. So we we go do

all these weekend warrior trips and uh

amazing stuff. But I was thinking about,

you know, and I just picture this with

me, a person all kind of decked out in

the gear, right? They got they got all

the expense of the park, all I mean all

the stuff and the and the snowboard. And

I want you to picture a guy getting on

the chairlift and he rides all the way

to the top of the mountain.

He jumps off and he lands flat on his

face.

10 seconds behind him is a guy wearing a

t-shirt carrying a mountain bike

sideways and he gets off, jumps off the

chair and rides the bike down the

mountain

because they're standing in summer, not

winter. You know, both had the

intentionality, both had the proper

gear, or so they thought, but one was

willing and able to discern the season

that he was standing in, and that's what

led him to victory. Amen. How many times

we have the right tools in the wrong

season?

Y'all are way too quiet this morning.

Same lift, same mountain, different

season. Number one in your notes is to

discern the season.

Discern the season.

Here's what I've evaluated is we have a

lot of really sincere,

well-meaning, good-hearted believers

that sometimes go through failure or

struggle not because their heart is

wrong, but because they're using the

right tools in the wrong season. Say

seasons.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "To everything

Ecclesiastes 3:1

there is a season

and a time and a purpose, a time for

every purpose under heaven."

Luke 12, Jesus looks at the religious

leaders and the crowd. In verse 54, he

said this. He said, "When you see a

cloud rising in the west, you say at

once, a shower is coming." And so it

happens.

When you see the south wind blowing, you

say there will be a scorching heat and

it happens. You hypocrites. You know how

to interpret the appearance of earth and

sky, but why do you not know how to

interpret the present time? Isn't that

interesting? You know, we'll check our

weather app 15 times this week and never

take one self- evvaluation of our soul

or spiritual temperature or the season

that God has us in.

and pray for spiritual discernment.

Every season has a purpose. I'm a summer

guy. Anyone else in here a summer lover?

Man, just the fact that we're

approaching the fall and I know that

winter is coming. Like I I think the

fall is beautiful. I like some of the

temperatures and some of the stuff, but

just knowing that it's going to be like

-12 and I'm going to be pumping gas

at some point this winter, I'm like, "Oh

man, I just don't like it." And if it

was up to me, it would be 73 and sunny

every single day and uh with a nice cool

breeze, right? Wouldn't that be perfect?

Uh but what I've noticed even though I

am a lover of sunshine and I love the

summer um you know and I kind of we have

a tendency to kind of plan our uh summer

a little bit different than we'd plan

our winter. We do outdoor activities and

go different places and all these

things. Um, I've had this experience

several times in my life where uh had

this big plan for Saturday and uh

because it was supposed to be nice and

then you wake up Saturday morning and

you look outside and it's dark and

cloudy and heavy rain. You guys had this

experience?

Have you ever had a rainy day that you

needed that you didn't know you needed

and you just kind of decide like I'm

just kind of not going to do anything

today. You know what I mean? you just

kind of tuck back in. It's like, man, I

had all these big plans. If it was nice,

I'd be I'd be out running. I'd be out

doing this stuff, right?

But God ordained

uh sometimes a rainy season in our life

because we needed it when we didn't know

that we needed it. Every season

has a purpose. And the battle sometimes

is discernment.

Sometimes we need to stop calling our

rainy season a bad day. We need to stop

calling our hard season spiritual

failure because God is doing something

in it. If it's a season of pruning, we

need to stop trying to bloom and produce

fruit. Amen.

Oh my goodness.

Let God cut what needs to be cut so we

can bear fruit in the right season. But

sometimes it's the pruning season. God's

discipling us, working on us, trimming

some things back, preparing us. And we

go, man, God, don't I don't No, I want

to keep that. I don't like that. I'm

going to bloom. It's my bloom season. I

want to shine, right? And God's going,

"Oh, that's that's next season. But

right now, I need to cut a few things

off of you." Amen.

The sermon isn't just knowing what

season it is. It's letting the season do

its work.

And let me say this, properly discerning

the season you're in is preparation for

spiritual victory.

1 Chronicles 12 is a interesting portion

of scripture. Uh this is where it lists

all of the tribes that came together to

join David uh in this kind of uh

takeover of the kingdom against Saul.

Right? So David had been anointed king

14- 15 years prior to this. Then now

it's all coming to a head. Saul's been a

stinker, right? And so it's listing the

tribes that are coming alongside David.

In 1 Chronicles 12:32, it lists the sons

1 Chronicles 12:32

of Issachar.

And this is 200 men. Say 200.

>> 200 men that are uh listed among other

tribes that are much larger. Ephereim's

tribe was 20,800 men. Say that's a big

tribe.

That's That's a lot of guys. Zebulun's

is 50,000 men showing up with their

armor ready to fight. And Issachars is

200 men.

Just 200 men. Uh my favorite tribe

listed in there are the Benjamites.

Yes.

3,000 men ready to fight

and Issachar

is 200. It's interesting that Issachar's

200 men are recognized as integral in

the transferring of the kingdom from

Saul from evil to the kingdom of the

anointed one David to the kingdom of

God. Amen. And it says this, the Bible

credits them with understanding the

times to know what Israel ought to do,

understanding the times.

And their contribution wasn't uh just

raw strength and mere determination and

and how many weapons we have and how man

David, we're going to fight for you.

I picture a little bit more of a meek

disposition

on the men of Issachar.

They were accredited for having wisdom

and discernment.

It says all their kinsmen under their

command followed their lead. I've listed

just a few tribes. There were multiple

tribes with thousands upon thousands of

men. And these 200, the smallest tribe,

the men of Issachar,

all of the others followed because they

had discernment and understanding to

know what God was up to, what season

they were in, and what they should do in

that season. Amen.

Spiritual discernment is what caused

their victory. Can I say this? Don't

fight the times that you're in. Amen.

Don't fight the season that you're in.

Embrace it. God, if this is the season,

I'm going to walk through that. Man,

it's is season I wouldn't have chose.

But if this is the season that you laid

before me, I'm going to do it with

excellence

because I know that it's working in me.

Ecclesiastes says there's a time to

weep,

a time to laugh,

a time to mourn,

a time to dance.

In the natural, we understand

sensitivity and seasons.

If you go to grandma's funeral and you

go up front and you're overtaken with

joy and start dancing, there's a problem

with you. Amen. Or grandma was a very

bad bad woman that nobody liked, right?

One of the two is going on. But but but

I mean a typical normal thing, man, you

don't go up at a to a funeral and you're

all excited and and man, I'm having fun.

This is great. I'm going to start

dancing and laughing,

right? And sometimes in the spirit, we

call it faith.

It's a season of mourning. It's a season

of opposition. It's a season of struggle

and and I I just don't receive that. I

just don't receive that. I'm going to

put on my happy face and keep musling

through.

Sometimes there's a season to weep.

Amen. Sometimes in prayer, I've dropped

to my knees and the only thing I can do

is cry.

[clears throat]

Have you been there?

What season are you in?

I want to unpack one specific season

because my guess or the sense that I

have is that we have a tendency to

handle one better than the other.

Number two in your notes is to develop

in the wilderness.

Develop

in the wilderness. Let's talk about the

season that nobody puts on their vision

board, right? We don't we don't come up

in January and go, "Man, we're going to

have a great year, but uh month four is

just going to be a nightmare,

right?"

Why don't we plan for things like that?

We have an optimism. We just assume

everything's going to kind of go as

normal or go the direction we hoped.

But sometimes when we least expect it,

we find ourselves in a season of

struggle,

a season of wilderness.

You ever been in a season where you felt

like God was so distant from you?

You ever prayed and cried out, "God,

where in the world are you?" Amen. I

want to do whatever you want me to do,

but but I don't even have a clue what

that is, and so I'm just asking you to

show me or show up or whatever. Have you

ever been in that season where it just

felt like God was was distant?

In contrast to some of the seasons where

this powerful and God's blessing you and

God's speaking to you and God's

anointing things and all but all of a

sudden we a transition happens in the

spiritual realm and we can find

ourselves going God what what's going

on. It's kind of a wilderness season.

[clears throat]

Yeah. I was thinking about uh the way

God designed bodies. Human bodies are

very interesting. You know, people that

are born without eyesight

uh have a greater sense of hearing.

Isn't that interesting?

Because one isn't working. It's like the

other one gets fine-tuned. And vice

versa, man. If somebody's born without

the ability to hear, their eyesight is

impeccable, second to none.

What if

God dimmed your spiritual sight in this

season not to punish you but to sharpen

your hearing?

Amen.

Screaming out to God, God, give me my

sight.

God says, give me your ears. I have

something to tell you.

Walk by faith and not by sight. A lot of

times we tend to beg God to restore what

makes us comfortable.

But God is interested in what makes us

holy, what matures us, what strengthens

us more than what makes us comfortable.

Look at your neighbor and say, "Don't

waste your wilderness."

Every season has a purpose. Deuteronomy

8, uh, God led Israel into the

wilderness.

I want you to catch that for a minute.

God led

the children of Israel into the

wilderness.

God led them into the wilderness. A

wilderness experience is not a bad

thing. Sometimes it's a God- orained

thing. The children of Israel, they've

just gotten delivered out of freedom,

out of out of slavery, out of the hand

of Pharaoh. They're they're walking

towards the promised land. And the only

way to get there, God leads them to the

wilderness. Amen. and provides for them.

It does miracle after miracle. And

commentators say that to to walk the

wilderness to make it to the promised

land is about 11-day walk.

They spent 40 years wandering in the

wilderness

because of their complaining, their

unbelief,

lacking to trust God. Amen.

Sometimes we'll be going through the

season. God will lead us into this

place. It's a wilderness place

spiritually, emotionally,

mentally,

and it was only supposed to be 11 days.

But we complain about it. We argue about

it. We fall into spiritual victim

mentality. Why me, God? Why?

And God says, obviously, you're not

ready

for the blessing on the other side.

What started

for them as an assignment

to get them to the promised land turned

into a life sentence.

Matthew 4, this Bible says that the

spirit

led Jesus

into the wilderness

to be tempted by the devil.

This sounds like no fun, God. You know

what I get tired of in American

Christianity or Western Christianity is

all the cupcakes and roses, right? Just

have faith. There's do all this stuff.

And there's there's a solid piece of

that. But can I tell you, I've been

serving God a little while now, and I've

had more seasons of wilderness, seasons

of opposition, seasons of struggles that

God has brought me through that matured

me. There was no other way to get there

>> BUT TO GO THROUGH WHAT I NEEDED TO GO

through to embrace the season that God

had for me. Amen.

I got saved.

And I was pretty convinced that

everybody lied to me in the church.

Seriously, because I sat there and

they're talking about, "Oh, just accept

the Lord as your personal savior." And

they presented it. Maybe it was just the

way that I received it at the time

because I was very unchurched. It's like

everything's going to be perfect now.

Everything's going to be good because

you receive the Lord into your heart.

Pray this prayer with me.

Man, I was coming out of extreme

addiction,

crazy thinking, unhealthy. I had demons

I didn't even know about. Man, my

goodness. And to get me from there, even

though I prayed the prayer, to a place

that God was wanting me to be, a place

of freedom, a place of power, man, it

was quite a journey. Amen.

That was just the beginning.

I didn't share this in first service.

When God was calling us to Fort Wayne,

we were feeling

a stirring

and the founding pastor here,

Pastor Larry and I met and we had an

instant connection.

God was ministering and he

was asking the questions of my

ministerial experience.

Man, I was telling him of the heartache,

the hurt, the betrayal.

Anyone been in ministry for any length

of time?

We kind of he was pulling it out of me.

He was asking all these right questions.

And there was a point where he paused

and he said, "Good." Because I don't

want a man that hasn't been through it.

That was a requirement that he had had

that you have to have had experience

failure. you have to experience hard

seasons. And I said, man, Pastor Larry,

I am your guy, brother.

Yeah.

Think about my pastor

that so discipled me and poured into my

life. I remember listening to him pray

or listening to him speak. And there was

something undeniable in his spirit,

undeniable in his voice. There was

something in me that goes, that's a

general in the army of the Lord.

That's a that's a warrior that's been

through some things. To hear him talk

about losing his first wife to cancer

and all of the kids. How many kids did

he have?

>> Nine.

>> Nine children, still minor children at

home that all fell. He lost his wife to

cancer at a young age. And he talking

about all this stuff. And I go, man, he

and he would say it. I had to go through

what I had to go through to get to where

God needed me to be. Amen.

>> And I never want to approach a struggle

season, a wilderness season, saying,

"Oh, God, I don't think I'm interested.

I'll stay in my comfort zone.

I'll just stay comfortable over here.

You'll get stuck. Embrace the season

that God has you in."

Job 23. Job was going through a season.

Amen.

Yeah, I thought about it. Uh

God said,

"Satan, have you considered my servant

Job?"

Man, [clears throat]

they might not be back next Sunday.

Pastor Dan, I'm not preaching health,

wealth, and prosperity.

Preaching reality. Amen.

God says to Satan, "Have you considered

that guy? He's doing everything right.

Most righteous in the land. Have you

considered him?" And all hell breaks

loose on Job. Catch us. We're in chapter

23, a little further down the story.

Amen. He's been going through it. Verse

8, Job says, "Behold." He says, "I go

forward."

But he's not there. referring to God.

In other words, I I can't sense God. I

can't hear God. I can't nothing. God, I

just keep moving forward because somehow

I know that God's got me. I can't sense

him. He says I go forward, but he's not

there. And backward, but I do not

perceive him. On the left hand, when he

is working, do you catch that?

On the left hand, when he is working, I

do not behold him.

turns to the right, but I do not see

him. But he knows the way that I take.

When he has tried me, I shall come out

as gold.

Satan was loosed upon the man of God.

And he says, "God, I can't see you. I

can't feel you. I'm just moving forward.

I kind of don't even know what I'm

doing. I'm just just keep pressing in."

And his declaration is, "He is working.

He is working. Even when I don't see

you, God, you're working. Even when I

don't feel you, God, you're working.

Because God is above all things.

God, if you really loved me, you

wouldn't let this happen to me. And God

says, I do really love you. That's why

I'm allowing it.

Amen. Man, I almost started preaching.

He's working.

Even when I don't see him, even when I

can't feel him, let's be honest, even

when we start blaming him, God is still

working.

And where God is at work, that's the

place the devil loves to come and play

to mess with you. In the wilderness, the

enemy shows up on schedule.

He's only got two moves.

And number one is to get you to quit on

God.

Where's your God now?

I thought you were I thought you were

blessed. I thought you were a royal

priesthood chosen by Where's your God

now? And as soon as we get in that place

where God's stretching our faith and

we're we're called just to press on and

know that he's working even when we

don't feel it, even when we don't see

it, the enemy wants to show up. Get you

to quit on God. Number two, to get you

to sin against God.

You don't feel loved by God. Well, you

can feel loved by them.

The enemy blurs the line between our

needs

and our wants.

The wilderness is when God gives you

what you need instead of what you want.

Look at your neighbor and say, "Grow up.

That was fun. I think some wives enjoyed

that.

>> Devil sometimes your own flesh convinces

you needs convinces you that you need

something when really it's just a want

and he likes to dress it up in an urgent

costume. You ever notice that?

You need this and you need it now.

You need this and you need it now. And

exact exact opposite.

Well, I've been going through it. I

deserve it. So, I'm going to go out get

sloshed tonight. I'm going to drinking

with the girls. I'm going to let my hair

down cuz it's been rough.

[laughter]

Pastoral counsel says stay home.

You think you need it, but you're going

to feel worse tomorrow about it. Amen.

That wasn't in my notes. Hallelujah.

The wilderness is no fun,

but it's productive.

It wasn't all meant to be fun. I didn't

read all of the stories in scripture of

the great men and women of faith and go,

"Man, they had a lot of fun in this,

didn't they?"

As Abraham is getting ready to sacrifice

his own. I mean, I look at all these

stories. It's not It's not supposed to

be fun. It's supposed to be productive.

It's supposed to prepare you for

something far greater than you. Amen.

>> 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says this,

1 Thessalonians 5:18

"Give thanks,

catch this, in all circumstances."

That's easier said than done.

Give thanks in all circumstances. For

this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

for you

in all circumstances. The ones that you

love, the ones that you hate, the ones

that feel great, the ones that cause

pain, give thanks in all circumstances.

Even though I walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, I will fear no

evil. Amen.

Because God is for me. And I want to

straighten this text out because I've

heard it misused multiple times by

believers,

even by preachers.

It doesn't say give thanks for all

things.

It doesn't say give thanks for all

things. It says give thanks in. Say in.

>> Give thanks in all circumstances.

I've heard people get the diagnosis of

cancer

and say, "God, thank you for this

cancer."

And I'm going, "What? What in the world

are we doing?" No, no, no, no. I'm not

thanking God for

I'm thanking God in

God. Even though I'm in the midst of

this great trial, even though the

diagnosis came in, even though I'm broke

and I'm backward, even though I'm going

through this horrible thing, I love you

anyways. And God, I know you're for me

anyways. And I'm praying for the peace

of God that surpasses understanding cuz

right now I don't understand. And I need

peace that's bigger than my

understanding. Amen.

>> God, I'm going to thank you for it. It

says, "Give thanks in all

circumstances." This is the will of God

in Christ Jesus for you

in the trial

in the wilderness.

Be thankful.

If we miss that gratitude piece, we'll

end up bitter in the trial. Amen.

Further away from God in the trial.

Number three in your notes is decrease

the delay.

decrease the delay.

Here's my experience.

I can't avoid the wilderness seasons

that God has ordained,

but I can't extend it.

Amen. 11 days can turn into 40 years.

The wilderness

for the children of Israel wasn't a

detour.

It was a divine route.

But 40 years wasn't on God's calendar.

11 days was.

It was a result

of continuous complaining

in the season. I know. I'm sorry.

Was it because I was yelling?

Continuous complaining, unbelief,

refusal to trust God's process,

seeing the value of getting me from here

to there.

God scheduled a productive

journey.

Their

bad attitude turned it into a life

sentence.

You can write this down. The wilderness

is preparation,

not punishment.

The enemy wants to confuse the two.

Wilderness is preparation, not

punishment. I got to share this. I'm

preaching this because this is what God

put on my heart. But I'm preaching it

because I've watched so many fall away

in a season of wilderness because they

believe that it was punishment or they

believe some some lie from the enemy

about the season that they were going

through instead of embracing it and

walking through it with the joy of the

Lord.

David was anointed king as a teenager.

He spent 15, almost 15 years hiding in

caves,

running from Saul, trying to kill him.

He was anointed king, but homeless.

Amen.

And God was doing something in David in

that season to prepare him to be a king

of Israel that we're talking about 3,000

years later.

H

Joseph

in the Bible had this dream of royalty

God had revealed to him and this is how

his journey went. He went to the pit

potterer's house then to prison

on the way to the palace.

Yeah. Nobody posts their prison stay on

Instagram, do they?

Picture Joseph in there. Come on.

[laughter]

Rocking prison.

Yeah. And we're going through it.

But God did something in Joseph

through all of those that prepared him

for the palace.

Sometimes God will show you the palace

in a dream. so that we can survive the

pit on the way. Amen.

So your attitude will either expedite

or extend your wilderness experience.

Sometimes

we're on lap 14 around the same mountain

coming back to the same lesson. It's

just a different year

because every time God tries to refine

us, we grumble our way back to the

starting place.

Uh oh.

You guys still love me?

>> Number four in your notes is decide to

obey. Say decide.

>> We play spiritual victim sometimes.

We're going through the rough place.

We're going, man, we can sense

something's different. It's a season of

morning. whatever this season is that

God has brought us to

and

we act like victim like we don't have a

choice in how we handle it and the flesh

is a cause and response.

Amen.

If uh you talk to me this way, I'm going

to respond that way. It happens every

time without fail. If this happens in my

life, I go do this. If that happens in

my life, I go do that. Anyone old enough

to watch your own patterns?

>> Yeah. The good, the bad, the ugly.

Maturity in Christianity by the spirit

says, "Yeah, this happened, but I'm

going to hand it to God and see what God

would have me to do in this season. I'm

not just going to react the way that I

always have. Yeah, it's bad. Yeah, it

stinks. Doesn't mean I have to go do

whatever that is.

Amen.

And I want to say this. We're talking

about

spiritual maturity.

We're spirit beings. You guys know that

you're spiritual before you're natural.

And just like

natural growth,

we're meant to grow spiritually, not be

stagnant and stale and seized in our

growing.

Natural growth

is mostly a function of time.

I've never seen a 6'3 first grader. Have

you? And what happens, man? I got nieces

and nephews. And if you don't you don't

see kids for a while and you come back

and you're like, "Holy cow, man. How

long have I been gone? Little stinkers

grew right up on me, right? It's a

function of time, that natural growth.

And then we finally get to our fullness

of height and our fullness of stature,

all this stuff. And then sometimes in

our 40s and 50s we we time makes a

little more natural growth, right?

But growth, natural growth is a function

of time.

Intellectual growth isn't necessarily a

function of time.

Time is a factor, but I've seen 14y olds

that have their high school diploma and

getting ready to go to college. And I've

known 60 year old men that didn't have

their GED yet. Amen.

So intellectual growth is a function of

learning,

not only a function of time. Spiritual

growth is neither.

Yes, time and learning can be a factor.

But it's not only time.

I've known people that were saved one

year that were more spiritually mature

than some that were saved 30 years.

Amen.

It's not just a function of learning.

And Jesus stood face to face with the

Pharisees. Now, the Pharisees uh knew

the all of the Old Testament prophecies.

They'd have them the scriptures

memorized and they knew every detail

about the coming Messiah and they stood

face to face with the Messiah that came

and completely missed him. They were so

confused

that they were determined to kill him

and crucify him.

So spiritual growth isn't a function of

learning.

Man, I have known some really smart

stupid people.

You guys too like the intellectual is

just like wow man this guy's geniusprone

but I don't know if he can tie his own

shoes by himself you know.

Yeah

it's not just learning.

So the question I have is what causes

spiritual growth?

How do we mature?

You might not like the answer.

First Peter chapter 4 and verse one says

1 Peter 4 · chapter mention

this.

He who has suffered in the flesh

has ceized from sin.

He who has suffered in the flesh

has ceized from sin. That little portion

cease from sin is very interesting in

the original language and how it's used

in other areas of scripture.

But it doesn't just mean that I stop

sinning. It has a much stronger

connection to spiritual maturity. I have

the spirit so much so that I refuse to

sin.

I have the goodness of God on the inside

of me that that I look at and I can't

even consider going that direction.

They have seized from sin. Catch this.

He who suffered in the flesh

has ceased from sin.

But plenty of people

suffer

and come out bitter, not better. Amen.

So suffering alone isn't the answer. But

catch this. Hebrews chapter 5 and verse

Hebrews 5 · chapter mention

8

referring to Jesus though he was a son.

He learned obedience. Say learned.

He learned obedience through the things

he suffered.

There it is.

One can suffer and come out bitter.

Jesus suffers and comes out better. He

learned obedience through the things

that he was suffering. In other words,

the season that God had him in, man,

there were some seasons where he's

raising Lazarus from the dead, where he

he blind eyes are being able to see

again. He's had some amazing seasons,

but he had some seasons where he's

sweating great drops of blood in the

garden of Gethsemane. He had some

seasons where he's being nailed to a

tree that he created. Amen.

And he learned obedience in those

seasons because his heart was towards

the father.

Lord, if there's any way for this cup to

pass, let's do that. But father, your

will be done. And in that season of

struggle, in that season of opposition,

in that season of suffering, that's the

heart. We turn to the father and say,

"God, I don't fully understand what all

is going on here. And Lord, if there's

any other way, let's do that." But but

my declaration is, Lord, I'll walk

through what you want me to walk

through.

Spiritual maturity, spiritual growth.

So we grow spiritually

when we obey the father in the midst of

suffering.

Suffering is the context.

Obedience is the catalyst.

The wilderness doesn't automatically

grow you.

It's obedience in the wilderness.

Your attitude in the wilderness. Catch

this. your gratitude

in the wilderness.

That's how we grow spiritually.

Two people can go through the same

thing, same trial. It's identical.

One can come out further away from God.

One can come out spiritually

strengthened and mature.

The trial wasn't the difference. The

obedience was.

I don't want you leaving here just

informed.

I want you leaving here equipped for

real battle. Amen.

Here's what I also know about

the wilderness or these seasons of

struggle.

The wilderness was never meant to be

walked alone.

Amen.

It was never meant to be walked alone.

And Moses

had Aaron and her holding his arms up.

He got weak in the battle

going through this struggle going, "Man,

I want to do it. I want to be strong

enough, but guys, I'm just not."

And I got to tell you, I am so grateful

for men and women of faith in my life.

Know how many times I've leaned on my

wife going, "Hun, I just don't have it.

I just I'm being very honest. I'm being

very real. I'm going through a season

right now. I'm going through a struggle.

I'm thankful for Pastor Dan, for other

ones that can hold my arms up when I go,

man, here's my little white flag. I I've

been given everything I got and God

brought me to this place. Feels like a

cloud came over me and I need somebody

just to help me out a little bit. Amen.

And you're not called to be a spiritual

superman doing everything on your own.

We're called to community.

We're called to love one another,

encourage one another, hold each other

up.

Can I challenge you when you're going

through it? Find somebody that loves God

more than you. Say, "Man, I'm hurting.

I'm I'm I'm in a struggle season.

Will you pray with me?"

We don't even have to get spiritual. You

just sit and listen. Let me dump my junk

on you for a minute.

Sometimes that's all we needed.

Amen.

Can I encourage you when you're going

through a good season and you see a

brother or sister in need that's that's

struggling that's go going through it.

Don't be critical and distant.

Yeah. That she's always depressed. She's

always going through something. Let's

not invite them. Invite them. Love on

them. encourage them. Amen. Call them

because there'll be a season. You might

not be in it today, but there'll be a

season that you wish a believer would

have saw you and saw your hurt and

called you or invited you. Amen.

Well, praise [music] the Lord.

Paul had Barnabas.

David had Jonathan.

Who do you have?

Sometimes we need to drop our walls and

let others in. Amen.

I'll ask the worship team to join me up

here.

Here's

what I've learned.

Every [music] season has a purpose.

God does not waste time.

Every little nuance, every inflection.

God is bigger than it all.

Every season has a purpose. [music] And

catch this. It's for you.

It's for you. Amen. [music]

The question isn't do I like the season

I'm in.

The question is is am I obeying God in

the middle of it?

Am I grateful

in the middle of it?

We can stand to our feet all over this

house.

>> [music]

>> My sense

is that some

in here are in a type of wilderness

season,

a season of opposition or struggle.

Maybe it's a season where it just feels

spiritually stale.

Here's my word to you. Don't waste your

wilderness.

and don't outlast your stay.

Amen.

God's preparing you

for a season

on the other side of that struggle

that will overwhelm you with goodness.

2 Corinthians 4

2 Corinthians 4:17

verse 17. And

I want you to receive this word.

The Bible says, "For this light

momentary affliction

is preparing for us an eternal weight of

glory beyond all comparison.

this light

momentary

affliction

from reading this scripture in context.

I don't think it was light [music] and

momentary.

I think it was weighty and lengthy. I

think it was a struggle. But I think by

faith the individual saw that this life

is but a mister of vapor in the eyes of

eternity. And though it feels so long

and so hard down here, when we put our

eyes on heaven, when we fix our eyes on

Jesus, we recognize it as this light and

momentary struggle. Catch this. It's

[music] working for us. An eternal

weight of glory. Someday I'm going to

pass from this life and into the next,

and I'm going to understand and see what

it was all for. But sometimes in this

life, I'll never understand what God was

up to.

1 Peter chapter 1

1 Peter 1:6

verse 6 and I'll close with this

scripture

says in this you rejoice

though now for a little while

say a little while a little while though

now for a little while if necessary

you have been grieved by various trials

so that the tested The genuiness of your

faith, more precious than gold, that

perishes,

though it is tested by fire, may be

found to result in praise and glory

and honor at the revelation

of Jesus Christ.

Father, we thank you Lord for freedom.

I thank you God for the call on our

lives that God we can walk through fire.

We can walk through wind. We can walk

through rain. And Lord, we can still

trust you in the midst of it. Father,

that we can have a faith that goes

beyond anything we see on this earth.

Any feeling that we feel, God.

Lord, I thank you for every soul in this

room.

Grateful

for the seasons that you have us in,

Lord.

I pray specifically for those that are

going through a struggle season.

God, today we receive faith,

encouragement, conviction,

comfort, and counsel to move us forward

in the midst of the season.

Father, I thank you that you're not a

distant father

that sees us in a spirit of hurt or a

spirit of mourning and leaves us alone.

But Father, we're thankful God that you

are the God of all love, of all comfort.

And Father, when you see your children

hurting, you run to them and comfort

them. And Father, we pray that we would

be vulnerable enough to receive your

warm embrace.

So, Father, I pray blessing over every

household,

over every man, woman, and child, God,

that we would come through it and come

out on the other side,

stronger,

more mature, victorious,

and ready for the season ahead. So,

Father, bless each one. We pray in Jesus

name. Amen.

We're going to have the prayer team up

here and we're going to worship a little

while. But I want to invite you

whatever you're going through. If

there's a

season that you're going through and

you're going, "Man, I think I've been

complaining more than I've been

praising."

Or, "I don't think I was giving God the

credit for the bad seasons."

Whatever that is, I want to invite you.

I want you to know that this altar is

open to come do business with heaven.

Maybe you're in this place and you felt

challenged or stirred by the spirit to

give your life to Jesus Christ to pray

that prayer and say, "I'm ready to go

allin. I'm ready to be serious serving

God." I want to invite you to come and

let us pray salvation over you. Amen.

Praise the Lord. Our altars are open.

Won't you come? [music]

Thank you for listening to today's

message from Grace Summit [music]

Church. We hope it encourages you to

walk out your faith this week. If you're

in the Fort Wayne [music] area, we'd

love to meet you in person. Join us for

a Sunday service at 9:15 or 11:00 a.m.

on [music] East Duvant Road or connect

with us online anytime at

graceummiturch.com.

Have a blessed [music] week and we'll

see you next time.