Worth Dying For: Shake it off

Welcome to church. If this is your first time here at Venture Church,

this is actually pretty normal. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there,

all the father figures in the house. Literally, my Bible just broke.

That's awesome. It's it's great to have you here with us celebrating Father's

Day. And whether you are a dad or you are a father figure in

people's lives, man, we're just thankful for you. We're so thankful for

what you do for families, what you do for your kids, what you

do for those who look up to you, and we just want to just

celebrate you today. Can we just give it up for all the dads today?

Come on. Personally, my favorite part of today so far was the

one minute of watching Dave liam drive is writing a lawnmower and kicking it into

reverse, just just for fun. If I haven't met you yet, my

name is Morgan Butcher bus for Bee, one of the pastors here at our

Mill Creek campus, and we are actually at the tail end of our Worth

Dying For series. We have broken this series into few different chunks that has

spanned throughout the year. Actually, as we've been working our way through the

Book of Acts, we are today in the last book of Acts. We

made it all the way to chapter twenty eight. We'll be covering chapter twenty

eight this week and finishing next week as we conclude our Worth Dying four series.

Last week, Pastor Brandon shared just an awesome, really good, powerful

word on the storm and the shipwreck that Paul found himself caught in as he

sailed for Rome as a prisoner to stand trial before Caesar. Just an awesome

message. I encourage you to go back and listen to it online. But

Acts twenty seven ended with Paul, the prisoners, and the soldiers all jumping

overboard as the ship is literally being destroyed. They grab pieces of debris to

make it to shore as they see land in the distance, and the last

verse of chapter twenty seven says and reminds us that everyone escaped safely to shore.

Now. I don't know if you have ever been in a storm.

I don't know what storms you've walked through in your own life. But for

those of you who have weathered some storms in life and made it to the

other side, you know that the place that you usually land after a storm

is nowhere like what you thought it was going to look like before the storm

may man, it almost always looks different than what you thought you were in

store for. When you set out for life, or in Paul's case,

for Rome, you have an idea of where you're going, and when a

storm hits, very rarely do you end up in the same place that you

intended to be. The place you land, albeit through the storm safe,

rarely looks like the destination you were set out for. And it's when we

end up in these places that are unfamiliar to us that we are left with

a choice. The aftermath of a storm is generally very simple in providing you

with options of what to do next. After a storm, you really have

two options. One option is that you can be disappointed with where you are,

knowing that it's not the place that you originally intended to be, knowing

that it's nowhere and where you wanted to be, knowing that this was nowhere

in the plans, this was nowhere in the cards. And oftentimes we can

find ourselves settling into the place that is new after a storm and wallowing in

our pity and doubt of what the future could hold, and we can sit

there for a long, long, long somebody say long long time. And

in the other hand, we can recognize where we are is nowhere we set

out to be, but we can choose to move forward. The options after

a storm are pretty cut and dry. Paul and everyone on that ship were

headed for Rome, only to be met by a storm, having to abandon

ship and being washed ashore to a place that was very different from where they

wanted or anticipated to land. And in chapter twenty eight we pick up and

we hear about what life looks like on the other side of the storm.

Are you guys with me this morning? We're gonna dive into chapter twenty eight.

We're gonna start in verse one. We're gonna read a few verses here,

and then we'll kind of tear it apart. But let's look at what

it says. It says. Once safely on shore, we found out that

the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us an unusual kindness. They

built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. We

understand that life. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put

it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, I

send itself to his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his

hand. They said to each other, this man must be a murderer,

for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him

to live. But Paul shook the snake off his hand into the fire and

suffered no ill effects. Boy, life looks great now, doesn't it.

The other side of a storm is fun. Paul made it through the storm

and he's found himself with new challenges. How many of you have walked through

some storms in your life, made it through the other side and thought that

everything was gonna be better, but you found out there was just more challenges.

You found out that that what you thought was the past was actually still

the present. You were still in the middle of it all. They're met

by people on the island that tell them that they're in Malta. Let's take

a look at the travel so far that Paul has gone. They've from cesarea

traveling to Rome up in the top left corner here, and they were making

their way in chapter twenty seven to fair Havens around this area right here,

and they were heading towards fair Havens, but the storm hit and they realized

that if they could make it to Phoenix. If they could just make it

to Phoenix. Everybody wants to go to Phoenix. If they could just make

it to Phoenix, they knew that they would be able to make it through

the winter a little bit better. The weather on that side of the island

of Crete was better than it was on this exposed side of fair Havens.

So they start traveling towards Phoenix, and this is when the storm picks up.

They lose control of the ship and they make their way out into the

Mediterranean Sea, not being steered by any man, but being steered by the

waves and the winds, and they find themselves drifting and floating at the mercy

of the storm all the way over towards just off the shore of the small

island of Malta. Now, if you were to look at a map,

you wouldn't even see a dot where Malta is. It's it's literally nothing.

When you when you look at a map, you wouldn't even see it.

It would just say Malta and it would be blue. Right. You would

be like, where is that little island? And as a pastor, I

get the opportunity to meet a lot of people that are coming into our church.

It's one of my favorite parts about about what I get to do is

I get to meet new people, I get to hear their stories, I

get to walk with them in life. And with that opportunity also comes the

opportunity to walk through a lot of storms that people are facing, to navigate

those storms with them, to walk through with them, to to kind of

be there with them as they face those unexpected situations and things that come up

in life. And what's been fascinating over the years of pastoring people is to

see how every person differs in handling a storm, to see how they handle

ending up in a different place than they originally were, to see how they

handle the uncertainties and the unexpected situations and when life doesn't go the way that

they had planned or hoped for. And in all the times that I have

witnessed someone walking through a storm, you know what I've concluded. I've concluded

that there is something incredibly powerful about a Christian who, in face with a

storm, in the face of difficulty, has the ability to shake things off

and move forward. There is something incredibly attractive about that kind of faith,

about that kind of posture in life, about that kind of perspective for the

person who is able to shake things off and keep pressing forward. I mean

when I read Scripture, all I read about is men and women of the

faith who have this uncanny ability to shake off the storms, to shake off

the snakes, and to be fully present and move forward where God has them.

We could talk about Joseph and how he shook off the way that his

brothers treated him, literally leaving him for dead, and then continuing to move

forward with his life. We could talk about how David shook off the mockery

of Goliath and stepped onto the battlefield anyways. We can talk about Job and

how he shook off the blame that his other friends were putting on him.

We could talk about the woman with the issue of blood who who shook off

the doctor's report and believe that Jesus could heal her. We could talk about

the woman at the well who shook off her past and stepped forward. We

could talk about Lazarus and shook off the grave clothes and continue to live his

life. And the question that we are faced with when reading this story of

Paul's new challenges after the storm is this, friends, do you know how

to shake off what life throws at you? How do you shake things off

of your life when it's like a battering ram of things continue to pop into

your way? How do people see you respond? How do people see you

respond when life gets difficult? Does it communicate that there's anything different about your

foundation of faith in the rest of the world there? Does it communicate that

you have hope for the future in spite of your problems? Do you know

how to shake off what life throws at you? How do people How do

you respond when life gets difficult? When you face a setback or an unexpected

turning your life? What is your response? There is something to be said

for the Christian man or woman of God who responds to life's twists and turns

that looks different from the rest of the world around them. Resilience is an

attractive characteristic, isn't it. It's the ability to It's your capacity to recover,

the ability to keep a positive perspective on the future even when you've been

tested. I've seen pastors explain it by using a rubber band, and even

when the rubber band is stretched to the point of breaking, it springs right

back to its original shape. You see the tension causes the rubber band to

stretch. It will stretch and stretch and stretch to the point of breaking,

but it will always return to its original form. Friends, That's what it

looks like to shake it off. I'm not saying that life won't at times

cause you to feel stretched, because it will. Seasons of change. Will

not feel comfortable. There will be seasons of difficulty that will cause tension.

But the tension doesn't have to keep you from returning to its original form.

It doesn't have to keep you in this place of uncertainty. It doesn't have

to keep you hopeless. Listen to me. It doesn't have to keep you

discouraged. It doesn't have to keep you feeling lonely. It doesn't have to

keep you doubtful. It doesn't have to keep you questioning if God is good.

I believe in a God who is bigger than the tensions that we face

in life. Amen. I believe in a God who gives us strength and

perseverance, in a spirit of peace and resilience to move forward, even in

the tension and changes of life. But you know how to shake it off,

you see, Because I think that it's a learned skill to be able

to respond to what life is throwing at you. With that kind of attitude,

there are some ways to develop the ability to shake things off so that

we can keep moving forward. And I think Paul demonstrates some of these things

in Acts chapter twenty eight of what it looks like for us to be able

to shake things off and keep moving forward. That's what I want to talk

about. Paul shows us a few things that we have to be ready to

be able to shake off if we're going to continue to move forward to the

plans that God has for us. And the first thing that Paul shows us

is that when plans change, we can shake it off. Malta was never

the plan. Did you know that it was never the plan to end up

on this little island. It was cold and it was raining, and now

they are camping. That is never the plan. Okay, never ever,

ever, in the history of the world has that ever been the plan,

especially when you have kids. But it says that they're on Malta. These

people begin to take care of them, and this is fitting for Father's Day

because it says that they start a fire. I don't know how it happens.

I don't know, even though who taught me. But it's like when

I became a dad, I just knew how to start a fire out of

nothing. It just happens. It's magical. Dads, you are incredible.

You just know how to do stuff like that. They start a fire.

These people are cold, it's raining. But this is far from where Paul

thought that he would be right now, isn't it. Paul was always planning

to go to Rome. He's been planning to go to Rome for chapters and

chapters and chapters of the Book of Acts. How do we know that?

In Acts, Chapter nineteen, verse twenty one, it says that Paul decided

to go to Jerusalem passing through Macedonia, and he literally says, after I

have been there, I must visit Rome. It was always the plan.

Paul desperately wanted to preach at Rome. He planned to go to Rome.

But I guarantee you he never expected that this would be the way he would

end up there. That he would travel to Rome as a prisoner, That

the ship that he was put on to go to Rome would get caught in

a storm, that the ship would break, and that he would go overboard,

that he would be washed up on shore of an island and and all

these things. I guarantee you this is never the way that Paul imagine that

he would get to Rome. Friends, says, God ever changed directions on

you? Has he ever changed plans without warning you, without notice, without

even giving you a chance to vote on how it all went down? Wouldn't

that be awesome? Like, hey, buddy, this is what's going to

happen. I just want you to know. But here's a few options,

right, Like you know, it's like choose your story, right, It's

like one of those old novels we used to real, choose your any this

was not what he had in mind. But you see, Paul understood that

when plans change, we have to remind ourselves. Even when plans change,

Friends, God knows the way. God knows the way. Paul and the

prisoners are washed on shore of a small island of Malta. Is it to

anyone's surprise? Right? Is it to anyone's surprise that in Greek the way

that you pronounced the island of Malta is milita. Do you know what the

transition translation for the word mylita is? It is place of refuge? Is

it to anyone's surprise that on the way to Rome. God sends Paul on

this new twisted adventure, but it was a place of refuge along the way.

The island is in the middle of one of the largest bodies of water

in the world, Mediterranean Sea. And this island is only eighteen miles long

and eight miles wide on a map, you literally don't see it unless you

use zoom in. And with the ship out of control, no man's steering

it, it somehow makes us way safe to the only safe place of refuge

on this huge body of water. Friends, even when your plans change,

God knows the way. But Paul also reminds us, and he's a shirt

that even when God, God knows the way, we can be reminded and

reassured that God makes a way even when we don't understand how it's going to

happen. Can I remind some of you in here, God makes a way.

It's not just that He knows a way, but he makes a way.

It says when they got to land, the people cared for them,

They were kind to him. The word that they used to describe these people

in the NIV is the word islanders, and this word translates to communicate that

they were a sort of barbarian, not that they were savage in nature,

but that their speech was rude, It was rough, it was harsh,

they were rough around the edges, and the ancient Greeks would use this word

for any foreigner who didn't speak their Grecian language. And in Acts twenty three,

Paul is again in prison. And this is why this is important because

here Paul is on the island of Malta, and it would be easy to

understand why he would be losing hope. But Paul looks at these people,

these islanders, these barbarians that are now serving them, helping them in their

time of need, and you know what it was a reminder of for Paul.

It was a reminder that even though these people are rough around the edges,

they were a godsend. God literally makes away. And why is this

important to mention? In Acts twenty three, Paul is in prison and it

was obvious that there was some fear and there was some doubt in Paul's heart

as he's in prison, because it says the Lord appears to him in prison

and reminds him. In Acts twenty three eleven, he reminds Paul take courage,

don't lose hope. It's going to be okay. He reminded him once

before. He said, as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so

you must also testify me, testify about me in Rome. Why is this

all important? Because friends, when God makes a promise, he takes responsibility

in fulfilling it. He makes a way. Sometimes the plans and the purposes

of God seemed frustrating. They seemed turned around, they seemed twisted, they

seemed completely backwards. But never forget, God knows the way. And even

when you don't understand, God makes a way when plans change. Paul reminds

us how to shake it off. But Paul also shows us that when problems

are consuming how many of you know about that? When the when the problems

of life consume us, we can still shake it off. It says that

Paul gathered some sticks, he gathered some brush to feed the fire that these

islanders had created. That the fire was starting to go out, that was

that was originally started, and they gather some some woods start fueling the fire,

and it says that as the heat rises, it says a poisonous sake

snake jumps out and bites Paul on the hand. And I don't know about

you, but when I read scripture, I like, there's moments when I

read scripture and I'm just like, bro, this is the craziest thing I

ever right in my life. I don't even know what to journal about right

now, but this is wild. This is how we know Paul is a

bad dude. And I'm not talking that he's like a bad guy. I'm

talking like, Paul is a bad mamajamma. He's he's like like a bad

dude. This is this is why, like Dad's are legends right like this

is this is this is the kind of stuff we're talking about, because what

scripture references is that he gets bit by this snake. But it's not until

the Islanders literally look at him and they're like, he must be a murderer.

Look, there's a snake hanging off him. Then he's like, oh

yeah, and he shakes the snake off into the fire. Dad's this is

you, right, Like you get hurt doing stuff all the time and you

don't even realize it until somebody else looks at you and says, hey,

dude, you're bleeding everywhere, right, Like oh yeah, thanks thanks for

that. I was literally working on our trailer last week that we're gonna take

camping, and and while working, I must have like like cut my hand

over here somehow. And and I walk in the house to get some water,

and Brinley's watching Bluey right and done in it, and uh sorry.

And I walk in the house and Brindley's minding her own business, and and

then all of a sudden, I hear the scream like, ah, like,

Brinly, what what what? She's like, Dad, You're bleeding everywhere.

It's dripping on the ground. I'm like, oh my gosh, I

am sank. Thank you so much, Briley. This is us, right,

And this is Paul. He's got this snake hanging off of his hand

and it's not until the Islanders look at him and say, dude, there's

something wrong that he shakes it off of his hand and into the fire.

This is us. But the truth is is that when problems are consuming,

this is way easier said than done, isn't it to just shake it off?

As a parent of a toddle, I have learned this eternal truth.

It's just the worst that you will ever see your child act as when they're

cold, tired, and hungry. And this was Paul. He's cold,

he's tired, he's probably hungry. And when problems consume us, shaking it

off it takes wisdom, it takes maturity. Paul was tired, he was

cold. It's raining. The fire that the islanders have built is dying down.

If there were ever a moment in scripture what I would expect to see

a disciple monologue of his worries and burdens, it's this one right now,

right like him complaining about being where he is and having to deal with what

he's dealing about. But what does Paul do. He doesn't complain, he

doesn't even he doesn't even shiver around a fire that's dying. What does it

say? It says he goes and he gets some more wood for the fire

to keep burning. Oh man, this is this should be a powerful reminder

to some of us. I was saying about this this week. I remember

when when God got ahold of my life as a teenager, I was sixteen

years old and never never really been to church before, and I remember going

to church and it was like God just lit this fire inside of me.

Do you remember that? Do you remember that feeling of God, just like

getting ahold of your life and and that moment that you really felt like God

was taking you to a new place. And it was like it fueled me.

Everything that I did was like fueled by this passion, by this desire,

by this fire that God had birthed into my life. And it led

me to saying no to the things of the world and saying yes to the

things of God. And it said it meant saying no to the things that

I used to say yes to and yes to the things that I never knew

before. It was like this fire was burning in my life and it motivated

me and encouraged me to move me forward. Did anyone ever experience that?

But friends, hear me say, it is your and my response ability to

keep the fire burning. God births the fire in our life. He will

do something that moves you into this new place of passion and excitement and invigoration

to follow him with all of your life. But friends, when you are

weary, when you are tired, when you are burning, guess whose guess

whose responsibility is to keep the fire going? Me? And so what do

we do? How how do you keep the fire burning? You gotta go

and you gotta get some wood to rekindle the fire that's that's fading, meaning

that you and I in the middle of our tiredness and our weirdness. You

know what you gotta do. You gotta get some wood to throw on the

fire. You've got to You've got to get on your knees in prayer and

stoke the flames that are dying. You have got to take responsibility for the

place that you are and not pity and not complain, but say God,

I am going to double down. I'm going to press into you. I'm

going to feed the flames that are fading. We have to get in the

word. We've got to get on our knees in prayer. We've got to

get some accountability. We've got to bring people around us to encourage us and

speak into our lives. There are times where we have to fuel the spiritual

fire on our own. Paul mentions this in First Timothy one six. He

says, fan into the flame the gift that God has given you. It

literally means to kindle up the fire, to keep it going, to add

fuel to the fire that may be fading but isn't quite out. Friends,

be sure to add fuel to the fire before fades. Don't get in the

place where the fire completely burns out. And you had the opportunity to add

fuel to it. But you sat there, sat there thinking that something was

going to change, sat there thinking and hoping and praying that God would just

relight the fire. No, no, no, no. You take responsibility

for the fire that God burst in your life, and you fuel the fire

that is dying. But Paul's problems weren't just that he was tired. Paul

was wounded. Paul had been through a storm, he'd been shipwrecked. Now

he gets bit by this snake. And I know we just talked about how

Paul shook off this tired spirit. He looked beyond what we would have seen

as an easy opportunity to complain, and he didn't look at his weariness as

an excuse. But he got wood for the fire, and he fanned the

flame. He kept the fire going. He had hope for the future.

But friends, isn't it so true that anytime you and I start pressing into

Jesus, any time that you and I start having that vision for what God

wants to do in our life again, any time that we've gone through a

storm and hope is gone. But we start to rekindle that faith in our

life. We start to get that prayer rhythm back in our life. We

start to dive back into God's word. Friends, Count it down, mark

it up, take it to the bank. You can guarantee that anytime you

start pressing into Jesus, there's a snake about to hop out. Take it

to the bank. You can guarantee that the moment that you start to have

hope rising back inside of you, the moment that you feel like that hope

is rising, that there could be more in store for your life, that

the journey's not over, that there could be more. Guarantee you the enemy

will attack. His plans are to seek steel, kill and destroy, and

and and to take every ounce of hope that you might be grasping onto.

You better believe that as you start pressing into Jesus and that fire starts burning,

there's a snake that's going to come for you. And look, the

wounds that we experience in life, they can come from all different angles.

Sometimes they are as obvious and straightforward as a snake jumping out and biting us

right, and sometimes they are from unlikely sources. Sometimes they come from people

that you thought were friends. For Paul, it was the same Islanders that

were just so kind and caring for him that then looked at him with this

snake hanging off of him and said, here's a murderer. He's evil.

This man is meant to die. There is something wrong with him. They're

comforting him in one moment and then criticizing him in the next. But you

know what Paul does. He doesn't do what I would do if I was

tired and weak and weary. He doesn't condemn the Islanders for judging him.

He doesn't block them on social media, he doesn't send them mean texts.

He doesn't get defensive and strike back at them. What does he do?

He shakes it off? Church? Can we have grace for one another?

Can can we have we tend to get really sensitive when we're tired and weak?

Don't we not everyone that hurts you meant to hurt you? Did you

know that? Can we not allow an off comment, a mistake, a

bad day from a person destroy relationship with each other? Can we learn to

shake off the offenses of one another when plans are consuming? We can shake

it off when problems are consuming, Paul shows us we can shake it off.

When offences come, Paul shows us that we can shake it off.

And lastly, Paul shows us that even when praise comes, Paul encourages us

to shake off the praise. Acts twenty eight six says this. It says

they see the snake hanging from Paul's hand, and he shakes off the snake

from the hand. It says the people expected him to swell up or suddenly

fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen,

they changed their minds and said that he was a god. What a turnaround,

right. There was an estate nearby that belonged to Pablius, a chief

official of the island. He welcomed us into his home and showed generous hospitality

for three days. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and

dysentery, which I find interesting because I thought dysenterry only existed in an organ

trail. But I guess I was wrong, says Paul went in to see

him, and after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

And when this happened, the rest of the sick people on the island came

to him and were cured. They honored us in many ways, and when

we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies that we needed

for the journey ahead. After all Paul has done, I mean literally being

the one to lead the people in abandoning the ship and got onto the island

of Malta, for all those who were sick that day, and and and

Publius's father for healing him, and all the people from the island who came

who were ill and were healed in that moment. It would have been easy.

It would have been easy to receive and welcome and maybe even invite that

praise if I'm Paul, and just sit back and soak it him. But

I of that, Paul showed us that even praise shouldn't change who we are.

What did Paul do to shake off the praise, Well he could.

He did a couple of really simple things, friends, things that we can

take to heart. The first thing he did was he kept a simple testimony.

I mean, and look at what the people are saying in verse four

to verse six. You can see how fickle people can be in their opinions,

can't you? One moment, Paul is no doubt a murderer, pretty

extreme, and literally two verses later, he's a god. Pastor Brandon says,

all the time. One of the most encouraging reminders that I've received in

leadership. He says, all the time, if you live by the praises

of men, you will die by them too. We have a choice.

We could either invite the praise. And let me tell you, when you

invite too much praise in your life that doesn't belong to you, it changes

you, takes your life in a totally different direction. And notice when Paul

walks into the house to heal Pablius's father, he doesn't walk in showered with

the praise that is duly his. He doesn't walk in with the title of

God. What does it say. It says that Paul went in and laid

hands on him and he was healed. It was just Paul. It wasn't

what people said about him before. He wasn't this murderer. He didn't go

in as this demigod. He walked in as Paul. And you know why

that is so important, friends, is because Paul knew that he wasn't the

hero of the story. It was never about Paul. It never has been

about Paul. God has been directing his journey the whole time, from the

moment scales fell from his eyes to the moment he's shipwrecked on the shore.

He has been simply Paul, and he knew the whole time that it was

important that his testimony continue to communicate that he is just one man following Jesus

because there can only be one God. There can only be one God.

There's only one God who can save, There's only one God who can leave.

There's only one God who can do these things. You know what,

I felt like God was speaking of me this week because I was preparing for

this weekend. It says, sometimes I think we worship the storms, the

shipwrecks, and the snake bites more than we do our Savior. When the

focus of our testimony is more about the storms that we have survived than the

Savior who brought us through them. You might need to learn how to shake

off some praise of your life, friends, praise that doesn't belong to you

anyways. The storms tell a story, but they aren't to make you look

good. They are to remind you that if not for a good God,

you and I wouldn't have a story to tell. Paul kept a simple testimony

that communicated that he was just a man following Jesus through the storms, through

the shipwrecks, being faithful to what God was putting in front of him today,

shaking off everything else and moving towards what God had for him. He

kept a simple testimony. But you know what he also kept. He kept

a sacred trust. Acts twenty eight eleven is the beginning of the portion of

scripture that will finish the series with next week. But it says this.

It says it was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail on another

trip on another ship. Paul kept this sacred trust the whole time. He

believed that even though they had been even through everything that they had been through,

that God would provide a way. It seems impossible when you are faced

with challenges in life, and even to be in an emotional or spiritual position

to just shake it off. And please don't misinterpret me, even when I

say that, sometimes I feel like I'm being disingenuous to the struggles that you

are facing. And I'm not trying to be I know that there are people

in here and online that are dealing with things that seem way bigger than you

are capable of handing. They are causing way more tension than you are sure

you can handle. I'm not trying to be disingenuous. I know that what

you may be facing is some serious stuff and your hope is being tested,

it's being strained, because life is dealing you some big things. How could

Paul keep on shaking all these things off that he was being faced with?

Can I tell you how? It's because he's been practicing. He've been practicing.

Paul had a task that was God given. It was fueling him and

leading him the whole time to go and preach the gospel. And there were

times that he was faced with opposition, doubt, discouragement all along the way,

and every single time, you know what he had to decide. He

had decided, is this going to be the thing that knocks me away from

the thing that God told me to do? Is this going to be the

thing that keeps me from moving forward to the things that God has in store

for my life? Or am I gonna shake it off? Am I gonna

keep that sacred trust? And am I gonna believe that God knows the way.

There was a decision to be made every single time. Look look look

at some of the decisions he had to make. Acts thirteen. We can

go all the way back. You remember Antioch, You remember how fun that

was for Paul getting stoned, ype literally stoned, gets back up, walks

back into the city. And you know what he says when he goes back

into the city and he's still persecuted and he's driven out of Antioch. You

know what. He looks at him and he says. It says that he

shook the dust from his feet and he kept moving on. He'd been practicing.

In Acts chapter eighteen, Paul was preaching in Corinth and he was opposed.

He was ridiculed, would buy the people? And what does it say

that Paul did. It says that he shook the dust from his clothes,

and he said, your blood is upon your head. I know the word

that God gave me to speak, and I'm going to continue to speak it

in this town and the next town, and the next town and the next

town. Paul had practice shaking it off before, so when it came time

to dealing with a plan that didn't go his way, when it came time

to deal with problems arising. When it came to dealing with praise that wasn't

his, Paul could shake off all the distractions and stay committed to the call

that God had put before him. He kept the main thing, the main

thing. The plan was rome all along, and there was no doubt.

There was no discouragement. There was no prison, there was no storm,

there was no shipwreck, there was no detour. There's no offenses that were

going to distract him from believing in pursuing the plan that God said was worth

dying. Friends of things, do you ray your trust in God? Have

things stacked up against you? Have you been knocked off track? Or are

you losing hope? Has the situation that you're in the pain that you've experienced

kept you from moving forward and believing that your marriage could be restored? Has

it kept you from believing that you could still be healed? Has it kept

you from believing that you could still overcome that addiction, that depression, that

anxiety, that prognosis that the doctors gave you, That you could still see

your child come back, that a job could still be ahead of you,

that those financial situations might not be hopeless. Let me encourage the same encouragement

that Paul shows us in the face of all that stack of easiness. Check

it off, chack it off. Keep going when you feel lost. God

knows the way. When you feel tired, beat down, hopeless in the

flame, get some word. Go back to the fire. When you feel

forgotten, keep praising God, keep trusting, and keep moving forward. I

want to ask you, guys with me, to just stand up all over

this room and just ask you about your heads and close your eyes. I

want just give you an opportunity to respond this. Maybe maybe you're here this

morning and you would say, Morgan, this is this is exactly where I'm

at right now in my life. This is exactly where I am. And

maybe maybe you feel like you've been through that storm and you've been sitting in

this new place and you have just been sitting there and wondering, how am

I ever going to get out of this place? How am I ever going

to move past this place that I am and with every head bout and every

eye closed. If that's you here today and you would just say, Morgan,

I need to be reminded this morning that God knows the way. Maybe

you need to be reminded this morning of the encouragement to fan the faint flame

of faith in your life. Maybe you recognize that that you have been allowing

that fire to go out, and it's your responsibility leaving this place to go

and put some more wood on the fire. Maybe you're here this morning and

you need to cling to that sacred trust that God will provide. If that's

you're here this morning, you just want me to say this prayer over you.

Would you just lift your hand up for whatever you're walking through, for

whatever storm you're battling, for whatever problem, Hands up all over this room,

hands up all over this room, put your hands down. Let's pray

together tonight today Father God, we thank you so much. God. We

thank you so much that you see us and you know us. And God,

even when we're in these places that are unrecognizable, even when we're faced

with these situations that we do not we never planned on being in. God,

you see us and you know us, and you are good enough for

us to remain faithful in your promises over our life. God, I pray

that you would fill us with hope. God, I pray for every hand

in this place that was raised. God that you would fill them with a

spirit of resilience God, a spirit of peace. God. Not to be

consumed by the worries of today, but God, to have eyes on what

you have in store of our lives. God. When we continue to press

into you, God, when we continue to believe, when we hold true

to that sacred trust. God, I pray God that you would breathe a

fresh breath of life over us. God, that would encourage us to continue

to move forward, to shake off the things that we cannot control. God,

to shake off the distractions that come our way, to shake off the

offenses, to shake off the problems when they arise, God, and to

trust in you God, to keep moving forward and trusting that you are a

God who knows the way. Father. We love you, We're desperate for

you in our lives, and we surrender all these words to you, trusting

that You're a God who is capable of holding them all. We love you,

and we praise you in Jesus. This thing and everyone said, m