Called to It | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

All right, all right, all right.

Church family, how you guys doing?

You guys doing good this morning?

Woo!

Both those who are with us and those who are joining us online, and even if you're listening to this a little bit later on our podcast or on our YouTube channel or wherever else on the interwebs that our content finds itself, we're so so glad that you will create the space to come and worship with us today.

Um if you have your Bibles, I want to invite you to go ahead and join me in the book of Acts, chapter number nine.

The book of Acts, chapter number nine.

And I want to provide a little bit of context as to kind of where we've been so far in this series.

We're in week two, and kind of like where we're we're going for the rest of our time together today.

Um we're in the middle of our called series, and and ultimately it's it's a word that we're all familiar with.

And so it's it's one of those things, it's I'm called to this, I'm not called to that.

What does that really mean?

What is what is the substance behind that?

And ultimately, we what we've been able to conclude last week was that that calling is it's not just about what you do, but it's about who you are.

Because what you're called to do flows from who you are.

God's called us to be something before he's called us to do something.

So if you missed last week's message, I want to encourage you to go back and check it out because it does serve as a strong foundation for us as we continue on this journey together.

But but looking here at at the book of Acts, chapter number nine, the book of Acts was was written by the apostle Luke.

About once a year, I love to read the gospel of Luke and flow right into the book of Acts because it gives you an opportunity to kind of catch a uh a cohesive train of thought as it relates to the beginning of the church, the beginning of the ministry of Christ, and then the part that we get a chance to play.

So that's just my my little challenge and encouragement for you.

If you're often wondering, man, I want to go deeper in a cohesive way.

Luke through Acts is a great way because it was written initially as one book, but the book of Acts is written um to kind of give us some context and perspective.

Now that Jesus has died, been resurrected, ascended into heaven.

Now the work starts.

Now the ministry starts.

And I and I love reading it because you just get a chance to see a bunch of individuals who were living their own lives, and God begins to weave them together for a purpose that we are now benefiting from.

So Acts is such a profound book.

So starting here at verse number one and chapter number verse number one and chapter number nine, it says this.

Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath, he was eager to kill the Lord's followers.

So he went to the high priest.

He requested letters addressed to synagogues in Damascus, asking for cooperation and the arresting of followers of the way he found there.

He wanted to bring them, both men and women, back to Jerusalem in chains.

He was approaching Damascus on his mission.

A light from heaven shone down around him, and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

Who are you, Lord?

Saul asked.

And the voice replied, I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.

Now get up, go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.

Saul is is is Paul.

They're the same person.

It's just the the Hebrew version of his name versus um the Greek version of his name and the Roman version of his name.

So you often hear us say Paul, but often here you'll see that it says Saul.

It's the same individual.

So Saul, Paul is on this journey of arresting and persecuting more Christians, this man who eventually writes two-thirds of the New Testament, but he had a different mission and burden at one point.

But Jesus interrupts that plan.

And so he goes and he follows the instructions that Jesus gives him.

He he goes to this place and he goes into a time of prayer and fasting, trying to get clarity on what's just happened to him.

Meanwhile, there's another man named Ananias.

And Ananias is minding his own business.

Ananias is is is living his best life.

The church has been birthed.

He's trying his best to partner alongside the disciples and help them to fulfill what they're called to do.

But but then God comes to him and gives him an assignment that seems a little bit uncomfortable and not smart.

He actually tells him to go to this place where Saul is and to pray for him.

Now you have to understand Ananias is fully aware.

Wait a minute, that guy Saul, the one who, the one who was there when Stephen got killed, that's Saul.

I'm not going there.

Wait, wait a minute.

That same Saul that the chief priests have just mobilized to go out and arrest people that believe like I believe, God, you got the wrong person.

In fact, I think you got the wrong man.

This is this is Ananias who's wrestling with this assignment that God has given him.

But verse number 13 says this the Lord said to him, Ananias, I have heard Ananias says to the Lord, I have heard many people talk about the terrible things that this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem, and has been authorized by the leading priest to arrest everyone who calls on your name.

But the Lord said, Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings as well as to the people of Israel.

I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake.

We see this conflicting moment where Saul slash Paul is given this assignment that he needs clarity on, and Ananias is given this assignment that he doesn't understand, and then these two roads seem to converge together.

I love how when God calls us to do something, it's always dependent on somebody else being obedient.

Saul couldn't just go and do what he was called to do without submitting himself to someone else who was responding to what they were called to do.

It's a beautiful thing of how God is able to use different people being obedient to help fulfill his ultimate purpose and calling.

Today that's what I want to talk to us about.

I want to talk a little bit about the journey that God will bring us on and the interactions that we have with other people, recognizing that if I'm faithful to my calling and if you're faithful to your calling, that we're all both fulfilling our purpose, which is to advance the kingdom of God.

So if you're taking notes and I hope that you are, I want you to write this message title down, called to it.

We're called to it.

Turn to somebody next to you and say, I'm called to it.

Turn to the person that you ignored and said, I'm called to it.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, God, I thank you so much for your word.

I thank you for your presence.

I thank you for this opportunity to stand um before your people.

And God, we we're we're honored that you would meet us here.

So Lord, we invite you.

We invite you to inspire us, to challenge us, to correct us, to direct us.

Um we pray for open eyes that we could see you, open ears that we can hear you, and open hearts to receive everything that you want to speak to us.

Um, we submit this time to you in Jesus' name, amen.

And amen.

You know, I've I've grown to recognize um uh a couple of things, and that is that calling is truly confounding.

It's it's it's one of those things that that once we are recognized that we're all created for purpose, and even people who aren't necessarily followers of Christ want to live a life of significance.

You you want to do something that you feel truly has meaning.

So that's not something that's exclusive to us, but but when you get into this place of calling, this thing that you feel like you've been called to do something, it's quite confounding because now you begin to wonder, what if I missed it?

What if I'm what if I'm too comfortable?

What if what if my opportunity is gone?

What do I do with these these moments that I understand now that I'm called to do something?

What if I'm what if I'm doing it wrong or what if I'm in the wrong place?

That's that's a that's a tension that I think we all can probably wrestle with from time to time.

Megan and I have recently started watching this show on on Netflix, and and I won't I won't reveal all the facts to it, so I'm gonna keep it very vague, and hopefully y'all can track with me.

But it deals with uh a group of passengers that had an incident on an airplane.

We'll leave it at that.

A group of passengers that had an incident on an airplane.

Once they do arrive and they've survived said incident, there's something different that has taken place.

Not only with the people that they had relationships with, but inside of themselves.

In fact, every one of these folks, and I'm not saying anything that the trailer would not reveal, so there's no spoilers.

I don't want nobody at me or anything.

Don't come at me outside.

I'm simply saying what we see in the trailer.

But what happens is all of these people that have survived said incident, they have these inner premonitions now.

They have these inner unctions.

And and and actually, you know what they call them?

Callings.

They have these inner things where they hear voices or they have visions or they have these things that they're like, man, some I feel like I'm supposed to do something.

And every episode is filled with these individuals trying to figure out what they're supposed to do with their calling.

It's it's really it's really fascinating because what you'll find is that no one's calling is independent, that no one's no one's responsibility is independent.

In fact, that one person will do something, another person is called or led to do something else, and that somehow together it brings about a result or a conclusion that benefits something beyond themselves.

I think that there's something in that when we recognize that if we're truly asking ourselves, how do I know when I am called?

I would say it's when it you're challenged to do something and it doesn't just benefit you.

It's when it transcends you.

It's not just about me, but I feel compelled to do something that transcends me just a little bit.

I've learned over my life that that Megan and I, we we felt called to come to Orlando 21 years ago.

It took a it took a long time to get here in a in a variety of circumstances that that I couldn't have ever imagined would take place, but but I also can't imagine me getting here without those same circumstances that were so challenging in real time.

The valuable lesson that I've learned is that calling isn't just about the destination, but it's also the journey.

It's not just about the destination, but it's also inclusive of the journey.

And unfortunately, sometimes we can be so consumed with the destination that we don't develop the skill sets that we need to have while we're on the journey.

See, when we look at the life of Paul, Paul was destined, Paul was called.

He he had such a profound, unique set of gifts, but Paul was on a journey.

Paul had this profound journey that God was leading him from one environment to the next to do a variety of things.

And if he was so consumed with exclusively getting to Rome, which we he knew was the ultimate end game, he would not have developed the skill sets, the discipline, the wherewithal to pastor effectively, which led him ultimately to his very thing.

So how do we recognize our calling?

I think calling is connected to our passions.

I believe that calling is connected to our convictions and burdens, that when we see problems and opportunities and we lose sleep in order to resolve them, that maybe we're the solution to that problem, and that is an indication that maybe we're called to it.

Maybe you've been there where you've been looking at something that got you so stirred up, but people were around you were a little bit indifferent to it.

Like, man, like I do you do you not see this?

Do you not see this injustice?

Do you not see this problem that's here?

Other people like, yeah, I see it.

But there's no inspiration.

But for you, you you can't sleep at night.

You can't you can't hardly think without feeling as if there needs to be something done.

Well, spoiler alert, maybe you are the solution to the problem that you're seeing.

Maybe God's calling you to it.

I I like to say it this way.

I've heard it said that that innovation is the bridge between outcomes and resources.

That's where you get innovation.

That innovation is the bridge between outcomes and resources.

Let's let's imagine for a moment.

Imagine the innovation that took place for a lot of the things that that we get a chance to participate in nowadays.

Like someone said, I want to talk to someone that's not even here.

We got a phone now.

You see what I'm saying?

There was there was a there was an outcome, there was a desire, but there was a lack of resources.

And so now innovation begins to recognize what's around it, and it becomes the bridge that connects the two.

I'm so grateful for my for my smart devices because every every week it seems as if I'm able to download new apps that allow me to bridge certain things that if I didn't have them, I would have to do it in my own strength.

Innovation, we all benefit from the innovation, that bridge that connects an outcome to resources.

Let's innovate and figure out a way to do that.

That's innovation.

Well, if that's the case, if innovation is the bridge that connects outcomes to resources, then calling is the bridge that connects our gifts, talents, and passions to the opportunities that's in front of us.

That my calling then becomes this bridge that takes what I'm gifted at, that takes my passions, that takes my burdens, and it looks for opportunities in order for me to do it, and I am now the bridge.

That is what it means to be called.

Calling is when you discover the problem and recognize that maybe, maybe you're called to be a part of the solution.

Paul had a burden for truth.

It was the way that he was raised.

He was raised in an environment where the word of God and being very pious and being set apart was just a part of the way he was raised.

So so him giving his life to Jesus wasn't anything new in a sense of the commitment, but but God had to redirect it.

He had to claim it and inspire him through the Holy Spirit.

See, there were adjustments that God needed to make in his life in order for him to accomplish the thing that he was ultimately called to do.

But it wasn't a matter that Paul had to create things out of thin air.

Paul already had a passion for people, he already had a burden for truth, he just needed to surrender it to God.

And maybe the thing that you were called to do is already in your hand.

You just need to surrender it to God.

Maybe that's the thing that God is challenging us to do.

What it says here is that Paul was given this assignment that he is going to take my name to kings, to Gentiles, and to the Jewish people.

No one had ever been given that assignment.

Faith had always been segregated by people groups, and Gentiles weren't even a part of it in a sense of Yahweh, unless they were fully prepared to surrender their way of life.

So Paul is now given this crazy assignment that you're gonna go in front of kings, you're gonna reach Jewish people, and you're gonna reach Gentiles.

How?

How, Sway?

Show me where where where is that gonna take place?

Like help me understand the environment that all of those things can take place simultaneously.

And I can imagine that if Paul had modern technology, he may have Googled, how can I get into the king's palace?

How can I accomplish these things?

But but he didn't.

He he had this assignment, and then he was just faithful with where he was.

And somehow being faithful with where he was led him to fulfill his assignment.

He he never pursued it, he was just faithful with the environments that he was left in.

And so when you look at Paul's, when you look at Paul's journey, man, Paul went to Ephesus, he went to Alta, he went to Philippi, he went to Corinth, he went to Galatia, Macedonia, Antioch.

The list literally goes on and on.

And in each place that Paul went, substantial ministry was done.

People were reached, churches were planted.

However, for all of these destinations, they were very few of them were actually on Paul's itinerary.

He always had a different direction he wanted to go, but then God would redirect him.

And oddly enough, every time that God redirected him, he was in an audience of people that fits the original criteria: the Jews, the Gentiles, and the kings.

He could have never orchestrated that in his own strength.

But I believe what Paul knew is Paul understood the significance of every assignment that was presently in front of him.

Paul knew that his calling wasn't just the destination, but it was also inclusive of the journey.

You know, in one of his ministry assignments, he had this assignment of being a tent maker.

Just just making tents.

Now, you gotta think that this man who has literally seen and heard from Jesus, this man who has been given this assignment of taking the name of Jesus all across the world, and he's he's in a village making tents.

I know my patience isn't set up that way.

My wife says, Amen.

I know I know that.

I know that.

I've realized that I'm not wired in a way that if I feel like I'm truly doing something that that doesn't seem like it's really making that much of a difference.

But here's the thing Paul think I think he knew that even if my calling it does not match my assignment, my assignment is still a part of my calling.

That even if even if those two things are the same, it doesn't mean that God can't use what's presently in front of me.

He's a tent maker.

But you know what happened while he was making tents?

He was literally next to a couple that was making tents as well.

He begins to disciple them, he's talking to them about the things of God.

He's going out and preaching during the day, they're going and watching him while he's preaching.

He comes back and he keeps working on these tents.

And imagine that.

He leaves them in leadership in a church's planet, and now a new opportunity for the kingdom of God is being preached.

I want to let you know, don't ever despise where you are, because maybe God has you there for a season to plant a seed that will flourish, that will benefit somebody else, even when you transition on.

That is how we begin to recognize the thing that we're called to do.

Paul understood this.

He understood that my assignments don't define me, they develop me.

My assignment doesn't define me, it develops me.

I I remember many years ago, De Nira, I think you may have been in middle school.

So correct me if I'm wrong, but don't correct me.

I'd be dishonoring.

Um but I remember I remember I remember she was in middle school, I believe it was, and she had this assignment that came home.

And the assignment was we want you to learn how to come up with the quarterback's percentages.

Remember that?

So when she came home with it, and it was like, okay, so that was part of her math assignment.

Now, to me, just being super practical, I'm like, that assignment makes no sense.

You can get that information off of ESPN.

You you can literally just go and look that up right now.

Why do you need to do the work to understand how we got to the answer when you can just go and get the answer itself?

But the assignment was meant to give her the skill set in understanding algebra so that even if the variables are different, she has already been taught how to think through said problems.

I'm talking to somebody right now.

Because some of us right now we're thinking to ourselves, this seems so pointless for me to be doing this task.

It seems so tedious, so meaningless.

But but what if God is developing a skill set inside of you that even if this is easiest right now, you're developing the discipline on how to be patient.

You're developing the discipline on how to pray, you're developing the discipline on how to stand still, even when it doesn't make sense.

Maybe God is developing you to do something so that when you go to the next level, you bring those skill sets with you that will allow you to be successful.

See, sometimes we end up despising the place that we're called to be, but maybe God is developing something in us.

I believe this to fully walk in our calling, we have to steward our assignments.

If I want to fully walk in my calling, I have to steward my assignments.

I'm gonna age myself a little bit, but does anybody remember the karate kid?

The first one, not the one with Jaden Smith.

No shade.

A little bit of shade.

Um the first one.

You can go ahead and Google it.

You can go and watch it.

I don't know if they have it digitally, but if you go and watch a VCR, so VCRs that used to be these tapes where you have to like literally put it in the machine that will actually watch the movies, and if you returned it to the video place and didn't rewind it, they would charge you for it, becon, rewind.

I remember all that stuff.

Before Netflix was Blockbuster.

Okay, so anyway, it's it's this movie where where this young man is being taught how he's supposed to establish the discipline of how to do karate.

But in the beginning stages of it, his his teacher just had him doing a whole bunch of housework.

Paint the fence.

Just paint the fence.

That seems so ridiculous.

And he's like, bro, week after week, I'm just sitting out here painting fences and waxing cars for you, bro.

What how how in the world is this contributing to what I'm supposed to be getting out of this experience together?

He finally got frustrated and he vents out at poor little Mr.

Miyagi.

And he Mr.

Miyagi throws the punch at him and he he uses the same techniques of painting the fence and waxing the car, and he realized that these what appeared to be tedious tasks were actually developing the muscle memory in him on how he could withstand when a battle really started.

What if the tedious tasks that we have right now is God developing us so that when the battle is really on, you have the wherewithal on what you were supposed to do.

In order to truly walk in our calling, we're gonna have to learn how to steward our present season.

That's the tension that we have.

The thing I want to encourage us is don't let your ambition outpace your assignment.

Don't let your ambition outpace your assignment because we all have ambition, we all have drive, we all have vision.

But when our ambition begins to outpace the assignment that God has given us, we find ourselves working in our own strength, constantly frustrated.

Zechariah 4 10 says it this way, very familiar passage.

Don't despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.

What if I were to tell you that God was just as happy with you being faithful with being a barista as he is with the person that's a doctor?

What if I were to tell you that God is just as proud of you when you say yes to him as you are when you're a missionary that went out to Africa?

It says, Don't despise small beginnings because the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.

Because God knows that he who has begun the work in you is able to allow it to come to completion.

This is the God that we serve.

So for him, he loves the idea of us starting something and sticking to it because he knows if we started it, then he's gonna help us to finish it.

Don't despise where you are, don't give up on where you are.

We often move around for promotion.

But God favors the planet.

That when I'm planet, that's where the fruit and the growth and things that God wants to do in me is developed.

But a lot of times we have to move around in order to get it, and we're finding out that we're going against the very things that God is leading us to do.

But there's another side of this coin.

Because with that being said, does that mean that I'm supposed to stay somewhere forever?

No.

Because here's the thing: God does use agriculture as a context in order for us to understand what it means to be rooted in Him.

And if you understand anything about it, and you could probably look at me and see that I'm a phenomenal farmer.

Thank God for Google.

That I didn't work for.

I said I'm going to look that one up.

But but what I realized is that you have to understand soil, you have to understand, understand seasons, you have to understand some things.

And so, yes, there are some moments when God may be shifting you to do something different, but we have to have the maturity to discern if God is calling you to be planted in another environment or if you're just running because you're frustrated.

Those are two, those are two completely different things.

See, the children of Israel, they had it a little bit easier in that regard than us.

Because for them, while they were in the wilderness, it was very clear.

The Bible talks about how there was a cloud that led them.

So it was very easy.

When the cloud was starting to move, it's time for us to pack up and let's start moving.

Very easy.

For us, we have to we have to use our best to discern and to look at a bunch of other things.

I wish it was so easy that I could just look in the sky and see, hey, my cloud's moving, it's time for me to shift.

But I think that God made that adjustment.

One, because the Holy Spirit dwells on the inside of us, and two, he wants us to be in constant communication with him.

So that we can now begin to discern through intimacy and not just because of proximity.

And here's how you can know that there's some moments where God is causing a shift in your life.

If there's an open door and an invitation to go into a room that God has uniquely wired you to be a solution in.

That could be an opportunity.

It could be an answer to prayers.

It could be having peace even when there's unknowns.

Those moments where you know that God is calling you to do something and you don't have all the answers, but yet there's a sense of peace with it.

There's a sense of, man, I don't know.

I don't I don't know how it's all gonna work, but I just feel like there's a shifting and God's leading me to this environment.

And even though there's unknowns, I don't have all the facts, I have a sense of peace that could be God is shifting you.

Sometimes being uncomfortable is evidence of God wanting us to move on because you know that there's possible that when you're planted, you can outgrow the plot that you're planted in.

And so there are moments when you begin to recognize that the other side of my calling is not getting too comfortable with where I am.

Because complacency is the enemy of ambition.

And it's possible that I can get to such a good place that my life is so good and things are going so well.

Man, I don't I don't need to move.

Man, I like everything is lined up perfectly.

The biggest enemy to your calling is comfort.

Don't sacrifice your calling on the altar of your comfort.

Understanding this tension of getting to the place that God's calling you to be in, but not staying in a place where God is leading you from.

So, with all that being said, we have to understand that discernment is understanding if the Spirit of God is leading me or if my flesh is driving me.

Is this God's spirit or is this just my flesh and my ambition?

And this is the this is the place where we all wrestle with am I in the right place?

Am I doing what I was called to do?

Here's some other things that I think can help inform our decisions if we're willing to pay the cost, because calling is expensive.

I have yet to see anywhere in scripture that when someone was walking in their calling, it didn't cost them something.

It's going to cost you something.

It can cost you time, it can cost you energy, it can cost you relationships, it's going to inevitably cost you something.

Calling is expensive.

You guys have heard me share the story, but when Meg and I said yes to our calling into full-time ministry, it was expensive.

We had to we had to downsize, we had to make some adjustments.

We have to count the cost and be willing to pay it.

That's how you know that I'm operating in my calling.

But here's the thing about that.

When you know that God is calling you to do something, you can endure the cost.

See, that's the beautiful thing about calling, is that calling somehow sustains us even when it gets uncomfortable.

For Megan and I, every time we have to make a weighty decision, there's a moment where we'll look at each other, we'll pray, and I say, okay, is this an us decision?

I want y'all to hear me.

This is an us decision.

Because the last thing I want is for us to make a decision, but you look at it as my decision, then when the challenges come, you can sit on the sidelines and say, I was only doing what you wanted me to do.

I'm trying to help somebody's marriage right now.

I really I really am because here's what I know.

I realize that whenever you're called to do something, you will face resistance.

Whenever you're called to do something, you will face opposition, you will face challenges, you will face ridicule.

It will cost you something.

And if we can't be together in this thing, now the very thing that God has called us to do, we vilify each other in doing it.

But if we understand that we're in this thing together, that means that we can endure whatever's coming our way because I know she got my back and I got hers.

She's not providing commentary on the outside saying, I never wanted to do this in the first place.

No, we are making this decision.

We're going to be obedient to God, we're going to do this thing, and we're going to see it to its finish.

When you know that God is calling you to do something, it's going to absolutely cost you something.

Paul, this man who did so many incredible things for the kingdom of God, let me tell you some of the things that he went through.

He was brutally persecuted, he was tortured, put into prison, he was whipped five times, he was he was stoned, he was drowned, he was snake bitten, he was beaten and left for dead.

How did this man not quit?

Because he knew he was called to it.

He knew that he was called to it.

And he said, Though they slay me, yet will I love you.

Like even if I am going through everything that is facing me, all the opposition, God's called me to it.

My marriage may be going through a rough spot, but God's called me to it.

My family may be going into a rough spot, but God's called me to it.

Right now things are uncomfortable, but God's called me to it.

When you know that God has called you to something, it sustained you even when it's uncomfortable.

That's how you know that you're called to do it.

Man, this these past years, all that we have seen, it has been weighty.

These past years and seeing friendships dissolve over politics and watching people walk away.

I I felt literally like I was in the middle of the Avengers as I was watching Thano snap his fingers and people just disappear one by one.

Friendships, people you do ministry with, life, covet, racial and political tension.

And there are moments, even for us, as God began to expand our responsibilities and gave us an assignment to also oversee our church in DC, there have been moments I'm like, man, why am I doing this?

I'm trying to stabilize home.

God, why are you calling me to do something else?

It makes no sense, but then there was this interesting thing.

It was silent, it was similar to an Ananias moment because I was I was officiating a wedding and I was talking with one of the groomsmen, and as he was talking to me about ministry and and and how he's observed over the years and is in love with God, I share with him what I just share with you.

Yeah, we got this going on at our Orlando location, and now we're overseeing our DC location.

And I kind of had this joke, I'm like, man, I don't I don't know why God keeps giving us this stuff.

As we were about to literally walk down the aisle, he turned to me and said, I feel like God wanted me to tell you, He's called you to it.

He's called you to it.

I don't know why those simple words were all that I needed to reinforce my focus.

We're about to walk down an aisle, but it was an Ananias moment where you would think that this wouldn't be the best time to do it, but he said, I can't even, God just wanted me to tell you he's called you to it.

He he didn't realize that the night before, I was wondering how do I transition some things out of my life because I'm getting to a point where I'm exhausted, but God's called me to it.

Can I tell you, church, that ever since then, that every time I face opposition, I remind myself that God's called me to it.

This is one of those things that David did because when David was out at war and he came back home and his entire environment was ransacked, there was a moment where he struggled with doubt.

But the Bible says that David encouraged himself in the Lord.

He understood that God has a calling on my life.

There are some things I'm going to accomplish, and even if it's messy right now, I'm going to depend on what God said then and not what I'm seeing right now.

I'm trying to encourage somebody.

God's called you to it.

It's uncomfortable, but God's called you to it.

He will see you through it.

Don't you give up, don't you quit.

You were called to be a winner.

It's passages like 2 Corinthians chapter 4 that inspire me in moments like this where it says, We are pressed on every side with troubles, but not crushed.

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.

We are hunted down but never abandoned by God.

We are knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

What I love and what I recognize is that there's a second half of those sentences.

The enemy wants us to live in a world where we only see the first part.

We are hunted down.

We're pressed by troubles.

We are perplexed.

But I believe that the Holy Spirit is aspiring to say, but that's not the end of the sentence.

There's a comma there and then a but God.

I may be hunted down, but God is with me.

I may be perplexed, but I am not abandoned.

It may be hot, but God is standing right next to me.

It's important for us to understand that no matter what we are facing, you're not in it alone.

And when you know that God's called you to it, He will see you through it.

That's the inspiration of knowing that God is with us.

So here's a couple of things I want to leave with us, and we're gonna wrap up.

We're gonna wrap this whole thing in a in a nice little bow.

Because what the Bible says is after Paul has had 30 plus years of ministry, he's now nearing the the end of his ministry life.

He's now reflecting on some things, and he he says these words to Timothy, one of the disciples that he met on one of his missionary journeys, this man that he had spent his life pouring into him and developing him to now take the lead in one of the churches.

Paul now says to him in his dying breath, he says, As for me, my life has been poured out as an offering for God.

The time of my death is near.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have remained faithful.

And a prize now awaits me.

A crown of righteousness which the Lord Jesus, the righteous judge, will give me on the day of his return.

And the prize is not just for me, but it's for everyone eagerly looking forward to his appearing.

There's a couple of things I want you to see in that.

Paul, he went through a lot.

But in everything he went through, it literally positioned him to do what Jesus said to him in Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

To take the gospel, to Jews, to kings, and to Gentiles.

And the thing that allowed Paul to endure it all are the parting words that he left for Timothy.

Here's the first one.

I have fought the good fight.

I don't know who I'm talking to.

But if God has called you to it, there will be seasons where you're gonna have to fight for it.

You're gonna have to fight for it.

It won't always be easy.

It won't always be, it won't always be a walk in a park.

That if God has called you to it, there's an enemy that resists it.

And sometimes you're going to have to fight for it.

This is why Paul then, through the inspiration, then says to put on the whole armor of God.

He's given us warfare language because he understood there's some things that I've had to fight for in my life.

I had to fight to keep my mind in check.

I had to fight to protect my heart.

I had to use my faith when the enemy was attacking.

I had to stand on the foundation of Jesus.

I had to use his word to help me fight off the attacks of the adversary.

Put on the whole armor of God because if God is calling you to it, you're going to have to fight for it.

Paul then goes on to say, I finished.

I finished my race.

I finished with, I finished my race.

Listen to me, church.

Finish your race.

But when you finish your race, it requires you to do what?

Stay in your lane.

Stop swerving.

Stay in your lane.

He's using these images to help us to understand what it looks like to really be focused.

Because it's possible that when I'm running my race, I can let my eyes drift and I can look at how somebody else is running their race, and then I can lose my placement and it can disqualify me from me making it to the finish line.

Paul came into ministry.

The other disciples were already people of prominence.

They were already people of influence.

But now Paul has to submit himself under them, even though he had his own divine encounter with Jesus.

And it would have been easy for him.

I want to be an apostle like Peter.

I want to be an apostle like John, the one that Jesus loves.

No, Paul understood that I have to be faithful to the way that God has wired me.

I got to be faithful to the race and the assignment that God has given me.

And so often we find ourselves drifting over and looking at what God is doing in somebody else's life, and it then causes us to despise our own.

Look at their influence, look at what they're doing.

And we begin to wrestle with comparison, and it comes at the expense of us forsaking the very environment that God has planted us to be.

I'm a firm believer.

There's nothing wrong with inspiration but steer clear of imitation.

Be inspired.

We should all look at one another and be inspired.

But you know the difference between inspiration and imitation?

Energy.

How much energy is it costing you to be somebody else?

How much peace is it costing you to try to accomplish somebody else's goals?

I'm going to, Jakari.

What is the cost?

Be inspired.

Get ideas, be sparked, be ignited.

But imitation.

This is what I love about young David.

Because when David was about to go to war against Goliath and Saul put his armor on him, David said, I can't go in these.

Imagine the emotional and spiritual intelligence to recognize this just don't fit me.

But this don't fit me.

I'm a little shepherd boy.

I I know how to sling a spear.

I know how to use some rocks.

That's what I'm gifted at.

And I'm going to use what God has placed in my hand to do what God has called me to do, but I am not going to wear someone else's armor.

Paul says, I've I finished my race.

I've finished what God's called me to do.

The last thing he says is that I kept the faith.

Keep the faith.

Listen, calling requires faith because sometimes your eyes and your feelings won't corroborate with your assignment.

So if I don't use my faith in those moments, my feelings begin to be the voice that I'm responding to.

He says, I have kept the faith.

I'm going to invite the worship team to come back up and to join me.

Imagine if Paul were to quit the first time that he was shipwrecked.

I didn't sign up for this.

Imagine if Paul were to quit the first time he was rejected.

Imagine if Paul were to surrender because what he was looking at didn't necessarily look like what he was called to do.

But Paul understood the only way that I can accomplish my calling is by faith.

There's going to be moments that I'm going to have to believe for something that I don't even see.

I say this to every married couple.

At some point, your faith is going to be the only ingredient that allows you to endure this season.

Because you're going to have to believe for something when your feelings are communicating something else.

You're going to have to put your hope in something that transcends what you're currently looking at.

Faith is the primary ingredient.

He says, I kept, I've kept my faith.

It hasn't been easy.

It's been challenging at times.

But if I don't look at it through the lens of faith, I'm going to allow my feelings and facts to reorient its version of truth.

My feelings are indicators, but they are not a reflection of truth all the time.

He says, I kept the faith.

Paul understood that God has given me this profound assignment to take the name of Jesus to all these environments.

It's going to cost me something.

It's going to be expensive.

It's going to be uncomfortable at times.

But God has called me to it.

This is what it means to follow your calling church.

This is what it means to walk in it.

You know, a lot of times we we think about our ministry heroes, people in the Bible, Hebrews chapter 11, by faith, these people that have done some incredible things for the kingdom.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

I have a long list of people that I've been inspired by and listening and hearing their stories of what they've endured.

But I also think there are some times that maybe the hero is the person that's right next to you.

Because they've endured, they've walked through, and yet they've continue to survive.

See, for me, one of my ministry heroes is my mom.

She's probably watching online.

But another one of my ministry heroes is my wife.

And because of my giftings, because ministry can be so male-dominant, and I don't even get into that, you know what it came about?

Me, and she was the plus one.

So as I'm pursuing my thing, my calling, open opportunities, she's right there with me every step of the way.

But I am still very consciously aware of the calling that is on her life.

I've seen her and action, this the spirit of joy and encouragement and inspiration.

But there have been moments when her assignment didn't match her calling.

I I remember when you were serving in serving teams with a terrible boss.

And for me, I'm frustrated, but you but you did it with such joy, even though your assignment didn't look as if it matched your calling.

I've seen when you when you were working in our see kids department, bringing love and joy to those families, and in moments for me, I'm thinking, man, she she has a word in her.

The power of God is on the inside of her.

And I was frustrated for her because to me her her assignment didn't match her calling.

I I even remember there was a moment where she was given a couple of opportunities to take a couple of different jobs in ministry.

And so she said, No, I'll I'll I'll sit at the front desk, I'll do that.

And I was like, This makes no sense.

These people can't clearly see the hand of God that's on her life.

Like, I'll I'll go plant my own church if I got to.

If no one wants to recognize the gifts that's in you, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that my wife can fulfill what she's called to do.

But then God said, I'm doing something, relax.

Because while she was sitting at that front desk roll, she's pastoring staff, she's pastoring everyone who called, she's pastoring everyone who walked through those doors.

I never thought that the things that God was doing in you with all of those assignments was preparing you to do what you're called to do right now.

I don't know who this is for because I'm not talking about my wife anymore.

Maybe you're in one of your seasons right now where you're doing something and you don't see the correlation between what you're doing and what you feel that you're called to do.

But when Paul was shipwrecked, it was a part of his calling.

That when Paul was in prison, it was a part of his calling.

That when Paul was being disgraced, it was a part of his calling.

That God was able to show that I'm able to work all of these seasons for the good of those who love me and who are called according to my purpose.

And so I don't know who needs to hear this, but sometimes we just need to wake up in the morning and say it's uncomfortable, but I'm called to it.

It's not great right now, but I'm called to it.

My family dynamics are struggling right now, but I'm called to it.

This job is terrible, but I'm called to it.

Maybe the environments that you want to run from, God wants you to plant yourself in because you're called to it.

Maybe God is gonna use every bit of those experiences to prepare you for what you are ultimately called to do.

Calling is not just about the destination, it's Also, the journey.

And every single one of us is on a journey.

And I know it can be challenging and frustrating, but maybe God wants to use what's in your hands, and that will then give you the desires of your heart.

Let me pray for us.

Lord, I thank you so much.

I thank you, God, for assignments, these opportunities for us to simply steward what you've placed in our hands and to honor and glorify you in them.

Lord, I pray over every single individual in here that has an assignment that seems tedious, that seems like it doesn't make sense.

Lord, my prayer is that we can begin to recognize and see that if we can use what you've placed in our hands, that you will use it.

And then more importantly, God, you will then begin to develop us so that we can get the desires of our hearts.

Father, I pray for the individual now that is that is losing faith.

I pray that they can keep the faith.

Lord, I pray for the individuals right now that have lost their fight.

I pray that they know that they can keep the fight.

Father, I pray that they will run the race that you've given them.

We come against the spirit of comparison and looking what God is doing in other people's lives and helping us to have the focus to simply faith faithful to where you have planted us and where you've called us to be, Lord.

Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that as you're leading us and shifting us into different directions, we have the discernment to recognize when it's your voice and when it's our feelings, God.

When it's our when it's you of your spirit and when it's our flesh, God, discerning the difference, God, so that we don't forfeit our next opportunity of development because we're uncomfortable with the current conditions.

God, I pray.

I pray, Father, for every single individual that you do not despise small beginnings, that even if they feel like they're in the back alleys, God, that if they're unrecognized and unseen, Lord, you see them exactly where they are.

And if they can steward this season with excellence, Father, you will continue to use these assignments to cultivate the calling that you're ultimately calling them to do, Father.

I pray for a spirit of patience.

I pray for clarity and wisdom and vision, Father.

We surrender our lives to you, God, with an expectation that what we do is going to help advance the kingdom of God.

And we say yes because we're called to it.

What I want to do is I want to ask another question as we wrap.

And that is, as we talked about last week, before God calls us to do something, he calls us to be it.

And one of the main thoughts was God's called us to be saved, He's called us to be set apart, He's called us to be a part of His family.

Before God calls us to a work, He calls us to Himself.

Maybe you're joining us online or maybe you're in this room with us right now, but but maybe right now is the time to answer that calling.

You're looking for purpose, you're looking for destiny, you're looking for the why.

I believe when you begin to say the who, then you'll get the why, and the who is Jesus.

So if you're in here with us today and you know that that God has brought you here for a reason, that all of these moments have led up to now, and you know that today is the day of salvation, as Pastor Nate mentioned earlier.

Today is the day to say yes to Jesus.

I simply want to pray for you.

On account of three, would you be bold enough to lift your hand?

One, two, three.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Church, can we put our hands together and celebrate with every single person that is saying yes to Jesus?

We honor you.

We're so, so proud of you.

Thanks again for listening.

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