First - Seek First

This is our first conversation of 2022, like I said a little bit earlier.

And first conversations matter, right?

Like first impressions matter.

If you go on a first date, that's a really important date.

If you want to a second date, at least.

There's this phrase in our culture that you've got to put the first things first.

And so anytime I'm in a new year and I'm having kind of those first moments of my year, I always think about how many times Scripture and even specifically the teachings of Jesus tell us to do something first.

The Bible is really filled with a lot of advice about what to do first, what to make a priority.

And so here we are at the beginning of a new year together, and I think it'd be really beneficial, really important and necessary for us to take a moment and reflect on what God would have us do first this year.

Because if you get the first stuff right, if you if you get the first steps right, it sets you up for success with everything else.

And I want to have a great year.

I want to have an amazing year as a father, as a husband, as a pastor, as part of this family, this church family.

I just want to have a great year.

And if that's going to happen, well, I need to get the year off to the right start.

So we're going to start by looking at Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

I know I said turn to 2 Chronicles earlier, and we will get there really soon.

Matthew chapter 6, verses 25 through 33.

Matthew 6:25–33

This is Jesus talking.

And he says, Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life.

What you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you'll wear.

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air.

They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

Are you not much more valuable than they?

Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?

And why do you worry about your clothes?

See how the flowers of the field grow.

They do not labor or spin, and yet I tell you that not even Solomon, in all his splendor, was dressed like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you?

You have little faith.

So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Jesus says, Don't worry.

Don't worry about what you're gonna eat or what you're gonna wear or anything like that at all.

And those were the most pressing concerns of the people that he was talking to.

They were people who kind of survived day by day.

Our concerns might be different.

We might be worried about what's gonna happen at work, we might be worried about what's gonna happen in the economy or with COVID or whatever, because the last few years have been so defined by worry and fear.

But Jesus says, don't worry.

Don't worry.

It doesn't help you, it doesn't benefit your life, it definitely doesn't add an hour to your life.

In fact, we know that worry and stress can take time away.

He says, Don't worry, instead, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, which means doing the right thing, basically, his righteousness.

Seek first God's kingdom, and all this other stuff is going to take care of itself.

Now, if you're like, what is the kingdom of God?

Jesus actually defines that for us in Matthew chapter 6, verses 9 and 10.

Matthew 6:9

So this is just a few verses up.

He's asked how to pray, and he says, Pray like this.

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

May your kingdom come soon, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Very often in Jewish literature, and especially in the ways that the rabbis of Jesus' day would teach, is they would use a lot of parallels, where they would put two statements next to each other, and the second statement was designed to define the first.

And that's what Jesus is doing here with this whole idea of God's kingdom and God's will.

He says, May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And so what that shows us is that God's kingdom is wherever God's will is being done.

So that's really cool, right?

Because that means that our homes can be God's kingdom.

Because if in our homes we are prioritizing doing what God would want us to do.

Doing things God's way, that is God's kingdom.

Because that means that his authority and his will is recognized and prioritized in our homes.

That means our offices can be God's will.

Even if it's just our cubicle or our office, our desk, whatever it is, the space that we work, the counter that we work, whatever that is, that can be God's kingdom.

If we are following God and prioritizing what God wants while we're there, that's God's kingdom because a kingdom is not just geography, it's wherever a king's authority is recognized and followed.

And so Jesus says, before you worry about a thing, before you get all caught up in all the busyness and the craziness of your life, here we are at the beginning of a new year.

First thing first, seek God's will.

Seek his kingdom, his will being done on earth, his will being done in your life.

What does God care about?

What does he prioritize?

What does he want me to do?

That's where we start.

We're going to open up 2 Chronicles, like I said earlier, chapter 18, and we're going to look at the story of two kings.

These two kings could not be more different in the way that they approach their lives, their decisions, especially what it means for them to seek the Lord.

But for a little bit of background, uh, the two kings' names are Jehoshaphat and Ahab.

And they're kings of the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel, which used to be united as one kingdom that was just called Israel.

Saul was the first king that Israel had.

He started pretty strong, but pretty quickly stopped obeying God and was just worried about himself.

And so God ends up choosing a man named David to be the king after Saul.

And after a lot of strife, after several years, David becomes king.

And then David has a son named Solomon.

And Solomon has two sons, Jeroboam and Rehoboam, and there's a civil war basically, a split.

And instead of having one united nation of Israel, there's now two: there's Israel and Judah.

Neither nation goes particularly well, and both are ultimately conquered by larger empires.

Judah holds on a little bit longer, and Judah, more than Israel, stays true to following God.

Not great, but better than Israel.

And so we have these two kings that are several generations down.

We have Ahab and we have Jehoshaphat.

Ahab is the king of Israel.

Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah.

Ahab is not a man who followed the Lord at all.

He was a man who didn't really care about God in the slightest.

He married a woman named Jezebel.

She was from another nation, and he began to worship the gods that she worshipped.

She had a lot of influence on him.

And so Ahab has really departed completely from caring about God.

But in this situation, we have Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, who's made an alliance with Ahab, because they're neighbors, and they're going to meet to talk about going to war together against another nation.

And that's where we get to in 2 Chronicles chapter 18.

2 Chronicles 18 · chapter mention

So it says, Jehoshaphat enjoyed great riches in high esteem, and he made an alliance with Ahab of Israel by having his son marry Ahab's daughter.

A few years later, he went to Samaria to visit Ahab, who prepared a great banquet for him and for his officials.

They butchered great numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle for the feast, and then Ahab enticed Jehoshaphat to join forces with him to recover Ramoth Gilead.

This is some land that had been taken.

Will you go with me to Ramoth Gilead?

King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah.

And Jehoshaphat replied, Why, of course, you and I are as one, and my troops are your troops.

We will certainly join you in battle.

But then Jehosaphat added, But first, let's find out what the Lord says.

So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, four hundred of them, this would be Ahab, and asked them, Should we go to war with Ramoth Gilead, or should I hold back?

And they all replied, Yes, go ahead.

God will give the king victory.

But Jehoshaphat asked, Is there not also a prophet of the Lord here?

We should ask him the same question.

Now, here's what's happening.

It says that Ahab gets four hundred prophets.

And they say, Yeah, go for it, you're gonna win.

But these are not prophets of the Lord.

Again, Ahab he worshipped false gods, and the prophets he's going to, these are not prophets who follow who follow God.

These are prophets who follow other gods, these are prophets who they're not talking to the same person we talk to when we pray.

Let's put it that way.

And Jehoshaphat knows that.

And so Ahab brings in his prophets, and Jehovah's like, hey, that's fine and all, but that's not that's not whose opinion I care about.

Like, I want to know what the Lord says.

I want to know what the one true God has to say.

And so he says to Ahab, do you not even have one prophet of the Lord here in all of Israel?

And so the king of Israel, Ahab, replies to Jehoshaphat, There is one more man who could consult the Lord for us, but I hate him.

He never prophesies anything but trouble for me.

His name is Mekiah, the son of Imlah.

So Jehoshaphat replied, Well, that's not the way a king should talk.

Let's hear what he has to say.

King Ahab of Israel and King Jehosaphat of Judah, dressed in the royal robes, were sitting on thrones at the threshing floor near the gate of Samaria.

All of Ahab's prophets were prophesying there in front of them.

One of them, Zedekiah, the son of Kenana, made some iron horns and proclaimed, This is what the Lord says.

With these horns you will gore the Arameans to death.

All the other prophets agreed, Yes, they said, Go up to Romoth Gilead and be victorious, for the Lord will give the king victory.

Meanwhile, the messenger who went to get Micaiah said to him, Look, all the prophets are promising victory for the king.

Be sure that you agree with them and promise success.

But Micaiah replied, As surely as the Lord lives, I will say only what my God says.

When Micaiah arrived before the king, Ahab asked him, Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or should I hold back?

Micaiah replied sarcastically, Yes, go up and be victorious, for you will have victory over them.

So obviously the king can tell that he's being sarcastic here, because he replies, How many times must I demand that you speak only the truth with me when you speak for the Lord?

And then Micaiah told him, In a vision, I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd.

And the Lord said, Their master has been killed, send them home in peace.

Didn't I tell you, the King of Israel exclaimed to Jehoshaphat, He never prophesies anything but trouble for me.

And then Micaiah continued, Listen to what the Lord says.

I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven around him, on his right and on his left.

And the Lord said, Who can entice King Ahab of Israel to go into battle against Ramoth Gilead so he can be killed?

There were many suggestions.

And finally a spirit approached the Lord and said, I can do it.

How will you do this?

the Lord asked.

And the spirit replied, I will go out and inspire all of Ahab's prophets to speak lies.

You will succeed, said the Lord.

Go ahead and do it.

So you see, the Lord put a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets.

For the Lord has pronounced your doom.

And then Zedekiah, son of Kenana, walked up to Micaiah and slapped him across the face.

Since when did the Spirit of the Lord leave me to speak to you?

he demanded.

And Micaiah replied, You will find out soon enough, when you're trying to hide in some secret room.

Arrest him, the king of Israel ordered, take him back to Amon, the governor of the city, and to my son Joash, give them this order from the king, put this man in prison, and feed him nothing but bread and water until I return safely from the battle.

But Micaiah replied, If you return safely, it will mean that the Lord has not spoken through me.

And then he added to those standing around, Everyone mark my words.

So Micaiah has a very different message to Ahab than the other prophets.

But again, Micaiah is the only one who's actually praying to God.

He's seeking what God wants.

Ahab just wanted to hear whatever he wanted.

He wanted people to tell him he would be successful.

And Micaiah doesn't give him that.

And so, unfortunately, Micaiah is not listened to.

And Jehoshaphat even caves and goes ahead and goes into war with Ahab, even though the Lord didn't tell them it would succeed.

And it goes about as well as you would think.

Ahab is actually wounded and dies.

They do not win the battle, and Jehoshaphat has to flee.

And so we pick up in 2 Chronicles chapter 19, we're just going to look at the first few verses of chapter 19.

2 Chronicles 19 · chapter mention

Verse 1.

Why should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?

He asked the king.

Because of what you've done, the Lord is very angry with you.

Even so, there is some good in you, for you have removed all the Asherah poles throughout the land, and you've committed yourself to seeking God.

That's a big statement.

When it says the thing about Asherah Poles, uh, there was this big movement at the time of people worshiping Baal, who was a false god that Ahab worshipped, and there was a goddess, Asherah, and so Asherahapoles were like these little mini shrines where people would worship Asherah.

And he's saying that, hey, you did a great job.

You removed all of the Asherahapoles, and you've really followed the Lord.

But he says to Jehoshaphat, you're saving grace, basically.

You made a terrible decision, you aligned yourself with the wrong person, you've really brought disaster upon yourself, but you've been faithful to the Lord, and you have been a man who has committed himself to seeking the Lord.

You've committed yourself to seeking the Lord.

And that's going to pay dividends for Jehoshaphat as we continue reading.

Let's jump to chapter 20.

It says, after this, meaning after this time period where Jehoshaphat has come back home and he's there after all this has happened.

The armies of the Moabites, the Ammonites, and some of the Mennonites declared war on Jehoshaphat.

Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, a vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea.

They are already at Hazazan Tamar.

Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and he begged the Lord for guidance.

He also ordered everyone in Judah to begin fasting.

So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the Lord's help.

Jehoshaphat stood before the community of Judah in Jerusalem in front of the new courtyard at the temple of the Lord, and he prayed, O Lord, God of our ancestors, you alone are the God who's in heaven.

You are ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth.

You are powerful and mighty.

No one can stand against you.

O our God, did you not drive out those who lived in this land when your people arrived here?

And did you not give this land forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham?

Your people settled here and built this temple to honor your name.

They said, Whenever we are faced with any calamity, such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this temple where your name is honored.

We can cry out for you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.

And now see what the armies of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir are doing.

You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them.

Now see how they reward us?

For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave to us as an inheritance.

O our God, won't you stop them?

We are powerless against this mighty army that's about to attack us.

We do not know what to do, but we're looking to you for help.

As all the men of Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, wives, and children, the Spirit of the Lord came upon one of the men standing there.

His name was Jehaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Beniah, son of Jeel, son of Mataniah, a Levite, who is a descendant of Asaph.

And he said, Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem, listen, King Jehosaphat, this is what the Lord says.

Do not be afraid, don't be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours but God's.

To morrow, march out against them.

You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jerul.

But you will not even need to fight.

Take your positions, then stand still and watch the Lord's victory.

He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem.

Do not be afraid or discouraged.

Go out against them tomorrow, for the Lord is with you.

Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground.

And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshipping the Lord, and then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.

Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tokoa.

And on the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem, believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm, believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.

After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor.

This is what they sang Give thanks to the Lord, his faithful love endures forever.

And at that very moment they began to sing and give praise.

The Lord caused the armies of Am of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.

The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them.

After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other.

And when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as the eye could see, and not a single one of the enemy had escaped.

King Jehosaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder.

They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing, and other valuables, more than they could carry.

There was so much plunder it took them three days just to collect it all.

On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day, because the people praised and thanked the Lord there.

It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.

And then all the men returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, overjoyed that the Lord had given them victory over their enemies.

They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres, and trumpets, and they proceeded to the temple of the Lord.

And when all the surrounding kingdoms heard that the Lord himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them.

So Jehoshaphat's kingdom was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

So, as a lot, and Jehoshaphat clearly has a very different ending to his story than Ahab has.

And I find it really interesting that here Jehoshaphat is faced with a situation that is proper to be worried about.

But if multiple armies are gathering against you and they are much more mighty and powerful than you are, and you're the king, that's a situation that you it might be okay.

You might give yourself some permission to worry.

There's no doubt that Jehoshaphat was panicked, but what's amazing is that his first, his first inclination, his first instinct was not to, hey, call the army together, get everyone to line up and let's be prepared to meet.

His first instinct wasn't to go fight.

And his first instinct wasn't to run away.

He didn't say, everyone retreat, run away, you know, hide.

His first instinct was we need to seek the Lord.

He gathered all the people together.

He told them to fast.

He told them to pray.

They went to the temple and they prayed there, and he begins to pray and tell God, hey, I know that you're the God of my ancestors.

I know all the things that you've done.

You've been faithful to us.

I know that you remember all of these things.

Will you please help us?

He does exactly what Jesus said to do in Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Instead of worrying about whatever is at hand, first seek the kingdom of God.

What is the kingdom of God?

The kingdom of God is God's will happening on the earth.

What do you want us to do, God?

What should we do?

He's the complete opposite of Ahab.

You know, Jehoshaphat asked Ahab when they met, Well, have you not sought the Lord?

And Ahab's like, ah, fine, whatever, but I'm not going to do what he says, basically.

Ahab was a man who never consulted the Lord and it led to his ruin.

Jehoshaphat was a man who consulted the Lord, who asked God, what should I do?

And it led to his success, even though he had missteps along the way.

Jehovah, he's not perfect.

Jehoshaphat's not perfect.

I mean, he still goes to war with Ahab, even though he shouldn't have, even though that's not what the Lord said to do.

But his saving grace, what leads to his success ultimately, even in the midst of a major mistake, is that he just he asks God what to do.

And so, here we are at the beginning of a year.

And it is vital, it is crucial for us right now to make a commitment to decide I'm going to ask God what God wants.

When I have a decision to make, when there are struggles that are facing me, rather than panic, rather than react, first, before I do anything else, I'm just going to ask God what he wants.

I'm going to seek first the will of God.

And I'm telling you, if we do that as people individually and collectively as a church, if we just seek his will, Lord, what do you want us to do?

If that's the kind of prayer that we pray on a regular basis when we're faced with difficult decisions or struggles, then we're going to be a lot more like Jehoshaphat than Ahab.

That's for sure.

So practically, let me put it this way: three very, very simple steps that all of us this year can follow that will allow us to, as much as humanly possible, know and be confident that we are doing what God would want us to do.

Okay, number one, pray a lot.

It's really simple.

Like, Ahab's ready to go to battle, and Jehoshaphat's like, have you sought the Lord?

Have you had a prophet of God pray?

Now here's what's really cool about us is that we don't need a prophet to pray for us.

Because when we give our lives to Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit inside of us.

Every single one of us can inquire of the Lord.

Every single one of us can do that.

All of us can do that.

Individually, on a daily basis.

So if we want to be people who seek first the kingdom of God this year, step one is we just we pray a lot.

And look, sometimes it's really easy to skip that step.

And there's so many times, even in my life, I'll be honest, even in decisions I've made as a pastor here where I've I've like, oh yeah, I should have prayed before I made that decision.

I'm somebody who can be very quick to, I kind of shoot from the hip sometimes, and so I'm very quick to make decisions, and I've had to learn, and I'm still learning, that it's important sometimes to just pause.

To not let my emotions or even my desires or whatever timeline in my head is the deadline, I have to make sure that there's always time to consult the Lord.

Doesn't matter how how urgent a situation is, I always have time to stop and pray.

And I can also trust that God knows the real deadline.

And so if it's an urgent situation, then I might need God to answer me urgently.

And he's good for that.

But in everything you do this year, every big decision, especially that you have to make, maybe you're in the midst of a big decision right now, have you have you prayed about it?

Have you asked God, God, what do you want me to do?

And when you ask him that, what you're essentially saying to him is your opinion matters most.

Your opinion matters the most.

Like God should always break the tie.

Right?

And so if you pray something and you say, God, what do you want to do?

And in some way He lets you know that.

Maybe that's through Scripture.

I mean, it's a really important thing for us to remember that God's never going to tell us something that would go against what He's already told us to do in Scripture.

And so you might pray and say, Lord, show me what to do, and then take some time and just search the scriptures and say, Well, have you already told me what to do here?

Have you already told me what to do through your word?

And then do that.

Or you might, you might hear in prayer, you might actually have uh just an inclination in your heart.

Or you just you you have a discomfort for a certain decision.

Even if it makes sense, you're like, I just don't feel like it's right.

And you've prayed about it and you've said, God lead me, show me what you want me to do, you're seeking his kingdom.

And if that's the case, if that happens, then go with that.

So step one is just pray a lot.

Pause and pray.

Pause and take a moment.

Or if you have the ability to, depending on the urgency of a situation, take a few days and say, you know, before I make a decision here, I just want to spend some time in prayer.

And I'm gonna pray, Lord, you show me what to do, and then I'm gonna listen and be attentive.

And I'm gonna seek Scripture and seek His Word, and I'm gonna maybe get other people to pray for me as well.

Maybe a few people who I really trust.

You know, be like Jehoshaphat.

Find someone who prays to the Lord, and don't just find people who you think will agree with what you already want to do, like Ahab did.

So pause and pray, that's step one.

If you pause and pray, that's how you seek first the kingdom of God.

Pray a lot.

Number two, is listen to the gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit.

It's a story in 2 Kings, or rather 1 Kings, chapter 19.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

It's a story of Elijah, who was a prophet, and also a man who interacted with Ahab a good bit.

Ahab didn't like him at all.

And in this particular situation, uh Elijah is in trouble.

He's upset Ahab and his wife Jezebel, and he's kind of on the run.

And so God tells him, Go out and stand before me on the mountain.

And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain.

It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind.

And after the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper.

When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak, and he went out and stood at the entrance of the cave, and a voice said, What are you doing here, Elijah?

It's a really interesting story.

Don't have time to get it all into all the details, but basically the mountain that that Elijah's on is the same place where Moses earlier had gone to be with God and meet with God.

And when Moses went to that mountain, it was crazy.

There was like lightning and fire and like smoke.

I mean, it was like special effects stuff, and that's maybe what Elijah was expecting.

He's in trouble.

He's like, I know, I'll go to that place that Moses went, and maybe God will meet with me there like he did with Moses.

And God does meet with Elijah there, but not in the way that he met with Moses.

It wasn't fire or a big storm or some crazy situation.

It was a gentle whisper.

A gentle whisper.

And I have found in my life that the Holy Spirit, right, the Spirit of God inside of me, inside of you, if you've given your life to Jesus, I have found that the Holy Spirit doesn't yell a lot.

Doesn't yell a lot.

And I actually have a big, I mean, if you will, it's a, I guess, a New Year's resolution.

I want to make sure that at the end of every day, I can say I listened to the gentle whisper.

Because very often what happens in my life is I might be in the middle of a conversation.

And maybe I want to say something.

But I'll hear this gentle whisper that just says, mm-mm.

And there have been times where I've heard that gentle whisper and then I've gone ahead and said it.

And every time that happens, I regret it because I know it just it wasn't right.

Or there'll be times where I have a decision to make and I'm really certain that this is what I want to do, and there's just this like gentle, it's like this quiet voice in your in my mind, right?

You've probably had the same experience.

This gentle whisper that's like, no, do this.

And and I just want to have a year where I listen to the gentle whisper.

That gentle whisper, I believe it's it's the Holy Spirit working with my conscience, like partnering with my conscience.

And the more and more you listen to that gentle whisper, the more and more uh you'll hear it.

It's like your ears become attuned to certain sounds, and your spirit can become attuned to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

But it's it's often very, very gentle.

And so if you want to be someone who first seeks the will of God, you seek the kingdom first, what does God want to do?

Then you've got to be someone who's listening to that gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit.

Because the way that He leads us, the way that we often discern what God's will is, is not in giant big signs.

That's often what we want, that's what we look for.

But the way that God tends to speak is it's just gentle, it's quiet.

And so if we pray a lot, if we pause and pray and we listen for that gentle whisper, we put ourselves in a really good position.

And that leads me to number three, and this one's actually really exciting.

Number three is enjoy your freedom.

And I know this may not sound like it fits, but but it really does.

If you're seeking God's will, I don't want to pretend like you're always gonna hear exactly what to do.

I mean, that's just not the way it works, right?

You can pause and pray and pray a lot, and you can listen really intently to hear that gentle whisper of God speaking to you and working through your own conscience and giving you the discernment to make the right decision.

But look, let's be honest, sometimes we pause and we pray and we listen to that gentle whisper and we don't hear it.

And we're like, what do I do?

In those situations, we enjoy the freedom that God has given us to make decisions and to trust him with the rest.

There's an interesting conversation that God has in Genesis chapter 2, verses 15 through 17, with uh the first people he creates and puts in the garden, the garden of Eden, the paradise.

Genesis 2:15–17

It says the Lord God placed the man in the garden of Eden to tend and watch over it, but the Lord God warned him, you may eat freely the fruit of every tree in the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.

I think it's really interesting that God puts He puts people in this garden and he says, Eat freely, eat from every tree you see, oh, except for that one.

The garden is the closest picture we have of God's will on the earth, because it's how God intended things to be, and it's before sin and all kinds of other stuff mess everything up.

And so the Garden of Eden, it's a beautiful picture of what does the will of God on earth look like?

And the will of God on earth was really simple, and it and it wasn't this tightrope that we often associate with God's will.

Very often when we think about the will of God, we think about it like a like a tightrope, right?

One step left or right, and you're out of God's will.

We think about it almost like this would have been like the opposite of what God said.

We think about it like God saying, uh, don't eat from any of these trees, just this one.

Very little freedom, a tightrope that you can't deviate from at all, or you're out.

But that's not the way the garden was.

The garden was the opposite.

It was it was a ton of freedom.

Which trees can you eat from?

That one, that one, that one over there, really all of these, oh, just not that one.

And it's important that we remember that our God is a God of freedom.

And so when we find ourselves in situations where we've we've sought the will of God, we've prayed, and we've listened, but we haven't we haven't heard anything directly.

What do we do?

Well, we we do what whatever we decide is best, provided that we know it's not something that God has forbidden us to do.

I mean, it really is that simple.

It's like, is it wrong?

Well, no.

Well, then go for it and trust God with the rest.

I mean, if I'm talking to anybody and they have a big decision they're trying to make, and I'll go, well, have you prayed about it?

Yes.

What have you heard?

I haven't heard anything.

Okay.

Well, what are you leaning toward?

Well, I'm leaning toward this decision.

Well, if that decision isn't wrong, if it's not like the tree of knowledge of good and evil, if God hasn't said, don't do this, well, then my advice would be, well, okay, then go for it and just trust God with the rest.

Because you've prayed about it, you've listened, and you haven't heard anything.

And so just enjoy the freedom that God has given you and make a good decision that is not against anything that God has said to do.

And then just trust that God is with you and He's gonna do whatever you need done.

He's gonna provide for you.

So do what you know is right and trust him with the rest.

Those are just three easy steps, simple steps, not easy necessarily, easy and simple aren't the same thing, but three simple steps that, man, if we live our lives this year and beyond, if we this is what we do on a regular basis, we pray.

Like we pause, we pray, we seek the Lord, we listen, and if he tells us to do something, we obey it.

But if we don't hear something directly from him, then we just say, okay, well, God, you've given me a tremendous amount of freedom and authority to make decisions in my life, so I'm gonna choose what I believe is best, and I'm just gonna trust you with it.

That that is seeking first the kingdom of God.

And Jesus promises us if we seek first the kingdom of God, then we don't need to worry.

If we just seek his kingdom and do what he wants us to do, live righteously, just do the right thing, seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, everything else, it's gonna work out.

Doesn't mean it's gonna be easy, doesn't mean there won't be major issues and struggles, but it's going to work out in the best way it can.

So this year, let's put the first things first.

And step one is in every situation we find ourselves in, especially those really difficult decisions, before we do anything else, before we react, before we make a phone call and talk to somebody about it, invent about it, before we make a really quick decision trying to fix some situation, some emergency, first things first, pause.

Pray.

Even if you pause for five seconds, it doesn't matter.

Seek first the kingdom of God and let him work out the rest.

I love you guys.

Thanks for watching this this morning.

Uh, think on that this week and reflect on that.

Spend a lot of time in prayer, spend a lot of time listening and enjoy the freedom that God has given you.

I'm gonna pray, we're gonna wrap up, and we will see you next Sunday, the ninth.

So let's pray together.

Father, thank you so much for this time together this morning.

I pray that you would just help us all be people who seek you.

And Lord, we thank you that you're a God who hears us when we pray, and that you're a God who speaks to us.

For all of us this year, I just pray that we become more and more attuned to the sound of your voice.

And more than anything, Lord, I pray that everyone who's who's listening right now, everyone who's watching, recognizes that you are alive, that you love us, and that you have really, really good things in store for us.

And we would just live our lives enjoying what you've given us, being grateful to you for everything you've done, and God anticipating all the things that you've got planned.

I pray this in your name, Jesus.

Amen.

Guys, have a great day.

Enjoy the rest of your week, and we'll see you next Sunday at 10 o'clock.

Bye.