Who Does God Use

It is so great to be back with you guys.

Now let me let me say this.

This is a woo or an ooh.

Okay, so get your thumbs ready, woo or ooh.

I'm gonna say one simple statement.

I want you to go woo or ooh.

Okay, that's what I want.

One statement.

Ready?

You gotta have your thumb because I gotta see it and hear it, okay?

College football.

Woo! Okay.

See, I needed the visual because woo and ooh sound very similar.

And uh it's so great to see you guys with that.

I love college football.

And it started yesterday.

And I want to give you two examples of what I heard.

One was I'm texting my brother-in-law, huge Alabama fan, and we're going back and forth, and they were killing Michigan.

I said, Oh my goodness, looks like you guys are gonna have a great year.

And here's the text because oh, we look really good.

We're gonna be good this year, but we need to wait a couple years a couple weeks, get further in before we discover how good we are.

And I'll give you a quick background.

He never played football at Alabama.

He didn't even go to Alabama, but it's we.

Now, how much oomph does that statement hold compared to the exact same statement that Nick Saban said?

We've played a good game, but we have a lot of work to do.

We need to wait until we get further in the season until we discover who we really are.

Which statement holds more oomph in the we department?

The head coach of Alabama or my brother-in-law who's never been or played at Alabama?

Well, obviously the head coach, because he's involved.

He has an experience, he has a vested interest, and that experience determines the quality and the joy.

Now, does my brother-in-law love when Alabama wins?

Absolutely.

Does he enjoy it?

Yes.

But I would tell you the fulfillment that a head coach has in a team and struggling in the blood and sweat and tears and hours and oomph that he has to put in, the results mean more because of his experience.

I am an experiential learner, and I am very thankful that I learn experientially.

What I experience determines how I learn.

I will never forget this.

The first time my wife ever traveled with me when we first got married.

She went with me to a corporate event out to Phoenix.

And it's the first time she was ever with me.

First time I'm going to introduce my wife as my wife.

And I'm on stage and I had never done this before.

It's the first time I've had a wife, and the first time I experienced it.

So I'm like, and I several of you met Heather tonight, and she is my, and for some reason, unknown to man, I felt the need to inject an adjective at that point.

And it didn't come out, this is my beautiful wife.

This is my wonderful bride.

This is what came out.

This is my several of you met Heather.

She's my current wife.

Yeah.

Man.

That's not a good adjective.

I learned two lessons.

One, that is not the adjective to use.

And two, I learned how stunningly gracious my wife is.

She's like, you know what?

I don't care.

I love you.

And I'm just like, wow, that's amazing.

So I learned experientially, and then I'd learn another lesson.

And here's where we're going with this.

Follow me with this.

How many of you have ever moved yourself from one place to another?

Raise your hands.

Moved yourself.

Okay, you'll get this.

The first time we move ourselves, we have an idea of how to do that.

We have an idea of what we need.

My wife and I moved ourselves from our townhouse to a house.

And we thought we went to buy boxes.

And we thought we got a lot of stuff.

We need big boxes.

And we got a bunch of big boxes.

And we taped, several of you know where I'm going with this already.

And it's awesome to put all this stuff in the big box until you have to pick it up and move it.

And then you discover either the box is too big for one person, then you need two, and that's not very efficient, or that it's too much for the box, and you're having to do it under and it's going to fall apart.

And then you have the next time you move, and you realize, let's do this differently, and let's talk to some people who have moved and let's take our experience with their experience.

And one of the greatest experiences ever is I have a one of my former roommates is an operator with Chick-fil-A, and he goes, Oh my goodness, I've got the perfect box for you.

He says, We get our fries in them, and they're the perfect size.

They're not too big, they're not too small, and they fit a lot of stuff, but not too much, to where if you you can carry one by yourself, or if there's a light one, you can carry two or three.

And he says they're perfect, and they are perfect.

And the box was perfect for moving.

Now, the reason I share that is simply to say this.

How big is God?

How big is God?

Well, God is huge, he's enormous, he's tremendous.

But I'm here to tell you and I that I believe with all my heart, too much of the time we put God in this box that is comfortable for us, and then that's all we really want, is right there.

And we'll read the Bible and go, wow, God is awesome.

God is love, God is great, I love God, and God is incredible and I need God, but there's a disconnect.

There's not the full experience of the God of the Bible and the God of my life.

Yes, I know I'm forgiven.

Yes, I experience his grace, but does God really do miraculous things through people?

Really?

Really?

And and would he do that through me?

Because I'm not really miraculous.

I'm just normal or at least average or below average.

And what I want us to look at these next three weeks is the fact that the way we try to put God in the box or in a box to make him make sense is not the way to the greatest experience of life possible.

God wants to be outside of our box in such a way that you and I can experience the abundant life at levels that we didn't even think were possible.

We haven't even considered.

And how does God do that?

How does God get out of the box in our lives so that I can experience Him in a ginormous manner?

Well, this week I want us to look at three questions, and if we'll honestly ask these questions of our heart and of our mind and say, okay, God, what are the questions I need to be asking to experience you outside the box?

And if we'll ask these three questions, and if you want to follow along, it's really in 1 Samuel.

Look in your index, go to 1 Samuel, because there's a wonderful story there that I'm going to use to illustrate what questions God is answering in that arena of the great experience of God outside the box.

It's the story of David.

And let me give you a quick history background.

Israel, the representative of Christians, says, We need a king.

King Saul is the king, and King Saul screws up big time.

He chooses to say, Well, I'm going to do for God.

I know God told me to do this, but I'm going to do the opposite, and God says, that doesn't work.

And he was very kind of, he lied about it, he did the wrong, and he lied, and he lied to God, and God says, okay, my hand's not on you anymore.

I'm going to pick a new king.

And that's where we pick it up.

And what does God look for in the new king?

Is what he looks for in you and I.

And the prophet goes and they said, I heard, you know, Jesse, and I'm going to pick the new king from Jesse's family.

And Jesse, so the guy goes to Jesse and he says, Okay, Jesse, God's going to pick the new king from your family.

It's kind of hush-hush.

So Jesse lines up his sons.

He lines up his sons.

And look with me in chapter 16, verse 6.

And this is what Samuel said in verse 6.

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, surely the Lord's anointed stands before the Lord.

He sees the first oldest son, Eliab, and he goes, Wow.

The dude is ripped, he's tall, he's cut.

Look at his resume.

He's got on the right suit.

He went to the right school.

He's got it going on.

This has got to be the one God is looking for.

This is the Lord's anointed.

And to Jesse's credit, he's like, I'm going to put my best foot forward, I'm going to put my sons out there.

And then we see, no, that's not the one.

Look in verse 7.

But the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.

The Lord does not look at the things the man looks at.

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

What does God look for?

He looks for the heart.

The heart.

And the question we have to ask is, okay, God, if you're looking at my heart, where is my heart?

Because too often what we do, and I want to include you in that, because I believe every one of us has at some level, at some time, done this, what we do is we eliminate ourselves from God's miraculous moving because we're looking in the mirror at ourselves.

And we're looking at what we are not.

Well, you know what?

I know God can do miraculous things.

God's huge.

He can do amazing things, but I'm too old.

I'm too old.

God's going to use the young because I'm too old.

Well, I love the way that God just eliminates all our arguments before we begin them.

I'm too old for God to use in a miraculous way.

Well, obviously, we have not read about Abraham and Sarah, where God says, I will start a nation with you.

And Abraham was like, right on.

Okay, I'm your man.

And then he gets to be a hundred.

And he's like, Lord, I uh I don't know if you realize your creation, the way it works.

Um, a hundred's a little bit old to have a child, and I'm looking at my wife.

I mean, I think she's still hot, but she's 80 something, and they say that that stuff doesn't work at our age.

So sorry.

But then God gives him a nation.

See, age does not disqualify.

Well, you know what, Lord?

I I know you're huge.

I know you do incredible miracles, but there's my past.

See, there's my past.

I've I've messed up.

Big, not average mess up, big mess up.

And Lord, I know you know that, and I know you've forgiven me.

And I know that you have a plan, but not in a miraculous way, not a big way.

Lord, because there's my past.

Well, obviously, we don't read the lineage of Jesus.

In that first part of Matthew, where it gives, begat, begat, begat, begat, begat, there are three women mentioned there.

One of them is a woman named Rahab.

She's in the book, she's in the lineage of Jesus.

She was a prostitute, and God chose her to be part of the lineage.

See, the past doesn't disqualify her heart.

She had a heart in saying, God, I if if you're willing to use me, here's my heart.

It's all yours.

Or maybe it's another woman in there, Ruth.

Well, God, my family.

My family's dysfunctional.

We make Jerry Springer look normal.

That's just my family's not where it needs to be.

And Lord, I know you're big, you're huge, miraculous.

You can change our world, but not through me, because my family, we're we're the lowest of the low.

We're we're I mean, we're just not it.

And then there's Ruth, who is a foreigner, who has no standing, and yet God chose her in his line.

And then there's Boaz.

Well, Boaz, Lord, I know that I'm accepted.

I know that I come and I'm a part of the body, but really I'm not.

Yes, everybody loves me, but I'm not accepted because I'm the son of a prostitute.

So you can't use me.

You can't do something miraculous.

And God says, nope, I got that cover too.

And see, in choosing the king, if you look at verse 12, get the get the picture here.

Jesse's lined up his six sons: tallest to shortest, oldest and most qualified to least.

And Samuel's going through all of them, going, okay, I thought it was him, but okay, Lord, I get it.

Outward appearance.

All right.

Well, which one of these guys is it?

And he goes through all six, and none of them are it.

A little bit embarrassing as a prophet having to ask the question.

Um, you get you got you got any more sons?

Um, maybe an affair or something that nobody knows about another son, maybe just because none of these guys are it.

And to his credit, Jesse's like, well, I got I got one, but he's the youngest.

He he's not been through anything, he's not qualified.

At the time, David was probably between the ages of 14 to 15.

And and he, you're looking for a king.

Now, I know a lot of teenagers think they know everything, but he's he's he's tending sheep, is what he's doing.

That's where he is.

I mean, and we're not even sure he can do that really well, but really?

And he says, Go get him, and he comes and look at verse 12.

I love this.

So they sent for him and had him brought in.

He was ruddy with a fine appearance and had hands and features.

Then the Lord said, Rise and anoint him.

He is the one.

He's the one.

Wow.

I get several pieces from this, but the bottom line is that it's his heart.

His heart was right.

We're gonna see that in a minute, because after we answer the question, what does God look for?

What does God look for?

He looks for the what?

Heart.

And if you and I know our heart is right, saying, God, I'm not perfect.

I'm really not perfect at all.

But my heart's all yours.

That's what God wants.

Which leads us to a second question, and that is simply, how does God prepare us to experience Him outside the box, to experience Him miraculously in our lives?

How does God prepare us to do that?

Is it through like, you know, becoming a monk for a few years, or maybe doing some really religious stuff and I don't know, maybe giving more than we normally give?

Or how does God do that?

Well, look, look at how God does that.

In I love this, in Samuel 16, 11.

So he asked Jesse, are these all your sons?

And he says, No, they're still the youngest.

And he answered, but he's tending sheep.

How does God prepare us through normal life?

Whatever we are doing right now is preparation for the miraculous.

See, what God does is he uses normal tasks to prepare us for supernatural experiences.

That's what God does.

So, what am I supposed to do where I am?

Well, let's look at David for a second.

He's tending sheep.

Woo, that's a great job.

All right.

A couple times a day, you gotta look at them all and go, okay, they're all here.

Woo, he's got some downtime.

So what he did was he would practice.

Well, there might be some animals that would come up, and sure enough, there were.

We know the history.

If you read further, you'll see that a bear attacked once and a lion attacked once, and he had to defend them, the sheep.

That's his only job.

Protect the sheep.

They're not smart.

But I'm gonna protect the sheep.

So he had a sling, because that's all they would give him, and he had a sling, so he gets rocks, and he had some time to practice.

So he'd sit out in the field.

Well, I'm really good.

Put some cans up there.

He'd do that forever, and then he'd add some downtime.

After he got really good with that, he had some downtime, so he had a harp, which in today's time would be the equivalent of a guitar.

Let's say he's just out there, so he'd take his guitar and his slingshot, and he'd go out and one, two, three, five, okay, they're all here.

Ching, ching, ch ching.

I'm gonna write a song.

That's what he's doing.

I mean, that's his day.

And he got really good at playing the guitar, got really good at slinging rocks all by himself.

Nobody saw it.

Nobody noticed.

What was he doing?

Preparing for a miracle.

That's what God was doing.

And if you and I will start seeing our everyday lives, as saying, okay, Lord, I don't really understand how this applies to the miraculous, but I'm gonna be excellent at what I'm doing today.

And whatever that job is, I remember several of the jobs I had as I'm transitioning into what I'm doing now, which I feel blessed that God has called me to do.

And I feel like, God, this is the center of what you're doing.

This is amazing.

But I think about the preparation time of landscaping.

Hours.

11 to 13 hours a day behind a walk behind.

I'd get done and my hands would be like, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, they wouldn't stop vibrating.

I didn't have it, it's like a massage when I went to wash my hair.

It's like uh just because my hands wouldn't stop shaking.

There was more than one time, more than one time where I'm doing the walk behind and doing the edging and doing what I thought was menial and mundane, where I would just go, Lord, I don't see how this works, but I'm gonna be really good at this.

And I'm gonna be the best I can be today.

Nobody's gonna notice, but I'm gonna do it.

And I would do it over and over.

Refurbing computers, putting pieces in, and then going putting them in the banks, and it's really hard.

You had to unplug this one, plug this one in.

Oh, okay, look, wow, it works, and then go to the next place.

It's just like mundane, but I thought, Lord, I'm gonna be excellent at this.

Lord, how do I I don't see the connection and the preparation for the miraculous, and but I'm gonna be faithful here.

Years later, David would write a psalm about connecting with God's greatness.

It became my life purpose.

It's in Psalm 37, verses 3 and 4.

Psalms 37:3

It says, Trust in the Lord and do good.

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your hearts.

This is years after he's gone through all that he goes through.

He's like, You want to know the secret?

Here it is.

Trust in God and do good and dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

That phrase, cultivate faithfulness.

If you look at it in several different versions of the Bible, one would say, enjoy safe pasture, or should go back to his sheep days.

Enjoy that God is watching over you like I watched over sheep.

Sheep are so stupid.

And realize that just enjoy the fact that God doesn't need an IQ of 180.

He can use anybody.

I watch sheep, and God refers to us as sheep.

And and I remember tending sheep.

You can walk them down to water, and they will stand and look at water, look at a stream of water and die of dehydration.

Literally, that's how dumb they are.

Oh, the water's moving.

I can't drink moving water.

Guess I'll have to die.

Talk to a shepherd.

That's what they literally would have to put a rock in the water so the water would stop, and then the sheep, oh, it stopped.

That's when they would drink.

What David is saying is that enjoy that.

God is our shepherd.

He knows that we don't know it all.

And he is in the middle of the mundane, training us, preparing us for the miraculous.

And we may not see it as clearly as he did, but he's like, that's where he is.

Am I faithful where I am?

This week, I don't know what you're doing.

I don't know where you are.

There's a really, really good chance in this economy where we are, that some here are underemployed or unemployed.

And to say, you know what?

I'm not going to be bitter about this.

I'm going to treat it as God saying, I'm preparing you to experience me in a miraculous way, outside of your box.

It's not just what we can see and touch and feel.

This season of life that seems like a downer and a bummer.

It seems like and feels like, you know what, Lord, I I feel like you are you want to do something more than just me being a security guard for sheep, playing a guitar, slinging rocks.

But Lord, I'm going to be faithful right here, right now.

Because according to your economy, you train for the miraculous through the mundane.

So, Lord, I'm in.

And then the final question we have to ask is probably the best.

Where does God want to use me?

Where does God want to get outside the box in my life?

Where is he going to do that?

Well, probably most likely in the obvious, where we see an obvious need or a clear injustice.

Look at those two concepts.

Because as we say, okay, my heart is all yours, and Lord, I'm going through life and I'm being faithful and I'm being excellent at wherever I am, doing whatever you have me do, something's gonna happen where we see an obvious injustice or a clear need.

And then we go, okay, Lord, what do you want to do through me in there?

And we're in that position to do that.

That's what happened to David.

God uses the ordinary to produce the extraordinary.

Look in Samuel, 1 Samuel 16, 14 through 23.

Because here's where the transition starts to happen.

David's heart is all his.

He's being excellent with the sheep.

He's playing the guitar, writing songs, excellent with the sheep, slinging rocks.

And then look what happens.

In 14, now the spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul.

We said that an evil spirit from the Lord had tormented him.

Saul's attendant said to him, See, an evil spirit of the Lord is tormenting you.

Let our Lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp.

He will play, and the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better.

And in verse 17, look at what Saul says.

He says, Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.

Verse 18.

He is a brave man and a warrior.

He speaks well and is a fine-looking man, and the Lord is with him.

The Lord is with him.

So, skip forward down to 21.

David came to Saul and entered his service.

Saul liked him very much.

David became one of his armor bears.

Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Allow David to remain in my service.

I am pleased with him.

Verse 23, whoever the whenever the Spirit of God came upon Saul, David would take out his harp and play.

Then the relief would come to Saul, and he would feel better.

See, what God did was saying, you know what?

Here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to take an opportunity, and among the unrighteous, that's where I'm going to start using you.

You may be in a position or a circumstance where you're like, this is not great.

I do not love where I am right now.

That's exactly where God starts to work.

Among the unrighteous.

Let me get down very, very personal.

Maybe you're in a family, you're like, you don't understand, Ken.

My in-laws are insane.

That's where God wants to work.

You may think my boss is a complete idiot.

I mean, literally, I mean, he's just mean to me all the time for no reason other than I'm doing what's right and he's mean to me.

If that's the one you are, I want you to flip over to chapter 18 for just one second.

I want you to see one of the greatest examples of God's exaggeration.

Because here's what happens David is faithful and excellent with Saul.

He's playing.

Then the whole thing with Goliath comes up, we'll look at in just a second.

And he succeeds and he's doing great.

He's doing everything right.

Doing everything God asked, doing everything Saul asks.

Saul is his boss, and Saul is starting to go crazy.

You may think, I got a crazy boss.

I can relate to this.

Look what happens in chapter 18, verses 10 through 12.

This is after David's had success, done everything right.

The next day, an evil spirit of God came forcefully on Saul.

He was prophesying in his house while David was playing his harp as he usually did.

He's just doing his job.

Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, I will pin David to the wall.

And David eluded him twice.

Now, if you think you got a crazy boss and you're just being faithful and he's being mean, I want to see a show of hands.

How many of you, your boss tried to kill you this week?

Twice.

And that, that is the so where does God want to use me?

Right where I am, with the crazy boss and the crazy in-laws or the neighbors that are just insane.

That's among the unrighteous and against, this is cool too, against the unrighteous.

Go back to chapter 17 for a second.

In verse 16 of chapter 17, we see how he is against the unrighteous.

For 40 days, verse 16, the Philistines came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

Goliath comes for 40 days, stands against Israel, mocks Israel, and just goes, okay, you send out somebody, we'll send out our best, they'll fight.

Whoever wins gets to rule the other.

And for 40 days, this unrighteous guy comes out and just cusses out Israel.

He just cusses them out.

Where does God want to use?

In an obvious injustice.

And this is an obvious injustice to David, because look in verse 26, and I love this.

David is sent up, he's got some supplies.

Verse 26, David asked the man standing near him who had gone out for 40 days, what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

Who is he?

Now look at the injustice here.

The injustice was his clarity.

When we get our hearts right and we are being excellent, we will begin to see clearly what God is doing.

And we'll see it clearly.

David saw clearly, this is not David versus Goliath.

This is Goliath versus God.

That's the conflict.

And David sees it clearly and he goes, Do you not see this?

He's not against you, he's against God.

Are you not listening?

He's like, What's going to be done for the guy who just takes this dude down?

Because he's going down.

You can't mock God and not suffer the consequences.

And he said, He's going down.

And then here's the deal.

And David at that time was about 18 years old.

All he knew was his heart was right, I've been faithful, and I know God.

God wants to do something miraculous.

And he goes out against him and says, You're done, dude.

You are so done.

And not because of who I am, but who God is.

That's why you're done.

And then he goes out, he takes the stone, and literally Goliath is like, you're mocking me now.

Who is this little punk kid?

I'm gonna rip his literally his guts out and feed him to the birds.

And David comes out and he's like, No, you're not.

Dude, you're not against me.

You're mocking God.

That's a bad decision.

And and I've been slinging rocks and walking sheep, and I'm just about tired of it.

So, so I got a rock with your name on it.

Smile, because here it comes.

And I'm cutting off your head today, not because of who I am, but because God has given you into my hands.

And that boldness, don't miss this.

That boldness is what God wants through you and I.

When our heart is right, and we get over the fact that God is not building a resume for us so we can prove ourselves to everybody.

He's preparing us to be in a position where we can stand up and say, all I know is God, and this is not right.

And I will let him use me.

Period.

That's it.

That's what that's what I'm standing on.

What's your resume?

I know God.

That's my resume.

And you can take me down or take me out, but God is going to move miraculously here.

Period.

The question is, is are we going to allow God to use us in that way?

How do we do it?

Simply, where's my heart today?

And am I being faithful with where I am?

And and then the clarity is going to start coming, and injustice or a need is going to start popping up.

I want to close with a humility.

Look in chapter 18 and verse 23.

David has followed this path.

And I want to close with this heart piece because he's done everything and he's seen God move miraculously.

He's literally seen God take down Goliath through him.

He's seen God move, and everybody's like, David rocks.

David's incredible.

Literally, before Saul tries to chunk the spear at him, they're singing his praises.

I'll read one other verse in seven of 17.

It says, Saul was slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands.

That's what ticked off Saul.

And literally, he made a promise.

Anybody who takes down Goliath can marry my oldest daughter.

You know what David said?

That's that's cool, but um I'm just David.

All I did was God told me to do, and I I can't marry your daughter.

You're the king, and I can't marry your daughter because I'm just David.

So she marries somebody else.

And the king comes back, he's like, dude, this is I love how schizophrenic Saul is.

He's like, I'm gonna kill you, pin you to the wall.

Oh, I got another daughter.

You want to marry her?

Uh, just really that's how crazy this guy was.

And look what happens in 23.

David says, repeated these words to David, but David said, Do you think it's a small matter to become the king's son-in-law?

I am only a poor man and little known.

That humble heart.

That humble heart that says, you know, I'm not gonna build a resume.

God, you're the reason why I am where I am.

So, Lord, thank you for using me to do the miraculous.

These next two weeks, we're gonna see two other amazing stories of what it takes to see God outside the box of my life.

But this morning, ask ourselves the simple question: where's my heart?

Is it humble and complete?

Where's my attitude?

Is it to be excellent wherever I am today?

And then am I looking, am I looking for that need or injustice in my everyday life?

Because that's where God's probably gonna do the miraculous through us.

Let's close in a word of prayer.

God, thank you for today.

Thank you for your word.

And I pray for those who will go back and read 1 Samuel 16 through 18 that you would show them even more individually, Lord, but take our hearts.

And Lord, tomorrow, wherever we are, whether we're taking a day off or we're at work, help us to be excellent where we are.

And Lord, help us to begin to see that need or injustice in our world that you want us to be a part of.

To see you do the miraculous and allow us to be a part of it.

And it really is only through Christ we can pray.

Amen.

Thanks for letting me share with you guys.

I'll see you next week.

Take us out, Dallas.