Elisha Week 2: Dig a Ditch

Alright, alright.

We made it to church.

You made it.

Everything is uh the kids are okay in kids' church.

They're learning about the word of God, they're getting stronger in their faith.

Amen.

All the things that are weighing on us, the Lord's got it.

We can trust him.

He's he's trustworthy.

Amen.

He is trustworthy.

All right, thank you, band.

I am eager to get into it today.

I love the series that we're in.

We're talking about Elisha, week number two.

If you were here last week, then you got to get the introduction, and uh it's gonna be even better today, I promise.

We are into the fall.

I think they tell me we're into the fall.

This week we were this week, Angela and I flew to Illinois for an ordination service and uh a conference that we were a part of.

And uh the day we landed, the temperature there was in the 60s, so it went for a bit, and I was like, hey, if we could just bring this back with us, they were already having like pumpkin patches and fall festivals, and I was like, that's crazy.

We're still in the middle of summer over here.

It's not fair.

Thank God I I would rather live here, but um, the weather was beautiful, and so I'm looking forward, however long it takes.

We're we're we're ready for the cooler weather, and I would just let everybody in the room know we are days away from continuing changes outside of the building, and as things move and evolve, I just say prepare your hearts because some of you have been asking, when's this happening?

When is this happening?

When's that happening?

It's happening.

I promise it's happening.

I'm not gonna give you a detailed rundown on it, but just watch for the next two weeks.

Lots of things are happening, and so um it's gonna be it's gonna be a fun time.

All right, without any further delays, I want to first uh just one delay.

That is, I want to look right at you guys and into the camera and say thank you for coming today.

It is an honor for us to have you as a guest.

If you're a guest online or right here in the room, it matters a lot to us.

And uh, we are thankful that we get to do life together, we get to do uh celebrating God's goodness together, we get to worship together, open up his word, and we get to sit together during the week.

If you were I it always surprises me how many people come to small groups that I've never met before or they've never even been to church on a Sunday morning.

So maybe this is your first time um checking out Sunday morning.

We're glad that you're here.

And um we are we we have a beautiful community uh at Relate, and I'm excited that you're here.

So let's dive into week number two.

Pull out your notes.

We're a note-taking church.

Everybody got notes.

Good.

Week number two, and um, I want to start with just a simple question.

Have you ever had a problem that that problem led you to something that changed your life for the better?

That has happened to me quite a few times.

Um, it doesn't happen all the time.

In fact, I wish it would happen, but I started making a list this week, and uh the first thing I thought of was the my family, whenever I was a teenager, was looking for we needed a church.

We're like, God, send us, we need to be a part of a good church.

And so we landed at a church, and when we got there, I actually found more than a church.

We found a community, as happens when you go to church, but I also found the love of my life.

I found my wife there, and uh, that was one of those moments where a problem led to something that totally transformed my life.

Another time, uh, years back, I decided that I am gonna lose 20 pounds, and that decision, that problem, needing to solve that problem, led me to discovering jujitsu, which I train every week.

And it has literally it's given me something that I really love and has become a hobby.

Another time, uh Angela, this this year actually.

So this one's this one's um more recent.

Angela and I were looking for, we need to do something different on a date night.

Like we we always do the same basic things, just a handful of things.

We need something, and so we're thinking, and I thought, what have we never done?

And you guys are gonna think this is ridiculous, but I thought, you know what?

I love food, as you may know.

We all we love food, but I decided we we eat all kinds of types of food, but there's one type of food that I just don't get, and that's Chinese food, because I don't think Chinese food is actually Chinese food.

So I started researching Chinese food, and I realized that American Chinese food is not Chinese food, and so I decided I'm gonna learn about actual authentic Chinese food, and it has changed my life.

So I'll leave it there.

You want to talk about it?

I can talk for a very long time about authentic Chinese food, and I love it, and I'd love to tell you all about it.

And I'm it's it's a good, good thing.

But it's it's those moments where a a question or a problem or something that needs to be solved turns into something that's that's life-changing or that impacts you in a really, really big way.

And a problem, I think this idea is what I what I want to start with that a problem is a great thing if it drives you, watch this, to depend on God.

This is a moment where it's not something that just, hey, I hope this turns into a good thing.

But no, it when we trust God, when we lean into God, when we pursue and strive to reach God and what He has for us, what it actually gives us is life changing every time.

So there may be something in your life where you're like, I just don't know how to solve this.

This is gonna crush me, this is gonna break me, this is a make or break moment.

This is something that I cannot figure out.

It's I'm between a rock and a hard place, I'm stuck.

That turns into a beautiful thing the moment you decide, okay, I have to go to God with this.

And there's all kinds of like, in my personal experience, I get caught up in guilt, I get caught up in shame.

I go, why do we not take it to God in the first place?

There's a lot of different reasons, which we won't go into today, but I'll just encourage you if something's weighing on you, something you're carrying, something that you've been it's it's been crushing the back of your mind or uh pressing into your life, there's a song about uh so many songs, but the the one song that I thought of this week was God bless the broken road that led me straight to you.

There's that that's a country song, and I don't know the whole song.

I just know the idea that there are moments where a bad thing turns into a good thing.

And my hope for you is that the the bad thing you're holding on to, if you'll bring it to God today, and we're gonna see this unfold, we're gonna see this uh really come to life in the story in 2 Kings chapter 3 today.

2 Kings 3 · chapter mention

But before we read it, I want to look at the context.

We're looking at the life of Elisha, and last week we kind of unpacked the uh the relationship between Elisha, who is he has a mentor, Elijah and Elijah, their names are very close, but Elijah comes and chooses Elisha.

God sends him to Elisha, and Elisha is the younger, he's grown up.

And we read the verse last week that Elijah, the mentor, says, What do you want from me?

What can I give you?

What is it you what are you looking for?

And he says, I want a double portion of your anointing or your spirit.

And he says, That's a big ask.

I I I don't know, but if you're with me when I when I go to heaven, if you're with me when I leave here, then that can happen.

And it does happen.

He receives a double anointing, he's there.

Elijah, the older, is taken into heaven, swept up into heaven, and there's a period of about eight to ten years of silence where we don't know exactly what happens to Elisha, but Elisha is with Elijah, he's his servant, and then Elijah is taken, and Elisha is left to be the prophet.

He he's now assumed the mantle.

We talked about the mantle a little bit last week.

He's assumed the mantle of the prophet, and so now he speaks for God to the children of Israel, to God's people.

And we know that this is still a time of turmoil and struggle for God's people because they're still off doing, they're worshiping other gods.

They're not really following God, they're not listening to God, they're not being obedient to God, they're living the way they want to live.

And here's where's Elisha?

We don't exactly know, but this is a moment where the world kind of starts looking for wait, there's a prophet somewhere.

Where is he?

We're gonna pick that up, but you need to know this that the the situation, the circumstances that make them look for Elisha is this that there are uh I'm gonna put up on the screen, the kingdom of Israel, the children of Israel is uh the twelve tribes are really split into two kingdoms at this point.

The kingdom of Israel, the kingdom of Judah.

They're split from the north and the south there, and then uh also in this story, you're gonna see the kingdom of Edom down in this in the very south southern part of this map.

And the kingdom of Eden is uh is in servitude, or it's a subservient kingdom to the kingdom of Judah.

And uh this is these three kingdoms come together, the three kings come together, and they are going to war against Moab.

And there's a lot of animosity, there's also a lot of uh familiar connection between Moab and the children of Israel.

In fact, Ruth is from Moab, she's a Moabite woman, and she moves to she, if you know the story of Ruth, she goes back to Bethlehem, but so there's a there there's probably families from Israel living in Moab, but there's a lot of animosity, and there's supposed to be taxes being paid back to the uh to the kingdom of Judah from Moab, the kingdom of Israel, but the three kingdoms come together to go and make them pay taxes and keep them from rebelling, which they don't I don't I think they're trying to avoid a bigger war, but this is this is the very beginning of that.

So the three kingdoms come together and then they go on a march to war.

And I think if you have three kingdoms against one, at this point, the the the kings, the three kings, they probably think this is this is gonna be an easy deal.

We'll just march around there, we'll point our fingers at them, point our spears at them, our armies will be on standby, and then they'll they will they'll submit.

This is gonna be easy stuff.

How many of you know that an easy an easy thing doesn't always turn out easy?

Life doesn't always work that way.

We think we have it planned out.

We think on paper, three kingdoms against one.

This should be uh a done deal.

Let's just go over there and get this done.

It says they marched for seven days.

Uh, we know that they marched down around the southern portion of uh into the kingdom of Edom, and there are deserts and it's dry and it's a barren land.

And in this time of marching for seven days with the with the armies, this is where we pick up our story.

And the problem is, I'm just gonna tell you the problem.

In the seven-day march with three kings and their armies to go have a confrontation, they ran out of water.

They ran out of water.

So let's pick up in 2 Kings chapter 3.

2 Kings 3 · chapter mention

It says, So the king of Israel sat out with the kings, with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, three kings.

After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them.

So now they're in deep, deep trouble.

We don't have water, we're stuck in the middle of the desert.

We've marched to a confrontation.

Watch what they do.

What?

exclaimed the king of Israel.

Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab?

Okay, so just so we're all clear and so we're all on the same page.

They have been rebelling against God, they haven't been listening to God, they haven't been paying attention to the prophet, they haven't been studying and following the Lord's commands, they've been living and worshiping other gods, and do they've been doing all kinds of crazy stuff.

And now, as soon as they're in trouble, God, what did you do?

How could you do this to us?

How often do we do that?

This is the this is the moment where I start to see myself in the story.

Okay, all right, I I have totally messed up.

I've got myself in, dug myself into a hole, I'm in trouble, and now I'm gonna blame it on God.

It's bad enough that they have no water, but now they start to they start to blame it on God.

And I would say this too they're already in the middle of a potential probable war, a confrontation, and then in the middle of that, to make things worse.

As if things couldn't get bad enough.

If they weren't bad enough, all of a sudden they've run out of water.

And so they're like sitting ducks.

If if the army of Moab comes, they're in trouble.

This is also a moment, I think, where we can see ourselves where we have enough problems as it is, and oftentimes a bad situation gets worse.

You don't know how you're gonna pay the mortgage, and all of a sudden the car breaks down.

How did we get here?

We planned for this.

We were a little bit tight, and now all of a sudden things went from a little bit tight, and uh are maybe maybe your teenage kids are struggling, and they're feeling depressed, and then all of a sudden you find out they're experimenting with drugs.

It just went from one thing to it.

Now this is much, much bigger problem.

Maybe your marriage is struggling, and then you're just trying to figure out how can we get this back on track, and then you lose your job.

And it makes now we got money problems on top of it.

It's like sometimes everything that can go wrong does go wrong.

Sometimes it feels like your best laid plans don't seem to matter at all.

And whether we blame it on God or not, this is a a this is so familiar to all of us because we've been in that moment where things just I don't know if they could get worse.

Here's the thing.

I need this is the first thing I want you to write down.

I want you to recognize this that you may feel like, oh, I'm juggling things and there are moments of desperation.

Here's the thing we're always desperate.

You might think, well, sometimes I'm not desperate.

No, that's just the time when you think you have it all together.

That's just the moments where you've you have this feeling like everything is good.

We are always desperate for God, we just don't know it if you can't if you don't recognize that you're desperate for God, then you're missing the bigger picture.

And so, these three armies are seven days into a march, no water.

Here's a spoiler.

I'm gonna go ahead and let you know that God does answer their prayer.

God does show up, he solves the problem.

Here's the thing today's story is not about him just solving the problem.

Today's passage and today's message is that God doesn't answer it the way we think he will.

So I want you to watch as the story unfolds as we unpack this because God's gonna show up in a way that doesn't look like they expect.

He's not gonna answer the prayer they the way that they want him to answer the prayer.

The answer is not coming from where they think it's coming from or how they think it's coming.

So let's read on.

But Jehoshaphat asked, This is the king of Judah, is there no prophet of the Lord here?

So now we're going to war, we're living how we want, we're not paying attention to God, now we're blaming God, and now where's the prophet at?

They haven't looked for him for at least 10 years.

Is there no prophet of the Lord here through whom we may inquire of the Lord?

An officer of the king of Israel answered, Elisha, son of Shaphat, is here.

He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.

So they don't know exactly who Elisha is.

They haven't heard a lot about Elisha, but they do know that he was the servant of the last prophet.

So years ago, it's almost like one of the one of the advisors says, I think I remember a guy who used to do that thing with the other prophet, and you know, but it's it was way back in the day.

Sometimes we have to retrace our steps and thinking, I've got to get back to God, but what did I do?

Like, where how do I how do I do that?

Where's my Bible at?

What uh what was the last how what was the last thing I was reading?

Sometimes you pick up your Bible like I don't even know where to start.

Or you walk into church service and you just feel like, oh, this is kind of unfamiliar territory for me, but I know I should be here.

Or we start to pray, and it's so unfamiliar words coming out of our mouths, we feel ashamed or guilty, or like, ah, that this doesn't feel like me.

I don't know what I'm doing.

The kings are struggling.

Watch what else he says.

Used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.

Jehoshaphat says, So the king says, the word of the Lord is with him.

So the king of Israel and and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to Elisha.

Let's go find this guy.

And um it may happen the way you think it might happen.

If you know Elijah and you know how Elisha's attitude fluctuates a little bit, then you know when the kings come looking for Elisha, it's almost like them saying, Hey God, uh, we need some help now.

We've been ignoring you this whole time.

And uh Elisha gets an attitude on God's behalf, I think.

A little bit.

It's almost like when you when I read this, I've I feel like I'm getting a little bit of Elisha saying, I see, I see.

You need you so now you need God's help.

Now you want the prophet.

Now it's been how long has it been?

And now you're calling me.

This is not unusual for Elijah.

Elijah had a lot of attitude.

In fact, when you read about his showdown on the mountain with the 450 false prophets, there's a moment where he said, We'll see whose God is real and whose God is true.

And he says, Whoever's God sends fire down to take this altar.

And what he says to the false prophets, Elijah, the mentor, he mocks them and says, Where's your God at?

Maybe he's deaf, maybe he's on vacation.

Maybe read your Bible.

It actually says, Maybe he's going to the bathroom.

He's not listening to your prayers right now.

So this is, I think, the kind of attitude that Elisha has picked up.

I see you want my help.

But where have you been?

In other words, thankfully, God is not like this to us.

Thankfully, God doesn't give us this attitude, but this is almost the attitude we expect when we return to God.

We almost expect Him to kind of turn a cold shoulder and then treat us like, well, where have you been for the last few months?

What happened last time you said this?

God doesn't do that to us.

He's ready with open arms.

But watch what Elisha does.

Elisha said, As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, I would not pay attention, I would not pay any attention to you.

Like if I didn't respect this one king, I wouldn't even be here.

And then he says something that seems just arbitrary, like, okay, now bring me a harpist.

It's like he's gonna have a little attitude with them, but he's like, okay, fine.

And then if you don't know what this is about, and if you don't know why he's asking for a harpist, you might think he's just asking for like, okay, but I want green MMs in my room.

I want, I just want, just you gotta come to me the way I want you to.

It's almost like he's saying, I can't prophesy without some good background music.

So bring me a harpist.

He's kind of ignoring the war, he's ignoring the desperation for water and the soldiers and the kings.

But truly, when he calls for a harpist, he's not just calling for music, he's calling for worship, he's calling for the presence of God to like, hey, you need water, you're desperate, you're going to war, we got a problem, you haven't been here in a while.

We got a little bit of that animosity going on, but we need the presence of God more than we need to talk this out.

So the first thing Number one on your notes is this that you need a worship filter.

You don't need a fear filter.

You don't need a hurt filter.

You don't need a, I'm in the middle of the struggle of my life filter.

You don't need a filter of lies that could be anything or your habits and your hurts and all the things you pick up in life.

What you need on top of all of that is a worship filter.

You need to be able to look through the lens of worship because that lens, what does worship do?

When I turn on music, when I bring in a harpist.

Now we don't have a harpist.

In fact, I think that might be the hardest instrument to bring out onto the battlefield.

Like, hey, bring a harp out here.

When you bring worship into your house, when you bring worship into the moment of your struggle, what you're actually bringing in, you're saying, I'm not going to focus on all these problems.

I'm not going to focus on this king or Moab or the lack of water or all the potentially dead animals that are around our army.

I'm going to focus on the presence of the Lord.

Because that's the only thing that makes a difference.

Number the second part of this worship filter and bringing in worship is that worship brings in the power of God.

Not just the presence of God, but the power of God comes with the presence of God.

Paul and Silas sitting in a prison says they begin to worship in the middle of the night and the chains broke off of them.

The doors flew open.

Elisha knew that there's a key to changing this situation and turning this situation, and it starts with worship.

Because I might not be able to get my feelings in check, but I can start to worship.

I might not be able to change what I see around me, but I can change the presence of God.

And not only that, but it's going to help us tune in to hear the voice of God.

So I get the presence of God, the power of God, and the voice of God.

And it starts with worship.

Worship is, we could just spend the whole day on what worship does.

It changes my attitude.

Because in order for me to truly be in worship, it means that my heart and my head has to bow down, has to yield and humble to get humble, to walk in humility, to take on a posture of humility.

Then the presence and the power of God and the voice of God start to move in my life.

That might be the first step that somebody in the room, probably every one of us, needs to begin to walk in worship and put on that filter and push off all of the others.

So let's keep reading in verse 15.

It says, Then it happened.

So they start to, they bring in the harp, they begin to worship.

Then it happened when the musician played that the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha.

Now he is he's gonna speak God's word.

He hears the voice of God and he said, Thus says the Lord.

And he says something that probably does not make sense in that moment.

Sometimes it doesn't.

Thus says the Lord, make this valley full of ditches.

Make this valley full of ditches.

It's almost as if God is saying through Elisha, I'm gonna send rain, but first I want you to dig some ditches.

God's gonna send the water, God's gonna answer the prayer.

And so if I'm on the battlefield that day and I hear the prophet say, dig some ditches, I'm going to send water.

Dig so I'm I'm imagining, okay, there's water coming, and I start looking around.

Uh there's not a cloud in the sky.

But the very next thing that Elisha says in prophecy is this for this is what the Lord says, you will see neither wind nor rain.

Yet this valley will be filled with water.

Wait a second, that doesn't make sense.

We've never seen this valley full of water except when it rains.

And it says, And you, your cattle, and your other animals will drink.

This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord.

And he will also deliver Moab into your hands.

In other words, I'm gonna take care of all the problems you got.

You got a problem with your armies, you got a problem with Moab, you got a problem with water, you got you're in a really tough spot.

I'm gonna fix all of the all, I'm gonna take care of all of this.

In fact, it's easy.

But I need you to do something.

What does he ask them to do?

He asks them to dig ditches, make this valley full of ditches, and it's there's no water though.

That I think what happens for us is hey, there's water everywhere, let's dig ditches and catch all this water.

Still dry out.

Why does Elisha, why does the Spirit of God say that there will be no wind and no rain?

I think it's because whenever we think that God is gonna move in a certain way, we start looking for it and waiting on it.

In other words, don't wait on the signs of it.

Just do what I told you to do.

Not gonna send wind, not gonna send rain, just dig the ditches and then I'll fill them up.

But how can you do that, God, without sending rain?

So before the rain comes, surely there'll be some wind and some storm clouds, and like we start getting ahead of God and delaying what he's asked us to do because we don't see the things in order.

So maybe we should stop looking for the signs of God moving and just start being obedient and doing what he asked us to do, and then he'll do what he said he would do.

You look around at your life and you're thinking, God said he was gonna fix this problem, but they're still mad at me.

God said he was gonna fix this relationship, and God said he would restore this, but they're still mad.

They're still they're still blaming me for everything.

God said, God promised that I would have a good marriage, but we're still struggling.

I can't see it happening.

Maybe you're thinking God promised he would provide all my needs, but the mailbox is still empty, and I look at my banking app and there's still not a dollar.

I don't see any any of the signs that God could be moving, and you still haven't been obedient.

So we lay awake at night and we're anxious and worried and looking for signs.

Well, what if this happens, or what if this, and we try to think it all out.

Listen, I think he says, Don't look for wind, don't look for rain.

I'm not doing it that way.

I'm doing it a different way.

I'm gonna solve all the problems, and so what about your life and my life?

If we could just trust God, okay, God, you don't have to do it the way I want you to do it, but I trust that you can do it.

Faith is seeing one thing and believing what God says.

Okay, I see all the wrong things, none of it makes sense, all the circumstances add up to the wrong result, and yet I'm still gonna trust God because I know he cares for me.

I see bills piling up, and yet God says he's gonna supply all my needs.

So before we move on, I want you to get this that God can send the water, but he asks us to do what?

To dig a ditch.

God can send the water, but he asked you to dig the ditch.

Dig a ditch.

So after we've begun with worship, what are we gonna do?

Number two, we're gonna start digging the ditch.

Start, well, I could say ditches, because he said fill the valley with ditches.

The book of James says, faith without works is what?

It's dead.

God, we trust you.

We need your help.

Save us, dig ditches, but God save us.

God dig ditches for us.

No, that's not how God works.

God needs us to do, okay.

Uh let's just be clear.

God does not need us to do the thing.

God does not need you to dig the ditches.

But part of faith is saying, it's almost like God says, I'm going to you, I'm gonna do a miracle, but I need to know how committed you are.

I need to know how I'm all the way faithful.

I'm God's saying, I'm all the way faithful, I'm all the way committed, I'm going to do the miracle, but I need you to see how committed you are.

I need you to take a step.

God wants us to participate, but he doesn't need us.

We see this throughout the Bible.

Noah, God wants to do a miracle, and he says, I just want you to build an ark.

You have to trust me enough to start building.

Moses, he tells Moses to throw down your staff.

You don't have to turn it into a snake.

You don't have to do the miracles, you don't have to produce plagues, you just have to hold out your staff.

You don't have to part the waters, just hold out your staff.

So, what if Moses would have just stood there and said, Okay, God, save us, hold out your staff.

No, God, save us.

You might be saying, I would never argue with God like that, but we do.

We resist God.

We resist taking the step of faith and doing the thing that he wants us to do.

And it might not look the same for all of us.

It might not be obviously not ditches, and it might not be a staff or build an ark.

But he asks something from all of us.

He asks steps of faith to walk by faith.

Jesus asked the crippled man, he said, You be healed, but you have to stand up.

He said, Be healed, but stretch out your hand to a man who had a shriveled hand.

Shriveled arm.

He said, Stretch out your arm.

And if I'm crippled, and if I have an arm that I've never been able to use, some part of me has to say, This doesn't work, but I'm just gonna do what he says.

You have to put some effort into doing the thing.

All right.

So God wants to see how serious we are.

So I think I brought I brought uh a tool today to show you what this looks like in in my mind whenever God says dig a ditch, and a lot of us what do we do?

We come over and we say, okay, let's dig a ditch.

Ready to dig a ditch.

In fact, this says miracle grow must be God.

This is you know what this says?

Whenever I show, if you show up to a church work day with this in your hand, I'm not taking you serious.

If I say bring tools and shovels and you show up with this, just don't come because I know that you're not serious.

This tiny shovel says, I'm okay with getting a little bit dirty, God.

It also says, I dabble in dirt.

Uh this does not say I'm ready to get dirty and I'm ready to follow God's plan.

It says I got about 20 25 minutes, God.

And as long as the ground is soft, we're in good shape.

This does not say we're gonna move some dirt today.

This does not say, let's fill this valley with ditches.

If you're serious about digging, you might bring something bigger, like this.

This is a well-used shovel.

But if you're so can I just say this?

I've I've had I've dug my share of ditches, and it's one of the hardest jobs to do of all the jobs.

Digging a ditch, and I'm not talking about when what you did out in your yard where you just planted something in the yard and it was uh took you about 20 minutes.

I'm talking about if you have ever dug for hours and hours, if you ever spent the whole day digging, that's not for the faint of heart.

That gives you blisters, that gives you pain.

That's a young man's job.

But there's a big difference in our commitment and in our our decision to follow God's directions.

The first difference is this that whenever I show up with this, figuratively speaking, whenever I show up with this, it takes a little bit of effort.

In fact, I can use this tool with just my arms, my hands.

I can pot, I can do a potted plant, I can repot a plant.

But for this, I have to use my whole body.

I can't just use my arms.

You're not gonna dig any holes with this, just using your arms.

It takes your whole body.

If I'm gonna use this, I have to put my back into it.

Some of us have put our interest into what God's doing, but we haven't put our weight into it.

And whenever we get to a place where we feel like, okay, God, I'm gonna dig, I'm gonna work, and we get to a point and we hit the ground with the shovel, and then the the the shirt the dirt is dry and it doesn't move, well, maybe I need a different tool.

No, you need the same tools that you have, you just need to put your back into it, and it's time for you to step onto it and put your weight into it instead of just your interest, and you this is a hobby.

If you're carrying this around figuratively, if your investment in the kingdom of God and God's purpose for your life is this, then you're just interested.

You just have you have a hobby in your faith.

If you're putting your weight into it, you got some blisters on your hand, and you your back kind of hurts because you've been lifting in your faith, it's not a hobby anymore.

You're putting your life into it.

You put your you're putting your weight into it.

Last thing that I'll point out about these shovels is that this is made for surface work.

This is made for moving for disturbing the surface, and you could work, you could work with this shovel for weeks in your yard, and all you've done is tear up the grass.

You didn't dig any ditches.

I don't think you could dig a ditch with this.

Not a life-saving water-catching ditch.

You can disturb the surface without ever digging a ditch.

And a lot of us have asked God for deep things, but we've only given him shallow obedience.

We've only given him surface obedience, we've only scratched the surface of what he's asked us to do, and yet we're expecting big things from him.

You're asking God for a full-size miracle with garden-sized, garden shovel-sized commitment.

I'm challenging everybody in the room today that when God asks us to step out, and whenever he asks us to dig, and when he asks us to have faith and put our weight into it and live for him so that he can do his part, that we show up with everything that we have.

So God promised the water, but they determined the capacity of the miracle that would come.

Notice, if they would have, if they would have gone out into the desert that day and decided, okay, guys, let's just dig a little, let's dig a ditch here, dig a ditch here.

When the water does come, what do they get?

They get, they only dug that deep.

But if they would have dug as deep and as long and filled the whole valley with ditches, then they would have had plenty.

So digging doesn't earn the miracle, but the obedience makes room for the miracle.

Your obedience and your level of commitment decides the capacity of the miracle that God sends.

It's not that the water's gonna show up in the valley.

I'm just going, I'm telling you that already.

The water is about to roll through the valley.

But when the water comes and goes, because it doesn't just stay there, when the miracle that God sends you comes, have you prepared the way?

It's almost like whenever Jesus tells, at the very first miracle that Jesus performs at a wedding in Cana, he says, they ran out of wine.

And so what does he do?

He says, prepare the pots.

So the servants bring the water pots.

What if they would have brought, okay, Jesus, here's our pot.

That's all they would have got.

How much capacity have you prepared for the miracle that God wants to send you?

Ah, well, I just don't have time for it.

Okay.

You don't have time for it.

You don't have the effort for it.

You don't have the health for it.

You don't have the mental capacity for it.

I've had people tell me I just don't have the bandwidth for it, Pastor.

I just I just now's not a good time.

Okay.

All right.

How passive can we be and still have faith?

How passive can we live and still be followers of Jesus who walk by faith and not by sight?

So, what ditch do you need to dig?

What ditch do you need to dig?

I'm gonna ask the the band to join me back on stage, but I wanna I just need you to ask yourself, what ditch do you need to dig and how deep are you are you prepared to dig it?

Maybe you're thinking about your kids.

I need a miracle with my kids, but whenever you're preparing the way and when you're digging the ditches, and sometimes people ask, Pastor, I'm I I just don't like where the direction my kids are going.

And I ask, well, do they go to kids' church?

Have you brought them to youth services?

Do they sit in the church?

Well, no, they don't.

They're not into that.

Okay.

All right.

I can't control what they do all yeah, but you can't control you can't control what your kids do all the time, but you can control what environment they're in.

Some of the time.

You might be saying, well, I want to be married one day.

I want a wife.

Well, if you have no job and you're a slob, you gotta do something about it.

Or if you're saying, I want a husband, and you've been looking in all the wrong places for it, you've been going to bars and clubs, and you're not uh you're not a wife.

Okay, you don't you don't have to dig any ditches or you don't want to, you're just not gonna have what God wants you to have.

Maybe it's an addiction.

You've been thinking, God, I need a miracle, and yet you continue to leave the door open to the miracle.

You have not shut you have maybe it's time to throw something in the garbage and bring in some accountability and let somebody walk with you.

Maybe you tried to save your marriage, and you're waiting around on God to save your marriage when you should be digging ditches.

How do you dig the ditches?

You serve, you apologize, you walk in forgiveness, even when they don't.

You just do the things that you can do.

You look, you look for counsel, you begin honoring, you bring honor into the marriage, even if it's dishonorable, even if you don't receive honor back, start digging ditches and watch God heal.

Maybe you're that couple that wants a child.

You've been praying, God, we need a miracle.

This is a we don't know how to have a child.

We well, beyond the obvious digging of ditches that are required, if you don't know what that means, maybe it's getting your health in order.

Maybe it's putting there's some ditches that can be dug.

There's some things that only you can do.

Because God will do all the things that only He can do.

So last thing I want to show you is this that the armies start digging, and what happens?

Nothing.

They're digging, they're digging ditches, and they're digging ditches, and they keep digging the ditches.

So, what do we do when God asks us to do something and promises a miracle and we don't see the miracle yet?

What do we do?

Keep digging, keep being obedient, keep walking.

Watch one very last verse, 2 Kings chapter 3, verse 20 says, The next day.

2 Kings 3:20

Water doesn't come that day.

They dig all day, they might have dug all night.

We're gonna dig in shifts.

The next day, about the time when the morning sacrifice was offered, water suddenly appeared.

It was flowing from the direction of Edom, and soon there was water everywhere.

God was answering their prayers.

They dug all day in the dry, in the heat.

Notice they didn't dig when When water was coming down, they didn't see the answer when they started in obedience.

They started walking in obedience, and then God showed up.

I want to pray with you.

And I just I need you to decide.

I'm gonna dig.

I'm gonna be obedient.

It might not look like anything right now, but I'm gonna trust God because He's more than enough.

Would you stand on your feet and let's let's turn our hearts toward heaven.

Father, we thank you that you are always faithful, that your mercies are new every day, and we trust you to show up and provide every miracle.

We trust you, God, that you are going to be everything that we need in our time of struggle and things don't make sense.

God, you make sense.

And so, God, let we we take on the responsibility of determining the capacity of this miracle, and today we'll decide to start walking in faith, walking in obedience.

We'll start to dig the ditches to prepare the way for the miracle that you're gonna send us in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let's worship and then we'll close it.

You do love to do it.

They decide to turn back to God.

They decide, where is that prophet?

Where is the answer?

That we how do we go back to where we know is the right way?

Maybe today your life has gone in that direction where you know things aren't quite right, they're not in sync with the design that God has for you.

God has so much for us, He has miracles, signs, and wonders, He has purpose and life for us in every struggle, every strife, every relationship for our future.

He has everything for us, but we have to go back to Him.

We have to submit ourselves to Him and come with the same way that Elisha said, let's worship first.

Let's humble ourselves, let's submit and surrender to the God that can save us.

So today, let's do that same thing.

I would invite you, if you've never given your life to Jesus, let's let this be that moment.

We're gonna say a prayer together out loud.

I would invite you to repeat it after me if you're watching online.

Let's say this prayer together and surrender our lives to Him.

Would you, with every head bowed, every eye closed, would you say these words out loud?

God, today.

I surrender my life to you.

I won't do things my way anymore.

I won't ignore you anymore.

I won't ignore your will for my life.

I want your design.

So forgive me of my sin.

From this day forward, I choose to follow you.

So breathe new life into me.

Breathe your spirit into me.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Let's put our hands together for everybody who said that prayer.

Thank you guys for joining us today.

I love you all.

Looking forward to a great fall season and the rest of this series.

We'll see you next week.

God bless.