Keep the Change – Embrace the Unknown

This podcast is presented to you by Pastor Jason Burns and Access Church in Lakeland, Florida.

For more information, visit Access.tv.

We're in a series entitled Keep the Change.

Everybody said Keep the Change.

Keep the Change.

That's it, and it's exciting.

This is week two of it.

I'm excited to be a part of this.

And so this morning, if you have a Bible, if you brought a physical Bible, you can go with me to the book of John, chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

And if not, it's gonna be on the screen.

If you're online with us, it'll be right there, and you can see that as well.

John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

Let me give you a little setup so you can understand what's happening.

Jesus has already completed his earthly ministry.

He has died, he was buried, and then he resurrected.

And then a little over a week after that, we pick up this story that I'll read for us today.

And it really feels like that's where we are right now.

Just a couple weeks ago, we celebrated Easter, and it was an incredible Easter all over this beautiful church.

And so we pick up this story.

I'm gonna start here and let's read.

It says, afterward, Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee.

It happened this way.

This is John writing it.

Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel from Cana and Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.

I'm going out to fish.

Everybody say, I'm going out to fish.

I'm going out to fish.

Simon Peter said, I'm going out to fish.

He told the rest of the group, you need to know this.

Simon Peter, before he was a disciple of Jesus, he was a fisherman.

And so a change had happened in his life.

And what I want to do today is look through his lens a little bit and pull out some encouragements, I think, that are going to help us.

But he says this.

He said, I'm going out to fish.

I went through a change.

I was a fisherman.

And Jesus came into my life.

I turned into a disciple of Jesus, but now Jesus was gone.

He was no longer walking with him day by day, step by step, as he had normally done in the past.

So he says, I'm going back, I'm going back out to fish.

I know how to do that.

Peter told them, they said, We'll go with you.

Everybody say, I'm coming too.

That's what they said.

The disciples, they said, We're coming as well.

Peter was a leader of swords.

He wasn't about words, he was about action.

Anybody in here?

Sometimes words are great, but you got to do something.

So Peter said, I'm doing it.

I'm going out fishing.

So they went out and they got into the boat.

But that night they caught.

Come on, help me.

That night they caught.

That night they caught nothing.

Man, it was probably frustrating.

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, friends, have you any fish?

Somebody in the back of the boat said, No, we haven't caught no fish.

I don't know who this guy is, but no, we haven't caught nothing.

He said, Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you'll find some.

When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved, pause right here.

That's John.

So John is basically writing and saying, I'm Jesus' favorite.

The disciple, that's what he calls himself.

I'm the disciple that Jesus loved.

So that was me.

I said to Peter, it is the Lord.

Simon Peter, a man of action.

Not just, oh, that's Jesus.

Okay, cool.

No.

He he, as soon as he heard him say, It is the Lord, Simon Peter, boom, hit me.

Hit me.

There it is.

He wrapped his outer garment around him.

Remember, he's not just content with, oh, that's Jesus.

He said, I'm jumping in the water.

I'm going to see Jesus, for he had taken it off and he jumped into the water.

The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish.

They said, Somebody's got to bring in the fish.

Peter's out in the water running to Jesus, and we over here, so okay, we're going to tow this in.

And they were not far from the shore, only about a hundred yards.

When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals.

And we'll come back to that in a little bit, there with fish on it, and some bread.

Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you've just caught.

So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore.

Pause here.

He must have been a strong guy.

This man grabbed all the fish by himself and said, Come here.

Just as Jesus said.

Next one.

It says this.

It was full of large fish.

153.

Everybody say 153.

153.

But even with so many, the net was not torn.

Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast.

I love that Jesus likes to eat.

I like to eat.

And I love that Jesus mentions here, not dinner, not lunch, but breakfast.

How many of you know breakfast is the best meal of the day?

Is there anybody like me and you think that, all right, four of us?

All right, great.

Breakfast is great.

But none of the disciples dared to ask him, Who are you?

They knew it was the Lord.

Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Let's pray.

Jesus, we love you.

And so we start, we're starting our week.

The best way we know how to be here in your presence, I pray that over the next couple minutes you would speak to us, challenge us, change us.

My prayer is always the same.

That we would leave here better than when we came in.

We love you.

And somebody that loves Jesus said, Amen.

All right, here's what I want to do, family.

I want to start with uh just a self-examination.

I I want you on a scale of one to five, five is the lowest, like no, no, no.

I'm sorry, one is the lowest.

Five is like yes, yes, yes, no is uh one is no, no, no.

I want you to answer this question honestly.

We're in church, so you can't lie.

Be honest about yourself.

How much do you like change as it relates to simple things in your life?

Let's let's talk about like food, like clothing.

One is like, no, I I stick to what I stick to.

I got what I got.

This is this is my routine, I know it.

Five is like I can eat anywhere, anytime, any place, like it's all good.

I can I like all types of food.

Where are you?

Okay, you got your answer?

Oh, I mean, yeah, you can say it on account of three.

Everybody say it.

One, two, three.

All right, great.

I like it.

Now, let's let's flip the script.

Let's talk about things that maybe it's more serious to you.

Maybe it's like uh let's talk about like a move across the country.

Or or maybe let's let's talk about like a switch of a career, something a little bit more serious.

Now, where are you?

One, two, three.

All right.

Now, family, I gotta be honest with you.

I asked myself this question.

And then when comes the food for me, I'm like a two on this scale.

I don't, I'm not picky, I'm particular.

That's what I say.

I like what I like, you know.

Like, don't try to get me to try a whole bunch of different foods, and and the worst is when someone's like, yeah, so-and-so is from this country.

They're gonna make you some food.

I always am like, oh man.

I just don't like change, right?

Like, I just I just don't.

Like if I go to Waffle House, which you need to go to Waffle House, I'm trying to tell you Waffle House is incredible.

Anybody like Waffle House in there?

Come on.

That's a thank you.

Forget first service, man.

They booed me.

You guys, you guys are my people right here.

But when you go to Waffle House for me, I don't want uh all stars, but no, I want my regular waffle and a side of sausage.

That's all I want.

I stick to what I like and I got it.

When I go to McDonald's, I don't want a triple quarter pound or nothing.

I want my fillet of fish, add mac sauce, and a sprite.

That's all I want.

Anybody?

No.

Somebody threw up in the back.

I'm sorry, sir.

But I just like what I like.

Like, I just I don't deviate a lot from that change.

Like my friends call it my basic white girl drink.

Uh, for the record, I did not call it that, as you see.

I can't be doing that these days.

But um, it's good to laugh at church, everybody.

All right.

So, but for they call it my basic white girl drink at Starbucks.

I don't want a macchiato.

I want the tall, white chocolate mocha with whipped cream hot, please.

Amen.

That's what I'm talking about.

Yes, that's all I want.

I don't want to change.

I don't want to do that.

But so many of us, when change is, it's silly like that, but then change also is really serious in our life.

And all over the room, we face change of different magnitudes.

Some of us right now are facing change, and based on our personality, based on our experiences, we all feel change a certain way and we like it, uh, or we don't like uh change at varying levels, all of us.

And I think that there are two main reasons why, there's a lot of reasons, but I think the two main reasons why we why we resist change.

We're talking about keeping the change, why we resist change or why we don't sustain or keep change.

I think there's two of them.

The first one is this I think we don't because we're creatures of habit.

We as humans, we we tend to like patterns, right?

We tend to like routines.

We tried to like, uh we tend to like habits and things that that fall in in line.

Problem is with change, change disrupts those from time to time.

And and deviating from what's the normal for some of us, like we just we just don't like it.

Doesn't matter if it's food, whether it's moving across the country, whether it's a career move or investment move, anything.

We just don't like change a lot of the times, because we're creatures of habit.

Beginning of this year, 2023, I had a fit, there was a certain fitness goal I was trying to hit.

And um and I was trying to hit this goal, but I was frustrated because I wasn't hitting this goal.

And so I talked with my wife, and I was like, man, like I'm really messing up, like I'm really not like hitting this goal.

And she said, well, sit down, let's talk.

And she said, just be honest.

Like, don't lie, just be honest.

Why do you think you're not hitting the goal?

And I was I was super honest with her.

I was like, you know what?

I'm unwilling to change.

Like I have this goal out in front of me, but to be honest, like, I'm unwilling to do what's necessary to hit that goal.

Because what did it mean?

It was gonna mean that I would change my my habits and my routine of my day, of my morning, and I'm just like, I was just unwilling to change.

And so I had to sit there that moment and just realize, like, hey man, you can't be mad at anybody else but yourself.

And I think that that reflects in all of us.

We're all human, we're creatures of habit to a degree.

Number two is this, and I think this is the the bigger one that it's fear of the unknown.

It's fear of the unknown.

The reality is change causes you to change.

There is no change if there's no change and and and fear of the unknown.

Here's the reality: when you change, when something changes on the other side, we don't always know the result.

We ask questions like, is this gonna work out?

Is this okay?

Sometimes when we're initiating a change, we're you know, we truly don't know what's on the other side.

We we hope that we have the right information and we hope that we're going the right way, we hope we're doing the right thing, but truly we don't know what's on the other side.

And here's a question uh I have for you Have you ever halted or stopped change in your life because of fear of the unknown?

Have you ever said, you know what, I'm not gonna do a certain thing because I don't know what's on the other side of it?

Here's the deal.

Catch this change challenges comfort.

Change challenges comfort.

One writer said this that change begins at the end of your comfort zone.

In other words, we can't really have change, and we can't really sustain change if we're not willing to get uncomfortable.

And I believe this.

I believe that God wants us, or God wants to meet us in the place of the unknown.

See, change brings unknown into our life, and I think that God actually wants to meet us in that place.

I don't think that God is distant and far off, and God is away from us.

I think he actually wants to be with us in the midst of that change.

And and I'll say it like this.

We keep the change by embracing the unknown.

We keep the change by embracing the unknown.

Inevitably, with change, you're gonna face the unknown.

But how do I sustain through that?

I have to embrace what I don't know.

I have to embrace what I can't see on the other side.

I have to embrace that which is out there.

I'm just gonna have to go into it.

If I'm gonna sustain a change, I'm gonna have to go through the unknown.

The passage of scripture that I open this service with comes to us from John chapter 21.

John 21 · chapter mention

And through Peter's lens, this is an important time for him.

See, Peter had walked with Jesus.

He was a fisherman, turned disciple, and he had walked with Jesus.

He was one of Jesus' like inner crew.

There were 12, but then there was like three that were just tight, and Peter was one of them.

Peter had seen Jesus do things and seen the miracles and been there for the healings.

He had been there when God moved through Jesus powerfully, and he was there.

Jesus, or Peter was with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus was about to be arrested.

Peter was there in that moment.

Matter of fact, Peter stands up and says, You're not taking my friend, and he cut somebody's ear off.

This is a side note, but you need somebody that'll cut somebody's ear off for you.

I'm just saying, we all need that friend that's like, hey, I'm gonna swing first, ask questions later.

That was Peter.

So Peter was there.

And then outside of a courtyard, Peter has the biggest letdown of his life.

He denies Jesus three times.

He's staring across the courtyard over a charcoal fire is Jesus, and Peter is letting Jesus down, just as Jesus said that he would.

So Peter has faced a massive change.

The last time he had contact with Jesus was across this fire.

He had let down Jesus in a huge way.

Now here comes another encounter with Jesus and Peter.

Peter, he went back to doing what he knew how to do, which was fish.

But I think if you could put a label on the state or the place of his life, it was you put the label unknown.

Yeah, sure, he was fishing like he knew how to do, but Jesus wasn't with him like he normally was.

And now Peter's like, man, the last time I was with Jesus, it was it was a disaster.

And in this place of unknown, Jesus meets Peter.

It's incredible.

And I think today, here's what I want to do, just for our time together, these next few moments, I want to give us some encouragements from the unknown.

Because I believe that God wants to meet us in that place.

He wants to encourage us in that place of unknown.

So here's the first one God wants to connect with us.

Encouragement number one is that God wants to connect with us.

Let me take you right back to the Bible.

Verses four and five of chapter 21 says as early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, friends, have you any fish?

What'd they say?

Said, no, we don't have any fish.

Pause right here.

What I want you to see is that the disciples were not looking for Jesus, but Jesus was looking for them.

What I want you to see is that they, I don't know if it was like the fog of the early morning.

The Bible says that they had fished all night and they had caught nothing.

So I don't know if it was just the fog of the morning, or I don't know if it was their eyes were just tired from fishing all night.

I don't know what it is, but they didn't see Jesus.

But here, catch this.

Jesus saw them.

What I want you to see, this is an encouragement from the unknown.

When you're in the unknown of life and you're disoriented, when you're in a place that's that's not known to you, God still sees you.

And some of us, you walked in this room and you need to be encouraged by that, that God sees you.

What I love about our church is our church is this beautiful place where every single Sunday, every single Wednesday, people, young people, older people, more seasoned, not older, my bad.

More seasoned people, wiser people, young people, kids right now, and access kids.

People are taking steps closer to Jesus.

They are taking the next step in their relationship with Jesus, as we say here.

And I love that because I'll be willing to bet money.

There are people that are coming and they are seeking the Lord, but also I know there are people that they're not seeking God, but when they get here, God is seeking them.

And I'm thankful for a God that goes out of his way to seek after me, even when I don't see him.

Even when I can't tell that it's him, he can tell that it's in me.

So I just want to encourage you, if you're in an unknown place in your life, you may not see Jesus, but he sees you.

Write this down.

Even in the unknown, God wants to connect with us.

God wants to connect with us.

Absolutely.

Here's what I think.

I think we get into a pattern and a lifestyle of thinking that the God is the God of before.

That is, that He's the God when I knew how everything was going, when I knew how everything was turning out, when I had the promotion, when I had the status, when I had the money, when my kids were good and precious and innocent and pure and all those things.

Surely he was connected to me then.

But but now I'm in a different place, and and now he's not.

Sometimes we trick ourselves and we think that God's not with us.

But I just want to encourage you, he is still connected to you.

And he still wants to connect to you.

He's not just the God of before when everything was going good, he's also the God that wants to meet you right where you are, even if it's an unknown state to you.

Here it is.

What's unknown to you is known to God.

What's unknown to us is known to God.

These disciples, these fishermen, they had no idea what Jesus was up to, but he knew.

They didn't know, but he knew, and he was about to do something so incredible in Peter's life.

And here's what you need to understand that God wants to be connected to you, even in the unknown.

It's not just when things are going good, but it's also when you feel like, man, I'm in an unknown place.

Man, I'm I'm walking through a change that's taking everything out of me.

Jesus still wants to connect with you.

God still wants to connect with you.

I love this.

The Apostle Paul writes this in Romans.

He says this, but God demonstrated his love.

He demonstrates his own love for us in this.

While we were still, while we were still, we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In other words, Christ died, that's amazing.

That's a pillar of our of our faith that we believe in, and we're thankful for that.

But he died for us when we were still sinners.

That that is when we didn't have everything put together.

That is when we didn't know the right way to go.

That is when we weren't looking for him.

This is when he decides to give a great sacrifice of his own life.

He died for us while we were still sinners.

So I'm just here to encourage you.

If you feel like life's not where you want it to be, you feel like you're walking through the unknown of life, it's okay.

Because God is looking for you.

And he's okay with connecting with you in this moment when everything is not as pretty and as shiny as you like it to be.

This is the encouragement from the unknown.

It's that God still wants to connect with you and he still wants to connect with me.

Here's the second one.

I love this.

God speaks in a way that we can understand.

God will speak in a way we can understand.

Let's go right back to that.

Verses five and six.

It says this.

He called out, he being Jesus.

He called out to them, friends, haven't you any fish?

No, they answered.

He said, Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.

Now, when you just read this, you can keep this here.

When you just read this, you just think, okay, Jesus gives an order, they obey the order, the command, and then they get a great hall of fish.

But what when you really look underneath the surface, Jesus is speaking to them in a way that they understand.

The reason why is because this also we find this in Luke chapter 5, when Jesus first calls his disciples into his service.

Luke 5 · chapter mention

It's almost the same story, just a little different.

Both instances, they had fished all night and they had caught nothing.

Both instances, Jesus gave a command, Jesus gave a directive, they follow it, and there's a good result for them.

And so it's virtually the same.

So what is Jesus doing?

Jesus is teaching them, and Jesus is revealing himself in a way that they can understand.

Does this make sense?

This is beautiful how Jesus does this.

This is one of just a few instances when Jesus is gonna reveal himself in such a way that they will understand and they will know that it's him.

This is the reason why John says, hey, that's that's the Lord.

We've seen this before.

That's the Lord.

This is the reason why Peter says, I'm out.

I love y'all, but I'm in the water, I'm going to Jesus.

Because he understands and he realizes, oh, this is Jesus.

We read it just a moment ago, and I'm not going to go back to read it, but we read about it said that when they reach the shore, there's a charcoal fire waiting for them.

What's interesting about this is those the word used for charcoal fire there is only used two times in the New Testament.

It's used there when we read it, and then it's also used about a charcoal fire that Peter warms himself at and looks across and denies Jesus.

So now think about this through Peter's sandals, if you will.

He walks up on the shore, he knows it's Jesus, he walks up and sees a fire.

Physically, he sees this fire on the beach, but instantly, mentally, he's thinking, My goodness, the last time I seen a fire like this was when I denied the Lord Jesus.

Now he's probably thinking, oh man, Jesus is about to cuss me out.

He doesn't do that.

Jesus doesn't cuss.

We all know that.

But if you're Peter, you don't know.

Like if you're Peter, you don't know what's about to happen.

Jesus is gonna chew me out, Jesus is gonna fire me, Jesus is never gonna talk to me again.

He'll probably throw a fish at my face.

I don't know.

Like he's just in this place where he doesn't know what's gonna happen.

But God has this amazing plan that he's about to reveal to reveal to him, but he has to get through to him in a way that he'll understand.

Does this make sense?

So, so so here it is.

I I think that so many of us, there's a pattern of thinking that we fall into, and that is that God's always trying to evade or elude me.

That I'm praying, Pastor Isaiah, for something, and I'm trying to work through something, but but it seems as though God's playing like hide and seek and he doesn't want me to find it.

Can I tell you, friends, that that's not how God is?

God always speaks in a way that you can understand.

Does that make sense?

Like it may not feel like you're getting the answer in the moment, but God always speaks in a way that you can understand.

I'm only 31 years old, but here's what I've realized in my long, long life.

Sorry, you can laugh.

What I've realized in my life is this that God knows the individual ways that He connects with us.

He knows that.

I think there are sure.

There are main ways that God connects with us.

Absolutely, through the Bible and through scripture and through prayer and through community.

With one another and things like that.

But then I think there are these little unique moments where God knows I know how to get to them.

Just as a teacher, if they have a class of 15, 20 students, they know each and every kid listens and learns just a little bit different than the next one.

Just as a parent who has multiple kids, they know, hey, one of my kids, you know, I can't yell at them like that.

They just won't take it well, but one of my kids, maybe I can't.

God does this on such a big level.

God knows the way that He can connect and He can get through to you.

And I think it's absolutely beautiful how God does this.

Oswald Chambers, great, great evangelist, said this.

God speaks in the language that you know best.

Oh, but it's not through your ears, but through your circumstances.

So many times we don't see God and we feel like, okay, God, you're silent, you're not here.

I want to encourage you, as you leave today, begin to open your eyes just a little bit wider.

Ask God, hey, where are you revealing yourself to me through my circumstances?

Where might not I not be seeing you, but I need to see you.

Because God is speaking through your circumstances.

As a young, as a young uh high school, I remember I was in a I was in a tough spot where I had to make a decision.

And sometimes the worst decisions that you can make are between good and good, right?

When you have those two options, it's like, oh man, like if I knew one was bad, then I'd be like, okay, I know not to choose this one, right?

But sometimes the worst decisions are when it's like, this route is good, it'll take me this way.

This route is good, it'll take me this way.

Like, and so anyway, I was wrestling with one of these decisions, and I remember going to my youth pastor and asking him, hey, like, this is where I'm at.

And he called together some of our youth leaders that knew me well, and I was just like, I just don't know which way to go.

I just don't know what to do.

And I remember in that moment, they they he said, Hey, well, let's circle up and let's pray over you.

And here's the thing, I don't remember who prayed it, but I remember what they prayed.

And I want to give you that prayer right now.

Maybe I think you should adapt it to your own life.

And they said this, they just prayed, they said, God, I pray that for Isaiah, you would use situations, circumstances, people, and things that he will recognize, and he will know it's you, and then he'll follow in the way that he should go.

Man, I'll tell you what, I don't know who prayed that over me.

I don't know what voice that came out of, but I remember that prayer, and that prayer has followed me my whole life.

And maybe perhaps you're here today, you need to take that prayer and you need to say to yourself, okay, God, speak to me through my circumstances.

So some of us we connect best in nature.

So maybe you need to go on a hike or a bike ride or a walk or something like that.

Get into nature.

I'm not saying anything weird like God's inside the tree bark.

I'm not saying that.

But I'm saying, like, some of us, you need to get where you feel like, okay, I connect with God best.

Maybe it is nature.

Maybe some of us are super creative, and so you need to carve out time to be by yourself and just write and just let God speak.

And through that, He will speak to you.

Perhaps you're you're insanely musical or or you just really like music.

You connect best through music.

You probably need to carve out time and play worship music and just let it let it wash over you.

Let God speak to you.

Whatever your way is, maybe it's the gym, like I don't know.

You know you, and so you need to figure out hey, where is God speaking to me?

Hey, what environment do I need to intentionally place myself in so that I can hear what God is saying?

Because God is talking.

The question is, are we listening?

We put the blame on God a lot for him not speaking, but I bet he's speaking, we just have to open our minds to it.

In May next month, it'll be nine years that I've been a youth pastor.

And that prayer that I just alluded to a moment ago, I probably prayed that over hundreds of students over the years because I believe it, and I believe, and God did that for me in my life, and perhaps he'll do that in your life, he'll speak to you.

I know he will, I know he'll speak to you in a way that you will get it and you will know.

It won't be weird, but you'll just know.

You'll just understand, you'll just have that connection because you're his son or his daughter, and he knows how to best get through to you.

This is the encouragement from the unknown that God will speak to you.

Just got to be listening.

Here's the third one.

Let me give you this one.

God helps us sustain the change.

God helps us sustain the change.

It begins with God, it ends with God.

If you're truly gonna sustain change in your life of whatever magnitude you may be facing, it's gonna be God that gets you through.

Family, I read to begin service the first 14 verses of this beautiful passage of Scripture.

And I can tell you right now, there are things that we could probably go weeks, Pastor Jason, of just back and forth.

There's so much in there I can't get into today.

But in verses 20 or 15 to 25, this is where there's a beautiful reinstatement, a beautiful restoration of Peter.

Peter denied the Lord three times.

And three times Jesus asks him, Do you love me?

And he reinstates him into ministry.

He reinstates them into his leadership.

He reinstates him back to where God wanted him to be all along.

See, Peter's name means rock.

He said, I want you to be a rock.

Jesus said, On this rock, I'm gonna build my church.

He wanted him to be a pillar for the church.

And so Jesus had to have this moment with Peter where he rectified the situation.

He he redeemed him and brought him back and set him on the right course.

Let me tell you, friends, the rest for Peter is history.

So here it is.

The unknown is the training ground to sustain change.

The unknown is the training ground to sustain change.

In other words, many times we look at the unknown with a negative outlook, not realizing everything that we're gonna learn in the unknown is actually gonna be what's gonna help us sustain the change.

Let me say it like this: nothing is ever wasted with God.

So your experiences, the things you've been through, the things you're in right now, the things that you're fighting, the things that you're facing, nothing's ever wasted because God knows what he's doing, and everything in this moment right now that you're getting, you're gonna need in the future because nothing is ever wasted with God.

Peter had a massive failure, but Jesus was gonna reinstate him.

Here's what I think.

I think that sometimes God will allow us to fail so that we can develop spiritually so that he can use us mightily.

Say that again for somebody in the back that didn't catch it.

Sometimes I think what God will allow us to do, he'll allow us to fail so he can develop us spiritually so that he can use us mightily.

Who knows what's on the other side of your change?

Who knows?

Who knows what's on the other side of the unknown for you?

For Peter, it was incredible how he how he bounced back.

It was incredible, it was awesome.

I mean, he goes on to do some some incredible things.

He goes on to stand up in front of 3,000 people that were added to the church, and he preaches with boldness and courage.

He goes on to write the books of 1 Peter and 2 Peter, he goes on to do healings and miracles in Jesus' name.

He opens the door.

He was like foundational to opening and uh infiltrating the church and infiltrating the gospel to the Samaritans, the Gentiles, the Jews.

Peter was incredible.

He was martyred for his faith, but here's the crazy thing: we're still talking about him today.

Because what he learned in that moment, though he was in a state of unknown, God knew where he was at, God spoke to him, did a work in his life, and the rest is history.

Here's the question: what might be on the other side of your change for you?

What might be on the other side of your unknown that you may not know is there?

What may be there?

I love this.

Peter, he goes on to write and he says this in 2 Peter 1, 3.

He says this, his divine power.

In other words, God's divine power has given us everything.

How much?

Come on, help me.

How much?

He's given us everything that we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Paul, uh yeah, uh Peter writes this that God's given us everything that we need.

In other words, hold this here.

In other words, you may not have everything, but you have everything that you need.

You may not have everything that you think you need, but but God has given us everything.

Peter writes this.

If anybody would write this and know the truth behind this, it's Peter.

He says, listen, you got everything that you need.

In that moment, what Jesus did was gave him everything that he needed that he needed to sustain the change and to go on and be an incredible guy, incredible leader, incredible man of God, a man that we're still talking about today.

Why?

Oh, because God sees you.

Even when you don't see him, he sees you.

Even when you're not going after him, he's going after you.

Oh, he'll speak to you in a way that's familiar, and you won't have to guess.

Oh, is this God?

Or no, he'll speak to you in such a way that you got it.

Oh, and he's gonna help you sustain the change.

Try to give us, I want to put some handles on this.

I wanna get practical.

How do we walk out of here?

What's the handle that we can hold on to that will help us sustain the change and keep the change?

I came up with one word.

Pastor Jason last week gave us two words.

I'm only half the preacher he is, so I'm giving you one this week.

Y'all didn't laugh?

Alright, whatever.

I'm gonna give you one word I think that will really help you.

And I think when you boil it all down, how do I how do I make it through change and I don't know what's on the other side?

How do I make it through change and I don't know?

I'm uncertain, I'm confused, I'm lost, I'm disoriented, all these things.

How do I make it through?

I there's one word that comes to mind: five-letter word, trust.

Man, how am I gonna make it through the unknown?

How am I gonna keep the change and embrace the unknown?

It's gonna come down to trust.

I read a story this week of a man.

He he was a scuba diver, and it was his first time doing a night dive.

It was his first time, and people had told him that it's gonna be dark down there.

When you get down there, you're gonna see it's gonna be dark.

He thought to himself, okay, well, alright, we'll see what it is, like whatever.

But but they said, No, man, you it's gonna be dark.

It's gonna be fun, it's gonna be dark.

But he was just so pumped up, so ready to go.

So he was in a group, they paired him up in a in a group of some people, and there were multiple groups that went on this night dive, and they get down there, they're all excited.

So they get, they jump in the water and they go, and he quickly becomes discombobulated, disheveled, disoriented.

He doesn't know which way is up, which way is down.

He's bumping into stuff, and all he could see is about a foot in front of him, wherever he's he's shown his light.

He's not even sure if he's in the right group.

They know that, okay, it's about time to go up.

But he's so, so disoriented, he doesn't know how, which way is up.

He can't see.

It was darker than what people had said it was.

And he realized, oh man, I'm in trouble.

He started to have a panic attack.

His heart started to just race, and he was just like, I don't know how I'm gonna get out of this.

And then he realizes every time he's taking a breath, there's bubbles.

He realizes, you know, the bubbles are going up.

So if I know where the bubbles are going, just trust the bubbles.

He keeps saying in his head, through the fear, through the unknown, he can't see anything, through all the creepy crawley fish.

He says, If I just trust, the bubbles I'll be alright.

He makes it back to shore and he's happy.

He didn't think he would make it.

When I read that, I thought, man, what a picture.

Sometimes when we journey into the uncertain and the unknown, we just gotta trust God.

What do I trust him for?

I trust him that he can see what I can, that his ways and his plans are higher than mine, that he will supply, that he is a provider, that he is everything that I need and more, that he's given me everything that I need for a godly life.

I have to trust that I can, I can, if I can't see him, he's still there and he sees me.

That if I can't trace his movements, I'm still gonna trust him.

If I can't figure out what's going on, I'm still gonna trust him.

If it feels like my whole life is upside down, I'm still gonna trust him.

I'm just encouraging you encouraging you today, you you have to trust him.

Because he meets us.

Where at?

In the known, in the unknown, in the disarray, in the confusion, and the in the dark.

He meets us there in that place.

We have to just trust that he's there all over this room.

Let's bow our heads and let's pray.

I want to do two things.

I want to pray over you.

Oh man, that this message would be inside of your hearts as you'd walk out of here.

And you wouldn't just hear this, but you would feel this.

You'd you'd do it.

That whatever the unknown you're walking out of these doors into, man, you'd be encouraged today.

God wants to be there with you.

Matter of fact, he is with you.

One of the best things Jesus did was give us the promise of his presence that he is with you.

So I want to pray over you.

And then secondarily, I want to pray for those that say, you know what?

I haven't trusted God into my life.

I haven't made the decision to follow him, and but I'd like to do that.

And I'm not sure.

You're talking about the unknown.

I am unsure.

I don't know what's on the other side, but I'm willing to take the first step.

Then I want to pray for you.

And maybe you're online, and I want to leave you out.

I want to remember you.

All over this room.

Jesus, help us now to get this today that you're in the unknown.

We just have to trust you.

Trust that you see us and you see what we don't, that your ways and your plans are higher than ours.

Help us to trust you.

Thank you, Lord, that you see us when we don't see you.

We thank you, Lord, that you speak to us in ways that are familiar to us.

I pray that same prayer that was prayed over me all those years ago over our church family today and those online, that you would use people, things, circumstances, and situations to speak to them.

That they will know that it's you and they'll follow in that which you've called them to.

Lord, and it it all is on you.

Like you help us sustain.

So sustain us.

For anybody today feeling weary, broken down, beat up, sustain my friend, my brother, my sister today, I pray.