1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:07,280 We are halfway through our chapel series and today we are dealing 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:11,080 with the issue of attacks and how do we cope with things when we 3 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,840 are attacked and how do we hear God when we are attacked. 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,440 And this is a pretty tough topic, so I want to warn you this 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:19,400 is not an easy one. 6 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,560 But if you missed some of the other topics and they are interesting 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,760 to you, of hopelessness, anxiety, doubt, loneliness and the 8 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:32,190 ones coming up, you can get them on our BU podcast or they're 9 00:00:32,190 --> 00:00:34,990 on Spotify and Amazon podcasts as well. 10 00:00:34,990 --> 00:00:37,470 So you can pick them up there if those are topics of interesting. 11 00:00:37,470 --> 00:00:40,070 But before we get started, I want to circle back to last week 12 00:00:40,070 --> 00:00:43,270 for just a minute if we can, talking about loneliness, because 13 00:00:43,270 --> 00:00:46,990 I heard from several of you this week with really some awfully 14 00:00:46,990 --> 00:00:51,390 nice expressions of how God spoke to you during that message 15 00:00:51,390 --> 00:00:54,220 that you need to make some hard decisions about friendship. 16 00:00:55,570 --> 00:00:57,890 And it's not your BU friends where the problem is. 17 00:00:58,210 --> 00:01:00,210 Your problem are friends back home. 18 00:01:00,690 --> 00:01:02,770 But those decisions about friendships are hard. 19 00:01:02,770 --> 00:01:06,490 But remember I said some of our most important choices have to 20 00:01:06,490 --> 00:01:13,090 do with friendships and who you invest in and more importantly, 21 00:01:13,090 --> 00:01:14,210 who you're going to follow. 22 00:01:15,410 --> 00:01:18,650 And many people would make their life so much better if they 23 00:01:18,650 --> 00:01:22,600 would just change their friend group, but they don't because they're 24 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:24,720 scared to death of being lonely. 25 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,800 But if you don't and you're with the wrong friend group, it's 26 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:29,600 going to pull you down. 27 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:33,360 So have the courage, have the courage to make changes. 28 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,000 Focus on attributes, not just the activities you're involved in, 29 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,800 the character of people, not just who friends are convenient, 30 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,800 the strength of who somebody is to build you up, not just their 31 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:50,270 status and what they mean to you for your eternal future, not 32 00:01:50,270 --> 00:01:51,870 just your entertainment value. 33 00:01:52,910 --> 00:01:54,510 And make some of those hard choices. 34 00:01:54,510 --> 00:01:57,830 And I encourage you to, because when you do, although loneliness 35 00:01:57,830 --> 00:02:00,910 is a risk, it will pay huge dividends to you. 36 00:02:01,390 --> 00:02:05,070 But today we're going to talk about attacks and how do we hear 37 00:02:05,310 --> 00:02:07,590 and listen to God whom we're attacked. 38 00:02:07,590 --> 00:02:08,670 So would you pray with me? 39 00:02:08,910 --> 00:02:11,470 This is an important topic and let's focus. 40 00:02:11,630 --> 00:02:18,900 Lord, speak to us through those who have gone before us in 41 00:02:18,900 --> 00:02:23,900 how to deal with attacks so we can honor you and we can strengthen 42 00:02:23,900 --> 00:02:25,060 and serve you better. 43 00:02:26,260 --> 00:02:30,580 We know how to respond when we are attacked. 44 00:02:30,660 --> 00:02:31,700 Your name, we ask it. 45 00:02:31,700 --> 00:02:32,180 Amen. 46 00:02:32,740 --> 00:02:36,700 Now, David, I told you last week was five times he was lonely. 47 00:02:36,700 --> 00:02:39,780 And out of those five times, except for one, the time that he 48 00:02:39,860 --> 00:02:43,780 sinned terribly, the other four times it was because he was 49 00:02:43,780 --> 00:02:44,620 being attacked. 50 00:02:44,620 --> 00:02:46,500 And I won't go through all Those again with you. 51 00:02:46,500 --> 00:02:47,620 But he was being attacked. 52 00:02:47,620 --> 00:02:52,340 And so we go back to Psalms again with David today, Psalm 27. 53 00:02:52,340 --> 00:02:58,380 That was read for us to hear his cry during times of attack. 54 00:02:58,540 --> 00:03:00,260 This is what David said. 55 00:03:00,260 --> 00:03:04,100 Part of that he said, when evil people come to devour me, when 56 00:03:04,100 --> 00:03:07,340 my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. 57 00:03:08,190 --> 00:03:11,870 Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. 58 00:03:12,990 --> 00:03:17,550 Even if I'm attacked, I will remain confident. 59 00:03:18,510 --> 00:03:22,950 Today we're going to take the attacks David felt the emotion David 60 00:03:22,950 --> 00:03:28,030 felt and test them against the four steps of how Elijah learned 61 00:03:28,030 --> 00:03:28,870 to listen to God. 62 00:03:28,870 --> 00:03:31,950 If you go back to the first chapel, we had an outline of how 63 00:03:31,950 --> 00:03:32,950 to listen to God. 64 00:03:32,950 --> 00:03:34,330 There were four steps it. 65 00:03:34,330 --> 00:03:37,850 And if you take those four steps and apply them to a text and 66 00:03:37,850 --> 00:03:41,610 you hear David's heart, you see how David essentially did those 67 00:03:41,610 --> 00:03:42,290 four things. 68 00:03:42,290 --> 00:03:43,930 So just to remind you what they were. 69 00:03:44,170 --> 00:03:46,850 In listening for God, we have to have a willingness to hear. 70 00:03:46,850 --> 00:03:48,010 That's where it begins. 71 00:03:48,410 --> 00:03:52,850 So often we don't want God's answer because we want an answer 72 00:03:52,850 --> 00:03:54,010 that's a lot more selfish. 73 00:03:54,490 --> 00:03:59,050 And so we have to be willing to hear and we have to respond when 74 00:03:59,050 --> 00:03:59,930 God speaks. 75 00:04:00,870 --> 00:04:03,430 Secondly, we have to ask God to direct us. 76 00:04:03,830 --> 00:04:06,310 Too often our asking is a last resort. 77 00:04:06,390 --> 00:04:09,390 We go to God last, after we've tried everything else we can come 78 00:04:09,390 --> 00:04:10,790 up with and it doesn't work. 79 00:04:10,790 --> 00:04:11,870 And then we ask God. 80 00:04:11,870 --> 00:04:14,790 No, we need to go to ask God, especially in attacks at the beginning. 81 00:04:14,870 --> 00:04:16,229 We're going to talk about that in a minute. 82 00:04:16,229 --> 00:04:18,470 And then we need to reflect on what we know. 83 00:04:19,030 --> 00:04:23,270 Remember when Elijah finally heard the still small voice, first 84 00:04:23,270 --> 00:04:25,430 thing God said to him was, what are you doing here? 85 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,000 He asked him to reflect on what was going on in his life and 86 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:29,680 what he knew. 87 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,360 And the answer is probably not some new insight out there someplace. 88 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,600 It's probably already what you know in your relationship with God. 89 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:38,040 And we'll look at that today. 90 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:42,160 And then we see that in David and then get close enough to hear, 91 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,600 because if you're not close, you can't hear a whisper. 92 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:51,000 And then the whisper and the closeness with God is when we hear 93 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:51,280 from. 94 00:04:51,430 --> 00:04:51,830 From him. 95 00:04:52,550 --> 00:04:55,590 So how do we hear for God in attacks? 96 00:04:56,150 --> 00:04:59,070 Look at how David went through these four steps when he was attacked. 97 00:04:59,070 --> 00:05:01,750 Now, I want to warn you about this chapel today. 98 00:05:03,030 --> 00:05:04,710 This is not an easy topic. 99 00:05:05,510 --> 00:05:10,310 The hardest time in your life to listen to God is when you're being 100 00:05:10,310 --> 00:05:10,950 attacked. 101 00:05:12,070 --> 00:05:17,270 There isn't a tougher time to actually listen to God than when 102 00:05:17,270 --> 00:05:18,270 you're being attacked. 103 00:05:18,350 --> 00:05:18,750 Why? 104 00:05:18,990 --> 00:05:22,670 Because it's personal and it's emotional. 105 00:05:23,470 --> 00:05:24,190 It's both. 106 00:05:24,910 --> 00:05:30,110 And you wrap that together and it is hard to listen to God. 107 00:05:31,230 --> 00:05:33,029 So let's go through the four steps. 108 00:05:33,029 --> 00:05:37,550 First, we've got to be willing to respond and willing to hear. 109 00:05:38,910 --> 00:05:40,030 David said this. 110 00:05:40,750 --> 00:05:42,510 Wait patiently for the Lord. 111 00:05:43,290 --> 00:05:44,650 Be brave and courageous. 112 00:05:44,650 --> 00:05:48,810 Yes, wait patiently for the lord in verse 14. 113 00:05:50,810 --> 00:05:52,610 Starting when you're attacked. 114 00:05:52,610 --> 00:05:56,210 The hardest thing to do is where we need to start. 115 00:05:56,210 --> 00:05:57,370 And that's to wait. 116 00:05:58,090 --> 00:05:58,810 To wait. 117 00:05:59,130 --> 00:06:03,490 You see, when you boil down attacks, attacks aren't about the 118 00:06:03,490 --> 00:06:04,050 insults. 119 00:06:04,050 --> 00:06:06,130 Attacks aren't about the unfair things said. 120 00:06:06,130 --> 00:06:09,370 The attacks aren't all the stuff that you eat. 121 00:06:09,630 --> 00:06:12,670 See, on the surface, the attack is really a rejection. 122 00:06:13,230 --> 00:06:15,070 When we're attacked, we're rejected. 123 00:06:15,630 --> 00:06:16,870 You don't want me in your life. 124 00:06:16,870 --> 00:06:17,950 You don't want friendship. 125 00:06:18,750 --> 00:06:22,310 You're attacking me for who I am or what I believe, whatever it 126 00:06:22,310 --> 00:06:24,270 may be, attacking me because you don't understand. 127 00:06:24,270 --> 00:06:26,910 And so our initial reaction is to fight back. 128 00:06:27,470 --> 00:06:28,430 Of course it is. 129 00:06:29,070 --> 00:06:30,590 We want to correct the wrong. 130 00:06:30,670 --> 00:06:32,390 You're wrong for attacking me. 131 00:06:32,390 --> 00:06:33,390 I'm going to fight back. 132 00:06:33,790 --> 00:06:36,990 We want to reset the perception. 133 00:06:37,570 --> 00:06:38,610 You're not seeing this right. 134 00:06:38,610 --> 00:06:41,250 If you knew what I knew, if you knew the backstory that I know, 135 00:06:41,250 --> 00:06:42,530 you wouldn't believe that way. 136 00:06:43,330 --> 00:06:45,090 Or we want to correct our reputation. 137 00:06:46,610 --> 00:06:48,770 Mostly, we want to cope with our own hurt. 138 00:06:49,330 --> 00:06:52,850 And too often people cope with their own hurt by fighting back. 139 00:06:55,410 --> 00:06:57,970 And the last thing we want to do is wait. 140 00:06:59,890 --> 00:07:03,820 We want to say, when we're attacked, you know, hold my Diet 141 00:07:03,820 --> 00:07:05,740 Coke, I'm going to take care of this right now. 142 00:07:06,060 --> 00:07:06,860 Bring it on. 143 00:07:09,980 --> 00:07:11,580 But God says wait. 144 00:07:12,620 --> 00:07:18,859 And David learned to wait, to wait patiently for the Lord when 145 00:07:18,859 --> 00:07:21,340 attacked, we want immediate relief. 146 00:07:22,380 --> 00:07:27,580 But God calls us to wait, to trust, to endure. 147 00:07:28,870 --> 00:07:30,310 And that's why we don't want to hear it. 148 00:07:30,790 --> 00:07:32,150 That's not what we want to hear. 149 00:07:32,630 --> 00:07:34,870 We want to hear God's going to go slay them all. 150 00:07:37,590 --> 00:07:41,830 Deliverance may not come immediately, but God's timing is 151 00:07:41,830 --> 00:07:42,950 always right. 152 00:07:43,510 --> 00:07:47,910 And if we will learn to wait when we are attacked, it's amazing 153 00:07:47,910 --> 00:07:50,630 the difference it will make. 154 00:07:51,430 --> 00:07:55,080 Now, we're not passive in this time of waiting, you see, because 155 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,880 actively trusting God's timing is really hard to do. 156 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:02,920 You've really got to stay focused. 157 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,160 You've really got to be laser focused on it. 158 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:09,680 Because again, your instincts sort of flash out, your instincts 159 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:10,399 sort of push back. 160 00:08:10,399 --> 00:08:12,200 Because this is personal, this is emotional. 161 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,720 And so we are actively not engaging. 162 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:20,280 We're dialing it down. 163 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:23,760 We're putting everything in reset and that's hard to do. 164 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:29,160 At my house, I'm the IT director because my family doesn't 165 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:31,720 know how to fix computers, and I don't know how to fix computers. 166 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:32,880 I don't know anything about them. 167 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:33,880 I run a Mac. 168 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:35,520 I've had a Mac since 1980. 169 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:36,280 I don't know anything. 170 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:37,840 I've never read an instruction manual. 171 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:39,160 But here's what I do know. 172 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,000 Family comes in and says, my computer doesn't work. 173 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:42,680 My iPad doesn't work, whatever it may be. 174 00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:44,080 I said, did you restart it? 175 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:46,400 No, I'm using it. 176 00:08:47,730 --> 00:08:49,810 Shut it down and restart it. 177 00:08:50,690 --> 00:08:51,410 Let it sit. 178 00:08:52,770 --> 00:08:58,810 It's amazing how computers will fix themselves when you shut 179 00:08:58,810 --> 00:09:01,570 them down and restart them. 180 00:09:03,250 --> 00:09:07,410 Almost everything works better when you unplug for a few minutes 181 00:09:07,650 --> 00:09:09,170 and let it reset. 182 00:09:09,730 --> 00:09:14,700 And especially in times of attack, start there, start by. 183 00:09:14,860 --> 00:09:15,980 Don't juice it up. 184 00:09:16,780 --> 00:09:22,220 Just unplug for a few minutes, reset, and God will speak to you. 185 00:09:23,100 --> 00:09:25,260 Well, when it attacks, we got to be willing to hear. 186 00:09:25,500 --> 00:09:28,140 We got to be willing to hear, and we got to be willing to follow. 187 00:09:29,420 --> 00:09:32,700 And that's going to take trust and that's going to take determination. 188 00:09:33,500 --> 00:09:38,700 Because if you're attacked, well, let me say, when you're attacked, 189 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:43,920 if we don't get it settled right at the beginning that we're 190 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,680 going to ask God to help us, we're going to get into it, we're 191 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:48,280 going to mix it up, and we're going to make it a whole lot worse 192 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:50,320 before God ever gets a chance to help us. 193 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,760 So we've got to decide ahead of time that we're going to ask God 194 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:54,960 to direct us. 195 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:56,800 So that's where we want to go in the next step. 196 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:58,560 We've got to ask God to direct us. 197 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:01,920 David asked to be in the presence of God. 198 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,240 This is an incredible scripture if you think about it. 199 00:10:05,530 --> 00:10:09,530 He says, I want to be in your presence, God, rather than the presence 200 00:10:09,530 --> 00:10:10,570 of my attackers. 201 00:10:11,050 --> 00:10:14,290 You see, because when you're attacked, we are in the presence 202 00:10:14,290 --> 00:10:15,210 of attackers. 203 00:10:16,090 --> 00:10:18,010 When you're attacked, they own you. 204 00:10:19,050 --> 00:10:23,930 They own you, and they're in your head and they're in your focus 205 00:10:24,490 --> 00:10:27,370 and they're in your thoughts until you get it settled. 206 00:10:28,570 --> 00:10:34,700 And instead, David says he wanted to ask to be in the presence 207 00:10:34,700 --> 00:10:35,380 of God. 208 00:10:35,780 --> 00:10:37,540 Instead, he said it this way. 209 00:10:37,940 --> 00:10:41,740 He said, hear me as I pray, O Lord, be merciful and answer me. 210 00:10:41,740 --> 00:10:45,380 My heart has heard you say, come and talk with me. 211 00:10:46,019 --> 00:10:50,820 And my heart responds, lord, I'm coming to you. 212 00:10:51,940 --> 00:10:58,080 God has promised to be there in our attacks, and it's not based 213 00:10:58,080 --> 00:10:59,400 on our Circumstances. 214 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:01,760 Maybe we deserve the attack. 215 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:03,000 And there's times of that. 216 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:04,760 Maybe we deserve it. 217 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:06,840 It's not based on our circumstances. 218 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:08,520 It's based on his character. 219 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:10,760 And God will be there. 220 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:16,600 This is the same David who wrote in Psalm 23 we looked at last 221 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:16,920 week. 222 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:21,080 Through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with me. 223 00:11:22,530 --> 00:11:27,090 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me, you see, because here's 224 00:11:27,090 --> 00:11:29,490 the issue, and it boils down to this. 225 00:11:29,730 --> 00:11:32,450 Attacks bring us to a fork in the road. 226 00:11:34,530 --> 00:11:40,770 And at that time of attack, you can either seek God or you can 227 00:11:40,770 --> 00:11:44,290 seek revenge, but you're not going to do both. 228 00:11:45,730 --> 00:11:50,370 You're going to go one way or the other, and you can feel justified 229 00:11:50,370 --> 00:11:51,250 in revenge. 230 00:11:52,850 --> 00:11:53,730 Absolutely. 231 00:11:55,170 --> 00:11:56,930 But it's not going to bring you healing. 232 00:11:57,730 --> 00:12:00,570 And you're not going to be in the presence of the Lord seeking 233 00:12:00,570 --> 00:12:01,090 revenge. 234 00:12:01,890 --> 00:12:04,610 If you want to be in the presence of God, you've got to seek 235 00:12:04,610 --> 00:12:04,930 him. 236 00:12:06,210 --> 00:12:06,850 Revenge. 237 00:12:09,170 --> 00:12:10,690 It's a destructive force. 238 00:12:13,020 --> 00:12:15,620 Some people get revenge by attacking them the way they've been 239 00:12:15,620 --> 00:12:16,220 attacked. 240 00:12:16,620 --> 00:12:18,700 I know people who are really proud of it. 241 00:12:19,180 --> 00:12:21,980 They will say, if somebody strikes at me, I'm hitting them back 242 00:12:21,980 --> 00:12:23,260 harder than they ever hit me. 243 00:12:24,540 --> 00:12:26,860 Never going to happen again because I'll hit them harder. 244 00:12:27,340 --> 00:12:29,460 They think I'm the big guy. 245 00:12:29,460 --> 00:12:30,220 I got it. 246 00:12:32,220 --> 00:12:34,420 Is that seeking the presence of the Lord. 247 00:12:34,420 --> 00:12:35,340 Of course it's not. 248 00:12:37,020 --> 00:12:39,420 Some people, when they're attacked, get petty. 249 00:12:40,380 --> 00:12:42,940 They get aggressive, passive aggressive. 250 00:12:43,180 --> 00:12:46,140 They deal with it that way and they attack back in that kind of 251 00:12:46,140 --> 00:12:46,300 way. 252 00:12:46,300 --> 00:12:51,180 Some people, they gossip or they try to hurt somebody else's 253 00:12:51,180 --> 00:12:54,300 reputation, or they triangulate friendships. 254 00:12:54,700 --> 00:12:57,620 Who's going to pick what side in the attack and go through all 255 00:12:57,620 --> 00:12:57,820 that? 256 00:12:57,820 --> 00:13:01,060 Some people try to get a psychological advantage and make 257 00:13:01,060 --> 00:13:04,220 the other person feel guilty or play mind games or give them some 258 00:13:04,220 --> 00:13:06,130 kind of false hope or whatever may be. 259 00:13:07,090 --> 00:13:09,610 And if you're not in the presence of the God, that's where 260 00:13:09,610 --> 00:13:10,290 you're going to be. 261 00:13:10,690 --> 00:13:12,850 Because it's a fork in the road and you're either going to pick 262 00:13:12,850 --> 00:13:14,250 God or you're going to pick revenge. 263 00:13:14,250 --> 00:13:15,010 One of the two. 264 00:13:16,370 --> 00:13:19,730 It's a choice to make at the time of being attacked. 265 00:13:21,090 --> 00:13:22,610 You say, well, I want justice. 266 00:13:22,930 --> 00:13:25,570 Well, justice punishes evil. 267 00:13:27,090 --> 00:13:30,370 But I hate to tell you too much in this life, we don't get justice 268 00:13:30,530 --> 00:13:32,050 now, we'll get it in eternity. 269 00:13:32,900 --> 00:13:34,340 God's justice is true. 270 00:13:34,340 --> 00:13:37,980 And God's wheels of justice sometimes grind slowly, but they 271 00:13:37,980 --> 00:13:39,220 grind really fine. 272 00:13:39,220 --> 00:13:41,540 And justice will eventually come. 273 00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:46,100 But our justice system in the country, our legal justice system, 274 00:13:46,100 --> 00:13:49,420 pretty much built to protect the innocent more than it is to punish 275 00:13:49,420 --> 00:13:50,020 the guilty. 276 00:13:51,220 --> 00:13:53,180 And so we often don't get justice. 277 00:13:53,180 --> 00:13:56,500 So at this fork in the road, we got a major choice to make that 278 00:13:56,500 --> 00:13:57,540 defines us. 279 00:13:57,620 --> 00:14:03,060 It doesn't define our attackers because revenge perpetrates 280 00:14:04,020 --> 00:14:04,660 evil. 281 00:14:05,220 --> 00:14:07,300 It just snowballs evil. 282 00:14:07,460 --> 00:14:13,300 It just responds evil for evil and forgiveness defeats evil. 283 00:14:14,340 --> 00:14:16,820 And it's going to be one or the other. 284 00:14:17,540 --> 00:14:18,980 And it's our choice to make. 285 00:14:20,660 --> 00:14:23,540 So we have to ask God to direct this. 286 00:14:23,540 --> 00:14:26,100 Now it's going to be a struggle to ask God to direct you 287 00:14:28,220 --> 00:14:30,180 because forgiveness is the only path to God. 288 00:14:30,180 --> 00:14:31,580 And that's a hard thing to do. 289 00:14:31,580 --> 00:14:32,980 And so we don't want to do it. 290 00:14:32,980 --> 00:14:34,980 But that's what leads us to step three. 291 00:14:34,980 --> 00:14:39,460 And that's to reflect on what we do know, especially in times of 292 00:14:39,460 --> 00:14:39,740 attack. 293 00:14:40,140 --> 00:14:43,660 Most of the times we don't receive godly's wisdom in a vacuum. 294 00:14:43,820 --> 00:14:46,780 God doesn't say something out of the blue we never ever imagined 295 00:14:46,780 --> 00:14:47,180 before. 296 00:14:47,340 --> 00:14:48,980 And all of a sudden I see it clearly. 297 00:14:48,980 --> 00:14:50,140 It doesn't happen very often. 298 00:14:50,460 --> 00:14:53,500 Usually it comes out of scripture, we already know. 299 00:14:53,500 --> 00:14:57,910 It's experiences we've had, prayer life, how godly people have 300 00:14:57,910 --> 00:14:59,950 treated you and interacted with you. 301 00:15:00,270 --> 00:15:03,430 And you start to reflect on what you know rather than waiting 302 00:15:03,430 --> 00:15:04,350 for a thunderbolt. 303 00:15:04,350 --> 00:15:05,630 And that's what Elijah did. 304 00:15:05,630 --> 00:15:10,030 And that's how most often God speaks to us, when we reflect during 305 00:15:10,030 --> 00:15:10,270 times. 306 00:15:10,270 --> 00:15:14,270 But during times of attack, that's hard to do because all of 307 00:15:15,230 --> 00:15:20,670 our senses change during times of attack, to a fight or flight moment 308 00:15:21,410 --> 00:15:25,170 and to an emotional response rather than a reasoned response. 309 00:15:25,410 --> 00:15:29,730 And so it's hard to reflect in times of attack. 310 00:15:31,410 --> 00:15:36,490 David said, the Lord is my light and my salvation, so why should 311 00:15:36,490 --> 00:15:37,410 I be afraid? 312 00:15:37,890 --> 00:15:42,530 Like I am scared to death, but I know God's my light and my salvation, 313 00:15:42,530 --> 00:15:43,570 so why be afraid? 314 00:15:44,050 --> 00:15:48,290 The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why 315 00:15:48,850 --> 00:15:49,970 should I tremble? 316 00:15:50,850 --> 00:15:56,130 You see, attacks pull us into darkness, but the Lord is our light. 317 00:15:56,850 --> 00:15:59,010 Attacks make us feel vulnerable. 318 00:15:59,650 --> 00:16:01,170 That's why we hate it so much. 319 00:16:02,370 --> 00:16:05,970 But the Lord is our fortress and there's no danger there. 320 00:16:07,170 --> 00:16:14,630 Our reflection in attacks requires us to give up our way because 321 00:16:14,630 --> 00:16:16,230 our way is to fight back. 322 00:16:18,150 --> 00:16:19,990 But this really isn't an option. 323 00:16:21,030 --> 00:16:23,510 In fact, Jesus was very clear with his disciples. 324 00:16:23,750 --> 00:16:25,590 Jesus said this to his disciples. 325 00:16:25,910 --> 00:16:28,950 He said, if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give 326 00:16:28,950 --> 00:16:33,390 up your own way, take up your cross and follow me. 327 00:16:33,390 --> 00:16:37,430 To give up my own way when I'm being attacked is to give up that 328 00:16:37,430 --> 00:16:41,880 part of me that is so evil, arrogant, that I believe because 329 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,040 I've been attacked, my only option is to fight back. 330 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:52,520 But you know, when you do, resentment grows, and it takes hold 331 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:55,440 in your life, and resentment builds. 332 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:56,880 Resentment's like a cancer. 333 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:01,200 It won't kill you all at once, but it'll kill you eventually, because 334 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:06,440 it hurts you so much more than it hurts the person you feel resentful 335 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:06,720 about. 336 00:17:08,060 --> 00:17:09,220 Let's say Doug attacked me. 337 00:17:09,220 --> 00:17:17,020 He never has, but if he did, and I could say, well, Doug, sorry 338 00:17:17,020 --> 00:17:17,660 you feel that way. 339 00:17:17,660 --> 00:17:20,660 You didn't understand this, but it doesn't matter. 340 00:17:20,660 --> 00:17:22,220 I just forgive you, and that's okay. 341 00:17:23,820 --> 00:17:26,220 And you can forgive that person and move on. 342 00:17:26,220 --> 00:17:30,780 But if you don't forgive that person, what happens is Doug never 343 00:17:30,780 --> 00:17:31,500 should have said that. 344 00:17:31,500 --> 00:17:32,220 He doesn't know. 345 00:17:33,250 --> 00:17:35,970 If Doug knew what I dealt with, he would never have said that. 346 00:17:36,690 --> 00:17:41,010 And you start to build a resentment, and that resentment grows. 347 00:17:41,970 --> 00:17:45,970 So every time I see Doug, I think about what he said, and every 348 00:17:45,970 --> 00:17:48,930 time I hear his music, I don't like it more and more because of 349 00:17:48,930 --> 00:17:51,170 what he said, and the resentment goes. 350 00:17:51,330 --> 00:17:52,850 It doesn't hurt him one bit. 351 00:17:52,930 --> 00:17:53,770 He doesn't even know. 352 00:17:53,770 --> 00:17:55,650 All this stuff's going on in my head, right? 353 00:17:56,450 --> 00:17:59,680 But it's going on in my head because resentment is taking place. 354 00:17:59,910 --> 00:18:00,150 Hold. 355 00:18:01,270 --> 00:18:06,470 Resentment hurts you so much more than the person you won't forgive. 356 00:18:09,910 --> 00:18:11,030 So we've got to reflect. 357 00:18:11,990 --> 00:18:12,950 We've got to reflect. 358 00:18:12,950 --> 00:18:16,750 And it's hard at that moment because you want to say, well, look 359 00:18:16,750 --> 00:18:17,990 what they did to me. 360 00:18:20,390 --> 00:18:24,470 When you say that, I hate to tell you, but I want to say, so what 361 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,120 Jesus said, look what they did to me. 362 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:33,800 Look what they did to me. 363 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:35,040 I led a sinless life. 364 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,080 I came to love and to care and to heal the sick. 365 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,640 And they crucified me and they beat me and they called me horrible 366 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,400 things that weren't justified one bit. 367 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:48,720 And what did Jesus teach us to do? 368 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:50,000 Turn the other cheek. 369 00:18:51,130 --> 00:18:55,890 Even on the cross, in the midst of all that, Jesus said, father, 370 00:18:55,890 --> 00:18:58,250 forgive them, because they really don't understand what they're 371 00:18:58,250 --> 00:18:58,490 doing. 372 00:18:58,650 --> 00:19:01,690 They don't really understand why they're doing this. 373 00:19:02,250 --> 00:19:03,530 So just forgive them. 374 00:19:04,010 --> 00:19:07,690 You see, the bottom line is somebody else may have started the 375 00:19:07,690 --> 00:19:11,530 fight in your life, but you can finish the fight with forgiveness. 376 00:19:12,890 --> 00:19:15,530 And in forgiveness, the fight is over. 377 00:19:17,140 --> 00:19:18,660 And that brings us to step four. 378 00:19:19,540 --> 00:19:24,980 It's a time to get closer to God that's really like no other. 379 00:19:26,900 --> 00:19:30,020 Now, all attacks are unfair for the most part. 380 00:19:30,820 --> 00:19:33,620 It's pretty rare that you get a reasonable attack. 381 00:19:33,620 --> 00:19:34,420 Yeah, you're right. 382 00:19:34,420 --> 00:19:34,860 I'm sorry. 383 00:19:34,860 --> 00:19:36,260 I Shouldn't have done that or whatever. 384 00:19:36,500 --> 00:19:37,700 Usually they're unfair. 385 00:19:37,700 --> 00:19:40,780 In fact, David says that in this psalm. 386 00:19:40,780 --> 00:19:43,260 He says, I love this line of this psalm. 387 00:19:43,260 --> 00:19:46,180 He says, they accuse me of things I've never done. 388 00:19:48,250 --> 00:19:48,970 They don't understand. 389 00:19:49,530 --> 00:19:50,890 They don't know the whole story. 390 00:19:51,770 --> 00:19:53,130 They don't know the real me. 391 00:19:54,970 --> 00:19:57,650 If somebody attacks you, they for sure aren't seeing you as a child 392 00:19:57,650 --> 00:19:58,090 of God. 393 00:19:58,090 --> 00:20:00,650 Because if they saw you as a child of God, why in the world would 394 00:20:00,650 --> 00:20:02,170 they attack you ever? 395 00:20:02,890 --> 00:20:06,770 Even with all the faults you might have or justify, you see? 396 00:20:06,770 --> 00:20:10,090 But the bottom line of life is you can't change anybody but yourself. 397 00:20:11,610 --> 00:20:14,060 You're the only person you can change. 398 00:20:15,340 --> 00:20:16,980 You may wish you could change other people. 399 00:20:16,980 --> 00:20:17,900 It's not going to happen. 400 00:20:18,460 --> 00:20:20,620 You can only change you. 401 00:20:21,260 --> 00:20:24,300 And so during this time of attacks, you've got to be close enough 402 00:20:24,300 --> 00:20:26,500 to God that you can change you. 403 00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:30,140 Because attacks make us feel unstable. 404 00:20:31,100 --> 00:20:32,700 Life's going along pretty good. 405 00:20:33,100 --> 00:20:34,340 We're focused on our goals. 406 00:20:34,340 --> 00:20:35,220 We're playing on our team. 407 00:20:35,220 --> 00:20:35,900 We're in the play. 408 00:20:36,060 --> 00:20:36,780 We're dancing. 409 00:20:36,780 --> 00:20:37,980 We're doing whatever it may be. 410 00:20:37,980 --> 00:20:39,180 We got a project going on. 411 00:20:39,380 --> 00:20:39,860 We got this. 412 00:20:39,940 --> 00:20:42,700 Things are happy and good and somebody attacks us. 413 00:20:42,700 --> 00:20:44,660 And all of a sudden it just falls apart, doesn't it? 414 00:20:46,260 --> 00:20:51,820 That consumes us, and we feel unstable and they attack us. 415 00:20:51,820 --> 00:20:52,420 Unfair. 416 00:20:54,500 --> 00:20:55,699 Here's what it is. 417 00:20:56,340 --> 00:21:02,300 When we feel unfairly attacked, we have to remember we 418 00:21:02,300 --> 00:21:03,940 are unfairly loved. 419 00:21:06,590 --> 00:21:07,470 Let me say that one again. 420 00:21:07,470 --> 00:21:08,670 I won't put it on the screen. 421 00:21:08,830 --> 00:21:16,830 When we are unfairly attacked, we must remember we are unfairly 422 00:21:16,990 --> 00:21:17,630 loved. 423 00:21:18,510 --> 00:21:20,670 God's grace is not fair. 424 00:21:22,030 --> 00:21:24,670 That's why grace is so amazing. 425 00:21:25,470 --> 00:21:26,990 God has forgiven me. 426 00:21:26,990 --> 00:21:29,870 And so who in the world am I to not forgive you? 427 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,080 You see, forgiveness is a decision. 428 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:37,320 If you're waiting when you get attacked, if you're waiting for that 429 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:40,480 feeling of forgiveness to come over you, you're going to be waiting 430 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:41,960 a long, long time. 431 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:43,080 It's not going to happen. 432 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:46,280 But forgiveness is a decision. 433 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:49,720 But here's the problem with the decision. 434 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:53,720 I could say I'm going to forgive Doug for whatever he said. 435 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,000 I don't think he'd say anything bad. 436 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,860 But if he could, I'm going to forgive him for that. 437 00:21:59,500 --> 00:22:00,620 And I forgive today. 438 00:22:01,100 --> 00:22:05,020 But it comes back to me next time I see him. 439 00:22:05,340 --> 00:22:07,420 It comes back to me when he plays the piano. 440 00:22:07,500 --> 00:22:09,740 It comes back to me when he sends me an email. 441 00:22:12,140 --> 00:22:16,460 Instead of focusing on being attacked, I got to focus on how much 442 00:22:16,460 --> 00:22:19,740 I've been forgiven over and over and over again. 443 00:22:19,820 --> 00:22:22,380 Because forgiveness doesn't happen overnight. 444 00:22:23,220 --> 00:22:24,540 That's not how it works. 445 00:22:24,540 --> 00:22:25,700 When we've been attacked. 446 00:22:26,900 --> 00:22:31,420 When we've been attacked, it hurts too deeply and is rooted too 447 00:22:31,420 --> 00:22:35,940 far in to be eradicated. 448 00:22:36,020 --> 00:22:37,340 To just say, I forgive you. 449 00:22:37,340 --> 00:22:39,300 We'll move on like it never happened. 450 00:22:39,300 --> 00:22:41,940 You may say that, but it is not true. 451 00:22:42,100 --> 00:22:43,780 It's going to take you some time. 452 00:22:44,180 --> 00:22:47,900 And so you've got to forgive every time you thought you had it 453 00:22:47,900 --> 00:22:48,300 behind you. 454 00:22:48,300 --> 00:22:49,860 It'll come up again if you don't. 455 00:22:50,930 --> 00:22:53,890 And this is what Peter and the disciples talked to Jesus about. 456 00:22:53,890 --> 00:22:57,970 There's a great passage in scripture where they talk to Jesus 457 00:22:57,970 --> 00:22:58,530 about this. 458 00:22:58,610 --> 00:23:00,930 And now Peter, you know, he's always wanted to be up front. 459 00:23:00,930 --> 00:23:02,930 He always wanted to have all the answers. 460 00:23:03,250 --> 00:23:06,530 So Peter offers this thing to Jesus and he thinks he's being really 461 00:23:06,530 --> 00:23:08,690 magnanimous, really generous. 462 00:23:09,330 --> 00:23:11,570 He says, how should we forgive? 463 00:23:12,050 --> 00:23:14,530 Should I forgive somebody seven times? 464 00:23:15,740 --> 00:23:18,540 And I'm sure when Peter said that, he thought, Jesus is going 465 00:23:18,540 --> 00:23:19,100 to love this. 466 00:23:19,820 --> 00:23:21,460 I'm willing to do it seven times. 467 00:23:21,460 --> 00:23:23,100 He's going to think I'm amazing. 468 00:23:24,540 --> 00:23:28,300 And Jesus said, no, not seven times. 469 00:23:29,500 --> 00:23:34,540 Seven times, 70 times is how to forgive. 470 00:23:35,420 --> 00:23:38,500 When you forgive the same person for their attack about 500 471 00:23:38,500 --> 00:23:42,550 times, their attack will finally have no control in your life. 472 00:23:43,190 --> 00:23:44,150 It'll be gone. 473 00:23:45,110 --> 00:23:47,030 But it may take about 500 times. 474 00:23:47,910 --> 00:23:49,430 See, Jesus is really smart. 475 00:23:49,990 --> 00:23:51,990 He knows our sinful nature. 476 00:23:53,350 --> 00:23:58,230 But it's hard to listen to God when you feel an attack, and it's 477 00:23:58,230 --> 00:23:59,190 hard to forgive. 478 00:23:59,670 --> 00:24:03,750 And Jesus knows we've got to do it over and over and over again 479 00:24:04,070 --> 00:24:07,120 in order to draw closer to him. 480 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:14,040 Listening for God in attacks will test us about tougher than anything 481 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:14,400 else. 482 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:16,720 It's a time we got to dig deep. 483 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,480 You got to be willing to hear from God, so you got to dig deep. 484 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:24,400 You got to want God more than you want revenge. 485 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:29,680 You got to want it more. 486 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:32,320 And if you don't want it more, the revenge is going to take over. 487 00:24:32,780 --> 00:24:36,060 It needs to be decided ahead of time because this is too personal, 488 00:24:36,460 --> 00:24:37,740 this is too emotional. 489 00:24:37,820 --> 00:24:40,180 When you get attacked, your initial reaction is going to be to 490 00:24:40,180 --> 00:24:40,740 lash out. 491 00:24:40,740 --> 00:24:42,180 You got to decide ahead of time. 492 00:24:42,180 --> 00:24:44,620 If I get attacked, I'm going to ask God what to do. 493 00:24:45,340 --> 00:24:46,940 And it's probably going to be to wait. 494 00:24:48,220 --> 00:24:51,420 You got to learn each time around, reflect on it. 495 00:24:52,140 --> 00:24:54,300 I told you, I've been attacked a lot through my life. 496 00:24:54,300 --> 00:24:57,260 You can't be in a public role like I am and not be attacked in 497 00:24:57,260 --> 00:24:59,300 an institution where everybody's got a different opinion. 498 00:24:59,300 --> 00:25:00,380 I can't please everybody. 499 00:25:00,380 --> 00:25:02,380 I wish it could, but it can't please everybody. 500 00:25:02,380 --> 00:25:03,460 And so I get attacks. 501 00:25:03,460 --> 00:25:05,500 But, you know, they don't hurt now like they used to. 502 00:25:06,380 --> 00:25:07,220 They really don't. 503 00:25:07,220 --> 00:25:08,460 They roll off pretty quick. 504 00:25:09,420 --> 00:25:13,980 Because I've been through the cycle so many times, over and over. 505 00:25:13,980 --> 00:25:15,900 And each time you do, you learn more. 506 00:25:16,300 --> 00:25:18,100 And God's closer each time. 507 00:25:18,100 --> 00:25:23,100 You draw closer to God when it happens, and the attacks won't matter 508 00:25:23,260 --> 00:25:24,140 as much. 509 00:25:26,070 --> 00:25:29,030 Make that your prayer, because God promises it. 510 00:25:29,430 --> 00:25:30,630 And say it with me. 511 00:25:30,710 --> 00:25:35,430 No eye has seen, no ear is heard, no mind has conceived what 512 00:25:35,430 --> 00:25:40,230 God has prepared for those who love him, even in attacks. 513 00:25:40,710 --> 00:25:41,350 God bless. 514 00:25:41,429 --> 00:25:42,230 Have a good day.