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I want to tell you a story, a
story that's of Elijah and how we

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hear from God because the Lord
was not in the wind, he was not in

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the earthquake, he was not in
the fire.

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He was in a gentle whisper.

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And if we can understand from
Elijah how to listen in the very

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worst moment of life, then all
these other topics we want to look

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at, the challenges of life
will have a foundation for how to

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listen to God.

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So the story I want to tell
you is from 1 Kings that was just

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read for us.

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And it's an amazing story.

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It's a remarkable story in so
many ways.

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Elijah was a prophet.

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He lived about 3,000 or so
years ago.

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He was a prophet because in
those days, there was no Bible, of

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course.

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And so God would anoint people
to speak to into those who were following

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God, to give them direction
and give them insights.

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And these were people who were
very close with God and leaned heavily

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on God and listened to God.

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And so when they spoke, people listened.

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And Elijah was that kind of prophet.

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So what happened in the land
of Israel during the time that Elijah

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was a prophet and Ahab was a
king, There was a drought that came.

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Now, drought in those days
would be a very serious thing, because

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it's not like you can go and
there are reserves of water someplace.

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If it goes on for very long,
it can be dangerous and deadly.

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So a drought is a very serious thing.

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And so the people who trusted
God began to believe maybe God wasn't

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there.

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And so they began to worship
idols and worship other gods, hoping

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that would break the drought.

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And it was pretty common in
ancient times to worship idols and

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to worship other gods.

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Today, we worship idols too.

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You know, we worship idols of politics.

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We worship idols of technology.

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We worship idols of money.

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But Elijah challenged King
Ahab and the prophets, who were gathering

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the people to follow after the
false God to a contest.

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And he said, let's go to Mount
Carmel, which is a place where everybody

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can see what's going on, and
we'll prove whose God is really powerful.

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And so they went there.

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Now, in the context of what's
going on, Ahab the king had a wife

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named Jezebel.

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And Jezebel and Ahab were
taking the people into a horrible

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moral decline.

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They wanted power, they wanted
money, they wanted fame.

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And so when they brought their
prophets of baal, the false God leaders,

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they brought them together.

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There were 450 of them, 450 of
these false God leaders.

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And in those days, many people
believed that God's various gods

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controlled parts of the World,
if you studied the Iliad and the

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Odyssey, and you know that
from Greek literature.

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So they believe there's a God
of the sun, a God of the moon, a

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God of water, and a God of
fire, and all these different gods.

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Well, Elijah was going to
prove to them that wasn't true, that

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there was only one God.

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So Elijah challenged them to
this contest.

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He said, let's make a sacrifice.

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And a sacrifice would be that
they would build an altar of wood.

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It would probably be up on a
stone thing to begin with, and then

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there'd be wood piled high.

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And on top of that, they would
put some kind of a dead animal that

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they were sacrificing to be burned.

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And he said, let's build our sacrifice.

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But here's the deal.

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Nobody lights it.

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You don't light it, I won't
light it.

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We'll let God light it.

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So he said to the prophets of
Baal, 450 of them, pretty big crowd.

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He said, you go first.

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And so they began to pray,
they began to chant, they began to

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march around.

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The scripture says they even
started cutting themselves with swords

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to try to make their God
respond and light the fire.

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And they went on all day long,
and nothing happened.

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They finally gave up.

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So Elijah says, okay, my turn.

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He said, but before I do it,
let's make it tougher.

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So he had them bring jugs of water.

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Now, the water was pretty
scarce because of the drought, so

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this was really kind of
energizing the people that he would

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even waste the water on this.

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And he said, I'm going to show
you how powerful the real God is.

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Pour water all over this thing.

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And he said, I'm going to
drink a trench around it.

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Which he did.

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And not only was it soaked
with water and all the wood was soaked

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with water, the trench filled
up with water, there was so much

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water on it.

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And then Elijah prayed, and
when he did, God brought fire.

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And the fire not only consumed
the sacrifice and all the wood, it

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melted the rocks, it cleaned
up all the water in the trench and

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even burned the ground around it.

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And then he killed the
prophets of baby baal, A little side

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note in the story, which is
kind of amazing.

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So Jezebel, especially when
she heard the story when Ahab got

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home that we heard in the
scripture today, she was mad because

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her whole power base was built
around following these false gods.

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And she was getting a lot of
money and stature and pride, and

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her whole ego was built into
this thing.

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And essentially, she got
humiliated, and Ahab got humiliated.

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And so she Put out a notice
before tomorrow.

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Before tomorrow I will have
you killed, Elijah.

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And Elijah, who had just
called down fire from heaven to burn

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this up in front of 450
prophets of Baal, when that woman

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told him she was going to kill
him, he was scared to death and he

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took off.

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He'd just seen God's power.

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And so often we run from our
problems when we've just seen God's

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power.

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You get on a very high and
then you go into a deep low.

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And that's pretty common
sometimes in a Christian life.

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And that's what Elijah did.

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So he went from this high of
this moment of really humiliating

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them and lifting up God to
being scared to death of this woman.

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And he ran off into the wilderness.

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So look at the scripture of
what happened then when he went to

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the wilderness, it said, then
he went alone into the wilderness,

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traveling all day.

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He sat down under a solitary
broom tree and prayed that he might

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die.

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I've had enough, Lord, he
said, take my life.

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I'm no better than my
ancestors who have already died.

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Elijah was feeling hopeless.

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He was at the bottom of it all.

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He was hopeless.

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He ran from God when God was
the one.

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He knew he could solve the problem.

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But so often when we feel
hopeless, we think we've got to somehow

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fix it ourselves and solve it ourselves.

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And we run away from the one
source that really can give us hope

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in the worst of moments.

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So he did that and then he ran alone.

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The scripture says.

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Well, going alone in those
days was really dangerous.

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You didn't go alone.

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I mean, the scripture tells
earlier than the part we picked up.

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He went with his servants to a
certain point and then he left them

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behind and he went alone into
the wilderness.

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Well, there are all kinds of
bad people out there and robbers

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and bandits and all kinds of stuff.

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There are a lot of wild
animals too.

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A lot of wild animals.

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But he was so desperate and so overwhelmed.

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He went by himself because he
just wasn't sure who he could trust

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anymore.

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He was scared of the people
even around him.

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And then it says he traveled
all day now.

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He traveled a bunch before
that, and then all day by himself

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in the wilderness.

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And that would have been
really hard trek to do that.

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So he was a exhausted physically.

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He was exhausted because he
didn't have anything to drink.

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He was exhausted and
emotionally drained from this big

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high he'd had in front of the
prophets of baal.

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And now this scared to death
feeling and the running that he'd

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had.

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When you're running for your
life, he Was out of everything.

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He just beyond exhausted.

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And so scripture said, he sat
down under a broom tree.

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A broom tree was something we
don't relate to.

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But a broom tree is not a big,
beautiful oak like we have in the

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center of campus.

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A broom tree would be kind of
a glorified bush, about the size

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of that piano, probably.

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And it was a lone one, which
means he wasn't in a forest.

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He wasn't protected by anything.

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It was out in the middle of nowhere.

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And he got up under this
thing, which probably would have

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been filled with all kinds of
insects and snakes and spiders and

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all kinds of stuff, but he was
that desperate, and he got under

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the broom tree and he fell asleep.

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You know, when we feel
threatened, our natural instincts

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are either to fight or flight.

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Fight or flight.

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Most of us run when we feel threatened.

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The problem with running when
you feel threatened is it begins

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a pattern in your life that
every time you feel threatened, every

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time you feel overwhelmed,
when you.

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Or every time you feel
hopeless, you run.

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And so when things are tough,
you change colleges.

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When things are tough, you
change jobs.

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When things are tough, you
change marriages.

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When things are tough, some
people even change families, leave

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their kids.

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People who run develop a
pattern of running that is very hard

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to stop.

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And that's where Elijah was.

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So here he is, exhausted,
scared to death for his life, been

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running out in the wilderness
all by himself.

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He's under this tree, he's
exhausted, and he finally just called

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out to God.

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He didn't say, lord, you know,
I really messed up.

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I should have done this.

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I should have done this.

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I'm really sorry, and how can
you help me?

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No, he just said, I've had
enough, Lord, I've had enough.

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I'm done.

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I'm as good as dead.

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I'm done.

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That's all he said.

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It was a last resort prayer in
every way.

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We get so busy trying to solve
our problems, we forget, like Elijah,

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that God was there all the time.

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God was there all the time
with Elijah.

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God was just waiting for
Elijah to be ready to listen.

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This is the same man who'd
shown the power of God to the prophets

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of baal.

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Can you imagine if that fire
didn't start?

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What would have happened?

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But that fire started.

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He showed the power of God,
and then he went into despair of

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hopelessness.

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I hope today you don't feel hopeless.

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But for some of you, someday
you might.

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Someday you might feel
hopeless like Elijah.

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So what did he do?

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First, I think we see that God
was there all along.

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God was there at the prophets
of baal.

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God was there when Jezebel
threatened him.

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God was there.

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When he ran, God was there.

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But until he cried out to God,
he didn't get an answer.

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God would have given Elijah an
answer sooner if Elijah just would

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have asked and listened.

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But here's what's really
interesting to me, what God didn't

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do.

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You imagine this.

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This is the big deal.

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This guy's on this spiritual high.

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This woman threatens him, and
he's scared to death, and he runs

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away from everything and
thinks like he's totally hopeless.

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You'd think God would say,
well, let me tell you a thing or

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two.

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I'll take you back, but I'm
going to straighten out some stuff

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with you.

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Or maybe God would say, I'm
going to let you suffer a while longer

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and teach you a lesson so you
won't do this again.

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Mnh.

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Mnh.

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God didn't do any of that.

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When Elijah cried out, God
sent him an angel, and the angel

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touched him and told him, get
up and eat now.

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00:12:55,420 --> 00:13:00,180
For 40 days after that, the
angel and Elijah traveled together,

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and the angel brought him
water and food.

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00:13:04,060 --> 00:13:09,420
You know when you are
physically exhausted, when you push

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00:13:09,420 --> 00:13:12,700
too much, you don't eat well,
you don't sleep well, you don't do

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00:13:12,700 --> 00:13:13,380
all that stuff.

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The powers of life come at you
in a way that they don't otherwise.

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00:13:18,530 --> 00:13:21,330
And the angel knew, before
you're going to listen to God, I've

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00:13:21,330 --> 00:13:24,770
got to get you restored
physically and emotionally.

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00:13:24,770 --> 00:13:28,610
So he took him to a safe
shelter as well, where he could emotionally

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rest and get restored.

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00:13:30,290 --> 00:13:35,290
In fact, he took him to the
mountain where the ten commandments

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came from, because he knew for
Elijah, that was a sacred place.

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00:13:39,730 --> 00:13:44,790
So he got him into a point
where Elijah was willing to hear.

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00:13:46,710 --> 00:13:49,750
And so often, we are just not
ready to hear.

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00:13:52,790 --> 00:13:56,550
And so we need to take those
steps, whether they be physically

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00:13:56,630 --> 00:14:00,189
or emotionally or in our
patterns of life, to get ready to

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00:14:00,189 --> 00:14:00,469
hear.

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00:14:00,470 --> 00:14:01,910
And that's what Elijah did.

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00:14:01,910 --> 00:14:04,950
And finally, he was ready to
listen to God.

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00:14:07,110 --> 00:14:09,750
And when he did, this is what
the scripture said.

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God said, go out and stand
before me on the mountain, the Lord

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told him.

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00:14:14,030 --> 00:14:18,950
And as Elijah stood there, the
Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm

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hit the mountain.

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00:14:19,550 --> 00:14:22,990
Such terrible blast that the
rocks were torn loose.

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But the Lord was not in the wind.

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00:14:26,750 --> 00:14:30,230
After the wind, there was an
earthquake, but the Lord was not

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00:14:30,230 --> 00:14:30,950
in the earthquake.

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00:14:30,950 --> 00:14:34,510
And after the earthquake,
there was a fire, but the Lord was

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00:14:34,510 --> 00:14:35,470
not in the fire.

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00:14:36,750 --> 00:14:43,430
And after the fire, there was
a sound of a gentle whisper, the

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sound of a gentle whisper is
how God most often speaks to us.

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00:14:47,830 --> 00:14:51,190
And I hope this semester
that's what we'll learn as we look

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00:14:51,190 --> 00:14:55,710
at various people and how they
handle the challenges of life and

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00:14:55,790 --> 00:14:57,430
learn to listen to God.

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00:14:57,430 --> 00:14:59,750
And so that's what we're going
to do this semester as we go through

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00:14:59,750 --> 00:15:00,110
this.

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00:15:00,110 --> 00:15:01,790
And I shared that list with you.

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00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:04,600
Well, in hopelessness, Elijah
cried out.

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00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:06,280
He said, I've had enough.

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00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:08,120
I've had enough, Lord.

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00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:09,240
I'm at the lowest point.

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00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:10,840
I can't get any lower than this.

289
00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,600
And, you know, that's why I
wanted to start with hopelessness

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00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,080
today, because the rest of it
really gets better after this.

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00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,280
Some of the other challenges
people face compared to absolute,

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00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,400
utter despair and hopelessness.

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00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:28,200
But let's take five quick
lessons from what we learn about

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00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,320
listening to to God from this
story of Elijah, who's at the worst

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00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:33,640
point in his life.

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00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:35,720
The first is this.

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00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,200
We have to be willing to listen.

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00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:40,760
We have to be willing to listen.

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00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:46,360
If I told you right now, God's
going to speak to you in the next

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00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,280
30 minutes and he's going to
tell you something to do.

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00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:51,080
Most of you wouldn't do it.

302
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:54,200
I probably wouldn't do it.

303
00:15:55,650 --> 00:15:57,730
We've got to be willing to listen.

304
00:15:58,050 --> 00:16:01,370
If you're not willing to
listen, God's not going to speak

305
00:16:01,370 --> 00:16:01,810
to you.

306
00:16:03,330 --> 00:16:04,970
People say, well, God never
speaks to me.

307
00:16:04,970 --> 00:16:06,530
Yeah, because you're not
willing to listen.

308
00:16:06,610 --> 00:16:08,290
You're not willing to even do
what he says.

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00:16:08,530 --> 00:16:10,210
He's given direction in his scripture.

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00:16:10,210 --> 00:16:11,410
We don't even do that part.

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00:16:11,650 --> 00:16:13,570
So why should he speak to us directly?

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00:16:13,890 --> 00:16:19,730
God's not going to give us
that direction unless we're willing

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00:16:20,070 --> 00:16:20,230
to.

314
00:16:20,620 --> 00:16:22,740
To listen and to do it.

315
00:16:22,740 --> 00:16:24,140
And that's where we've got to start.

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00:16:24,940 --> 00:16:28,540
The second thing is we got to
ask God to speak to us.

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00:16:29,340 --> 00:16:32,860
The number one reason most
people never feel like they never

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00:16:32,860 --> 00:16:36,780
hear from God is because they
haven't asked God to speak to them.

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00:16:37,740 --> 00:16:41,500
If you'd make it your prayer
every day to say, God, teach me something

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00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:47,920
today, God, direct me
somewhere today, God help me be stronger

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00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,000
relationship with you today.

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00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,280
If you'll ask God to speak to
you, God will speak to you.

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00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,320
I guarantee it 100%.

324
00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:58,160
God will speak to you.

325
00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:00,320
So you've got to ask.

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00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:01,240
You've got to be willing.

327
00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:02,240
Then you got to ask.

328
00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,120
And then thirdly, it requires reflection.

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00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,040
Now, Elijah, when all this
happened, he wasn't reflecting.

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00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:09,840
He was scared to death.

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00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:10,960
He was running for his life.

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00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:15,100
So he wasn't even hardly, you
know, processing what was going on.

333
00:17:16,220 --> 00:17:18,580
But that's where God spoke to Elijah.

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00:17:18,580 --> 00:17:21,540
When he was finally ready to
listen and he asked God for help.

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00:17:21,540 --> 00:17:22,940
He said, lord, I've given up.

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00:17:22,940 --> 00:17:24,220
And that was an ask for help.

337
00:17:24,220 --> 00:17:25,700
It wasn't an eloquent prayer.

338
00:17:25,700 --> 00:17:27,580
You don't have to have an
eloquent prayer to ask God for help.

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00:17:27,580 --> 00:17:28,940
Just say, lord, I need help.

340
00:17:29,100 --> 00:17:29,740
That's it.

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00:17:30,060 --> 00:17:30,780
He'll help.

342
00:17:31,340 --> 00:17:33,460
So what God do?

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00:17:33,460 --> 00:17:35,340
First thing he says is he
asked him a question.

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00:17:35,340 --> 00:17:37,500
He said, what are you doing
here, Elijah?

345
00:17:38,390 --> 00:17:38,950
What are you doing?

346
00:17:40,790 --> 00:17:44,910
You know, he could have asked
sooner, but he just wanted him to

347
00:17:44,910 --> 00:17:45,430
reflect.

348
00:17:45,510 --> 00:17:52,070
Elijah needed to reflect on
where he was and whose he was before

349
00:17:52,070 --> 00:17:53,510
he could hear God.

350
00:17:54,550 --> 00:18:01,110
And then we see fourth, that
you have to be close to God in order

351
00:18:01,110 --> 00:18:01,830
to hear him.

352
00:18:02,630 --> 00:18:04,230
You have to be close to God.

353
00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:05,960
God is approachable.

354
00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:07,720
God is not out there someplace.

355
00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,520
God is in our spirit, in our
life, among us.

356
00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:13,640
And that's why it's so
important to understand.

357
00:18:14,120 --> 00:18:15,560
He spoke to God.

358
00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,360
God spoke to Elijah in a whisper.

359
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:26,200
And if I whisper, if you want
to hear me, you got to get really

360
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,440
close or you're not going to hear.

361
00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:29,880
They can't hear.

362
00:18:30,130 --> 00:18:32,370
You can hear because you're
close enough.

363
00:18:34,050 --> 00:18:35,730
God speaks in a whisper.

364
00:18:36,210 --> 00:18:39,090
If you're not close to God,
you're not going to hear Him.

365
00:18:39,730 --> 00:18:42,690
If you're not into the
Scriptures and studying what he's

366
00:18:42,690 --> 00:18:44,610
already taught us, you're not
going to hear Him.

367
00:18:44,770 --> 00:18:47,290
If you're not seeking after
him, you're not going to hear Him.

368
00:18:47,290 --> 00:18:50,290
If you don't get close to God
and say, look, I don't have it all

369
00:18:50,290 --> 00:18:52,210
together, God, but I want to
be close to you.

370
00:18:52,210 --> 00:18:55,250
If you can't get to that
point, you're not going to hear him

371
00:18:56,620 --> 00:18:58,540
because he speaks in a whisper
so often.

372
00:18:59,420 --> 00:19:01,980
And you have to be close in
order to hear.

373
00:19:02,300 --> 00:19:04,220
And God is approachable like that.

374
00:19:05,020 --> 00:19:08,940
And then lastly, we have to
stop looking for something dramatic.

375
00:19:09,580 --> 00:19:11,940
I've had people through the
years tell me, I just don't know

376
00:19:11,940 --> 00:19:12,300
what to do.

377
00:19:12,300 --> 00:19:14,220
If God would write it in the
sky, I'd do it.

378
00:19:14,460 --> 00:19:16,140
But God's not going to write
it in the sky.

379
00:19:16,940 --> 00:19:19,100
God didn't put it in the
earthquake, he didn't put it in a

380
00:19:19,100 --> 00:19:19,340
fire.

381
00:19:19,500 --> 00:19:20,660
He didn't put it in the wind.

382
00:19:20,660 --> 00:19:21,500
He whispered it.

383
00:19:25,190 --> 00:19:30,070
We try to find something
dramatic to direct us rather than

384
00:19:30,070 --> 00:19:33,910
developing a relationship with
God so we can hear him in a whisper.

385
00:19:34,630 --> 00:19:36,510
People say, I just need
direction so much.

386
00:19:36,510 --> 00:19:38,790
I'm going to get my Bible, I'm
going to open up, I'm going To do

387
00:19:38,790 --> 00:19:39,950
that, I'm going to find direction.

388
00:19:39,950 --> 00:19:40,550
No, you're not.

389
00:19:41,670 --> 00:19:42,470
No, you're not.

390
00:19:43,110 --> 00:19:44,630
Understand the nature of God.

391
00:19:44,870 --> 00:19:47,110
Understand the big ideas of.

392
00:19:47,870 --> 00:19:48,430
Of faith.

393
00:19:48,510 --> 00:19:51,310
Understand his relationship
with his people.

394
00:19:51,390 --> 00:19:53,150
Get a kingdom perspective.

395
00:19:53,310 --> 00:19:55,790
Be around Christian people who
can guide you.

396
00:19:55,790 --> 00:19:57,950
And find time to be quiet.

397
00:19:59,790 --> 00:20:02,270
And, boy, that's hard to do
right now.

398
00:20:03,389 --> 00:20:07,950
It's hard to be quiet in our
culture today.

399
00:20:09,470 --> 00:20:12,830
I had an MRI not too long ago,
a few weeks ago.

400
00:20:14,270 --> 00:20:17,470
They said, take your phone,
take all your stuff, put it in here.

401
00:20:17,630 --> 00:20:19,870
You got to sit here in a room
and wait.

402
00:20:20,910 --> 00:20:23,950
So I put it all away and I sat
there in the room.

403
00:20:23,950 --> 00:20:25,670
And then they came out a
couple minutes later and they said,

404
00:20:25,670 --> 00:20:26,830
it's going to be about 30 minutes.

405
00:20:26,990 --> 00:20:28,070
I said, can I get my phone?

406
00:20:28,070 --> 00:20:29,389
They said, no, you got to keep
it away.

407
00:20:29,470 --> 00:20:30,750
It's going to mess up the machine.

408
00:20:30,750 --> 00:20:31,550
Just sit right here.

409
00:20:32,270 --> 00:20:33,790
There wasn't one thing to read.

410
00:20:34,590 --> 00:20:36,790
There wasn't one phone message
to flip.

411
00:20:36,790 --> 00:20:37,870
There wasn't one email.

412
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,560
There wasn't anything on
Twitter to look at.

413
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:43,560
Total silence.

414
00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:44,680
Nobody else there.

415
00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:45,800
30 minutes.

416
00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:47,880
I haven't done that in a long time.

417
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:54,840
It's not easy to be silent,
but we've got to get the clutter

418
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,120
of our lives out of the way to
hear God.

419
00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:00,200
We've got to put the phone down.

420
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:01,720
We've got to turn off the tv.

421
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:03,280
It doesn't mean you have to.

422
00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:04,120
Dead silence.

423
00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:07,190
I listen to Musical Lot in the
background and it speaks to me.

424
00:21:07,190 --> 00:21:12,830
But do whatever it takes to
help you listen to God and stop looking

425
00:21:12,830 --> 00:21:16,190
for something dramatic because
he's going to whisper.

426
00:21:17,790 --> 00:21:20,990
And if you don't get close to
him, you're not going to hear him.

427
00:21:22,110 --> 00:21:25,390
Well, God never left.

428
00:21:25,710 --> 00:21:26,590
Elijah.

429
00:21:28,830 --> 00:21:30,510
Elijah, stop listening.

430
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:33,640
Elijah, stop listening.

431
00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,600
And God promises the best for
you and for me.

432
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,920
Better than we could ever
imagine if we'll listen.

433
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,720
God promises a way through the
challenges of life.

434
00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:46,520
He doesn't say, I'm going to
take your challenges away.

435
00:21:46,759 --> 00:21:49,880
He says, I'm going to show you
my power through those things.

436
00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:54,200
The topics we're going to talk
about this semester, God is going

437
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:58,120
to provide that way if we will listen.

438
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:03,760
And so my prayer this semester
for you and for me is that we'll

439
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,280
learn how to better listen to God.

440
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:13,800
And if we'll listen to God and
learn to listen, it's amazing how

441
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:18,600
he will help us through the
toughest things of life and enjoy

442
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,320
the wonderful things of life
even more.

443
00:22:22,610 --> 00:22:24,690
And that's what our
benediction verse says.

444
00:22:25,810 --> 00:22:29,890
It says that God has so much
more than we could ever imagine.

445
00:22:30,050 --> 00:22:34,930
So pray this benediction with
me as a prayer of assurance that

446
00:22:34,930 --> 00:22:38,130
God will speak to you if
you'll listen.

447
00:22:38,850 --> 00:22:43,250
No eye is seen, no ear is
heard, no mind is conceived.

448
00:22:43,250 --> 00:22:46,450
What God has prepared for
those who love him.

449
00:22:46,930 --> 00:22:47,610
God bless.

450
00:22:47,610 --> 00:22:48,450
Have a great day.