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Chris: I hope you're excited
to be a part of a church that is
always dreaming to reach further!
Our pastor and the leaders of this
house are always praying and asking
God that question. I don't know
about you, but it excites me to
be a part of a dream like that.
Can everybody say, Amen?! All right!
When you came in, you may have noticed
that either on your seat or in the seat
in front of you in the little pocket
thing there, there are some puzzle
pieces. Why don't you take a minute
and look. We've been in the middle
of a series and we've been walking
through a series called "A Time for".
Can you say a time for.
And we've looked at some amazing
topics. We've looked at forgiveness.
We've looked at thankfulness.
We've looked at love, sacrificial love.
And today we're going to look at hope.
And I'd like to start by saying that
the opposite of hope is despair.
And we're going to take a very close
look at a woman in the scriptures.
A woman that, the more I studied her
life, I've been telling my wife, Tanya,
over the last few days, that as I
read this story over and over again,
and as I've been listening to different
teachings on this portion of scripture,
I really am growing to love the
personality and the tenacity of
this woman. Because see what happened
in her life is she had a puzzle piece
that was very complicated. And hopefully
you know that God has an amazing picture
for your life. He said to the prophet,
Jeremiah, I knew you before you were
born while you were being formed in
your mother's wound. That God has a
picture for your life. But we can say
that some of these puzzle pieces are
a little bit more complicated than
others, aren't they? And a lot of
times these complicated puzzle pieces,
what we'd like to try to do is hide
them, or we'd like to put them away,
or we'd like to try to pretend that
they were never really part of our
puzzle. They were never really part
of our picture or our story.
We eventually settle with the fact,
well, I'd rather not actually have
this puzzle piece. I can deal with
my puzzle missing a few pieces.
So I'm gonna go ahead and bury a couple
of pieces along the way. And we are
going to meet a woman who was
challenged in the midst of her despair
concerning a puzzle piece in her life.
But she found the courage to allow
God to dig that thing up and deal with
it and provide a sense of hope.
She learned over the course of time
that there is only one place that she
can bring all of her puzzle pieces.
There is only one source that can
make sense of it all.
So I want to give you a challenge.
As you are holding that puzzle piece,
or you are looking at this one,
or you see the puzzle piece that
your neighbor has, what part of
your life, what situation have you
been through, what frustration,
what disappointment? It almost
seemed contrary. It almost seemed
like it could not have been part
of the puzzle. It could not have
been part of the picture.
So much so that you've actually
tried to erase it. You've tried to
forget about it. Because when I look
at this piece right here, and maybe
you the same, I see a whole lot of
colors that don't make sense.
Maybe 6 or 7 or 8 colors.
And the only one who can make sense
of it all is the one who dreamt up
the picture in the first place.
So we have to learn how to see our
lives, and to see our circumstances,
and to see our situations through Him.
So are you ready to read about
this woman? Come on! Are you ready
to ready about this woman?!
All right. Let's do it together.
We're gonna start in II Kings 4:8.
I'd like to challenge you to read
these scriptures with me nice and
loud. It says, one day Elisha went
on to Shunem where a wealthy woman
lived who urged him to eat some food.
So whenever he passed that way
he would turn in there to eat food.
Verse 9. And she said to her husband,
behold now, I know that this is a
holy man of God who is continually
passing our way. Let us make a small
room on the roof with walls and put
there for him a bed, a table, a chair
and a lamp, so that whenever he comes
to us he can go in there. Now let's
just pause for a minute to give the
story some context. It is always
good whenever we read any stories
in the scriptures to pause and to let
the story build so we understand
what is going on. The first thing
we read is that she is a wealthy woman.
Can you say a wealthy woman.
So they have their resources to add
and extension on their home for a
prophet who is only passing through
from time to time. Because that is
her desire, her and her husband's
desire, to go ahead and to serve
Elisha and who we will read about is
his servant also, Gehazi.
So here we have this wealthy woman
adding this addition. We also read
that she had to urge him to eat
some food. And I'd like to say,
if you have ever done a lot of
traveling, I haven't. But for some
reason I have a paranoia with
eating food from people I don't
know very well. As I was talking
through this story with my wife,
she reminded me. I totally forgot
that the very first Thanksgiving I
went to her grandma's house,
I did not eat anything.
What a jerk, right?
That's a true story right there.
They had this Jell-O with marshmallows
in it. And I'm like, who puts
marshmallows in Jell-o?!
They must have ran out of ingredients
or something. I could've brought
something if you told me, you know?
And I actually felt embarrassed.
I had to look at my wife and say
I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did that.
I've grown some since.
But whenever people bring in food
or all these different kinds of things,
for some reason I have this image
in my mind of a stove and a big ol'
fat cat sitting on the counter
while they're cooking. I don't know
if I saw it on Seinfeld or something
and it freaked me out, but for some
reason it just messes me up.
I'm like, there's just got to be
hair in this lasagna somewhere,
I know there is! I'm just looking
for it while I'm eating. What that
in my, imaginary hair! I just,
I, anyways. So Elisha being a man
who I'm assuming did a lot of
traveling, may have been burned a
few times when it comes to free food.
So she had to urge him to eat.
But this relationship between him and
this family builds. And I want to
say that God had a greater purpose
for Elisha in their home than just
resting there. This wealthy woman
who was just going to go ahead and
get a nice table and a chair, and you
know this wasn't no cheap, Target
furniture like I have, right? This was
Anthropologie. We're talking Ethan Allen,
whatever. This is nice stuff. We got
the Yankee candle. And she has this
room set up beautiful for this man.
She didn't even know that she needed
a miracle. She was comfortable living
her life. And we're gonna read about
that. This story is so amazing.
Verse 11, come on, would you read
with me. One day he came there and
he turned into the chamber and rested
there. He said to Gehazi, his servant,
call this Shunammite. And when he
had called her, she stood before him.
And he said to him, say now to her,
see you have taken all this trouble
for us, what is it we can do for you?
Would you have a word spoken on your
behalf to the king or to the
commander of the army? So pause right
there. So Elisha says to his servant,
go ahead and ask this incredibly
hospitable woman what can we do for
her because she is doing so much to
serve us. And you would think that if
you had the spiritual son of Elijah
living in your house, you would kind
of have a list, like for Santa Claus,
you know what I'm talking about?
Like this is Elijah's spiritual
son, Elisha. And Elijah did some
pretty cool things when he walked
the earth. The Bible says this guy
was so holy that a chariot came
down from heaven to take the man
home. The spiritual son of that
man is hanging out in this room
that you built. And if he says, what
can I do for you, I want to serve
you, come on, you'd think you'd have
a list. And listen to how she
responds. She answered, I dwell among
my own people. Another translation
reads she answered, my family takes
good care of me. Essentially she said,
I'm good. Can you look at your
neighbor and say, I'm good. Come on,
we're in church. Have some fun.
Go ahead, look at them and say, I'm good.
It's okay. I know you never met them.
It's all right. Now they know you're
good! That's all right.
So this is how this woman responds
to this great prophet. She says,
I'm straight. I'm all taken care of.
My family takes good care of me.
Elisha, go back to bed.
I'll wake you up when it's time
for dinner. You go ahead and rest.
That's why we built this room for
you in the first place. Don't get
up in my business, I'm here to
serve you. I got it. I'm good.
Come on, say it one more time.
Say, I'm good.
Verse 14. Keep reading.
And he said, what then is to be done
for her? Gehazi, his servant, answered,
well, she has no son and her husband
is old. Pause right there.
Again, some context. She has no son.
And her husband is old.
I'm guessing that's a bad combination
if you want to make a baby.
You got no son and your husband
is old. Now men, I've heard some
stories. I'm still pretty young,
I guess. As we get older we kind of
lose the ability to make babies
but we hope to never stop trying.
And all the men say, Amen, right?!
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But it's the truth.
As you get older it becomes more
difficult to make the baby but we'll
practice double sessions.
Never mind. Why'd I just say that?
I don't know what's happening right now. :)
So the prophet says she doesn't have
a son. So we are learning something
about this woman. I hope I didn't
lose you with that comment.
Come back, it's okay. It's okay.
It's all right. That the prophet
knew something about this woman,
that she was barren or that she's had
extraordinary difficulty having kids.
And the servant has done his homework
to gather some of this information
too. So here we go. Isn't it just
like God to get in our business and
to go to the places in our life we
would just rather not talk about?
Isn't that the truth?
We're about to start a time of
fasting and prayer in January.
And you're going to go into this
prayer room. We're going to make
a beautiful prayer room in this campus
and at our downtown campus. You're
gonna go in there to pray and you're
just gonna wanna have a nice old
time with God. You got your
My Utmost for His Highest. You got
your Bible app thing you are looking at.
And all the sudden God starts
knocking on those places in your life
you'd just rather not talk about.
He starts knocking on that door
of the unforgiveness you have for
your ex. He starts knocking on the
door of the bitterness you have toward
that one child. He starts knocking
on those doors. And you're like,
God, I just came here to read my Bible.
I just want to hang out.
And He goes ahead and He starts
knocking on this door. And this
Shunammite woman, she just wanted to
create a place for this prophet to
come and hang out and to come and
live for awhile. And doesn't God
go ahead and start knocking on
a door. Doesn't God go ahead and
start digging through puzzle pieces
that she would rather not talk about.
Because this Shunammite woman, she had
a puzzle piece in her life that was
so complicated, that was so fragmented,
wait until you see the way she
responds to Elisha when he brings it up.
She has gone ahead and settled that
her picture in life will be okay with
this puzzle piece no longer being
a part of her picture. She has learned
to settle in her despair at least
with this one puzzle piece.
And despair is the opposite of hope.
The thing I love about this woman is
that when she's given the opportunity,
though she responds in a way that is
a little bit aggressive, man, she's
got a personality, I'll tell you.
Let's read.
Here we go.
He said, call her. We are in verse 15.
And when he had called her, she stood
in the doorway. This is like a
Hollywood scene for me for some reason.
Verse 16. And he said, at this season,
about this time next year, you shall
embrace a son. And you would think
she'd be like, oh my gosh! I made this
room for you; I didn't expect to
get blessed! And look how she responds.
She says, no my lord, oh man of God.
Don't lie to your servant. She says,
Elisha, don't go there. Don't lie to me.
I didn't spend money out of my
savings and my husband did not build
you this room for you to come to my
house and start talking to me about
having a child. Elisha, don't go there.
She had the tenacity to say,
don't lie to me. Even though she
knew he was a great prophet.
Have you ever been talking with
somebody and you realize that you've
turned over some stones in their
life and you wished you never asked
that question? Dinner was going good.
Come on, now. You're out to dinner.
You're just hanging out with your
friends. Hey, how's your mom or dad
doing? And all the sudden it's like
oh my. If you could rewind 5 minutes,
you swear you would. You'd jump in
the time machine in no time. Cause now
the whole dinner's messed up. Cause
you asked how mom is doing. Or you
ask someone, hey, how's work going?
And all the sudden it's 10-15 minutes
of just vomit. You can't believe it.
Oh, wow, really, you hate that person?!
Wow, you need to get a different job.
And you ask the question, hey, how are
you and your wife doing? How's your
kid doing at school? How's this going?
And how's this going? How's college?
And all the sudden you realize you've
turned over a rock, and all the worms
and the stuff. You wished you could
just put that rock back.
Elisha intentionally, just like God does,
has gone ahead and turned over a rock
in this woman's life. Because he wants
to deal, God wants to deal with the
puzzle piece that she has buried.
And I want to tell you, God wants to
deal with our puzzle pieces. He wants
to deal with our barrenness, and I'm
not talking about having a baby.
He wants to deal with the places of
our life where we've gone ahead years
after. Your father has already passed
away but you still have resentment in
your heart towards him. And you've
chained that door up. And I know this
is uncomfortable, but that's okay.
You've chained that door up and guess
what? God is just waiting for you to
open it and give Him permission so
He can open it and deal with that thing.
So He can bring hope where there's
been despair. And even though this
woman, and this is why I love her,
man, she's got a personality.
She looks at the prophet and she says
don't lie to me. Look at how she
responds, because she does receive
that promise, even though she has
been extraordinarily hurt and that
puzzle piece makes absolutely no sense.
Verse 17. Would you read it with me.
But the woman conceived and she bore
a son about that time the following
spring as Elisha had said to her.
Stop right there. Let's take the
scripture down. Now, if we could only
read this part of the story, it would
be so perfect. It would be like
take your puzzle piece, go home, and
you do that thing. It is gonna
be awesome. It's gonna happen.
But don't we know that is not how life
works. Come on now. That even in
the midst of the promise there can be
extraordinary difficulty. And if you
haven't found that out you will find
that out. That's the truth.
Because this woman, already she's told
Elisha, don't lie to me.
But then she decided to go get the
puzzle piece and let him do the work
to put that thing in. And now she
has the baby. But wait till we read
what happens next. The unthinkable.
Verse 18. When the child had grown
he went out one day to his father
among the reapers out in the field.
And he said to his father, oh my head,
my head. And the father said to his
servant, carry him to his mother.
What a guy thing to say!
Just get the kid to his mom, right?
Verse 20. And when he had lifted
him up and brought him to his mother
the child sat on her lap till noon
and then he died. Elisha, I told
you not to lie to me! So I went ahead
and I let you grab onto this puzzle
piece. And now, look what happened.
And I want to say right now, and
this is the truth, the situations like
this are why people stop going to
church. Come on, now. Don't get
mad at me. It's the truth.
Maybe some of you stopped
going to church for awhile because
of something like this. Maybe your
dad, he was such a good, Christian
man. Then he cheated on your mom.
And you didn't even know what to
think about God after that.
You're so frustrated. So ticked off.
Something in your life happened.
You got a doctor's report and
you were always doing this thing.
You're like, God, all this time I
served You! Are you serious?!
This woman gets a report that to be
honest, many of us, if we are to be
really, completely, just vulnerable
right now, would use as an excuse to
say I don't gotta go to church.
I ain't giving any more money.
I ain't doing none of that.
Look what happens when I serve God.
Look what happens when I decide to
say, okay, you bring some hope to
my despair. Look what happens!
I told you not to lie to me!
But look at what this woman does.
It's these scriptures in this story
that began to speak to me so much
about the character of this woman.
That's inspired my family.
Verse 21. Come on, read this nice
and loud. This is a good verse
right here! And she went up and
she laid him on the bed of the man
of God and shut the door behind him
and went out. Come on, we're gonna
read it again. She went up and she
laid him, her son, on the bed of
the man of God. And she shut the door
behind him and she went out.
She walked into the room that she
designed for the prophet she chose
to serve. And she took the son and
she brought him back to the place of
promise. She said the only way this
is going to make any sense in my
life is if I bring this brokenness
back to the place of promise where
I stood in the doorway and you told
me I was going to have a kid.
She takes her son and she brings him
and she lays him on the linens that
she chose. That's the first step in
this woman's life that shows us her
character. But it gets even better.
Look at your neighbor and say it gets
even better. Man, this story is so
incredible. Verse 22. Listen to this.
Come on, read with me. She called to
her husband and she said, send me one
of the servants and get me one of
those donkeys that I may quickly go
to the man of God and come back again.
And her husband says, why will you
go to him today? It is neither the
new moon nor the sabbath. And she
replied, all is well. For real?!
Really? All is well?! Is she lying
to her husband? I'm gonna tell you
what I think. I think that she knew.
It is kind of like if somebody asks
you, you know, your spouse asks you,
what's wrong? And you just say, no,
I just need to go pray about it.
Talking about it right now isn't going
to do any good. I need to go pray
about it. If we could look at it in
kind of just very practical terms.
Her husband says, what's wrong?
And she knows that talking with
her husband about it isn't going
to produce any fruit right now.
Jack. Nothing. It's like, I can
sit with you and I can talk with you
about this. I can cry until I bleed.
I can do whatever. But guess what?
You cannot do anything to help me
right now. She says, all is well.
Because she realizes that if she
doesn't get this puzzle piece back
to the source that it will never
make sense. She realizes that there
is only one place where this puzzle
piece can go where the picture will
work out. And it is the one who has
created the picture. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? And I'm gonna tell
you right now, it may not be all
of us, but some of us have walked
in with some puzzle pieces.
Going into 2013, if you will have
the tenacity of this woman to
let God knock on those doors and to
let Him dig out those puzzle pieces
that you have decided it's okay to
live your life with that 1 or 2 missing
pieces. It's okay, no big deal.
If you will let God knock on those
doors and deal with those pieces,
I will tell you He will bring hope
to where you didn't even know there
was despair in your life. He will
bring forgiveness you don't even
know that your soul is tangled up
until it's free. Then you'll know.
If we will allow him to knock on those
places and deal with that stuff and
there is stuff! I'll tell you
right now, this woman is setting an
incredible example for us.
She said, all is well.
Verse 24. Come on. Then she
saddled the donkey, and she said to
her servant, urge the animal on.
Do not slacken the pace unless I
tell you. She's in charge.
Verse 25. So she set out and she came
to the man of God at Mt. Carmel. When
the man of God saw her coming,
he said to Gehazi, his servant,
look, there is the Shunammite.
Verse 26. Run at once to meet her
and say to her, is all well with you?
Is all well with your husband?
Is all well with your child?
And she answered again, all is well.
She knows that the servant can't
do anything to help her.
You know what we do?
Come on, let's just get real for
a minute. When we get a busted
puzzle piece, when something happens
that's all messed up, it's just unfair.
We get fired. We get accused of
something in a meeting that wasn't
even our fault, some budget thing,
and people are all looking at us and
we're just frustrated. We failed
this class or this thing. I'll tell
you what you and I do a lot. Just
being honest here. That's okay, right?
Thank you, right there. This is what
we do. We go and we talk to everybody
about it. That's the truth.
It's the truth. By the time we have
talked to 10 friends about it,
3 family members, and then the 10
friends again, we have spoken that
thing so many times we have like
negative faith working against us.
The Bible says our words have
tremendous power. By the time you've
spoken that thing so many times,
you have convinced yourself. So now
you've got to break down the stronghold
you've built. Because you've
convinced yourself so many times.
And this Shunammite woman, she says,
listen Gehazi, I know you want to
help me. You're a great servant.
But get out of my way. I gotta get
to the source. I appreciate your
help. But I've got to get to the source.
God wants to teach us to have our
instincts be to get to Him when
the puzzle piece seems to
contradict what is His best for
our life. All right. Come on,
verse 27. When she came to the mountain
of the man of God, listen to this.
She caught hold of his feet and
Gehazi came to push her away.
The only way I can make sense of that
verse is that she must have grabbed
his feet in such a way Gehazi actually
thought that she was attacking him.
It is not like Elisha was untouchable.
She must have, like she is going for
a take-down, ahh! You know?
She's shootin at him. Gehazi freaks
out, like I need to rescue my
prophet here. But this woman is
so aggressive in her need to get
back to Elisha, the source, that she
grabs onto his feet. Ah, man, listen
to her honesty. And Gehazi came to
push her away. Come on. But the man
of God said, leave her alone, for
she is in bitter distress. And the
Lord has hidden it from me and not
told me. Verse 28. Listen to what
she says. And she said, did I ask
my lord for a son? Did I not say,
do not deceive me? You know what I
thought as I read this verse?
As we are about to wrap up.
I have often wondered in my life if
it is okay to have these sort of
conversations with God. Come on,
have you? I have. Honestly.
She says to Elisha, did I ask my
lord for a son? Didn't I tell you
not to lie to me? You know what I
felt spoken to my heart when I was
wrestling with that question personally?
Is that it was her posture that gave
her permission. She didn't go to God
or go to the prophet waving her
finger in his face, I told you,
I'm never coming. I told you this.
I hate you. I resent you.
I resent you! I'm not going to church.
I'm not talking about it any more.
I'm not gonna read my Bible.
I'm not gonna do any of this,
cause I served you and I said yes.
And look it! What I felt in my heart,
it was her posture that gave her
permission. Yes, she was frustrated.
Deeply disappointed. The puzzle
piece was so messed up and so
broken. But she feel on her knees,
holding on. The servant thought she
was attacking the prophet, grabbing
onto his feet. I'm not letting go!
And in the midst of that moment she
is being very honest. But her posture
is a posture of humility. And if we
will take our puzzle piece and we will
bring it to the one who created the
picture with humility in our hearts.
And I know that is hard. Because we
feel justified, don't we. When this
puzzle piece is messed up, we feel
justified. But if we bring it to
the one in the midst of despair, He'll
put it as part of that picture.
And He said, I told you I'll work
all things together for the good.
I told you I would! But what happens
is we get so much tunnel vision on
this one puzzle piece we actually
forget there is a whole picture.
And we begin to build our whole life
around one piece. But if we bring
it back to the source, what the
source does is He takes it as broken
and as messed up as it seems, and He
says, I told you I'd work all things
together. I told you My word was real.
So let's listen to what happens.
Verse 29. Come on, we're about to
wrap this up. And then we are going to
receive communion together.
Verse 29. He said to Gehazi, tie up
your garment and take my staff in
your hand and go. If you meet anyone
don't greet them. If anyone greets
you do not reply. And lay my staff on
the face of that child. Then the mom,
she interjects. This is awesome!
She says, as the Lord lives, and as
you live, I'm not going to leave you.
Elisha, you're not sending your
servant on this one! I don't want the
assistant. I don't want your helper.
She is like, Elisha, in all humility,
get on the donkey. It's for real.
That's what she's saying. You know
how you moved into my house? Well
guess what? I'm about to move into
yours! Right here on Mt. Carmel.
I hope you like me!
And there ain't no lamp or no table.
We're gonna sit right here until
you come. So you can send your
servant, but guess what? I want you
because you're the source of this
promise. You're the one that said
it to me in that doorway.
It was me and you, Elisha.
Oh, don't you love her?!
And the Bible says, he arose and
followed her. So good! Verse 31.
Come on. Gehazi went on ahead and
he laid the staff on the face of the
child. There's no sound or sign of
life. Therefore he returned to meet
him and he told Elisha the child has
not awakened. You know he didn't look
at the mom when he said that!
Verse 32. When Elisha came into the
house he saw the child lying dead
on his bed. So he went in and he shut
the door behind him. And the two of
them, I'm assuming his servant prayed
to the Lord. Now I wonder when he
shut the door, was it he just wanted
some time alone with the child and the
servant? Or was it that he was
nervous? Because when you read about
Elisha, he had never performed a
miracle like this before. There were
some ploughs that burned, you know,
some bitter water to sweet.
His mentor had done some pretty
radical things. But he goes in and
shuts the door and it's about to go
down right here. Let's continue
reading, verse 34. Last few
scriptures. And he went up and he
lay on the child, putting his mouth
on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes,
his hands on his hands. And he
stretched himself upon him. And the
flesh of the child became warm.
And he got up again and he walked once
back and forth in the house and went
and stretched himself upon him.
And the child sneezes 7 times.
The child opened his eyes. And he
summoned Gehazi and said, call the
Shunammite. So he called her.
And when she came, he said, pick up
your son. And she came and fell at
his feet, bowing to the ground.
And she picked him up and went out.
Now let's be honest. A story like
this in our lives can sometimes stir
up more questions than answers.
But the focus on the story, I want
to challenge us today, is not
necessarily on this boy coming back
to life. But it is on the posture
and the heart of this woman.
Because listen, maybe we have lost
some things in our life. Whether they
are people, or whether it's a family
picture that we always assumed would
be perfect. You think or assume it
doesn't look perfect any more. And
you say, and you know that's over
and done. I don't want the moral of
this story to be that this child
came back to life, though it is
beautiful and it's brilliant.
I believe in my heart what God is
wanting to direct our attention to
right now is the woman who ran to
the source and grabbed on to the
feet of the source and said,
I am not leaving until you come
with me. Because she knew this puzzle
piece, that she didn't want to get
out in the first place was so
complicated and was so broken that
there was only one person who could
ever take that puzzle piece and put
it back as part of that picture and
make sense of it. And I'll say it
again. If we will allow God to go
to those places in our lives,
deal with the stuff that maybe it
doesn't even seem like it stings
anymore cause you've buried it so
deep. But He still wants to deal
with that unforgiveness. He still
wants to deal with that subtle bitterness.
He wants to deal with it.
Because when we do, and we allow Him
to put that there, He says now you
know how it works together.
I'm gonna ask if the band can come out
and we're gonna get ready to pray.
So again, as we are about to receive
communion and as we are about to
pray, I want to go back to the question
I asked you in the beginning.
We can dim the house lights just to
give us some privacy as we pray.
And those watching online, I want
to ask you too. Where in our lives
is there a puzzle piece that doesn't
seem to fit? It actually seems
contrary. It is like somebody gave
you the wrong piece. It's like
this doesn't go to my puzzle.
But it is your piece.
That situation happened.
It did happen. It's real.
What do those puzzle pieces look like
that if we would give them to God,
that somehow He would take despair
and He would bring hope and He would
make sense of the senseless.
Do you believe that He can do it?
Listen, please. I'm going to
actually petition with you for a
second. Life is so incredibly short.
Let Him deal with everything He needs
to deal with so you can experience
life to the fullest here on earth.
Please. Don't let all that stuff
stay buried assuming that I'm just
gonna go into a coping way of living.
And eventually, this woman learned
to be hospitable. We have some
hands up that need communion over here.
This woman learned to be hospitable.
I want to say that she learned to
cope in the midst of her weakness.
But God had a greater purpose for
those messed up puzzle pieces.
If you will have the courage and
the tenacity to let Him go there,
you know He'll go there. And He'll
do what He always does. He'll bring
scope and He'll bring vision.
He'll bring the whole picture and
He'll remind us that we're His kids.
And He'll remind us that all things
work together for the good.
Let's just pray for a moment.
Thank you, Jesus.
God, right now, in Jesus' name, as
we sit here in this moment,
just as Elisha was stretched out on
this young boy, I want to thank You,
Jesus, for how You were stretched out
on that rugged cross. Come on,
would you just begin to thank God
right now for how His body that
was broken and His blood that was
shed, that it covers every bit of
your life. Even those puzzle pieces.
You know what I'm talking about.
When you got that report, cancer.
You look at that puzzle piece.
It seemed so contrary. I'm gonna
tell you right now, His blood, His
grace, His mercy covers that puzzle
piece too. Right now in the name of
Jesus, God, we read how Elisha was
stretched out and how his eyes
connected with the eyes of this young
boy, just like You renew a sense
of vision in us. And Lord God, how
his mouth connected. Lord, that
you put a new song in our hearts.
And Lord, how his hands touched the
hands of that young boy right before
his body began to become warm again,
where the blood began to flow.
God, just like how You touch us.
How You stretched out.
And as a result, You said he who
has clean hands and a pure heart
can ascend Your hill.
Lord, we know for a fact that life
has re-entered our body, that we
have come back into living.
God, that our sin has been buried.
We declare it right now in the
name of Jesus. Come on, would you
declare that with me! Come on.
Believe it over yourself.
Don't walk out with condemnation.
Don't walk out with a sense of
hopelessness. The Bible says the
fervent prayer of the righteous
avails much. God, we believe it
right now in the name of Jesus.
That Your blood covers every single,
what seems like messed up, puzzle
pieces. And every mistake, and all
the condemnation and guilt. And all
the foolish decisions. And every
time we drank too much. And every
time we did that thing. Lord, we
confess that to You right now.
We lay it right down at Your feet.
Come on, right now, believe it!