The Simplicity of Listening

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our Tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

And, it's always an honor when, pastor Brian invites me to come and teach to you guys more times than not when I end up being led to teach is something that is something that God has been teaching me. And the hard part with that is that I not the hard part, that's not the right words, but just full disclosure, this is something that I'm learning, so I'm not coming to you as a master or an expert on it, but somebody who is in the trenches right now learning this And I'm inviting you to come with me and learn some more about this. As you guys know, pastor Brian always leaves us open as a more of a conversational atmosphere to learn in, and I encourage that conversation as well in this time because, like I said, I'm still learning and so I know there's things that are in you that may be connections, as he would say, connections, questions or comments that you may see while we're talking that would help me understand this even more too. So let's go together and learn a little bit more about really I'm piggybacking off of what pastor Brian talked about last week which is simple obedience.

We've been talking since the beginning of the year of the word or the phrase for tribe for twenty twenty four is finding clarity, increasing clarity in complexity. And we all can understand the increasing complexity aspect of that because I believe from all the people that I talked to in our own lives, the complexity just continues to ramp up in all of our lives. And so to me when I hear clarity and complexity, there's a little bit of a sigh of relief in my soul like oh, okay, just because it's complex doesn't mean I'm not gonna be able to figure out what God is calling me to. And last week Pastor Brian talked a lot about obedience, simple obedience, opening up that clarity. And it struck a chord with me because I've been learning that the definition of obedience is a little bit different than what I had originally or not it's different than how I live it out is the truth of the matter.

To me obedience sounds like a really great time for the doers in the room to step up and I'm a doer through and through and through. I'm a doer and so when I hear obedience I think okay find more things that I need to do. Look at my circumstances, look at the problems that need to be solved in my life and okay I can do this, okay I can do that, okay I can do that But in obedience the Bible actually does not distinguish obedience on its own. In fact, I'm gonna jump way ahead. There's actually in Hebrew which is what our Old Testament is written in, there is not a word that translates obey, just obey.

The word for obedience is Shema, S H E M A, and it is listening and obeying. It's two sides to the same coin. You can't just have obedience. There has to be the listening first. So when God tells us to obey, he's not telling us do, do, do, do, do, find things to do, get that done.

It's not actions. It starts with the listening and when we know what God has said then we obey and so that's what we're going to talk about today. Let's go in if you could turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy six verses four through five. I'm gonna set the stage and then we're gonna read this in a few different versions so that we have an idea of different translations and how they translated the word because the word Shema, listen and obey, is in this. This passage is actually called the Shema because it starts with the word Shema and so that's just an easy way for people to distinguish it.

Last week we were talking about in Exodus three and Moses was getting his call and listening and hearing what God has told him to do to lead his people out of Israel. Now we fast forwarded in that story and he's led the people out of Israel and into the wilderness. They have wandered around the wilderness for forty years. In fact the first generation that was led out of Egypt has all passed away and now it's their kids and this is looking at this next generation of Israelites who are getting ready to go into the Promised Land and he's giving kind of his final words and speeches and reminding them of the covenant and reminding them of who their savior is and who led them out and all that has led us up to this time and preparing them to go into the promised land and he says, one of my favorite parts is he basically says, you guys when you go into the promised land things are going to get easier, watch out and you're like watch out why would you watch out if it's going to get easier like I would think that if it's going get harder we need to be more on our guard right but it's that comfort it's where things get easier that we start to get I'll just say for me, I start to get prideful and a little bit like, Oh, okay, I'm feeling comfortable, I'm good.

And I spend less time listening to God as opposed to more time. So in Deuteronomy six:four-five he's giving them this prayer to say or to pray over and over again throughout the day. He says in the morning and at night for the rest of your lives and practicing Jews today recite this on a regular basis as well. Okay, so if I could get somebody to read and if you could tell us what translation you're reading from, I'd appreciate it.

I am reading from the CSB. Listen, Israel, the lord our god, the lord is one. Love the lord your god with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I've given you today are to be in your heart.

Thank you. Listen. Okay. Do we have it in a different translation? The

New Living translation.

Thank you. Translation.

Do you want me to wear glasses?

Oh, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your strength.

So we had listen, hear, the Lord our God is one. One more, what translation are you reading Do you need my glasses too? Okay.

NASB. Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.

So good. So we have all these different versions and I've got a couple of different versions that we can put up on the board. So listen in the NLT here, which we heard a couple of times tonight. And then the message translation, it's not a translation, it's a paraphrase. But I thought it was interesting because the message bible uses the word attention and actually from what I'm understanding about the word Shema, attention is part of it.

So it's there's hear and listen where you get this picture of you know like the sound waves hitting their eardrums but then there is the point of attention pay attention because I mean how many of us can drive down the road and have something playing or be listening to a book on Audible and thirty minutes later you're like, I don't remember anything I just heard, right? So there's the part of hearing but then there's also the aspect of paying attention to it and then the other side of the coin it's two sides of the same coin we don't just listen and pay attention but then we have to actually go out and do it Do whatever we heard, which really is implying that if you don't go out and obey, have you really listened? That hurts me to say because that's a hard one for me. And let me show you how this works by let's go to Exodus 19 verses five and six. We just rewound about halfway into that story and we're back at Mount Sinai in the wilderness and this is when Moses is getting the law and we're going to and again, we're gonna hear the word Shema translated and so we'll do different versions as well on this one.

Exodus 19 verses five through six and hear what God has to say. This is actually the Lord speaking at this point. Go ahead. Oh, tell us what version you're in first, please.

I have the, NIV version.

Okay.

And it's exodus nineteen five and six.

Mhmm.

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations, you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are

the words you are to speak to the Israelites.

If you obey fully. Okay, I need another version, please.

I can read from I of NLT. Okay. It's five. Hang on. Five.

Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on the earth, for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation. This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.

Okay. Maybe one more. We've had obey, obey. Go ahead. Okay.

This is out of, CSB. So it says, now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, You will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine. And you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation. These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.

K. So if you Shema is the beginning of that. How many of you in the Bible that you're looking at, it says, If you obey? How many are there? Put your hands way up high so we can all see.

Everyone look around. Okay, how many of you it says, If you listen? Obviously, the CSV did. Three of us. Isn't that interesting?

Most of the translations in this verse say if you obey. Again, listen and obey. They're two sides to the same coin. Same word, shma, but you can't have one without the other. And so I wanted to point that out so that you could see that it's not just translated listen and I'm adding on that Shema part or adding on the obedience part but the listening and the obeying go hand in hand.

You can't have one without the other. If you don't obey you haven't listened. And if you're just doing which is what I'm really good at, if you're a doer, it is not the same as obedience because obedience to God is listening to what he says and then doing that, just that. Okay, I'll pause for just a minute. Anybody have any comments or connections so far before we go on?

Okay, well that's easy. I'll continue my monologue. Let's go to James one twenty two through 24. This is a scripture that we're all familiar with. I've got it up here on the screen.

For if anyone is a hearer listening, now we're into the New Testament. If you listen to the word and not a doer, don't do what it says, You're like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror. For once he's looked at himself and gone away, he immediately forgets what kind of person he was. Again, listen and obey. Listen and do.

They work together. And if you don't, if you just listen and you don't do or if you just do things but it's not what you have taken time to listen for, then you haven't really obeyed. You have to have both of those to work together. I'll just tell you this one. In Matthew seven twenty six-twenty seven, this is at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.

So Jesus has given one of the most incredible messages of His entire life and He ends it with, this is gonna sound familiar hopefully to most of you, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not, what, obey or put them into practice is like a man who built his house on the sand. There's the crashing waves and the storms and it falls with a great crash. Everyone who hears these words of mine, it's not enough to just hear God's words. I've been reading through John Mark Comer has a new book called Practicing the Way and he talks about two different types of people who follow Jesus. There's the crowds and then there's the followers of Jesus or his apprentices or disciples which is a Christian needs word that we have trouble understanding apprentice makes more sense to us nowadays.

But there's two types there's the crowds and the Bible says that these people were following around and it's very indistinct, this massive amount of people that are always following Jesus. But then there's his disciples or his apprentices who are not just following and listening to the words that he says, but they're doing what he says. They're becoming like him. They're doing as he did. That's the difference and man, when I was reading that and thinking what kind of an example am I as a mom giving to my daughters?

Is it one of the crowds where we go and we hear the word at church and we hear the word on some podcasts and that kind of a thing but then we don't actually follow through and do what it says or am I an apprentice of Jesus and modeling that for my kids that I'm not just hearing God's word but I'm actually putting it into practice where they see that that is inseparable in my life. And like I said, I've got a long ways to go but I recognize and I feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit that it is, again I'm great at doing but what's the point of doing if I haven't taken time to listen and I've hit that on my own naturally because if you're a doer like me you can do all day long and it's exhausting and you will hit a wall and you will be frustrated. It will not bring fruits of the spirit, it'll bring fruits of anxiety and overwhelm and short fuses, all of those things because I'm like, God, I'm doing all these things. And he's like, Yeah, but who told you to do those things?

That's where you hit the wall. Okay. So again, increasing clarity in the midst of complexity. So we're gonna talk about how to listen which sounds a little silly to talk about that because spoiler alert I'm basically gonna tell you but that you listen by taking time to listen. This is not deep stuff but I found in my own life and there's so few times that I actually do listen that maybe it does help to take a minute to talk about how do I incorporate listening into my life.

Cal Newport who is the author of Digital Minimalism and this doesn't have anything to do with, this isn't a spiritual book, but he talks the importance of solitude and he talks about how we can actually live our life now, our entire life and never once be in solitude. Never once listen, never once stop all the noises, the increasing complexity, right? All the things that are trying to come in and never once listen. John Mark Comer in his book says that the capacity to set the heart's attention on God so basic to following Jesus is the very commodity that we're losing to the attention economy, trading, looking for liking, gazing for doom scrolling. But if we can't pay attention, we can't pray.

We need to learn how to listen, how to quiet our hearts. So we're gonna look at first Kings 19, if you guys can turn there. I have verse 11, but I want to back up. I just need one person to read this. Let's go back to verse nine.

So we'll do one Kings nineteen:nine-thirteen. This is a story that's probably familiar to a lot of you but I think there's some really key components of listening in here that is important to highlight. Can I get somebody to read that? First King 19 starting in verse nine through 13. Yes, please.

There he came to the cave where he spent the night. Am I in the right spot?

Yep. This is Elijah, by the way.

Yep. The Lord speaks to Elijah. But the Lord said to him, what are you doing, Elijah? Elijah replied, I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty, but the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now you're trying to kill me too.

Go out and stand before me on the mountain, the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, what are you doing here, Elijah?

So one of the takeaways from this is that when God speaks, it's generally in a gentle or a low whisper. What does that imply for us if God is speaking to us in a whisper? What are some quick thoughts that that means? What does that immediately mean if somebody is speaking to you in a whisper?

Whenever my mom would speak to me in a whisper, I'm like, oh no. She's serious. She's not using her big grown up yelling voice. So like really tune into what he has to say.

Okay. The fear of God or the fear of mom, depending on who it is. What else do we think of when we hear if we have to listen to somebody whispering? Go ahead.

If someone's whispering, you have to be really quiet and intent on what they're saying to hear them.

Anybody else? Up here. I love it.

Lot of times it means it's really important.

Yeah, okay. So there's an importance to it. God's not just wasting words on us, right? I think that there's also like a physical posture. Have you ever been to anything?

It could be a wedding, it could be a meeting or whatever and if the person up front is speaking quietly, what are we physically doing? We're trying to lean closer, right? We've got to lean in and get closer as close as we can get our ears so that we can hear it. If God is speaking to us in a whisper, this is not a voice that we are going to hear in the midst of complexity while we let that complexity come and just swirl around us. For a whisper, we've got to get quiet.

For a whisper, we've got to lean in, right? Also I think what's important is in verse 11. My version says in verse 11, he says, Go out and stand on the mountain. Okay, first part of that, go out. I believe that go out here is giving us an instruction to get out of our normal rhythms.

This needs to be something that is set aside for listening. Something that's different than our normal thing. There's all sorts of things going on, there's all sorts of noises coming but if we're going to listen we need to go out, we need to make some time for it, make some room for it. It does not just magically happen. So make time for it, get away from your normal rhythms.

The next part says stand which simply means be still, stop moving, stop talking. Allow him to speak means you need to quiet yourself. Again, I know this is super simple, but how much I'll just speak for myself. How much I put it into practice though is a whole another thing. And then finally it says go out and stand on the mountain.

And to me on the Mountain is a choice to listen in solitude. Is a place where Cal Newport again in digital minimalism he says that solitude is a place where there are no inputs because we can be alone but that doesn't mean that we're in solitude. We can be alone and listening to music you know with our air pods or reading a book or listening to a podcast or whatever the case may be but we're not in solitude until we turn off all the inputs. Go out, make space for it, make time for it, carve time into your schedule, stand, be still, and then on the mountain turn off all the inputs. Create a space of solitude so that when God whispers, you can hear it.

Right? Okay, I'm gonna make this super, super practical. We, I mean we live in a great place where we can literally go out and stand on the mountain but the frequency of being able to go and do that is if we limit our times to solitude and listening to God to that then it won't happen frequently enough. I think that it is something that James Clear talks about in Atomic Habits that we can start tomorrow and make time for it in your daily schedule but make it small. He talks about how the art of forming a habit begins with starting with something that is so ridiculously small that you can't help but not do it.

It would be ridiculous not to do it because it's so small. So whatever that looks like to you is two minutes ridiculously small? Maybe it's one minute, maybe it's five minutes, maybe it's ten minutes depending on what your morning or evening quiet times or during the day quiet times look like. But choose a time, go out, set it aside where you are not doing anything else. And then I would highly recommend that you have a pen and paper with you because we don't need to overcomplicate this.

I know that there's a lot of people who I've been talking to lately that have to make really difficult decisions in their lives and whether it's about their job or their family or whatever is going on. And it's hard to hear what God has to say and we're like, Oh, well, my question is usually, Well, what is God telling you? And I have gotten a couple of different responses. Number one, how do I know what God's telling me? I can't figure that out.

It just seems to be quiet. I've also gotten another one recently who said, I haven't asked because I don't wanna know what he has to say. That's a lot of good honesty right there. But we have to make that space to listen first we want to be, cause it doesn't count as obeying, count is the wrong word because I'm making it more of like God's keeping score and that's not what we're talking about here. But true obedience in God's eyes is obeying what he tells us to do when we listen.

So I would say number one set aside a time, a very small amount of time to start with. If you're like, well I'm gonna listen for an hour. That's awesome. It also is probably not sustainable and so don't let that one day that you do an hour burn you out for the next month before you can set aside an hour again. So start small, have pen and paper with you because listening is as simple as I would take some deep breaths to start with just to kind of quiet my own heart and mind And then just simply ask, God, what do you want me to know about and then you can fill in the blank.

What do you want me to know about my job right now? What do you want me to know about my daughter? What do you want me to know about me? What do you want me to know about today? What do you want me to know about you?

That's a fun question to ask. What do you want me to know about your word or what I just read in your word? What do you want me to know about fill in the blank and then the first thing that pops into your mind, write it down. That's it. That's God talking to you.

I think we overcomplicate it. I think we were like, I need to get up on a mountain or I need to like have like a pastor come and speak a word, a prophetic word over me or I need to like, I need to have an earthquake. I need to have the winds coming and crashing, and then I know it's God talking to me. But those thoughts that pop up when we quiet ourselves and we say, God, what do you want me to know? The thoughts that pop up, that's God talking to you.

That's listening. And when you make time for that, then when he says, I want you to know that you can have hope in this situation because I'm gonna do this work. So go and make that decision. Now we have something to obey once we have listened. So my invitation to you is super super simple.

Are you going to listen or are you going to be a doer like me and just fill your schedule and fill your life and fill all your hours and all your moments with doing because the caution is that that is not true obedience and the Bible says if you love me, this is how God knows that we love him, we will what? Obey. Obey what he has told us to do which means if we're not listening then we're not obeying we're just doing and if we want to show as followers of Jesus who want to become like Jesus the life that he modeled for us then we need to listen and then we know what to obey. And when we obey, then we're showing God, God I do love you because I'm doing exactly what you told me to do. You have something?

Joy, I was just gonna say when you said that, it reminded me of the first thought that pops in your head. Of course, the enemy can also, you know, try to put thoughts in our head. But I was just thinking about how safe we are with Jesus when we ask him a question. And I thought of Matthew seven, what's that scripture about which of you if your son asks for bread, will you give him a stone or he asks for a fish and you'll give him a snake. If you're earnestly asking the Lord to speak to you, there's no fear involved in it.

You don't have to worry like you're safe with Him when you earnestly come before Him was what I thought of when you said that. Because I think sometimes in our world we can think so many thoughts pop into our head. Like how do I know? I just that's why I thought of that scripture. It was just He's a safe place to ask, Lord would you speak to me?

Yes, yes and we're gonna keep learning, right? I think if we're being true and just writing down the first thing that pops into our head, the tendency and the tendency is to analyze. Was that God or was that me or was that the enemy trying to like whatever. It's also to analyze and translate that ourselves like, oh, then that means I need to do and then we make up the next steps. But don't do that because I'm learning this one the hard way.

Don't do that. When God says something and you're like, okay, I hear you. I hear hope in the word that you said, but what does that mean? Like okay what do you want me to know about that? Like what do you want me to do with that?

And then write down the next thing that pops up and keep practicing are we gonna get it right every time? Probably not, that's okay But we are saying, God, when our heart posture is listening for that whisper where we're leaning in, we're being still, where we're making time to listen, if we miss it, God's gonna see that heart posture and He's gonna keep talking to us and He's gonna love us through that because He sees that our heart is to obey and to follow through and do what He says and so we're gonna keep on trying to listen and He's gonna keep speaking. Another aspect of that is that it's really important to be able to discern his voice and I think that only comes through time learning his voice. I think in our busy world and in increasing complexity, we have this opportunity to And I've heard this and I'm not saying that God doesn't speak like this, like, Oh, well I would just I mean, Facebook is so good for me because every once in a while, in my scroll, somebody posts a scripture or they post a reel with somebody teaching something about the Bible and I'm just like, Oh, that was for me.

Or if there's like we're in worship today, sometimes in worship there's like parts of the lyrics that are just like highlighted in your mind and like, Oh that word is for me, God is speaking to me there or maybe it's in a podcast or maybe it's meeting one on one with a friend and they say something and it strikes a chord in your heart and you're like, Oh God, that was you speaking through that person to me. All of those are wonderful ways for God to speak to you but in our world of increasing complexity the number of inputs that are coming in right now is by the hundreds if not thousands. And for us to be able to discern that whisper out of all those voices is extremely difficult. So why not spend time learning his voice first and trying it in silence and solitude and then hearing his voice is gonna be so much easier to discern because I truly believe that God is speaking to all of us more than we are hearing. Does that make sense?

I think he's always trying to speak things to us, but we're missing it because there's so many other voices coming in. John Bevere talks about when he is in a room and he's talking with friends and the room is full of hundreds of people, when his wife walks in the door on the other side, he doesn't even have to see her. He can hear her voice immediately. Even though there's a den of hundreds of voices in the room, he knows his wife's voice so clearly that he can hear her across the room and know for sure, oh, Lisa's arrived. That's our challenge today is to get to know God's voice so well that when there are the hundreds of different voices coming through, we can hear God's voice clearly over all of that.

And the only way that we get there is similar to John and Lisa Bevere in their marriage. It's because of all the time that they have spent together getting to know each other's voice. We've got to learn God's voice alone in silence and solitude before we rely on being able to hear it in the sea of voices. Right? I I just wanna make sure that we are I think I believe that God is speaking right now.

There's something burning in in each of your hearts And I don't want to discredit or dismiss the simplicity possibly of what God is trying to say to you right now. Is it two minutes? Is it one minute? Don't ignore that. Here's your chance.

Go ahead.

It's not two minutes or one minute for me. It's getting the shower.

Oh, okay.

Perfect. You're isolated. There are no outside impacts. It's relatively quiet. You're doing things that you don't have to think about because you've thought about them a thousand times, done them a thousand times before, hopefully.

I might not fit in that category. And

your mind is free to roam around and do everything you've been talking about.

Yes, I love that. And I, from personal experience,

I can tell you things happen in my mind, in that posture that have changed my life. And

that that's so good. And it's it's setting an intention to listen, to note the things that come to mind when you're in the shower, and then write that down afterwards, I would say. But isn't that interesting because I mean, I don't know how many creatives, whether it's songwriters, people who write movies, people who write books, how many have said that they got the idea in the shower, right? Because it's like the law of sowing and reaping, regardless of if you love God or if you think that that's a law that God created, it still works. And so when you get into that place of solitude and you and you cut off the inputs, God speaks.

How awesome is that? God speaks. Any other thoughts before we go? Oh, I got a few. Run, cat.

Run.

So just so you guys know I wrestled with this. I'm like, I am not gonna talk today. And then I was wrestling with the Lord because he's like, what if I want you to talk? Are you gonna be obedient? So I'm being obedient.

This morning, we were reading in Exodus, and something jumped out at me while we were reading in Exodus, and it's Exodus twenty twenty. And it said, Moses said to the people, do not be afraid, which piggybacks on what Lyssa was saying. Mhmm. God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning. And PB shared last week about the fear of the Lord, and it's critical to have that in order obedient to what you hear the Lord saying.

When you actually listen, being obedient requires a healthy fear of the Lord. So I think one of the most dangerous prayers I've ever prayed perhaps is besides Lord give me patience, which I try not to pray that prayer very often because you'll always get tested. Tested. But also that he gives me a healthy fear

of the Lord. Yeah.

And to know what that is. And so I'm just, I just wanna submit that challenge to you guys today too, to join me asking for that. Like to have a healthy fear of the Lord and grant me an obedient spirit so that when I do hear, I do obey.

Yes. Yeah. Yes. So much of what, pastor Brian talked about last week was hearing the Lord and then without that fear, you never even get to the obedience. And that idea is if you don't obey, if you don't do what God has said, you haven't really listened.

Go ahead. Who is it? Go ahead, Mike.

Scripture that's that goes along with and he meditates on his word day and night. So, Caden, I have a couple of tools that we'd love to I'd like to quickly share with you guys. One is when we would do a time with our pencil and paper, we'll ask the lord to give us a verse and we'll write that down to start. And then as we're meditating on that and listening, thoughts will come like, Oh, I didn't pay my electric bill. And so I have a little list on the far right that says tasks.

Yeah.

That's good.

And I write it down, then it leaves my mind that I could get back.

Yes. That's so good. I love that. I think, Lee, do you have something to share too? So

sometimes I get a what seems to me a weird answer. It's like That's good. Where did this come from? Mhmm. Or very frequently, I'll I'll have a a picture.

I'll see something, and it doesn't make sense. So what you said, I do write it down. I don't dismiss it, but I don't try to figure it out. Mhmm. I this this is gonna seem kinda harsh, but I say, god, if this is you, I expect.

That's what I'm feeling. Mhmm. I know that you will give me clarity, that you'll give me understanding. And I leave with that. Mhmm.

But then I keep coming back to whatever it was. And I start out. I say, Holy Spirit, if this word was from you or Holy Spirit, if this picture is from you, then, I'm here. And sometimes, it's a week later. And many times, it's in the middle of the night.

And that because I'm not thinking, I'm trying to go go to sleep. Mhmm. But I wake up and and there it is. So I I guess what I'm saying is I do my best to not dismiss something strange in the way of a word or a picture. I don't dismiss it.

I pursue it.

Mhmm. That's good. In the book Living Fearless by Jamie Winship, he talks a lot about identity and just this simple asking the question, God, what do you want me to know? Or God, what do you call me? And he said, similarly, he had a guy that they were praying and they said, God, what do you call this person?

And he immediately got the word fixer. And the person immediately, this guy was like, that's not what I wanna be called. And he immediately was like, that means I'm just gonna be the one that everybody calls all the time when they need something fixed in their house. I'm gonna be the one. It's like owning a truck.

I'm always gonna get called to help people move or whatever. And he immediately analyzed it and defined it for himself. And and Jamie Winship cautioned, no, like, let's let God define that. And so when they went back in prayer and they said, God, what does fixer mean to you? What how do you define that?

Then God's word was, I you are gonna be the one that fixes people's eyes on meat, which is a completely different definition than what this guy originally had. But again, when we write these things down, don't be or don't follow the temptation to immediately define it or to immediately me as a doer, be like, okay. Then that means I need to do x, y, and z. Hold on. Wait.

Ask. What do I do with that? What do you want me to do? You've told me this. Now what do you

Brian is away for the weekend and is doing ministry and building the kingdom through other methods. So thank you, Joy, for stepping up to the plate and giving us that awesome message. So if you guys don't mind, if we can all stand up, I will pray us out and give us

a

blessing.

Eleven thirty two, baby.

I know. We got really close. Really close this week.

Don't tell Brian.

Just tell him.

Don't tell him.

It's doable.

Lord, thank you for this space. Thank you for all the people in this room, the ones that stay to set it up and stay late to tear it down, Lord. What a gift that we have to have arms and legs and muscles and brains to make an awesome space like this, a place where we can meet and worship you and gather in community. God, I just pray a blessing and I ask for your favor, a double portion of favor over each and every person in this room. May everywhere they walk, may everywhere they talk go out and just your love in Jesus from inside of them just pour out so evidently in this valley, Lord.

We wanna make your name famous here and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. It's in your name we pray. Everyone said, amen. Amen. We love you guys.

Thank you so much for coming and remember, you got this.