SPEAKER_00: Today I want to talk to you about Did my battle matter?
SPEAKER_00: Did my battle matter?
SPEAKER_00: The hard thing that I went through.
SPEAKER_00: Did it matter?
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes it seems like the hard things we go through, time goes by, and I don't know if it mattered.
SPEAKER_00: It seemed like nothing happened with that.
SPEAKER_00: I tried really hard.
SPEAKER_00: I pushed really hard.
SPEAKER_00: Like I was really invested.
SPEAKER_00: I really put the time in.
SPEAKER_00: I really was intentional with that person.
SPEAKER_00: I like I went there every day again and again and again.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just wondering did it matter?
SPEAKER_00: Was it meaningful at all?
SPEAKER_00: Is there any outcome?
SPEAKER_00: Because it seems like sometimes there is no outcome.
SPEAKER_00: So in March of 1783, the Continentals, the Continental Army, the war with Great Britain was just about over.
SPEAKER_00: And they were angry because they'd been promised this pay from the Continental Congress all this time.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, we're gonna get you guys paid and you're gonna pay for life.
SPEAKER_00: And nothing was happening.
SPEAKER_00: They made all this sacrifice and nothing was happening.
SPEAKER_00: And so they were getting ready to overthrow the Congress.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, many were talking, you know what we need is we need a king.
SPEAKER_00: I know we we thought for a minute we didn't, but we do.
SPEAKER_00: Let's make George Washington the king, because then at least he can tax people, and then we can get money.
SPEAKER_00: See, the Continental Congress, for all of its great ideas, didn't really have any power to tax the colonies.
SPEAKER_00: And so there was no money to pay this disgruntled, disillusioned, dejected folks that had invested their whole life and they were disappointed.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know what it's like?
SPEAKER_00: To sometimes, like, even though you know, like I know it was a good cause, but it seemed like there was no there's no reward there.
SPEAKER_00: Like, like God didn't do anything in response to my faith.
SPEAKER_00: God didn't do anything in response to my obedience.
SPEAKER_00: What's happening?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there was a there's a child that maybe is has is growing or has grown, and you invested in them day in and day out, and they're still out there wandering.
SPEAKER_00: Like you had all these, all these, uh, all this faith that they were gonna, well, God's gonna turn their life around and God's gonna really do something magnificent with them.
SPEAKER_00: And so far, I mean, you keep forgiving them, but nothing has really changed.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a spouse that they keep like saying, Yeah, great, have fun at that church stuff, go ahead.
SPEAKER_00: But there's nothing happening really in their life.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a little, you can see a little ripples if if you're like creative, but it doesn't seem like necessarily anything is happening.
SPEAKER_00: The return on investment of your obedience seems like I mean, dude, I'm happy to do it, but I don't I I can't say for sure that something is happening because of it.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't seem like anything turned out for me.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know what that's like?
SPEAKER_00: Do you know it's like when it seems like the arrogant are promoted?
SPEAKER_00: It seems like the the people that are always running their mouth, it seems like the people that are treating people the worst, they're the ones that get ahead.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, what about me?
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I'm like dying to self every day, trying to be sweet, and yet other folks seem to get promoted.
SPEAKER_00: I'm doing everything I can.
SPEAKER_00: Like, like I was so I fasted and I tried to hear from God and and I tried to do exactly what he wanted, and what I got was pain.
SPEAKER_00: What's up with that?
SPEAKER_00: Did my battle matter?
SPEAKER_00: Because it wasn't easy, and it wasn't even just like once, it was a lot.
SPEAKER_00: And and what's what's weird about when when it seems like the battle didn't matter, we can even start to feel rejected by God.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: I guess other people get get some kind of an attaboy or at a girl or something or some kind of some blessing that says, hey, I saw that, or or or or good job, or turns out I am behind you.
SPEAKER_00: But because I didn't get any of that from God, I feel like he's rejecting me.
SPEAKER_00: I guess maybe maybe I don't get that version.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he doesn't like me as much as he likes the rest.
SPEAKER_00: Did my battle matter?
SPEAKER_00: See, it's easy to forget sometimes when our obedience is rigorous and it's not perfect, but we're doing all that we can.
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to forget that of course your spiritual enemy wants to talk you out of obedience.
SPEAKER_00: But if he can't, he's gonna try to talk you out of the long game of obedience.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna try to teach you every day, you know, that that doesn't really do anything.
SPEAKER_00: See?
SPEAKER_00: See, nothing's happening.
SPEAKER_00: So you're you're you're further behind than you were.
SPEAKER_00: That becomes his aim.
SPEAKER_00: If I can just get them to think there's no point of this in the long term, I can shut down their faith.
SPEAKER_00: It seems like an okay plan.
SPEAKER_00: And I think it it takes place in all of our lives, probably to one degree or another.
SPEAKER_00: So we're in this book of Esther for such a time as this.
SPEAKER_00: We've been in this series for a little while.
SPEAKER_00: Just to catch everybody up in case you don't know, okay.
SPEAKER_00: It starts with this kind of imbecilic tyrannical king who, in a drunken party, gets rid of the first wife slash queen, and then he traffics in a new queen over time, and he surrounds himself with with power-hungry idiots that um pretty much pretty much he needs their approval.
SPEAKER_00: It seems like if if you just watch, it seems like he needs their approval, even just to get minor stuff done.
SPEAKER_00: And then Esther enters the picture, and and it might be that she's gonna be able to step in and help the Jews because Haman, the second in command, he's got a decree.
SPEAKER_00: He tricked the king into making a decree that all the Jews are gonna be wiped out on one day.
SPEAKER_00: And so Mordecai, the older cousin, says, Esther, look, you're close to the throne, you gotta do something to get us out of this.
SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, Esther decides to go do that.
SPEAKER_00: And she started her plan, and that's where we're going to pick it up.
SPEAKER_00: Now, you might remember if you were around, it was in chapter two, but it was like four years ago from the moment that we're looking at.
SPEAKER_00: Mordecai had the king's back.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Hey, I overheard something.
SPEAKER_00: There's two of your eunuchs are gonna try to assassinate you, and he turned them in and he got all taken care of, and he was never rewarded.
SPEAKER_00: And that was a little weird because in this time, kings, Persian kings, tended to reward folks that did right by them.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Xerzes himself, he's the king right now.
SPEAKER_00: Other uh history books tell us that he rewarded uh two captains of a ship with land because they helped him in a battle.
SPEAKER_00: He made someone who saved his brother-in-law's life, he made him a governor.
SPEAKER_00: So this is a normal thing for kings to do because it makes sense, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, I want favor with people.
SPEAKER_00: I don't want people, I don't want them to try to assassinate me.
SPEAKER_00: I want people to know that if they stick up for me, I'm gonna give them stuff.
SPEAKER_00: But Mordecai didn't get anything.
SPEAKER_00: It just was just kind of passed by, it was overlooked.
SPEAKER_00: So here we are.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pick it up, Esther chapter six, verse one.
SPEAKER_00: That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring him the book of the history of his reign so he could have it so it could be read to him.
SPEAKER_00: In those records, he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Toresh to the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king's private quarters.
SPEAKER_00: They had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes.
SPEAKER_00: What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?
SPEAKER_00: The king asked.
SPEAKER_00: His attendants replied, Nothing has been done for him.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, now Haman is gonna rush in.
SPEAKER_00: So this is like must be the early hours of the morning.
SPEAKER_00: We we don't know exactly how long has passed, but Haman rushes in.
SPEAKER_00: He's really excited because he's got this idea.
SPEAKER_00: He was consulting with his wife and his advisors the night before, and they're like, I'll tell you what you gotta do, man.
SPEAKER_00: You gotta get a big old pole, stick Mordecai on it, just spear your enemy, and everything's gonna go great.
SPEAKER_00: And so Haman's all excited.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, I can't wait to tell the king.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna ask him, could we do this to Mordecai?
SPEAKER_00: And it'll be great.
SPEAKER_00: So he rushes in, must be early in the morning.
SPEAKER_00: Who's out in the outer court?
SPEAKER_00: The king inquired.
SPEAKER_00: As it happened, Haman just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole that he had prepared.
SPEAKER_00: So the attendants replied to the king, Haman is out in the court.
SPEAKER_00: Bring him in, the king ordered.
SPEAKER_00: So Haman came in, and the king said, What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?
SPEAKER_00: Haman thought to himself, Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?
SPEAKER_00: So he replied, Well, if the king wishes to honor somebody, he should bring out one of the king's own royal robes, as well as a horse that the king himself is ridden on, one with the royal emblem on its head.
SPEAKER_00: Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials.
SPEAKER_00: Let him see that the man who the king wishes to honor is dressed in the king's robes and led through the city square on the king's horse, and have the officials shout as they go, This is what the king does for someone who wishes, he wishes to honor.
SPEAKER_00: I know that doesn't sound like it sounds like a little, you know, parade for us, but what was what he means is it's kind of like borrowing Air Force One for the day.
SPEAKER_00: Like if you get to borrow Air Force One, you're kind of a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: You must be liked.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever's present, if you get to borrow Air Force One, you must be a little bit of a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: So that's what Haman we we understand.
SPEAKER_00: He's he's probably pretty rich.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't seem to need money.
SPEAKER_00: What does he want?
SPEAKER_00: He wants applause, he wants closeness and tightness with the king, and he wants everybody to know it.
SPEAKER_00: Excellent, the king said to Haman.
SPEAKER_00: Quick, take the robes and my horse and do just what you've said for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the gate of the palace.
SPEAKER_00: Leave out nothing you've suggested.
SPEAKER_00: Now, can you picture like Haman's jaw just dropped?
SPEAKER_00: He's on polar opposite sides as the king right now.
SPEAKER_00: The person he came in to ask to be killed, that's the guy that the king wants to honor.
SPEAKER_00: So Haman took the robes, put them on Mordecai, placed them on the king's own horse, and led him throughout the city square, shouting, This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor.
SPEAKER_00: Afterward, Mordecai returned to the palace gate.
SPEAKER_00: That's like, remember, that's like the administrative offices.
SPEAKER_00: And Haman hurried home, dejected and completely humiliated.
SPEAKER_00: We see we see the implosion begin with Haman right here.
SPEAKER_00: Before anything else happens, there's a sinking of heart.
SPEAKER_00: There's a, oh man, I don't know how I don't know how this is happening.
SPEAKER_00: The very guy I want to see destroyed is the one being honored today.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 13, when he Haman told his wife Zaresh and all of his friends what had happened, his wise advisors and his wife said, Since Mordecai, this man who has humiliated you, is of Jewish birth, you'll never succeed in your plans against him.
SPEAKER_00: It will be fatal to continue opposing him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, these are the guys the night before that said, Yeah, do it, kill him.
SPEAKER_00: But somehow maybe they didn't understand that Mordecai was a Jew.
SPEAKER_00: We're not it's we're not for sure about this, but it's very possible that these folks were familiar with the biblical prophecies about the Jews and especially about the Malachites, which is what Haman is.
SPEAKER_00: See, even that what we're even told the wise men, the magi, you know, the Christmas folks, they knew about Bible prophecies.
SPEAKER_00: That's why they came looking for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And so it certainly is within reason.
SPEAKER_00: Somehow these people knew, dude, if you oppose if you oppose the Jews, that's gonna go bad for you, man.
SPEAKER_00: Don't do it.
SPEAKER_00: While they were still talking, the king's eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet.
SPEAKER_00: Esther had prepared.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, she she had a banquet yesterday and she was like, Come back tomorrow for the second banquet.
SPEAKER_00: And now he's rushed off to it.
SPEAKER_00: Did my obedience matter?
SPEAKER_00: Here's number one.
SPEAKER_00: God will remember to reward obedience.
SPEAKER_00: That night, the king had trouble sleeping.
SPEAKER_00: So he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history, and he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot.
SPEAKER_00: Can I get really Bible nerdy on you for a second?
SPEAKER_00: It's fun if we can get this.
SPEAKER_00: Um of you may know about this.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of places in the Bible, in the Hebrew scriptures, it's written in what's called the Hebrew Chiasm.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what this means.
SPEAKER_00: It's a literary structure that arranges ideas in a mirrored pattern.
SPEAKER_00: So when the scribes are writing the scriptures, they're writing it as a form of art, really, as a mirrored pattern.
SPEAKER_00: So John, let's see that image, the first one up on the screen there.
SPEAKER_00: So you can see what's happening is in Hebrew storytelling, the middle, see the kind of like the middle of that boomerang looking thing?
SPEAKER_00: That's the middle of the chiasm.
SPEAKER_00: That is actually the most important part.
SPEAKER_00: So I'll give you an example of like how it works, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So in the beginning, in ver in chapter three, letters are written sealed with the king's ring that says, Hey, you're gonna destroy all the Jews.
SPEAKER_00: And spoiler alert, okay.
SPEAKER_00: In in the end in chapter eight, letters are written, sealed with the ring, only it's the reverse.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, another example.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, in also in chapter three, Haman's decree is publicly displayed as law.
SPEAKER_00: Um Mordecai's decree, spoiler alert, in chapter eight is publicly decreed as law.
SPEAKER_00: So it keeps working toward the center.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're saying.
SPEAKER_00: It's working toward the center, and whatever's in the center here, we've talked about this in other messages, maybe you just didn't know about it.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever's in the center here, that's what God is spotlighting.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he's spotlighting.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, this, this is the most important part.
SPEAKER_00: The inspired author and God are both saying, this is the most important part.
SPEAKER_00: What is the center of the chiasm?
SPEAKER_00: It's this event right here.
SPEAKER_00: And that's really important.
SPEAKER_00: The center of the chiasm, the the meat, the middle nugget, the gooey center.
SPEAKER_00: The most important thing about the book of Esther is not anything Esther does, and it's not anything Mordecai does.
SPEAKER_00: They're not the actors in this moment.
SPEAKER_00: The actor is God withholds sleep from the king.
SPEAKER_00: God, that right here in the center, this is what happens.
SPEAKER_00: God withholds that night the king had trouble sleeping right in the center of the story.
SPEAKER_00: Here's where it is.
SPEAKER_00: Now, all this stuff is happening.
SPEAKER_00: And then what do you know?
SPEAKER_00: The king can't sleep.
SPEAKER_00: And so he gets out the audiobooks of the day, has somebody read this.
SPEAKER_00: And what does he happen to read?
SPEAKER_00: Some event that happened four years ago.
SPEAKER_00: He just happens to read this particular passage on this particular sleepless night because God doesn't forget.
SPEAKER_00: God knows when to do stuff, God knows when to bring it up.
SPEAKER_00: God keeps careful records even when we don't.
SPEAKER_00: See, there's stuff that God has a record of awesome ways that you honored him that you don't even remember.
SPEAKER_00: But dude, he remembers all of them.
SPEAKER_00: He knows exactly about it.
SPEAKER_00: He makes this record for Mordecai pop up right then.
SPEAKER_00: It was skipped before.
SPEAKER_00: God is a rewarder.
SPEAKER_00: But my friends, we got to know sometimes he doesn't reward in the time we think he will.
SPEAKER_00: He remembers it over here.
SPEAKER_00: But he'll bring it about when it's the most beneficial, when it's the most strategic, when it's the most helpful to you, when it's the most for his purposes.
SPEAKER_00: I need us to see that God is the initiator.
SPEAKER_00: All this time it's kind of been like God has been silent.
SPEAKER_00: Like, where is God in this?
SPEAKER_00: I see all these people doing stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Where is God?
SPEAKER_00: He's been waiting, he's been setting up the chessboard, he's been getting ready.
SPEAKER_00: And now we're gonna see in this chapter, God begins to make his moves.
SPEAKER_00: We see how God interacts here.
SPEAKER_00: God is hidden, but his timing is perfect.
SPEAKER_00: And what's so dope about this?
SPEAKER_00: Like, let's think this through.
SPEAKER_00: Because I know sometimes we're like, God, if you just do something, if you just show me something, you do some kind of miracle, give me something, give me a sign, give me a dream.
SPEAKER_00: Do you notice there's not any supernatural signs here?
SPEAKER_00: There's insomnia.
SPEAKER_00: It's a super totally normal thing to happen.
SPEAKER_00: God is using normal things to bring about his will.
SPEAKER_00: Is it possible that he's using normal things to bring about your will?
SPEAKER_00: I know you wanted an angel.
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, to bring about his will.
SPEAKER_00: I know you wanted an angel, but he's gonna do something normal to bring about the very reward maybe that you've been waiting on.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what we gotta understand about obedience.
SPEAKER_00: Obedience is an investment, not a payout.
SPEAKER_00: It's an investment, not a payout.
SPEAKER_00: It's little obediences over time.
SPEAKER_00: They're all accruing.
SPEAKER_00: That God's like adding all these up.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Now you're not buying blessing.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the blood of Jesus Christ is what bought your blessing.
SPEAKER_00: The blood of Jesus Christ is why anybody gets blessed at all and doesn't get entirely cursed.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus took our curse.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we would have gotten without Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you would have gotten nothing but curse.
SPEAKER_00: Everything would have worked together for your bad.
SPEAKER_00: But because of Jesus, everything works together for your good for those who have trusted him.
SPEAKER_00: And so God takes our little obediences, he covers them, obviously, in the blood of Jesus, but he knows, he sees the heart.
SPEAKER_00: He's a doting father.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, okay, I'm going to bless this at the right time when it works most for your favor, most for my glory.
SPEAKER_00: God is faithful, God is accurate.
SPEAKER_00: Buzz Aldrin and Elon Musk, you might know this, both have plans to populate Mars.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're the plans are a little bit different.
SPEAKER_00: And even the goal is a little bit different.
SPEAKER_00: So Buzz Aldrin, he wants to get like a just an establishment from which to go explore other reaches of space.
SPEAKER_00: Elon Musk wants to populate the solar system, any place we can go.
SPEAKER_00: So he wants to start with a like a million-person city on Mars and then keep going.
SPEAKER_00: But in both cases, I mean it's it's pretty aggressive, a lot has to happen all at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: There's a plan.
SPEAKER_00: The plan is there's a window of time when everything's orbiting right, that it's the shortest distance between Earth and Mars.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So you gotta have the tech's gotta work, the rockets have got to work, whatever other things you're bringing, it's all gotta work.
SPEAKER_00: The humans have to survive.
SPEAKER_00: And the time window, okay, it's every, what is it?
SPEAKER_00: It's every 26 months.
SPEAKER_00: These things come back together, and there's a limited time where, okay, that's gonna be the easiest route to get there.
SPEAKER_00: It's a lot going on.
SPEAKER_00: But in both of their plans, it's not just a one-way deal, it's it's a circular deal.
SPEAKER_00: Like people are going back and forth and back and forth, and we're bringing stuff and all that jazz.
SPEAKER_00: That's a pretty complex thing.
SPEAKER_00: And if we knew all the variables that have to be right for that to work, we'd be like, Dang um, that's that's a lot going on.
SPEAKER_00: Dude, that that's really simple for God, though.
SPEAKER_00: When you think about all of the nuanced little circumstances going on in your life and their life, and their life, and that event, and all the things that happened in the last 20 minutes that has happened in the last year that happened in the past, you know, five years.
SPEAKER_00: God is working every little circumstance precisely because he's the perfect chess player and maestro to bring about exactly what he wants on time for you.
SPEAKER_00: He knows when to do it, he has the right plan, he has the right smarts.
SPEAKER_00: God can do it.
SPEAKER_00: We just have to understand, oh, this might be a little bit bigger than just me.
SPEAKER_00: My obedience might be related to all kinds of other things that I don't even know about.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just waiting on God to do it.
SPEAKER_00: That's why it says in Hebrews 6.12, we need to imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherit what it's promised.
SPEAKER_00: Through faith, I'm gonna believe, but I'm gonna keep going in faith.
SPEAKER_00: We have to decide, and this is what I want to encourage some of us today.
SPEAKER_00: I want to encourage you to decide today to stay in the game.
SPEAKER_00: Stay in the game because there's that investment's going to accrue.
SPEAKER_00: God is going to be faithful, He's going to come around.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes what that looks like is it looks like like that that blessing that ultimately comes, one of them might look like the person who wronged you comes back and asks you for forgiveness.
SPEAKER_00: That that's a reward right there.
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty dope.
SPEAKER_00: If that happens, it might also be that you get a promotion.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the person doesn't come back, but God kind of exalts you the way he exalted Mordecai.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, spoiler alert, that's what's going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: Um you get promoted, and people just kind of see, okay, well, I talked against them, but now look at the blessing on their life.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe, I mean, what one of the greatest like blessings of obedience is peace.
SPEAKER_00: And so everybody around you tends to lose their mind, but you're just walking in the peace of God because you're you're doing your best to keep with repentance and walk in obedience, and and that just leads to a clear conscience and it leads to a little bit of a skip in your step and seeing the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_00: It might show up in provision where you're just in a downtime and door suddenly open for no reason.
SPEAKER_00: It might be part of the reward is just people come find you to pray for them because they because of your obedience, they think you're connected with God somehow.
SPEAKER_00: You look like a rope to them.
SPEAKER_00: You look like some way that they can get something.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it will be.
SPEAKER_00: But I know the Psalm 84, 11 says, No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right.
SPEAKER_00: No good thing.
SPEAKER_00: Now, God doesn't always reward with a microphone, He doesn't always reward with money.
SPEAKER_00: We don't know how He, in His wisdom, He's going to reward, but you can be sure that He does.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus went unrewarded and rejected, and then ultimately crucified, and the reward comes for the joy set before Him after the resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: But to look at him, you wouldn't have thought it.
SPEAKER_00: So we need to decide today that we're gonna continue to plant the little seeds of obedience.
SPEAKER_00: I know it's hard, I know you're weary, but don't you think for a second that your God is wronging you in any sense?
SPEAKER_00: He's planning up your blessing right now.
SPEAKER_00: So that means, you know, I'm gonna keep going to level ground just because it's a wise thing to do.
SPEAKER_00: It's just good for me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna keep on getting in the scriptures every day.
SPEAKER_00: And if I get bored with this version, I'm gonna pick up a different version.
SPEAKER_00: Or if I um uh need to hear something else, I'm gonna listen to a different podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Even if I need that shave-headed preacher, if I just need a little time away from him, I'm just gonna like listen to other podcasts.
SPEAKER_00: Baby, that's all right if you do that for a little while and then you gotta come back.
SPEAKER_00: But no, but really, for real, you gotta do whatever is manna to your soul.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna keep serving because it's just a wise thing to do.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna keep giving because not only is it gonna get me out of debt ultimately so I can walk in financial freedom, it's going to attract the blessing of God, and it's going to demonstrate that God, I'm a servant that can be trusted with little.
SPEAKER_00: So feel free to give me much.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be faithful as a mentor.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be, I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep praying for my family member.
SPEAKER_00: I know that they keep, man, they just keep wandering away.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna keep asking, I'm gonna keep praying.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna pray for that kid that it seems like they're going the opposite direction of everything I've hoped for.
SPEAKER_00: In the midst of being falsely accused, I'm not gonna let it bother me too much.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was falsely accused.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody gets falsely accused if really after a while, if you're gonna follow Christ, I'm not gonna let it bother me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna walk in my integrity.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna keep putting myself around the gossip.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna shut it down when I'm around it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna walk out of the room, I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do whatever I have to do to be obedience.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give it time.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give people time to grow up.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna demand that people just have it my way exactly right now, because I want it right now.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say, you have freedom to grow and become a new and better person over time.
SPEAKER_00: It's all good.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna believe, and I'm gonna just keep praying, or I'm gonna keep taking a step, or I'm gonna keep doing what I can do with that family member that's just kind of wacko, and and you can't don't even want to have anything to do with them, but you know that the heart of Jesus is for them, and so I'm gonna do what I can to keep loving them from whatever distance I have to be to not get clobbered, but I'm gonna keep doing it, believing that God has a plan for them.
SPEAKER_00: How many think this is probably something they needed to hear today?
SPEAKER_00: God will remember.
SPEAKER_00: Did your battle matter?
SPEAKER_00: It did.
SPEAKER_00: And it will.
SPEAKER_00: God will remember to roar at obedience and to bring the haughty low.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's what's starting to happen to Heyman right now.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, you've read a little bit of Esther as we've been through this series.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe if you haven't, go ahead and start this week.
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, Heyman, it doesn't go well for him.
SPEAKER_00: Like it keeps it just keeps going bad.
SPEAKER_00: It gets worse and worse and worse.
SPEAKER_00: Haman starts here in his pride.
SPEAKER_00: It's beginning to unravel now.
SPEAKER_00: He's beginning to even just psychologically, oh no.
SPEAKER_00: There's a torment that's starting.
SPEAKER_00: The person he hates the most is being honored the most.
SPEAKER_00: There comes a point, my friend, I don't know who your Heymans are.
SPEAKER_00: And I hope that you're you're doing business with God, all that you can do to, you know, like, God, give me a right heart toward this person.
SPEAKER_00: They're really hard on me.
SPEAKER_00: But at some point, in terms of the injustice done to you, maybe like Haman did to Mordecai, at some point, you've got to turn them over into the hands of God.
SPEAKER_00: God, look, this is, they are not my problem.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I can't be responsible for justice happening here.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't know that I would know what justice is, but I give them over to you and say, God, you are God alone.
SPEAKER_00: You are the righteous judge of all the earth, you are perfectly wise, and you will do what needs to be done.
SPEAKER_00: I trust you.
SPEAKER_00: I know that pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall.
SPEAKER_00: And so, I mean, it's it's kind of obvious with some people that this is coming.
SPEAKER_00: There's there's people in your life, maybe, you know, they just keep taking credit for stuff that you do at work.
SPEAKER_00: There's folks that they're they're so uh they can't hear, they can't hear anything.
SPEAKER_00: Like you try to bring them some advice, they can't hear it.
SPEAKER_00: Try to bring them some correction, they can't hear it because there's that haughtiness that is presently going before the destruction.
SPEAKER_00: And you want to like, you know, God, I pray that doesn't hurt all that much, but nevertheless, for for some of us, we need to fall.
SPEAKER_00: We need to like hit rock bottom, we need to hit our face flat on the cement so that God can finally bring some humility.
SPEAKER_00: But we can trust that God will if we'll turn it over to Him.
SPEAKER_00: Even when, you know, sometimes, I don't mean this so sweetly, if I can.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes even Christians, like, they just walk in like, dude, I am super Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I got this thing down.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody, pay attention, and I'll show you what to do.
SPEAKER_00: Like, there's people that just kind of exude that for a while.
SPEAKER_00: And precious, you gotta know that thing, if they're really a child of God, he is not gonna like let that go forever.
SPEAKER_00: His cosmic spankings are going to come.
SPEAKER_00: And in his mercy, he's gonna reset some of that stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Psalm 33, 10 says, the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing.
SPEAKER_00: He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
SPEAKER_00: The counsel of the Lord stands forever.
SPEAKER_00: The plans of his hearts to all generations.
SPEAKER_00: God cannot be outsmarted, evil cannot win.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing can work against.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, whatever's happening in your life, it can't really outsmart God.
SPEAKER_00: God has still got checkmate on that thing.
SPEAKER_00: God is still gonna get the glory, he's still gonna reward obedience, and he's still gonna bring the haughty low.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're worried about someone who's on the world stage right now, baby, it's only a matter of time.
SPEAKER_00: One, they're probably gonna die soon.
SPEAKER_00: Or two, God's gonna humble them or both.
SPEAKER_00: So, like, it's it's okay to not wring your hands all the time and be like, look, dude, God is God, he is the most in charge.
SPEAKER_00: And he's got a good plan, and he's he's working everything just together, just the right way, just precisely so that his will comes about and his people are blessed in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And the big idea is until then, we're trying to help as many people get onto the Jesus boat as humanly possible.
SPEAKER_00: There is no weapon, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So, can I encourage you today to turn it over to Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Wherever you got hurt, I feel for it.
SPEAKER_00: Give it to Jesus to resolve.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to try to forgive and give the justice part to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I'd love to invite the worship team back up for a moment.
SPEAKER_00: See, Esther chapter six, as we pay attention to it, teaches us that heaven keeps better records than humans.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven keeps better, like heaven knows, dude.
SPEAKER_00: God knows.
SPEAKER_00: He knows all of it.
SPEAKER_00: He's got the best version of the files, he knows exactly what to do.
SPEAKER_00: And because we have the model of Jesus Christ, who went through the worst thing, the worst possible thing that could ever happen to anybody, that's what happened to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus believed God through it, and he was resurrected.
SPEAKER_00: And what happened?
SPEAKER_00: The salvation of the world and many sons and daughters brought to God.
SPEAKER_00: So these continentals, man, they were pretty furious.
SPEAKER_00: They were fed up, they were about to overthrow the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: George Washington raced out there to meet with his officers.
SPEAKER_00: And he said this: he he put on his spectacles and said this, quote, Gentlemen, you must pardon me.
SPEAKER_00: I have grown gray in your service, and now find myself growing blind.
SPEAKER_00: Immediately when George Washington, the man who unites all hearts, their commander-in-chief, got up and demonstrated to them the humility of their leader.
SPEAKER_00: The entire conspiracy just went away.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone was humbled, everyone dissipated.
SPEAKER_00: You have a commander in chief named Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And I think he might say to some of us sometimes, ladies, gentlemen, pardon me.
SPEAKER_00: I shed every drop of blood so that my enemies could come home to me.
SPEAKER_00: And I trusted the justice of the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Humility.
SPEAKER_00: Let's grab hands with our leader and say, Lord, you shed every drop of blood.
SPEAKER_00: I can endure this.
SPEAKER_00: I can believe this.
SPEAKER_00: I can trust that justice is in your hand and I will follow my Maker in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I want to thank you so much for your word.
SPEAKER_00: I want to thank you so much that, geez, that there's somebody in control here.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you that you know what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: You know all of it.
SPEAKER_00: And you know how to bring good out of it.
SPEAKER_00: I pray for your servants today, some of whom are they're weary, others are maybe wandering a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever each one needs, Father, I pray that you draw hearts to fire.
SPEAKER_00: Cause us to see Jesus more clearly.
SPEAKER_00: Fill us afresh with Holy Spirit oil to keep following you, knowing you, trusting you, chasing you.
SPEAKER_00: We turn all of our injustices over into your hands, God.
SPEAKER_00: You are God, and we are not.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks for tuning in today.
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SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time.