WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:02.160 Amen. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:09.119 Well, uh, if you're just joining us, we spent the last month in a series called Move. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:11.199 And the idea behind this is really, really simple. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:14.640 We want to be people who learn how to move with God. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:21.839 We want to be people who go where God is going, and we want to be people who are part of the movement that God is creating in this world. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:25.839 I don't know about you, but I've always desired to be part of something greater than myself. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:29.679 I literally think that is my number one desire in life. 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:36.960 And the reason I gravitate to the sports teams that I like and root for them is because it makes me feel like I'm part of something bigger than just me. 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:41.679 The reason I love some of the things I'm passionate about is because, again, it's something bigger than me. 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:51.679 And the most amazing thing all of us have, the opportunity to be part of, is something that is so much bigger than us, something that's so much bigger than anything else in this world, and that's the movement of Jesus. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:53.840 That's the movement of God in this world. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:57.840 We were actually created to be part of that movement. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:07.760 And the great thing is when we decide to become part of that, when we move with God, when our lives are really dictated by what God is leading us to do, our lives become the adventures that they're meant to be. 00:01:07.920 --> 00:01:14.400 No one has a greater adventure in life than the person who just says yes to God and who goes wherever God leads. 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:21.840 So we've been spending the last month looking at how God moves so we can be people who recognize the way He moves and we can move in step. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:28.719 Today I want to talk not about how God moves, and another way that He moves that we can start to pay attention to. 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:32.319 Today I'd like to talk about when we move. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:41.359 Because there's going to be times in life where we see God is moving, we feel God is moving us, we feel that we're led to do something, but but how do we know when to move? 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:45.840 How do we know when the time to move is right? 00:01:47.040 --> 00:02:00.159 I don't know if you've ever been in a situation before, I've been in these many times, where you know the right thing to do, you know what you need to do, but when the moment comes and you have to take action the moment the opportunity arrives where you can do what you know you're supposed to do, you just sort of freeze. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.159 Or you find a reason to delay and procrastinate and push it off to another time. 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:05.680 I do that, I do that often. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:06.799 I think everybody does. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:10.159 I've had certain times in life where it was really obvious and I paid a price for it. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:13.520 Like when I was 16 years old, my parents bought me a car, which was awesome. 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:18.400 They bought me a car, I love that car, and uh and I wasn't very good at driving that car, though. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:19.759 No 16-year-old is. 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:23.759 Some of you might be 16 and you think you're good drivers, and okay. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:28.960 But uh, you know, video games don't teach you how to drive, it's just the truth. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:34.639 But but I thought I was a good driver, like most 16-year-olds do, and I got my license and I started driving and I was having a really good time. 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:36.159 My favorite thing was driving to school. 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:44.159 There's something so cool about driving into the school parking lot, getting out of the car, and walking into school, having driven there when you've ridden a bus for the last eight or nine years. 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:45.520 It's just it's an awesome feeling. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:48.800 And we only lived a hundred yards away from the school that I went to. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:57.280 I mean, it actually took me longer to get my stuff in the car, drive to school, and then get it all out and go to class if I just would have walked in the first place. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:58.159 It took me longer. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:00.000 I couldn't even listen to a full song on the radio. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.039 It was like 30 seconds. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:06.400 But something about getting out of that car and being like, yeah, I drove here, it just made me feel made me feel like an adult. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:07.439 I loved it. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:11.360 But because I wasn't very good at driving, I made a few mistakes uh early on. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:25.759 Like I remember I had my license maybe two weeks, and I was turning into a parking spot at my school, and I uh I kind of misjudged the turn, and so I scraped the front bumper of my car against another car. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:34.080 And and even though I was concerned for that person's car for like a split second, the only thing that ran through my mind is like my dad's gonna flip out when he sees this, like he's gonna freak out. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:38.879 And so I left a little note on that person's car, um, you know, saying it was someone else that had done it. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:50.319 I saw it happen with my own eyes, looked for this person, and then and then I went to the automotive store as soon as school was was done, and I went and got like a patch kit or a repair kit for scratches because my dad was out of town, he was coming back the next day. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:54.159 And so I spent that entire afternoon trying to buff this scratch out of my car. 00:03:54.319 --> 00:04:00.639 The entire afternoon, there was this little paint kit that you tried to mix the paint to match your car, and mine was this weird shade of blue, it was really hard. 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:03.360 But when it was all said and done, I thought it did a pretty good job. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:11.120 I thought that I had covered up what had happened, and I had that euphoric feeling that a lot of teenagers feel when you feel like you're gonna get away with this. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:15.520 Like you think you might actually have a shot to get away with something, right? 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:21.439 You could tell there was a scratch there if you were looking closely, but not if you were just looking at the car in a normal way. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:22.720 So I thought I was good. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:29.360 But then the next day I was driving my car and I was turning, and I kind of misjudged that turn too as a theme. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:34.480 Except this time, me misjudging the turn did not mean that I scraped the front of my bumper against something. 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:40.319 It meant that I I misjudged the time I had to turn into an intersection, and I pulled out in front of a car. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:41.759 It was coming toward me. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:45.920 And I remember this moment so clearly because I didn't I didn't misjudge it that badly. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.199 Like the car was was too close, I should have waited for that car to go by, but I still had some time to act. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:53.839 Like I pulled out and hesitated, said, Oh, that car is coming. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:54.399 What do I do? 00:04:54.480 --> 00:05:04.079 And I remember thinking, I could put the car in reverse and I could go back a few feet and that would save me, or I could just gas it, I could just gum through the intersection, and I think I could have made it, but I did neither of those things. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:06.079 I just I just sat there. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:15.040 I just sat there and and got hit by this car in the exact same spot that I had buffed the scratch out of the day before, the exact same spot. 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:22.240 And so the bad news is that thousands of dollars of damage was done to my car and the accident was my fault, my insurance went up and all that stuff. 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:29.199 But the good news is that until hearing this story today, my father has had no idea about that scratch his whole life. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:30.480 He had no clue. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:32.959 Totally, totally got out of that one. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:34.160 So that was good. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:40.079 I remember being I remember being so frustrated in the moments after that accident because I knew what to do. 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.959 I remember thinking to myself, why didn't you just move the car? 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.040 Why didn't you just go forward or backward? 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:46.560 Any direction would have done. 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:48.160 Why did you just sit there? 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:50.879 And that's how life is sometimes. 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:52.079 It really is. 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:54.480 There's so many situations I found myself in before. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:58.800 I think many of us have, all of us probably, where I have known what to do. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:02.160 I have known the right decision to make. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:08.639 But when the opportunity comes to make it, I freeze or I delay. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.079 It's so easy to live life like that. 00:06:12.160 --> 00:06:18.240 And I think oftentimes our greatest challenge in our day-to-day lives is not necessarily figuring out the right thing to do. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:23.759 It's not trying to learn the right move to make, it's actually having the courage to make that move when the time comes. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:33.199 And anytime we we delay, we procrastinate, or just avoid making those calls, those decisions, it's costly. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:36.319 Indecision is always a costly decision. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:39.199 One of my favorite quotes about this is from a man named William Barclay. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:40.560 He's someone I read a lot. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:42.160 He wrote this years and years ago. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:47.199 He said, The tragedy of life is so often the tragedy of the unseized moment. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:52.959 We're moved to some fine action, we're moved to abandoning some weakness of habit or habit. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:07:00.240 We're moved to say something to someone, some word of sympathy or warning or encouragement, but the moment passes and the thing is never done. 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:03.120 The evil thing is never conquered, the word is never spoken. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:06.240 In the best of us, there is a certain lethargy and inertia. 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:15.600 There's a certain habit of procrastination, there's a certain fear and indecision, and often the moment of fine impulse is never turned into action and into fact. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:19.120 The tragedy of the unseized moment. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:32.079 If we're gonna be people who are really moved by God, if we're gonna live lives where we can say, hey, God, you move and I'll move with you, we need to be people who are willing and ready to move at a moment's notice. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:42.560 We need to be people who are willing to move right now because so often in life, the right time to make the right decision is right now. 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:44.319 It's right now. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:45.600 And please don't hear me wrong. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:48.879 I'm not, I'm not advocating for a lack of patience in your life. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:50.000 Patience is very important. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:52.240 Patience is wisdom, patience is a virtue. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:54.399 It's one of the fruit of the spirit listed in scripture, right? 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:55.600 Patience is a good thing. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:57.040 I am not a patient person. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.199 Anyone who knows me well knows that. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:07.199 I tend to make really quick decisions, impulse decisions, and then I convince myself later on that it was the right thing to do, and I end up scrambling and trying to make it all work. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:09.600 I'm sure there's a few people at least like that in the room. 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:10.160 I hope so. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:11.360 I hope I'm not alone. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:16.480 I've had a friend of mine that's my mentor, and he gave me some advice two months ago, and it's like mind-blowing advice. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:17.439 It's really helped me out. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:22.560 He said, Justin, your biggest problem is that you treat opportunities like they're emergencies. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:25.519 And there's a difference between an emergency and an opportunity. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:30.639 If you could just relax, and when you recognize an opportunity in life, be patient, let it come. 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:34.080 You'd live at a pace that's much more manageable, and that's been great advice for me. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:35.360 It's helped me out a lot. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:43.200 So I'm not advocating that we just make decisions really quickly without thinking it through, but I think there's a big difference between patience and procrastination, right? 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.960 And I think most of us at the end of the day know the difference in our own lives. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:54.399 We know the difference between recognizing that now is not the right time to make a decision because it's not the wisest time. 00:08:55.039 --> 00:09:02.320 We recognize the difference between that and then not making that decision right now, not acting right now because we just don't want to. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:03.679 That's the difference, right? 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:15.679 When we procrastinate, we we have all these reasons, we have all these fears, and we we put something off, even though we know it's what we need to do, but when we're being patient, we just recognize that there's a right time and we're excited about that time coming. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:21.759 See, procrastination, it always costs us dearly when it comes to making those calls we need to make in life. 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:24.480 Jesus had a conversation with a man about this very thing. 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.799 It's actually one of the most odd conversations we have recorded of Jesus. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:34.799 It's one that gets misinterpreted often, and it actually makes Jesus look like a real jerk if you don't really understand what's going on. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:43.279 It's in Matthew chapter 8, starting in verse 19, it says, Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:49.519 And Jesus replied, Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:10:02.080 If you ever start reading the Bible and you read the Gospels, the four books that really have all of Jesus' teachings in them, it's a very common occurrence for someone to say something pretty normal to Jesus and then have him respond in a really strange way. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:05.120 I mean, you just stop sometimes and think about this guy. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:06.720 He's like, I'll go wherever you go. 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:09.840 And Jesus is like, Foxes have dens, and birds have nests. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:12.799 And you're like, that is true. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:13.679 That is. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:17.039 I've seen the nature channel, I know how it works. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:20.080 But but no, obviously we can see where Jesus is going here. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:21.919 He's he's actually giving this guy some great advice. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:23.600 He's saying, look, count the cost. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:25.919 Before you follow me, please know what you're getting into. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.000 Because it says this man was a teacher of the law, so he's either a rabbi or a Pharisee. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.799 And in those days, that meant you lived a pretty comfortable life. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:36.960 And Jesus is saying, following me is not the way to have a comfortable life. 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:38.159 That's not what it's about. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:41.840 And so it's not luxury, it's not gonna be fun, there's gonna be challenges. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:46.879 I just want to make sure that you're not swept up in a moment of emotion and you actually realize what you're getting into. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:48.720 And then we have the second guy. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:50.480 The second guy that's another disciple. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:54.320 It says, This disciple says to him, Lord, talking about following Jesus. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:57.919 We can kind of put in here without, even though it's not spoken, Lord, I want to follow you too. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.919 But Lord, first let me go and bury my father. 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:07.279 And Jesus told him, Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:12.399 Now, the first guy was probably perplexed, going, Jesus, why are you talking about birds and and foxes? 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:15.279 The second guy, though, he's got to be like, Jesus, whoa. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:19.120 Dude, how insensitive are you? 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:26.960 I mean, we read that and we think, Jesus, I mean, come on, the man's the man's father has just died and he's asking if he can go to the funeral, and you won't even let him do that? 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:28.799 I mean, what what gives? 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:29.919 What gives? 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.960 And the reality is that's not what's actually happening. 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:34.240 That's not what's happening. 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:38.799 There's a cultural disconnect that we have with the people that lived 2,000 years ago in the Middle East, believe it or not. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:48.799 And sometimes when we read scripture, these things pop up and we don't really understand what's going on, but but if we really did understand what's going on, we would realize this guy's not saying, hey, can I have a few days to go deal with something? 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:49.759 I promise I'll be back. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:54.960 This guy's actually putting off the decision to follow Jesus for years and years and years. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:00.399 In the early 1900s, there was uh a missionary named Theophilus Waldmeyer. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:02.080 What a cool name, right? 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:07.360 If someone is pregnant right now, please just consider the name Theophilus Waldmeyer. 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.240 You know, even if that's not your last name, you can change that legally. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:11.279 People do that all the time. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:12.320 It's just a good name. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.720 People don't name their kids things like that anymore. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:15.840 You call them Theo if you want. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:17.519 Theophilus Waldemeyer, right? 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:21.919 He's this missionary, and in the early 1900s, he spent a lot of time in Syria in the Middle East. 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:28.879 And there's this really cool story where he came upon this young man from Turkey, and he became friends with this man, and this man was really bright. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:36.720 He was a young kid, really bright, and he encouraged this young man to go to Europe and to study and to broaden his horizons and continue his education. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.879 And this man responded in the exact same way to Mr. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:44.080 Waldenmeyer that this man in Scripture responds to Jesus. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:46.639 He said, First, I must bury my father. 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:50.240 And the missionary said, Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize your dad had just died. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.360 I would never ask you to leave your family at a time like this. 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:55.039 I'm so sorry, but maybe at another time. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.799 And the man stopped him and said, No, no, no, no, you my dad hasn't died. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.720 He hasn't passed away. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:09.120 It's what I'm saying is that I have to fulfill all the duties required of me to my family before I can go off and do whatever it is you're you're asking me to do. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:15.039 See, in that culture, the same exact culture that Jesus was part of, it was a culture that hadn't changed in all that time. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:18.240 The father in a family had all the authority and power. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.679 And there's some dads in the room going, man, I wish I lived back then. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:22.720 You know? 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:24.639 But that's how it worked back then. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:35.039 I mean, in the time of Jesus, you could be a 21-year-old man and you couldn't say to your dad, hey dad, it's been great, but I'm gonna go do my own thing, I'm gonna go pursue art or whatever I want to do. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.000 No, no, no. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:42.399 You stayed with your father and you worked with your father and you did whatever your father told you to do until the day he passed away. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:51.279 You could be 45 and have seven children, and your father was every bit as much in control of your life as he was when you were 15 or 12. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:52.799 It didn't change. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:14:04.000 And so what he is, what he's actually saying here to Jesus is, hey, I can't, I can't follow you until my father passes away. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.639 It could be 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:10.799 I can't go with you until I do what's expected of me in my home. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:16.559 He's procrastinating, he's putting off following Jesus for years and years and years. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.159 And Jesus knows what's going on. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:20.159 Jesus knows that he doesn't have years and years. 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:21.840 Jesus knows that he's gonna go to the cross. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.879 And he's looking at this man and he loves this man, and he doesn't want this man to miss the opportunity to follow him. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:30.240 And so he says, look, if you wait, you'll miss it. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:31.600 It's now or never. 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:36.159 If you want to follow me and be one of my disciples, you don't have years, you don't have decades. 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:38.480 And so the time is is now. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:39.759 You've got to decide now. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:42.799 And that might mean a really awkward conversation with your dad. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:47.360 And that might mean you having some conflict in your family because you choose a different path. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:50.399 But if you do want to follow me, it's gotta be now. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:53.440 Don't don't procrastinate this decision. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:57.360 Because procrastination is costly. 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:05.360 When we know the right thing to do, but we we find an excuse not to do it, it always, it always hurts us and it hurts other people as well. 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:20.000 But when we when we decide to be people of action, when we decide to be people who will move now, the moment that God stirs us, the moment that we recognize that something needs to be done, if we'll become people who move right then and there, we'll things change really quickly. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:27.919 I mean, it's the people who are willing to do that, the people who are willing to move at a moment's notice, they're the ones that really get things done, right? 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:32.399 Like one of my favorite characters in the Bible is this woman named Abigail. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:39.919 Read about her in 1 Samuel, and Abigail is an amazing woman married to a less than amazing man, and that's actually a common story. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:45.200 Some of us might be living that out right now, and that's okay, men, you can just nod your head and be like, I married up. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:45.519 I did it. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:46.399 It's all right. 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:46.960 I won. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:48.320 That's how it works. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:52.000 The thing is, though, her husband, Abigail's husband, Nabal was his name. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:55.679 He wasn't just this diamond in the rough kind of guy that had some issues. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:57.360 He was he was like a real jerk. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.600 He was brash, he was egotistical, he was hot-tempered, and he was a fool. 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:02.960 That's not a good combination. 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:04.879 You don't want to be married to that guy. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:09.519 And so one day, Nabal gets on the wrong side of this young man named David. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:19.279 And David, you know the story, he killed Goliath, and he's this amazing warrior, and he's supposed to be the king, but there's this other king named Saul, and Saul wants to kill David because he's jealous of David. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:28.559 And so David, even though he's this godly man, he's done these amazing things for his people, David is living as an outlaw, he's living on the run, which means that he sleeps in caves. 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:34.080 He lives outdoors, he's tired, he's exhausted, injustice has been done to him. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:38.879 In other words, David's kind of at the end of his rope, and he's not a guy you want to mess with right now. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:42.240 It's just not a good time to mess with David. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:45.519 And Nabal kind of picks a fight with David. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:50.399 What happens is that David comes to him and asks for help because David had kind of helped him in the past. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:55.600 And Nabal, instead of helping David, publicly mocks David, makes fun of him. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:17:02.799 And we pick up there in 1 Samuel 25, starting in verse 12, it says, So David's young men returned and told him what Nabal had said. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.839 And look at David's response: Get your swords. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:08.559 Like I said, David's like, not today. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:13.440 Now I've slept in a cave for the last six months, not having it, I'm at the end of my rope, get your swords. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:19.039 And then four hundred men started off with David, and two hundred remained behind to guard their equipment. 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:27.200 Meanwhile, one of Nabal's servants went to Abigail and told her, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he screamed insults at them. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:28.640 These men have been very good to us. 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:30.240 We've never suffered any harm from them. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:32.559 Nothing was stolen from us the whole time they were with us. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:37.279 In fact, day and night, they were like a wall of protection to us and to our sheep. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:42.079 You need to know this and figure out what to do, for there's going to be trouble for our master and his whole family. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:44.559 He's so ill-tempered that no one can even talk to him. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:46.400 Abigail wasted no time. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:57.359 She would quickly gather two hundred loaves of bread, two wineskins full of wine, five sheep that have been slaughtered, nearly a bushel of roasted grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, which seems like a large amount of raisins to me. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:17:59.119 I don't know how big these are. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:01.839 And two hundred fig cakes. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:05.119 She packed them on donkeys and said to her servants, Go on ahead, I'll follow you shortly. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:08.079 But she didn't tell her husband Nabal what she was doing. 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:13.680 Verse 20, as she was riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, she saw David and his men coming toward her. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:17.359 David had just been saying, A lot of good it did us to help this fellow. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:20.720 We protected his flocks in the wilderness, and nothing he owned was lost or stolen. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:22.559 But he's repaid me evil for good. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:28.319 May God strike me and kill me, if even one man of his household is still alive tomorrow morning. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:32.160 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed low before him. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:34.960 If you read the rest, she says some really nice things to David. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:37.839 She she's very wise, she diffuses the situation. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:42.480 She tells David that he's he's awesome, she says all the right things, you know, and David goes, okay. 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:44.799 And he responds to her in verse 32. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:49.599 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today. 00:18:49.839 --> 00:18:55.279 Thank God for your good sense, bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:04.799 For I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, who's kept me from hurting you, that if you had not hurried out to meet me, not one of Nabal's men would still be alive tomorrow morning. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:09.119 So here we have this woman, and she saves lives. 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:18.079 She diffuses this horrible situation, this situation that's about to kind of burst and explode, it seems. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:20.240 She saves these people's lives. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:20.640 And why? 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:21.440 How does she do it? 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.119 It's because she acts. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:28.240 It's because she moves the moment she knows what she's supposed to do. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:30.160 She doesn't delay, she doesn't wait. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:31.599 In fact, you look at verse 18. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:34.000 Abigail wasted no time. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:37.599 She quickly gathered all the things that she gathered. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:42.960 Verse 23, when Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed low before him. 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:52.960 Verse 34, David says some things and he says, If you had not hurried out to meet me, not one of Dabal's men would still be alive tomorrow morning. 00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.799 See, Abigail, she saves the day. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:58.400 She becomes this hero. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:05.759 Not just because she acted, not just because she did the right thing, but she did the right thing the moment it needed to be done. 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:12.160 Most of the time, more often than not, the right time to do the right thing is right now. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:20.079 And I can look at my life and I can think of all these times that I have known what I should do and I've found a reason to wait. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:21.920 I've talked myself out of it. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:24.240 I'm really good at talking myself into and out of things. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:25.200 Anyone else like that? 00:20:25.359 --> 00:20:27.279 Like you're you're a great salesman to yourself. 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:29.519 Like, no, I do need a bigger TV. 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:34.079 That's important, you know, because they 4K, I don't even know what that is, but sounds awesome. 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:35.039 I should have one of those. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:39.680 Um, I can talk myself into anything, and I can talk myself out of a lot of things too. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:41.920 If you have known me for long, you know this about me. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.880 I talk about it a decent bit because it's important for me, it's a part of my life. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:52.160 I had an addiction for years, and uh, and that addiction caused a lot of problems in my marriage, it caused a lot of problems in my life. 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:53.839 For years I kept it secret. 00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:00.799 For years it was it was totally hidden from anyone that really knew me, and it was a secret because I just lied about it to everyone. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:02.240 So that's why. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:06.160 I was terrified of what would happen if if I came clean. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:11.200 I was terrified of what people would think, I was terrified of what my wife would think, especially. 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:13.119 I was worried about what would happen to our marriage. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:15.359 I was just I was freaked out about all those things. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:26.640 And so I I just I kept that addiction to myself and I was trying to get through it, I was trying to work on it, I was doing everything in my own strength, everything I could think of to overcome that addiction. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:36.079 But about three years before I actually walked into recovery and and freedom for the first time, about three years before that, I knew what I should do. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:38.319 I knew, I was clear in my mind. 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:41.519 I need to get counseling, I need to tell my wife. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:43.119 I knew that. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:45.599 I need to get counseling, I need to tell my wife. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:50.079 I recognized that if I didn't get some help, I wasn't gonna come close to overcoming this addiction. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:53.200 I had done all that I could think to do, none of it had worked. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:59.680 And I knew that if if I kept this from my wife, it was gonna damage our marriage further and further and further, it was gonna erode the trust. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.759 In three years, I sat on that. 00:22:05.119 --> 00:22:14.319 Three years, I let the awkwardness of that conversation and the humiliation of having to come forward and admit failure, kind of admit defeat in a way. 00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:20.799 I let those emotions keep me from acting for three years. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:25.839 And those three years are probably the three years of my life I regret the most. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:32.960 Because when I finally did come forward, and I finally admitted what was going on, it was hard, it was difficult, it was awkward. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:37.039 I experienced forgiveness from my wife. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.480 Rather than shame and guilt, I experienced forgiveness. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:42.160 I couldn't forgive myself. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:46.559 But the moment she forgave me, I experienced forgiveness and it changed everything for me. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:47.440 It was incredible. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:49.119 It was like a burden gone. 00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:50.960 I walked into counseling. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:55.200 And within six months of being in counseling, I was free from that addiction. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:59.119 And I waited three years to walk through those doors. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:00.640 Three years. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.319 Thank you. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:04.079 I hope you're not. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:10.079 Y'all waited a clap till I said I waited three years, and I just want you to make sure we understand the point of this story. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:10.960 Is it okay? 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:12.559 No clap for that part. 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:17.119 But but seriously, it's exciting, and I'm I'm thank you for clapping because it is a big thing for my life. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:18.079 I'm really glad that I did that. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:21.119 But guys, I I wasted three years. 00:23:22.559 --> 00:23:23.839 I've been married for 11 years. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:26.240 That's a pretty good chunk of time out of my marriage. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:31.039 I wasted three years doing nothing when I knew the right thing to do. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.799 I knew what I should do. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.240 I had no doubt what the right decision was. 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:38.400 I just froze. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:43.759 I just, I pushed it off, I procrastinated, I delayed, and I regretted it. 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:45.440 And I honestly I still regret it. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:50.640 Like I'm over it, I've forgiven myself, God's forgiven me, my wife's forgiving me, but I can't get those three years back. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:54.559 And I would love to be able to go back and just deal with it then. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:56.640 But I waited. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:10.480 And every single time in my life, every single time, I have known the right thing to do, and out of a fear of awkwardness or or whatever it might be, I've I've delayed it, I've pushed it off, I've regretted every single one of those decisions. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:12.480 Some have been major, right? 00:24:12.559 --> 00:24:14.000 Some have been major, like that addiction. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:17.359 Some have have been kind of minor, some have been just awkward conversations that I don't want to have. 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:19.680 Anyone here enjoy awkward conversations? 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:20.640 Anyone? 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:22.720 Well then don't become a pastor. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:26.480 Because like that's the one part of this job no one ever told me about. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:29.599 Like, hey, this person wants to talk to you and it's gonna be really awkward. 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:30.799 And that just it's part of it. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:34.160 And I now I actually, believe it or not, I kind of enjoy awkward conversations. 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:35.359 It's it's a weird thing. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:36.559 I enjoy it for this one reason. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:39.200 I'm kind of letting you guys see behind the curtain in my life. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:43.039 Uh a man once told me that you learn a lot about someone when you tell them no. 00:24:43.599 --> 00:24:45.680 That's become a filter that I live my life by. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:50.240 And so I like awkward conversations because I have an opportunity to find out what people are really like. 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:54.960 And so if I say no to someone in an awkward situation, I learn a lot about that person instantly. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:59.680 Like if they react in a normal way, I go, okay, a normal human being that behaves appropriately. 00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:04.880 And if they flip off, you know, the handle or whatever, fly off the handle and act crazy, I'm like, oh, a crazy person. 00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:05.680 This is good to know. 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:08.160 This is good to know moving forward that you're just nuts. 00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:09.279 This is good, okay. 00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:17.759 Um but but I've had some awkward conversations that I've had to have in my life, especially kind of being part of this of this church. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:19.759 You know, because a church, it's people. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:26.960 And if you're new to church and you're like, oh, I love this place, and I mean, please understand that we're all messed up people, including me. 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:35.279 And one day someone's gonna say something that you don't like, and one day someone's gonna do something that offends you and upsets you, and it's going to happen because sitting around you are real live human beings. 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:38.480 And and human beings, all of us, we're we have issues. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:42.160 We have stuff that we get hung up on, and we and we make things difficult. 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:43.759 That's we're good at that. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:47.839 And as a church, this is what I love about us at His Hands, we kind of embrace that. 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:53.359 We sort of embrace the mess of life and just recognize that it's there and we're just gonna handle it and deal with it. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:54.799 It's messy, so we'll bring towels. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:57.039 That's just how we approach life. 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:03.599 But because of because of the fact that we're messy and we're people, I've had to have some really strange, awkward conversations. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.279 Really difficult conversations that I could never have been prepared for. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:13.200 And once there was this one person, and it was a person that just, this is like the most dangerous person in the world, in my opinion. 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:17.440 It was a person that believed that they heard perfectly from God all the time, 100% of the time. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:20.720 So everything they did what the Holy Spirit was telling them to do at all times. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:24.240 It's a very hard person to have a conversation with, right? 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:34.319 And I had to have this talk with this person because they were doing some stuff that was, that was messing with people here, and it was really hard and difficult, and I had to set some boundaries, and I knew this would not go well. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:39.119 And I had waited like six months to have this conversation with this person. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:53.039 I had decided at least five or six times that I was gonna have this conversation, I was gonna do this, and I knew though it would go really poorly, I'm like, it's gonna go bad, and they're gonna leave the church, and I want that to happen because I like these people, uh sort of, and I uh I don't want this to happen, right? 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:55.200 And so I'm not gonna I I'll wait. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:56.960 I'll wait, I'll pray about it, I'll see what happens. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:05.440 And I knew that I should have the conversation, but I delayed and I delayed and I delayed, and then finally I had the conversation and it went terribly, and they did leave the church, but you know what? 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:06.720 It's okay. 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:09.920 Because that would have happened anyway. 00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:29.200 It would have happened anyway, and the issue is I delayed and I waited and I waited and I waited to have a conversation with someone who was being really predatorial to other people and kind of using their spirituality to bully other people around, and I let that happen for months because I was afraid to have a conversation. 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:31.440 I'm just being honest with you. 00:27:31.920 --> 00:27:43.440 Every time I have allowed uncertainty and fear and insecurity cause me to put off doing what I knew should be done, I have regretted it terribly. 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:45.519 Does that make sense? 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:46.880 Okay, good. 00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:50.319