Another Story I Robert Madu I Social Dallas

Before we jump into today's message, we wanted to take just a moment and personally thank you for being a part of our social global family. - Yes, we are standing in the future home of social Dallas. Demolition has officially started, and every day we're getting closer to making the space a place where thousands of people will encounter Jesus for years to come. - And if these messages have encouraged you, strengthen your faith, or helped you grow in any way, would you partner with us? Your generosity helps us continue sharing messages like the one you're about to watch and helps us build a permanent home where lives will be changed forever. - To support the Amos Home Campaign, visit socialdallas.com/give and select Amos Home in the Giving Options, or you can text the word "give" to 469-715-3755. - Whether it's a one-time gift or becoming a recurring partner, every gift makes impact, and every dollar moves dirt. - Thank you for believing in what God is doing through sexual Dallas. - Here's today's message. (audience applauding)

I tell you, I sensed the presence of God in this place today, and I don't know if you came in here with some expectation, but wherever it is, how about you raise it up just a little bit, just a little bit. Come on, wake up your neighbor. They look like they didn't have their coffee today. Say, get your expectation up. Come on, look at another neighbor. Say, get your expectation up. Anything could happen in this place today. Amen, amen. Remain standing. We're gonna go into the Word of God, but I am just so grateful. Y'all, we're just crazy blessed at social Dallas, and I'm so thankful for two friends of ours who God uses around the world to lead worship and lead people to present God. Would you help me thank God for Kari and Cody? We love you guys so much. Thank you for being here today. So thankful for them. I'm so thankful for the presence of God. Are y'all ready for the Word today? If y'all feel like hearing it, like I feel like preaching it, something's gonna happen in here today. I wanna thank God for our social global family that's watching from around the world.

Social global, we love you. I wanna thank God for all of you who are visiting with us today. It's your first time, your first time in a long time. Give me a wave, give me a wave. Come on, keep waving. Amazing, I see you, thank you for coming. We're gonna jump into the Word of God today. And if you're new to social, you should know we have a Word for this year. That Word is trust, not regular trust, confident trust in the Lord. And usually before I go into my texts that I preach from, I read our verse of the year. In fact, we read it together as a family, but Pastor Taylor did something at SG1 day. Preached an incredible message. She flipped the script and put the verse of the year in the message, I didn't know you could do that. Thought I had to be at the beginning. So I'm gonna take a cue from my bride. And we're gonna do the verse later. So you ain't gonna get away with it. We're gonna do it later. So it'll be in the middle of the message, but I wanna jump straight into our texts today. We've been in the series though called Trust Issues. And today is the last installment of that message. Are you sad? Okay, it'll be all right.

This is the last one. And I think God saved the best for last, what you think. Go with me to 2nd Kings chapter four. 2nd Kings chapter four. And I wanna look at verses eight through 17. 2nd Kings chapter four. And we'll start at verse number eight. And it is one day Sunday. And I think you're gonna find out in a minute why the Holy Spirit highlighted this passage of Scripture. Because in verse eight, the first two words say one day. One day, Elijah went to shoot him and a well-to-do woman was there who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. She said to her husband, "I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Let's make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him." This is the girl who went to home goods. "One day, when Elisha came, he went up to his room "and lay down there. "He said to his servant, Ghezai, "call the Shunamite." So he called her and she stood before him. Elisha said to him, "Tell her, "you have gone to all this trouble for us. "Now, what can be done for you? "Can we speak on your behalf to the king

"or the commander of the army?" And she replied, "I have a home among my own people. "In other words, I'm good. "What can be done for her?" Elisha asked. Ghezai said, "Well, she didn't really tell you the truth "because she has no son and her husband is old. "Talk about putting your business just out there." And Elisha said, "Call her." So he called her and she stood in the doorway. "About this time next year," Elisha said, "you will hold a son in your arms." "No, my Lord," she objected, "please, man of God, "don't mislead your servant." Let me give you the Medu translation. She goes, "don't play, don't play." And don't act like you've never been there before. Like, don't get my hopes up. Don't play with me and give me a prophetic word because I've already told myself it's too late for that. So please don't play and get my hopes up, but I love that Elisha still spoke the word of God anyway. And verse 17 says, "But the woman became pregnant "and the next year about that same time, "she gave birth to a son just as Elisha told her. "Is there anybody thankful that God will keep his promises? "You can trust him." But his word will come to pass. I'm gonna stop reading right there, but please don't get it twisted. That is not where her story stops.

And I'm already preaching because just because somebody stops reading your story doesn't mean that God has stopped writing your story. Her story will continue, but I wanna stop right there. And I wanna tag a title to this text and just talk to you from this thought. Another story, another story. That's how we gonna conclude trust issues, another story. Do me a favor, look at your neighbor, get in their personal space, get in their personal space and say neighbor. Oh neighbor, there's always another story. And neighbor was stuck up, find another neighbor. I saw him, I saw him, find another neighbor. Say other neighbor, trust me when I tell you, there's always another story. If you believe it, would you give God some praise like he's gonna speak to you today? Lord have your way, help me preach. Ain't man, you may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Another story. I probably shouldn't ask a question that I already know the answer to. But I'm just curious, are there any ladies in the place that aren't afraid to testify that God did something significant in your life yesterday at SG one day? I mean something absolutely life-changing, would you just make some noise if that happened for you? I figured, I figured, I figured.

You know, I've been in church a long time and I've preached for quite a while. And I've noticed something, I've noticed the difference in the aftermath of when a woman of God goes to a conference, and a man of God goes to a conference. There's a difference in how their experience is articulated. I don't wanna paint with a broad brush or stereotype, I've just noticed this. For example, if a man of God goes to a conference and his life has changed and you ask him, how was the conference? He will look at you and say, it was good. Be like, no, but how was it? He will tell you, it's powerful. But who spoke at the conference? The speakers. That would be the end of that conversation. It's just the way we are wired, okay? If you go to a lady and ask her, how was the conference? How was SG one day? Okay, first of all, before I even came to the conference, I was in Target last week, and how are we in Target? I asked you about the conference. It's just the way you ladies are. You're gonna get a side story, a back story. It's always gonna be another story. Don't look for an answer. You're gonna get another story.

It's always another story. It's not just with ladies after the conference. I'm noticing it's with my kids, my kids. Any parents in here of multiple children? Multiple, you're being gas-lighted by one of your kids? They just come in, they just come in. I mean, screaming, "Dad, she just hit me in the eye." You get mad and you just march up the stairs like MLK. So do not tell y'all non-violence. Hey, did you hit your sister in the face? Yes, but she popped my squishy. Did you pop her squishy? Yes. Did you let that part out of the story? I've noticed with my kids, there's always another story. Y'all, this is how grown I am. This is how grown I am. If you come up to me and you start telling me a story, start telling me a story and you drop somebody's name in the story and it's a negative name drop. Here's why I'm at in life. I'm gonna stop your story and I'm gonna call the person that you mentioned. I'm gonna put them on speakerphone and then I'm gonna let you finish your story. That's where I'm at in life. I don't have time y'all. Okay, I'm too grown for this. If you're gonna drop their name, I'm gonna call them and ask them.

I'm like, "Oh, what name you say?" Billie Jean, hold on, let me call. Uh-huh, I'm gonna call. Yeah, Billie Jean, yeah, you on speaker. Yeah, I'm here with Michael. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he said the kid is not his son. That's, is that true or? Is there, is there another story? There's always another story. And I say that because I think somebody needs to hear this message today and maybe this is not even just a message. This is a prophetic word for somebody. I feel like somebody needs to hear this because I've learned one of the greatest tactics of the enemy is to get you stuck on one story. He wants you stuck on one story because the enemy knows that the story that is the strongest in your mind. And the story that has been the longest in your mind is actually the story that will navigate your life. The story you believe about what you're going through will determine how you walk through what you're going through. The story you believe about what you're going through will determine how you walk through what you're going through. I'm telling you, this is a powerful principle. It is the narrative that is over your life that will actually navigate your life. You gotta be careful what story you are telling yourself, what story you keep sticking to.

That's why two people can be going through the same situation. They can be going through the same circumstance but have two totally different dispositions. What is the difference? It's the story that they're telling themselves. One person is going through something and here's the story, I'll never get over this. This shouldn't be happening to me. God, why would you allow this? Nothing ever goes well for me. I'm always gonna have to face this and somebody could be going through the exact same situation and they will be saying, God, I wouldn't have picked this for myself. God, I don't understand this. God, this hurts me, but God, I know you and I know somehow, some way, you're gonna get the glory out of this. I can't see it right now, but I know your character and I trust that somehow, some way, you are gonna use this for my good. So I will not throw away my confident trust in the Lord. I gotta remember the great reward is gonna bring me. Patient endurance is what I need now so that I will continue to do God's will. Then I will receive all that he has promised for in just a little while the coming one will come and not somebody give God some praise if you're thankful. That is what you tell yourself. The story you repeat that matters.

One of these things will lead you to bitterness. Another one will lead you into thanksgiving and praise. It matters what story you tell yourself. Your neighbor's sleeping, I need you to slap them upside the head and say, tell yourself the right story. Tell him, tell him, tell him. Tell yourself the right story. It brings me to my text today in Second Kings. We are introduced to a woman and we get her story. Before we talk about this woman story, I think we have to talk about the prophet of God, the man of God in the story that changes the trajectory of her life. His name is Alai Shah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a man who sat under the tutelage of Alai Juh. Can you imagine Alai Juh being your spiritual father? That's a flex right there. To know that you were mentored by one of the greatest prophets that has ever walked the face of this earth. We talking about Alai Juh was Alai Juh's mentor. We talking about a dude that called fire down from heaven. We talking about a dude that faced 450 prophets of Baal and said if God is God, serve him. But if he's not, then choose this day. Whom you're going to serve Alai Juh was bad to the bow. We talking about a dude that God used to raise a widow's son from the dead. He walked in a resurrection power.

We talking about a dude who didn't die. Come on, somebody. He did not die. He was just walking one day and a chariot came and took him straight to heaven. I don't care what you think you're doing for God. You are not doing it big until a chariot comes down from heaven and just says, okay, you done. Come on, you ain't even going to die. We'll skip that part. Just come straight to heaven. (congregation applauding) And Alai Juh saw him taken up, saw the miracles Alai Juh did and had the nerve in the audacity before he left to say this, I want a double portion of your spirit, a double portion. Understand, he was not asking Alai Juh for double the power. If you really study it, he was asking for an inheritance. He said, I want to inherit what's on your life. In other words, he's saying, I don't believe that the miracles God did through you should stop with you. I believe that God's writing another story and the same God that did it for you is the same God that can do it for me. I just believe God can write another story. And so Alai Juh when we get to him in our text today, he's walking in all kinds of power. He's already done miracles. And the Bible says that he gets into a town called Shunam. That's the city he pulls up in.

And he runs into a woman that we don't get her name. She's just called the Shunamite woman. I mean, she's called Shunamite is 'cause she lives in Shunam. Would you like this little, just high level? Cerebral preaching I'm giving to you today. We don't get her name. We just call her a Shunamite 'cause she lives in Shunam. Just like we call you a Dallasite or a socialite. That is the Shunamite woman. We just get her town and where she's from. And it's interesting if you know a little bit about the Bible, you might see her name, which we don't get. And you see Shunamite, and you might think, well, Shunamite, might, might. Well, I've heard might, well, might. Shunamite, might. Is that, oh, she might. Be like that poor widow that just had two mites, and Jesus was checking the offering that day, and she just gave two mites. And Jesus said she gave more than all of y'all 'cause she sacrificed. And maybe you're thinking these two mites are connected. Don't get it twisted. Shunamite the woman, it's not like the widow with two mites. The Bible lets us know that sister girl is wealthy. That's in the text, she is a boss. It doesn't say her husband was wealthy. It says she was wealthy. We're all the independent.

Boss ladies. That's all y'all got, okay, let's go. I just think that's intriguing to me, especially in a culture that was known not to really value women in a misogynistic culture. Still the Bible wants to let you know. Don't get it twisted, sister Shunam had some money. She was wealthy. You would think because she had influence and affluence, she would have been a little bougie and said, well, if the prophet comes into town, he's probably gonna, you know, he's probably gonna invite me to talk to him because everybody knows who I am. That's not her spirit. Hear me, she's wealthy, but she's not stingy. Just 'cause you're wealthy doesn't mean, you're not stingy. She actually has a generous spirit. So generous, notice where she does. She invites the prophet to come over her house, watch the simplicity, to have a meal. She reaches out to the prophet, not for a prophetic word, not for a miracle. She says, I know you're a prophet, but you probably get hungry. Why don't you come over my house and get some food to eat? You have to hear this. This entire story of the shoot of my woman

starts with one thing, an invitation, an invitation. This is what initiates her story, a simple invitation. Spoiler alert, later we're gonna hear about a resurrection, but the story does not start with the resurrection. If you are hungry, I'm inviting you to come over my house and get some food and invitation. I wonder how many miracles in our life are on the other side of an invitation. Just a simple invitation. Don't despise an invitation. If she doesn't make the invitation, she never even experiences the resurrection. There's something powerful about an invitation. Oh, it's going to get better. Somebody just say invitation. I wonder what miracle you're missing out on, because you won't even send the invitation. What turns a stranger into a close friend? And what turns somebody from saying, I don't know if I'm going to go to church to actually come to church and encounter in Jesus and the life being changed? And what turns-- oh, that girl is cute over there. That's my wife over there. And I'm helping somebody right there. Brother, you better get on it. And invitation. Notice I used that illustration on purpose. Ladies, stop inviting yourself. Will you go out with me?

No, no, no, no. Let him do the invitation. And invitation. It seems so simple, but it is so powerful that the invitation is what initiated the miracle of thinking about this. It took me back to when social Dallas started in 2021. I'll never forget it. We started at what is now the Echo Lounge. And it used to be the high five. And we were the first church service to ever gather in that building in 2021. And I'll never forget it. We were just so excited about our first day. And Mark Cuban, we heard, on the spot. And so I told the team, I said, man, let's send an invitation to Mark Cuban to come to our first service. And I'll never get this one person who has gone on to be with another church, not the Lord. But I'll never forget it. It was like, do you really think he's going to come? That was a reaction. Let me say, let's invite Mark Cuban. Do you really think he's going to come? I said, well, I'm the one thing if we don't invite him. He ain't coming. My chances go way up. Just by sending the invitation. How are you canceling the invitation before it even goes out?

That was five years ago. Y'all now ready. Last Sunday. Oh, in the second service. Snuck in, did not call anybody. Did not tell anybody who was coming. Guess who just snuck in and was right there. And one of those little booths back there in the back. Not Mark Cuban, but I'm saying. What's wrong? Let me send it an invitation. You laugh him, but I wonder what things you have already rejected. Not because the person said, no. You too scurred to send the invitation. Wonder how much your life would change if you would even just invite God into what you think of the ordinary moments in your life. Because there are no ordinary moments. God, I invite you into this cubicle. Because you know these coworkers. God, I'm on vacation, but I'm not on vacation from you. I invite you on this vacation. While you own the day, God, we invite you on this date. Ooh, you don't want to pray that. I wonder how things would change if you were just sending an invitation. She sends an invitation and a lie. She accepts the invitation and keeps coming back to eat at the shooting night woman's house.

Let me take my time today. I love what the Bible doesn't say, but it's in there she could cook. She could. Because he kept coming back over there to eat. If it's a bad casserole, you are not going to keep pulling up to a house. Shoot him out as wealthy as she could throw down in the kitchen. And she invites Elijah over meal after meal. The invitation is what got her proximity to Elisha, but the miracle is not proximity. Because some people actually can't handle proximity. Sometimes when people get proximity, it breeds familiarity. And they start treating things casual, but not this woman. And she's having these meals with Elisha. She tells her husband, "I perceive that this is a holy man of God. "There's something different about him." So she goes from invitation, watch this, to perception. She perceived something different about him. How many of you know Elisha probably walked by a lot of people and shooting them, but they didn't perceive what she perceived. She perceived that there was something different about him and she perceived that as we're eating this meal this is more than a meal. This is a moment. I'm saying that to somebody because this is a season

for you to live with a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit so that you can have a perception of moments that are God set up. Do you understand that there are no ordinary moments in your life that are all moments in your life are created equal? How many of you know there are some moments that are beyond the natural, but God is actually doing something supernatural. It's a divine appointment. It's a setup, but you can miss it thinking, "Well, we just eat the meal." When it's actually a moment, she perceived. This ain't no ordinary meal. This is a moment. There's something different. It's why the prophet Isaiah says, "Behold, I'm doing a new thing." Do you not perceive it, isn't that crazy? "I'm doing a new thing." Do you not perceive it? That means God can be doing something new in your life. And you don't even see it. I like to shoot in my woman. She said, "This ain't a normal meal. This ain't a normal man. This is holy." So she goes from invitation to perception. And the thing about perception is once you perceive something, you have to start preparing for what you perceive.

If I perceive something in the spirit, I now have a responsibility to start preparing for what I perceive. She made preparation. Let the church say preparation. Preparation. She said, "We gotta prepare." 'Cause I perceive something. So let me make some preparations because I perceive there's something different. And look at what her preparation looked like. She got a husband. She says, "Ooh, I just got an idea." And he's like, "Ooh, I just got nervous." She goes, "We shouldn't make a room for him. We shouldn't make a room for him." And I can see this man going, "For what? Why we want to make a room?" And they're like, "He gonna live here? He only comes in the shoe now, every so often. We don't need to make a room, but let's get the man of God. I honor him, but get him an Airbnb." Come on, why will we make a whole room? We can just, come on, we can just rent a space. And I can see sister shooting, I'm going, "Uh-uh. We tired of renting." We tired of renting. He needs a room. He needs a space. So she starts preparing.

Somebody say preparation. Why is she preparing? Because she perceives something. She calls her servant in my exegetical imagination, and says, "Uh, I need you to go Home Depot. I need you to get some two-by-fours. I need you to get some stuff, get all that. Yep, uh-huh." I can see her on the phone. Her husband's like, "Who are you talking to?" Chip and Joe. Shut up. (audience laughing) Yeah. They're not coming from Waco to shooting them. I bet they will. Hey, we need you. We need you all to pull up here. And she starts preparing a space. Starts making a room. I can see it in my mind. She makes the room. And once the room is set, she's like, "We need more than just the room." And the husband's like, "Why?" "He ain't gonna sleep on the floor." "We don't put a bed in there." And then puts the bed in there. So, "All right, we good. Bed in there."

"No, no." Let me go to Home goods. I just want to see what they got. And she puts a table. She puts a chair. You would think the room is set. But what if the man of God gets up in the middle of night and he's got a word from God and he can't see? And he's a lamp. And the room is set. Do you see the attention to detail? Do you see the heart of generosity? Please don't miss this. There's a method to my madness. Elisha didn't ask for this room. Elisha wasn't at the house. Time out, ma'am, she'll be nice to have a guest suite. This is something she just did out of the kindness of her heart. This is the beauty of having a generous spirit. He didn't ask for this. She just set the room up. then maybe I'll get a miracle from God. She doesn't even process like that. She just wanted to do this out of the kindness of her heart. She wasn't saying if I set up this room, then maybe I'll get a miracle. Do you know how many people want a miracle, but you're so desperate for the miracle? Every moment with God is transactional. Every moment with God is like, well,

if I do this, then what do I get? If I do this, then what's gonna happen? Is there anything you just do because God, I just wanna do this because you've already been good to me. I just wanna do this 'cause it's in my capacity. (congregation applauding) She just desired to set up a light she didn't ask for it, but you know that night she was about to reveal the room. He was hype, she was hype. She was like, "Elisha, I'm so glad you came." Ooh, I got a surprise for you. It's like, oh, that what you'd be excited about all dinner. It's like, yeah, real quick, close your eyes. Elisha's like, are you for real, close your eyes? He's like, oh, hey, you do know I'm a prophet though, right? I know, but close your eyes, follow me. And she takes them, come on, come on, come on, come on. Don't open, come on. She takes them, can you see her? She takes them, he's like, now hold on. I can see her saying, now watch your step. Yeah, there's one step, that's another step. Yeah, he's like, are these stairs? And he goes up, I still close, I'm still in the text. She didn't add it to the side of the house. She went to the roof, and he's up there. All right, open, oh my goodness. This is the, this is the show now. You don't have to do this, I get just so bad in the table, in the chair, in the lap.

She's like, oh, no, it's not that it's not that I just, you know, I just wanted to be a blessing to you. She's like, it's not that it's just a little room. Kind of like she's like, no, you didn't just add a room. We're upstairs. You added another. (audience applauds) You added another story. You thought you were adding another room. You were adding another story. You didn't even realize that your unmanipulated generous heart that just wanted to create a space was a prophetic construction project. Because while you were building another story in your house, you didn't even know you were creating the atmosphere for God to build another story in your life. I know you weren't expecting it. And you didn't do this for that. But God is getting ready to build another story. In your life, I don't know who this is for today. But I wonder if what you're doing right now is creating space for something you haven't even seen. Yeah. She created the room, a light just slept, woke up the next morning. Said, we gotta do something. For Sister Shuna Mike, she set up this room for us. We gotta do something for her. Calls her, says, hey, you went through all this trouble for us.

Is there anything we can do for you? I know you didn't do it for that. But is there anything we can do for you? And look at what she says. You know, I live among my own people. I'm secure, I'm satisfied. Here's what she says. Essentially, she's like, I'm good, I'm good. Have you ever said that before? I'm good. I'm good, I'm good, it's interesting. Because I'm good can sometimes mean I'm content, which is amazing. Praise God when you can reach a place of contentment, when you're not waiting for something else to be added to your life, to get joy into your life. That's why the Bible says godliness with contentment is great gain. Oh, it's a wonderful thing where you can say I'm good 'cause I'm content. But there's a difference between I'm good and I'm content. And I'm good because I've learned to cope. I'm good because I've learned to live without it. I'm good because I've been praying for that thing for so long and it hasn't come. So I've learned to tell myself a story that I'm good because it hurts too much to hope again for. I know you can't say anything in here. satisfaction or is it self-protection? Because it hurts too much for you to hope again. So rather than hope for it,

you just say, I'm good. I don't even need a man. I'm good. Since is that contentment? Or did the three before hurt you so bad that now the story you tell yourself is? I'm good. I don't need community. Forget the church. You know, I'm more of an introvert anyway. It's too much. Social always, too many people. I know my anxiety. Is that true or is that the story? You tell yourself. She told herself, I'm good because it hurt too much to hope again. I'm good. Shout out to Elijah servant, Gajeza. You need a good Gajeza in your life. You need a good Gajeza that'll say the thing you're afraid to name. She's not good. She's saying she's good because she doesn't hurt too much for her to hope again. She's not good. She don't have a child and her husband is old and stuff ain't working like it used to work. And she won't even declare that she's always wanted her son. She's always wanted a legacy. She's always wanted something more. And I'm gonna open up my mouth and I'm gonna say the thing that she won't say. Shout out to Gajeza. I feel like I'm somebody Gajeza today. I gotta say, there's something your heart desired and you put it on the shell. But what if God says, can you trust me with that? That I can still do it. She's not good. I'm gonna name what she's afraid to say. See, sometimes disappointment doesn't make you stop believing in God. It just makes you stop believing in God in a certain area. So God, I still believe in you. But this area right here, I'm fine. I'm good. It's like when I was growing up in church back in the day, we had prayer requests. And it's obvious one person, unspoken. Oh, pray for my mom. Pray for my dad. I wish it was unspoken. And that always made me frustrated. How am I supposed to pray for what you won't say? He's I won't allow her to settle into

I'm good. She don't have a child. Her husband is old. And look at what Alisha does, worship team, join me. Call the shoot of my woman in here. Y'all, she walks up the stairs. I love the Bible. She walks. Watch this. Not all the way in the room. Not even in the hallway. The text says she stands in the doorway. Her posture is preaching. She's not in the room. And she's not in the hallway. She's right on the edge. She's right on the cusp. She's right on the precipice of God doing something in her life. And right when she's putting on the shelf and said, no, I'm good. She stands in the doorway and Alisha speaks a prophetic word over her life and says about this time next year, you're going to be holding a baby boy in your hands about this time next year. Watch this. He doesn't say next year, you're going to be pregnant. He doesn't say next year, you're going to conceive. He skips conception and goes straight to completion. And says, this time next year, you're going to be holding a baby boy in your hands. I know you put that dream on the shelf, but I'm declaring as you stand on the doorway that you're standing in the doorway of a blessing. This time next year, you're going to be holding the thing that you've been praying for, that you were believing for. Can you imagine if the thing you had put on the shelf, somebody said, this time next year, she's going to be holding it. What would be your response to that? Most of us would shout. Most of us would run a lap, but not this woman she's been through too much. Even after the prophetic word, she says no. Please don't get my hopes up. In spite of her pain and her disappointment, watch this. The words still came to pass. I feel like I'm prophesied to somebody today with this message. Even in her fears, even in her things that she said there's no way it's not me.

The words still came to pass. And about that time next year, watch this, she's holding a baby boy. And that culture of baby boy would have been everything because that's the only way you could have a legacy. That's the only way you could have another story. I got the worship team here and they're playing this beautiful, soft music. And this would be a good time to roll the credits. She had doubts. She stood at the doorway. The prophet said this time next year, the word came. Ooh, let's shout. And let's go to Chipotle. But you can't end her story there because there's always another story. I don't even want to put it on the screen and I won't. But verse 18 says, two familiar but scary words. One day. The same one day that started the miracle is the same one day that's going to produce one of the most painful days of her life. See, this is what we don't talk about in church. Everybody shouts about the one day when God turned it around the miracle. But what are you doing? You got the miracle and one day the miracle is slipping out of your hands? One day her baby boy, her miracle child is outside with his dad with the reapers. It was harvest season. And this boy says my head, my head. And the father tells the servant, take him to his mama. I'm glad to see that that still happens. And today most dads, some wrong go. See you mama. And I'm sure that she's holding her baby boy and she's thinking he's not feeling good but it's going to get better.

It's going to be alright but the Bible says it does not get better. Her miracle child dies in her hands. I'm confused, Elijah. How come you didn't tell me this part of the story? If you don't prophesy that I'm going to hold a baby boy in my hands, why did you tell me that that boy was going to grow up and the same baby boy was going to die in my hands? It would have been nice to know that part of the story. God why would you bless me with the business and then let the business go bankrupt? God why would you bless me with the spouse and not tell me that five years in I was going to be devastated with news that they were unfaithful and now I'm single and divorced. It would have been nice to get that part of the story. She is like maybe somebody's here today where your miracle dies in your hands. But I love this woman because she doesn't stay there. Shout out sister. She takes that boy up those stairs and lays him on the bed in the room. She prepared for Elisha and closed the door behind her. Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that the room she prepared in a season where everything was good now became the same room that was a place for her grief. She had no idea when she was preparing that room that it was going to be a place she would lay her son. Say no word about it. I'm gonna go see the man of God. He asking all kinds of questions. What, why, why are you going to see the man of God? She said, look at what she says, it is well. What? It is well. How is it well when your son is in a room and his body is laying on the bed? Dan, what you mean it is well?

Are you in denial, shoot a mind woman? No, see faith is not pretending like you don't have pain. Faith is not pretending like the problem doesn't exist, but I tell you what faith is. Faith is just because I'm going through a bad page. I refuse to believe that my story is over. I'm going to the same one that spoke the promise. So give me a donkey. The same one that declared it is the same one that I'm running to. Is somebody in this room that's going through a situation that's hurt you? You better take that thing back to the God that promised it to you. Say, give me a donkey. It is well, it is well. Give me a donkey. I'm going back to the one who spoke this thing into existence. She goes, she don't even let the servant get in her way. She says, it is well. And then once she gets to Elisha, she says, did not tell you not to get my hopes. She falls at his feet. And says, my baby boy is dead. And I don't know who this is for today. But whenever you've gone through painful situations, that's not time to run away from God. That's when you run to God and say, God, I'm coming back to you with this thing. That doesn't look like I thought it would look.

Come on, we see it on the cross. That's why Jesus doesn't stop talking to his father, even when he's forsaken by his father. He says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken? (congregation applauding) Elisha sends Gahazi ahead of him. Says, go put the staff on that boy. And she says, you got me messed up. It's my version. I'm not leaving until you come with me. Because there are some situations. You need the one who spoke the promise to come. Come on, somebody, I'm thankful for pastoral leadership. I'm thankful for your prayer group. But there's some jobs that are only for the one that gave you the promise. And some of y'all had to find out out this year. You had to get a prayer life for yourself 'cause your mama's prayer life wasn't enough. Your little prayer circle wasn't enough. You had to find a place alone. And say, I need the one that spoke the promise. Elisha goes in that room. Think of what he does, shuts the door. It already didn't work with the staff on him. Elisha starts praying. But the prayer didn't do anything. And Elisha does something that we're gonna keep in the Old Testament. Don't ask me to do this right here.

'Cause he doesn't lay hands. The Bible says he stretched out over that boy. Eyes to eyes, mouth to mouth, hand to hand. He stretched out over a boy who is dead. You got a boy who is dead and a man who is alive. And he stretched out over him, stretched out over death and he's alive. There's something Elisha that said, I think I'm gonna have to stretch out over this death with my life for him to get some life. I wish you could see it from a different vantage point. 'Cause if you looked on the top, you wouldn't have seen that boy who was dead. You would've just seen Elisha who has stretched out over him. Don't forget the prophetic picture. 'Cause how do you know all of us were dead in our sins? And I wanna thank God for Jesus, who stretched out on the cross. I'm thankful for Jesus. That's the only way we can have life 'cause he stretched out. It wasn't pretty. But it was his life stretched out over us. That only gave us the hope to live. [BLANK_AUDIO] Elijah prays again and he stretches out one more time. He'll just be real quiet. He's warm but he ain't alive yet and as Elisha is stretched out over him wondering, "God, are you going to bring this boy back to life? I saw you do it with my mentor Elijah.

Surely you can do it again." Y'all, I'm not trying to jerk you out of the spiritual moment but the silence in that room is broken with Elisha. He sneezed. Can you imagine? Elisha. Now, if I'm on a plane and you sit next to me and you sneeze, "I chiff," because I'm a pastor and I'm polite, I'm going to say, "Bless you. You sneeze again." I'm like, "Bless you again. You sneeze three times. You good?" You sneeze four times. I'm leaning on the window and saw dying you. You sneeze. Bob, I'm looking around the plane to see if there's another empty scene I can move to. You sneeze six times. Y'all, I am--why are you on the plane? Why are you flying? What do you have? Now, you can play, because watch this. It matters what room you're in, what a sneeze is. A sneeze on the plane is nasty. A sneeze on the plane screams, "Please get away from me." A sneeze on the plane is annoyance, but when there is a boy who is dead, when there is a boy who has no pulse and has no heartbeat, how many know a sneeze is not an annoyance? A sneeze is evidence that God still can bring death things back to life. I wish somebody would give God some praise, but the sneeze, the sneeze is evidence that God can still bring things that look like they were dead, back to life again. How do you know a life just thought of thanking God for that sneeze, that sneeze is proof positive?

That there's another story sneeze seven times for completion. Read that boy back to his mama. She thought it was over, but it was another story. Would you stand to your feet all over this place today? Somebody say there's another story. She thought it was going to end with her miracle dead, but there's always another story. Some of y'all are leaving, but you're about to miss out on another story, because that would be a good time to land a sermon too. That's it. Your boy is back to life, but there's always, you ever read 2 Kings, chapter 8? In chapter 8 it says now Elisha said to the woman whose son had been what oh Just he still got a story to life Go away with your family and stay for a while wherever you can because the Lord has decreed a what oh We don't like that part of story We only like when God decrees a blessing, but what happens when there's a famine? See there's another story. There's a famine in the land So now that beautiful house that you had you got to leave that house and the woman proceeded to do as the man of God said She and her family went away and stayed in the land of the Philistines seven years And at the end of the seven years she came back from the land of the Philistines and went to appeal to who? The king for her house So I want my house back because I built an upstairs room and there was another story and there was lights a little bare Bath and beyond. I'm sorry home goods table in there and she goes back and the king was talking to who? Gehazi the servant of the man of God and that said Tell me about all the great things Elisha has done The king said tell me some stories And just as Gehazi I was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life the woman Whose son Elisha had brought back to life came back to appeal to the king for her house And let hold up y'all don't know how to shout This dude is telling a story about the one time Elisha raised the boy to life and as he's telling the king the story here she come in

With this boy Voice them probably dropped now Nothing is random and they walked in and this is my lord the king this is her I will just tell you they hear and what happened that um The king asked the woman about him. She told him. She said yeah, he raised him from the dead Here he is. Look at him. He's still here And then he assigned an official to our case and said to him give back Everything that belonged to her Including all the income from her land from the day she left the country to now How many days for whatever the devil stole from you I don't care how long it's been he gonna have to pay it back With some interest because god is always riding Another Another story If I was the enemy I'd get you stuck on one story Hear me. There's always another story And what I've been trying to tell you for the last five weeks Is even when you can't trust the circumstance Trust the god who's riding the story Would you bow your head and close your eyes father? Would you help us to trust you with our stories And not just the beautiful parts But god even the parts that hurt God thank you that we can trust you with

the moments where we're experiencing incredible blessing And god we can trust you in the moments that we don't understand in our breaking our heart Father let us learn To keep confident trusting you God I come against every lie of the enemy It's making us feel like our story is over our hope is in you You're still riding it heads about I was close today. You're here today and Maybe there's been one story that the enemies played over and over in your mind. You're not going to make it It'll always be like this and you need to change the narrative The narrative you tell yourself will navigate your life That's you today and you Hear your Savior speaking to you say hey trust me I'm still riding your story That's you today you say hey I refuse to stick To the story that i'm not going to make it that god is not enough I I reject that story today, but it's been loud in my ear That's you would you be honest enough to say that's me. That's me It's been loud in my ear, but today I'm choosing to trust the one who's riding my story. Thank you god He's the author and the perfecter of your faith Don't give up because you don't like one page Heads are still about I was still close to be here today and you've never surrendered your life to Jesus I'd love to give you that opportunity today I don't care if it's just one person saying today. I need to surrender my life to him. You can trust him but today's a new story, it's another story you've found. If that's you, would you lift up your hand high enough, long enough to where I can see it? Say today to today, I'm giving it my life. Thank you, Lord, I wanna lead you in this prayer

just before Pastor Josh comes to quickly dismiss us. We've gotta transition to the next service, but this is important. Would you pray this prayer? We're all gonna say it, especially those of you who responded. Would you say this say Jesus? I need you, Lord, I cannot do life without you. Lord, I'm dead, I'm stuck in my sin, and you're a greater Elisha. You stretched out yourself on a cross for me. Jesus, I believe you died for my sins, so forgive me, make me brand new, from this moment forward, I'm walking with you. Thank you, that you're always writing another story. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. [MUSIC PLAYING]