Have the Courage to Ask | Zechariah 10

to this and they do not feel like they can have dreams that could be realistic. What would you say to them? - Ask anyway, I think that feeling of insecurity or feeling like I've done the thing that disqualified me or feeling like my current circumstances wherever I am, there's how could I dream in a space like this? And I would say, ask anyway, even if I don't fully believe it, it's like a sign of faith that like God, I feel hopeless, I feel down and out, I feel like everything I've done means that you can't possibly use me and I'm gonna ask anyway. - This is the Crossroads Daily. No experts, no perfect people, just honest conversations about what happens when the Bible shows up in real life. (upbeat music) Hey everybody, I'm Chuck. - I'm Chris. - I'm Jamie. - I'm Jordan. And man, it's been good talking about revival this week as we move into a season of seeking revival as a church and just in our own lives, God is a restore. I mean, I've read Zechariah 10 and I'm just reminded that God restores, like he does, he has, he will, and he is right now, even in the places that we can't see it. And so much of that is, are we willing to ask for it? You know, it's interesting, the last time we were together, we finished with the question, what's something that we stopped praying for? And I feel like in some ways,

this is picking up right where that left off, which is what is something that you want revived in your life? So as you think about that, what is an area where you honestly want to experience God's revival in your life right now? - I feel like I didn't wanna share this, which means I probably, it's probably the thing I need to share and I would say it's just prayer and it doesn't even feel like revival in some ways. It feels like I need it to be revived. Like, there's not a read, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, it's not, it's right. I mean, historically, like, I feel like I've really wrestled with calming my minds and I could, you know, I could blame anxiety, I could blame any mental health thing, but it's like, I feel like I really wrestle just sitting still with the Lord and not needing a advice to like, keep my brain stimulated or just to feel at peace that like, he is a God of peace with me. And so I, I mean, I look at heroes of faith in the Bible. I look at someone like Daniel who like, they make a proclamation of law. You cannot pray to your God. And he's like, great, I gotta go pray about this. Like, I want that to be my posture is my instinct is to pray and I'm like,

I cannot breathe throughout the day unless I sit with the Lord first. So, yeah, I need to vibe in that. I love that, I love that, man, I love the honesty in that. I have a thing, this is like a half big thing, but we'll just roll with it. I want God to revive or like, stir within me big like dreams and hopes for the future. Yeah. I don't necessarily have like a specific thing in mind right now. I just got this picture of, I used to be a skateboarder. I don't know if a skateboard is out there and I feel like skateboarding is like the ultimate picture. Like when you go to a skate park or something there's little kids, middle school kids and they're just sending it. I mean, like the ramps and the rails and all this stuff and there's no fear in the world. They're wiping out all over the place and they just get up and they try again. And then you get a little older and you're like, that stuff is so dangerous. You know, like there's no chance I'm going out there and doing that. It's, you realize how crazy some of the things you were trying to do were. And I almost feel like I can get that way like spiritually. Yeah. Wanting to not take as many risks or.

Oh, I know the big ramps over there. I'm going to do the little ramp over here. Like, again, I don't necessarily have specific things but I want to be revived in not playing it safe. Yeah. And having, having big faith and hopes and dreams and not going, oh, that looks too dangerous or I'll probably fail or mess it up. But just going like, all right, God, if that's the thing you want, then I want to be a part of that. No matter how, no matter how scary it is or I might wipe out. But I want to be like on board and committed to that. It's so good. That's so good. I love the skate parking now. You can see, cause you're so right. Yeah, it's so right. What a kid will do versus like cautious. No, yeah, yeah. The adults got all the pads. Right. Get the helmet on. It's like, you were never wearing the helmet before. Yeah. That's good, man. Wow. I was going to say a big dream also. So that's just really interesting.

All right. I, I don't have, like, I don't have a dream. Like, I don't have something I want to do or feel like God is telling me, like, this is what I made you to be. And just, I don't want to put that pressure on God. That's not the point of like, just as a kid, I had dreams, like things that I wanted to do and wanted to be. failure, because I get so afraid of failing that I failed to start. And then I feel like if I like in asking God, like, hey, God, I want to I want a God sized dream. I want something that we can do together. And I don't want him to be like, but why? Because you don't ever take that step. So, why now? And that's not God's character. That's really like a me. Why? Then I'm like, well, maybe I won't ask. So I guess I'm saying, I want a God sized dream. I want something that I will fail if I try to do it on my own. And that's crazy to say out loud of like, yes, I know, like, I want something to pursue that I would fail if I didn't, if God wasn't with me in it. I want that kind of dream. Wow. Dang it. You too. I think that's the Lord's putting on my heart. Good. I really do. Yeah. There are some places where I'm just playing it safe. And, and, and you know, you get to a point where like, your competence has gotten you to a level where like, you can do good stuff competently. But there, that's different than saying, God, if I, if I put it all in again, where would you take me? And I'll be honest and say some of that for me comes from a place of feeling a bit disappointed about the last time I did that and how it ended up, right? Like it wasn't all puppy dogs and rainbows. It was hard. And in some ways, I felt like there was some, I got beat up in some ways that I'm like, I don't even know if I've fully healed from all of that. So I do think that there's this part of me that's like, maybe not now or maybe, maybe I'll wait, you know, my kids are at a place where it's like, huh, let's do status quo. You know, like I got a kid graduating all this stuff. But like, man, what, what if this is the moment where God is saying, no, I have a dream for you. And, and it starts now. So I am really feeling stretched by what you, what you said, like what's it look like to say, God, I want to dream big dreams. And an interesting thing about Zechariah is the command is to ask for rain when rain is falling. And what that means is like, when God is in the posture of giving out favor, you should be asking big. Yeah. And I mean, again,

you can discern whether we're in that season or not. But I do think that I think about just the life of crossroads and I think about the life of kind of the church in America. Like, I think this is a time to ask God for big things. I really do. I think this is a time for us to be dreaming as a church of something different than what we see typically represented from the church. I even think about, you know, how many people still don't have a place where they can connect and hear the message of Jesus and the language they can understand. We're not done. Like, the American church is not done. And what does it look like for us to say, God, use us, let us be a part of the big dream that you have. Because I think that's what God wants. God wants more and more people to be a part of his family. You know, we talked about how God throws the best parties and he has big tables and he wants other people to this table. So man, this is interesting. This is not, you know, sometimes we have a roadmap when we come into these of kind of like, Hey, we think we're going to talk about these things, but this feels, this feels like a thing. This feels like a moment. What, as you think about revival and you think about dreams, what would you say to people who are here in this and they're like, yeah, me too. I think there's a dream or maybe I'm not even interested in a dream or I'm afraid to dream or I'll feel like I'm in a place where I can dream. You know, there's some people who probably are listening to this and they do not feel like they can have dreams that could be realistic. What would you, what would you say to them? Ask anyway. Hmm. I think that that is one of like, I'm a believer and so I believe there's an enemy that wants so hard to disrupt the plans that God would have for my life. And so I think that feeling of insecurity or feeling like I've done the thing that disqualified me or feeling like my current circumstances, wherever I am, there's, how could I dream in a space like this? And I would say, ask anyway, like I think to the same point of Zechariah, like rain was already falling. So get in, get, get, what is it like, get in while the getting is good or whatever that expression is. Also, when it feels bleak and desolate, ask anyway, because I think of that as like, even if I don't fully believe it, it's like a sign of faith that like God, I feel hopeless. I feel down and out. I feel like everything I've done means that you can't possibly use me. And I'm gonna ask anyway. - That's great. I feel like I would ask the question, which I've asked myself a lot the last year, which is like, do you want full life?

Like, do you want a life that God is offering? If so, go for it. If not, like stop kidding yourself. Because then I say that to myself. Like that's, I have all these aspirations. And then it's like, there's so much fear that comes. And it's like, okay, well, at the end of the day, it's like, what do I want? And what do I want to look back in 10 years and be like, this is what my life is. And if that's true and I want the full life that God offers, then what am I willing to do to make it happen? And, but to just, you know, stop playing the game where I'm just like sitting on the fence, like waiting or like have my toe in the water waiting for like, get to feel right. It's like, if I really want full life, what am I willing to do to make that happen? - Yeah, man. I feel, I just feel like we should close in prayer today. This feels like a time to pray. - Let's do it. Lord, thank you, thank you for your word. And I just, I hear, I think that question is the question that you're putting before us. What do you want? I think that's what the Lord is saying today. What do you want? Do you want the life I have for you? Do you want the dreams that I have for you?

And if so, ask, ask me, ask me. You want us to ask you. You want us to, I think ask you for more, more than what we've been asking. We've limited ourselves. I've limited myself. And you're encouraging me to chuck, ask for more. Ask for more. I've put desires in you. They're not ungodly desires. They're desires that are from my heart. Ask for them. Ask for me to move in your life. Ask me to move in your family. Ask for me to move in your relationships. Ask me to move in your marriage. Ask for me to move in your kids. Ask me to move in your neighborhood. Ask me to move in your churches. Ask for me to move in the situations that feel bleak. Ask me to move in prison cells. Ask me to move God in blue collar environments. Ask me to move in government. Ask me to move in the arts. Ask me to move in healthcare. Ask me to move in the law industry. Ask me to move in schools. Ask me to move in colleges and on universities and on campuses. God, I just think you're asking us to ask bigger. And I pray that we would.

I pray that we would. I pray that you would hear this today, not as a rebuke, as much as an invitation, to ask for more, to ask for the like, you want to give us. So God help us to have the courage to ask. And I pray that you would answer in a way that is, like it says in the New Testament, exceeding and abundant above all that we can even ask. We pray that in your name, Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)