I'm Tired of Being Here!

He is good. Well, we want to welcome all of our guests this morning. Thank you for being with Journey. All our campuses, Twinsburg and Fairview. Today we are, we have Pando app with us today. God behind bars and they get to hear the word of God today. So if you're watching on Pando, God is not finished with you yet. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for tuning in to week two of Hope Makes Away. Who was here for last week's message from Pastor Phil? Come on. Amazing message of being strengthened in God and we got to see people raise their hands and people go pray for them while they're in their seats. That's absolutely amazing. That's what the churches of God is supposed to do. Get strengthened with your brothers and sisters in Christ. And today, today God is giving you marching orders to get up and get moving. Not to stay stuck where you're at. You got strengthened, not just for you, but there's a brother or sister or a family member that needs to hear about God. And it is a new to deliver it. (congregation applauding) So I'm excited to bring week two message today. April 2003, there was a gentleman named Aaron Ralston that was a rock climber. He was climbing rocks over in Utah by himself.

And while he was climbing, he was trying to get through some difficult areas, some difficult creases in the rocks. And as he was climbing up and trying to shift the maneuver still, he got his arm caught in a 800 pound stone that had shifted on him and trapped his arm. And now he is stuck there all alone. If you're a rock climber here, don't ever go alone. And so his arm got pinched in this rock. And now he's stuck. And he's stuck for one day and nobody came to help him. Two days, nobody came to help him. Three days, he's starting to run out of food. Four days, he ran out of food. Five days, he's trying to figure out, what am I going to do? Am I going to just be okay being here and dying? Or am I gonna do something about it? How do you do something when you're pinched with a 800 pound rock that won't allow you to move? That's some of us in the room right now, that we've walked through the doors and we've come to church week after week and we feel like the world is pinching us down, holding us down. We got family members holding us down. We have kids holding us down. We have jobs holding us down. Unemployment holding us down.

I'm broke holding us down. We're pinched in the rock and what do we do? And here Aaron had to make a decision. Am I going to be okay being stuck? Or am I going to do something about it? So my man Aaron decided to do something that I probably I don't know if I would do. He pulls out a Swiss army knife and starts cutting off his arm. And little by little there's tendons that he's going through and bone that he is going through. I don't, I'm not sure how you cut through bone with a little Swiss army knife, but I wonder how long he was there trying to deliver himself, trying to set himself free, cutting himself so he was now no longer trapped and attached to what he was keeping him back. He made up in his mind. I'm tired of being here. I need to go back with my family. I need to go do what God wants me to do, right? And so we get stuck in the moment. So what do you do? Are you complacent? Are you okay with being where you're at? Are you okay kicking back the bottle? Are you okay with the drugs that we're doing? Are you okay with not reading the word? Are you okay with not praying? Are you okay with just coming to church?

It's hearing three or four songs, going home and not feeling. Today, there's a shift that's going to happen in your life, if you allow him. There's a change that's coming to you if you allow him, if you allow God to enter into your heart, not only your heart, but your mind that he will clean your mind and cleanse your mind. Aaron made a decision, I'm not staying stuck here any longer, whatever it takes I'm going to do. And it takes me to the Scripture in 2nd Kings chapter 7, a story that is a hard story, a tough story about some disobedient people. It was God's people, it wasn't the enemy, it was God's people that were disobedient to God. Anytime you decide that you could be independent from God, it brings disaster to you. Anytime you decide I could do it, I've got it handled, I'll make the money, and you make yourself independent from God, famine comes to the land. And here we are in chapter 7, actually I'm talking about chapter 6, I'm giving you some context, and then we'll go to chapter 7. The context is they were idolatrous, they were sinful, disobedient to God. Doing whatever they thought was right in their own eyes. And because of their disobedient and not asking God to come back into the situation, he allowed the Syrian army to siege them. Now they're surrounded by the Syrian army, and now there's no imports and no exports that come in, and so now a famine hits the land. This famine lasted between, scholars say, six months to a year. That's a long time to go without food coming into your house. It's a long time without food, new food entering into your house. You see the right, my rice and beans start going down. That was a joke. Latino. But you start seeing what you had stored away, start dwindling away. Here's what these people decided to do. This is how rough it got for them. That moms would take their own kids, they would kill them, boil them, and eat them. Think about that. That's how desperate they got. That's how confusing a God when all they had to do was say, "God help us redirect us," and he would have shown up. But we make it so difficult to follow him thinking we could do it ourselves. And here they are struggling, trying to figure it out. And here God thinks he's funny, and he drops Elisha, prophet Elisha, in the middle of the

situation. Imagine us going through a famine, and people are starting to go into cannibalism, and they say, "Pastor Phil, I want you to go deliver a word to a people that won't listen. Go deliver a word to deaf ears." And Elisha shows up in the picture and tells them by this time tomorrow things are going to start shifting. That no matter how bad it is, no matter how starving you are, no matter how sinful you are, things are going to shift for you. Journey Church by this time tomorrow, things are going to start shifting for you. We believe sometimes in our own mind, and sometimes it's the enemy putting it in our mind that we are too sinful and we're too so far gone that God will save us and bring us back to him. You are never too far gone. Pando, you are never too far gone. You're incarcerated, you're behind bars. I get it, but God has chosen you. He has called you and He has a purpose upon you. And that's the same thing for everybody in the room. You are never too far gone that God cannot deliver you. Charles Spurgeon said it like this. He says the glory of God's faithfulness is that no sin of ours has ever made God unfaithful. God will never turn his eyes away from you. He wants to gaze upon his church and see his church. What is the condition of my church? What do they need from me? He will never turn his eyes away from you, ever. I don't care how drunk you get, how high you get, whatever you're doing, he will never turn his eyes from you. The most dangerous place in your life

is not always where the enemy has you trapped. Sometimes it's the place where you've become comfortable being stuck. You okay being stuck? You're okay with your arm being trapped and running out of food? What if the only things standing between you are where God wants you to be? Is your willingness to get up? What if what's stopping you from getting to God's purpose for you is your unwillingness to stand up? And here Elijah starts speaking to the people of God. In verse one, we're going to go to verse one, chapter seven of Second Kings. And it says this, Elijah replied, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says about this time tomorrow, a saia of the finest flower will sell for a shekel and to say as for a barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria. So now because of their turn of heart, the price of flower of barley is going to start coming down because of somebody's obedience and we'll get there. The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, look, even if the Lord should open up the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen? Now he's questioning what God is saying through Elijah. And he said, you will see it with your own eyes, answer to Elijah, but you will not eat any of it.

That's powerful. And so Elijah speaks this word unto them and says it's going to shift from famine to food. Exports will start coming in. Something's going to shift. The awesome thing is, is that Elijah speaks a word to his people. He gives them an end result without a process. Think about that. He gives them an end result by this time tomorrow you're going to have food, but he doesn't tell him how he's going to do it. That's a hard place to be. Have you ever been in that place where I've been called by God and you're going to tell me I'm going to preach, but I'm stuck being angry, full of hate. That was me 15 years ago. Not wanting to listen to anybody, not taking counsel from anybody. I know it all. I know the end result, you're calling me to preach. But right now, doesn't make sense. Has anybody ever been there? Where he tells you the end result, but he doesn't tell you the process in which you're going to get there. [BLANK_AUDIO] You got to be tired of struggling spiritually. You got to be tired, struggling financially. You got to be tired with these things

that were stuck at the gate. We're stuck at the gate. And God is calling us forward and to move forward. Amen. We'll keep reading. We're gonna go to verse three. This is when it starts shifting. Second Kings, chapter seven, verse three. And now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, "Why stay here until we die." Sounds like somebody else I just heard. Aaron, Ralston, stuck on the cliff. Guys with leprosy are asking the same question, "Why do I need to stay here stuck at the gate until we die?" If we say, "We'll go into the city, the famine is there." And we will die. And if we stay here, we will die anyways. So let's go over to the camp of the Armenians and surrender. If they spare us, we live. If they kill us, then we will die. If you don't know anything about people with leprosy back in those days, they were outcasted. They were looked as being unclean. They would have to shave their heads. It's in style now. And all the bald men say, "Amen." (audience laughing)

And so with having leprosy, it's a skin condition that was looked like unclean and people would walk away from them and stay away from them. They would start yelling unclean, pinpointing that these guys were unclean. They're contagious possibly. Stay away from them. They got too much going on. They're too broken for me. And here they are walking around with leprosy. And one thing with having leprosy, not only did they have to shave their heads, they had to wear a plaque announcing to everybody in the world that they were unclean. Think about that. Unclean. I was just at the bar last night and I wasn't. I was at the club last night. I was with this chick last night. I was with this guy last night. And I walked into church and I feel really unclean. I feel like I shouldn't even be here. I feel as if I should not be in the church. I felt like if I walked into the church, the church is gonna start shaking and the lights are gonna start falling down 'cause that's what the enemy puts in our head. I feel alone, my dad or my mom,

they left me when I was a kid and I don't know how to shake it. I feel alone, my dad or my mom passed away and I'm trying to shake this thing and I'm trying to push past where I'm at. But here I feel alone. I feel alone while I'm fighting. I feel fear as I'm alone and I'm fearful. This is some of your plaques that you have. You have written down fear and I'm fearful of change. I'm fearful that if I stepped up to this altar, people are gonna know I'm absolutely broken. And the spirit of fear is absolutely terrorizing you and paralyzing you. And today we come against the spirit of fear that is holding you back to what God wants you to do to share the gospel to your family members because you're fearful on what they're gonna say to you. He does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. of love, power, and sound mind. I'm just speaking to the spirit of fear that is speaking to your mind right now. That he has, the Lord has not given you a spirit of fear but to getting up and getting tired of where you're at and shifting and allowing God to move in you and allowing him to use you so you can speak to your family. (audience applauding) He's not giving us a spirit of fear.

We're walking around rejected because that's what the world has labeled you as 'cause you've done prison time. Now you're rejected because of the act that you did but you are completely chosen by God. (sighing) Because your parents have rejected you. We're walking around with labels all day long wondering how do I get out of this vicious cycle? Shame, you're shame in the room. Again, because of things that have occurred when you were a child and have occurred and you have done or you have watched or you have said and you have talked to your spouse the way you should not be talking to your spouse and you should be loving your wife the way the Lord loves the bride of Christ which is the church and you don't respect your husband in front of people at church you, speak to them the way they should be spoken to but the moment you get home some of us are walking with absolute shame. An addiction. Something that's running rampant right now is just I'm praying for so many people that are addicted 'cause they're looking for an out. Get me out of this. Get me out of this pain. But the truth of the matter is there is no drug, there is no alcohol, there is no sex

that is going to get you out of it. The only mindset that's gonna get you out of it is when you realize that God has chosen you, that you are a royal priesthood that he absolutely has called you and he said you are mine. You are not the world, but you are mine. You are chosen. I have chosen you out of the pit of hell. I've chosen you off that bottle. I've chosen you out of that addiction. (mumbling) He's called you. The fact of the matter is that these four men that had leprosy were stuck in a position of what do I do just like Aaron? They're at the gate and at the gate there's a lot that happens. There's a lot of meetings with council that happens and there's a lot of decisions that are had at the gate but at the gate there was no purpose for the four lepers. So they had to make a decision. Am I going to stay here because I'm at the gate, I'm not in the gate and I'm not outside of the gate. So am I just going to stay at the gate because they think I should stay here. They did not decide they wanted to stay here. There's other people that said in council and Sanhedrins and those with authority that you are too unclean to be out in society so you must stay at the gate.

And the thing is with the gate when you are unclean is that you look like everybody else that's unclean. And that's what society wants to do. You're an alcoholic. You probably should hang out with the alcoholics. You should probably hang out at the bar. You're a gossiper? You're probably going to hang out with the gossipers. Now you're stuck at the gate wondering, "What do I do when I'm stuck?" It's not my words, I'm a mess. Look at all the papers I have. And I got the biggest Bible in the church. You have to be willing to make the move. They were stuck at the gate, stuck with people that just look like them. And here's what they decided, 2 Kings 7. Five and seven. Thank you. So they arose at twilight. I know on the screen it says dusk, I like twilight, where the way it says it here. The reason I like twilight, because it makes it very clear at twilight, that means there was a shift that happened in the atmosphere. It went from being light to dark, so there was a shift that happened. I know that you might not be used to it, but when you go home, there's going to be a shift that's going to happen at twilight. It might not be dark, it might not be light, but there's going to be a spiritual shift that's going to hit your house if you allow it. At twilight, so they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians, but when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. Where's the army at? They left. Why, they leave. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and horses,

the sound of a great army, so they said to one another, "Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us." So they fled away in the twilight. When? Say that one more time. When did they leave? Let's go back. Let's rewind. When did the lepers decide to leave camp? At twilight, when did the Syrians leave camp? Absolutely amazing that in a moment of obedience by the lepers, they decided to charge the Syrian army. I have nothing to lose. I'm going to make the decision that I'm going to walk out, go to the Syrian army, and if I got a fight and I die fighting, I have nothing to lose. My question to you is you've been trying everything you want to try and you've been stuck for a decade, what do you have to lose? What do you have to lose to come up to this altar or lift your hands to receive some prayer? Is it pride that gets in the way? What is getting in the way for you to find your breakthrough? At dusk, at twilight, they decided to go to the Syrian army. And when they arrived, there was nobody there. They left all their food behind. They left all their weapons behind. They left their horses, their chariots behind, and here are the four lepers, the ones that are outcasted, the ones that are not good enough, the ones that society says that are unclean, finds a wealth of food. Ain't that something? At that time, the lepers could have been content with finding all this food and say, "I'm going to stay here. We're going to eat all the food. We're just going to keep eating every day. We're not running out. We got horses and chariots."

The amazing part is they left camp at twilight, at twilight, the Syrian army escaped and left. Listen to me. Oftentimes, or all the time, because when you're dealing with God, the solution is older than your problem. I'm going to let that sink in. Your solution is older. worked that out for you because you've been obedient to His Word. He's already worked it out. He's brought a solution, but the solution needs a need. It's waiting for you to show up. It's waiting for your family member to show up. I'll prove it to you. Ask Abraham when he takes Isaac up into the mountain, and the ram is stuck in the thicket. The ram was the solution. It was the answer. It was already there. As Joseph, the grain was already stored before the famine. As Hagar, the well was already in the wilderness. As Elijah, the ravens had already been commanded. As the widow, the oil was already in the house. As Peter, the money was already in the fish. As the disciples, the lunch was already in the crowd. As the four lepers, the food was waiting in the camp. But they made a decision. Here's the heart of the lepers. I could eat all the food and let the people die that I left behind. They deserve it. They've outcasted me. They said I was unclean. They said I was too angry. They said I was too controversial. They said I was too drunk. They said I was too addicted. They say I argue too much. They could have kept the food for themselves. But they walked back and they told Israel we found food. They used four lepers men. The amazing part is when they left the camp and they started going at twilight to the Syrians. You know what happened? Because of their obedience, God turned up the acoustics of their legs while they were all walking to the Syrian army and they heard chariots and they heard horses. They heard a big army coming towards them so they got scared and they ran off. They thought they were going to a battle but the battle was already won. They thought they were going to a fight. The fight was already accomplished.

It was won. Some of you think you're going to fight all over your life? The battle's already won. I fought for years. I struggled for 37 years. I prayed for 37 years. Asking God to just bring forgiveness into my heart to remove hatred. I fought for 37 years. Completely angry, full of hatred. And people labeled me that and they would stay away from me because that's what I was labeled. I was wearing a plaque and I was wearing it proud. Yup, I'm angry. This is who I am. To who my dad was or it's who I've become. Until I was obedient. Until I stopped fighting. I stopped listening to those naysayers. I stopped listening to society. You'll never amount. You'll never see the labels and the labels that society put on you and the enemy puts on you. It's a lie They were stuck at the gate Like many of us And they had to make a decision Am I okay just being here? Or are they gonna say I'm tired of just being at the gate? If I go back into the city I'm gonna die of a famine if I go forward now I gotta fight an army I'm confused on what to do I'm confused because I talked to my dad I talked to my mom I'm confused on who I should be listening to I'm confused in life That's some of us in the room right now God's waiting for you to make the first move He has the solution for you

The battle has already been won His blood was shed for everybody in this room And that defeated every sin that you have committed It will be washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ Will you be obedient and listen? Will you be obedient and say I'm tired of being here at the gate? I gotta receive forgiveness When you receive forgiveness It changes the whole ball game (gentle music) You