It Won’t Always Be Like This

Now you're going to write that down. You don't even know what I mean by that, but you will later. I was in a songwriting session recently, and we were just starting to work on a song. We had really not identified the tempo of the song, the time signature of the song, or even the theme of the song. I didn't know yet whether it wanted to be a ballad or a bop. Sometimes you don't know. Sometimes a song starts like really, really worshipful, and the next thing you know, you're dancing on a table and you don't know what happened. So the key to this is to be patient, be patient, let the song tell you what it wants to be. Let the spirit of God have His way if you're writing a worship song. And we were just starting to write a song, and the producer who was recording the session and needed to save the song on his computer, stopped and asked a question. He said, "What is this song called?" Well, I look back at him and I knew that he needed to save the file so he could access it and be organized, but I looked at him and said, "I can't name it. We haven't even made it yet. We need to make it before we name it." If we name it before we make it, there may be something else that the song wants to be that we don't allow it to become because we already gave it a name. So what we need to do is just save the file as a work in progress and then we can see what it's going to be by the end of the day because we'll label it later. We'll make it now and label it later. I'll know who this is for, but maybe that's the word that you came to get today. Make it now and name it later. We're so specific in our time about trying to diagnose everything. Even every child is diagnosed with all of these conditions before they are seven years old. And sometimes that can be helpful, but other times it can be a hurdle because if I give a child a label before that child has even had the chance to develop beyond those developmental

limitations, I may limit what the child thinks that the child can be because I gave the child a label too soon that limited their potential mentally even though their potential in God was unlimited. Label it later. And I'm not talking about not going to doctors and specialists. You understand I'm using this as a way to get you to see that sometimes you are trying to label your life as you are living your life. And it is causing you to misdiagnose some of the things about you that only God can reveal in time. It is causing you to name things and save things to the hard drive of your mind. And you call yourself things and you call situations things that they really aren't because you are trying to label it before you have even lived it. So you say things like this is the worst season of my life. How do you know that yet? The seed hasn't even given the harvest for it. You have no idea. As a matter of fact, I would imagine that anytime the dirt is being plowed, it is hard for the dirt. But we understand that this is the part of the process that is absolutely necessary for anything good to be cultivated. And so it is true in your heart that some of the hardest seasons you will go through, some of the heartbreak seasons that you will go through, some of the things that you would wish away if God came down and asked you would you like to skip those stages will be the very stages that later you will look back and label it and you will say that was the season where God taught me the most. That was the season. Am I right where God got me out of that relationship? And I'm so glad that he did. That was the season where God set me free from something I thought I needed. And if he would have kept giving me what I wanted, I would have never gotten what I

needed. And when I label my situation while I'm still in it, I limit my situation to how I see it. And the problem with me is I can't see things like they are. I only see things as I am and I am limited. And so if I look at my situation and label it with my mind, I will always find a way to zoom in to the microscopically bad or maybe I'm just wanting this one thing to happen so bad or maybe something happens in my life and I don't like the package that it came in so I don't receive the purpose that it came for. I'm going to stop and breathe for a minute. Clap your hands and give God praise. Now clap your hands and give God praise for all of the gifts that he gave you that Praise God for all the gifts that he gave you that you grumbled about when he gave it to you. You've got to remember, John wrote John, okay, you know that, okay, John, the disciple who Jesus loved, that's what he called himself. That's how he labeled himself. That's wild to me. Who are you? The one he loves. And he loves the one he loves. John did not write his gospel as the ministry of Jesus was happening though. He wrote it somewhere around 50 years after the events transpired. And there's a reason I'm telling you this. Sometimes I think we read these stories in the Bible like they're coming from the journal of one of the disciples. And so we read a story like this and it's wonderful. There was a man who couldn't move and he got up and he was healed and it was amazing. And even the titles that are in the Bible like over John chapter 5, it says, "The healing at the pool." That's what this story is called in retrospect.

But in real time, this was not a healing at the pool. In real time, this was a confrontation with the authorities. I'll explain that later. Y'all see what I'm doing? I'm going to say it now, I'm going to explain it later. Jesus a lot of times, as he was doing things in his ministry, would not explain it to his disciples, he would just do it. And as he would do it, they might think about it, boy, that was a really bad move. I mean, Jesus should have waited until Tuesday to heal this guy. Did you see it in the text? It said, "He healed him on a bad day." Now let me ask you a question. If you haven't walked for 38 years and you have the opportunity to walk, is it ever a bad time to do a good thing for somebody? And yet that's what the religious leaders said. They said, "He should have done it on a different day." And Jesus knew that, but when John is writing the gospel, he's not writing it later that night. He's not taking what he saw happen, and John's gospel is a little different because Matthew Mark Luke and John are all written somewhat differently. Matthew Mark and Luke are called synoptic gospel. It means see with. They kind of use the same source material. They refer to the same events and they just take them from different angles. John's gospel is wild. He just shows you stuff from the bonus footage, from the cutting room that none of the other disciples showed you. Maybe it was the special way he felt about his relationship with Jesus that he includes things that the others don't. And this miracle is only included in John's gospel.

That's the first thing I wanted to tell you. But the second thing I wanted to tell you is that it was included in John's gospel after decades had passed. Which means that sometimes it is better to evaluate your situation later. If you look at it in the moment, all you can see is, man, this is a lot of trouble Jesus is about to get in. Man, Jesus really is wasting time. I mean, imagine this. They're setting out to go to the festival. They're on their way. The Bible doesn't mention which of the three festivals, but it's one of the major ones. They get to Jerusalem and Jesus stops by this porch where, look at verse three, these kinds of people are lying. The blind, the lame, the paralyzed. Please circle those three words just and if you can. Verse three, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. The blind, the lame, the paralyzed. Jesus is stopping by to see somebody. He is the most important figure in human history. He is the centerpiece of civilization. He is the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the alpha and the omega, the master and the maker of the universe, the king of kings, the lord of lords, the shepherd of the lost, the one that the angels worshiped 24/7 around the throne. And he stops by to see about somebody that doesn't even have a name. Of course, he has a name, but his name has been replaced by his label. So we don't know who he is or what he can do. The only thing we know about him is that for 38 years, watch this, he has not been able to move. And there are some of you listening to me preach today who have been labeled so long by what you can't do that you forgot your name.

that you have forgotten your true nature. You have been labeled so long by what life didn't give you, that you have forgotten your blessings. But the devil is a liar. I said the devil is a liar. I preached this another 10 weeks if I need to. He's telling the same lies over and over and over and over again. And what he wants to get you to do, if he's effective at his job, and the devil is really sneaky at it. Because he will try to convince you that your issue is you. But I found out that God is masterful at using situations that we would not wish to accomplish purposes for which we don't even know to pray. I'll give you an example. I can tell I'm kind of overwhelming you with information today. About five is the number of grace. And Bethesda means house of mercy and synoptic gospels and all this. So let me just break it down like this. When Holly gives gifts at our house, I will say that she is the best gift giver that I have ever known in my life. I also say she is the greatest gift that I have ever known in my life. Other than you, Lord. [APPLAUSE] Amen. And I will also say that I'm not even saying that just

so you'll clap for it. I really feel that way. But she used to do something when she would give gifts that was so disappointing. And we finally got her to stop a few years ago. But let me tell you what she was doing. I don't know if she was this intentionally. I don't know if it was just something she did out of efficiency. I don't know. What should you do? OK, I already told you she gives great gifts. But let's say Christmas will roll around, right? And there's several gifts for each person that Holly bought, right? So she wraps them, they're beautiful and all that. You take the wrap and paper off. And then there would be a box that she would put the gift in. But the box was absolutely no indication of the value of the gift. And here's what I mean by that. She would take the box from the nicest store you can imagine. Like picture your favorite store, your favorite brand, like the fanciest nicest box. So you peel the paper back and you'd be like, oh, yeah. Yeah, this is going to be good. This is about to be good. And then when you would take the lid off the box, she had put the worst gifts.

The box would say Nordstrom. And the gift would say Dollar Tree. And you'd be looking at the gift. Tell me what is this? She would put the worst gift in the best box. God does just the opposite. I'm sorry, Holly, but this is one time where you are nothing like God. Because God will take the worst box, the worst situation, the worst hell you've ever been through, the worst insult, the worst persecution. God will hand you a box. And the box will be so beat up. And the box will look so small. And the box will look like it's been rained on. And the box will look like the dog chewed it up. And the box will look like betrayal. And the box will look like God, I don't know what to do. And the box will look like there's no way out of this. But if you open that box and trust in God, not the box, I said, trust God, not the box. Because my God is out the box. And God will put the best stuff. Can I preach like I'm in St. Paul, Minnesota on a Tuesday night? God will take the worst box and put the best gift. And I'm saying this in case, life dropped off a box on your doorstep. And it doesn't look like what you prayed for. And it doesn't make any sense with what you feel called

too. And it doesn't line up with your expectation. But open that box. The God has a way of putting the best blessings in the ugliest boxes. So the box doesn't have to be beautiful for the gift to be from him. High five, somebody say, open the box. Open the box. Open the box. God can do what he wants to. Open the box. Let God out the box. You got your little puny way of labeling what God can do. And who God can do it through. But open the box. You're not even in church today. But God can meet you in the kitchen. Lift your hands and give God's praise. God is out the box. Sigh! [MUSIC PLAYING] Jesus said to the man, I know this situation isn't what you would have chosen. And I know this is not the place you want to be, but your label is lying. I wish I could draw this, but I didn't bring my screen out this week. And I'm not going to slow down the momentum of this message for technology.

But just imagine, boop, boop, look, right? You've seen it. And imagine one of the loops says, you can't do that. That's the lie, right? But when everything that's around you looks like sickness long enough, you begin to believe the box. When everything that your eyes can see, when everything that your emotions feel tell you, well, I guess alcoholism is just a genetic thing, and there's no amount of therapy or recovery that can break those chains off of you. And there's not even enough prayers for it, because didn't you pray about this last year? 38 years, man, that's a long time to circle the situation. It brings me all the way back to the first story I shared in this series when the Israelites wandered in the same loop. They were 40 years. You know, technically it was 38. Yeah, it was 38, because one year they spent getting out of Egypt, one year they spent getting into the Promised Land, those years aren't counted in the 40. It was 38 years. And people will always tell the story of your first year and your last year, but they don't see the 38 year loop. So please do this. When you're sharing your testimony with somebody, be honest with them. Don't make your label a lie.

Don't tell them, and the Lord just set me free from anxiety. I had somebody tell me that one time, and the Lord set me free from anxiety. Now I said, I believe that He does that, and I believe that He did that for you, and I praise Him for it. But what exactly do you mean He set you free from anxiety? Because when they said it, they said, the Lord set me free from an anxiety in 1984. So what I wanted to ask was, and since then-- [LAUGHTER] What did you do, swallowed the key? The Lord set you free from you swallowed the key, or the Lord swallowed the key, like what happened? And as they began to share in more detail, it was actually more powerful to hear about their process than it was to hear about their product. Because what they meant by it, when they labeled it, the Lord set me free, was they meant, He began to show me ways to deal with it that were not harmful and destructive and sinful. And so instead of just going to porn every time, I felt anxious instead of just going to drugs every time I feel anxious, instead of just going to self-mutilation every time I felt anxious, instead of just waiting up all night, I learned some-- they didn't say this, but they basically said, I learned some loops. I learned some new loops, and I quit just going around and around spiraling, and I found out how to interrupt my worry with the word of God. Isn't that more powerful?

Come on, isn't that more powerful to hear that than to hear somebody say, well, the Lord just set me free, and then you're like, well, I guess He doesn't love me. He must not love me like that, or I must be doing something wrong. Maybe they're just not describing freedom fully, to know that freedom involves a journey of 38 years. This is powerful, man. I even feel it as I'm preaching right now. I feel the Lord telling me to slow down and tell you what it really means, that this man got up and walked. It doesn't say that He knew where to go. It doesn't say that His life was problem free. In fact, Jesus finds Him a few verses later and tells Him, stop sinning or something worse is going to happen. He's not even finished with His issue yet. But the powerful thing about Jesus, when I get to the part of my sermon where I know this is the word of the Lord, because there is a moment in a sermon where the word of the Lord comes, it's all the word of the Lord, this whole passage, it's the word of the Lord, but there is a moment where the word of the Lord comes to you. And what happens in that moment is your condition is interrupted by a command. The command of Jesus makes no sense in the face of that condition. Get up, take your mat, and walk. Sometimes God will give you a command that makes no sense in the face of your condition. Sometimes God will tell you as a teenager, "I don't care what all your friends do, I don't care what they say you're weird about, I don't care what they call you for it, you be pure.

I don't care what a thousand people do over here, a thousand people just like your parents used to say, "I don't care if everybody else is doing it. If everybody else was jumping off a bridge, and you'd be like, "Shut up." But see, I don't say if everybody else was jumping off a bridge, I just want to tell you what Jesus did. Everybody else didn't die on the cross for you. Everybody else can't rise from the grave. Everybody else isn't going to be there for you in the midnight hour. Everybody else didn't make you, knit you, call you, choose you, gift you. Don't let them label you, don't even let them tell you what kind of kid you need to be to be cool. I'm not concerned with you being cool, I'm concerned with you being called, I'm concerned with a God who can raise you up and make your name great, and I'm concerned with a God whose name is greater than any other name, and that's what I'm concerned about in this season of my life, not what they label me. I don't care what they say about me, I don't care what they say about my preaching. I care when I close this Bible today, did I say the word of the Lord, did I speak the word of the Lord, did I say what God gave me to say, the best I could say it with a stammering tongue and a limited vocabulary and a monk's corner, South Carolina accent, did I say the word of the Lord, not how somebody else said it, not how I should say it, not how I would say it if I was smarter, did I say it to the limit of my IQ, did I speak the words of God. [BLANK_AUDIO]