The Long Way Around — Rich Wilkerson Jr

I'm excited to preach and this is what the word of God says as it comes up here on the screen Exodus chapter 13 starting on verse 17 When Pharaoh let the people go God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country though. That was shorter someone say shorter For God said if they face war They might change their minds and return to Egypt So God everyone say so God So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle and Moses took the bones of Joseph With him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said this is from the book of Genesis God will surely come to your aid and Then you must carry my bones up with you from this place Let me skip down a few verses to chapter 14. This is chapter 14. Let me give you the first four verses of chapter 14 Then the Lord said to Moses tell the Israelites to turn back and in camp near Phi Hyroth between Midol and the sea They are to in camp by the sea Directly opposite Baal Ziphon Pharaoh will think the Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion hemmed in by the desert and I Will harden Pharaoh's heart and he will pursue them But I will gain glory for myself Through Pharaoh and all his army and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord I love the Bible I Love when the Bible speaks right to me right where I am and today I've come with a message of encouragement. I didn't come to beat you up. I came to build you up. I Didn't come to pull you backwards. I came to push you forwards And I want to preach if I can for the next few moments around this idea if you take your notes title your notes the long way around

And put that in the chat right now the long way Around and one more time would you just pray with me across all of our locations God we thank you for your word God we still are spirit We open our heart and we ask now Holy Spirit for you to do your work inside of us We've come in here one way. It's our desire that all of us would leave here better than how we came in May we see Jesus in His glory may we see Jesus in His sovereignty may we see Jesus full of power and purpose God. Thank you for speaking to us We love you and if you agree with that prayer all of God's people said Come on, I'm gonna need all of God's people whatever location if you agree with that prayer all of God's people said Come on from design district to South Miami to the city to Miami Gardens if you love Jesus make so much noise Make so much noise that it makes the enemy upset come on somebody clap your hands Not a dead church we're in the live church When I first moved to Miami in 1998 I moved all the way from Tacoma, Washington to Miami So I just want you to try to get this. This is pushing you know almost 30 years ago That's quite the move to go from the small town of Tacoma to what we thought was the big city of Miami And this was almost 30 years ago and I started my freshman year 14 years of age going to school down in the Miami Lakes area my parents purchased a home in the North Miami area and This was like this is years ago. So I know it's hard, especially for Gen Z. That's in the room today, but there was a time When we did not have GPS Anybody remember map quest Had to print that thing out man felt like Lois and Clark on a journey, you know We were like, you know, we were young I was 14. My brother was 17 He was in his seniors on my freshman year and my dad gave us directions of how to go to school and he gave us directions of how to go back Now we were just good sons. We just obeyed to the T the directions. My dad gave us And I don't know what it is, but it must have been I know it was the entire fall semester So you start school in August and it wasn't until probably January My dad had sent us he would say hey sons, you know, you got a? and you gotta get on to 95 South.

Sorry for all the audience that's watching from another country going, "What are these roads you speak of?" You know? (audience laughs) Halendale, is that in the Bible? No, it's right here in South Florida, but he would say 95 South to 826 West, and we would get down there to Dade Christian, and then he would say, when you come back home, you gotta come back on 826, you gotta get 95 North, and then you gotta take the Halendale Boulevard exit, and so we did this for months. Until one day, we had a friend get in our car, and he came home with us. And as he came on the route, we've got all of up to Halendale Boulevard, but we would get off Halendale and go to US One. Sorry once again, the illustration's not working for our friends in Kenya right now, but stay with us. We had to go all the way south down to US One, almost to 163rd Street, to cross over to the beach side, to come back up again. And my friend goes, "Yo, you do know. You are passing your house twice on this route. Our house is in the middle. We went two exits up, two exits below all to get back." And we're like, "We are?" He's like, "Yeah!" So we came to our father and said, "Father, why have you sent us on this long journey?"

My dad, cool, calm, and collected. Look back and said, "Oh, I just wanted you guys to get the landscape of Miami." I think he was lying. I don't think he had any idea what we were doing. We laughed about it and we tell the story often because it makes us laugh so hard that dad has gone all the way around Miami just to get home. And I was thinking about this week and I was thinking about you this week when I thought about that story because I don't know if anyone out there is like me. You don't have to raise your hand. It's fine. I will be the test baby. Sometimes I look at God and go, "Yo, God, if I was directing my life, I'd have taken a different route. Have you ever been in a moment? Have you ever been in a situation that you're saying, "What's going on here? Why is it taking so long? Why does this feel so random? Why does this feel so delayed? How come it's closed door after closed door? God, what is up with this route? God, are you in this? Because I'm getting confused here. I see friends passing me. I see colleagues getting promoted.

I don't know how did she get married? How are you gonna do it for her? But forget about your girl. Come on now, God. Okay, I may be just preaching to a couple of people today. Do you ever look at your life and say it? It feels like I'm taking the long way around. I want to encourage you today that what might feel random might actually be intentional. I want to encourage you in a God who is a good father that while you might not understand the plan and you might not be able to see the purpose and you might not know why you're on the route that you're on, we serve a God who's in the business of getting you to where you need to be, when you need to get there. Can you just take five seconds in faith, in advance? Give God praise. I've taken the long way, but I'm gonna praise him anyway. I'm taking the long way, but I'm gonna praise him anyway. 'Cause something tells me you might look back on this season of life and laugh like my brother and I. Going, (laughing) maybe God did have a purpose for this. I have learned in life that God has a tendency in taking us the long way around. And today our passage is going to help us anchor that in scripture. We're gonna make some observations

that these are very basic observations and I don't know which one is gonna be for you. It might not even be right now today you need it. You might need it in the future. What I know about the body of Christ at large right now is that we're all on a journey. We're all headed towards something. We're all becoming someone in the process. And what I know about the body of Christ is that it's not very hard to get faith at the start. I can preach that and I can get you. It's not hard to get an idea. It's not hard to birth a dream. It's not hard to go, oh, well, this sounds exciting. And it's not very hard when you're at the end of something. When you can see the finish line, whoo, it ain't hard to run right there. It ain't hard to come across going, yeah, I was always faithful. It's not hard at the start and it's not very hard at the end. It's hard in the middle. But I wanna encourage some people, that's where life is lived. I need faith for the middle. I need faith for when there's nobody around watching me. I need faith for when I feel like I'm in the woods all by myself, when I'm deep in a valley going, "God, am I walking or am I just wandering? "I want to encourage you today. "God can speak to you right in the middle.

"He has a plan." (congregation applauding) 'Cause that's what's happening in Exodus 13. You got to see what's happening. They have overnight left Egypt, 400 years of slavery, and now God says, "I have a promised land in mind for you." They've left where they were, but they haven't arrived to what God has promised. They're in the middle. The journey should only take 11 days, but God does something so strange from a leadership perspective, so strange from a father perspective, he doesn't give them the most efficient, shortest, fastest route. God takes them the long way around on purpose. If you're taking notes today, I want us to make some observations together. If you're watching online, go ahead and put this in the chat to help some people that are watching today. First observation I want to make is this, the shortest route isn't always the best route. The shortest route isn't always the best route. Notice what the passage says. This is Exodus 13, verse 17. "When Pharaoh let the people go, "God did not lead them on the road "through the Philistine country, "though that was shorter." Everyone say, "Shorter."

It was shorter, but God did not lead them on that route, and it tells me that the short route isn't always the best route. How many know that we live in a moment right now that we want everything instantaneously, we want everything immediately. We think to ourselves, man, the fastest way is the best way, the fastest way is the right way, but what you'll learn about God is that God is not only interested in your destination, he's interested in your formation. This is important that you see this, because God is not just trying to get you somewhere, God is trying to get you to become someone when you arrive. When you get there, who will you be? Who will you be after the journey is over? When you arrive at the thing that he's promised you, when you arrive at the thing that you've been desiring and praying for and believing for, who you gonna be when you get there, because there are some things that you cannot rush in life. I know we got instant TV, we got instant food, we got instant text message, we've got instant connection. You can get on an airplane tonight and arrive in Europe in a few hours. We like fast, America has taught us that everything faster is always better, but not so with God. God will time and time again show you that the shortest route is not always the best route,

because if you go the short route, you might get there, but when you get there, you're not ready for it. God doesn't merely wanna get a promise to your life, he wants you to get to the promise, ready for the promise. Like every entrepreneur in the room knows that you can't, like you can start a business, but you cannot bring a real business in the stability fast. Like if you try to force it, you'll cut corners, you'll try to get there the wrong way, you'll try to get there cheating. Listen to me, you cannot rush a marriage in the maturity. You can get married quick, you can date quick, you can start sleeping with that person very quickly. You can act like you got a covenant quick, you can plan a wedding quick, you can buy a dress quick, you can buy rings, all that's really quick, but you cannot get intimacy the short way. Intimacy demands depth, and the only way you get depth is you got to dig. And you cannot dig overnight, you dig over time, you dig with trust, you dig with truth, you dig by going through hard stuff. You can't bring a leader into greatness quickly. I can give you a title, I can give you a position right now, I can give you a paycheck tonight, that does not mean that you have the character to stand on that platform to carry that weight. What good is it to get it all quick that all of a sudden it comes your way,

but you ain't got the wisdom, you don't have the discernment. Come on, you haven't been through the pressure or the pain of how to make the right decision, I don't know about you, if you rush it, you're gonna ruin it. Some things can't be rushed because if you rush in it, you'll ruin it. - Good words. - You can't rush bread. you can look at it through the oven, oh it looks right, the pan was right, I know the ingredients were right, and it looks done, but if you pull that bread out of the oven before it's ready, you're going to cut into the middle, you're going to cut right into the middle of it and it's going to fall apart, there's nothing worse than getting the right thing at the wrong time. I have four children, I've told you about many of them, but our newest edition, his name is Wolfgang, and I haven't brought you a lot of testimonies because there's not a lot taking place other than going to the bathroom and eating. Can we just praise God that he went to the bathroom yesterday? I love Wolfgang, listen to me, I have great plans for this boy, I think he's going to be a stud for Jesus. I mean Wolfgang, it's a tribe of Benjamin, you're going to go and you're going to devour in the morning and divide at night, that's the promise of the tribe of Benjamin, he's a stud for Jesus. But timing is everything because he's not ready for everything. For instance, at 16 months of age, he has no business with permanent markers. Are permanent markers bad? Are permanent markers not of God? No, he's 16 months. And when my boy, who's a stud for Jesus, he's a wolf. When he gets a permanent marker before he's ready, I come home to my house yesterday. I don't know, maybe that's modern art right now. Maybe I got a little Picasso in my room. Maybe that's going to be worse one day. Save it, save it, save it, save it. You don't know what God can do with time. That thing that looked like it was a bad mistake. God might redeem it. We might be hanging that on the lube sometime in the future. Is the marker bad? No, nothing wrong with the marker. The marker is a good thing. It doesn't belong in the hands of a toddler. Some of you right now, you are in the oven of life saying, get

me out. But I want to encourage you, if you get out of that heat too soon, you're going to fall apart right in the middle. God give me faith for the middle. God, you're taking me the long way around. God, prepare me. Let me sit under this. Let me stay under this. I'm not moving. I'm staying. Go ahead and give God some praise in this place. What good is it to get married if you ain't ready to be married? What good is it to get the business but you ain't got wisdom for the business? What good is it to get the platform but you don't have the humility it takes to stand on it? What good is it to go? God, give me the ministry but you have not developed the character of being in the fire to sustain the ministry. Not hard to start. Not hard to finish. Hard to continue. Am I preaching to anybody today? Come on. We're right here. We're coming into July. Remember what you said in January? I'm going to lose weight. It's July and I've gained weight. That's okay. Maybe God's taking you the long way around. God, I'm putting my feet down. I'm standing firm. I'm making an decision. The short route isn't always the best route. And I love God because God doesn't make us wonder. It's not like, oh, it's not just like, what is this? He's really clear. Let me tell you why I can't take you the short way. Let me tell you why I take you the long way. I got to take you the long way because if I don't take you the long way, there are Philistine soldiers that are going to come and attack you. And when you see the war, when the battle comes upon you, you have not trained. You are not prepared. You are not soldiers. You're slaves. And so you're going to be longing for your past life rather than step into your promised land. So I know it might look for a moment like it's punishment, but it's not punishment. I'm taking the long way because there's something on the road in front of you that if you come up against it, you are not the version that you need to be to defeat it. Could it be that you're going the long way because God sees something that you can't see? Could it be that there is some battle that yes, in the future, you'll be strong enough, but you're not strong enough right now. It starts to flip everything because some of us are mourning about some things - Oh, no! - So I was like, he rejected me, he didn't reject you, he directed you. And if you could get this revelation today,

that God sees what I don't see. God is MapQuest. God knows what's awaiting on the journey. So I'm on the long way, not because God is against me, but because God loves me, and God has a plan. Come on church, I think we ought to praise God. A mature church praises God, even for that route. (audience applauding) - Shortest route isn't always the best route. Secondly, if you're taking notes, write this down. The long way isn't always the wrong way. I wanna reframe some faith through some people in this place. 'Cause I can already, I know church people. I've been preaching for 20 years. Some of y'all have been, I met a woman in our early services morning, and she said, man, I used to come back here on Tuesday nights in the rendezvous when you were preaching. He said, somewhere in the pandemic, I left the church, but I came today, and you're still preaching. I gotta get back to church. (audience laughing) She left, but I've just stayed. And in staying, I see people come and go, because sometimes they know 0.1, but they don't understand 0.2. And 0.1 is okay, pastor. I get it. I'm not ready to be married. All right.

Come on, someone's salty right now, come on. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. I get it. I guess I'm not ready to be promoted at work. I'll just be patient. I don't know what that voice is, but it's a fun voice. You know, I'm like, I guess somehow God in his mercy knows I'm not fit to be a parent. That's why we haven't had kids yet. 'Cause it starts getting more serious, doesn't it? (audience laughing) But I wanna flip it for you. Because 0.2 is everything that you catch this. The long way isn't always the wrong way. Some of you, you are ready. It isn't ready. You gotta see this. Because you are promotable and you would make a good spouse and you're a great parent and that plan is a good idea and you have been in the oven and you have been waiting and you have been getting ready, but you might not understand that maybe God's telling a bigger story than just your life. 'Cause it's in the text. I don't know if you saw, but this is Exodus 13 verse 19. Look what it says. Moses took the bones, someone say the bones. The bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear in oath. He had said, God will surely come to your aid

and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place. Now you read that and when you just get the one verse in the one text and if you're new to church and this is the first congregation of Jesus followers, you might go, cool, cute story. What's the point? Let me introduce you to Joseph. Because Joseph is one of the 12 sons of a guy with the name of Jacob. Let's go beyond Jacob. You gotta go back to Isaac. You gotta go from Isaac to Abraham. Let's go all the way to Abraham. Abraham is the father of our faith. Father Abraham had many sons and many sons. I was one of them. And God gave Abraham a promise. Get ready for this confusing promise. I'm gonna make you into a nation. A great nation. Anybody who opposes you, I will oppose them. And anybody who blesses you, I'm a bless them. God makes a promise, but a God promise always comes with real problems. What is the problem? My man don't have any kids. Annie's 75 years of age. Not really a ripe time. To be making babies. I kinda just threw up in my mouth

'cause it's crazy and nasty. But God gives him a boy. Say all he needs is one. Gives him Isaac. Isaac has two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob steals the blessing. God says, I'm still gonna work with people that are deceivers. I'm still gonna work with broken people. I'm still gonna work with dysfunctional people. Jacob's name is changed from Jacob to Israel. Israel has 12 sons. The 11th son is Joseph. Joseph wears a coat of many colors as a sign of favor. by those around his life. His brothers hate him so much that they throw him in a pit and they sell him into slavery. Guests wear the slave auction ends up in Egypt. Joseph ends up in a man's house by the name of Potiphar. Potiphar is a very, very successful businessman. He likes Joseph so much. He says, man, this slave is so good. I trust him so much. He's so ready. I'm gonna make him number two of all of my household. The problem is, is that not only does Potiphar like Joseph, Mrs. Potiphar really likes Joseph. (congregation laughing) Some of you thought because of the evil in your heart, that's why temptation comes your way.

The reason why you're struggling and the reason why you're up against such great temptation is because there's a God on the inside of you that oftentimes the favor that's on your life, the enemy wants to snuff it out any which way he possibly can. So Mrs. Potiphar says, come to bed with me, but Joseph's like, yo, I can't do that, it wouldn't be right. Fascinating, he doesn't even have the Mosaic law yet. However, God had written his law on his heart. Joseph says, don't put hands on me, runs from this woman. She goes and she lies and she says, this man tried to rape me. Watch what happens. He is sent to prison, falsely accused, sent to the wrong place for doing the right thing. Gets to the prison, but God is still with him in the prison. The warden says, wow, I've got a slave turned rapist, but I'm gonna put him in charge of everything in my prison because he's so ready. He is leading the prison and there's a man, too many to meet, a cup bear and a baker. They're having all these problems, like they're having these dreams. And here's Joseph, Joseph's like, I just wanna be a blessing wherever I am. Doesn't matter what season I'm in, I'm here to serve. So if I'm in a prison, I'll serve you. I could interpret your dreams. If you know the story, the baker, he's like, oh, it's not good for you, bro.

Couple days from now, you're gonna be dead. To the cup bear, he's like, hey, it's gonna be really good for you. They're about to call you back up into your position. My only request is, do not watch this, forget me. Anybody feel forgotten today? Anybody ever feel overlooked today? Anybody ever going, God, if I was choosing my life, I would have gone a shorter route, a better route. Don't forget me. Of course, as we know how the story goes, the man forgets him years go by. Until one day, Pharaoh, that's the king of Egypt, he's having these dreams. Crazy dreams. He says, does anybody know how to interpret dreams? Because we have called upon the sorcerers of Egypt. We have called upon the magicians of Egypt. We've called every philosopher, every sage and every leader, but nobody can help me. The cup bear goes, well, I think I know a guy. Well, where is he? Well, he's down in your prison. Go get him, I'm in need of him. Do not tell me that God can't find you where you are. Do not tell me that your job is so obscure, God can't find you. Don't tell me you were born on the wrong side of the tracks.

God can find anybody he needs to find, when he needs to find him. He found Joseph in a prison. He'll find you wherever you're at. They bring Joseph up from the prison. He's got to shave off his Tom Hanks Castaway beard. They put Egyptian makeup on him, he walks in. And Pharaoh tells him the dream and what does Joseph do? He interprets the dream and guess what Pharaoh does? I'm gonna put this slave, rapist, prisoner of mine. I'm gonna make him number two of all of Egypt. God was setting something up. If you know how the story goes, a famine hits the whole world, Joseph had put them in a place that they were in a surplus. And so now here even comes his brothers. They come to Joseph, they bow down there in need. They don't recognize Joseph. He's got the Egyptian makeup on, they can't see him. And Joseph is a type of Jesus because he should have thrown them into prison. He should have taught them karma. You get what you deserve. What goes around comes around. But he introduces something deeper, a deeper thread, a better story and a bigger story. He introduces grace. He sits at the right hand of Pharaoh,

much like Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father. And instead of cursing his brothers, he blesses them and he hooks them up. I wanna encourage you today, every one of us are like Joseph's other brothers. All of us deserve a prison, but God says, I'm gonna bless you. Clap your hands. It's a bigger story. It's a better story. So Joseph is ruling and reigning. Joseph is the man in Egypt and his brothers are there. And everything is cool. Joseph got a dream at 17. He looks at his lineage and says this was not the promise. The promise is bigger than this. What you talking about, Joe? Oh, yeah. God told my great grandfather, Abraham, that we would be a great nation and that he had a land promise for us. Problem is that Joseph, his family is only about 70 people at this time. It's not a nation, it's a big family. And so he says, when God brings you up out of this place, do me one favor, take my bones with you and you can read the story and go, wow, that's beautiful. I mean, Joseph, he's so patient, he's waiting on God in such a way that he's so patient that God's going to do what he said he's going to do. But Hebrews doesn't call him patient. Hebrews calls him something different. This is Hebrews chapter 11 verse 22. By faith, Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from

Egypt and gave instructions concerning the burial of his bones. No, no, patience is waiting without complaining. But faith is waiting while still believing. Faith is absurd. Faith will get you packing bags for something that won't take place for another 400 freaking years. Faith says, I don't know how he's going to do it. I don't know when he's going to do it. I'm on the long way around, but I have learned that the long way is not a wrong way. God is telling a bigger story. Are there any faith people in the room? It's more than patience. It's faith. I don't know how he's going to do it. I don't know when he's going to do it. But God's going to do it. If God promised it, he'll do it. If he said it, he'll do, I don't know the time. You have to get comfortable as a child of God that there are some promises over your life that will start with your belief in faith, but they will not be fulfilled until the next generation comes about. We do not serve the God of individuals. We serve the God of generations, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's not the God of seconds. He's the God of seasons. You've got to get a bigger picture. I was sitting in crude. This past Monday night, you should go to crude. This is nice right now, but I'm telling you what, get into crude, your life will change. We started testifying, telling our stories, and the girl in our crew named Jacqueline.

She started telling us her story. She's about my age. Jacqueline said, "Well, the way that we came to Jesus was my mom was a nurse." We got a call one day there. There was a blind woman who was in hospice that she was dying. Nobody really wanted the case. It was outside of town. She only had weeks to live, but my mom just said, "You know what, I'll go and take the case." She went and met with this woman who was blind. This woman who was blind, dying, gave her the gospel. Jacqueline's mom said, "It's so interesting that you're saying this to me, because as you're saying this to me right now, I've been being invited to a church down the street that these people that are Christians keep telling me to come, and this woman who's blind, who cannot see her physically, says, "You've got to go to that church." Jacqueline's mom says, "All right, I'm going to listen to this dying woman." She goes to the church, gets radically saved, starts serving in the church, starts a Bible study in the church. The Bible study decades later is still going to death. Jacqueline and all her siblings met Jesus. Why? Because of a woman who could not see physically, who said that, "My life matters beyond my breath," that somehow this woman that I can't even name her, who was dying in hospice, somehow from the grave, her legacy is still living on. It's the long way, not the wrong way. We're building a building in South Miami, and I've already settled. I've already settled in my spirit decades from now, and nobody's going to know who built that building. Nobody will know the sacrifice, the dollars, the late nights, the prayers. But somehow, I believe in my spirit that as people drive by on sunset and they see a

structure that's still standing, they will recognize in their spirit there's a story that's bigger than me. Someone say it's bigger, it's bigger, it's bigger, it's bigger, and so you might be ready, but it's not ready. But Joseph was always ready. Joseph lived ready. The promise wasn't ready for him. The promise wasn't ready for him. You don't have a nation, you got a family. And so I got to let your bones die here in Egypt. And I got to put you into a coffin. And I got to let years go by. The next pharaoh forgets the Israelites, turns them into slaves, but as their slaves, they start to grow stronger and stronger. And then a man by the name of Moses is born. And Moses gets a word from God that you are to be the deliverer. You are to be a type of Jesus to show what deliverance looks like. And so Moses comes back and then the plagues go forth. And finally they are set free. But Joseph said all the while, when you get up out of this place, when the promise is fulfilled, I don't know if it'll be on my time. I got a sense it's longer, it's bigger. Don't leave my bones here. 'Cause God made me a promise. He didn't make me the promise.

He made my great, great grandfather a promise. And so I'm not in charge of the route. I'm in charge of the obedience. And I know you say it's the wrong way 'cause it's long. But I'm here to tell you, God doesn't forget a coffin. God doesn't forget a promise. And if God didn't forget Joseph's coffin, he's not gonna forget you. Somebody give him praise today. God doesn't forget a coffin. He does not forget you. There's a 400 year journey. I want our church to think bigger. Start packing bags for, unless Jesus comes back, I'm packing bags for centuries. I'm a dying confusion. I'm a dying faith. Come hell or high water. Tell my children, take my bones with you. Joseph goes into the promised land with his bones. It's interesting, bones, if you don't know, are where we get our blood from the bone marrow. Have you ever noticed that the Bible says that none of the bones in Jesus' body were broken? Do you know why that is? It's because when he died in Jerusalem, 35 miles away from Shechem in the promised land, it was perfect blood that was needed.

Perfect blood, not to get you out of Egypt, but to get you out of sin, shame, for real redemption to take place, we needed perfect blood, the blood that washes us clean. Joseph's bones made it to the promised land, but Jesus' body, it was stretched wide and hung high. His blood was shed that you might be set free once and for all. If you're thankful for the blood of Jesus, go ahead and give him praise. (audience applauding) It's the long way, it's the long way. Someone say the long way around. Short route isn't always the best route. The long way isn't always the wrong way. And last time you write this down, a step back is not always a setback. I gotta get this into your heart. I got too much sermon today and I have enough time. That's all right. I plan on being here for years to come. A step back is not necessarily a setback. Notice what the passage says in Exodus 14. God had taken them, not the short route, but he took them the long way 'cause he didn't want them to face the Egyptians. He didn't want them to face the Philistines. If they saw that battle, they might freak out, want to go back home. They take the bones because, man, this is a promise being fulfilled

that he made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, even Joseph. But look what happens in chapter 14. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites to turn back." Someone say, "Turn back." Tell the Israelites to turn back. Can you try to just think in this? Turn back and encamp near Fai Haeroth between McDoll and the Sea. They are, they are, they can't, by the sea, directly opposite, Baal Ziphon. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. So the Israelites did this. I want you to see what's taking place here. God's leading them on a path. And if you can go look at a map, I should have brought the maps today. It is, it's bizarre. It's my dad going, "Hey, take two more exits up." It's going north to go back south, to go only back up north. God literally leads them to a place where the red sea is in front of them and a desert is behind them. And I just want you to catch this because it's not forward move on. It's not press on towards the mark. It's, it's, it's step back.

Turn back. What? It's a delay. And we have gotten so accustomed to cursing every delay. We hate waiting. We hate waiting. That's why you yell at your microwave. (audience laughing) A hot pocket, just no matter what. Anyone like me when the hot pocket's like at 10 seconds, you just stop it and pull it out like it's a bomb. You know, you're like, "I got it." We hate waiting. Yes, you're damn. I've never been, I'm 42, took the long way, but I've never been to a soccer game up until this last week. Ever in my life, 42 years of age, that's the long way around. I'm sorry, football. (audience laughing) We in Miami, second already see people down there at South Miami judging me, you know? Football. There's only one football, it's called American Gridiron. Football, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Sorry, that was my WWE voice right there. (audience laughing) Sorry, I'm losing the audience, I apologize. (audience laughing)

And my friend was taking me last night to the Columbia Portugal game. Columbia. (audience cheering) Portugal. (audience laughing) Pass or just close the message so we can keep the people. (audience laughing) And I have a good friend, he's like, "I'm taking you to the game." I'm like, "Amazing." He's like, "The only thing is, "we only got a parking pass "and you can't take your car over there, "so you gotta ride with me." And the problem is that I live kind of in coconut grove and he lives in keep escape. And he's like, "You gotta ride with me." I was like, "Well, I don't wanna go, "I don't wanna go from north to way south "to go back up north, you know? "But how many on no beggars can't be choosers?" And so we said, "How about we meet in the middle? "You're not God, you're my friend. "Well, how about we meet in the middle, you know? "He said, "Cool, so he created a destination. "And now, I'm not exaggerating now, "this is all how God works. "My man calls me, he's like, "You gotta be at this point at 5 p.m.

"Call me like three times, 5 p.m. "Don't be late. "Rich, be there, I'm picking you up at 5 p.m. "Don't you dare be late." I'm like, "Bro, do I have a reputation?" (audience laughing) You're saying a lot without saying much. What's up, you know? So, I arrive at 4.57. To be on time is to be late, and to be earliest, to be on time. And I was cool, like at, you know, 5.10 when he wasn't there. (audience laughing) I was even, like, I was still praising God at 5.20. At 5.40, I just sent a text like, "La-la-la, bro, what're you doing?" (audience laughing) Like, I love you, but you're not God, okay? Like, but at 6.05. (audience laughing) This is last night. You think I make this stuff up? At 6.05, when he pulled up, all of my griping, and all of my complaining quickly turned around. 'Cause I thought my man was pulling up, like, you know, I don't know, a suburban with a parking pass. Dude pulls up with two sprinters and a police motorcade.

(audience cheering) When the motorcade showed up, I said, "You know." (audience laughing) Waiting's not that bad. Come on, somebody clap your hands. (audience cheering) It felt like a setback. It was just a step back. God was getting ready to hook me up. Do you know how cool you feel pulling up to the World Cup, getting out of your car, being nobody, but acting like you're somebody? Thank you, officer. Thank you, officer. We appreciate your service. Thank you, thank you. I'm just one fellow serving to another. Thank you. You're like, "Who is this guy?" I'm like, "I don't know, but God chose me." (audience cheering) Some of you right now are in a delay. Or it's just a step back. God says, "Watch this, God says, 'No, no, no. I'm taking you down and I want you to turn back around. Why does God want him to turn back around? He wants him to turn back around because he wants the Egyptians to think that they're confused. He says, "They're gonna see this

and this doesn't make any logical sense. This doesn't make any strategic sense. Nobody would go this route. Nobody would go this way. Nobody would hem themself in with a desert behind them. Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost. And a Red Sea in front of them. I don't know if you're in a place today where you're like, "Man, I'm really stuck here. It's a desert behind me and a Red Sea in front of me. I want to encourage you. That's where God does his best work. It could be that he's setting a stage to show off. (audience cheering) Because notice what God says. God says. I want you there, show me this passage right here, because I want to get glory. I want to get glory. I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. How is this going to happen? I want to say this to somebody. Your route might be shorter, but it's not glorious. Your route might be more efficient, more strategic, quicker, faster, but it's not glorious. God could have let them go on and fight,

but they might have fought, they might have even won. Guess what they would have done? We good fighters. We know how to fight really good. That is not the testimony of a believer. The testimony of a believer. I want to get down my life, people go look and go, how on Rich Wilkerson, Jr. He's not that smart. He's not that strategic. He is not that good of a leader. He certainly ain't that good of a preacher. What on earth is up with that? I want my testimony to be, well, I'll tell you what, my story was not about me. My story was all about his glory. I want God to get glory out of my life. Not my intellect, not my ability, not my charisma, not my personality, not my education. I want my life to end and everyone go, yeah, that was God, only God could have done that. Yeah, he's taken me the long way around 'cause he wants to get glory from my life. And so he hems him in a desert behind him and a Red Sea in front of him because God was not just trying to deliver the Israelites, he was trying to close a door behind them. This is what people miss about the Red Sea

until you look at it on the map and go, that was way out of the way. And then you got to step back to God, AKA MapQuest and says, no, the Red Sea is not just a deliverance mechanism, my God. The Red Sea is a trap for all of Israel's enemies. Moses said, the Israelites you see today, you will never see again because then he'd just walk over to the other side when the Egyptians tried to follow him. God let the sea come back together and once and for all the Egyptians were done. God, in the past, never coming back. I don't need deliverance. I need every door of a past closed. I need every door of addiction closed. I need every door of generational curses closed. Once and for all. He's delivered you so many times. But have you let him close the door? It's usually on a desert road. Can you imagine that they would have gotten to the promise and go, and I wonder if the Egyptians are coming back? They didn't have to worry about that one moment. No, no, no, no, no. God didn't just lead us out. He destroyed everything that was trying to chase us down in one swooping moment. It's the long way around. You're living a bigger story.

It's not just inspiration, it's Bible. God is with you right here right now. Let him tell a story through your life. Trust him in the delays. Maybe he's going to show up with a sea parted, a motorcade saying, hey, we about to get there way faster than you could ever imagine. You say, Rich, I love you, man. I love following this church. Listen to me, I'm not leading this church. I'm being led. And if you don't believe, I'm being led, then don't follow. 'Cause I'm not the leader, he's the leader. And sometimes when we're following us, he takes us up. He takes us down. But how many of y'all know, it's not my way. It's y'all way. It's not my way, it's it's y'all way. So be still and know that he's God. A step back is not a setback. And I got a picture of you last night, thinking about you praying for you, praying over your wife, praying over your husband, praying over your kids, praying over your dreams, I bet if that arrow could speak they would say what's going on here? Why are you pulling backwards? Why are you taking me away from the target? But I want to encourage you what the arrow doesn't know is this is the further you pull it back the greater potential It has to be thrust forward I got a word for somebody in Miami today the same hand that's pulling you back is aiming you forward Trust God it's not a setback. It's a chance for a step up. Come on. Somebody please take it in the long road

In the break, in the moment, come on!