1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:03,800 You're listening to the Bridgetown Church Podcast with 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,840 Pastor Casey Kendall, where our vision is Jesus, our mission is 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,760 people, and our cause is love. Thanks for tuning in. 4 00:00:10,040 --> 00:00:12,000 Let's dive in. Amen. 5 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,200 Thanks for joining us this morning. 6 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,520 We are in a series through Second Samuel. 7 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,040 If you have your Bible handy, turn to Second Samuel chapter 4. 8 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,600 Second Samuel chapter 4. We're going to go through all of 9 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,520 the verses in Second Samuel chapter 4. 10 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,480 It is a very long chapter. It's 12 verses long and I'm 11 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,040 glad. I pray you can give me about 5 12 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:37,200 minutes each per verse. That will be about 60 minutes. 13 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,360 Just kidding. You were thinking, no way, 14 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,600 Pastor Casey, I could sit through a three hour movie, but 15 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:44,840 I can't sit through a 45 minute message. 16 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:50,200 But we're excited you're here. That's a good spot to drop the 17 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:56,000 mic and walk off the stage. But this is the this is the the 18 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:02,200 title this morning is unexpected scarves, Finding hope when you 19 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,000 have been dropped. I want to just pinpoint one 20 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,240 verse and we're going to go through the whole chapter 21 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,480 together. Second Samuel chapter 4 verse 4 22 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:19,640 in this story is one small story that God pinpoints in His 23 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:24,840 narrative of the history of the nation of Israel to be an 24 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:30,040 encouragement and to breathe hope and life into US today. 25 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:34,000 The Bible says in Second Samuel chapter 4, verse four that 26 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:39,320 Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. 27 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,080 He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan 28 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:50,320 came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. 29 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:56,000 And it happened as she made haste to flee that she fell. 30 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:03,280 He fell, excuse me, and made became lame, so his name was 31 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:05,640 Mofibosheth. I want to read that last 32 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,560 sentence to you again. And it happened as she made 33 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:14,600 haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. 34 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:19,760 So his name was Mofibosheth. Let's say that to your neighbor. 35 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,840 His name was Mofibosheth. Yeah, that's a good word to say 36 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,000 in the morning that kind of gets your your tongue moving, your 37 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,080 mouth moving in the right direction. 38 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:36,280 But this is a story of a little boy who's five years old who's 39 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:41,360 accidentally dropped in the midst of bad news. 40 00:02:41,640 --> 00:02:46,160 And in that midst of hearing this bad news and being dropped, 41 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:51,360 he is forever lame and he can no longer walk again. 42 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,400 Will you look at your neighbor this morning and say, neighbor, 43 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:59,040 my neighbor? I didn't expect that. 44 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:06,440 I didn't expect that. I didn't expect that. 45 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:11,920 I was recently asked again at Starbucks if I wanted a straw to 46 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:17,040 drink my iced tea and it reminded me why I don't drink 47 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:21,920 out of straws of the story. A very traumatic one if you 48 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:26,280 would follow with me that I endured through the great state 49 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:32,320 of Texas in a city called New Braunfels. 50 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,120 As I was leaving, taking my wife on a bucket list trip from 51 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:42,760 Magnolia Farms with Joanna Gaines and Chip Gaines, we made 52 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,080 our way down to the city of Austin. 53 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,880 And from the city of Austin off of 6th St. we made our way down 54 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,120 to San Antonio. And making our way down to San 55 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:56,040 Antonio we wanted to stop in this small German town called 56 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:00,080 New Bronze Fells. They said it had a cool river 57 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,280 and some cool thrift stores, but it felt a little oppressive 58 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:08,960 there and now I know why as I made my way into this barbarian 59 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,560 food hall. I bought a barbarian pretzel 60 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:20,440 with barbarian cream cheese and my wife got a water and I got an 61 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,720 iced tea. I always drink out of a straw 62 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:29,480 until that day. Take my straw, put it in the cup 63 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,720 and I began to try to sip on my iced tea. 64 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:40,080 It was blocked. Something was blocking the tea. 65 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:46,520 I thought it was a piece of ice. I thought it was maybe a tea 66 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,520 leaf. So I sucked harder. 67 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:53,480 When you are drinking tea through a straw and it's not 68 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:58,920 going through, stop. Don't suck harder on the straw. 69 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:04,640 Do not move forward. Hit pause before you go any 70 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,080 other direction. As I sucked harder on the straw, 71 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,000 everything started flowing through the straw and it made 72 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,760 its way all the way back to the throat and I began to gag. 73 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,480 It wasn't a mint leaf. It wasn't iced tea. 74 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:29,200 As I reached all the way as far as my hand could go to the back 75 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:38,360 of my mouth, I pulled out like this someone's hair. 76 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:50,640 My wife was laughing, I was crying, I was gagging as I 77 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:59,120 brought this to the server and she had the audacity to laugh 78 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:02,800 and asked me if I wanted a new fresh cup. 79 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,360 I stopped drinking that day out of a straw. 80 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:14,920 And because of that, I think to my life, I just didn't expect 81 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:19,320 that. And there's some of you, and I'm 82 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:24,720 not talking about your iced tea. I'm talking about the life that 83 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:30,200 you have now been given, the news that you actually heard. 84 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:36,040 That life sometimes feels like that glass of iced tea. 85 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:43,040 That once what you're receiving is not actually what you were 86 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,600 expecting. Oh, you didn't expect that story 87 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,680 to come from them. You didn't expect that with your 88 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:52,040 money. Oh, yeah. 89 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,320 You didn't this year expect that with the job that you were in. 90 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,120 You didn't expect that with the boyfriend or the girlfriend. 91 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,040 You didn't expect that to happen at work. 92 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:04,600 You didn't expect that to happen with your wife. 93 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,680 You didn't expect that to happen with your husband. 94 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:13,240 And now you find yourself in 2026 in the midst of friendships 95 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:18,440 and marital adversity and single identity and what you have you 96 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:24,480 just did not expect today. And once you had peace, but now 97 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,440 in your heart, it feels like there's panic once because 98 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:30,880 you're receiving something that you did not expect. 99 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:35,600 It was fantastic as you were moving through 2026, but now 100 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,840 there's a lot of fear rising up within you. 101 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,080 Maybe it's not even that, but maybe you thought everything was 102 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:46,760 wonderful and now it's simply filled with worry. 103 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:51,760 You didn't expect that. And when we're hit with the 104 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:57,280 things we do not expect, we often choose to exit out of what 105 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:03,240 God is calling us to enter into. And because of that, we find 106 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:10,880 ourselves in a place where we are filled with decisions that 107 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,560 are based upon our own disturbance. 108 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:20,560 And because of the disturbance, we begin to make decisions out 109 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:24,800 of a disrupted soul rather than a devoted soul. 110 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,560 I love what Louis Giglio wrote. He wrote in his book, These 111 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:30,880 Words. So often when we are asked how 112 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:35,280 things are going, we reply things like, man, I don't know 113 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:37,120 if I'm going to make it through this season. 114 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,559 Did I get an Amen there? I'm not sure I'm going to 115 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:49,560 survive this semester. I don't know if I am ever going 116 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:54,520 to get through this time, he writes. 117 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,000 Have you ever heard yourself saying something like that? 118 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,280 Where did you get that kind of thinking? 119 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,440 Where did you hear those words of gloom and doubt? 120 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,040 Not from the Good Shepherd of your soul. 121 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,280 You likely heard them from the enemy sitting at your table. 122 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,920 See, your God has just told you that even though you walk 123 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:18,920 through the valley of the shadow of death, you don't need to fear 124 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,400 any evil. Did you catch the operative word 125 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,560 in the sentence through the valley? 126 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,920 Your shepherd didn't just say you're going to the valley, he 127 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,320 said you were going through the valley. 128 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:40,160 In other words, you are going to make it. 129 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,560 Can you just say that to your neighbor and encourage them this 130 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:48,520 morning? You are going to make it. 131 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:51,600 You were going to make it through the season. 132 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,040 You will not find, he writes the Good Shepherd telling you that 133 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,160 you are not going to make it. You will never find the Good 134 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,480 Shepherd telling you that life is hopeless. 135 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:04,040 There's no way out. May as well Chuck it all and 136 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,160 quit and die. That is not the voice of the 137 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,360 Good Shepherd. Jesus, the Good Shepherd says 138 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,160 we're going through this valley and I'm going to be with you all 139 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,080 the way through it and guess what? 140 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,600 You're going to have a story to tell on the other side of it. 141 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,920 Listen, it's in this moment that we're in, in Second Samuel, 142 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:30,960 chapter 4, that Saul has died, that Jonathan has died, that 143 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:34,600 David has only been given one part of the tribes of the 144 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:36,480 Kingdom, and that is the tribe of Judah. 145 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:41,120 He's going against another king who is now put into position by 146 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:44,840 a man by the name of Abner. Abner puts this man into the 147 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:49,160 position of king and his name is Ashibosheth, not Mephibosheth. 148 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:52,120 Let's say those really fast together Shibbasheth and 149 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,560 Mephibosheth. And Shibbasheth finds himself at 150 00:10:56,560 --> 00:11:05,240 a place where now Joab gets revenge on Abner because Abner 151 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:12,160 killed Joab's brother Asael. So Joab takes Abner to the side. 152 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,440 He doesn't backstab him, he front stabs him. 153 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,840 He kills him right in the stomach, stabbing him through. 154 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:26,000 And there in the midst of this, Abner dies. 155 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:33,120 And now in our story, we come to Second Samuel chapter 4, and the 156 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:38,160 Bible tells us that as Shabashat finds himself not expecting 157 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:41,720 what's about to happen. And through all the narrative, 158 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:46,120 it's about a Shibasheth and two other men, one by the name of 159 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:51,840 Bana and the other by Rakab. That's what the story and the 160 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:56,840 narrative is all about. But tucked into this story is 161 00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:00,480 verse 4. There is always going to be a 162 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,520 verse 4 in your life. There's always going to be this 163 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,640 verse four that seems that the verse is out of place. 164 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,120 The verse doesn't seem to go with the theme of the narrative 165 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:17,400 of the story in chapter 4. And here in verse 4, all we read 166 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:22,080 about is a situation that happened weeks or months prior 167 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,720 with Saul and Jonathan being killed and the frightening 168 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:31,160 aspect of the servant grabbing Mephibosheth and running away. 169 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:35,080 And as they're grabbing Mephibosheth chef, he falls to 170 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:40,200 the ground, he hurts his legs and now he can never walk again. 171 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,240 I don't know if you have a small story or you feel like it's 172 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,920 small and you don't really feel like God is seen verse 4 in your 173 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,120 life. I don't know if you've ever 174 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,560 found yourself here in this moment where it feels like this 175 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:56,680 verse 4 is awkward. It feels like it's not going to 176 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:58,720 be a place of understanding for you. 177 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,040 And in this moment, it's something that you just didn't 178 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,520 expect. You actually feel dropped. 179 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:07,480 You actually find yourself at a place in life where where 180 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:11,160 there's no peace at all in your life. 181 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:12,840 But here's what I want to submit to you. 182 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,560 First Samuel and second Samuel tells us about the kings of the 183 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:19,440 nation of Israel. We started with the man by the 184 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,600 name of King Saul. We went to a man by the name of 185 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:27,280 King David, and David is pointing us to the greatest of 186 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:33,240 king of all, who is Jesus. He is known Jesus as the Prince 187 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,480 of Peace. And in the place that you're at 188 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:42,040 today, the peace that you will experience might not be found in 189 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:45,520 the place that you are in, but it can be found in the person 190 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:47,480 who is with you at the place you are in. 191 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:55,280 And this is what Jesus says. I give to you my peace. 192 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,560 Listen to what Jesus says. In this world you will have 193 00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:01,680 tribulation. But be of good cheer. 194 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:07,240 I have overcome the world. And he says these things. 195 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:12,800 I say to you that in me you might have peace. 196 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,520 Listen, the Bible tells us that Jesus spoke to the storm. 197 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:25,640 He said these words be still. And I wonder if he wasn't just 198 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:27,960 speaking to the storm, but he was actually speaking to the 199 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,040 disciples hearts in the midst of the storm. 200 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,440 Because you can be in a storm and still be still, even though 201 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:39,480 the storm isn't still. And I think our souls have to 202 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:45,520 actually calm down so we can learn in the storm what God 203 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,960 desires to teach us. Because the storm isn't breaking 204 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:52,320 you necessarily, it's just revealing you. 205 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:58,200 And so God gives to us a place in our life where things you 206 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:03,080 just didn't expect happen. And that is the narrative all 207 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:05,880 throughout Scripture. All throughout Scripture, you'll 208 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,840 read of men and women who face things they just didn't expect. 209 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:14,880 Can you imagine hearing the news that your son killed your other 210 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,160 son? You just didn't expect that, 211 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,400 Adam and Eve. Can you imagine when God calls 212 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:25,480 Noah at 640 years old to build an ark? 213 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,320 640 years old is when you're retiring. 214 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:32,840 You don't do that in the age of retirement. 215 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,000 Build an ark. He's didn't expect it. 216 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,800 He didn't expect what was happening in the midst of 217 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,200 everything that he was facing in his life when God had called 218 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,080 Abraham to go to a place he did not know of. 219 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,960 He didn't expect it when God would call him to now sacrifice 220 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:52,800 his son, his only son Isaac, on the altar. 221 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:58,000 Can you imagine being Moses and leading the people of Israel out 222 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,080 of Egypt? You would think and expect 223 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:04,320 everybody would be happy. I'm sure he didn't expect the 224 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,200 complaining. Oh, take us back. 225 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:08,800 It was a little bit more comfortable. 226 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:14,400 And he probably didn't expect to be at the Red Sea and watch it 227 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:16,640 separate. Can you imagine, Ruth? 228 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:19,760 She didn't expect that she would lose her husband and move to a 229 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:23,480 new city called Bethlehem. She just did. 230 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:28,200 Scripture is filled with things and people that did not expect 231 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,640 certain situations. But I submit to you today that 232 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,520 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 233 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:41,480 Even in the things that you just didn't expect to happen in your 234 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,200 life. You didn't expect the cancer 235 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:48,280 diagnosis, you didn't expect this with your health. 236 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,080 You didn't expect this in your marriage. 237 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:55,760 You didn't expect this in 2026. You are actually writing a whole 238 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,800 different narrative. And then God throws in a verse 239 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,280 4. What do we do in the midst of 240 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:07,000 things that we don't expect? How can we be in a place where 241 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:11,480 we can now a lot like this narrative in Second Samuel, find 242 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,160 ourselves even processing the story and still living for the 243 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,520 glory of God. Here's what I want to just tell 244 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:20,720 you today. If you if you take note, and 245 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:25,880 that is this, if you would we, we all, we all need an anchor. 246 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:27,400 Would you just write that down somewhere? 247 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,200 We all need an anchor. We all need an anchor, and that 248 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,640 anchor leads us to stability. No, no, notice what happens. 249 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:42,280 And when Saul's son, we know his name is Ashibosheth. 250 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:50,680 When Saul's son Ashibosheth heard that Abner had died in 251 00:17:50,720 --> 00:18:00,240 Hebron or Hebron, he lost heart and all of Israel was troubled. 252 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,840 Look at look at what happened. Abner dies. 253 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:09,000 The commander of that army and now a Shiba chef, because of 254 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:16,600 Abner's death, loses heart, and then all of Israel is troubled. 255 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:25,600 We all need an anchor. We all need to find where we can 256 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:32,640 have stability in our lives. Joab gets his revenge that we 257 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,720 heard from Judah a few weeks back. 258 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:40,400 We heard that Judah shared that Joab got his revenge and then 259 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:44,920 Joab calls Abner to the side. He stabs him in the front. 260 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:52,200 And then when a Shiba sheth hears that Abner is dead, he 261 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,400 loses heart. Now, that's not a term in 262 00:18:56,400 --> 00:19:01,280 Glendora that you're often using via text message and instant 263 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:04,920 messaging on WhatsApp. You're not normally asking 264 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,000 people in your life, have you lost heart? 265 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:12,400 You're not hearing that a lot of times in in the local malls and 266 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,560 shopping centers that we're in. We're not hearing about, hey, 267 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,440 did you lose heart today? What does that mean? 268 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:23,600 The term lose heart, Here's what it means. 269 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:29,200 The term lost there means that he became helpless. 270 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,760 And the word their heart is where we get the same word, 271 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:42,400 courage. He felt helpless with his 272 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,960 courage. Can I just say that again to 273 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,360 you? Come on, we're small enough in 274 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:53,240 here so we can all say Amen. And we're loud enough in here to 275 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:58,560 where we could say Amen. He, he was helpless with his 276 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,360 courage. Now, look, look, look, this is 277 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:06,640 so important. His courage and what he lost was 278 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:10,800 only dependent. Not on the anchor of the 279 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:16,000 Almighty God, but he lost his courage because he lost his 280 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,160 disconnection and his dependence on Abner. 281 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:27,000 And because now Abner has been dead and Abner has died, he is 282 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:34,480 actually lost and feels helpless with his courage. 283 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:40,280 Abner leaving left in a Shibashet a great disruption and 284 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:44,400 disturbance in a Shibashet's life. 285 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:50,040 And at this point in time, Abner wasn't the king. 286 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,120 He was just simply the commander. 287 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:57,040 A Shibashet was the king. The King of Israel was called to 288 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:03,880 depend upon the God of Israel, and in this moment we can see in 289 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:09,560 a Shibashet's life that his anchor was Abner. 290 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,200 So much so I submit this to you today. 291 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:18,320 If we wrongly anchor ourselves to people thinking that they 292 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:22,240 alone will give us stability, we lose our ability to move 293 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,680 forward. I just want to submit that to 294 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,760 you again. If we wrongly anchor ourselves 295 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,880 to people thinking that they alone will give us stability 296 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,760 will lose our ability to move forward. 297 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:37,840 I I want you to understand this in the text. 298 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:42,920 Just because Abner was dead did not mean that Saul's son could 299 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:47,440 not live. And this is many times what 300 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:55,480 happens is we become what they call Co dependent on people. 301 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,040 And because we become Co dependent on people, that 302 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,200 doesn't mean that I can't have good relationships. 303 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,360 That does not mean that I can't have trusted friendships. 304 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:09,960 That doesn't mean that things don't hurt and pain does not 305 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,360 arise in my relationship. This is what it does mean 306 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:17,680 though. Codependence is simply depending 307 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:23,240 on the person fully for your peace, your satisfaction, your 308 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,960 life and your hope. And without them, without an 309 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:31,960 Abner, then I lose all of that in my life. 310 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,240 I love what Lisa Turkish wrote in regards to her facing a 311 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:40,240 husband who wouldn't stop drinking and wouldn't stop 312 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:45,320 committing adultery and she was afraid to disrupt that water of 313 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,760 their marriage because of their children. 314 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,320 This is what she writes. It is possible to be a good 315 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,960 friend, a supportive team member, a loving spouse, and a 316 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:02,640 dependable Co worker, but we are never meant to become someone's 317 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:10,680 savior. And Abner became a Shiba chefs 318 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:16,440 savior. And because this is now dead, 319 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:23,360 Abner is gone. So a shibashet feels like he 320 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:28,680 can't go forward. Someone wrote once wrote that 321 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,360 codependency is compassion gone too far. 322 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:38,080 And that's exactly what happens. And here's the problem. 323 00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:43,120 We set Abner's on the throne, where only Jesus as King 324 00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:47,720 deserves to be. No wonder why I have anxiety. 325 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,960 Abner is gone. No wonder why I panic. 326 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:55,840 Because my peace depends upon the position of Abner. 327 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:58,920 No wonder I'm worried about this. 328 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:03,600 Because if they're not in my world, I don't know how I'll 329 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:08,080 keep working in my life. And that's exactly what happens 330 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:12,840 to a Shiba Shet in this story. And we all have anchors and we 331 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,320 all throw them in turbulent waters of our life every single 332 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,240 day. I remember when my mom died and 333 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,960 I asked that same question. How can I actually move forward 334 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:27,240 from this situation? Because she was the stability. 335 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:32,680 She was the voice of peace. She was the voice of hope. 336 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:41,480 She was the voice of life, she was the inspiration along with 337 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:43,400 my dad. They were both the examples. 338 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,800 How do you move forward when just a few months later your 339 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:49,640 mother-in-law dies of brain cancer? 340 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,600 And the question rose up again in my heart and I began to throw 341 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,120 out more anchors in this direction. 342 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:06,920 And then again, Lisa's dad dying and us finding him at that place 343 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:10,720 in his room. How do you actually move 344 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,280 forward? When my youth pastor left, I 345 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,880 asked the same question. How do I actually, as a 346 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,800 teenager, move forward from these things? 347 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:28,080 And it became for me to realize that there are multiple anchors 348 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:31,120 that I throw in multiple different situations. 349 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,080 And what often times happens, I throw them back on people that 350 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:39,640 did not agree to hold the stability of my soul. 351 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:49,000 And in that, this brings me to this place of realizing this, 352 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:55,720 where can I anchor myself? Where can I find stability? 353 00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:58,960 And so I just wrote a few things down. 354 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:06,360 Anchor yourself. Anchor yourself and say this, I 355 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:13,600 am not in control. Anchor yourself and say I'm not 356 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,880 in control. Stop managing outcomes. 357 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,160 Stop managing outcomes in your life. 358 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,240 If you want to write this down, anchor yourself in Scripture. 359 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:33,240 Anchor yourself in scripture. Deep life issues need to be need 360 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,440 deep seated truths of God's Word. 361 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,720 Anchor yourself in scripture. Can I encourage you this? 362 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,800 Anchor yourself in God's past faithfulness to you. 363 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,080 Anchor yourself in God's past faithfulness. 364 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:51,360 Trace back God's work and see what He has done and what He's 365 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:53,640 promised to do. Can you write this down? 366 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:56,640 If you take note, Fix your hope solely on Jesus. 367 00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,080 That doesn't mean again, you can't have good friends. 368 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,040 That doesn't mean you can't have great relationships. 369 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:05,840 But if you can fix your hope solely on Jesus Christ, can. 370 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:07,200 I encourage you to write this down. 371 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,400 Communicate in your community about these things. 372 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,920 We need to anchor. We need to anchor ourself into 373 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:18,040 friendships that birth unchanging hope and security. 374 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:23,640 And I anchor myself through and in community to the character of 375 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:27,040 God. And as I anchor myself into the 376 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:32,840 character of God, I find that in Him alone, no matter if Abner 377 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:37,400 lives or dies, I will not lose heart and I will not be 378 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:41,040 troubled. And many times when we read 379 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:45,600 this, we think that the feeling of losing heart and being 380 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:51,320 troubled is the sin. Just because you feel that way 381 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:54,960 doesn't mean that you're necessarily in sin, but it 382 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:56,960 absolutely means that you're human. 383 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:07,680 You should feel in your life the pain and the agony and the the 384 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:13,720 the wrestling of what it means to not have the heart in a 385 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:18,400 matter or to feel troubled. Now, what I do with losing heart 386 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:23,880 and being troubled can lead to sin, but feeling that way is not 387 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:25,600 sinful. I just want to clarify that. 388 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,800 But if you anchor yourself in the Lord, it doesn't mean that 389 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:35,040 the pain goes away. It means that you walk the right 390 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,520 path in the pain that you're in. We all need anchors. 391 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:43,000 And I want to encourage you in this moment that it just feels 392 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:44,640 like you just didn't expect that. 393 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,440 We need the stability and then it leads to this. 394 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,960 We need righteous actions. We need righteous actions. 395 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:56,520 We need righteous actions and notice this story if you would. 396 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,320 Saul's son had a two men in verse 2 who were captains of the 397 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:04,720 troops. The name of 1 was Bana, and the 398 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:09,720 name of the other was Riqab and the sons of Rahman the berophyte 399 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:13,640 of the children of Benjamin. For Berath also was part of 400 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,360 Benjamin. And because the Berathytes fled 401 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:22,320 to get AIM and have been sojourners there until this day. 402 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,800 Jump down to verse 5. Then the sons of Rahman, the 403 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:31,240 Berathyte Riqab and Banana set out and came at about the heat 404 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,480 of the day to the House of a Shiba chef who was lying on his 405 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,800 his bed at noon. And they came there all the way 406 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,040 into the house as though to get wheat, and they stabbed him in 407 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,080 the stomach. Who did they stab? 408 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:47,160 They stabbed A Shiba chef. Does this sound like a soap 409 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,800 opera? This feels like you're watching 410 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:53,760 reality TV. You're like, I wish I was back 411 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,840 in the Old Testament. There wouldn't be this much 412 00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:00,360 drama in my life now. There is tremendous drama in the 413 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,640 Old Testament. Sometimes PG, sometimes PG13, 414 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,160 sometimes even rated R. It is. 415 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:10,920 It is just this aspect of craziness all around. 416 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,040 They go and they stab a Shibasheth. 417 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:18,480 Then Rakab and Bana, his brother, escaped. 418 00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,760 When they came into the house, he was lying on his bed in his 419 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:25,760 bedroom. And then they struck him and 420 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,280 killed him, beheaded him and took his head. 421 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:31,800 And we're all night escaping through the plain. 422 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,320 It's probably not a show I'm going to watch with my my girls. 423 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:39,360 And they brought the head of a Shibashet to David at Hebron and 424 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:42,280 said to the king, here is the head of a Shibashet, the son of 425 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,560 Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. 426 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:48,280 And the Lord has avenged my Lord the king this day of Saul and 427 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,880 his descendants. Then David answered Rakab and 428 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,440 Bana his brother, the sons of Ramon the Bereathite, and said 429 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,400 to them, as the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all 430 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:01,200 adversity. When someone told me, saying, 431 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:04,760 look, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good news, I 432 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,480 arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag. 433 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:11,000 The one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. 434 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,360 How much more when wicked men have killed a righteous person 435 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:19,640 in his own house on his bed. Therefore shall I not now 436 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:23,680 require his blood at your hand and remove you from the earth? 437 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:28,760 So David commanded his young men and they executed them. 438 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:33,240 They cut off their hands and feet in the hang them by the 439 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,320 pool in Hebron, but they took the head of a Shibasheth and 440 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,320 buried in the tomb of Abner of Hebron. 441 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:42,040 This is just crazy. And does your life ever feel 442 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:46,440 like this? Does it feel absolutely crazy? 443 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:50,760 It feels like there's too much happening all around you. 444 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:56,680 Just because it feels crazy does not give you the right to have 445 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:01,600 sinful conduct. Just because you feel lonely 446 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:04,960 does not allow you and afford you the opportunity as a born 447 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,760 again follower of Jesus to go out and do what you're doing. 448 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:14,360 Just because you feel the pain does not give you the ability or 449 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:17,960 the right actions to go get drunk and numb your pain. 450 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:23,800 Just because you find yourself at this spot in your life 451 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:27,440 doesn't mean that you should kill a Shiba chef. 452 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:33,400 And these guys, listen, they had great intentions, but they had 453 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:37,880 horrible actions. And that's many times what we 454 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:43,160 say, well, my intentions were good, but your actions were 455 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:47,320 horrible. And because of that, listen, 456 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:53,840 David executes judgment upon these men. 457 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,040 These men thought that they were doing David a favor. 458 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,560 Verse 8 says that they came to David and they said, here's the 459 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:03,880 head of a Shiba chef. They thought they were actually 460 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:08,840 doing what was right. But I want to contrast Banaa and 461 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,880 Rakab's response to David's response. 462 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:18,120 I want you to see their response was made out of haste and fear 463 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:22,680 and revenge and anxiety and worry. 464 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:28,840 David had the opportunity to kill Saul and he withheld his 465 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:34,960 sword. Notice the response of these two 466 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:41,120 people. They put their hands into the 467 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,400 work instead of committing it into the hands of God. 468 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:49,640 And I think many times what I can do over my life in these 469 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:55,480 areas is have the wrong actions. And instead of putting this 470 00:33:55,480 --> 00:34:00,240 outcome in the hands of God, I take it into my own hands and I 471 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:05,000 mess everything up. And listen, you might be asking, 472 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:08,239 well, how can I have good actions? 473 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,239 Can you write some things down if you love to take notes? 474 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,840 And that's this. Your obedience is more important 475 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:18,480 than your intention. Your obedience is more important 476 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,159 than your intention. And then I want you to write 477 00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:24,600 down this. Get a full understanding over 478 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:28,400 misguided zeal. Get a full understanding over 479 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,760 something rather than having a misguided zeal. 480 00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:32,840 And then I want you to write this down. 481 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:36,159 Look at God's plan over your outcome. 482 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:40,159 Consider God's plan over your outcome. 483 00:34:40,159 --> 00:34:44,120 And then I want you to pair your wisdom with obedience. 484 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:47,520 Why do I need to do this in these types of situations when 485 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:51,440 you don't expect it? Because I am prideful and I 486 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:56,800 presume things I shouldn't, I'm arrogant and I begin to have my 487 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:00,200 own perspective. And then I live in misplaced 488 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:04,040 priorities. And then because of this, I have 489 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:09,320 a lack of foresight into the situation that I just didn't 490 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,040 expect. But notice this, if you would 491 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:17,680 notice this small verse and notice this little story of 492 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:22,040 verse 4, Jonathan. Jonathan was the friend of 493 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:25,480 David. David loved Jonathan. 494 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:30,520 Saul's son had a son who was lame in his feet. 495 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:35,480 Being lame in his feet, the son could not walk. 496 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:41,040 I'm sure the son did not expect this. 497 00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:46,560 He was only five years old when the news about his dad and his 498 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:52,800 grandfather came to the scene. And this was the scene that Saul 499 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:58,480 and Jonathan were now dead. His nurse took him up. 500 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:05,120 She took him up and fled and noticed this and it happened. 501 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:09,760 She made haste to flee, but he fell and he became lame. 502 00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:13,520 This wasn't even Mephibosheth's decision. 503 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:19,200 It was the nurse's decision. And in the nurse's decision, she 504 00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:22,800 picks up this little boy and because of the quickness of her 505 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:28,320 response, she trips, she falls, and Mephibosheth is lame for the 506 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,760 rest of his life. I don't know if your pain has 507 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,600 been caused by your own decisions or possibly your pain 508 00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:38,920 has been caused because of somebody else's decisions. 509 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:45,040 Here's what I submit to you. Is there still is anticipation 510 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:50,160 and in this moment, I have to live with responsibility. 511 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:55,160 Did you get that? You have to live with your 512 00:36:55,160 --> 00:37:02,760 responsibility. There's a call of God in your 513 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:06,160 life over your own responsibility. 514 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:10,080 You have to carry your own responsibility. 515 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:16,760 I was telling a friend who is a coach and I was telling him, 516 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:20,680 man, I feel so overwhelmed in my life. 517 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,480 I feel so overwhelmed. He said, listen, he said, Casey, 518 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,840 you, you are the only one that gets to put a title on that 519 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:31,440 chapter. He's well, how about we re title 520 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:34,760 that chapter. Just say this is new and hard 521 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,640 and I often will spin these things in a negative light 522 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:43,800 rather than a positive light. But what we can do in the midst 523 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:48,360 of all that is we can live in this negative pool of our own 524 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:53,280 doubts and our own weaknesses and our own abilities rather 525 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:58,520 than in the power of God to work in this painful situation to say 526 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:03,400 I have my own responsibility. Here's the responsibility. 527 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,640 So his name was Mephibosheth. He became lame. 528 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:07,800 What? What does he do now? 529 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:13,320 Mephibosheth has to be carried around wherever he goes by these 530 00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:16,800 people. And this is just a foreshadowing 531 00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:24,400 of Second Samuel Chapter 9. In Second Samuel Chapter 9, 532 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:30,200 you're going to hear how the king brings the lame man to his 533 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:35,400 table. And that's exactly what Jesus 534 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:41,680 has done for you and I and everything that feels like is 535 00:38:41,680 --> 00:38:45,600 dying and everything that feels like it's just these quick 536 00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:49,520 responses here of these men of everything that feels like I've 537 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:51,560 been dropped and now I'm hurting. 538 00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:56,960 Notice you weren't a burden. God was actually bringing you to 539 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,760 the King's table. Can you imagine if Mephibosheth 540 00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:05,960 said I, I no longer in my life, I, I can't keep going anymore. 541 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:10,720 I won't keep going. I'm just too hurt, I can't even 542 00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:12,560 walk anymore. Can you imagine? 543 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:17,440 He would not in chapter 4 have experienced Chapter 9. 544 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:23,840 But because he was willing to keep moving, even though he was 545 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:29,080 unable to keep walking, He experiences the King's grace. 546 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:33,880 And what I submit to you today and everything that you just 547 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:43,960 didn't expect was take the next step and be obedient to God and 548 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:47,600 say to him in the midst of everything that you are going 549 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:55,360 through now in this place, to say, I will take the next step 550 00:39:55,560 --> 00:40:01,040 and not stop in this area of my life. 551 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:08,120 You didn't expect that, but that doesn't mean it's the end of 552 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:10,400 that. Amen. 553 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,480 We hope you enjoyed this message and we'd love for you to join us 554 00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:16,640 in person every Sunday at 10:30 AM. 555 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,040 For more information and updates, visit 556 00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:21,680 wearebridgetown.com. Thanks for tuning in and we'll 557 00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:22,520 see you next week.