The Flip Side of Blessings, Part 2 (cont'd)

You've got people in your life, if their love could get you where you need to be, you'd have been there by now.

Because they love you, no question about it. But God sees to it that none of us can love everybody all the way to the point of every need being met. The Bible teaches us to love God and love people, but our trust, our faith, should be in God alone. Hello and thanks for joining us for today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepherd. Wherever you are and however you may be listening, thanks for making this part of your day. Well if you have people in your life who have shown themselves to be reliable, who have proven time and again to be helpful when you're facing a crisis, you may be tempted to start putting your faith in them. Today Pastor Paul reminds us that even the people who love us best are only a resource, a limited resource. God alone is the source. Stay right here or visit PastorPaul.net to listen to Destined for Victory on demand.

You can also download the podcast at Google Podcast, at Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. But now here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message, the flip side of blessings. At the end of the day, you've got to realize all the people who normally pray you through stuff and work with you through stuff and how God uses people. They've given to me when I was in need and they prayed for me when I was in need.

Yes, they did all that. Sometimes they do everything they always do and it's not working. Everybody God uses is a limited resource. So listen, you all got to stop with your man worship and woman worship and prayer partner worship.

Yes, let them do what they're called to do, but they're not God. Sometimes nobody can help you. Sometimes all the folk who love you enough, if they could solve your problem by love, you wouldn't have a problem.

You got to know that. You got people in your life. If their love could get you where you need to be, you'd have been there by now. Because they love you, no question about it. But God sees to it that none of us can love everybody all the way to the point of every need being met. So I know they said, if you need me, call me, no matter where you are, no matter how far.

Just call my name, I'll be there in a hurry. On that you can depend and never worry. No wind, no rain, no winter's cold can stop me. Baby, if you're my goal, ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough, ain't no river wide enough to keep me from getting to you. I know they told you that.

But God don't make sure that the day is coming. You're going to need them, and they're going to be on the other side of the mountain. And as much as they love you, they can't climb that mountain to get to you. They'll text you from the other side of the mountain. You know I love you. You know you my boo. Take care.

Send. And that's all they can do. And do yourself a favor, don't get mad at them.

If they could help you, they'd have helped you. Stay focused. She didn't let her husband distract her. She didn't let your haze eye distract her. She didn't let the prophets saying, I don't know what's going on right now.

She could have gotten mad. You're the man of God. Now you're supposed to know everything. God's supposed to be there. I don't know why I'm on this like this. Somebody needs to get up off of folk in your life. Just get up off of them.

They're doing what they can do. Sometimes God doesn't let people do certain things. Because if he's teaching you how to trust him at another level, sometimes he will withdraw everything that you're used to depending on. That you're used to kind of taking for granted. Sometimes he'll put you in a position where there's no one but you and the Lord. And so you got to pursue the possibilities and you got to stay focused. You see that throughout the scriptures.

I don't have time to spend a lot but let me just give you a couple, throw a couple of them. You remember that Syro, some accounts call it a Syrophoenician woman. She was a Canaanite woman, a non-Jewish woman. Some called Syro, made me think of a lady who said the Neo-Sinephrine woman. She knew it was a long, long word. She said, oh, I was reading about that and it was a blessing. We had a study on the Neo-Sinephrine woman. Said, no baby, that's medication. That's not good. Anyway, you all are messing me up. Okay, so the Syrophoenician woman, the Canaanite woman, remember she had a child that was vexed with a devil and she wanted deliverance and she didn't care that she wasn't a Jewish woman.

When you need God, you need God. She didn't care she went to Jesus so Jesus gave her two quick tests. She passed them both. The first was the ignoring test. She came asking, please, help me, please and explain to her child and he answered her not a word.

He's still talking to his disciples. She passed it. She didn't get into what I'm trying to keep you out of. Now see, now see that? That's why I don't go to church no more because you call yourself a man of God.

How you going to get a blessing getting mad at Jesus? She passed the ignoring test. She just stayed there and kept asking, would you help me?

Would you help my child? Second test, the insulting test. He said, well, it's not right to take the children's bread, give it to dogs.

Wait, what? You all know some of you all, that's where I left my blessing right there. I could have got it till he said that. Y'all would have been pulling off earrings. Oh, come on, mothers. Come on, mothers.

I'm trying to pull it off earrings, putting on Vaseline, get out your good shoes, put some Timbs on or something. You ready to fight? So if you succeed in beating up Jesus, where's your help? Do you see what I'm saying?

It's not going to work that way. Here's how she responded to, well, you shouldn't give the children's bread to dogs. He said, well, let's stick with your dog analogy. She said, let's stick with the dog analogy.

Even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from the table when the sloppy family drops it on the floor. She said, so I'm not here to contend that I belong at the table. That's not my point. I readily admit, I'm not a woman of Israel. I don't qualify to be at the table by traditional thinking.

But I'm okay with being a dog. Just let me do what the dogs do, which is to get the blessings that your sloppy, ungrateful children drop on the floor. When Jesus heard that, he looked at the disciples and said, y'all don't have faith like this. This is all he wanted.

He wanted to show them when you need God, you don't get caught up in the pettiness. That's no time to say, how dare you. I'm not even here for myself. I'm here for my child. I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride to make it easier. Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be.

I decided long ago never to walk in it. Do you understand? Stop getting caught up in stuff you can't control and it's only taking you further away from what you need. What you need is Jesus. What you need is divine assistance. We got to learn.

Stay focused. Y'all remember Hannah? She in the house with Paninna. Paninna's having babies. Hannah can't have one. Paninna is strutting every time she get pregnant.

Ooh, this baby just kicking. Just trying to get under Hannah's skin. Y'all know what that's like too. I know y'all sitting up here looking holy.

You know what that's like too. When you decide you want to get under some woman's skin, y'all have a gifting. And it was working. She was working Hannah over. But what did Hannah do? She stayed focused. She went to the man of God. In her day, she had to go to Shiloh and see the man of God named Eli in the temple. And she went there and she cried.

Where did she go? She said, my help is from the Lord. She went into the temple and she went to the place of prayer and cried out to God, but she didn't want to be loud. And so she muttered in her place of prayer.

And Eli looked over and saw her muttering and all of that, but it just looked like, why is this woman coming? And he assumed, I told you we're imperfect. He assumed man of God that he was. He said, this child came up in here drunk. No, you didn't come up in my temple where I am the guardian on behalf of God. And you come up in here drunk. So when he goes to her, he should have done what all of us should do. When you see something and you think you know what you're seeing, go confirm whether it's what you think. That's what we should do.

Not Eli and not most of us. And up next, the rest of today's Destin for Victory message, The Flipside of Blessings with Pastor Paul Shepherd. pastorpaul.net is the place to go to hear Pastor Paul's recent messages on demand. You'll also find a host of great resources at our online store, including books and DVD messages from Pastor Paul.

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Here's Pastor Paul with the second half of today's message, The Flipside of Blessings. He walks up to her and says, how dare you come in here drunk? Put your wine away right there in your Bible.

First Samuel one, read it. He told her, put her wine away. She hadn't touched the stuff. There's a point of possible distraction and make you miss a blessing.

See what I'm saying? She could have teed off on Eli. Eli and her husband would both have things they never forgot had she teed off on them.

Eli, for the rest of his ministry, he would say, ooh, what that lady said to me. When I told her she was drunk, she walked up one side of me and down the other. She didn't have to handle it.

Don't get distracted. I need a blessing. So she explained to him, sir, I haven't been drinking at all. And she poured out her heart.

I'm asking God for a child. I don't know if she said, this old raggedy panetta I got to live in the same house. I don't know whatever else she said with it, but she stayed focused. Look at verse 28. Now, we're back to Mount Carmel.

This is the Shunammite. She's at the prophet's feet. Gehazi has not pushed her away because Elisha said, leave her alone. She's in distress, but the Lord's not showing me what's going on.

So look at what she says. Verse 28, did I ask you for a son, my Lord? Didn't I tell you don't raise my hopes?

You see, she is going to let him, he doesn't know, so she got to let him know. I'm distressed because you're the one prophesying a son that nobody was asking for. Oh, years ago when I was a younger woman and my husband was younger, I've asked for children. I wanted to be like most married women of her day. And Lord, you didn't give me any in all of those seasons.

And then this man of God come along prophesying, I'm going to have one next year. I didn't ask for that. That's what she's saying. Now look at how respectful she is.

She's not teeing off on him. See, that's why I'm sick of all these prophets, all these men of God. I'm sick of that. I ain't never going no more than that.

It's not that. He doesn't understand she's pouring out her heart. Didn't I tell you don't raise my hopes? The implication is why would you prophesize something that I'm not going to get to raise? It's only been years. I've enjoyed my son for years. Why would you make me have a child that I can't keep? Elisha gets it.

And look at verse 29. He said to Gehazi, tuck your cloak into your belt, take your staff in your hand and run. Don't greet anyone you meet.

If anyone greets you, don't answer them. Lay my staff on the boy's face because the boy's on the bed. Go to her house, go up to the upper room, lay my staff.

Point of contact, another possible point of contact. Maybe this is the way God will do it. Even the prophet doesn't know how God's going to do this one.

You see that? We're human. Give us all permission to be human. Give your pastor, give all the people, your prayer warriors, all your praying grandma, everybody.

They can only go so far. And when you get there, lay this staff on him. And the woman said, I love verse 30, she said, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I'm not leaving you. You send him, do whatever you want to send him to do. What I need is from the Lord and you are his representative on earth. You are the prophet he called and anointed. I'm staying with you. If you think I'm going to run back there with some Gehazi, I know he got the staff and all, but I'm sticking with the man who spoke the word that resulted in that boy being born. And I am not about to leave you chasing after Gehazi.

I'm staying right here with you. You know why Elisha is familiar with that sentiment? Because that's what he had with his predecessor, Elijah. You remember that?

Three times Elijah tried to shake him. I got to go to Bethel. I'll be back.

He said, uh-uh. I'm going with you to Bethel. I got to go to Jericho. I'm going to Jericho. Where we going next, boss? I'm not leaving. That's where she is.

I'm with you. Gehazi gets there, lays the staff on him, boy's still dead. So finally, Elisha says, I got to go. And he and the woman go back to the house.

Verse 33, went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Mama said, okay, yeah, I'm fine staying outside now. Now that you in there with my son, I'm good. I'm respectful. I'm not disrespecting you. I got to always be with you.

No, no. I needed you to have direct contact with the boy you prophesied. You see it? And he's outside, Gehazi's outside of the room. And look at the man of God. He got on the bed and laid on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. Boy's younger, but he's just laying gently on top of him. And just saying, in essence, whatever God is doing in me, I need to transfer the power that's making that happen into this boy.

And he literally tries to do that. As he stressed himself out on him, the boy's body grew warm. Elisha turned away, walked back and forth in the room, and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. That time, the boy sneezed seven times, opened his eyes. Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, call the Shunammite. And he did. When she came, he said, take your son. She came in, fell at his feet, bowed to the ground. She took her son and went out. This last sub point, after you pursue the possibilities and after you stay focused, you got to push.

P-U-S-H stands for pray until something happens. That's what Elisha did. God himself didn't show him at first. When he got there, he didn't know how God was going to do it. Laying on him at first didn't work.

The staff hadn't worked. He walked around, no doubt just saying, God, God, what are you going to do here? Went back, laid on him a second time, and the boy sneezed seven times and his eyes opened. What do you do when you don't get the answer the first time? Keep praying. Persevere.

Be persistent. Jesus told us that parable of the woman who went to the unjust judge, and she said, I need a hearing. I know I'm not on the docket for the day, but I need a hearing, and I'm not leaving your courtroom until you address what I need. And Jesus concluded that story because he was teaching us to have faith and never to give up. He said, even though the man wasn't even just, didn't care about God or this woman, he said, if I'm going to have some sanity in my life, I need to deal with her so I can get her out of here.

That's fine. She was prepared to be a nuisance. Why?

Because she needed that judge. It's just a parable. What's the story for us? Get before the one who can make a difference. Take the pressure off the people who can't make a difference or who God won't allow to make a difference and put the pressure, if you want to call it that, on God. Say, Lord, you started this.

I'm believing you to finish it. And you've got to learn to pray until something happens. You know, if you get angry at people when they don't help you overcome a challenge, then maybe your faith was in people, not God. Remember, he alone is the source of healing, of help, and of blessing. Well, our mission at Destin for Victory is a simple one, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world. You can help by praying for the ministry and sending a special gift today. In appreciation, Pastor Paul will send you his booklet, Caregivers Need Care To. There are people in the world who spend so much time meeting the needs of others that they rarely, if ever, have their own needs met.

This booklet reminds us to be on the lookout for those who are so busy helping the people around them that they never ask for help themselves. That's Caregivers Need Care To, a booklet from Pastor Paul and our gift to you this month by request for your generous gift to Destin for Victory. Call 855-339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destin for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538.

Again, the address, Destin for Victory, Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. And if you're facing a challenge today, the Destin for Victory ministry team would like to pray for you. From the homepage at pastorpaul.net, use the contact feature to let us know how we can pray for you.

While you're there, be sure to ask for Pastor Paul's monthly letter of encouragement, yours at no cost or obligation. There are challenges, there are negative circumstances and negative situations that all of us face. You will never reach a level of faith where you don't have to deal with challenges and negativity. That's tomorrow when Pastor Paul Shepherd shares his message, Living Above Your Challenges. Until then, remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destin for Victory.