Overcoming the Insurmountable: Know that God Is in Control

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. To find out how to know God personally, go to knowgod.org. K-N-O-W, knowgod.org.

Hey, would you do me a favor? Share this message with someone who needs to hear it. When we have a problem, God has a plan, and Pastor Greg Laurie says it's up to us whether we follow His plan or follow our pride. God really does love you, and He really does have a wonderful plan for your life. Now listen to this, He's not going to force that plan in your life. You can box the plan, you can abort the plan, you can sabotage the plan, or you can cooperate with the plan.

That is up to you. God will not force His purpose in your life. This is the day when the lost are found This is the day for a new beginning Amazing grace how sweet the sound Again you hear all the angels are singing This is the day, the day when life begins As we watch a movie and the main character is in great peril, we may wonder how in the world will they get out of this? How?

Ask the director, or the actor, or the cinematographer. Everyone behind the scenes knows they've read the script. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out when we're in a jam, God knows how to get us out. He knows the end from the beginning. And today Pastor Greg shows us how he delivered the Israelites in a very unusual way.

This is the day, the day when life begins Let me ask you a question. Have you ever faced what seemed like an insurmountable obstacle? Maybe you are facing it right now. Something that is so big, so overwhelming you just wish you could turn and run away. An incurable illness. What seems like an unsolvable problem.

A prodigal child. A marriage that is unraveling. You think it will never get fixed.

Ever. Well if that is what you are facing right now, you have a general idea of how the nation Israel felt as they stood before the massive ancient city of Jericho. The city that God said they were supposed to conquer and His battle plan was one of the most unorthodox ever envisioned in human history. As you know already they were to march around the city for seven days. That was the plan. And then on the seventh day march around it multiple times and then yell and blow trumpets. That is not the craziest plan I have ever heard.

But it was a plan designed by God to show His power. We all have big challenges in life. It might be a problem. It might be a challenge.

It might even be an opportunity. But all you know is it is really big and there is no way you can do it in your own strength. And you know for many the greatest difficulty is to get to the place where they are willing to admit they need God. Where they are willing to admit that that thing they are facing is too big for them. And that if God doesn't come through they are not going to get through it. And by the way that is not a bad place to be. As the great British preacher used to say, Alan Redpath, when you get to the end of yourself you get to the beginning of God.

Now let's sort of pick the story up. We remember that God has delivered the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt. Why did He bring them out of Egypt? So He could bring them into the promised land.

Deuteronomy 6 23 says, He brought us out from there that He might bring us in to give us the land which He swore to our fathers. And it just reminds us that God always has an end game. Maybe you are at a point in your life where things aren't making sense. There seems to be a lot of loose ends.

A lot of unanswered questions. But God has a game plan. God has a beginning, a middle, and the end. Now we don't always know where we are in life. Some of us think we are at the beginning when we may be near the end. Some of us think we are near the end when maybe we are near well a new beginning. So we are not quite sure. But you just need to know that God has a plan and God finishes what He begins.

He is described as the author and finisher of our faith. I don't know about you but I don't always finish what I begin. I have an office at home. It is just really a room that I have my computers in and my books and such.

And it looks like a bomb went off in there. Ok. It had so much junk because I am a pack rat. Ok. I don't throw anything away.

My wall is covered with drawings from my grandchildren. I have all these things that I think I will need later, which I really don't need later. And so I got to a point where I couldn't find anything. I lost my wife for a week.

I thought she might be in there somewhere. So I just said ok this is the day. So I attacked it.

And I got these bins and I filled them. And I almost was completely done. I mean it was absolutely transformed. But I didn't quite finish it. I moved this stuff to another place. And it was looking pretty good. There are still a few little piles. But I have noticed those little piles are now starting to grow again you see. See I did it the wrong way.

I need to completely clean it. I didn't complete what I began. But God always finishes what He starts. So He has a plan for you. Now listen to this. He is not going to force that plan in your life.

I know you have heard it before but it is true. God really does love you. And He really does have a wonderful plan for your life. Having said that you can botch the plan. You can abort the plan. You can sabotage the plan. Or you can cooperate with the plan.

That is up to you. God will not force His purpose in your life. He said this to the Israelites and it is in principle true for us as well. In Deuteronomy 11 26 He says, Behold I set before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today. And the curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God. But turn aside from the way which I command you today to go after other gods which you have not known. And in the same way we have that choice before us each and every day. We can choose life or choose the blessing by choosing to follow God.

Or we can choose death and in effect the curse by not following God. He brought them out to bring them in. He brought us out to bring us in. He brought us out of sin to bring us into light. The apostle Paul describing what conversion looks like says, We turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. And the point is we go from darkness to light. He brings us out to bring us in.

It doesn't say He brought us from black to gray or from cold to lukewarm. And here is the problem. Some of us go part of the way. Sort of like me cleaning my office. I did it part of the way. And I might even add most of the way. But I didn't do it completely.

So we see I am going to follow Jesus and Jesus can have this part of my life and He can have that part of my life. But there are a few little piles over here I am keeping to myself. And I won't say what those are piles of. But probably papers or trash or things you don't need. But whatever it is these are mine.

I am going to keep these. And then those little piles turn into big piles. And pretty soon you find out that you haven't changed as much as you should have. 1 Peter 2 says, They stumble because they do not obey God's word. But you are not like that, speaking to Christians. You are a chosen people. A holy nation called from darkness to light to show others.

The goodness of God. So He brought them out to bring them in. So here are the Israelites now. They are out of Egypt. The Red Sea has parted for them.

And they are now moving forward. They were going to the promised land. God is giving to us the land of promises. In just a moment Pastor Greg points out how this deliverance at Jericho fits well into the pattern of deliverance we see from God toward His people.

More on that in just a moment. We love to hear stories of how lives have been changed through Greg Laurie's teachings of God's word through the years. Pastor Greg, I grew up listening to you whenever we were in my mom's car driving somewhere.

My first concert was in the fourth grade to see Zoe Girl at your Riverside campus. Recently I've been overcome with anxiety and fear in regards to the coronavirus and the end of the world stuff. I started listening to your sermons again and you've helped me so much. Your voice and teaching is one that really calms me. I feel like the Lord is drawing me nearer and closer to Him when I had unknowingly been distanced from Him. Thank you for the wake up call and for your continued ministry. I find myself tearing up because I'm so blessed. Thank you. It's so encouraging when we hear that listeners are growing by hearing these studies. Do you have a story to tell of how Pastor Greg's teachings have impacted your life?

If so, would you let us know? Call us at 1-866-871-1144. That's 866-871-1144. And now Pastor Greg continues his message called Overcoming the Insurmountable. Let's listen. So let's go back historically now. The Israelites have been delivered from Egypt and they came in short order to the point of entry of the land of Canaan, the promised land, which would ultimately become the nation Israel. And the point of entry was a spot called Kadesh Barnea. So instead of marching in they said, well, let's check this out. Let's send some spies in. So 12 spies went in. Two of them we know by name, Joshua and Caleb. Joshua and Caleb went in along with 10 other spies. And when they came back there was a majority report and there was a minority report.

Ten said, there's no way we should go in there. The people are really big. In fact we were like grasshoppers in their sight. Joshua and Caleb came back and said, yeah, things are big in the new land. But check out this cluster of grapes we brought out. These grapes are so big it took two of us to get them out of the place.

Let's go for it. But the people of Israel said, no. They were filled with unbelief.

They said, we do not want to go in. The problem is they had a small god. Thus they had big problems. And that unbelief cost them 40 years of needless wilderness wanderings. Unbelief says let's stay back where it is safe.

In contrast faith says let's go forward where God is working. Well here is the problem. They didn't go forward. They went around in circles because God was going to weed out all of the daughters. And so now 40 years had passed.

Going around and around and around again. And then they were whining. Complaining about the food God gave them called manna.

I mean granted every day they had manna. So what is for breakfast today? Manna omelet.

Awesome. Lunch. Manna meatloaf.

Ok. Dinner. Manna pizza. And every day it was some version of manna.

And they started complaining. They said to Moses, we are sick of manna. We have tried every version of manna we could eat. We have had the manna splits.

We have had manicotti. We don't want any more manna. They said, we remember the good old days back in Egypt where we used to eat garlic and onions and leeks.

Man their breath must have stunk. Right. Ok. And best of all we remember the meat. We want fresh meat. So the Lord said they want meat.

I am going to give it to them. And the Bible says God rained quail on them. And these people were so hungry for meat they ate the birds before they were even dead. But the Bible says it turned bitter in their mouth.

The Scripture says He gave them what they wanted but He sent leanness to their souls. Careful what you ask for. You might get it. I think that is why it is always a good thing in prayer to say, not my will but Yours be done. Lord I think this is what I need. And I think this is what I want. But You know better than I do. And if for some reason this request that I am now praying is outside of Your will, please I ask You overrule it.

That is a good way to pray. Well we want meat God says. Are you sure? Yes.

Here you go. They got what they wanted. So now their numbers shrunk. And they are no longer the great multitude they were. In fact that older generation is gone. Now we have a whole new generation.

They are young people. They didn't go through the Red Sea. They just heard the stories. They have lived their whole life eating manna.

The only life they have known is a life in the wilderness. These are the people now that are going to go into the promised land. God was going to lead them in but they needed their own encounter with the Lord.

And you know what. Every generation needs their own encounter with the Lord. Over 40 years ago we had the Jesus movement. And a whole generation was impacted.

But we are all grandparents now. If we were there for that. And we are praying for another Jesus movement for our young people today. That they can encounter God in their own way and see the Lord work.

That is what we should be praying for. And now there is a big barrier keeping this new generation ready to enter into the promised land from getting in. And it was called the Jordan River. Now granted it wasn't as big as the Red Sea but hey it was still big enough.

Enough to keep them out. I have seen the Jordan River. It is a powerful rushing river. So they come to the bank of it and they look at it.

There is no way they can get over it. So the Lord does a special miracle just for them. And the waters part. Sort of like a mini Red Sea. And they went in and got their feet wet. What is interesting about the Jordan River is the Lord said walk in and it was still moving.

And it didn't open up until they got into the water. And sometimes the Lord will say take this little step of faith. And you have to first get your feet wet. And it doesn't happen right in front of you.

You have to be willing to take that risk. And that is what they did. So the Jordan River opens up. They walk through it now.

And now they are facing what appears to be an insurmountable obstacle. The first city that they are to conquer in the promised land. The city of Jericho. But before they go in a mysterious visitor comes to them.

You can read about it later in Joshua 5. A massive strapping soldier with a very large sword. Joshua looks at him and says, Excuse me. Are you friend or foe? And he is thinking, Please say friend.

Please say friend. And that massive soldier says, I am commander of the Lord's army. Some believe this was an angel. Others believe this was a Christophany. And a Christophany is an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament. I sort of lean toward the latter. I think this may have been an appearance of Christ Himself.

And here is why I think that. Because this messenger says to Joshua, Take off your shoes. You are standing on holy ground. I don't think an angel would say that.

In fact when people would try to worship angels they would rebuff them. But of course this reminds us of what happened to Moses at the burning bush as God spoke to him. So what the burning bush was to Moses this soldier is to Joshua. It is his own encounter with the Lord. And God is preparing him now for Jericho. Which by the way comes from an original Hebrew phrase that translates out to the big enchilada. No I made that up.

But it was big. And so now here comes the battle plan for conquering the big enchilada. Here is the plan for bringing down the mighty walls of Jericho and the inhabitants. Joshua chapter 6. Now I am going to read verses 1 to 5.

Read along with me. I am reading from the New Living Translation. Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites.

No one was allowed to go in or out. But the Lord said to Joshua, I have given you Jericho, its king and its mighty warriors. Your entire army is to march around the city once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the ark, each carrying a ram's horn. And on the seventh day you march around the city seven times with the priests blowing your horns. And when you hear the priests give one loud blast on the horns all the people should shout.

Then the walls of the city will collapse and the people can charge straight into the city. I want you to notice this battle was already decided. God said in verse 2, I have given you Jericho, the king and its mighty warriors. Did you know the battle you are in is already won? You don't fight for victory. You fight from victory. Satan is a defeated foe at the cross of Calvary. Jesus dealt a decisive blow against the devil and his followers, his minions if you will.

And he conquered them. So when we face the devil we stand in the Lord and in the power of his might. Not in our strength but in his strength. Now I am not saying you are not going to be tempted.

I am not going to say you won't be harassed. And I am not saying the devil is not powerful. But what I am saying is you will never be tempted above your capacity to resist. And your God is greater than your adversary. So this battle is already decided just as it was for Israel. We just need to do what God tells us to do. For them march around the city in silence once a day for six days. And on the seventh day march around seven times and then scream and blow trumpets. Do you ever feel like God is just messing with your mind a little bit?

I mean what kind of a crazy battle plan is this? It seems as though the Lord goes out of his way to come up with plans to cause us to be dependent upon him. Whether it is Israel with their trumpets or Gideon with his torches. And we will look at that next time. God loves to use human weakness to show his strength. But understand this. There is always a method to the madness.

And this is not madness at all. But God had a plan and God had a purpose and a reason for having them do this. But it seems to me that the Lord will find unusual ways to lead us so we will realize it is from Him. Pastor Greg Laurie with great insights today into God's plan for Joshua and the battle of Jericho. And there is more to come as this study continues.

And Pastor Greg will have a closing comment in just a moment. But for a permanent copy of the full message you heard today here on A New Beginning, get in touch for the study called Overcoming the Insurmountable. We will pass along ordering details when you dial 1-800-821-3300. That is a 24 hour number so call right now 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. And then we are so happy to make available a new resource for the holiday called The Jesus Storybook Bible A Christmas Collection by gifted children's author Sally Lloyd-Jones who is joining us today. She has such a wonderful way of making scripture come alive for kids.

Pastor Greg. Sally if you were to just sum everything up about telling a child a story. What is the secret for a parent listening right now of engaging their child and sharing a Bible story with them and in particular the Christmas story? Well the first thing that comes to my mind is to be together with the child in wonder before the story because we're all God's children whether we're two or we're 92. And I think a child really responds when you treat them as with respect and you don't you know talk down to them especially when you come to them with them before a Bible story and you're both going to be spoken to with the expectation that God's going to speak to both of you. So I think that's a really good way of doing it where you're just together reacting in the moment to the story and going wow I wonder what that would have been like. Rather than coming with some kind of agenda that you've got to teach the child. So in other words I'm giving you permission not to come with any kind of sense that you've got to have it all together. You just come with the child and see what God does.

Excellent advice from Sally Louis Jones a prolific children's author who knows what she's talking about. And you can order this resource to look at with your children with on wonder as you rediscover the story of Christmas. The story of the birth of Jesus as a rival on planet Earth. It's called the Jesus Storybook Bible A Christmas Collection featuring stories songs and reflections for the Advent season. And we'll send it to you this month for your gift of any size to help us continue to teach God's word and proclaim the gospel through a new beginning. Yeah that's right it's such a rich resource. The artwork is beautiful Sally's text is engaging and it's interactive. Plus you press one button and hear a sample of Christmas music.

And you can press another and hear a short reading from British actor David Suchet. Everything was ready. The moment God had been waiting for was here at last.

God was coming to help us. Well we'll be glad to send you the Jesus Storybook Bible A Christmas Collection to thank you for your donation. You choose the amount. Our mailing address is A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime 24-7. Again dial 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. Next time more from Pastor Greg's study of Joshua and Jericho. But before we go Pastor Greg reiterates how the Lord will sometimes work in unusual ways. Look at the different ways that Jesus healed people.

Have you ever noticed that each case was different? To one person he would speak the word and they would be healed. To another he would touch them and they would be healed. To even another they would touch him and they would be healed. And to one guy who was blind he spit on the ground, rubbed it in dirt, and put it in the guy's eye. Here buddy. Here is mud in your eye. I mean can you imagine if you came to me for prayer would you pray for me Pastor?

Sure I would be happy to. What are you doing? It is in the Bible. Why did Jesus do this?

So people would not get hung up on the technique. It is God that heals. He can heal in many ways. He can heal you through the prayers of believers. He can heal you in the elders of the church. Pray for you and anoint you with oil. He can heal you through the guided hands of a gifted surgeon. There are many ways He can touch you but ultimately we say, well that was from the Lord. But God intentionally changes His method so we will continually look to Him. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.