The Flip Side of Blessings, Part 2

Whatever's going on in your life, you need to be a person of faith. Don't just have faith, be a person of faith. Everything I do, I do from a place of faith. In other words, I trust God day by day. When things have not gone right. Faith is not something you save for a rainy day.

It's a lifestyle God calls us to live by, even when the skies are clear and the weather is warm. Hello and thanks for being here for today's destined for victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd. Wherever you are and however you may be listening, thanks for making this part of your day. Coming up next, Pastor Paul takes us to a beautiful Old Testament story of faith. It's not as well known as the stories of Moses or King David, but if you're going through a challenge today, I can promise you this story will be of great encouragement. Stay with us now or stop by pastorpaul.net anytime to listen to any recent message on demand.

That's pastorpaul.net. Now with today's Destined for Victory message, the flip side of blessings, here is Pastor Paul. Pastor Paul, you know it was a blessing because you get a check, but what you got to do to earn the check is a whole other matter.

And you got to deal with crazy supervisors and stuff like that. So with blessings come responsibilities. Then the third point we made was that both blessings and misfortunes can occur in the lives of God's faithful people, meaning there was the blessing of the child, but as he grew, this is the blessing of the child. Then we saw, and we're going to pick it up here, that a misfortune took place because one day as the boy went out to the field where his dad and the reapers that worked for his dad were, the boy had some sort of a medical emergency.

We don't know what it was. The Bible just says that he said, my head, my head, and he ran to his dad, my head. He was having some sort of medical emergency, and his dad did what dads do. Take the boy to his mother. And so one of the servants took the boy to the house where the mother was, and we learned last time that the boy, she sat, she had him on her lap, and he sat there on her lap until he died. He died.

So I want to pick it up there. We're in 2 Kings 4, and I want you to see what happened immediately after this death, and she knows she's holding a child that has stopped breathing. These are, of course, days where they have no Kaiser Permanente, no place they can run to, and so these are days when she's saying, if something miraculous is going to happen to save my son, it won't happen through medical science. We thank God for medical science today. Don't be against doctors, y'all. Don't be against medical science, but just know that they're physicians, but we serve the great physician.

That's all. Just thank them for what they do because they're real physicians. They're a blessing in many, many cases, but you need to know that we don't stop at the point of being grateful for what they do. We're grateful for the great physician who we can turn to at times when we don't know what else to do. And so I'll pick it up here, and I want you to look at verse 21 of 2 Kings 4, and then we'll look at many other verses as I wrap this up. I'll try to do this expeditiously. Now, so the fourth point I want to make, I just told you I reviewed the three points. Now, here's point number four. When a crisis arises, let faith lead the way. When you have a crisis in your life of any sort, do what you can do that makes sense. Take the logical steps, but let faith lead the way. Even when you take logical steps, do them in faith. And where you don't know what to do, you need to let faith lead the way. Look at how this woman does it in verse 21.

Now, get the picture. This is the room on the roof that they have built for Elisha so that when he comes to town, he always has somewhere he can study, he can pray, he can rest. And she says, I got this son who's just died in my arms. You know her heart is broken. You know she's like, oh my God, I can't believe this.

What does she do? She thinks faith. This child's birth was a faith thing. Were it not for a word from God, he'd never be here.

So now that he's leaving, I just don't believe the Lord is done working whatever miracles he wants to do through that man of God. So what does she do? She lets faith lead the way. By faith, she takes him up to the upper room, so to speak. The prophets room that they built and lays him on the bed of the man of God. This is where an anointed man lays when he comes through town. And so I'm just going to believe that perhaps the miracle I need will happen as a result of a point of contact. You see what I'm saying?

It's a point of contact. She doesn't know for sure what God is going to do, but she is saying one of the possibilities is perhaps there's enough anointing on that bed where Elisha lays, where when I laid a baby down, the child, he's not a baby, he's a child, probably pre-adolescent, but certainly a walking, talking child. When I lay him, perhaps this is how God will deal with this medical emergency he's just experienced. Let faith lead the way. Whatever's going on in your life, you need to be a person of faith. Don't just have faith, be a person of faith. Everything I do from a place of faith. In other words, I trust God day by day. I trust him when nothing is going wrong, so I'm certainly got to learn to trust him when things have not gone right.

I need to trust him. Lord, you take care of this situation for me. What do you do day by day to demonstrate that you are a person of faith? There are things like you need to be grateful every day. You need to be a person we just sang about gratefulness.

You need to be grateful every day. When you get in the shower, when you get in your bathtub, however you clean yourself up, say, Lord, thank you. While you're washing up, while you're preparing yourself, get into a mode of recognizing his lordship. See, the old saints were right. They said he woke me up this morning.

Come on, somebody. He started me on my way. They were expressing faith, and sometimes they would haul off in prayer. The alarm clock didn't wake me up. It was God that woke me up. Many alarm clocks went off all around the world.

Most folks didn't respond because it's not the alarm clock that can wake you up. It has to be a God in whom you live and breathe and have your being. And you have to express faith every day of your life. Just thank you, Lord.

This is a day you have made. I will rejoice, and I will be glad in it. And so you got to learn to let faith lead the way. In everything you do, in the good times, praise his name, but in the bad times, keep doing the same. You've got to be a person of faith. And so when crisis comes, arises, let faith lead the way. One of the ways you do that, then, is pursue the possibilities.

That's what she does here. One possibility is God may heal him just by laying him by this point of contact on the bed. By the way, that's why, just so you know, every now and then you'll see, especially pre-pandemic, you would see us anoint people with oil and put oil on their head. The oil isn't magic. The oil is a point of contact. It is saying that if it happened in the first century church where elders would anoint with oil those that were sick and the Lord would raise them up, people say, it's not the oil, it is the anointing. And the anointing is represented by the oil. Don't act like, oh, I got to get some oil, I got to get some oil.

Well, if you can find something, that's good. But if you can't, that's not the only way that healing works. It's just a point of contact. In the book of Acts, Peter was walking by some sick folk, and they got healed by his shadow passing over them, point of contact. Don't go around and start a shadow ministry. You understand what I'm saying? You don't start a shadow, oh, I got a shadow ministry.

Just get close enough to me, let my shadow God go by. You know, some folk get into such gimmicks. No, God could sovereignly do that through somebody now like he did it through Peter then.

But no need of us tripping over it. God, bless your heart, some of these folk go to the Holy Land, some of these go to the Holy Land, come back with some water. Okay, if you want to believe for the water being especially anointed because it came from the Holy Land, I'm not going to fool with your faith. According to your faith, be it unto you. But if you happen to not get healed by the water that came from the Holy Land, don't believe God no longer heals is my point.

Because if God wanted to heal from it, he could heal you from water out of the spigot if he just needed to. Come on now, you just got to learn that God is sovereign. Points of contact are one of the ways that he blesses people. But don't get hung up on the means, get hung up on the source. And the source is God.

Where I believe there's a possibility. Lay him on the bed of the man of God and she shut the door and went out. Now, look at the next passage beginning in verse 22 and several verses thereafter.

She called her husband and said please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return. Today's message is from Pastor Paul Shepherd, who is senior pastor Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, California. To listen to any of Pastor Paul's recent broadcasts, be sure to stop by pastorpaul.net to listen on demand. That's pastorpaul.net. And stay with us after today's message when Pastor Paul joins me from his studio in California. But first, let's tune into the rest of today's teaching, the flip side of blessings.

Once again, Pastor Paul Shepherd. Look at the next verse. Why go to him today?

He asked. Just like a husband. It's not a new moon or the Sabbath.

He's true. This isn't a day that normally you would go to a man of God. And so husband like, what you going there for?

It's the wrong day, not a new moon or Sabbath. Look at her response. That's all right, she said.

She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, lead on. Don't slow down for me unless I tell you. Meaning go ahead, ride fast. I can hang. I'm good. Don't slow down. Oh, I'm trying to make sure you don't fall. I'm not going to fall off. I got an emergency. I will grip you. You ain't going nowhere that I'm not going. You know how she did that, mothers. You can imagine that.

There's no way that man can shake you off. So she said, unless I tell you, you just go ahead and ride hard. Verse 25. So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, now picture this, he saw her coming.

And he said to Gehazi, who was right there with him, look, there's the Shunammite. Run to meet her and ask her, are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right? Look at her response.

Everything's all right. When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away. How dare you act common with a man of God is what the servant is thinking.

He's a good armor bearer. Came to be pushing up on the man of God. But look at her. So he came over to push her away. The man of God said, leave her alone. She is in bitter distress. But the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why. All right, let's unpack that. All right, so she called her husband. Go back to verse 22.

Send me one of the servants and a donkey that I can go to the man of God quickly and return. Here's the subpoint I want to make here. We already talked about subpoint A of pursue the possibility. Subpoint B is stay focused.

When you're believing God for something unusual, when you're believing God out of a place of desperation, you're believing, Lord, what in the world do we do to deal with this problem? Stay focused on the issue, not the potential distractions is what I'm getting at here. Now, look at this. She didn't allow her husband questioning her to distract her. Now, imagine how she felt.

She could have got into it with him just out of being stressed. You all know, quit looking like you don't know what I'm talking about. You know how easy it is to get into something stupid because you are upset. No, no, see, you're playing me.

No. How many of you married people will be honest enough to admit we have had the dumbest argument over something that really wasn't important because one of us was stressed about something else? Let me see some honest hands.

Oh, thank you for the honesty up in here. The married people had their hand down, pray for them. They tripping. They know good and well they did. You can just get into the dumbest argument because you are distracted by something that has come up. She didn't let her husband questioning her. She didn't say, what you talking about? I know where I'm going to go.

All I need is the dumbest. Don't nobody need you questioning me. You know that could have happened. She is stressed. Her baby just died. You know he could have regretted the rest of his life that he asked her, why are you going to Elisha today? That question could be burned into his consciousness the rest of his days because of how she teed off on him. What else could have distracted her in this passage? Gehazi's questions. When they saw her coming and he sent Gehazi to find out what's going on, that could have been a distraction that derailed her blessing. So he shows up. Now her goal is to get to the man of God, not to get to the man of God's personal assistant.

Come on. She's still stressed. She's still frustrated.

She's still, God, what are you going to do? You know, when he shows up, stops the fast-riding donkey. Come on. You got to think when you read your Bible.

Stop. Normally, you don't push up on a man of God, especially in these days. You don't do that. He's not common. And so their thought process is, if he sends your servant, he's representing him. In her case, she's like, I know Gehazi's a wonderful man. God bless him.

What I need to do is go to the same man who out of his mouth spoke this now dead child into existence. So this ain't about no servant today. So she could have easily, when, now look at what Gehazi said, when Gehazi gets there, he asks, are you all right? Your husband all right? Your child all right?

She said, everything all right? You see, I'm riding fast. What you stopping me over here? You know I got somewhere I got to go. I'm trying to help you all get a blessing. You got to get out of your own way sometimes.

This is what I came to tell you. Some of us get in our own way. We let minor stuff become major stuff because of the mindset we're in, the emotional state we're in.

And you have to be disciplined enough to rein yourself in. Sometimes if you answer the question quickly, you can move on. But if you stop and debate it, why you stop me? You see why I'm trying to go. Look at her answer. Everything is all right. Four words. Everything is all right.

It's good. And then look at verse 27, when she reached the man of God. You see what that means? Everything is good and then she goes past Gehazi. Gehazi has to go with them to the man of God because he sees she's not stopping for me. She's not going to stay here in the road while I go back and report to him what she said. Clearly, she didn't come to just give us information. So Gehazi doesn't stop her any further.

He gets the question answered and he moves forward with her. And so that's what you got to learn to do. Some of y'all got to understand that you're in your own way. I love, pastor loves you, but I got to tell you sometimes you get in your own way.

You start majoring in minor issues. If you need God to move, put yourself in the frame of mind where you say I'm going to do everything I know to do and I'm going to learn to actively trust God. I'm going to pray, I'm going to do what I can, but at the end of the day, I've got to trust God with something that unless he does it, it's not going to get done. Thanks so much for being here for today's Destined for Victory message, the flip side of blessings. I'm pleased to welcome Pastor Paul who joins me now from his studio. Pastor, thank you.

The last several months our world has been challenging to say the least. We've had many friends who have suffered illness, many who have lost loved ones, others have experienced God's mercy in many ways. And if we follow the Lord, I know we all have learned something along the way and I thought it'd be great if you would share with our listeners just a word what God has been teaching you through this time.

I'm happy to do that. I've been reminded over and over again about the truths captured in the lyrics of an old song. You know, I'm an old church going.

I grew up being a pew baby. I heard lots of hymns, lots of anthems and lots of gospel songs sung as I was growing up. And one of them I'm thinking about now was called Hold to God's Unchanging Hand. A couple of verses where time is filled with swift transition, not on earth unmoved can stand. Build your hopes on things eternal. Hold to God's unchanging hand. The second verse says, trust in him who will not leave you whatever the years may bring when your earthly friends forsake you.

Or we might add, when they leave you just through death. You've got to hold to God's unchanging hand. And the chorus says, everybody ought to hold to his hand, God's unchanging hand. Hold to his hand, God's unchanging hand. Build your hopes on things eternal and hold to God's unchanging hand.

I'm going to look that one up. I love those old hymns. I've been holding on to that theme throughout this pandemic. The one thing you can count on is that he is there for us. I have buried more people than I care to think about over these past two years as a pastor. Many of them were near and dear. Some of them were responsible for helping me get to where I am in ministry.

And I had to say farewell to them during this time. But whatever we go through with these swift transitions in life, we must understand how important it is to hold to God's unchanging hand. And I hope Destined for Victory is there to help you remember God is always a present help, even in our times of trouble. That's one of the reasons why I'm so glad to have you as a partner in ministry, Pastor. You're always encouraging us to place our complete faith and trust in Jesus, no matter what challenges life brings our way. Well, earlier this month on Destined for Victory, Pastor Paul shared his message taking care of caregivers.

It was a great reminder that people who spend a lot of time caring for others very often don't get cared for themselves. Today, we'd like to offer you a booklet that goes hand in hand with those messages. It's called Caregivers Need Care To, and it's our gift to you this month by request for your generous donation to Destined 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 Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. Once again, the address, Destined for Victory, Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. 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. And that's tomorrow in Pastor Paul's continuing message, The Flipside of Blessings. Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory.