Share This Episode
Leading the Way Michael Youssef Logo

If God is in Control, Why is My Life Such a Mess?, Part 1

Leading the Way / Michael Youssef
The Truth Network Radio
November 25, 2024 12:00 am

If God is in Control, Why is My Life Such a Mess?, Part 1

Leading the Way / Michael Youssef

On-Demand Podcasts NEW!

This broadcaster has 630 podcast archives available on-demand.

Broadcaster's Links

Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.


November 25, 2024 12:00 am

In this series, Dr. Youssef takes the time to answer some of your most practical questions about God's sovereignty. Join him as he draws from his own life story. . .and the life stories of biblical greats Elijah and Queen Esther. Let Dr. Youssef show you how God really is in control. . .even when it looks like He's not!

COVERED TOPICS / TAGS (Click to Search)
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

One of the things that I've learned in ministry and in my own walk with the Lord is that really there's a little bale in every one of us.

Pastor and author, Dr. Michael Youssef, introducing what's ahead on Leading the Way Audio. There's a little shrine in all of us, and I believe the scripture would say to us today, you need to deal with it. God doesn't want us to pray about it. God doesn't want us to fast about it.

No, God wants us to exterminate it. Several years ago, Dr. Youssef accepted an invitation to teach at the Billy Graham Training Center in North Carolina. Well, we're inviting you to listen in to the practical teaching he shared on this episode of Leading the Way. First, though, this quick reminder that Leading the Way is listener supported. Ministry is made possible through the generosity of those blessed by Dr. Youssef and Leading the Way. So learn how you can stand with Dr. Youssef at ltw.org or call us and speak to a ministry representative at the call center, 866-626-4356. Right now, sit back and hear how God worked in the life of Elijah.

Thank you for listening to Leading the Way. What I want to share with you today and probably the very thing that has impacted my life, the very verse upon which my call to the ministry, my whole outlook on life is built. And from that verse, it takes me to a life of a person and that life of that individual.

And the Elijah has literally been a guide to me other than, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And here's the verse that really began to impact my life. It's in James 5 verses 16 and 17.

And here's what James, the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, said. He said, Elijah was a man like unto us, but he prayed for the rain to stop and it stopped raining. And he prayed for rain to come down and it came down. And I've often asked myself when I began to find this verse to literally internalize it deep into my heart and I would read it and I would read it over and over and over again.

And I would ask people, you know, what does James mean by this? That Elijah was just a man like unto us, but he prayed for it not to rain, it did not rain. And then he prayed for it and it rained. I always got two reactions. I got one reaction that says, well, God doesn't answer prayer like this anymore. The second reaction is he only answered prayers of super spiritual people. And I kept saying, but James said he was a man like unto us. There's got to be a reason why he said he was just a man like unto us. There's got to be a reason why he was getting us to identify with him. And I basically came to the conclusion that both reactions are wrong because the problem with most of us is that we just don't take the time to find out why and how and when does God answer prayers like that? He was a man like unto us, period.

It's very important. So that I spent a great deal of my time in my life, in my ministry, studying Elijah. And then I wrote a book on it. And in fact I identified my own life journey with that of Elijah.

Not that I'll ever claim to be a prophet, don't misunderstand me. But I identified with him, with his struggle. I identified with his pain. I identified with his confusion at times when God absolutely did not make sense in his life. I identified with all of the things that this man of God went through. And I hope some of you will identify with that. And then you come out of this time, truly, with a renewed vision for who the Lord is and who you are in the Lord and what the Lord can do in order to bless you and bless your ministries, whatever it may be, and bless your spiritual gifts which I know that every one of you has one.

Elijah pops up from nowhere. No background, no family tree, no string of degrees after his name that he can brag about. And here's what I really want to share with you today. I want to communicate this to you today. That if you want to make a difference for God in your life, it's better to understand how God works. It is better to understand that what really impresses people does not impress God. Now we have this idea that if we do, you know, if something really impresses a large number of people, God must be impressed. That what moves people necessarily is what moves God and the heart of God. The way we judge people is not necessarily the way God judges people.

God has a really whole different set of criterion by which he judges us and he qualifies his people to do his work, to be effective in their homes and churches and everywhere they go. One of the stories that again impacted my life, I read many years ago, was that of Oliver Cromwell who was in charge of the treasury of England and they ran out of the silver mint coinage for the realm and the empire. And Cromwell sent people out to find silver. He said we need silver to make coins to keep the economy going. And they came back and they said to him, he said the only silver we can find in the whole, the breadth and the width of Britain is the silver that is in the statues that are in the cathedrals.

Which gave rise to the famous statement by Oliver Cromwell. He said well, we're just going to have to melt the saints and put them into circulation. And I am convinced from my own personal experience and from the life of God's people in the scripture, I'm convinced that before God can use his man or his woman, God has to melt them down. That before God can put his saints into circulation, he's got to melt them down. One of my favorite verses that are broken and contrite heart God will not despise. And I'm never afraid of brokenness, in fact it's the times of brokenness in my life, the times when I've grown in Christ.

The times when everything was humming, the times when I'm not really growing. King Ahab was probably the most wicked king in Israel, but probably the biggest wimp. And in addition to his wickedness, he was married to a woman more wicked than he was. Jezebel was the daughter of the king of Sidon, that's modern day Lebanon. Jezebel was an intense worshiper of Baal, that is the god of the Phoenicians, the country of her father. And Baal in the Bible was the symbol of Satan. And so she literally brought the worship of Satan into the very land of God, to the people of God. And that's why Israel lost its commission to being a light to the nations for the time being, because of their disobedience.

May God forbid that we would lose our commission that the Lord Jesus Christ has given us because of our disobedience. Baal was the god of power without righteousness. Baal was the god of lust without love. Baal was an amoral and immoral god. Baal had a bad side and a good side, and people most of the time did not know which side they were dealing with.

He was the god of confusion, just like the devil. And I want to tell you something at the outset. One of the things that I've learned in ministry and in my own walk with the Lord, is that really there's a little Baal in every one of us. And there's constantly trying to set up a beachhead and constantly expand that beachhead in our lives. There's a little shrine in all of us. And I believe the scripture would say to us today, you need to deal with it.

You know what the little Baal's are in your life as I know in mine. God doesn't want us to pray about it. God doesn't want us to fast about it. God does not want us to read books about it. No, God wants us to deal with it. He doesn't want us to understand it. He doesn't want us to be counseled about it. He wants us to deal with it. Absolutely God wants us to exterminate it. And if you do what Israel did, and keep on tolerating it in your life, and keep on feeding it, flirting with it, it could prove to be your undoing. You see little Baals in our lives are like a gas leak.

I use this illustration with our staff on a regular basis. I said, you know when you hear about a preacher falling, when you hear about a Christian leader falling, it did not happen overnight. It's like a gas leak that is dripping, one drop at a time. And then one day, a spark is lit and then we see the fire.

But for a long time, there is a gas leak that is taking place. And it is our daily commitment to the Lord as a team is that there will be no gas leaks in our lives so that we will stand as pure servants of the living God. For years, the Israelites flirted with Baal. For years, they flirted with Baal worshipers. But when Jezebel was married to Ahab, the king of Israel, that spark was lit and the nation literally plunged into immorality. Elijah, the man of God who came from nowhere, whose name means Jehovah is my God, is given an awesome task of confronting immorality and compromise in Israel.

I tell you I wouldn't be in his place for anything, but I would be in his place in a moment's notice if what God calls me to be. And I believe that should be the cry of every one of us . How did God tell him to do it? Well, it's a huge task.

It's an awesome task. Elijah confronts the evil society by confronting the leadership. Like a fish that rots from the head, society rots from the head. Elijah looked at Ahab and he said, as the Lord the God of Israel lives whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except by my words.

Powerful words. And then the Lord said to Elijah, okay Elijah, now that you have delivered the message, go and hide. Go and hide in the brook, by the brook of Cherith, or some people say Careth, but really Cherith is more accurate, east of the Jordan. He said, you'll drink from that brook and I will order the ravens to feed you there. And I can imagine the old queen and the king and the members of the court and the prophets of Baal. Here is this guy who comes in, looks like a yahoo, and he points his finger at the king and he says, now king, there shall be no rain or dew for years until I say so. And then he takes off. And now imagine the conversation that took place after that. Who is this yahoo?

Where did this politically incorrect guy come from? But after a while they were not laughing because it came to pass. They weren't laughing. In fact, they were sending out an APB for Elijah. Find him, search for him.

But they couldn't. And the reason they couldn't find him is because God was hiding him. God was hiding him. You see, when God hides you, you're hidden. I don't know about you, but I know I've been in God's hidden programs. And I know that when he hid me, I hid.

I really hid good. When he protects you, he protects you. When God shelters you, he shelters you. When he shields you, he shields you.

And nobody can touch you. And God commanded Elijah to hide. And I say, Lord, how can you call a man to public ministry? How do you call a man to take the all important message to the king? And then you say, okay, now you delivered your message, go and hide. How can you do that, Lord?

You call him and then you tell him to hide. Well, I don't want you to miss this. It's important. It's confusing at times. God's hiding places are always place of preparation for the next step.

Always. God's hiding places are the places of protection for greater service. I've no doubt in my mind, I've absolutely no doubt as I'm standing here that Elijah was perplexed.

You can see it in the text. He was a prophet. He was a preacher. He was a leader. And yet God said, leave here, go eastward and hide yourself. This, no doubt, was a perplexing command.

But, because God said it, it was a purposeful command. Whenever God is preparing a woman or man for great things, invariably he sends them into a hiding place. Joseph, the favorite son, was hidden in the pit, then was hidden in part of his house, then he was hidden in the prison before he could become the prime minister of Egypt. Moses, from the luxury of Pharaoh's palaces to the desert, hidden from view so God can use him. Esther was hidden from view before she was able to save a nation. And the Lord Jesus Christ himself for 30 years in Nazareth, he was hidden before publicly proclaimed the Messiah. Paul, after an encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he had to be hidden in the northern Arabian, actually most people believe it's Petra in Jordan where he spent three years. Is there a word from the Lord to each of us today?

Well, yes. To the young man whose life is seen to be hidden from view, her life that seemed, her responsibility seemed to revolve around changing diapers, feeding, it's providence hiding her so that she can impact the life of her children. What is God saying? He may be hiding you for a duration but he's hiding you for some great things. So someone who's shut in and feels that God is hiding them, well he's hiding them for a purpose. There are some people whom God hides in their job and they long to make a change and they want to get out of their situation. And I get people coming to me all the time and say, I want to discern the will of God. I say, what do you want to discern about the will of God?

What's the next step in my life? I say, well, why do you want to know the next step in your life? Because he said, I'm miserable where I am. I said, how did you know that God does not want you to be exactly where you are? God is keeping you there for a purpose. God, when he is ready to get you to move, he will make it clear for you to move. God wants every one of us to be at some point in our lives in this by the brook, the cherith brook.

Why? Because only there that God can work his purposes out. Only there. There, when you are in your cherith, only God can talk to you. Only God can reach you.

And those of you who have been by the brook know how unreachable you could have been except through God, that God is the only one who can reach down to you. Because there, there is no one to cheer you up. Whether you there emotionally, whether you there psychologically, whether you there spiritually. There, no one to cheer you up. No book can help you. And you can read all the books you want.

No one, no friend that you can relate to. And there Elijah at the bottom of the ravine east of the Jordan sat in this desolate place. There's nothing but rocks and trees and dripping water.

But don't underestimate those three things. The rocks reminded him of the rock of ages. And the trees reminded him and taught him what the psalmist have said. That the tree that's planted by the living water is the tree that will be producing fruit. And the dripping water taught him that from his inner most being will flow rivers of water. But God also does an inward work when you are in your cherith. Something happened inwardly in Elijah's life. When he was in God's hiding place. Do you want to know how I know that?

Do you want to know how I know that? Well in verse one, it says, he simply says actually, he was just called Elijah the Tisha bite. Then on verse 24, the widow of Zarephath says, I know that you are a man of God. God had already done something inwardly in his life. First he was just Elijah the Tisha bite.

That's all he is. But then after God had dealt with him, this woman testified and said, you are a man of God. And God can do something inwardly in your life when you are in his hiding place. What did God do? Well, God was basically peeling off the layers until he got down to the real Elijah.

Layer after layer, just like peeling an onion. It was peeling one layer after another until he got to the real Elijah. Some of you may be trying to hold on to these layers in your life that God is trying to peel off.

And you are holding tenaciously on it. But God desires to get to the real you. And the only way he can get to the real you is by peeling those layers. Because God is not interested of what you project who you are. He is not interested in your perception or perceptions of others of who you are. God is not interested in the public you. God is interested in the inward you. He is not interested in the outward you. He is interested in the inward you. Not many years ago I heard a story about a young man who went to visit a holy man, a godly monk. And he heard about this man for many years and finally he went up to the monastery and sat down and began to talk to the man. He said, what do you do all day?

What do you do? He said, well I am constantly actually wrestling. He said, oh, you wrestle with the devil. He said, no, no, no, no, I don't wrestle with the devil. I wrestle with God. And the guy said, you wrestle with God?

Why are you hoping to win? He said, no, no, no, no, you don't understand. I wrestle with God so that I can lose. And this old monk got it right because that's what Jacob did in the valley of the Jabbok. He was wrestling with God until he lost. And Elijah at the brook, he was wrestling with God until he lost.

And only then can you expect God to bless you when you lose. So this command to Elijah was a perplexing command, but it was also a purposeful command. But then there was a place of provision. Where ever you are in God's hiding place, you can be sure of God's provision.

He doesn't take you anywhere where he does not protect you. God provided Elijah with the most unusual catering service. And it was two ways.

It was natural and it was supernatural. Verse 4, 1 Kings 17, he said, drink from the brook. Now that's the natural provision. And we're going to see later on the brook dried up. But then he said, I command the ravens to feed you. Now that's supernatural.

You've got to have grown up in the Middle East to understand this one, or some of you might, I don't know. But you see, by nature, raven is a ravenous bird. They eat everything in sight. In fact, they will starve their young in order to feed themselves.

They are a vulturous kind of bird. And yet God said to Elijah, Elijah, I'm going to use them who would have eaten you alive to bring you meat every morning, bread and meat every morning and every evening. That's supernatural.

Only God could have done that. Thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef as he begins this life changing series, If God is in Control. Learn more about Leading the Way and the ways that you can support this worldwide ministry by visiting us online at ltw.org. Now that's also where you can learn about opportunities to watch and listen to Dr. Youssef's inspirational teaching, like the Leading the Way app and several available podcasts, ltw.org. Please do know that Leading the Way is not just a program that you hear on the radio or through your favorite podcast platform. Leading the Way is a global ministry staffed by passionate people who care about your spiritual growth. And that's why we offer several free resources.

Allow me to share an example or two. First, my journal. My journal is a monthly magazine overflowing with content about how the gospel is changing lives around the world, specifically through Leading the Way and trusted partner organizations. In addition to my journal, consider subscribing to My Devotional. This is a daily email that helps you dig deeper into God's word through practical guidance and teaching from Dr. Youssef. My Devotional is also available in podcast form. So if being encouraged through listening seems to work better with your schedule, just subscribe to the My Devotional podcast today. Learn about these and subscribe at ltw.org. That's ltw.org. You can also reach out when you call us, 866-626-4356. Well, it's time for me to say goodbye, not before I invite you to join Dr. Michael Youssef for the next Leading the Way. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-11-25 08:44:02 / 2024-11-25 08:52:46 / 9

Get The Truth Mobile App and Listen to your Favorite Station Anytime