Anything you bring to God is living. He said, This is a small thing. You got a marriage that looks like it's going to end in divorce. It's a small thing. Your career is on the downside.
It's a small thing. I don't know how big it feels, but when it gets placed in the hands of God, He says, This ain't nothing but a small thing. It ain't that hard for the Lord.
Sometimes things go from bad to worse.
Sometimes when You think things are on the upswing, they go.
South. When that happens, you become disappointed. You become. Just irritated because Hope is dashed. when things go from bad to worse.
In Second Kings chapter three. We have a story. And I have a simple challenge to you from this. Chapter. And that is to keep digging your ditches.
My challenge to you today. For the new year in all of its idiosyncratic confusion. is to keep digging. Your ditches. The situation is explained to us.
In the first eight verses of the chapter, I'll summarize it for you. Feel free to read the whole thing. But three kings have come together In a conflict. With Moab. Moab was paying a tax, if you will.
to Israel. They decided to no longer pay the tax. This created a conflict with Israel. And Moab. Israel went to to Judah and Edom about the problem that Moab was no longer.
fulfilling its obligation. And a war is about to break out.
So that's the scenario. There is a conflict. between these groups of people. The three nations, Israel, Judah. and Edom against Moab.
There's going to be a crash.
So the kings gathered together. To now deal with this problem. That has confronted them. That's That's the situation. But we have a problem in verse 9.
So the king of Israel. went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And they made a circuit of seven days' journey. And there was no water for the army or for the cattle. that followed them.
They were on their way to battle, but there was no water.
Now they're already in one fight. Because they're getting ready to go fight Moab. They got one battle. But on their way to fight this one battle. A new problem shows up.
There has been a drought. A dry spell. And there's no water for the soldiers, there's no water for the cattle.
So one problem, Moab, has become two problems. There is no water, and you know. Water is essential. To life. There was no water.
What do you do when your life is in a drought? Yeah. When there is no water. Water is regularly used in scripture to talk about life, the Holy Spirit. Is referred to as the life-giving fountain or water for the soul.
And of course, physically, you are without water long enough. You die. There was no water. How can we fight? And we can't be refreshed.
The king of Israel, Jehoram, said verse 10, alas, for the Lord has caused these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.
So the king of Israel Jehoram Says God has put us in a hot mess. God then hooked us up together. to be beaten by the enemy. You ever felt like God set you up? It got it kinda sets you up.
For a defeat. Here, I'm out here trying to fight. We know God controls rain, He controls the water. There is no water. Where is God?
When I'm in a drought. King of Israel said, God has set us up. To fail. The truth be told, even if you're too scared to say it.
Sometimes it feels like God has set you up. For the feet. Because you're in a battle, and then things go from bad to worse. There is no water. And you blame God.
You feel it, you think it even though you don't say it. Because he's the one who could make sure that there was water. Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah. Israel is the northern kingdom, Judah is the southern kingdom. But Jehoshaphat said now Jehoram is Israel.
He said God has set us up to fail. But Jehoshaphat in verse 11 speaks. And says, is there not a prophet of the Lord? Here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him. And one of the kings of Israel's servants answered and said, Elijah the son of Shabhab.
It's here who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah. Stay with me now. Jehoshaphat says. I know you want to blame God. Jehoram.
But I ain't gonna listen to you. I want to talk to somebody who knows God. When I'm in a drought and my world is falling apart, and it looks like I'm going to be defeated, and there is nothing to sustain me. Is there not somebody? Who can hear from God?
to tell us what to do. Who can inquire of the Lord? Who can get some information from heaven? For our situation on earth. Right.
put a parenthesis here and And make sure you understand. what the job of a prophet was. Prophecy is more than preaching. It involves preaching, it involves proclaiming, it involves. declaring the word of God.
But when prophets show up in scripture, It's not generic. They show up at specific times. to specific people in specific situations. to bring clarity To that person or that circumstance about what they were currently going through. A preached word is for everybody.
A prophetic word is for your situation. I am giving a generic sermon. I am preaching. To all who are listening. But only some will get a prophetic word.
It's the difference between saying I Heard the sermon. I enjoyed the sermon. I learned from the sermon. That's good. From a person who said, You talked to me today.
The prophetic word is designed to be a personalized word. to your reality where you are and what you are dealing with He said, I need somebody. In this particular situation. who can bring clarity. to what we're going through.
Because Jehoram, what you're talking about, blaming God is getting us nowhere. I need to find out what God is up to. In allowing the situation to transpire as it has. Is there a prophet?
Well, the servant said.
Well, there is a prophet here named Elisha. who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. To pour the water on the hands of, he was Elijah's servant.
So Elisha was the servant of the previous prophet, Elijah. He says Elisha It's is yes, he is nearby.
So Jehoshaphat, stay with me here. Said, the word of the Lord is with him.
So the king of Israel Jehovah. And Jehoshaphat and the king of Eden went down to him. Because they needed spiritual Clarity, watch this. for a physical situation. Two physical situations.
One, they're in a war, and number two, there is no water. Man, that's... That's a physical reality. But they need a spiritual clarification. About the spiritual reality.
If you're in a drought right now. Or if you're in a battle right now. In your life, in your world. With your career, with your finances, with your family, with your future, you're in this battle. And there is no water.
In other words, no, every place you look is dry. Every place you look is empty. Every place you look, there is nothing that's giving you life-sustaining clarity and help. then that means you need a prophetic word. You need something that will zero in where you are.
and what you are dealing with. You need a prophetic word.
So they go down to get spiritual clarity.
Now, Elisha said to the king of Israel, watch this, a little funny, but it's serious. In verse 13. What do I have to do with you?
Now there are three kings who win. Jehosaphat? Yeah. And Jehoram. But he only turns to Jehoram.
The king of Israel. And said. Why are you here? Get out of my face. I don't want to see you.
Move on. I don't mind talking to these other two guys. I don't want to talk to you. But he only says it to the one king. He doesn't say it to the other two, although there were three there.
All right, go back to verse 1.
Now Jehoram The son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria. The beginning of verse 2. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Verse three, nevertheless, he clung to the sins of Jeroboam, the sins of Nabot. which he had made Israel sin, he did not depart from them.
So let me tell you about your horror. Jehoram's daddy was Ahab. Jehovah's mother was Jezebel. You starting to track with me? Ahab and Jesse.
Let a whole herd of false prophets. They went about killing the prophets of God. and bolstering up the prophets of Baal. They had Elijah. Who was the spiritual father of Elijah running for his life?
They were so oppressive. Yeah, what they're doing. Like father? And like sun. Elijah says, I know about your daddy.
I know about your mama. And you as bad as them. You will chip off the old block. In fact, he says In verse 13, Go to the prophets of your father. And to the prophets of your mother.
And the king of Israel said to him, No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to give them into the hands of Moab.
Okay. He says Why are you coming to me? Why don't you go back to your people? To the folks that your mom and dad believed in, Baal and Asherah. Why don't you go back to your false gods?
But now he's with the king of Judah and he's with the king of Eden. He's like a lot of folks. He was an emergency worshiper. Because see, he's in a crisis, he's in a drought, he's in a situation he can't fix. He's in a problem that he can't resolve.
So now he want to go to church.
Now he wants to hear what the Bible has to say.
Now he wants to hear what the word of God has to say. Because he's in a crisis, you know, that's what folk do, they want God. In an emergency.
So he says, go back to your people. You don't believe in God. You haven't called on God before. You haven't been looking at God all the time there.
Now you want to just show up and get spiritual. What are you doing here? You don't believe in the true God. You're just using him right now. It's so They've got this emergency.
Elisha says, verse 14: As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand. In other words, I don't just visit him, I stand before him. In other words, he's my lifestyle. Not just my Sunday morning experience. Before whom I stand.
In other words, this is how I roll. This is how I operate. Before whom I stand, Were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat. the king of Judah, I would not look. At you, nor see you.
The only reason I'm talking to you is because Jehoshaphat is here. The godly king of Judah.
So, you're going to get the benefit of a saint in your midst. Amen. Amen. You're going to get the benefit, even though you need to go home to mama and daddy, and they're dead. You're gonna get the benefit.
of Jehoshaphat being in the mix. That's why the Bible says The presence of the righteous. affects the condition of the wicked. Because the righteous in a vicinity. Can give credit.
to the evil in the environment because Jehoshaphat is here. I'm going to answer his question, and that's going to bless you. Verse 15. They want to know, is there a word from God about this? CRISIS OF No WATER He says, verse 15, Elisha.
But now bring me a minstrel. And it came about when the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him. Oh, no, you didn't. He said, Is there anybody here with a keyboard? Is there anybody here with a piano?
Is there anybody here with an organ? Is there anybody here with a violin? Is there a minstrel that is a musician? in the vicinity. Yeah.
The prophet asked for A musician. You can show up here for the sermon. And you'll only get the sermon. Their situation didn't need a sermon. They needed a prophetic word.
And a prophetic word is God speaking personally into your situation.
So, in order for them to get a prophetic word, they were going to have to worship, not just sit down and listen to a sermon. The purpose of music in worship. Yeah. Is not to simply be a prelude to a sermon. It is to set the atmosphere for God to speak.
God did not speak to the prophet Elisha to give him a prophetic word until the atmosphere had been affected.
So if you want a prophetic word, don't you just show up for a sermon? Because you'll only get a sermon. You need to be part of an atmosphere where God is free to express Himself on a personal level because you are a worshiper. And not just an attender. Looking for a sermon.
The prophet Said, give me a musician. Because I need the atmosphere. For God to speak into. Yeah. Music isn't just because a song is supposed to be in church.
It's supposed to be an atmosphere where God feels comfortable. And so, before he ever heard a specific word. A Rhema word. A Rhema word is a specific utterance, not a general preached truth. Before he got clarity, he had to have an atmospheric change.
So, when you get alone with God during the fast, when you Get with him as a general woo. Create some atmosphere.
So that you can hear A prophetic word.
So The Lord came on him. Yeah. Verse 16. And said. Thus saith the Lord, make this valley Full of trenches.
I want you to dig ditches. Trenches, ditches. Make this valley full. Fill it up with holes, with trenches. For thus saith the Lord.
Now he only heard this after He hard to minstrel. After the atmosphere was changed. Because I mean There are a million options out there. Related to our decision making. There are a million options out there.
I mean, TV is hitting us with it. You should do this. You should do this. You don't know what to take for this. You don't know what to take for that.
You don't know. I mean, there's a million options out there and new stuff is coming every day. And you don't know which one you should take. A prophetic word gives you a specific word for you. This is the strategy right now for this thing you are dealing with.
He says What God told me to tell you was to dig plenty of ditches. In a valley.
Now a valley is a low place. The valley, you you you low.
So the inner wall, there's no water. And they low. Down, depressed. You know you're in a valley. I want you to dig.
Ditches And I want you to fill up the valley with them.
So he worships. He gets a specific word. Fill the low place, the valley. With ditches. Yeah.
Well, what's going to happen when I do this? Because that seems weird. Verse 17. For thus saith the LORD. You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain.
Yet the valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink both you and your cattle and your beast.
Okay, let's look at this now. When God gives you a prophetic word, it may not make sense. There's gonna be no win. No rain. And there's gonna be water everywhere.
That does not fit the natural scheme of things. That's not normal. It's dry. There is no water here. And there's going to be no rain and it's going to be filled.
Do you know why he told them to build ditches? He told them to dig ditches.
so that they could make room for God. He says, this ain't hard. Yeah. This is but a slight thing. With the Lord.
Yeah. It ain't all that. You mean to tell me we're gonna dig ditches? The place gonna be full of water. The people are gonna drink, the animals are gonna drink, and we're gonna defeat Moab.
You mean to tell me that? I'm not only telling you that it ain't. It ain't nothing but a thing. Ow! It ain't that hard.
For the Lord But notice, he said. You're going to have to dig the ditches. God's not going to dig the ditches. You dig the ditches. Because God wants to see your faith at work.
And he will only fill the amount of ditches that you dig. He said, make the valley full of them. And if you are struggling digging your ditch, Find a Jehoshaphat. Who will encourage you to dig ditches? who will not let you just hang out talking a good game.
Listening to sermons, praying prayers without any dishes for God to work with. It happened in the morning. Yeah. About the time of the offering of the sacrifice, that behold, Water came by the way of Eden. And the country was filled with water.
Let me explain something. Do me a favor. Don't box God in. Don't say how he's going to do something. He can come in so many different ways.
He can come around in so many different avenues. That's why don't get discouraged, don't quit, dig ditches. I have a, as many of you do, power strips. And these power strips, like yours, have five or six connections.
Now on the wall I just have two. On the wall is I could plug something here and plug something there. But when I plug the power strip into the wall, I have um I have expanded my capacity. for power. I have taken something that will allow me to get more done than what I just naturally have.
That came with the house. See when you accepted Jesus Christ certain things came with the house It's just, you know, your eternal destiny was secure. That's on the house. When you accepted Jesus Christ, God's presence, certain things are on the house, but other things require. Expanded capacity.
That's why I love I love Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20.
Now unto him who is able. To do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think. Be glory, honor, and dominion through the church.
So now, unto him who can meet you in your dry spot. In your spiritual battle. In your trial, in your tribulation, in your singlehood, in your marriage, in your career, on your job, with your parents, with your children, now unto him. Who can meet you in your discouragement, in your depression, in your frustration, in your irritation, now unto him. Who knows your hurt, who knows your mistrust, who knows your mistreatment now unto him.
Be glory, honor, and dominion now and forever.
Somebody better give him some praise up in here, up in here. He is worthy to be praised. While you dig your ditches.
