It’s Not Fine, But God Is Faithful

So, Elisha does not give him an elimination of the enemy. Instead, he gives him an illumination of his help. Now, I want to share my favorite verse with you. My favorite verse today. It says in 1st John 4, 4. That year of God, little children, and have overcome them. Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So this is how it feels, right? Oh, no Lord, we are surrounded. What am I going to do about this is coming in from every side. And it is the pressure of an attack that hasn't happened yet, but might. I want to speak about that for a moment. Some of you are suffering under the pressure of an attack that hasn't even happened yet. But it might. And the devil hasn't even done it to you yet. And you are already giving him the permission to fill the file in your mind as if he did. You are already living the injury as if it happened. You are already limping from a blow that the devil hasn't even struck yet. You are already giving away this moment in your life because the enemy surrounded you. He didn't defeat him, he just surrounded him. And when you feel surrounded by the enemy, I want you to begin to understand 1st John 4, 1st 4. Oh, I love this verse, bro, because it gets the idea you are of God, little children. And it helps me understand why I feel so little in the face of my enemy. But then it says something that is very important. It says you have overcome them because greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. And Elisha prayed, "Not God shrink my enemy." But he prayed instead, "God opened his eyes to see that what is surrounding him, you are surrounding it." (Applause) Because if it's me versus the enemy, I'm in trouble. If it's me versus this addiction, it's over. If it's me versus this depression, I'm not going to take a pill strong enough. If it's me versus this season of my life, I don't have the wisdom for it. If it's me versus the enemy, I'm outnumbered. But 1st John 4, 4 said, "Greater is he that is in me."

So I've been looking at the enemy and I've been defeated because that's all I've seen. But I found out that greater is he that is in me. And when I remember who he is and what he did and what he gave me and what I have in him, my enemy isn't so big anymore. So I'll leave my eyes to the hills from which come in my health. My help come in from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. And greater is he that is in me. So it's not me versus my enemy, it's the one who is versus my enemy. This changes everything because it opens a brand new file in my mind. It lets me recognize that even if I'm surrounded with no way out, and even if I'm pressed, hard pressed, even if I'm crushed, even if I'm persecuted, even if I'm abandoned, even if I'm broke, even if I'm down, even if I'm suffocating, even if one thing is piling up on another, even if my boss hates me, even if my employees hate me, even if I don't want to do it, even if I feel lazy, even if I don't have what it takes, the one who is in me is greater than what's against me. (Applause) So it's not that, it's not big, it's just that I found something bigger. likes to do. He said, "Hey, this is big. Tell somebody this is big, but there's something bigger. It's the purpose of God." So keep it in context. Paul said, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time aren't even worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us. What is happening to me is not even worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in me." When Paul says, "I reckon," thank you so much, you did a great job. I love you too. Just remember that when the devil picks on you. Find something that's bigger. That's all Elisha did. He said, "Open his eyes to see something bigger, and could it be that the pain in your life right now is a part of a bigger context that you can't understand right now? And that this is the reason that the enemy has come after you in full force is because there is something bigger that God is trying to do." Paul said, "I reckon that word does not mean I know it means I am convinced of this opinion. I can't prove it, but I

reckon that when I see what God is going to do through this situation, it will make what I went through to get to it." Seems small in comparison. And that's the decision of faith, my friend. And if you want to open a file in your mind today of all the ways that God could use this situation, if you want to open a file in your mind today of all the ways that God could turn this around, God has a thousand creative ways to use this. You know, I don't think it was, I don't think it was coincidental where Elisha was, "I've got something else to tell you." There's something I learned two years ago that I had been waiting to share. And in this passage it says that Elisha kept telling his king, Jorim, where the enemy was going to attack him. So the enemy came to attack Elisha so that he could attack the nation. It was a bigger context. The devil isn't just attacking you. He's attacking everyone that your life is supposed to impact. And figures that if he can get you to give up right here, you won't get to make a generational impact. So when you're fighting him, realize you're fighting for your family, too, and keep it in context. Tell your neighbor I know it's hard, but keep it in context. Tell him it's not just about you. Give him deep penetrating eye contact when you say that part. It is not just about you. Put that in the comments. It is not just about me. Because there's a lesson in this that it was not only who said don't be afraid, Elisha the prophet, but where he said it. See in 2 Kings 6-13 they were looking all around for Elisha and they said in verse 13. Go find out where he is so I can send men and capture him and the report came back. He is in Dothan. Now I almost called this sermon the devil went down to Dothan. I thought that would be a cool thing to call it, but I knew it could also be corny and I didn't want to take the risk. So I just called it keep it in context. You know when you read the Bible there's a specific place and time. The geography, all of these details in the Bible carry rich meaning. And the place called Dothan is not a very famous place in the Bible. In fact it is only mentioned twice in all of scripture. This is once and another occurrence is found a thousand years earlier. There was a dysfunctional family in the book of Genesis, a dad named Jacob who had a son that he really loved

named Joseph. One day he sent his son Joseph who was the son of the wife that he loved to go check on his other brothers. And he had given him an amazing coat and his brothers not only hated his coat I think they really began to despise the destiny that was on his life. So while his brothers were hurting sheep Joseph was for some reason at home being young as he was and his dad said go check on your brothers. This is in the book of Genesis chapter 37. And he went to a place called Shechem where he... And we pick up the story in Genesis chapter 37, verse 16. He told them in, "I'm looking for my brothers. "Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?" Now, the response that came next would have been a story that he liked to the prophet would have been familiar with. Because when he said, "Where are they?" The man answered, "They have moved on from here. "I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. This is the only other time in the Bible that Dothan is mentioned. It is only mentioned twice, and this is one of them. So he goes to Dothan to find his brothers. But look what verse 18 says. They saw him in the distance. And before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. And they took Joseph, and just as they were about to kill him, Ruben said, "Let's don't do it." And so they decided to throw him in a cistern in Dothan. And they put him in the cistern, not sure what to do, had lunch when just about that time. A caravan of Ishmaelite traders were, well, let me just show you this on the map real quick.

Just about the time that they were having their lunch. You see that red line where Joseph started out that day? And he goes all the way up to a place on the map called Dothan. And when he gets to Dothan, his brothers try to kill him because they're envious of him and they don't get him. And so just as they're about to kill him, one of the brothers cries out and says, "No, let's don't kill him, let's just put him in this cistern." So they leave him in the cistern, perhaps to leave him for dead, to hide him from the father. What are we gonna do? But just at that time, you see that blue line that comes down right there? And it kind of matches up with the red line. You see the one that comes up from top? That's the caravan that was coming through. The Ishmaelite caravan that was coming through. And just about the time they're coming through and Joseph is in a cistern, one of Joseph's brothers named Judas says, "Hey, what if instead of killing him, what if we sell him?" This seems to be an opportune time. The caravan is coming right now. Joseph is in the cistern. If we sell him right now, we can profit 20 shekels off of him and we don't have to kill him. And so Joseph is sold into slavery, right? But he is also sent to be a deliverer for his family in Egypt.

And both are true. And both happened in Dothan. It was in Dothan that they tried to take his life. It was in Dothan that God stopped it. It was in Dothan that he was sold into slavery. It was in Dothan that he was positioned to be a deliverer. It was in Dothan that he got in the right cart at the right time so that he could be positioned in the right house so that he could have the right answer. When the famine came to Egypt, when the famine came to the whole world, so that his family who had tried to kill him would come to him so that he would have the bread that they needed in the season that they never saw coming. And all of that happened in Dothan because I'm trying to tell you that God does stuff in Dothan. See, Dothan is a place you might not have chosen. Dothan is a place you might not like. Dothan is a place you might not have voted to go. Dothan can be a scary place. Dothan is a place where you can feel surrounded. But Dothan is a place where God will send the right car, the right person, the right thing, the right idea, the right redemption, the right opportunity at the right time to store the right one because the hands of God is on you and it's always been on you. And you will not die in Dothan. You will not die in Dothan.

(congregation applauding) You can't die in Dothan. And Elisha had a file in his mind. When he saw the chariots surrounding him in Dothan, he thought back, I remember somebody who was in Dothan and it looked like it was over and his mind went to a file from a thousand years ago that if God brought Joseph to Egypt to save Israel through a place called Dothan, he's gonna do something in my situation right here, right now, and I need a hundred glad people to shout about the fact that God will not let you die in Dothan. (audience applauding) Greater is he who is in me. What I'm going through right now is nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in me. And if you have faith to say it right now, say I've got more in me. I've got more in me. I've got more love in me than I've got hate in me. I've got more good days ahead of me. I've got more dreams in me than I have disappointment. I know it's odd to preach off of a map, but if you look at that map one more time, it will remind you of the lesson of Elisha who said, "Don't even worry about it. Keep it in context. There's more with us than against us." It will remind you of Joseph that said, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." It will remind you if you look at Dauphin for a moment, you'll see that it is just a dot. It's not a destiny.

And that little dot was a place where the most horrible thing happened to Joseph. I'm sure he never fully recovered from what happened, but he was restored enough from what happened to move forward in the revelation of who God was. And that is what I am trying to say to you, is that if you let this dot define you, this hard thing define you, this dauphin define you, you've got to remember that there's always more in me than against me because God is in me. So what could I go through that would be greater than his plan for me? And if you keep this in context, you can say like Paul, "I reckon," tell your neighbor, "I reckon," because I recognize, because I lift my eyes and I see help in the hills. And I am reminded that before my heart was filled with fear, the hills were filled with my help because he is my help. It was so good when God gave it to me. He said, "This is just a dot in your life. This is just a dot in your life. I'm coming to this side. I feel pulled to this side. I'm going to keep my shoes on and come over here. It's a dot in your life. Put it back up there. It is a dot. He could not die there because he had more to do. God is not done with you. God is not finished with you, and I reckon." I reckon the season of suffering in your life is just a dot. I know how hard it's been for you. I've been hearing about it. I know that some days it's all you can do, and everybody's saying how positive you are, and sometimes you feel like, "Well, who's going to encourage me?" But in light of what God is doing through you, this is just a dot. It's not even worth comparing.

The way that God is using your life, do you not understand that your testimony is changing in grown men's lives? They are hearing about your faith and your perseverance, and what you are going through, although it is difficult, it is a dot. God is not through with you, because the devil went down to Dothan. But God got there first. I'm closing, but just to remind somebody that God got there first before the enemy was visible, God was there invisible, and He is in your situation, and He is in your struggle, and God is not surprised, and this is just a dot. Because greater is He that is in me than any enemy that is against me. Let's open that file for a moment today. What would it look like for you to open the file in your mind today? To just reframe your situation with the faithfulness of God. For all the dothins that you thought you wouldn't survive, how many have already seen if you dothins come and go, but God stay faithful. Raise your hand. Jump up on your feet. Now wave at me if God has been faithful to you up into this point in your life and not clap your hands and thank Him that He did it that He left you here. This is a place where you can admit it's both. I'm surrounded and I'm secure, because I keep it in context. When you begin to praise God for His faithfulness, you shrink the enemy and He has no power over you. When you begin to open up your mind and say, "God, I've seen good days and bad days." God, I've seen times when I thought I wouldn't make it, but I did. God, I've seen how you've used things in my life that I never would have imagined to open doors I never even knew to pray for. God, I'm praying that right now this moment in my life, this dot on the map of your mission and your purpose for me would not define me. Father, I pray for those today who have felt in their hearts and in their spirits like this is the end. I agree with your truth concerning them, that it is nothing compared to the glory that you will reveal in them. I thank you for what you're doing in their life even now. You're developing fruit and character and maturity when you will not leave them alone in Dothan. God, I thank you for the moments that you showed up for me in Dothan. I was surrounded. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't understand it, but you put it in context and you reminded me that not only are you faithful and not only are you good, but you can get glory

out of any situation. Hallelujah. I thank you, Lord, that you're getting glory out of my situation right now. Even if it doesn't feel good to me, you're getting glory out of my situation right now. I thank you that I'm going to turn around and encourage others with the hope that you encouraged me with. I thank you, Lord, that you're making me more graceful toward others because of the grace that you've given me. And now just slip both of your hands up in the air in this moment and lift your eyes to the hills where your help comes from. And know in this moment that whatever is surrounding you, your God is surrounding it.