He's Got This!

He's Got This! Today is Father’s Day. A day we give honor and thanks to the fathers who have poured into the next generation, both by blood and those chosen to be loved. Just as Paul in the New Testament called Timothy, who was not of his blood, his son, the men in our church family pour into others by choice too. These men serve God by loving and helping others, by using their unique giftings and talents in many ways. Thank you, men of the church, for being the stability, the inspiration, the support, the job well done, the leaders and fathers of this church family. How is it we have been so blessed by God to have such amazing men lead, protect, serve, and love on us? How can we help them to continue to pour into us and others? Knowing these are our earthly fathers who demonstrate God’s love, how much more so does God, our Heavenly Father, tend to us? In what ways can we allow God to say, “I’ve Got This”? When He does, how can we walk in confidence knowing God's Got This? When we let God take care of things for us, what are we to do in the meantime? I love today’s bulletin verse. It goes so well with my sermon today, I wanted to start off with it. Let’s go to Jeremiah and see the context for the fullness of what God is saying here. Jeremiah 17:5-10 Notice the contrast? In a nutshell, this is a list comparing men of the world to the men of God. The men of the world trust themselves, other men and things of this world. God is saying here that they will find themselves alone, empty, powerless and even dried up and thirsty. They will never be satisfied. But look at what God says about those who trust Him and place their confidence in Him. They will always be blessed, supported, taken care of and even blessing others. Notice they are not alone, they do not fear, they are continually fed and empowered by God Himself! As I thought of who in the Bible to use as an example of a man of God one account stood out the most. I could have mentioned Noah, Abraham, Moses, King David, King Solomon (actually he left an example of trusting God and later in life trusting the world), any of the prophets, Paul, Peter, John.... the list goes on. But Elisha has an exemplary moment that I believe God wants us to learn a few things from. 2 Kings 6:8-23 Because God shared with Elisha the strategies of the enemy king, the king of Syria decided to destroy Elisha with a large army. What I find interesting is that Elisha apparently could have called on God to kill the army with God's flaming chariots at the beginning. Or he could have led them to destruction, or even allowed the eager king of Israel slaughter them himself. But no, Elisha knew the way to end the warring between the two kingdoms; love on them, show them mercy. By not just feeding the enemy, but setting before them a feast, the army went back to the King of Syria with a good report. The warring between the two kings stopped. Another quick note, the king of Israel addressed Elisha as "Father". Did you see that? Men, your influence is great, don't forget. Back to Elisha: Because of his trust in God, what Confidences did Elisha have? - He Knew God Is In Control - He Knew God Provided Safety For Himself And Those With Him - His Prayers Have Power - He Received Wisdom For Good, Win-Win for everyone involved One way you could sum up the man of God’s way of thinking would be… “Because I KNOW God’s Got This, I KNOW I’ve Got This With Him!” Pastor Lila once told me, she had confidence to chase any dream of hers, even to across the globe, because she had confidence in her earthly father, Darrell. She knew if she failed, fell, or messed up, her daddy would welcome her home and lift her up again. Knowing her daddy had her back, gave her the confidence to try anything without fear. In reality this goes for all of us. When we really trust God in what He says He will do and who He says He is, then we can have the confidence to do what He has designed us and asked us to do! Think about it, I was able to go around to every man in this church and speak about at least one area in their lives, and we know there are more, where they are confident in God and their abilities. In these areas they bless others tremendously and we can depend on them. Women, we need to encourage and build up the men in our church family. We need to speak into them, empower them, follow their direction, and most importantly, we need to pray for them. Not just our husband or our father, or our sons, but for every man in this church. Men, You’ve Got This! Whatever you are facing, whatever unclimbable mountain is before you, for whatever reason you want to surrender right now and give up, I am telling you, You’ve Got This! Not by yourself, but by trusting and following God’s ways, not man’s ways. Men, You’ve Got This! Have Confidence Knowing: God is in control Safety for you and those you love Your prayers have power Wisdom for good of all involved