she's goin' around the mountain

This is a highly condensed excerpt of a sermon I listened to a few weeks ago that has been echoing in my heart ever since. Sorry it's so long, but I don' t know how to link to documents yet. Bryan was a guest speaker at my SC church, which can be found at www.theshoreline.org. If you want to hear the whole thing, choose "listen online" and then the 4/9/06 sermon. The "Todd" he references is a friend from SC who was commissioned that morning. The surfer accent kinda drove me batty when I first moved to SC, but now it's "homey." Those of you who aren't used to it might find it a little distracting at first.

His thesis is that we can miss God's plan for our lives through fear and doubt, like the first generation of Israelites in the desert missed the Promised Land because they feared the "giants in the land" and doubted God's ability to lead them in.

Bryan Jennings
(founder of Walking on Water Ministries)
Numbers 13:26-14:10
April 9, 2006

You can miss opportunities in life. That’s a Biblical concept. We’re going to read today about the Israelites and how one generation, they missed it. They doubted God and they ended up dying in the desert. They didn’t get to go into the Promised Land. They missed the boat. God gave them opportunity, after opportunity, after opportunity and they kept doubting, and doubting, and doubting.

And that’s so me. That’s so us.

I know there’s things in my life that definitely the Lord is asking me to go towards, and deal with, and it’s hard. It’s like a pruning and it’s not fun.

Whatever it is that God’s calling you towards, whether it’s a dream in your heart, that you’re not sure yet if it’s going to happen, but you know it’s in there-- but you’re like, ‘I don’t have the finances for this thing, I don’t have the abilities for this thing,’ All your circumstantial doubts-- That’s your Promised Land that you’re going towards. Keep that in mind so that you keep this personalized, not just about the Israelites.

Number 13:26-33

That’s exactly what the Enemy wants you to feel like, like you’re a grasshopper, and there’s no way you’re going to move forward. Like ‘There’s no way, Bryan, that you’re going to be able to make this film. There’s no way, Todd, that you’re going to do these mission trips. There’s no way that you’re going to be able to go towards what God’s asked you to do. You’re a grasshopper. There’s no way. You don’t have the money, you don’t have this, you don’t have that.’ And he gets us to focus on the circumstances, and instead of on the Lord.

Numbers 14:1-4

What are they thinking? Can you imagine how God feels right there, and how we make God feel when we’re like, “Wow Lord, why would you hand me this gift, just so I have to look at it? Why do I have to look at this Promised Land, but I won’t go in!” ‘Cause we’re full of doubt. And then we get bitter at God, “Why would you do this, God?”

I can relate to where it looks impossible, and it’s like, “Ok God, that was great, thanks for showing us what we’re not going to get. That’s so nice of you. Thanks for bringing us out of Egypt, showing us all those miracles and then showing us this land that we’re not going to get. Yeah, it’s flowing with milk and honey, here’s the fruit. Everything’s good. But I’m not going in there. ‘Cause they’re huge, and the walls are huge, and the cities are huge and the circumstances.”

And God’s just going, “Are you serious? Do you not remember?” Look what he says:

Numbers 14:5-9

When you’re looking at that barrier in your life, or that sin that you can’t get over and get freed from, when you’re looking at that dream that’s been staring you in the face for 35 years, but you haven’t walked towards it, or into it, ‘cause you’ve been held by these fears, you feel like a grasshopper, and you feel like it’s not going to happen—you’re wrong. The reason that dream’s in your heart is because it is going to happen. The reason that Todd had that dream to do mission trips is because it was going to happen and he walked in it. The reason that God put a vision in my heart for movies is that it’s going to happen. It’s already done. Just rest. And remember what He’s already done.

Remember when later the next generation finally goes into the Promised Land, and they send spies into Jericho? Remember they meet up with Rahab? And Rahab says the saddest thing. “I know I’m a prostitute, and you probably don’t want to listen to this, but let me give you the truth. Here’s the truth: you already had the battle won.” Rahab says, “We knew we were going to lose. We knew we had already lost the battle. We knew God had taken you out of the Egypt, parted the Red Sea. We had heard about it.” Basically, the enemy had more faith than God’s kids. God’s people.

It’s like the Lord says, “You don’t understand. It’s a gift. It IS the Promised Land. I promised it to Abraham and I promised it to Moses… it’s a done deal.”

The abundant life…it’s not like we have to work to get it. … God says, “What I want you to do is just rest, rest in my promise. When I make a promise, it happens. It’s gonna happen.”

Stop going around the mountain. Go forward.