Mustard Seed Mindset

If you want to make your way back to your seats, you can just remain standing for just a minute. I want to read you a couple of passages of scripture and then we want to let the Lord speak to us today from his word. Matthew 13 for just a couple of verses. Then 1st Samuel 16. I want to talk about a mustard seed mindset. Matthew 13:31 Jesus is speaking said another parable he put forth to them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field when indeed it is the least of all the seeds but when it is grown is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and the nest and its branches. In 1st Samuel 16 verse number 11, Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all of the young men here?" He's referring to Jesse's sons. Now he said, "There remains yet the youngest, and there he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him, for we will not sit down till he comes here." So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ready and brighteyed and good-looking. And the Lord said, "Arise and anoint him, for this is the one." Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.

So Samuel rose and went to Rama. I love you God so much. I'm so thankful for your word and the truth that are in your scriptures. God, for the next few moments, we surrender ourselves to you. I pray God that you would anoint our minds and our hearts to receive the word that is already anointed. Accomplish your purpose and your plan in this place today in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. First or 1st Samuel 16, we pick up in an ongoing story that is taking place. Very famous story in the scriptures. If you have been around the church at any time or been raised in church, we're very familiar with David's name and the prophet Samuel and what's going on in this story. But for those that maybe need a moment of refreshing, let me lay a little groundwork here because I feel like it's important to know the context of which the scriptures that we're reading. So we pick up in the middle of chapter 16 and there's been a monumental disappointment in the kingdom. Saul, the current king, was very disobedient. God was specific and very detailed what he wanted to take place. And Saul was someone who did not follow all the orders he was supposed to. And because of that, God had rejected King Saul. So much so that he told him through the prophet he's going to remove the kingdom from him.

And Saul was more important and more concerned with saving face. And what we pick up in chapter 16 here is it starts off with God talking to Samuel. How long are you going to mourn over something that I've already rejected? I've already found another man and I want you to go and I want you to anoint him to be the king. So we pick up there in the verses that we read where Samuel has showed up at Jesse's house because God had let it be known that it was in Jesse's house he had found the man that was there and David is called up last and he's standing there in front of his brothers. It's a it's a it's a moment in front of his family that we feel like should bring some clarity and understanding as to David's destiny that was there. This is a moment where the prophet saying, "Hey, I'm here to anoint one." And then every time David looked at the sons that were there, David's brothers, he thought to himself, "Well, this could be the one. He's good-looking and tall." And God says, "No, don't look on the outside. I don't look that good. I look on the heart." And after he went through everybody that was presented, hence why he asked the question in the scriptures that I read, "Are these everybody?" To which Jesse responds, "Well, there's still one."

In my mind, he points out to the field. There's still one out there in the field tending the sheep. And the prophet says, "Well, we're just going to stand here until you bring him here." And when David shows up, God speaks to Samuel and says, "This is the one I was talking about. Rise and anoint him." This is a moment where there's a lot of reflection, a lot of parallels, a lot of things that you and I can grasp. And those mo that moment where we came into a relationship with God. Anybody remember the day God filled you with his spirit? that day that that Holy Ghost fil that anointing rested on you that day. That's symbolic of what we see what's going on in this story right here. There's a powerful moment of identification that's taking place in David's life when that anointing oil is poured out on his head. David's in just one moment had everything in his life changed. I remember the encounter that I had over on Spring Street at 12 years old in 1989 when God filled me with his spirit. I remember that altar moment. And I remember who was praying with me. I remember what was being said. I remember the experience that I had when God filled me with his spirit and how monumental that day was in my life when I went from being someone who didn't have his spirit inside of me to someone who was filled with his spirit that day.

It was lifechanging. And that same thing took place in David's life right there. He was being anointed to be the next king. His life was being changed. He went from being a forgotten shepherd boy to the anointed future king. He moved from the fields to the forefront, from isolation to being empowered. The oil flowed, the spirit came, and his destiny was declared. And we agree with all that. But here's the interesting thing. After that moment, nothing happened. There was no royal coronation. There was no parade to the palace. There was no unpacking of what was there. There was no crown placed on his head. There was simply silence. David with oil still dripping from his face returned to the same pasture among the same sheep back to the same obscurity. He was anointed, but he was not appointed. This next season of David's life is not what he had expected. Hearing the prophet pour the oil on his head and declaring that he was going to be the next king. Human nature would have said, "Well, if I'm going to be the king, then let's get the party started. Let's head to the palace. Let's get the guy who's sitting on my throne off of it." There was a moment when David did go to the palace, but it wasn't the way you and I would have expected. He went in as a servant. That's right.

He went in as a musician playing for the king that was sitting on David's throne. I'm here to talk today about what happens when we have our moment where God fills us with his spirit and we're set on the course for the destiny and the expected end he has for us, but it doesn't go down the path you and I expect it to go. He's the anointed king. The prophet has declared it, but yet we find him back in the pasture tending to the sheep. We find him back going about his same daily task, back to the same routine, back to the same temptations, back to the same mundane rhythms of life hidden in the hills of Bethlehem. His calling to the palace was not what he had expected. So what do you do when God calls you forward but keeps you still? What happens when the oil flows but the door remains closed? When you carry a kingdom calling, but you still have to clock in for the same job, clean up the same mess, battle the same thoughts, deal with the same temptations, because this is where every Christian, every follower of Jesus Christ is forged because the anointing does not exempt you from the obscurity. But ladies and gentlemen, I would beg to argue with you. I think it introduces you to it. Wow. It introduces it to you. Zechariah 4:10. In that verse, it says, "For who has despised the day of small things?"

And this verse is packed in this warning, these two truths that rise up quickly to the surface. Number one, there is a day of small things. And number two, most people despise it. We don't like it. And each and every one of us, you and I, we are hardwired to be moving forward. We're about success. We like it. We don't want to be on a losing team. We don't like going backwards. Instead, God has designed you and I to be successful in a kingdom purpose. And we start that by moving forward by being filled with his spirit. But once that day happens, you and I then have to start the process of battling our greatest fight, the fight inside our own minds. Before Moses ever stood with a staff at the Red Sea, he spent 40 years tending sheep in the wilderness. Before David ever wore a crown, he carried a slingshot. Before the apostles transformed the world, they were fishermen and tax collectors. And they learned at the feet of Jesus. You see, ladies and gentlemen, you don't wake up with an anointing to deliver a nation. You grow into it one silent day after another. It's a process of time. Anointing is not just declared. It is developed. And the development often looks like a delay. And then it's during the early and quiet and frustrating days that the great battle begins within you.

David's first fight was in his own mind, just like you and I fight in our own minds. We ask ourself, why hasn't my circumstances changed? Because all I see is the same fields and the same sheep and the same routine and the same mundane small task. That's where we got to be careful that we allow oursel to get caught up in a mustard seed mindset. This belief that small doesn't mean is insignificant and greatness often starts out as being buried. Because I'm a firm believer that God frequently hides his greatest weapon in our most overlooked seasons of life. That's where we're developed in the everyday small tasks, everyday small decisions, everyday small interactions that we have. That's where you and our character and our and our ministry and our following after God is being forged there. We got to learn to overcome that mustard seed mindset. In the opening passage that I read to us today, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed. small, unimpressive, seemingly insignificant. And I believe this in his comparison that he was dealing with a mindset that he knew that you and I were going to fight in our life. What am I really, God? What am I really compared to what I see around me? Compared to what I see going on, compared to what I see others doing, compared to what I see all around me, God, I'm small and I'm insignificant and I'm weak and I fail and I fall and I stumble and I give in and I don't always do the right thing.

God, what am I really? I'm just a failure. I'm just a mistake. I'm just something that should never have been. I'm something that you should have just forgotten. God, I can't even understand and comprehend why you would even love me or care about me. But God, I feel your presence near and I feel like you have something for me and I acknowledge that and you fill me with your spirit. But yet, I'm still facing the same temptations and I'm going through the same routine and the same actions. God, if you really have something great for me, then why have not my circumstances changed? not realizing that God uses those things to shape and to form and to make us who we should be. At some point all of us face this cycle of insecurity and comparison, this less than syndrome that fights there. And at some point of we wrestle with that. We look at somebody else and what they're doing in their life. We see how they seem to always make right decisions or the favor of God seems to always rest upon them and in our opinions based off of what it is that they have in their life and what it is they acquire or what it is they drive or where it is they live or how it is they vacation and we look at our lives and we say to ourselves, "Well, God, I'm serving you and I go to church and I'm involved in every area of volunteer that I can.

Then why is my life not turning out like their life? God, why does it seem like they have no obstacles that they face and they have no frustrations that they face and they don't seem to ever have a failure that they go through in their life? Everything seems to be paved smooth for them and they don't ever face adversity in their life. God, when I look around, it seems like I'm the only one that's still struggling. God, do you even care about me? Do you know do you not love me? Are you not concerned with what I'm going through? Why am I still dealing with these same things? God, don't act like you haven't had that thought at some point in your life. We all wrestle with that less than syndrome. We all compare ourselves around with those that we walk through life with. What's going on? God, don't you love me? The most dangerous thing about ministry is this mentality that causes you and I to compare ourselves to others when we're still in the seed stage. Paul warned us against that in second Corinthians. Not to compare ourselves among ourselves. It's not wise. Comparison can be misleading, especially when we don't look at everything in the context. It's not right for you and I to compare ourselves against someone else's harvest when we're still in a planting season. You got to you got to keep in mind where you are.

That's one thing I love about God is he doesn't lump us all together as one, but he's a personal God. He's an individual God. He meets us right down in the mess of our life. How wonderful is that? He left the splendor of heaven and wasn't worried about getting dirty. Wasn't worried about coming down. Wasn't worried about touching. As I said, he got right down into the mess where you and I are. In fact, that's where my God found me. It was when my life was a wreck and it was all falling apart. And he wasn't intimidated by the mess that I made. Instead, he come triumphantly walking right in the middle of my mess and pulled me up. What makes me think he's just going to leave me there? He's not going to leave me. He's not going to leave me in the mess. Quit looking around at what everybody else has and what you don't have. Put your eyes on the one who decided to come down to where you were in your problem, in your struggle. He's there. Remember what God has already done. We're still in the process of becoming what God's called us to be. Jesus didn't end that parable by saying the mustard seed is the least among those. Period. No. If you go back to that verse, Matthew 13:32, which is indeed the least of all the seeds, but when it has grown, oh, don't get caught up in where I am now.

I may be small now. I may be insignificant now. I may be a big bundle of frustrations and failures, but don't pay attention to where I am now. Look at where I'm going to go. I'm going to stay rooted, and I'm going to stay grounded, and I'm going to stay committed because there's something great that's going to be birthed inside of me. I'm not going to sweat and I'm not going to stress over the day of small things because I'm not determined and destined to stay small. There's greatness that my God has put in place for me if I'm willing to get out of a mustard seed mindset. There's greatness in me. There's greatness in you. There's great things that he purposed and planned for you. But you got to break that cycle of looking around at what everybody else has. Who cares what they have? What has God done for you? What has God doing for you? What does God have planned for you? It's great. It's great. It's great. Break that mindset. Jesus is trying to shift perspective. Stop judging your walk with God based off of what it looks like right now. Hey, in this room, we got people all over the place. Let's be real. Let's be honest. You guys have been here long enough. You know I'm transparent. You should be transparent, too. We're not all dancing on clouds this morning.

I guarantee you some of you, as my granddad used to say, are picking low cotton today. Somebody's got a problem in the room. Somebody had a failure this past week. Somebody had a temptation that got the best of them this week and they're in this room. Hey, it's okay. You're here. You're here. You made it back again. I'm proud that you're back in the room. Don't allow what's going on right now in the moment to discourage you from what is still planned ahead for you. Get past that. The enemy wants you to keep your mind caught up in that little mustard seed mindset of you're never going to accomplish anything because every time you move forward, you go five steps backwards. I rebuke that in Jesus name. There is greatness in you. There is greatness in you. You know why? Because he put his spirit in there. That same spirit that got him up out of the grave is living inside of you. And you may stumble a little bit, but hey, rejoice not against me, oh my enemy, for when I fall. I'm not going to let that mustard seed mindset keep me down. There's great things still in me. I feel the Holy Ghost. I'm speaking to somebody already put your ministry on the shelf. Get it down. Get it down. God didn't take it away. The calling is without repentance. I'm getting ahead of myself.

Y'all sit down. You may feel overlooked, but honey, you're still in the field. You may be wrestling with awkward tension, but the anointing is still there. God never intended for you to remain small. He told the prophet Jeremiah in 29:11, "I know the thoughts I think towards you." That's God speaking to him. God's reminding Jeremiah, I know what I think about you. I got good stuff planned for you. You don't even have a comprehension of the things that I have planned for you. Look, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. Well, it may not look good right now, but hang on to hope. But hang on to hope. I'm still being planted. I'm still I'm not going to look at somebody else's harvest and frustrate myself when I'm still growing roots. Too many people that I know abort what God's trying to do because you pluck the seed up too soon. Leave it in the ground. Leave it there. Let it be cultivated. Let it germinate. Let it do what it's supposed to do. I promise you, it's going to push above ground soon. If you don't lose hope, don't give up. Job 8:7, though your beginning was small, your latter end will increase abundantly. God has a destiny in your life that exceeds your current environment. Your field is not your final destination, ladies and gentlemen, is the place where you're being formed.

Stop staring at the seed and comparing your growth to someone else's fruit. Stop believing the lie. What God started is just going to stay that way, buried and unseen. Paul addressed this in Philippians 1:6. Be confident of this very thing that he has begun a good work and you will complete it. What he started, he has every intentions of finishing it, but you're too hung up on looking at what everybody else is doing. Stop that. Stop looking around beside you. Look up. Look up. Look up. Look up. Stop looking side to side. Look up. You may feel small. You may feel like your calling is not a big deal, but I'm telling you, it is a big deal in the kingdom of God. You may feel unseen, but you're still being formed. You may be in the field, but God sees your potential. Champions are not made overnight. They're developed in seasons. God sees your end from the beginning. You and I, and I've said this so many times at this church, we are we are held hostage by time. We are finite and we get so wrapped up in the fact that I can't always see what's coming around the corner. Now, God stands at the end looking back at the beginning. He stands outside of time already present at your future at the same time walking with you in the present. That's our God.

And he has not declared what he's declared over you because of the moment you're in. He's declared what he's declared over you because he's already stands at the end. Y'all didn't get that cuz if you got that, there may be more people on board with that. He doesn't just see what you are. He sees what you're becoming. One of the most miserable stories at the start is Job. Oldest book in the Bible starts off says there was a man lived in us named Job who was perfect and upright. He did everything that was right. Now, now God says to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?" that he is a good guy, that he does what he's supposed to do. God is bragging about Job. Very, very ser first sermon I ever preached in my life, and it was terrible, y'all. It was awful. It was such a bad deliverance. The word of God's great, but the guy delivering the message that day was subpar. But I preached, "Do you give God the right to brag?" And I preached about Job. Now, the story there with Job is you get hung up in chapter one and chapter two. And I don't know about you, but it's not like you want to read any further. That guy has been through it, right? I mean, he's lost everything. Now, it starts off and you think to yourself, "Well, man, I don't know if I want God to brag about me or not."

Because moment he gets to bragging, it all falls apart unless you put it in context that God wasn't speaking about the moment. God was speaking about the end. Before Abraham ever had a son, he called him the father of many nations. Why? Because he was already talking about Abraham's destiny and legacy. He was declaring it at the beginning. I'm talking about getting rid of a mustard seed mindset. All right. Now, Abra Abraham's like, "Hey, I'm getting on up there in years, you know, and I may be able, but my wife, she's old." You'll read that in the book. That's how it plays out. He said, "I'm not sure she can handle it." Like he was a spring chicken, but he called him the father of many. He had to go introduce himself as the hello, I'm father of many nations. How many kids you got? I don't have one. That's kind of odd name you have there for having a kid. But God was seeing his final destiny. Stop looking at where you are now. There's more than just now. God stands outside of time already declaring the good works he's going to do through you. If you can keep your mind on him and not comparing yourself with everybody's going around you that is that is the American thing. This American mindset that that I'm a nobody unless I have this or I have that unless I can use the right terminology and I can write things and go the right places and wear the right stuff.

Y'all, I got a new suit on today and a new tie and a new pair of shoes and they're bothering me. I don't trust them. I haven't preached in them yet. I don't know if they're any good. What's really bothering me is these shoes. They're not broke in yet. They're starting to rub my heel a little bit. We're always hung up on what's going on around us. But God's watching always what you're becoming. God declared Job blameless. He declared Abraham as the father of many sons. God sees you finished. And he speaks to your future. He anoints you based on your end, not your beginning. Did you catch that? He anoints you based on your end, not on your beginning. The calling that God has in your life, the dreams he's given you in your heart, the vision that he's placed inside you, they'll come to pass if you submit to the process of time. God wants to release power in these last days. But he's looking for folks who get past the mustard seed mindset of what I don't have. Let me let me just let me just ask you this question. What possibly could you ask for that's more than God's spirit inside you? What more do you need? And how arrogant it is that we would ask for anything more. What more do you need? Has he filled you with his spirit?

If God has filled you with his spirit, raise your hand right now. Look around now. What more do you need? I know you're like, "Well, Pastor Kevin, you don't got in there meddling." I know. I got new shoes. I'm going to step on your toe with my new shoes. Jesus said, "The mustard seed when it's fully grown becomes a tree strong enough for birds to nest in its branches." It's this picture of a mature life with God. It's not just gifted, but rooted and strong and others can rest there and they can rest in the shade of what goes on. That's why we have these seasoned saints that are in our church and we all like being close to them because there's something refreshing about being near them is they didn't give up and sweat the day of the small things. They kept steady and they kept true and they kept committed and they didn't fall or succumb to a mustard seed mindset because they knew that God had a plan and a purpose for their life and they keep walking. They keep doing what's right. And then when I get near them, I'm able to rest in the shade of their branches because they're rooted and grounded in the truth and the reality that God was always going to take care of them. Anointed is not limited by talent, but it is determined by your capacity to grow.

Galatians 6:9. And let us not grow weary and welloing for in due season in due season. In due season. Now here's the deal, ladies and gentlemen. every seed and every plant and I they all have certain seasons they operate in and they vary. There's some similarities there but I've learned enough from being married to my wife that there there's a v variance in how this goes. Like right now, for example, we've been getting a lot of rain for Tennessee in July. Yeah. A lot of rain. Now, I'm thankful because my yard looks nice. My wife's not so happy because her dalas the feet are wet. Is that what you said? I didn't know they had feet, but they have feet and they're wet. What am I saying is that when we get into this comparison business, when I get into this whole scenario about when I look at what goes on and I see I see Pastor Taylor's got it going on and he gets in the pullpit and he preaches and then God uses him and there's miracle signs and wonders and lame coming back and walking and all the stuff that Pastor Taylor has going on and I could look and say, "Well, why don't I have that? I mean, I've been preaching longer than him. I'm better looking than he is. But I don't know his season, nor do I does he know mine.

And when I'm trying to compare what's going on without processing the season. See, not everybody here knows Taylor's story, but I do. And there was some things in the formative years that Taylor weathered through and walked through and brought God brought him through and he's able to draw back on those things because he didn't waver and walk away. And then God is using those things. Now he could have he had he had you had reasons to walk away. You had a reason to be bitter. You had a reason. And then there was moments when you were some stuff going on. We talked about but then you turn that around and you stay committed and now God uses those things. So, why would I then compare my ministry against his ministry when I haven't weathered the storms that he's weathered? Then we see others that are around us. And that's why the comparison business doesn't work, right? Is because you're you you're grasping for something that you don't have a clue. I'm going to tell you what, some of those ministries come at a really high price. Yeah, that's right. Yes. They come at a really high price. and you love those stories that get told over there. But let's be honest, you wouldn't sign up and walk through that fire. So, how silly is it then for you to say, "Well, I don't they're doing this or God has forgotten me."

Really? God has forgotten you? I'm sorry. Did you just say he filled you with his spirit? I'm having a hard time how he filled you with his spirit and you're forgotten. No, no, no, no. You're too busy looking around when you need to be looking up. You're too busy wrestling with a mustard seed mindset. I'm just little. I'm just stuck here. I'm just in the ground. Nothing's coming to pass for me. Nothing Nothing's working out for me. And you're allowing all those things to become excuses that the enemy is like, "That's right. That's right. You're not good. No, they didn't love you. They forgotten you. They should have." And they didn't. And you use every one of those as an excuse for you to not continue to allow yourself to grow down roots strong so that one day when the timing and your season was right, you could b burst forth and be fruitful. God. Ephesians 4:1 Paul says this, "I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called." He wasn't just talking to ministers here. He was talking to everybody who follows after God that you need to wake up and walk worthy of the calling that God's put in your life. You You've been here any time. You know, I believe everybody has a ministry. Everybody. It may not be a pull pit ministry, but you got a ministry and you need to start walking worthy of it.

You need to stop making excuses for why you're not doing this or you're not doing that because somebody else has it and you don't. Stop that. Stop that. Stop it. Stop that mindset. Break that mustard seed mindset. The call of God is not passive. It requires a response. It demands alignment. We started off this message and David was anointed and everything changed. Yet nothing changed. His brothers didn't treat him any different. He shows up there to fight Goliath, right? We like that story. But he shows up and his brother's like, "Why are you here?" They didn't say, "Why are you here, your majesty?" Is that in your I don't care which version you get? That none of them said that. They said, "What are you just here to cause trouble?" Now, I don't know about you, but I don't think you say that to the king. In fact, the one that he was supposed to replace is still sitting on the throne when he shows up. See, here's the deal about David is David went back to tending the sheep. David had to start walking worthy of what was already placed on him. And even if nobody else recognized it, he recognized it himself. And what happened is as he's out in the sheep pasture tending the sheep, God begins to work on him. And David begins to submit himself into what God is wanting to do through the process of drawing close to him so that he could pin the words, "The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters." Well, that didn't happen in a crowd. That happened in a field by himself. He was learning to draw into a position closer with him. He wasn't caught up in what should have happened. He caught up in God, this is here. I'm here right now. I'm going to lean in. I'm going to trust you. I'm going to draw in close to you. I want to be close to your presence. And it was in that process of the field that he learned how to fight some fights. It was in the process of the field as he's drawing close to God by himself. He had some private battles he went through. He fought a lion and he fought a bear. And there was no spectators out there. There was no there was nobody. One, did you see what David did? Did you see how he took care of that lion took it there? But because he was willing to fight the private fights, when it come time for a public spectacle, he walked up and said, "Is there not a cause that man's blaspheming God?" Do we not have a right to march out there when everybody else was intimidated? There was a spirit of intimidation that had come upon all of Israel. But the man of God showed up, who'd been out in the field, who had developed a relationship with God, who didn't give up the day of small things.

He walks out and said, "Hey, I'll do to him what I did to the bear and what I did to the lion when nobody was watching." and he walked out and he slayed the giant. Why? Because he had developed a relationship and he did not give up during the day of small things. When nobody recognized him as king when nobody cared anything about him, when nothing had changed positionally, he still walked worthy of the calling that was placed on him. Praise God. You got to learn to build habits now. Build an altar now. Not just imagine it, but develop the things that you need. Because most of the time you have no idea the requirements for what the future holds. We don't like the times of solitude. But it was in the solitude that David learned that he wasn't alone. There's birds in the sky and sheeps on the hill. But in the silence, it was thick enough for him to wrestle with. He ended up developing a relationship with God. It was there in the silence the songs began to rise up. It was there he learned to stir up the gifts that God had placed inside of him. It was there that he began to sense what no one else could see. There's something strangely beautiful about solitude. To the natural mind, isolation feels like abandonment. But to the spiritual man, solitude is formation.

Because in solitude, you can be spiritually tuned into the frequency of God. As I bring this to a close and the musicians get ready to come, I want to end the story by taking you to Exodus 33. This jumped out at me the other day. Moses most know is the one who led Israel out of Egypt. Moses who his whole life is this brilliant story about God preserving and protecting because he had a plan and a purpose for Moses just like he has a purpose and a plan for you. Moses is born into a time of complete hostility where Egypt is in an uproar and Pharaoh has declared that all the babies being born need to be killed. all the male babies. Moses's mom, she keeps him after his birth as quiet and as safe as she can. But it reaches a point where she knows there's nothing I can do. So, she trusts God and she builds a little bull rush basket. She releases him and then most of us know the story that it goes down. Pharaoh's daughter sees him in the water. His sister's watching the whole time. She Pharaoh's daughter brings him in. She runs over and says, "Can I find one of the one of the Hebrew women to nurse him?" And he ends up going back to his mom, but then eventually ends up leading in the palace. So, he's got the best best education that's there.

God's hands on Moses. Moses begin to realize that there's a destiny that's planned for him. And then Moses Moses tries to shortcut the process, right? He's going to be the one who leads them out. He's going to be the one who's going to take care of them. He's going to play a part in Israel being rescued. But he's he sees an Egyptian taskmaster master t taking advantage of another Hebrew man and he steps in there and takes care of that and kills the man. And then fear sets in because he's trying to shortcut the plan. And then for the next 40 years, Moses is on the run in the wilderness before it was in the wilderness where Moses really learned what his destiny was going to be. Yeah, was in the wilderness when he was shaping tending those sheep. He has that whole moment with God where there's a burning bush and he walks over, sees the burning bush and God calls him out. Fast forward the story. He leads Israel out of Egypt. Israel comes out and there's this story of Moses trying to lead them, trying to correct them, trying to instruct them, trying to do everything right. They get to Mount Si and Moses gets caught up on the mountain and God's giving him the Ten Commandments. while he's gone. Children of Israel, check out. Leave Aaron in charge. They go to Aaron like, "We don't know what happened to this fellow Moses."

One of the funniest lines in the Bible, the fella, not not the guy that got us out, but you know what's his name? That that dude, where'd he go? We don't know where he's at. We need a God. And we struggle with that, right? Cuz we read through chapters and sometimes forget that there was weeks and months and years that passed by and we're like, "What is wrong with you?" They end up having a party. God's upset. God comes down, says, "Look, you need to go down there. I'm about to wipe him out." And Moses has his whole exchange. So, he gets up to 32 to where he's having the discussion with God because God said, "Look, I'm done with them. I'm not going to go. I'll send my angel with him, but I'm not going." And Moses is pleading said, "If you don't go with us, we can't go." And because of that interaction with Moses and God, stick with me, okay? This is good. because of a relationship that's being formed there. God says, "All right, because of you, because of you, I'll go too." Moses moves his tent outside the camp. It's a tent of meeting. And then there's this moment where he's talking with God and he says, "I want you to show me your glory." Now, you may think, well, that that seems kind of kind of crazy. Why would he say that?

He's already talking with him, right? And I'll read it to you. Exodus 33:18. And he said, ' Please show me your glory. He said, 'I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But he said, you cannot see my face, for no man shall see me and live. And he makes this bold and intimate request. Show me your glory. It's the kind of prayer that can only come from someone who's already close to God. Now listen, I really feel strongly in the Holy Ghost. God has this word right here for somebody who's been living for God for a while, but you you've been frustrated. You've been hurt and you're struggling right now. Let me show you something. Moses wasn't praying for a blessing. He was praying for proximity. Moses had already lived a long time. He'd already seen God do a lot. This wasn't about miracles. I mean, he's seen the plagues come. He's seen all this stuff. He wasn't praying for a blessing, but he was saying, Michael, he was saying, I want to get close to you. I want to get I want to can you draw me in close? And I love this. So, understanding this mindset, it wasn't about a blessing, okay?

It was about proximity. It wasn't about a position. It was about proximity where I can be. Now, let's go back this. He says, "You can't see me face to face." Now, Moses could have been crushed in this moment, but he's listening to what God's saying. I want you don't want you to look at the words with me. Okay? This is interesting, fascinating, wonderful. And the Lord said, verse number 21, "Here's a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock." Did you notice this? A place, not a platform, not a position, but there's a place by me. God, I want I want to see you. Show me your glory. Well, I can't do we can't do face to face, but I have a place beside me. Look, it gets better. Okay, let me let me get to the I haven't got to the good part yet. Here's the here's the thing that that I'm guilty of overlooking and just I'm on a limb that you've overlooked this too. Look look what it says in 22. So it shall be while my glory passes by that I will put you in the cliff of the rock and I will cover you with my hand while I pass by and then I'll take away my hand and you shall see my back but my face shall not be seen. Before Moses could see the glory he had to experience hiddenness.

Wow. He's already got a relationship with him. He He's already developed all these things, Taylor. But Moses is still like, "Hey, God, I want to be close to you." And he says, "I got a place beside me, but in order for you to get here, here's the deal is I'm going to put you in the cliff and I'm going to put my hand over you." He put he presses him in to a firm hard place and then he darkens by covering him. See, there's times we don't understand. Why is it dark, God? Well, I don't understand. I mean, I've been obedient. I've I I've done everything I know to do. I've followed after your will. I followed after your plan. I followed after your purpose. But why am I now in this place that's uncomfortable? Why I'm in this place of solitude? Why I'm in this place where it's dark and I can't see? God, I just asked to be close to you. I just ask for proximity. I'm not seeking a position. I'm just seeking seeking to be closer to you. Come. There's a place beside me and I'll tuck you in and I'll cover you over. And I know you desire to see me face to face. But here's what you need to know, Moses. You're not always going to see me coming. But Moses, it's not about you seeing me coming. I'll take my hand off and you can see where I've been.

And it can be a reminder to you that I am faithful. Don't get so caught up in what's about to happen, Moses, when you can look back and see that I have been with you time and time and time again. I was with you in the wilderness. I was with you in the burning bush. I was with you when you stood in front of Pharaoh. I was with you when you washed the Red Sea. I was with you on the mountain top. Go back. Let me I know you're in a time of pressing. I know what you're desiring, Moses. But look, there's a place beside me, but in the place beside me, I'll put my hand over you and I'll cover you. And it may feel like pressing, but I'm still forming you. I'm still shaping you. I'm still making you. And though you won't always see me coming, you can always see where I have been in your life. And I'm here to recall someone's memory today. God has been faithful to you. And I know maybe you're in a season of pressing and a season of darkness. In a season where you don't understand why, God, when I've been faithful and I've been true and I've been committed, why am I going through what I'm going through? But where are you? Where are you? Has he placed you beside him? Are you beside him?

And can you remember? Can you recall back a time that he's ever been faithful to you in your life? You may not always see what's coming around the be, but you can always look backwards at what God has done for you in your life. Has he been faithful ever? Has there ever been one time that he was If there's been one time, then he's still a faithful God. You've got to break that mustard mindset. Stand with me. Even if you can't see him, he's still there. Last thing I'll leave with you is this. Revelation doesn't come for those who want answers. Revelation comes to those who want him. Him. I know. I can feel it. There's brokenness in this room and there's hurt and there's pain and there's failure and there's disappointment. I can feel it. Don't look around and try to compare your life or your walk with God with anybody else. Don't It's not wise. You're not in their season. You're not in their harvest. You're not called to bear their fruit. But God has planted you in a specific place. Give it time. And I promise you, stay committed to him and he will let you grow. The mustard seed is the least of all. But in its end is the greatest. It's the greatest. I'm here to tell you there are ministries sitting stagnant and dormant in this room right now because you've been playing the comparison game or you've been playing the woe is me game or how it's never works out for me and everybody else always has it better.

I rebuke that in Jesus name. I ask you again, do you have his spirit? Do you have his? If you have his spirit, you got everything. You got it all because you got him. And if you got him, you got it all. So, I'm going to pray today for a restoration in this place because God's in the restoration business. So, I want you to bow your heads if you're comfortable and close your eyes. God, I've delivered my heart today to your church, and I feel you moving among us even right now. And I know your spirit is drawing. But God, I'm going to be very specific with you today. God, will you restore what has been lost in lives in this room today? God, would you help us break the mustard seed mindset that keeps us stuck and not content with the day of small things. But Lord, help us to understand that it's in the small everyday relationship with you that God, we're formed and we're shaped and we're made into what it is you want us to be. God, let there be a healing from your throne room flow down in this place right now. God, I pray that you would call us back to where we're supposed to be in you. This altar is open. And I invite you to come. I invite you to come if you need a healing. I invite you to come if you need a restoration.

I invite you to come if you need encouragement. I invite you to come if you need an infilling of his spirit. He is here today. He is here today. Yes. Thank you for coming. As we sang earlier, there's never been a moment that he has not been with you. He is an ontime God. An ontime God. Today is the day of salvation. God, I pray it'd be for you. Church, it's prayer time. Ministers in the house, be sensitive to what God's doing right now. If God lays someone on your heart, go pray for them.