Priscilla Shirer | God Can Use You Right Where You Are

You're the one that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. You're the one that he redeemed. You're the one that he called out of darkness and flung into his marvelous light. You're the one that he adopted and grafted into the family of God. You're the one upon whom he dispensed grace and lavished his mercy upon. You're the one in whom he implanted his Holy Spirit so that you could know what it's like to have a walking, breathing, thriving relationship with him. And he's the one who gave his son for you, laid down his life for you so that you and he could have redeemed and restored relationship one with the other. He's looking for you. I believe in the power of God's word, y'all. It's not just ink on a page. It's not just a book. It's living, it's active, it's sharper than any two-edged sword. And every single time we come to the pages of scripture, whether we're together in a atmosphere like this one or whether it's just, you know, you in the wee hours of the morning at your kitchen table or laying in bed before the rest of the house is awake. Because, you know, sometimes that's how it is. You can't let nobody know you awake yet. You just have to lay there real still. Because, you know, as soon as your feet hit the floor, it's over. Like the day has started, right? So sometimes it's just in the wee hours of the morning laying there in the bed and you come to the pages of scripture, whether in a quiet spot like that or in a corporate environment like this one. Either way, every time we come to the pages of the book, we ought to expect to feel the warm breath of God. Brushing across our cheeks as he speaks a present word over our lives. So I've asked him and I anticipate that this simple message from Luke chapter 17, that's where we're going. If you've got your Bible or your iPhone or your iPad or any manner of I-ness, we're going to Luke's gospel chapter 17 for a few moments tonight. I have asked the Lord to take this one little simple passage and to divide it up however many different ways he needs to so that when you leave, you know tonight you heard the voice of God. Because that's what we came for. Lord Jesus, I thank you. I thank you that you speak to your children. Open up our spiritual ears so that we don't miss what you've come to say to us. If you've come to convict, convict. Where you've come to challenge, challenge. Where you've come to encourage, Father, or stir revival in our hearts or change the trajectory, the course of somebody's life, do it. We are your servants and we are listening. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Luke chapter 17. I'm going to read to you verses 11 through verse 19. Luke chapter 17 verse 11 says, And it came about that while he, that's Jesus, was on his way to Jerusalem, that he was passing between Samaria and Galilee. He's on his way to Jerusalem, but he's passing between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a certain city, there are 10 leprous men who stood at a distance, but they met him. They raised up their voices and they said, Jesus master, have mercy on us. Verse 14 says, When he saw them, he said to them, Go on ahead and show yourselves to the priest. And it came about that as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, just one, when he saw that he'd been healed, he turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. And this brother was a Samaritan. Verse 17 says, Jesus answered and said, But the nine, here's the question, where are they? Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God except the foreigner? And Jesus said to him, Well, rise and go your way. Your faith has made you well. Nine were healed. Only one was made whole. In Luke 17, the primary verse that jumps out to me when the first time I read this passage in my study in preparation for tonight, one of the most poignant and powerful and personally convicting, challenging questions in all of Jesus' earthly ministry is asked right here in verse 17. He says, where are they? I want you to hear this question roll off the lips of Jesus then, but I want you to hear the Holy Spirit personally ask you that question tonight. Where are you? Where are the ones who have been cleansed? Where are the ones who've been forgiven and redeemed and restored and sustained? Where are the ones I've kept and who I've loved and I've forgiven and I've set free? Jesus asks us tonight, where you been? Where have we been? Have we been indifferent? Have we been entitled? Have we maybe been a little apathetic or a little bit ungrateful? Have we been maybe just plain old flat out too busy? Have we maybe shrunk back in a little fear and insecurity and we haven't been bold and fearless in our faith? Hear the Holy Spirit ask you tonight, where are you? It bothers me really that the God of the universe would ask this question at all. I can't believe that he's looking for anybody because y'all know he don't need us, right? He doesn't have to have relationship with us. He certainly doesn't actually have to use us and partner with us in his kingdom purposes, but can't we find Jesus actually with his eyes peeled looking for these nine who did not return to him? Where are you? Allow the Holy Spirit to cause that question to just percolate in your heart for just a few moments because only you know where you've been at because it's real super easy to come to church on Sunday and put on the Sunday face and do the Sunday wave and have the Sunday smile and the Sunday clothes and you got the bumper sticker and the t-shirts that you all wear but only you know whether or not your back has been turned in rebellion against God whether you've been circumventing the directions of God whether you have been indifferent in your relationship with him or apathetic and hardened in your heart as the Holy Spirit's maybe been convicting you in a certain area of your life the Holy Spirit brought you tonight to ask you the question where are you? Luke 17, Jesus is taking a journey he is on his way to Jerusalem and he's on his way there for the Passover and I need you to know as he starts out this journey and we do tonight in this text that this isn't just any old regular Passover that he's headed to they had this feast every single year on the Jewish calendar pilgrims would come from all around out of the country into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover but this just isn't any old regular year this is that Passover because on this occasion within two weeks time from the text that we are reading there will be a betrayal he will be arrested he will be falsely accused he will be severely beaten and mocked and he will be gruesomely murdered he will be in the garden of Gethsemane in just a few days praying father if there's any way for me not to have to go through this please let this cup pass from me but not my will your will be done he knows at this point when he meets these 10 that he is on his way to lay down his life for the people that he is currently encountering these people who have outright rejected him some of them many of them who have outright ignored him or marginalized him or downplayed the significance of his deity and messiahship they have ridiculed him they have criticized him and still knowing all of that he marches onward towards Jerusalem and that Passover and while he is on his way there the writer of this text wants us to know a little geography he wants you to know that he's passing between Samaria and Galilee this is an important note because for Jesus you need to know that there was never anything left to chance there was no happenstance in his movement his ministry was an assignment not just the place that he was going to the destination but every town he would pass through on the way every person that he would encounter on the way so even if there was a person who crossed his path who was completely shocked by the fact that they had run in face to face with this Jesus that they had heard so much about even if they were shocked he was not because his sovereignty dictated everything about his ministry and his mission and for Jesus it was never just about getting to a destination it was about the journey and the opportunity that the journey would give him to encounter people whose stories, whose futures would be completely transformed because he had intentionally in his sovereignty crossed paths with them he never went anywhere accidentally his divine purpose and mission were wrapped up in the people he was divinely orchestrated to encounter on the way so Luke wants to chronicle the details of everything that happened before he ever got to Jerusalem he chronicles his geographical location he wants you to know specifically that he's passing between these two towns when he encounters these 10 people who are in dire need of a touch from Jesus's hand and they know it when they see him because everybody knew who Jesus was the word had spread through the grapevine because even if they weren't convinced that this dude was the messiah what they did know was that every time this Jesus showed up blind people could see that's what they knew they weren't convinced that he had come to redeem them and save them from their sins they weren't sure that the kingdom of God was at hand they weren't positive that the one of whom the prophet spoke of the old testament that this was him in the flesh they just knew when he showed up deaf ears could hear the lame could walk dead folk were being raised people were being completely released from bondages that had stolen their entire lives so when these 10 saw Jesus they ran to him as quickly as they possibly could and Luke wants you to know that one of them was a Samaritan this town and these people were traditionally despised by Jewish people Jews would go out of their way to avoid crossing paths with them much less interacting with them but not Jesus Luke wants you to know that he has intentionally and sovereignly gone where other folks don't want to go and oh this reminds me of John chapter 4 verse 4 because in John chapter 4 Jesus met a woman by a well you might remember people didn't traditionally interact with women because of their socioeconomic status at the time and not this particular woman who had a history that others would have talked negatively about but John chapter 4 verse 4 says that when Jesus met this woman at the well he had to pass by that well that's what it says he had to it was a mission it was his assignment it wasn't just about geography y'all it was about his sovereignty putting him in the right place at the right time to interact with the people that were going to be on his way to whatever his destination was stick with me I'm going somewhere Luke chapter 7 he's on his way to the centurion's house and while he's on his way he gives word for that man's servant to be healed and then while he's on his way to a city called Nain he sees another funeral procession of the son of a widow the only son of a widow and he stops and he says do not weep and then he raises her son from the dead in Luke chapter 8 while he and his disciples are on their way to the other side of the sea of Galilee his disciples get to see the ruler of all creation say peace be still and the winds and the waves obey him in Matthew chapter 9 Jesus is only on his way to heal one of the synagogue's leader's daughters and it's while he's on his way that another woman presses through the crowd she's got an issue of blood that nobody else has been able to heal and she presses through and touches the hem of Jesus's garment and simply by virtue of touching him while he was on his way somewhere else her life was completely changed and transformed the moments for ministry were discovered in Jesus's movement he needed only to be passing by for his power and presence to be on display I'm telling you this because I need you to know that just like the moments for ministry were discovered in his movement they'll be discovered in your movement too that sometimes we're waiting until we get there to serve the purposes of God wherever there is but Jesus intends to use you while you're on your way there it's while you're doing the regular things of regular old life putting one step in front of the other you can be like Jesus and reflect the heart of Jesus and offer the perspective of Jesus and express the compassion of Jesus and speak the truth of Jesus not just in Jerusalem but while you're on your way there as well that because God is sovereign not only over his earthly ministry but his sovereignty extends to you and to me providence somebody say providence sovereignty means God has the entirety of eternity and time in the palm of his hands the whole spectrum of time and eternity our sovereign God has seen it all from beginning to end providence is that your life in the spectrum of time and eternity our lifespan he has providentially ordained every single day and every single moment that means that the things that surprise you have not surprised God that means the thing that interrupted your whole year your whole plan your whole week your whole day that interruption might just be a divine intervention that if we'll just have eyes to see we'll hear the Holy Spirit saying to us this is the ministry I've assigned to you for this day this is the person you're supposed to talk to this is the place you're supposed to go this is the phone call you're supposed to make this is the pause you're supposed to have this is the moment designed for ministry not just when you get there the ministry is in the movement while you're on your way there and if we're going to see Jesus's example we will find that Jesus did ministry on the way and maybe you've been waiting until you get there some theoretical destination you've created in your mind some theoretical pedestal you've crafted in your mind of what ministry is supposed to look like sis God has called you to ministry like today tomorrow on your regular eight to five job while you're washing those regular dishes and changing those regular diapers and cooking that regular meal and standing in that regular line and going through that regular traffic running those regular errands ministry is happening all around us if we'll just open up our eyes and say Lord I'll be available while I'm on the way what have you been waiting on? is there some achievement or some accolade or some attention or some platform or some following that you've been waiting for? before you feel like God can use you but Jesus's own example teaches us that ministry that the opportunity to serve his purposes they can happen while you're still in the middle while you're still moving while you're still journeying while you're still growing while you're still maturing don't wait until you get there wherever there may be the time is right now for you to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ so here is Jesus on his way and while he's on his way he came to the outskirts of a small town a certain village and his path intersects with these 10 men these 10 men have been struck by the disease of leprosy that's why the scripture points out that they're standing at a distance they have to be a certain distance from everybody else that is in their community because they have this disease of leprosy and we know them by this primarily by this one distinguishing characteristic they're characterized by their disease they're known by what's wrong with them their entire identity has been swallowed up by this malady I'm intrigued by the makeup of this group I'm intrigued by the composition of the companionship of this group they're known by the commonality of their dysfunction can I just open up a parenthesis right here isn't it something how we are often drawn to people who have the same dysfunction as us the same issues we got we feel more normal when we're around people who are struggling with the same thing we're struggling with the people who we allow into our circle are just as dysfunctional as us they're dealing with the same thing we're dealing with we'd rather not see ourselves in the mirror of the way things could be or the way things ought to be it would be too convicting it would be too challenging it would give us cause for introspection and self-examination if we were actually face-to-face and in community with people that had healthy marriages or contented single friends or spiritually mature sisters who are growing in their relationship with the Lord that would challenge us to grow up too so sometimes we'd just rather choose dysfunction to match our dysfunction it makes us feel better so instead of putting ourselves in that position we'd rather just get friends around us who are dealing with the same leprosy we are but oftentimes and for some of us like these 10 men we didn't choose it it chose us these 10 men have been relegated to this dynamic they didn't want it life thrusted upon them it wasn't voluntary they didn't choose this group dynamic it's just life and man some of you know exactly how that feels because you would have never chosen some of the group dynamics that life has thrust on you you're a part of this grieving parents group because you've lost a child and they've lost a child and you can't believe this is the group now that are your people or you're in that waiting room you're in that treatment center every Tuesday at noon or every Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday over and over around these same people you've come to know each other and fellowship with each other and say hello to one another because you're dealing with the same diagnosis the same issue you would have never chosen this group for yourself these 10 know exactly how it feels to have your entire life transformed and completely changed by something that life has thrown at you and by the way if that has not happened to you yet just keep living because every single one of us in this room are in one of three places we're either right smack dab in the middle of a hard spot in life we're either on our way into one or on our way out of one because you don't have to go find the storms of life you just keep living in the storms of life they'll come and find you and at some point or another which is why compassion towards one another is so important because at some point or another you will be wearing the other person's shoes maybe not of the same size and in the same fit and in the same color but there will be something about your dynamic that shifts into the person that you were discussing or talking about yesterday so these 10 knows exactly how it feels they were drawn together into this difficult situation because their future was bound up by a dreaded disease and once you had it your death certificate was signed and on top of looking at a future that was hopeless and bleak you were immediately ostracized immediately marginalized from everyone and everything that you loved you had to remain distant so as not to risk the spread of your sickness onto them the shape of families were completely and irrevocably recalibrated broken as fathers or mothers or sons or daughters were now forever outcast outside of the city walls relegated to a colony and they had to stay away from everybody they loved can you imagine the devastation not only to the person with the disease but also to the people that love them this disease created so much distance and the commonality of their misery had drawn this motley crew together the only other detail that we have about them is the one thing that would have usually separated them one was a Samaritan and the other were Jews but the severity of this similar disease has created a bond that even the most deep-seated deep-rooted historical socio-economical division could no longer sustain their situation is so dire their sickness is so traumatic their disease is so deadly their suffering is so severe that they are drawn together despite these details that would normally keep them separated because this was the kind of disease that broke down all those barriers this disease was no respecter of persons didn't matter if you were rich or poor Jew or Samaritan Roman or Greek you could have been a king or a peasant the gruesome reality showed everybody their commonality that everybody was human that everybody was frail this disease leveled the playing field of anyone that it touched it was an equal opportunity ailment and in the Bible leprosy is often used as a physical illustration of a spiritual ailment a spiritual condition called sin and sin like leprosy levels the playing field because it destroys every single one of us eating us away from the inside out which is what leprosy would do to an individual that had it it is no respecter of persons and just like there's not a light case of leprosy and a heavy case of leprosy there is no low-class sin versus high-class sin there may be a difference in the consequences that are faced but whether you're a church girl who's been raised in the church all your life or this is the very first time you have ever set foot in a building like this one you need to know that all of us have been stung by a severe case of the same spiritual disease a disease that doesn't differentiate between classes or between colors or between cultures or genders at the foot of the cross every single one of us has the same need we all need grace and we all need mercy we are in equal footing we need a savior named Jesus Christ this disease of sin has created such a great chasm a great chasm between us and a holy God that none of us no matter how good we are could rectify on our own it cannot be bridged by our own merit or our good deeds the patchwork process of trying to work our way to heaven nope none of us can do it we all need a savior I'm remembering my dad telling the story of our other brother Jonathan who's always been an athlete and early on in his life when he was playing basketball he got to about 10 years old one day and he was playing basketball in the gym at our church which is Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church on the other side of town and he was playing basketball in the gym one day and he called my dad over in the office and he said dad you're up in the office come downstairs and see I can dunk he's 10 years old dad said well I gotta come down here and see this he came downstairs went into the gym and sure enough Jonathan ran up to the goal dribbled the ball and he dunked the ball with two hands the only problem was he had lowered the rim by about three or four feet so he could more easily reach it and that's the way we do with God sometimes we want to lower the standard and then say that we've dunked but his standard does not shift he is the same yesterday today and forevermore and God help us if we ever begin to minimize our need for a healer y'all because we do it we maximize other people's need while minimizing our own help us Lord if we start to minimize our need for a healer our need for a savior our need for a deliverer while overemphasizing and maximizing somebody else's need judging them sometimes we can be so busy judging their case of spiritual leprosy that we're misdiagnosing our own because really the person who is lusted needs a savior just like the person who committed adultery and the person who is the oppressed needs a savior just like the one who did the oppressing and the one who envied needs a savior just like the one who stole and the one who coveted just like the one who cheated and the one who hated just like the one who actually murdered and the one who committed the one-night stand just like the one who's been in a perpetual state of immorality and promiscuity every single one of us are in need of a savior to rescue us from this disease of sin because just like there is no cure there was no cure back then for the physical disease of leprosy there remains no cure for the disease of sin except this one that Jesus be passing by and y'all it is y'all somebody invited me somewhere to speak and then they said to me we just need you to be we're very seeker sensitive so we need you to be I had never heard the phrase seeker sensitive it was pre-seeker sensitive is what they said pre-seeker sensitive so maybe if you could not say the name of Jesus but just lead into I said I just looked at her like you know you invited the wrong person for that right there is one way to have a relationship with God and it is through Jesus Christ and whether it's politically correct or socially acceptable the truth remains the truth there is one name by which we must be saved and it's the name of Jesus Christ he's the only cure back then and he's the only cure for us today I remember being in college I went to the University of Houston and then did graduate school at Dallas Seminary here in Dallas and I remember during those years you know how college students are they're broke just plain old flat out broke but I remember my friends and I one night we wanted to go out to Uncle Julio's restaurant because the blessing of God is at Uncle Julio's is what I'm telling you can I get one witness in the house I mean just salty chips and queso for life is what I'm saying that's all I need for life and I'm not the kind of girl who's gonna just ignore this part Chef Paul ignore this whole part of the I'm not the kind of girl who's like gonna drink water and order a salad so I can be cute I'm ordering beef and shrimp fajitas and then when I finish mine I'm gonna look at your plate and scan it for leftovers to see if you got anything over there so on this night we a bunch of broke college students we decided we were gonna go to Uncle Julio's together 10 of us sat around this table a mixed group boys and girls I remember Rodney was sitting at this end and Kevin was at that end then several of my girlfriends were sprinkled throughout and we're eating and enjoying ourselves we ordered the guacamole and we ordered the queso when we had the chips and the salsa and the pico de gallo and then you know because we were big spenders apparently we ordered the shrimp fajitas and the beef fajitas and all the things that are most expensive on the menu and we just had a big old feast and we ordered cokes to drink and sprites and all the things and then at the end of the meal the bill came so you know how this happens when you're eating with broke folk as soon as the bill comes everybody starts analyzing what they ate versus what everybody else ate you can see it happening people just start looking at the bill well I just had one scoop of the guacamole I didn't actually I didn't eat the guacamole you had coke I didn't have coke I had water so you need to pay for this $2.50 right here the queso was down on that end of the table I didn't even actually get any queso so how do I pay for just one shrimp out of the fajitas just one shrimp so we're starting to analyze all the details you can just hear the conversation starting and everybody's starting to pick apart all the details and as we're discussing as we're itemizing as we're cataloging what you ate versus what I ate what you consumed versus what I consumed what you ordered and what you owe versus what I ordered and what I owe as we were doing that I saw a shadow pass behind me and realized that a waitress came over to the end of the table where Rodney was and she sat down a bill with a credit card already attached he had already covered the entire cost of the bill I saw him not paying any attention to the rest of us just add the tip on sign it and send it back with her and then he sat silently at the end of the table while he watched the confusion go back and forth one to the other debating the issues on the bill I looked at him he caught my eye we both chuckled and I said y'all come on now Rodney has already taken care of the bill all of a sudden all of our attention that had been on the bill the wages owed and on each other trying to evaluate who owed what versus who owed the other all of a sudden all that attention we were using focused on each other and on ourselves we turned all that attention towards Rodney to say thank you for covering a bill that we could not pay we have to stop paying so much attention to what you owe versus what I owe what your history was versus what my history was what you did versus what I did all of us should have our attention turned toward the one who covered the bill because apart from the grace and the mercy of Jesus Christ none of us would have opportunity to spend eternity with him in heaven verse 13 says that when they saw Jesus they raised their voices and they said Jesus master have mercy on us oh there's something so beautiful about this one verse as well because in this passage of scripture we see these 10 men calling out to Jesus with a loud voice Jesus have mercy on us the reason why that's significant is because according to Levitical law if you read through Leviticus 13 you find out that lepers not only had to live on the outside of a camp distant from everybody else but they also had to yell unclean anytime someone walked by anywhere in the vicinity of hearing they had to yell out unclean and people would yell back toward them stay away, stay away but on this day the nature of their cry has changed they're still calling out they're still yelling but when they see that it's Jesus in the distance it's not unclean it's Jesus have mercy on me do you know there is power when a woman or a man calls out have mercy do you know sometimes the only thing you can the only thing you can figure out to pray is have mercy sometimes when you can't find the words to pray you've been on your knees calling out to God maybe about that particular thing in your life maybe that you wrote down on that card tonight you've been calling out to God about that thing for so long that honestly you can't even find the words to pray anymore you can't even find any more tears to cry you just feel exhausted over that particular issue i'm here to tell you there's power in saying mercy he responded to it then and he responds to it now and when we are in the presence of Jesus when we recognize who we're dealing with it changes the nature of our cry all of a sudden these 10 what they were crying out about what they were calling out about what they were saying was no longer about them it was about him it was no longer about their identity being centered around their disease now in his presence their identity is centered around his deliverance they're no longer talking about their ailment they're talking about his ability to heal it they're still crying out but their cry has completely been changed and transformed because they're in the presence of the one who can not only sympathize with it in his humanity because we serve a great high priest who yes sympathizes with us in his humanity meaning he's been there and done that he's lived this life on planet earth he gets it what it feels like to be tempted yet without sin to be hurt to be wounded to be abandoned to be betrayed to be physically abused he understands what that feels like so he can sympathize with us in his humanity but the great thing about our God is that then he can turn around in his deity and actually do something about the very thing he was just sympathizing with you about so what has been the identifying detail that has been the banner hanging over your life what weakness or failure or deficiency have you worn like a badge of dishonor what have you been calling yourself maybe not unclean but you know what it is for you is it the anger that you felt or the abuse that you suffered or the heartache you experienced or the wounds that you've incurred or the addiction that you battled or the resentment that you nursed or the bad choice that you made or the lie you told or the mess you created or the consequences you've endured this thing has been the defining factor of your life and you felt marginalized and isolated because of it today all that changes because in the presence of Jesus you can finally move from focusing on yourself to focusing on him our focus is now not on our mess it's on his mercy somebody say mercy listen in this day and age authenticity is kind of a buzzword it's a trend right now be authentic be your true self own who you truly are be bold in your truth they say and actually there's something good about that there's actually something healing about that yes but we have to be careful that being authentic isn't the end goal because just yelling unclean doesn't do anything to actually make me clean authenticity must only be the starting place it's got to be the launching pad for healing if it's actually going to be meaningful and helpful being vulnerable and authentic about the ways I'm unclean should be a springboard that pivots me to the only one that actually offers my uncleanness any hope at all and when I see him standing there with open arms my focus should change then from me and my authenticity to him and the mercy that he's willing to give me from my insufficiency to his sufficiency from my misery to his mercy that he is so willing to extend to me so that I can be healed declaring our diseases isn't good enough it hasn't helped us it hasn't changed our story but a sincere request for mercy can yes come as you are but don't stay as you are the power of God can heal somebody say mercy Isaiah 59 verse 2 says that when you call for mercy you need to know his arm is not so short that he cannot save you his ear is not so dull that he does not hear you Isaiah chapter 30 verse 18 and 19 says the Lord longs to be gracious to you he rises up to show you compassion for the Lord is a just God he is a blessing to all of those who wait for him and at the cry for mercy from these 10 Jesus met them whereas their cry created distance between them and everybody else it repulsed everybody else away from them their cry for mercy drew Jesus toward them mercy had forged their meeting with the Messiah he was not repulsed by what repulsed everybody else and someone needs to hear this today James 4 verse 8 draw near to me he says and I will draw near to you it doesn't matter what you've done it doesn't matter where you've been it doesn't matter the history you have it doesn't matter how hard you've had it it doesn't matter the abuses that you have suffered or the abuses that you have suffered onto another person Jesus says you draw near to me and I got you I got you amen Jesus says to them in verse 14 go and show yourself to the priest I would think he would respond with be healed in my name but no he didn't he said go and show yourself to the priest in those days priests had to be used to verify the complete cleansing of any skin disease like this one so those who were sick had to go to the priest in order to be given an official declaration of healing but if you look closely at Jesus' instruction embedded within it is a promise for relief the healing he was offering was tied up in their obedience to his direction okay he says go show yourself to the priest I want you to think of the faith these lepers had to have to start walking toward the city because as they walked toward the city there was at the beginning no signs of actual healing as of yet their skin was still infected their sores would have still been present their wounds were still easing the pain would have been still deeply felt with every step they took their sensory nerves would have been on fire they could still feel that they were not completely healed they were going to have to go in faith as they walked toward the city toward the priest in their current condition and so are we because listen if it were me I would have said to Jesus listen G don't you want to heal me don't you want to heal me before I go and Jesus says no I'm gonna heal you while you go while you go in obedience in your marriage in your financial struggle while your heart is still hurting with your mind still broken with the tears still falling with the pain still present even as you get going keep going and you will find because somebody in this room is a testimony to this that while you were just going about the regular rhythms of continuing to be obedient to God one day you realize the miracle snuck up on you has anybody ever had a miracle sneak up on them where you realize that the depression just isn't quite as crippling as it used to be where you realize that the grief is still there but it's not as debilitating as it once used to be where you realize that the tears don't fall as quickly as they once used to fall you feel a lightness and a freedom in a way you didn't even anticipate you would you were just going about in obedience to whatever it was it's the last thing that Jesus told you to do and as you did it in obedience you looked up one day and realized you were in the middle of a miracle it's called the sneaky miracle where it sneaks up on you while you go I want somebody to know who is walking in obedience one foot in front of the other and you can feel the pain even as you're trying to be obedient to God in commitment to your church or in commitment in your marriage or in commitment in parenting that teenager or in commitment in that entrepreneurial endeavor or that ministry that the Lord has planted that seed for in your heart and it's been difficult and it's been hard but you just keep hearing the Holy Spirit say just go and you've been moving forward I want somebody to have hope today that he can and will heal you while you go you've been waiting for proof of his presence you've been waiting for his power before you go well he sent me here tonight to tell you that he will meet you as you go get going and don't stop going and one day you will look up and realize Jesus did it while you were on your way while you were moving forward and when one of them in verse 15 looked down and realized in fact it was the least likely among them when he looked down and realized that he had been healed he broke ranks with everybody that was in his group and he turned back to glorify God when the 10 of them had first talked to Jesus they'd called him master which meant simply rabbi or teacher but now this one recognizes that this guy has got to be so much more than just a man worthy of random respect nope this guy is more he calls him God he gets down on his knees he lifts his hands and he thanks him he thanks him because he realized that not only has he been healed his entire future has been transformed his entire trajectory of his life the relationships that had been broken are about to be restored he hasn't seen his wife or his children or his mama and them his cousins his friends he hasn't seen his people and been in community for as long as he can remember the entire shape and trajectory and geometry of his life is about to be completely transformed the only thing he can think to do is to turn around and give thanks but where there should have been 10 people there was only one where there should have been 20 hands raised there were only two where there should have been 20 knees down on the ground in complete thanksgiving there were only two and Jesus asked the question that we started with where are the others? Jesus is looking for the others he's grateful for the remnant the 10 percent one out of ten that come in complete surrender and complete submission and complete thanksgiving with their knees to the ground and their hands outstretched recognizing what he's done but I want you to know that other people's praise does not substitute for yours he's still looking for you and you need to know that God does not have grandkids you can't piggyback off your grandmama's faith he's looking for you you're the one that he has fearfully and wonderfully made you're the one that he redeemed you're the one that he called out of darkness and flung into his marvelous light you're the one that he adopted and grafted into the family of God you're the one upon whom he dispensed grace and lavished his mercy upon you're the one in whom he implanted his Holy Spirit so that you could know what it's like to have a walking, breathing, thriving relationship with him and he's the one who gave his son for you laid down his life for you so that you and he could have redeemed and restored relationship one with the other he's looking for you and so he asks where are you? and it boggles my mind that the God of the universe would be looking for anyone the almighty one who does not need us who does not have to allow us to be a partner with him he is looking for our lives to be pointed in the direction of gratitude as we go throughout the regular rhythms of our day our posture is toward him in gratitude that we are constantly saying thank you Lord for this and thank you Lord for the air that I breathe and thank you Lord that I got up this morning and thank you Lord that there's food on my table and thank you Lord that my children are safe today and thank you Lord that my husband is well today thank you Father that you allowed us to gather together thank you Father that we live in a country where we can boldly say the name of Jesus without wondering whether or not we will be arrested for our faith thank you Father for everything that and when he comes looking for folk I hope he finds the women of awaken that I hope when he comes looking for some people whose whole lives are oriented toward gratitude because you know when you live in an orientation of gratitude it changes everything about your life you stop dealing with life from a state of deficiency and lack and you start realizing how many blessings he keeps pouring upon you blessing upon blessing because honestly y'all even with all the prayer requests that we've prayed tonight and the ones we're still getting ready to pray for before this night is over when we leave here and we grab these cards you need to know that even as we pray for those if he never did another thing for us he's already done enough and so I ask you where are you? Have you been apathetic or indifferent? Has your heart been hardened? Have you just been too busy? Have you maybe been a little entitled because you know we're so blessed that sometimes you can get used to the blessings and forget to pause and say Lord I thank you because you've been so good to me he is looking for you stand to your feet picture in your mind right now what it is that you have to be grateful for the way he changed and transformed your life be the one out of the 10 lepers who paused to take a look at what it is that had been changed in his life what Jesus had just done for him would you just think back over the past 24 hours over what God has done for you and just take a moment to say thank you Lord we the women of awaken thank you tonight we thank you father for everything that you have done for us Lord when you come looking for gratitude when you come looking for hearts that are open in worship and praise to your great name when you come looking in this part of the community you're going to find us with our hands and our hearts turned upward toward you and thanksgiving and praise for all that you have done for us Lord we thank you for how you've sustained us we thank you for how you've kept us we thank you for how you've freed us we thank you for how you've transformed us Lord everybody didn't make it to the year 2022 but here we are and we thank you father that your grace and your mercy and your goodness keeps running after us every day of our lives in Jesus name everybody agreed in thanksgiving when they said amen amen amen amen amen