Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: I want to know God's will. I want to hear his voice. And as we yield to certain things, God's will becomes clearer and clearer because that's a principle. That person's like, no, I'm not yielding to anybody. I'm the captain of this ship. I don't yield to anybody. They're not going to be led of God, because that's not a gentle, humble spirit. God has a hard time moving that person who wants to do things his own way.

Because God teaches the humble and the gracious his way. He leads those who are willing to follow. Rebecca and Isaac submitted to God's will. And this is another key of being led, led by God.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear part two of the message titled, "If All Is Well, Why Am I Like This?" And is from the sermon series through the Bible. English writer and preacher John Bunyan when speaking on humility once said, "The people of the Lord in humility are to lay themselves and their prayers and all that they have at the foot of their God to be disposed of by him as he in his heavenly wisdom sees best. Yet not doubting, but God will answer the desire of his people in the way that will be most for their advantage and his glory."

Please join us as Pastor Shane encourages us to honor the Lord today, clothing ourselves in humility, quick to forgive, and quick to submit to one another in Christ's love. We encourage you to listen to this message of hope, allowing the Holy Spirit's peace to fill you. That peace that passes all understanding found only in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You can hear the whole message at Pastor Shane's YouTube and Rumble channels. Make sure to subscribe today. For more information, visit us online at WestsideChristianFellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast. And now from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here's Pastor Shane Idleman.

Pastor Shane Idleman: If you can understand, hey, no matter what happens, God is my anchor, I'm holding on to him for dear life. I'm not going to waver. It might be difficult. I might have ups and downs. But Lord, I'm going to see this through and I'm going to follow you until the day I die. Life will become a lot easier for you, because you're not on an emotional roller coaster.

Anybody been there? Do you know it's funny that we get our word happy from the word happenstance, which means what's happening to me? But true biblical joy comes from who's within me. And so I can have tremendous joy where most people would not have any happiness. Does that make sense? Because joy is inner belief, inner strength in God and what he can take you through. And it changes your life.

I just want to brag even on the Harballs. Are they here? Joe's here. I don't know if your wife's here. But went through, I mean, a very difficult season with their daughter. Her picture's still on our refrigerator. Prayed for her. And she's really, really improving greatly. But I've never seen Joe worship like I've seen Joe worship the last six months. I mean, talk about from where he went even a year and a half ago to where now. It's, what happened? Well, it wasn't a bed of roses.

Difficulty and challenges, it breaks us, it humbles us. And then when we come in, we sing worship songs, Amazing Grace, how sweet that is, it saved a wretch like me. Lord, you are my strength, you are my, you are my, my provider, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah, we know him as all these words in the Old Testament, because he takes you through the storm and he, he, he, he leads me behind by still waters. He leads my soul into, he holds me, comforts me. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because I have seen the risen savior. My eyes have seen the king of glory. And now you become a worshiper because God has touched your heart.

So that's the wonderful thing. He gives us a challenge to change us, a crisis to conform us. And if I were to be honest with you this morning, I don't like this part of God's will. Man, if I look over my life, broken, I'm broken, I'm broken. It's, it's, I'd like to tell you I arrived.

But it's not, you're not going to arrive until you're six feet under. It just, it just happens and you, you better become better, not bitter. You better, you better humble yourself, repent, and let God change your heart. I remember, I don't think my daughter would mind me sharing, but this is a while ago. I think I shared with you a year and a half ago, two years ago. But we got home and she goes, she goes, I'm busy and then she goes, Dad, you're always praying for everyone else, but you never pray for me.

Stagger, fall down. And so now I try to make it a point to pray more with my kids and invest into them. And see, you have to have that breaking, right? What about, what about, I'm just busy. Don't you know who I am? I'm busy. You know I love you. That's pride. That's making excuses. I can give you a thousand examples where I've been humbled. Have you? Amen. The kids do not lie.

Man, spouses don't lie if they love you too. Lots of breaking, lots of breaking. It's a continual process. So, she wondered, what is going on? So she went to inquire of the Lord. Next verse. And the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb." This is huge. This is, here we have, we, here we have Esau and Jacob.

We have the nation of Israel and the Arabs. This is a big, big deal in the center of God's will. "Two nations are in your womb. Two people shall be separated from your body. One shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger." See, this is different. The younger always served the older. The birthright was given to the older, the firstborn. But in this case, it's going to be reversed. The older, which is going to be Esau, is going to have to serve the younger, which is going to be Jacob.

So apparently, we know how they came out of the womb, in what order. When her days were fulfilled. God would say that quite often. There's, there's a season in life. You, you don't have a baby two weeks later. You have a nine months. There's a, there's a growth process that goes from this size to this size. And there's a, there's a time of fulfilling. So many times, we want something, God, I, I feel this. I, I feel you're going to do this in my life or I want this, but there's a, there's a waiting period. There's a time of fulfilling. Let, let you, let you grow. Let me, let me, I'm sorry. God's saying, I need you to grow, so I can do in you what I want to do in you.

And I was just thinking this week, you know, a lot of, when I got started in the ministry, and then even after, you know, I've, I've watched some, some pastors fall. And, you know, I, I would follow their ministry. Some of them didn't fall. But a lot of pastors started out churches, like say, Francis Chan started out, and he didn't fall. But in his 20s, I think. Mark Driscoll in his 20s. I think Perry Noble in his 20s. Steve Furtick in his 20s. I'm like, I'm glad God didn't call me in my late 20s. I, I wasn't even ready until 40.

But isn't that interesting? Because God says, okay, here's what I've called you to do, but it's not fulfilled yet. Because I've got to hurt you. In a good way, I've got to break you. I've got to humble you. I've got to get these, these addictions out of you or these strongholds out of you. I've got to get this, this pride out of you. I've got to, I've got to, I've got to get you ready so when you, you're called, you don't fall. You don't see a little apple tree producing 500 pounds of apples. It would fall, it would collapse.

And so that just really stood out to me this morning, when her days were fulfilled. Here's the nations, they're coming. Maybe that, that prayer is going to be answered. Maybe that, that, what God's called you to do is, is going to happen, but it's not yet fulfilled. Now, I'm careful because those guys on TV say it's just around the corner, and they're speaking a thousand, your blessing is right there, you're going to be a head, not the tail. You're, you're going to prosper, just keep holding tight and holding tight. But if God is dealing with you about besetting sin, you better handle that first.

Because our, our waiting period could be a period of delay, because God is wanting to change our heart, wanting us to repent. I'm often shocked, and I've shared this before, did you know the nation of Israel, once they left Egypt, they could have got to the promised land in about 12 days?

12 days? 40 years. Why did it take them 40 years? And actually, God just destroyed every one of them in the wilderness except Jacob, except Caleb and Joshua.

Why is that? Because my people tested me. They had stiff necks. They tested me, they're grumbling and complaining. A spirit of offense, critical spirit. And God said, I let them wander in the desert and I couldn't fulfill my will in their life. And as much as I don't like to say that because it's not motivational, it's the truth. And I cringe sometimes when I see the guys on TV or radio even sometimes that it's they're speaking like so many people in this blanket statement that your, your dream is just around the corner. Your blessing is about ready to burst. And that could be very true in the lives of many people. You can claim that, I believe it. For example, if God puts something on your heart, there's a waiting period, you're pressing in, you're praying, you're getting rid of besetting sin, you're humbling yourself, you're, you're doing, it's just in that waiting time that God is developing you.

And I often pray, Lord, am I wasting time? Am I waiting time, waiting time? Is there something you want me to deal with that I'm not dealing with that is holding me back? There's a lot of scriptures on that too.

Against popular belief, God is not a puppet master. He gives us the ability to make decisions that will alter our course. And if we're not fully surrendered to God, we can really jump outside of God's will. So twins were born, twins were born in her womb. So a couple things, she prayed rather than complained. She prayed rather than complained. Oh, who needs to hear that today?

Four people. That's hard. I mean, that is a hard one because in complaining and grumbling is within us, is it not? And I know I said that about California, but guess who has to deal with it every day, grumbling and complaining too. Hello. I mean, it's just, here it comes. It's just by nature.

Those darn officials. Biden, open the pipeline. I mean, okay, I'm going to get off track. Let's see. And this whole thing on electric cars just cracks me up because our power grid can barely handle what we have now. And come on guys, stop, stop egging me on. Okay.

Isn't it true? What sense, common sense? You know, it's just. And also the husband pleaded, the husband pleaded and interceded for his wife. Guys, the husband pleaded and interceded for his wife. The defender, the husband defended his home primarily with prayer. Guys, if you're not defending your home, if you're not leading in this area, let me encourage you this morning to do that. And don't say, oh, I bet Pastor Shane's home has all this in order. Nope.

I'm up like four hours before my wife, and she texts me, want to pray? I'm like, want to pray? I'm not even home. I'm gone. My day's started. Let's do devotional with the kids. Okay, sounds great. And then all hell breaks loose. All, the little ones don't want to listen. This is it's like, what in the world is going on? But you've got to fight for those things. So we better plan on a family devotional tonight. I'm going to try it again. But they defend the home primarily through with prayer. The husband is that, that prayer warrior. And guys, let me just throw this out there. I threw it out there on Father's Day, and it was incredible how many guys came to morning worship, but then it's like.

It's over. That has to be the pulse, the spiritual pulse of our heart. That's why we open at 6:00 in the morning to get worship on. We have communion every Sunday. Every Sunday it's up here at communion and getting our hearts right before God. It's incredible. That's how you're going to defend your home. He also submitted to the needs of his wife. He also submitted to the needs of his wife. Did you catch that?

I didn't say it the other way around. He submitted that dangerous word, that deadly word. He submitted to the needs of his wife. You see, biblically speaking, a man submits to Jesus Christ, and then the woman comes underneath that spiritual authority and submits to his leadership. But in doing so, he makes decisions as he submits to the needs of his family and his spouse.

It's not just, I'm the man in this house. My cheesemo. You do what I say, when I say it. Didn't you read that Bible verse? Woman, you submit to me. He, that house is so out of order. If you ever have to quote that verse, you're in big trouble. Am I saying anything that is not correct? Submission is difficult. This whole idea of submission is difficult. Is if all is well, why am I going through this? And this often happens in submission.

When we, when, let me, let me define this last week. I talked about this. Submission is yielding. Correct? So what happens if you go out to the stop sign leaving and you don't yield? I found it interesting this week. God gave me a great, just showed me something. Even a police car yielded to me. He wasn't going anywhere. We were just there. It was my turn. He had to yield to me. Normally, someone I would yield to. I would yield to him. But because he intersected, he yielded to me. I got there first.

See that, if you view submitting like that, it's a wonderful concept. I yield to the needs of this person or vice versa or the spouse yields to the needs of that person. One thing I've noticed with God is he will put something in your heart that may be yet isn't fulfilled. For example, oh Lord, I, I think, I think you want me to do that. Is that your, is that what you want me to do? Is that your dream? Okay, I'll do it right now. And you fall flat on your face.

Many examples. I remember when people were even telling me this, I felt it really deep down in my, in my, in my soul. I mean, it was like, man, okay, I just don't know how to do it. Is when I would go and speak around 2003 is when I started speaking, traveling. It's going to come up on 20 years here. A lot people would say, you got to get this on radio. You should go on the radio, you should go on the radio for like eight years. And I could see it, I believed it. But, what am I supposed to do with that?

So finally, in 2009, I believe it is, had a message, found a guy. The funny story is, it's actually the 91.9 now that we own as a church, they actually wouldn't let me on in 2009. Now that I'm thinking of this is funny. So Morgan said, hey, why don't you contact KTLW who's down in LA, Jack Hayford, Jack Hayford's church. I'm like, they're not going to let me on, that's a big station. And Gary Curtis, I'll never forget, he said, hey, we'll put you on Saturday morning, $50 for a Saturday morning.

Whoa, talk about an open door. And then, of course, it snowballs and it grows. But you have these, you have God put something in your heart, right? And, and and it takes time to develop. And I shared with the first service, one thing I was just reflecting on this week is, a lot of people who are my age, I could mention, you know, maybe some of them a little bit younger, but you, maybe Steve Furtick, you've seen on TV or Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan, and others. I, I read Perry Noble, and some of them, some of them kind of, you know, had some issues in ministry. But a lot of them started their churches when they're like 24, 25, 26. I'm like, Lord, thank you.

Praise God that I did not start my, start this church at 26. Or 32. Why? It would have been destroyed, I would have been kicked out of ministry. Because God wasn't yet done kicking the devil out of me. And so you see, there's a time. See, you're not, maybe those people were ready. I mean, Francis held it together well at 24. I got to hand it to him because he, I couldn't do that.

And then so God knows when it's time, it's fulfilled. Okay, the nine-month gestation period. Can we call it that for women? Is that okay? Okay. So there's a period where the baby is being developed, and now it gives birth. And so there is a time, there's a fulfillment in your own life. Now, before I forget, we can delay that fulfillment. Did you know that? God is not bound to just fulfill it whenever we want.

Because there's something in our heart called sin. And there's besetting sin. For example, let's say God has called somebody to, let's say, be on the worship team, how's that? Vocals, or to preach, or to teach, or to start a ministry. But they're full of pride and bitterness and haughtiness and a critical spirit, you think they're going to get to that destination? They'll be humbled, and when they're, when they're ready, God could promote.

I mean, just as an example, we've never, ever, that I can remember, since we started the church, is if anybody came up and said, I want to be on your worship team. I want to sing. It's never happened. How does it happen then? Because we hear them. Oh, they can sing. Madeline, I didn't even know she could sing, and she can sing. Her blessing, I don't know if she's here too. But when it was 2014, we were at 15th, somewhere, we were at a kid's camp, and blessing's by herself on a guitar. I'm like, Morgan, you didn't even tell me she could sing. She's been coming to church for a year. How do we know these people can sing? Or Pri, remember Pri before she moved?

She'd just start singing back then, I'm like, that girl can sing. She's in, let God, let God exalt you. Let God promote you. Let another, not, not the words of your own mouth praise you, but let the words of your own mouth praise you. And even when Brandt was leading, I heard him at our old location and like, he can sing. And Starner and, I mean, I could just go, go, and the Marlos when they were here helping more. And you could see that it wasn't this self-exaltation because God will hold that person down until they're ready.

And Rebecca and Isaac submitted to God's will. And that's another key to being led by God. Folks, did you know this? To, to, I want to know God's will. I want to hear his voice. I want to. Do you know he has us yielding and submitting a lot throughout our lives, or throughout the week, or throughout the month. And as we yield to certain things or submit to certain things, God's will becomes clearer and clearer because that's a principle. That person's like, no, I'm not yielding to anybody. I'm, I'm, I'm the captain of this ship. I, I do, I, I don't yield to anybody. They're not going to be led of God, because that's not a gentle, humble spirit.

Who's that old singer that used to sing that? My Way. Frank Sinatra. Yeah, I couldn't get that song out of my mind. I haven't heard it in years, but, you know, I'm going to do things my way. And it's hard. God has a hard time moving that person who wants to do things his own way. Because God teaches the humble and the gracious his way. He leads those who are willing to follow. So let's talk about submission for a little bit because Rebecca and Isaac submitted to God's will. And this is another key to being led, led by God. Now, for those who are offended by the word submission, is there anyone out there? See, here's the thing with submission.

The word has been used in a bad way. It's like, you know, you think of the word fundamentalist. You think of those who blow up abortion clinics. Or you think of, a hundred years ago, you would say, hey, after church, we're going to throw a gay, a gay party, meaning happy. And so things change. And so this word submission, and what happens a lot in the Muslim countries and this. And so the word is like, I don't know about that word. Humility is a wonderful thing.

So let's, let's talk about this. First Peter 3:7. I think we have that one up there. First Peter 3:7. Wives, wives. The NIV, it's not the nearly inspired version. It's a good version. Wives in the same way. There's so many. Pastor, you prayed that I had freedom this morning, didn't have to stick with my notes. And I'm following that. So, I got to tell you guys a joke. I tried using the King James this week. I'm like, what, what are they talking about? And it's a great version. If you, if you love it, stick with it. It's incredible. It's a Texas receptus. Receive tech, it's close to, I mean, it's a great translation. But for the life of me, go fetch a compass.

Pastor Shane Idleman: Hello, this is Pastor Shane Idleman. I want to tell you about a new booklet I just released, titled, "The Dark Night of the Soul." This book came from a very challenging season in my own personal life. Dark seasons reveal what we actually believe, not just what we say we believe. The phrase, "The Dark Night of the Soul" captures a moment we all dread. It's the moment when the floor drops out from underneath us and we realize that we are not in control and we come face-to-face with something we cannot fix. Time and time again, God demonstrates that what appears to be the end of something is actually only the beginning. So again, I want to encourage you to take time today and download my new booklet, "The Dark Night of the Soul" for free, right now at WestsideChristianFellowship.org. Again, download it for free at WestsideChristianFellowship.org. It is on Amazon, but we're encouraging people to go to our church website where they can actually download the booklet for free, the PDF, and share it with friends and family at WestsideChristianFellowship.org.

Guest (Male): Westside Christian Fellowship is located 60 miles north of Los Angeles in Leona Valley, California. Thank you again for listening to today's message of regaining lost ground, where we are reminded daily. Times change, truth does not.