Sometimes what you want isn't the problem; it's the way you go about getting it.
There was nothing wrong with David's desire to be king. God gave him that promise,
but David knew God can't honor the promise if he didn't honor the process.
My applause is dying out. Boy when I was preaching about promises, we were about to take off. We were
going somewhere. I just shut the whole thing down because we had to go back to the sheep pen
and remind ourselves of who called us to begin with. And if he called me and if
he made the promise, that means it's not just important where I end up but how I get there.
It's not just important if I get it; it's how I get it because the way I get it will
determine who I am when I get there. "I'm not this kind of king. I can't do it like this.
I want it, but there are certain things I won't do to get what I want."
Those of you who are single need to make this a part of your pre-dating relationship
speech, okay? Tell the next guy you enter into a relationship with
right off the jump before anything gets too serious, before you get lost in love,
before you start naming babies together at Ruby Tuesday, or any of that… Tell him:
"I just need you to know because I think you're cute, I need you to know because
you might be special, I need you to know I enjoy spending time with you,
but I don't cut corners. We're going to do this God's way
because I tried some other ways, and I watched what happens when I do God's will my way."
Oh, I'm preaching this thing. Touch somebody and say, "I don't cut corners. I don't cut
corners. It's not just important to me that I get there. I want to get there the right way."
I suck at this sometimes. I try to get the right thing the wrong way.
I want to fight with people on Facebook, and I'm right! They're wrong! I have this thing in me
to where there are times where I just want to
say some things, some things you would say too, but I can say them real good
because I do words professionally. That's my job. That's my job.
So what I do is I go on and write comments back to people.
I cut corners. Then while I'm writing it, I know I have to delete it,
but I still complete it. Then I delete it. Then I realize, "You know, you can't respond to critics
with the same hate you despise in them and expect to change anything. Not like this!" Not like this!
Tell somebody, "Not like this." Yeah, God wants you to have it, but not like this.
That's why we need to be so careful, church. There's a lot of hatred in the world. There's
a lot of bigotry in the world. There's a lot of ignorance in the world. But we can't fight
ignorance with ignorance. We can't fight hate with hate. There has to be a higher law called love.
I want justice, but if I have to sink to the same level
of the people I'm trying to change… Not like this! Not like this! I feel God on that. Not like this!
I honor process. I put my sword away because the kingdom will not
be established by my cutting off Malchus's ear. It's established with a cross.
When Jesus went to die, all his disciples could say is, "Not like this.
We have to take over. We have to make it happen." Jesus said, "Not like that."
You have the right robe but the wrong way. You have the right desire;
there is nothing wrong with your desire. There is nothing wrong with your desire.
What you want is from God, but it is what you will do to get it that will determine
whether or not you can keep it and walk in it when you do. "I cry out to God Most High;
he fulfills his purpose for me." Do you know what that means? I don't. I'm not saying that
I don't plan, that I don't strategize, but I recognize that every opportunity is not God.
I want what God wants me to have, when God wants me to have it,
how God wants me to get it. That's it. Not like this. I don't cut corners. I don't do it my way.
I don't retaliate. Not like this. Sometimes I find myself parenting my kids, and I'm trying
to get the right behavior by demonstrating the exact behavior I'm trying to correct.
(Shut up, Elijah. Don't say, "Amen" to that.) I'm screaming at my kids to get their emotions
under control. Figure that one out. At the top of my voice, "Control yourself!"
Not like this, because now the very behavior I'm trying to correct is the spirit I'm exemplifying.
I found out something. I found out you can do it. You can actually control an
environment with anger. You can actually shut an argument down just by being the loudest one.
You can actually manipulate people into going where you want to go by pouting,
but what will you have when you get your way?
You'll be lonely, you'll feel guilty,
and you'll have a corner of a robe when God wanted to give you the whole thing.
Come on. Not like this. I honor the process. Here's the promise…If
I honor the process, God will honor me. If I honor the process, God will honor the promise.
If I honor the process, "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to perform it."
I don't cut corners!
I want God's will, God's way.
I want God's will, God's way. If I try to make it happen, I'm responsible for it.
But the Scripture didn't say I have to fulfill my purpose for God; it said he fulfills his purpose
for me. Switch the position. Switch the position. You've been trying to do it for God.
Let him do it for you. You've been trying to work it out in your own strength,
in your own power, with your own mind, but he wants to fulfill his purpose for you.
I want you to stand because I believe many of us
are at a point of decision like David was. The decision is…Am
I going to trust God for the outcome with obedience? Am I going to let God do his job?
Am I going to let God decide when the time is right? Or am I going to manipulate my situation
to resemble something that looks like God's will, but it's really not?
Oh, I prayed about this message. I pray about all my messages. One of my friends told me one time,
"You do realize you don't have to work so hard on your sermons?
Nobody would know the difference." But I would. That's not the kind of preacher I want to be.
That's not the kind of person I want to be. I don't cut corners. I want to do it with all
my heart. I mean, I have to. When I remember where he brought me from, I didn't get here
cutting corners. I didn't get here being fake. I didn't get here trying to control situations.
He will fulfill his purpose for me. The only way he won't is if I don't let him,
if I cut corners. God has you in the process right now of something he is bringing to pass in
your life. I want you to make a commitment right now. If you want to lift your hands, you can. You
don't have to, but if you want to lift your hands, it's a sign of surrender. That's what David did.
In a situation where he could have made something happen,
in a situation where he could have rushed the process, in a situation
where he could have claimed he was doing the right thing and done it the wrong way,
he positioned himself with surrender. If I honor the process, God will honor the promise.
Do you have a promise today? Do you have a promise today?
Do you have a promise from him who said, "I will never leave you,
nor forsake you"? Do you have a promise today? Stay in the process. It took
five more years before Saul died and David became king, but you know what?
When Saul died, David was ready. When you honor the process, God will schedule the promise.