Have you ever had a situation in your life where you were throwing a pity party
and didn't want to go back in and didn't want to try again and had taken off from Egypt and
didn't even want to face your future because of the pain of your past, but here comes Jesus,
walking up to you on the second row today, on the fourth row at the Gaston Campus,
walking up to you on an iPhone screen… He wants to let you know, "Whenever you get
ready to come back in and do what I've called you to do, come on back in. It's handled."
God told Moses, "You can go back to Egypt, because everybody who wanted to kill you
is dead. While you were out here in Egypt, I was dealing with your issues, and it's
handled." It's handled. God wants you to know shame can't keep you at bay anymore,
because what Jesus was doing on that cross…
When they thought he was dying, he wasn't dying; he was delivering you from the power of sin and
death. What was held against me was nailed to his cross, and I'm standing here today
with my hands stretched high, with my head held high, with my shoulders thrown back,
boldly approaching the throne with confidence in the time of my need, because it's handled.
I feel the spirit of Olivia Pope coming on me. Somebody shout, "It's handled!" That's
what Ryan said. He said, "It's handled." When you get ready to come back in, you need to know
it's handled. When you get ready to go into your future, you need to know it's handled.
I love that Bible verse in Philippians 4:13, where Paul is talking about, "I know what to
do in any situation. If I have a little, if I have a lot, I can handle it." This is a famous
Bible verse. Have you heard this before? He said, "Christ can do all things through me."
Did I mess it up? It must be because I'm tired from the race. I must have gotten
a little of that champagne absorbed in my body at the race. Let me try again.
He's going to handle it, right? Christ can do all things through me. God is going to handle it. Huh?
Oh. He wants to help you handle it. Here's how God showed me. He said, "I will handle what you can't,
but I will not handle what you won't.
I'll handle your sin; you can't handle that. I'll handle your past; you can't handle that."
Let me show you one more thing. He told Moses, "Pick it up."
Now it's not a staff anymore in this moment; it's a snake.
So what does Moses do? He does what you do with your fears. He runs.
Did you see it in the text? He ran from it. That's the same thing he did when he killed
the man in Egypt. He has learned to run. God won't handle what you run from. So he runs.
Can y'all hear me okay? Oh, I know what I should do. This thing only works in my hand.
This is a good sermon for your life, for your marriage, for your soul,
for any situation. God tells him to reach for the thing he has been running from.
As he reaches, the staff changes back into a staff. As he reaches. Go to Exodus 4:17.
When he told him to go, he said, "Take this staff in your hand." Verse 20: "So Moses took his wife
and sons, put them on a donkey, and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God
in his hand." When he was confronting Pharaoh, he said, "Go out and confront him on the bank of the
Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake." Are you seeing a pattern?
I'll keep going until you all see it.
When they were standing in front of the Red Sea, he said, "Raise your staff and stretch out your
hand." It has to be in your hand. What's the next verse? That's when they were going out,
and he was going out ahead of the people, and he said, "Take in your hand the staff with which you
struck the Nile." Here's the interesting thing, and this is what the Lord wanted you to know.
His situation was changing, but the same staff that got him through the last one
worked in the next one when he had it in his hand. The only time Moses got in trouble with his staff
is when he struck the rock God told him to speak to,
and he didn't enter the Promised Land, because he didn't know how to handle
what was in his hand. You get in trouble when you try to handle it your way. You get in trouble when
you try to resolve it your way. You get in trouble when you try to take the snake by the head.
That was interesting to me. We just moved out into the country two years ago,
and everybody was giving me advice on being in the country. I think they were worried about me,
that I wouldn't know what to do and how to survive in the country.
They were right, so I welcomed their advice. Everybody was telling me,
"You're going to have snakes for the first time, so here's what you need to do with the snake."
Do you know what nobody told me? Nobody told me to handle a snake the way God told Moses to
handle a snake. Go back to verse 4. He said, "Reach out your hand and…" What?
Nobody told me to take the snake by the tail, because that's not the way
you handle a snake naturally. Take it by the tail. He said, "Take it by the tail."
See, the way we try to grab situations in our lives is we want to control it. That's not the
right way to hold it. He said, "Take it by the tail." Now to take a snake by the tail…
I will remind you the snake didn't change back into a staff until it was in Moses' hand.
Your issue is not going to change until you handle it.
Your pain is not going to become your purpose until you handle it. If you handle it your way,
you're going to be depressed about it, but if you handle it God's way…
God's work, God's way. God's will, God's way. God's Word, God's way. You've done it long
enough your way. It's time for you to do it God's way. It's time for you to take it by the tail.
God told me to tell you… You feel it, don't you? God said, "Mistakes happen, but when they happen,
take them by the tail, and trust me to turn your mistake
into a miracle." When you take it by the tail, when pain and rejection happen in your life…
Your rejection in one season can lead to your destiny in the next when you take it by the tail.
I came to say that what they said about you isn't going to destroy you.
It's only going to develop you, to make you stronger, to give you a steadfastness,
when you take it by the tail. You know what you're going to do with that doctor's report?
Take it by the tail. You know what you're going to do with that loneliness? Take it by the tail.
You know what you're going to do with everything that has been keeping you
up at night, worried, wringing your hand? "This isn't my problem.
This isn't my issue. The battle is the Lord's. He'll handle Pharaoh.
I have this thing by the tail. I trust you, Lord." Does anybody trust him in your situation?
I trust God enough to take it by the tail, and it only changes when you handle it.
As long as you stand there
looking at it, it's a snake. As long as you stand there praying about it,
it's a snake. You can't pray and make the snake go away. Pray about it, pick it up, and make it work.
Make it work in your favor. I'm saying handle it. I'm saying there's nothing life can throw at you
that you can't handle by the Spirit of God. Somebody shout, "I can handle it!"
Somebody encourage five people in your area. Tell them, "You can handle it." Yes, you can.
You have to handle it. You were made to handle it.
You were built to handle it. God is going to help you handle it. He's going to show you
how to handle it. He has you in the palm of his hand. He's going to help you raise those
children. He's going to help you get through this season. He's going to help you make the decision.
Lift your hands like it's handled. Lift your voice like it's handled.