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Pastor, your boldness and clarity to deliver your message, God, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Before we jump into the sermon tonight, I did mean to announce and ask for prayer. This week, we did sign the contract to start airing sermons from the church on television. So, just be praying for that, and we're supposed to start in November. So, we've got about a month to get some things ready, but they let us sign the contract, so that was surprising, just that. So, just be praying for that, and hopefully the Lord will use that. Tomorrow, you want to be watching for this, tomorrow on our YouTube page, we should be, because along with a one-hour broadcast that we're going to have, we're also going to be running ads for the church on three to four times a day on certain channels. So, tomorrow, we'll be releasing on YouTube the 30-second commercial for you guys to be able to see it. That will be going on TV. Later on this week, we'll also be releasing the church's new promo video. So, just several things coming up for you to be looking at or looking for, and hopefully you can get excited about that and be praying for that. So, we're there in 1 Kings chapter 17 tonight, and we've been now in our third week in the study of Elijah, and we're actually going to begin to go through the life of Elijah. We spent the last couple of weeks kind of dealing with Elijah out of different texts and different passages, and if you notice there in verse 1, last week we dug into verse 1 and cross-referenced all sorts of different places, but if you look at verse 1 there, it says, And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, And I want you to notice what happens here in verse number 3. Something, God decides to do something with Elijah that is different than what I would choose to do with Elijah, and what maybe you would choose to do with Elijah. But in verse 3 here, the Bible says, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Kereth, that is before Jordan. Now, if it were me, you know, I would think, Lord, this is the time that you should be maybe starting some sort of like revival ministry, or some sort of preaching, you know, setting up preaching engagements throughout the nation of Israel. I mean, you just brought Elijah onto the scene, and you just hadn't confronted the king, you just had this big prophetic word that there's not going to be any rain, and, you know, we want to continue that momentum. We want to keep that momentum going. But God decides something different, because if you notice verse 2 there, it says, The word of the Lord came unto him, saying, And God tells them to go hide thyself in the brook Kereth. And what we see in this, the first, you know, seven verses of this chapter, is that God brings Elijah into a time of waiting. While he's at the brook Kereth, he is there waiting. And you will find throughout Scripture, if you read the Bible and study the Bible, that it is a common theme for biblical characters to have a time of waiting in their lives. In fact, let's just look at some of those together tonight, just by way of introduction. Keep your place there in 1 Kings 17, we're going to come back to that. But go with me to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 3, just real quickly. Exodus chapter 3, and let's look at some biblical characters who had a time of waiting in their life. In Exodus chapter 3, we have the story of Moses. And I don't have time to develop the entire life of Moses, of course, but you know that Moses spent the first 40 years of his life in Egypt. And he spent the last 40 years of his life leading the children of Israel through the wilderness. He lived to be 120 years old. And the first 40 years were in Egypt as a prince of Egypt. The last 40 years of his life were leading the children of Israel before he died. But that middle 40 years, Moses' life is divided into three segments of 40 years. You have the first 40 years, the last 40 years, but between 40 years old and 80 years old. After he left Egypt, but before he started the ministry of leading the children of Israel, Moses, the Bible tells us, had a time of waiting. Notice there in Exodus chapter 3, look at verse number 1. Exodus chapter 3 and verse 1, the Bible says this, Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock, notice what the Bible says, where was Moses for 40 years before he was used of God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt? The Bible says that he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. Moses spent 40 years of waiting, 40 years of limbo, 40 years of just kind of being in transition. And you would say, where would you say that Moses was? You would say he was in the backside of the desert, just kind of alone, just kind of waiting. And like I said, you find this theme throughout Scripture. I'll just give you a few examples, and we could look at many examples tonight. But go to the book of Luke, Luke chapter 1 in the New Testament. You have Matthew, Mark, Luke. And it's interesting that God often, and the examples I want to give you is that He highlights the desert for this. Moses spent 40 years in the backside of the desert keeping a flock in a time of his life where he was just kind of waiting, kind of just in transition, kind of just in limbo, kind of just seeing what God was going to do. In Luke chapter 1 and verse 80, we have another example of this. And this is, of course, John the Baptist. And if you remember John the Baptist, he stepped onto the scene with the spirit and the power of Elijah. And the Bible tells us about John in verse number 80 there, it says, And the child grew, talking about John the Baptist, and waxed strong in spirit, and, notice what it says, was in the desert till the day of his showing unto Israel. So from the time that John was born, and we have the story of his miraculous birth and how Elizabeth was barren and God came and basically said that they were going to have a son and how he was named, we have all that story. And then we don't really hear about John till he begins his public ministry preaching at the banks of the Jordan River. But the Bible tells us where was he that whole time, and he was in the desert till the day of his showing. What was he doing? He was just waiting, just in a time of transition, in a time of limbo. Let me give you another example. Go to Galatians chapter 1. You're there in Luke, and you'll go past John, Acts, Romans, 1st, 2nd, Corinthians, and the book of Galatians. Galatians chapter number 1. Look at verse number 15. This morning we talked about the apostle Paul. And remember how the apostle Paul met Christ on the Damascus road. And the apostle Paul was obviously saved a few days after that when he called upon the name of the Lord. But I want you to notice what Paul did immediately after his conversion. In Galatians chapter 1 and verse 15, he gives us the testimony of his life. He says this, but when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb. And I'm not preaching on this tonight, but just so you know, in the Bible there's a common theme. We see it in Jeremiah, and we see it here with the apostle Paul. That when God calls a man, he calls a man from the womb. He prepared from the womb, he had a will for Paul's life. And that's not Calvinism. That's not meaning that God made Paul get saved. But he foreknew that Paul would get saved, and therefore he had a will to conform Paul to the likeness of his son. And here he says that God had a plan for him from his mother's womb. And called me by his grace, notice verse 16, to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the heathen immediately. So he says, look, when his son was revealed in me, when I came to know the truth of Jesus Christ that I might preach him among the heathens, notice what he says. He says, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. He said, I didn't go and start talking to people about it and seeing what people thought about it and getting their thoughts on it. He says, neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus. He says, look, immediately after my conversion, I didn't talk with people. I didn't go see the apostles. He said, I went into Arabia. You say, how long was he there for? Look at verse 18. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him 15 days. And the apostle Paul was a saved man in the backside of the desert in Arabia for three years before he ever went to meet with Peter and with the apostles. And what was he doing? He was just in a time of waiting. And of course, we don't have to go to the reference. You know this. Go back to 1 Kings 17, if you wouldn't mind. But we have the Lord Jesus Christ. We hear of his and we learn of his miraculous birth. We see him at the age of 12 years old, but from 12 till he begins his ministry, we don't hear anything about him. We don't know about his growing up. We don't have any story. What was Jesus doing? He was waiting. And here's what I want you to understand. In the Bible, you find this thing that God will use people in a powerful way, in a miraculous way. But he often puts those people through a time of waiting. And in your life and in my life, we often go through times of waiting. There are times, I mean, there are people here tonight and you might be in a time of waiting. There are people that might be listening to a sermon online and they are in a time of waiting. And you say, you know, give me some examples. Here's some examples. There's some single people in our church right now and they're just kind of waiting to meet Mr. Wright, to meet Mrs. Wright. You know, and maybe you would say, well, I've already met Mr. Wright. I've already met Mrs. Wright. You know, maybe they haven't met you yet, but you've met them. You know, but maybe you've already met them. You know, there's couples that are engaged, right? And they're kind of just waiting to be married. And then you've got young couples that are married and they're just kind of waiting, right? Maybe you're expecting and you're waiting for that child to come. Or maybe you're in a time of training right now, in a new career and you're learning and you're growing in that and you're just kind of in a transitional waiting. You know, I was talking to Brother Stuckey before the service tonight. I was telling him, the sermon's for you tonight. And you say, why? Because, you know, Brother Stuckey and Ms. Tan, they're in a time of waiting right now. They're getting ready to go start a new church in the Philippines. And right now, they're, you know, he's already mentally checked out of here. No, I'm just kidding. He hasn't done that. But, you know, they're just kind of waiting. It's just kind of limbo and they're waiting for that ministry to start. I remember in my own life, I remember my wife and I, when we were going to start the church here in Sacramento and it had already been announced at our church that we were going to be going. But, you know, we were just waiting for that time. I remember when I was in the military and I was deployed for four months in Qatar and we were just kind of in a time of waiting, you know, waiting for that time. And what I'm trying to tell you is this, there are times in our lives when we're just kind of waiting. Maybe you've had some medical tests and you're just waiting for the results. Maybe you're waiting to hear back from that job. Or maybe, you know, there are times in all of our lives when God kind of has us just in a place of waiting. And that's where he had Elijah. He had some great plans for Elijah. He's had some great things he's going to do with Elijah. We're going to start getting into some of those things next week. But before Elijah can begin to do those great things, God takes him to the river Kireth and he causes him to wait. And tonight what I want to do is I just want to give you some lessons from the school of waiting, some things we can learn from the life of Elijah that we should apply in our lives, some things that we should all do while we wait, and some things that we can learn from the prophet Elijah that he did in regards to his waiting. Are you there in 1 Kings 17? Look down at verse number 2. I want you to notice first of all tonight, and if you're writing notes, I'd like you to write these statements out. I encourage you to write notes if you don't have a baby sitting on your lap or something like that. What can we do while we wait? What can we do while we wait? Number one, while you wait, learn the lesson of direction. While you wait, when you find yourself, and look, I tried to give you examples of waiting, but there's other examples that I haven't thought about, and you might be, and maybe I didn't name your example, but you might be in a time where you kind of feel like, I'm just kind of waiting, I'm just going to see what happens, and I'm in transition, and maybe there's a little bit of tension there, and I'm not really sure what's going to happen, and what can be done during that time. And what you need to understand and what we must learn first in the times and in the school of waiting is that there is a lesson of direction. There is a lesson of direction. You say, what do you mean? Look at verse 2. I want you to notice who brought Elijah into this time of waiting, and verse 2 says this, And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence. See, it was God who led Elijah into this time of waiting, and when we find ourselves, when we find ourselves in our lives, in times where we're just kind of waiting to see what happens, we must remember that it is God who directed us there. Keep your place there in 1 Kings 17. Go to Genesis chapter 16, first book in the Old Testament, excuse me. Should be fairly easy to find, Genesis 16, and let me say this. We must learn to be patient while we wait because it is God who directed us to the time of waiting. I remember when I was in the Air Force, they used to often, a phrase that they'd often say to us is, This military life is just kind of hurry up and wait. Hurry up and wait. You know, no matter what you're doing, they kind of wanted you to hurry up to get somewhere, and then you spent a long time waiting. And sometimes the Christian life is that way. It's kind of just hurry up and wait. Hurry up and wait, and God leads you in one direction and then says, Stop. And he leads you in another direction and he says, Wait. And he leads you in another direction and he says, Be still and know that I'm God. And you know, what I've noticed is that as human beings, we are often looking. You know, we are discontented people and we must learn to be contented. I've been preaching a lot about that lately, but you know, what I've noticed is that we always want to get on to the next stage of life. Isn't that true? I mean, you talk to kids, you know, 9 years old, 10 years old, 12 years old, and you know what they want more than anything? They want to be 13 years old. Say why? So they can have that team at the end of their age, right? So they can say, I'm 13 so that they can be a teenager, right? The 10 year old wants to be a teenager. But you know what's interesting? As soon as they turn 13, you know what they want? They want to be 16. Why? Because now they can get their permit. Now they can get their license. And as soon as they turn 16, you know what they want? They want to be 18. Why? Because now they can, you know, vote or move or whatever. You know, hopefully they don't move. They stay at home with their parents if they're not married. And then, you know, you get those single adults, you know, those single young adults, and you know what they want more than anything, what they think about all the time, and they just think, you know, one day if I could just be married, I'll be happy. But you know what happens? They get married, and then it's like, well, if I could just have a child, if we could just have a child, you know, then I would be happy. And then they have that child, you know. And it's just human nature, right? Then you've got the moms with the young children, and they want to be able to homeschool like the moms with the older children, right? And then you've got the moms with the older children, and when you've got four or five or six, you know, older children running around, and you're homeschooling several of them at different ages, they just, they want to get rid of their kids, you know, and they want to be done with it. They're looking for, you know, when they get married and when they move out. And you know, and here's what I've noticed, is just we're always looking for the next stage. We're never happy where we are, but sometimes we must remember that it is God who led you where you are. And when we push the envelope, when we attempt to push the hand of God, and we try to make things go faster than maybe God desires for them to go, we will always get in trouble. Let me just give you an example of that. In Genesis 16, we have the story of Abraham and Sarah. Remember Abraham and Sarah? They had been given a promise from God. God had promised them that they would have a child, that God would give them a child, a faith. But you know what happens after God gives them that promise? God comes to Abraham and said, I'm going to give you children, and that child, he's going to be, he's going to, you're not going to have descendants, they're going to be like the sand of the sea and like the stars of heaven. God says, I'm going to give you all these children. Abraham says, great God, good God, praise the Lord God. And then God says, but Abraham, I need you to do one thing. What's that God? I need you to wait. And God makes Abraham wait years and years and years and years and years before he gives him that child. Notice what Abraham and Sarah decided to do in their time of waiting. Genesis 16 and verse 1 says this, now Sarai, Abraham's wife, bear him no children. This is after God had promised them children. And she had in handmaid an Egyptian whose name was Hagar, and Sarai said unto Abraham, behold now, notice what she says, isn't that what we normally do? We blame God. The Lord has restrained me from bearing. I pray thee, and she takes matters into her own hands. Go in unto my maid. It may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abraham hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai, Abraham's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, after Abraham had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan and gave her to her husband Abraham to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. And of course you know that from this adultery comes Ishmael. It's all a mess. It's all a big mistake and a big problem. And why was it? Why was it? Because Abraham and Sarah forgot that it was God who brought them to the place of waiting. But I want you to notice something. I want you to notice something in 1 Kings 17, if you can make your way back there. I want you to notice something that God does in this text. God, in verse 2, led Elijah to the brook Keirith. Notice verse 2. Notice the wording. And the word of the Lord came unto him saying. And the word of the Lord came unto him saying. Notice the wording in verse 3. Get thee hence. And he gives him instructions to turn eastward, to hide himself in the brook Keirith. But I want you to notice, when Elijah leaves the brook Keirith, when Elijah leaves, when his waiting period is done, I want you to notice how he's moved from there. Look at verse 8. And the word of the Lord came unto him saying. Isn't that interesting? In verse 2, the word of the Lord came unto him saying, go to Keirith and wait. And in verse 8, the word of the Lord came unto him saying, arise. Notice the wording. Get thee to. In verse 3, he said, get thee hence. In verse 9, he said, get thee to. And you say, pastor, what can we learn from this? And here's what we can learn. The same God that led you into the time of waiting will lead you out. You say, I'm in a time of waiting and I'm in a time of transition and I'm just kind of not sure, you know, if I should just kind of push things and maybe make things. And haven't we seen this recently with young men who decide that they're going to ignore the pastoral qualifications and just kind of run, just ram through and get themselves ordained and go start churches? And what happens? They make a mess. Why? Because they just don't want to wait. But what you need to understand is that the same God that brings you into a time of waiting is the same God that will lead you out. The same God that brought Elijah into Keirith is the same God that will bring Elijah out. And here's the frustrating part about the times of waiting is that God does not give us the entire picture, does he? Don't we wish that God would just, don't you wish that just at salvation God would say, hey, you know what, here's, you know, I just emailed you a word document and it's got everything laid out, you know, what's going to happen to you from here on to the day you die. You know, that would, in some ways, that would make things a little easier for us, but that's not how God works. See, the Bible says, you don't have to turn there, but in Psalm 119 and 105, the Bible says this, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. See, the Bible says that God gives us directions, but he uses this illustration where he says that the word of God is like a lamp, and he says it is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And what we need to understand is that often the direction that God gives us is a direction to just get us to the next day, to the next step, to the next thing that God desires for us to do. God didn't give Elijah this long old plan and say, hey, listen, Elijah, here's how it's going to work. You're going to go to Kirith, then you're going to go to Seraphath, then you're going to, you know, the widow's going to feed you, you're going to resurrect her son, you're going to have this great showdown at Carmel. He didn't tell them all that. He just said, go to Kirith and wait. And then God said, go get thee to Seraphath. And see, in my life and your life, we just have to remember, we just have to remember, when we're in times of transition and waiting, and we tend to think that God has forgotten, or like Sarah, we say the Lord has restrained us, we just have to remember that God is trying to teach us a lesson of direction, which is this, the same God that leads you there will lead you out. So just relax and wait. We see, first of all, the lesson on direction. But I want you to notice, secondly, while you wait, we must also learn the lesson of dependence. Notice verse 4. It says this, and it shall be, thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord, for he went and dwelt by the brook Kirith, that is before Jordan, and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook. God was trying to teach Elijah several things here, and he not only taught him the lesson of direction, that God will lead you sometimes into a time of waiting, and you must wait on the direction of God before you move on, but secondly, he teaches him a lesson of dependence. Remember, Elijah just got done saying, there's not going to be rain for three and a half years till I pray that there's more rain. There's not going to be any rain. And God says, okay Elijah, I need you to learn to depend on me. I'm going to lead you to the brook Kirith, and when you get there, I'm going to command the ravens to feed thee there. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and you know, praise God, I don't see that there's any vegetables there, so praise the Lord for that. I'm just kidding. Kids, make sure you eat your vegetables, alright? I guess if ravens feed you, they don't bring you vegetables, but he brought him, you know, all of that food, and he drank there, and you say, well what was that? You know, Elijah had to learn to just depend on God, and here's what you need to understand. If you find yourself in a time of waiting, or I should say, when you find yourself in a time of waiting, remember that God is trying to teach you to depend on him. If you go to 2 Corinthians 4, we see this in prayer. Now I'm having you go to 2 Corinthians, but if you remember in Matthew chapter 6, when Jesus taught about prayer, and you get that pattern of prayer, what we commonly refer to as the Lord's Prayer, what's interesting to me is that in that prayer, he said that we should learn, he said in Matthew 6-11, give us this day our daily bread. I want you to notice that Jesus did not teach for us to pray for our monthly bread, or for our weekly bread. He said, I want you to pray for your daily bread. You say, why would God want us to get on our knees every day and pray for the sustenance, or the supply, or the providence that we need from him to provide for us every day, and here's why. Because God wants us to learn to be dependent upon him in a daily way. We want it all planned out. We want to know how it's all going to work out. But especially during times of waiting, God desires for us to depend on him daily. Now this is true physically, when Jesus said, give us this day our daily bread, but it's also true spiritually. Notice 2 Corinthians 4. Look at verse 16. 2 Corinthians 4 says this, for which cause we faint not. The apostle Paul said, 2 Corinthians 4 says, here's the reason why we don't faint, here's the reason why we don't quit, here's the reason why we're able to make it in the long haul. If you've been in church or in this church for any length of time, you'll learn very quickly that people come and people go. And those who stay for years and years and years are few and far between. And I hope all of you stay. And there's already people in this church that have been here for five years and seven years and ten years. Well, not ten years. Good night. We're not ten years old. We've been here close to the entire time that our ministry has been around. And hopefully, hopefully there will be people that will be with us for fifteen years. I hope there will be a time where I can say, man, the so-and-so family, or brother so-and-so, or sister so-and-so, they've been with us for twenty years and thirty years. But here's what you need to understand. You say, how can I be the Christian that does not faint, that does not quit, that does not get backslidden, that does not get offended, that does not get tired? How can you be that Christian? Notice what he said. He says, for which cause we faint not. Notice what he says. But though our outward man perish. He says, though our outward man, talk about our flesh, though our outward man gets sick and tired and weary and discouraged and upset, he says, though the outward man perish, here's what he says, yet the inward man is renewed. How often? Notice what he says. Day by day. You know what I've learned as a pastor over the last eight years of ministry? I've learned this. If I can teach you, and if I can get you to develop a daily devotional time, if I can get as many of our church people to develop the character needed, the character in their life needed to, on their own, every day, take time to read the Bible, to pray, to spend time with God. I didn't say to listen to a YouTube sermon. But to open up the Word of God for themselves and pray and read and spend time with God. Here's what I know. If I can get you to develop a daily devotional time where your inward man is renewed day by day, here's what I know. You won't faint. You won't quit. Your outward man may perish, but your inward man will be renewed day by day. Why? You say, well, why can't I just read the Bible one time, pastor? Why can't I just read the Bible one time and just be good to go for the rest of my life? God says, no, you need it every day. Look, you need to be reading the Bible every day. You need to be praying every day. You say, well, I come to church. Isn't that enough? Do you eat, you know, just on Sundays? You got some sort of diet plan where you just eat on Sundays? You say, oh, you know, I couldn't survive. And you expect your spiritual man to survive that way? See, we must learn, especially during times of waiting. We must learn. During the times of waiting, we must learn to depend on God. And I would submit to you that sometimes God brings us into times of waiting because he's trying to isolate us so that we can learn to get along with God. And maybe you have just been too busy. Look, if you're too busy to read your Bible, you're just too busy. If you're too busy to spend time in prayer, you're too busy. If you're too busy to commune with God and have a time with God, then you're too busy. And God gives us, in our lives, he gives us these times of waiting. Why? That we might learn the lesson of direction. What's the lesson of direction? That God leads us into times of waiting, and it is God who will lead us out of those times of waiting, but also that we might learn the lesson of dependence, that we must learn to depend on God day by day, like you notice thirdly tonight. Look at verse number 5, 1 Kings 17 and verse number 5. Not only is there the lesson of direction and not only is there the lesson of dependence, but there's the lesson of development. Why don't you notice what Elijah does, verse 5. Remember, the word of the Lord came unto him saying, right? The word of the Lord came unto him and said, Get thee hence, go eastward and go to Kirith. Why don't you notice the response from Elijah in verse 5? The Bible says this, So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord. Wouldn't it be good if that was able to be said of you and I for everything that we went and did according unto the word of the Lord? For he went and dwelt by the brook Kirith. That is before Jordan. And we don't know that Elijah wanted to or did not want to go, but it didn't matter what Elijah's plans were, it didn't matter what Elijah thought he should be doing. When Elijah heard from God, Elijah followed the direction, and he began to develop his character, and he began to develop a character of someone who's obedient to the word of God. And here's what I want you to understand. Waiting time, unfortunately, is often wasted time. But waiting time does not have to be wasted time. God wants to use that time in our lives that we're frustrated and we're upset and we're just kind of thinking, God, why do you have me here? And God, why are you putting me through this? And why do I have to wait? And why can't I just go? And why can't I just do it? I think I know better. And God says, Wait, wait, wait, wait. You say, Why? Because he's trying to teach us about direction and he's trying to teach us about dependence, but he's also trying to develop you. So you say, Pastor, what do we do while we wait? Here's what we do while we wait. We prepare for the next stage in life. Let me give you some examples of that. You're there in 1 Kings 17. Go to 2 Kings, chapter number 3. 2 Kings, chapter number 3. Let me show you somebody who was in waiting. Because remember, we're talking about times of waiting? I gave you examples at the beginning of the sermon. Remember Moses, John the Baptist, Paul, the Lord Jesus Christ, all those men had a time of waiting in the desert? Let me give you two other examples of men that were waiting and what they did while they were waiting. We have the prophet Elijah. And we know that Elijah was, when Elijah was carried up to heaven, another great prophet took his place by the name of Elisha. But I want you to notice that while Elijah was the man of God in the nation of Israel, the man Elisha, it's not like Elijah disappeared and Elijah goes to heaven and Elijah suddenly appears to be the next man of God. While Elijah has the spotlight, while Elijah has the ministry, while Elijah is doing and preaching and doing the things of God, Elisha is in a time of waiting, in a time of training, in a time of transition. Now I want you to notice what Elisha did during that time. 2 Kings chapter 3, look at verse 11. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord? Now we're fast forwarding into the history of Israel. And now the king is asking for a prophet of the Lord that we may inquire of the Lord by him. And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Now notice, he asks, Is there not a prophet of the Lord? And he says, Well, here is Elisha. Elisha's now doing ministry. He's now the man of God. He's now the one leading. He's now the one in the spotlight. He's now the one doing what he was called to do. He says, Here is Elisha, the son of Shaphat. But notice what the Bible says, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. So you know what Elisha was doing during his time of waiting? You know what Elisha was doing while Elijah was doing everything that Elisha wished he could one day do? You know what Elisha was doing? He was pouring water on Elijah's hands. You know, before Elijah ate, he was pouring water on his hands so that Elijah could eat with clean hands. He was pouring water on Elijah's hands. You say, What does that mean? Here's what it means. He was serving Elijah and learning from Elijah how to be the next great prophet of God. See, Elijah knew something. He knew that waiting time did not have to be wasted time, and that he could use that time where he was just kind of in limbo. He could use that time where he was just kind of hoping he could be used one day, and he could use that time productively to learn from Elijah. There's another example. Let me give it to you. Go to Numbers 11. You have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Numbers 11. Numbers 11. We, of course, have the great man of God, Moses, who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and led them in the wilderness, and he's one of the greatest characters in the Bible. But you know, when Moses leaves the scene, he is replaced by another great military leader by the name of Joshua. And Joshua, in some ways, accomplished more than Moses did because Joshua actually led the children of Israel into the Promised Land, and he conquered the land, and he, in some ways, did everything that Moses had hoped to do. But I want you to remember that when Moses leaves, it's not like Joshua just drops from heaven and God says, well, here's the next leader. While Moses was leading the children of Israel for 40 years in the wilderness, Joshua was in a time of waiting, waiting for his turn to lead, waiting for his turn to be in ministry, waiting for his turn to do what God had called him to do. And what did Joshua do? Numbers 11, look at verse 28. Notice what the Bible says. And Joshua, the son of Nun, notice what it says. The servant of Moses. Please remember this. Every great leader you know was once a great follower. You do not become a good leader by being a lousy follower. And the Bible says here that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, my Lord Moses, forbid them, and we have a story there. But I just want you to know this, and I want you to understand this, that while Joshua was in a time of waiting, he did not allow it to be a time of wasting, but he was productive during that time. And he was preparing himself for the next stage and chapter of his life. Go to Luke 16, Luke chapter 16, New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke. So you say, Pastor Jimenez, what do you think a single young lady should be doing while she's waiting for Mr. Wright? What do you think a single young man should be doing while he's waiting for Mrs. Wright? I mean, should they just be spending their days daydreaming and doodling and, you know, drawing what their bridesmaid's dresses are going to look like and their wedding dresses are going to look like? Should they just be, you know, thinking about how great it's going to be when they finally have a wife who, you know, as soon as they come home, drops everything and rubs their feet? That's how it works, right? That's how it works when you've got six kids. You get home and your wife rubs your feet. What do you do? What should they do? I'll tell you exactly what they should be doing. Instead of daydreaming about the next stage of life, they should be getting ready for the next stage of life. See, instead of dreaming and thinking about how wonderful it's going to be one day when I find Mr. Wright and Mrs. Wright and we get married and we, you know, gallop off into the sunset and it's happily ever after. They should be learning how to clean the house, do the laundry, you know, learn the things of the home, cook, you know, teach the young ladies how to cook. You know, recently we had several, obviously ladies in our church are all wonderful cooks and they brought us all meals, but some of those meals were made by some of the young ladies in our church and they can cook. You know, you say, well, what are they doing? What should you be doing during time of waiting? You should be preparing. See, waiting time does not have to be wasted time. I'm always kind of shocked and amazed, you know. A young couple gets married and then they find out that they're expecting and it's like you got like nine months to get ready for this baby. And I'm shocked sometimes. I mean, you know, and look, we're not the example of what, I mean, we've done the best we can, but I remember, listen, you young ladies, you say, what should I be doing while I'm waiting for that first baby? Read books, read, learn, get advice. You know, I mean, you have this baby and then you're just like, what do we do with it? You know, and you haven't done it, you know, get ready for that stage of life. You know, think about how are we going to do this? How is this going to work? Here's what I'm telling you. Look, you've got a child coming, prepare for motherhood. You got a child coming, prepare for fatherhood. You've got, you're engaged. Start, you say, well, we're engaged, so we're just going to spend every night on the phone just, you know, talking about how wonderful you are. You know, why don't you start figuring out how to be a good dad? Maybe you ought to start reading some passages about being a good husband. Maybe you ought to start reading some passages and memorizing some scriptures about being a good wife. Here's what I'm saying. When you're waiting, don't waste your time. Spend it preparing for the future. I mean, some of you guys are going to go into ministry one day and you want to go into ministry, you know, start playing the part. Start acting like a pastor would act. Start teaching your wife to act like a pastor's wife would act. You know, what a pastor's wife wouldn't do is go around gossiping. What a pastor wouldn't do is show up for the service and leave right after and not talk to anybody. I'm just saying, you know, use that time while you're waiting to prepare for the next stage. Is that not what Joshua did? Is that not what Elisha did? Are you there in Luke 16? Look at verse 10. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. See, what you do during the times of waiting will determine what you do when you're no longer waiting. He that is faithful in times in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? Say, Pastor, I'm just kind of in a waiting time. You know, one of these days I'm going to go start a business. Well, look, until you start that business, until God directs you in that way to go and start that business, God directed you right now to be an employee so you be the best employee you can be. And don't allow the time of waiting to be wasted. Because the lessons from the waiting time are a lesson of direction that God leads us to times in our lives when we must wait. And it is that God who will lead us out, that God puts us there to learn to depend on him daily, that God puts us there to develop us for the future. And waiting time should be a time of relaxing, but it should be a time of renewal and of strengthening yourself and of preparing yourself. You know, instead of being so consumed that I've got to meet the right type of guy, I've got to meet the right type of girl, why don't you get consumed with making sure that when you meet him or you meet her, you're ready for marriage? Instead of being consumed with, I just got to have children, why don't you get consumed with the idea that once God does give me children, I'll be ready to be the mother that God has called me to be, the father that God has called me to be? Why don't you stop being so concerned about where you're going to pass here one day or how big your church is going to be or how many subscribers you're going to have or whatever, and just start learning on developing some leadership skills that will allow God to bless you one day when you do lead a ministry, a church, whatever it might be. See, waiting time does not have to be wasted time. Fourthly tonight, and this is it. 1 Kings 17, look at verse 7. While you wait, we learn the lesson of direction. While you wait, we learn the lesson of dependence. While you wait, we learn the lesson of development. But lastly tonight, I want you to notice while you wait, you must learn the lesson of difficulty. See, something you need to understand about the Christian life is that things often get worse before they get better. 1 Kings 17, look at verse 7. And it came to pass after a while. Now, we read that after a while and we just read it as a statement in the Word of God, but that after a while is a big deal during times of waiting. And it came to pass after a while. Notice what the Bible says, that the brook dried up. Now, God sent him there to drink from the brook. And while he's there, the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land, which Elijah had been praying for. And here's what I want you to understand. Oftentimes before God leads you out of a time of waiting, things get worse before they get better. Go to Proverbs 24. If you open your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms. Right after Psalms, you have the book of Proverbs 24. Back in 2016, you guys, many of you know the story, but back in 2016, I felt like our church and ministry, and my wife can attest to this, I felt like we were in a time of waiting. If you remember, we had a sermon that went viral and we had all sorts of pushback from that and protests and all those things that happened. And my wife and I, we had personal things going on with our children in regards to their health and just some health scares and things like that during that time. But when it came to the church life, when it came to what was going on in church, I kept telling myself and I kept telling others and leaders in the church or people who I talked to. And I kept thinking, all we got to do is we just got to weather the storm. We just have to weather the storm. And if you've ever been in a counseling session with me, you know that that's probably the number one advice I give people. Pastor, I'm having trouble with my marriage. Weather the storm. I'm having trouble with my kids. Weather the storm. I'm having trouble with my finances. Don't faint! Weather the storm. And I kept telling myself, just weather the storm. Just get through this. It's going to end. They're going to get tired one day. It's going to be fine. We're just going to move on. And you know, it was interesting because to my surprise, when I felt like things were starting to kind of move on and get old a little bit, I thought, man, America doesn't have a very good attention span. Something else will happen somewhere else and people will move on and it will be fine. I found out that our landlord had basically announced that they would not be renewing our lease. And it's always an interesting thing when you find that out about your landlord, but you find it out through a press release. You know, they have a press conference to announce that they will not be renewing your lease. Now, the news and the media lied and they said that we're getting kicked out of our building, which was not true at all. But they just said that once our lease is over, they will not be renewing it. Now, the problem with that is that when your landlord, in a lot of ways, the things they did were not even legal. And to talk about our contract and things like that was not right for them to do that in a public format. But what happens with that is that when they put that press release out there, then no one else wanted to lease to us. And here's what's funny. We were already looking for a new building. We'd been looking for a new building for probably six months before the protest. And, you know, we were going to building. I mean, every building we looked at, people were just, you know, rolling out the red carpet. Here we come, you know, a thriving church. We had, you know, great attendances. We had money coming in and money in the bank. And none of that changed. We still had great attendances. We still had money in the bank. We still had money coming in. But now everybody was scared because, you know, well, they didn't lease to you for some reason, so maybe there's something to be scared about. And, you know, during that six-month period when we were looking for a building, I promise you, and I'm not exaggerating this. You can talk to Brother Stegner, Brother Oliver. We probably looked. I know for a fact we looked at every possible building that could have held a church in Natomas. We looked at South Natomas, Northern Natomas, Del Paso, you know, North Sacramento. We looked at every single one. And we looked at a lot of buildings in South Sacramento and Elk Grove and all sorts of different places. And everywhere kept saying no and kept saying no and kept saying no and kept saying no. And you say, Pastor, why are you telling us this story? I'm telling you this story just so you can understand something. Sometimes when you're in a time of waiting, things get worse before they get better. But just relax. When the brook dries up, realize that the God who led you there will lead you out. And if it was God who told us to preach the way we do, if it was God who gave us the verses that we, you know, and the sermons that we preach, if it was God who led us to that place, then we just have to have the faith to remember that it is that same God that will lead you out. But realize that things may get worse before they get better. You're there in Proverbs 24, look at verse 10. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. See, if you quit, look, if you quit because things got hard, if you quit because things got difficult, if you quit because I thought that was the one, I thought we were going to get married, I thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives together, and then there was some big fiasco and it didn't work out. Just remember, sometimes things get worse before they get better. If you lost that child, and it's always difficult to lose a child, we've lost children during pregnancies and things like that. Just remember that things often get worse before they get better. You didn't get that child. You didn't get the news you were waiting for. Just realize that when God has you in a place of waiting, God sends Elijah to the brook, Keirith, and then the brook dries up. And God just wanted to see, God just wanted to see how Elijah dealt with difficulty. And in your life and in my life, God wants to know how we're going to deal with things when they get worse. And if thou faint in the day of adversity, if you quit simply because it got hard, if you quit simply because it got difficult, just know that thy strength is small. Isaiah chapter 40 verse 1. If you could turn there. I think I told you Proverbs was the last one. I apologize for that. If you can just go to Isaiah 40. That's the last verse we're going to look at. If you're in Proverbs, you're going to go past Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, into the book of Isaiah. We're learning these lessons from a time of waiting because here's what I know. If you're either in a time of waiting or one day you will be in a time of waiting. We all go through times in our lives when we're waiting, when we're just kind of in transition, when we're just kind of in limbo, when we're just kind of waiting to see what's going to happen and what the response is going to be and how it's going to work out. During those times, during those times, learn the lesson of direction, that God who led you there will lead you out. Learn the lesson of dependence, to be daily dependent on God, not just for your physical needs but for your spiritual needs. Learn the lesson of development, that God wants to use you and God wants to develop you and God wants to prepare you for the next stage. And learn the lesson of difficulty, that sometimes things get hard. And look, in the Christian life, there's so many Christians out there who want to serve God as long as it's easy. And those Christians will quit if they'll faint on the day of adversity, thy strength is small. But just remember this, that if you learn to wait, if you learn to wait, God will renew you and strengthen you and, more importantly, use you in the next stage of your life. Isaiah 40, verse 1, notice what it says. Isaiah 40, verse 1. But they that wait upon the Lord. Pastor, I'm just kind of waiting to see if I find a spouse. I'm just kind of waiting to see what's going to happen with my career and my job. I'm just kind of waiting. The Bible says, but they that wait upon the Lord, don't miss this, shall, this is a promise, shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as the eagles, they shall run and not be wary, and they shall walk in that thing. Hey, Pastor, back in 2016, you know, did you think that it was over? I don't know. I was thinking in my head, man, if we have to go back to the house, how could we, you know, we were running 150 at the time or whatever, 140, 150. I was thinking, we can fit about 40 people in my house if I held four Sunday morning services in a row. I knew this, that they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be wary. They shall walk and not faint. So during a time of waiting, just learn to wait upon the Lord, because in the next chapter of Elijah's life, he gets to do something incredible. Next week, we're going to learn about Elijah resurrecting a dead body. But before he could get there, he had to learn to wait. Let's bow our heads and have a little prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your Word. Thank you for these stories and these scriptures that we can learn from.