Sermon #S020 - That Wasn't On The Program - Part 2) 00:00:11.17\00:00:19.55 Welcome to The Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell. 00:00:19.58\00:00:25.49 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will share part two of the 00:00:25.52\00:00:30.46 powerful message "It Wasn't On The Program" Let's learn more about God's power through the 00:00:30.49\00:00:38.87 study of His work. Pastor Debleaire Snell: Sometimes, God sends a delay to preserve you 00:00:38.90\00:00:43.47 from some things. Sometimes, He's preserving you from a danger you can't see. 00:00:43.51\00:00:47.41 Sometimes, He's preserving you from a marriage that's going to bring you pain. Sometimes, 00:00:47.44\00:00:53.01 He's preserving you from a job that's going to compromise your 00:00:53.05\00:00:58.09 values. Sometimes, He is keeping you from circumstances that will bring our unrest. discord, and 00:00:58.12\00:01:05.59 strife to your life. Sometimes, He's preserving your from and sometimes He's preserving you 00:01:05.63\00:01:11.47 for. Sometimes, God blocks some avenues so he can preserve you 00:01:11.50\00:01:17.27 for the right job. He preserves you for the right house. He preserves you for the right 00:01:17.31\00:01:22.61 spouse. He preserves you for the right situation. Instead of complaining that is taking too 00:01:22.64\00:01:32.29 long, just be still and wait on the Lord. Let things begin to unfold and see what He's 00:01:32.32\00:01:39.16 preserving you for and what He's preserving you from. I've seen this happen in my own life. I 00:01:39.19\00:01:44.27 remember probably about four or five years ago. My wife and I had been here already about six 00:01:44.30\00:01:50.97 or seven years. We had rented a couple of different homes. So, we decided that we wanted to 00:01:51.01\00:01:57.28 just go ahead and buy a house in faith and put some roots down here in Huntsville. We 00:01:57.31\00:02:02.75 identified the neighborhood and the model house that we were interested in getting. We had 00:02:02.78\00:02:10.19 already been approved based on our preliminary loan. But then, as they got into underwriting, 00:02:10.23\00:02:16.80 our tax preparer had wrongly interpreted the financial data from another property that we 00:02:16.83\00:02:22.60 owned. Guess what? It falls through right at the end. At that time, we were very 00:02:22.64\00:02:27.31 frustrated because we had prayed and we thought God was leading us to a particular neighborhood. 00:02:27.34\00:02:34.65 We had to sign a lease for another year and remain where we were. I need you to know that 00:02:34.68\00:02:39.25 during this time, the housing market continued to get worse. Where are you all at today, 00:02:39.29\00:02:46.56 church? In other words, they are at a point where they lowered the price of the build of the 00:02:46.59\00:02:50.80 house. The interest rates continued to fall. The builder offered more incentives than 00:02:50.83\00:02:57.01 they did the year before. I was sitting up there mad at the delay when God was preserving us 00:02:57.04\00:03:02.64 from a higher price. He was preserving us from a higher interest rate. He was preserving 00:03:02.68\00:03:10.72 more upgrades for free. I was having a bad attitude because I didn't realize what God was 00:03:10.75\00:03:17.06 protecting me from I'm also a witness that sometimes God will preserve your for. Sometimes, 00:03:17.09\00:03:21.90 I'm afraid to share this testimony in front of young folk because I don't want you to get 00:03:21.93\00:03:32.51 the wrong impression. When I was here as a student, my senior year, because I was Mr. USM, I 00:03:32.54\00:03:40.05 wasn't doing my business. I failed my Greek class. Because of my Greek class, I wind up 00:03:40.08\00:03:45.59 having to do summer school for about eight weeks after graduation. Now, the conference 00:03:45.62\00:03:50.33 after I got hired wanted me to go straight to Andrews after graduation. Now, I'm stuck 00:03:50.36\00:04:01.77 behind my class during summer school for graduation. I'm delayed in my start even though 00:04:01.80\00:04:08.98 I take additional classes to get out of Berrien Springs as quickly as I possibly can. I get 00:04:09.01\00:04:14.58 to the end of two years and I've got one class to take my very last semester. I've got to stay 00:04:14.62\00:04:22.42 in Berrien for another semester just to take one class. I need you to know that God is at work 00:04:22.46\00:04:30.20 in the delay because I wasn't married at the time. I need you to know my wife and I, we were 00:04:30.23\00:04:38.47 campus brother and sister to that point. I mean, I would pray for her. If she needed a ride, 00:04:38.51\00:04:46.78 I'll give her a ride because I had a car. That last semester, she broke up with her boyfriend. 00:04:46.82\00:04:52.69 You all are not hearing me today. That last semester, she broke up with him. About a 00:04:52.72\00:04:58.29 couple of weeks later, she was hanging out with me. We spent the rest of the semester hanging 00:04:58.33\00:05:07.34 out. We didn't become a couple until about two weeks before I left Andrews. We dated long 00:05:07.37\00:05:14.64 distance until I propose. Now, church, I'm not saying that God made me fail the class. Don't 00:05:14.68\00:05:16.51 blame that on Jehovah. I believe that all things work together... [Congregation: Continuous 00:05:16.54\00:05:24.95 Clapping] Pastor Snell: ...for the good of them that love the Lord and are called according to 00:05:24.99\00:05:34.20 His purpose. Don't get mad at the delay because sometimes, He's reserving you from and 00:05:34.23\00:05:48.24 sometimes He's preserving you for. Are you all hearing the world today, friends? She's my 00:05:48.28\00:06:02.39 campus sister. I was interested in her spiritual wellbeing. Hallelujah. Come on over and 00:06:02.42\00:06:06.26 pray. P-R-A-Y. Amen. Now, this is going to be a little rough here, but it's good news. Third 00:06:06.29\00:06:15.67 thing this teaches us is that you can't dictate where God intervenes. Can I say this to 00:06:15.70\00:06:25.85 somebody? God will never leave us helpless. But just because God doesn't help when you want 00:06:25.88\00:06:32.69 and how you want, it doesn't mean that you are without help. Are you all hearing me today, 00:06:32.72\00:06:38.23 friends? Jesus steps into this moment unscripted. It wasn't planned. It wasn't on the 00:06:38.26\00:06:48.64 agenda. This woman did not have a resurrection in the program. 00:06:48.67\00:06:54.68 Sometimes, you got to have enough faith to leave a little room for God to move. 00:06:54.71\00:07:01.98 Now, I need you to get that as powerful as this occurrence is, that God resurrects the boy from 00:07:02.02\00:07:10.46 the dead. If you would have asked the mom if she would have preferred a resurrection or if 00:07:10.49\00:07:22.60 she just kept him from getting sick, her preference would have been God intervene earlier in 00:07:22.64\00:07:28.24 the process. Because remember, this girl, this lady is broken. She then already lost her man. 00:07:28.28\00:07:35.32 She then have been through this trauma before. The last 24 to 48 hours have been a living sense 00:07:35.35\00:07:43.12 of travail as she has begin the morning of the son. If she had her choice, she would have 00:07:43.16\00:07:50.33 preferred that God... God could have showed up earlier in the day. He could have showed up the 00:07:50.37\00:08:00.74 day before, but God doesn't intervene until she's almost at the burial ground. It's almost 00:08:00.78\00:08:07.18 like Mary and Martha. They would have preferred an earlier intervention. Do you remember 00:08:07.22\00:08:15.29 Mary and Martha when Jesus shows up finally? Mary and Martha are big mad. They're like, "Lord, if 00:08:15.32\00:08:24.53 you had only been here sooner, then Lazarus would not have died." One of the things I'm 00:08:24.57\00:08:32.41 learning about us is that we have so many preferences. No matter how God moves, we always 00:08:32.44\00:08:41.88 wish God had done it a different way. Remember when Jesus walked on water to the disciples in the 00:08:41.92\00:08:47.96 storm. Now, I need you to remember go back with it for a minute, because remember, 00:08:47.99\00:08:50.99 when he was on the shore, what He did was He sent the crowd away and kept them from the 00:08:51.03\00:08:58.87 storm. Now, the crowd that gets sent away is mad because they can't follow Jesus because Jesus 00:08:58.90\00:09:07.34 knows a storm is coming. All the disciples that are in the storm, when Jesus walks on water, are 00:09:07.38\00:09:16.55 mad because Jesus let them in the storm in the first place. Those that didn't get to go are 00:09:16.58\00:09:28.03 mad. Those that are saved by Jesus are still mad because we are never happy with how God 00:09:28.06\00:09:35.34 intervenes. As grateful as this woman is for a resurrection, she wishes that God have moved in a 00:09:35.37\00:09:38.04 different way. Are you all hearing me today, my friends? I need us to get, beloved, that 00:09:38.07\00:09:42.44 God intervenes in different ways in the affairs of people. He does not do the same miracles 00:09:42.48\00:09:51.05 with repetition or in the same way because He's not trying to prescribe a procedure. He just 00:09:51.09\00:10:01.03 wants you to know that "I am able." You don't get to dictate how God intervenes. I mean, 00:10:01.06\00:10:09.17 think about it. There are certain people, He just kept them from getting sick. There 00:10:09.20\00:10:17.75 are others that He delivered from sickness. There are some that He kept in sickness. Some 00:10:17.78\00:10:27.16 won't be made whole until the resurrection. Are you all with me today, friends? I guess what 00:10:27.19\00:10:35.90 I'm saying, beloved, is never begin to covet how God intervenes in somebody else's 00:10:35.93\00:10:39.53 life. Your takeaway shouldn't be that God ought to do it for me the same way. Your takeaway 00:10:39.57\00:10:47.78 ought to be that God is able. [Congregation: Amen.] There are some of us here trying to figure 00:10:47.81\00:10:54.38 out how God is going to intervene in us financially clearing through school. You're 00:10:54.42\00:10:59.25 mad because God intervened for somebody and that their parents saved up the money from the time 00:10:59.29\00:11:04.76 that they were kids. God intervened for somebody else and that they got a scholarship upon 00:11:04.79\00:11:10.30 graduation. God intervened for somebody in the last couple of weeks as financial aid finally 00:11:10.33\00:11:15.30 came through. God intervened for somebody another way when a stranger wrote out a check with 00:11:15.34\00:11:21.04 your name on it. How many of us know that God intervene for everybody in different ways, but 00:11:21.08\00:11:27.55 it is the same God that intervene for everybody at some point? You don't got to worry 00:11:27.58\00:11:34.36 about how God does it for them. Because in four years when God gives you a degree, you ain't 00:11:34.39\00:11:38.86 going to be worrying about how he paid the bills. You're just going to be thanking God that He 00:11:38.89\00:11:42.93 did it. Are you all hearing what I'm saying today, friends of mine? I need us to be clear, 00:11:42.96\00:11:50.24 beloved, that God is going to do it in some different ways. There are going to be some that have 00:11:50.27\00:12:02.42 just always had a job. For some, God is about to give you a job. For somebody, God is going to 00:12:02.45\00:12:13.76 teach you I can feed you even if you ain't got no job. God sustains us in different ways, 00:12:13.80\00:12:24.87 but it is the same God that sustains all of us. We are all experiencing God's sustaining 00:12:24.91\00:12:34.52 grace in some way. Are you all with me today, church? Some of us are being kept from trouble. 00:12:34.55\00:12:40.06 Some of us are being delivered from trouble. Some of us are being sustained in trouble. The 00:12:40.09\00:12:47.00 truth is you're going to visit one of those categories at some point down the line Let me be 00:12:47.03\00:12:53.44 clear that my preference is always to be kept from trouble, but can I just give a quick 00:12:53.47\00:13:02.18 endorsement for those that are being kept in the trouble that they're in? I need you to 00:13:02.21\00:13:10.15 understand that there is a special blessing that is given only when you know what it is to 00:13:10.19\00:13:15.29 be kept by the goodness of God. Why are you all acting brand new in here with me today? Is there 00:13:15.32\00:13:21.36 anybody that knows what it means to just be kept by the hand of the Almighty God? Are you all 00:13:21.40\00:13:29.00 hearing me today? I need you to know that is what I'm talking about. It only really is going 00:13:29.04\00:13:36.48 to feel good for those that are trying to make heaven their home. In other words, there are 00:13:36.51\00:13:45.29 certain miracles you can get that don't require a relationship. Remember the ten 00:13:45.32\00:13:51.49 lepers that got healed. They got their healing, but only one came back to give thanks. The 5,000 00:13:51.53\00:13:58.83 love Jesus as long as he was giving out free fish sandwiches, but the Bible says that at the 00:13:58.87\00:14:10.15 end of John 6, by the time He finishes preaching that one day, you're going to have to eat My 00:14:10.18\00:14:19.52 flesh and drink My blood, verse 66 says that not many of them followed Him any longer. I guess 00:14:19.55\00:14:29.26 what I'm saying, beloved, is you can get miracles in the drive-thru, but you get 00:14:29.30\00:14:37.01 sustained by God when you sit at the table. There is a blessing in being sustained in trouble 00:14:37.04\00:14:45.58 that cannot be received from any of the way. Remember what the Apostle Paul says, he says, 00:14:45.61\00:14:51.55 "I've got a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet at me," and he says, three times, I 00:14:51.59\00:15:00.90 have prayed that it would be removed; three times, I prayed that the miracle would take 00:15:00.93\00:15:09.77 place." But He says, "I found something greater than a miracle." He says, "I found out 00:15:09.80\00:15:11.57 that His grace is sufficient and God is able to sustain me in whatever situation I'm in." 00:15:11.61\00:15:17.88 Notice church, He says that, "God's strength is made perfect in my weakness. So that when I'm 00:15:17.91\00:15:24.42 sustained, I'm perfected in a way that I am not when I just get what I want in the 00:15:24.45\00:15:27.62 drive-thru." You all are not hearing me today. Is there anybody that's willing to admit 00:15:27.66\00:15:33.66 that as much as I want the trouble to be taken away, go ahead and admit that I need a 00:15:33.70\00:15:43.77 little more time in the furnace. I need a little more time in the oven. I need a little more time 00:15:43.81\00:15:51.65 for God to work on me. Is there anybody that's thankful enough to say even when the trouble 00:15:51.68\00:15:59.32 isn't taken away, I'll praise God that He sustains me! I'll praise Him for the healing, but 00:15:59.35\00:16:06.53 I'll praise Him more that He sustains me when I'm sick. I praise Him for increase, but I 00:16:06.56\00:16:12.63 thank Him for the times that he sustained me in lack. I praise Him for friends, but I thank Him 00:16:12.67\00:16:18.97 for the times that he sustained me with enemies abounded. In other words, I praise Him for 00:16:19.01\00:16:26.21 the good, but there is a special praise that I reserved for the times that God sustained me. Is 00:16:26.25\00:16:31.55 there anybody that will just say, "Lord, I thank you that you got me to the end of the week. 00:16:31.59\00:16:36.76 Lord, I thank you for sustaining me to be able to get up and see another day. Lord, I thank you 00:16:36.79\00:16:42.76 that when there was more month than money, you made sure there was bread on the table. Lord, I 00:16:42.80\00:16:56.01 thank you that when they came to get that little car, I wasn't home. " Is there anybody 00:16:56.04\00:17:10.26 thankful that when the marriage should have dissolved God kept it? Is there anybody that can 00:17:10.29\00:17:27.14 just say, "Lord, I don't have it all. It's not all good, but I thank You for sustaining me." 00:17:27.18\00:17:35.05 Are you hearing the word today? The word says... Friends, I want you to get this. The Bible says, 00:17:35.08\00:17:44.49 "When the Lord..." The word says, "And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead 00:17:44.53\00:17:48.56 man was being carried out." Verse 13 says, "When the Lord saw her..." When he saw her, 00:17:48.60\00:17:50.47 "...He had compassion." Oh, Jesus. Oh, help me, Lord. He saw her and had compassion on her. 00:17:50.50\00:18:00.54 Listen real quick. I'm almost done. Fourth thing this teaches, friends of mine, is that 00:18:00.58\00:18:13.69 sometimes, your sorrow intercedes for you. [Congregation: Clapping] Pastor 00:18:13.72\00:18:15.86 Snell: Remember, I told you last week, that one of the reasons Christ had to come is He had to 00:18:15.89\00:18:25.50 come show us what God is actually like. Notice that the miracle commences not because of 00:18:25.53\00:18:31.07 what she said, but the word simply says he saw her. I need you all to get this, friends of 00:18:31.11\00:18:39.35 mine. The word says that He saw a woman so overwhelmed by a grief that was probably 00:18:39.38\00:18:50.19 triggered by the loss of her man. When he sees her swallowed up by life's adversities, the 00:18:50.23\00:19:03.04 Bible says that God cannot sit with indifference toward the suffering of His children. She 00:19:03.07\00:19:14.95 doesn't even make an ask. God resurrects the boy simply because He saw her. Before I 00:19:14.98\00:19:19.79 even get to the good part, I just want to let somebody know today that God sees you. I want 00:19:19.82\00:19:27.56 to say to the soul that feels invisible, that feels invaluable, that feels 00:19:27.60\00:19:32.97 overlooked under notice because after all, you're family, don't come check on you. Your friends 00:19:33.00\00:19:46.85 have not come to see about you. Your loved ones have no idea of what is swimming on the inside 00:19:46.88\00:20:01.70 of your soul. I need you to know that if nobody else sees, if nobody else cares, if nobody 00:20:01.73\00:20:09.27 else gives a good doggone, I need you to know that there is a God who sees you. Now, I need 00:20:09.30\00:20:14.48 you to get this friends because this miracle is not a response to some major act of faith. Are 00:20:14.51\00:20:22.28 you all hearing me, saints? This miracle is not a response to some major act of faith. I need 00:20:22.32\00:20:30.96 you to get where this woman is in her emotions. This woman then already lost her man. Notice 00:20:30.99\00:20:40.70 that she passed by Jesus as if He was not there. She walked by as if He was just another 00:20:40.74\00:20:46.94 bystander in the crowd. She is at a place where she has lost and lost and her prayers have 00:20:46.98\00:20:52.41 gone so unheard, that she doesn't even have a further expectation. The Bible says she 00:20:52.45\00:21:01.59 doesn't even make a request of God, but the Bible says that He sees her pain. He sees her 00:21:01.62\00:21:09.86 sorrow. He is moved to act even though there is no supervening act of faith. I guess, saints, 00:21:09.90\00:21:18.57 what I wish I could tell you today. I wrote the book on unrealistic faith, but I wish I 00:21:18.61\00:21:25.88 could tell you that everything God has done for me has been a response to unending prayer or 00:21:25.91\00:21:28.32 because I never doubted. I wish I could testify that God move because I never distrusted him 00:21:28.35\00:21:33.86 or because I never cease my prayers. I can testify that every now and then, God did some 00:21:33.89\00:21:40.83 things not because I prayed hard, not because I believe long, but simply out of the 00:21:40.86\00:21:53.21 abundance of His goodness. Go ahead and tell the truth and shame the devil today. There 00:21:53.24\00:21:59.48 were times where you didn't ask. Let me preach to this side. There are some times where you 00:21:59.51\00:22:07.39 didn't have the words to pray. There were times when you didn't have the mind to pray. There 00:22:07.42\00:22:13.93 were times where you didn't have the strength to pray. The good news is that God did it even 00:22:13.96\00:22:24.01 though you didn't pray. He did it simply because He's that good. In other words, He paid 00:22:24.04\00:22:30.78 the bills because He's good. He protected the house because He's good. He shielded your kids 00:22:30.81\00:22:44.86 because He's good. Everything that happens is not a response to our goodness. Is there 00:22:44.89\00:22:53.27 anybody thankful that He does not deal with us according to what we deserve, but according 00:22:53.30\00:23:07.05 to the multitude of His tender mercies. So that even if we didn't ask, we didn't believe, 00:23:07.08\00:23:18.43 we didn't trust, God still moved because He's good. I see some of us are still not convinced. It 00:23:18.46\00:23:22.50 trips me out, the things that we believe without doubting. It's crazy. Most of us grew up on the 00:23:22.53\00:23:26.37 paradigm where we say thank God that God will leave no sin unpunished. Do you ever heard 00:23:26.40\00:23:34.71 that before? We believe that, don't we? We believe God will let no sin go unpunished, but 00:23:34.74\00:23:45.12 yet we believe that God will allow our sorrows to go unattended. We believe God will 00:23:45.15\00:23:51.33 let no sin go unpunished, but we believe God will allow our sorrows to go unaddressed. It 00:23:51.36\00:24:01.20 suggests an indictment against the character of God because it suggests that He is more 00:24:01.24\00:24:11.01 concerned with our sins than He is with our sorrows. But I serve a God that has been touched with 00:24:11.05\00:24:19.15 the feeling of my infirmities, so that when I cry, He don't have to hear a word because He 00:24:19.19\00:24:30.67 knows how to interpret the language of tears. He knows what your groans mean and your 00:24:30.70\00:24:41.31 sorrows mean, so that even when your sorrows intercede and make an appeal to God that words 00:24:41.34\00:24:48.98 cannot express. It is why Romans says you don't know how to pray like His son, but the spirit 00:24:49.02\00:24:54.92 itself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Are you all hearing me 00:24:54.96\00:25:02.30 today, friends? I need you to know that God is not more concerned with your sins than He 00:25:02.33\00:25:08.44 is with your sorrows. Are you all hearing me today, friends? God is more worried about how 00:25:08.47\00:25:17.71 you're sleeping than who you slept with 10 years ago? You think that God is only worried 00:25:17.75\00:25:25.02 about what you're eating when God is worried about what's eating you. God is more worried 00:25:25.05\00:25:27.69 about where you're going than where you've been or what you've done. Some of us have got to 00:25:27.72\00:25:36.26 flip the script in our thinking to where we realize that God is more attentive to our needs than 00:25:36.30\00:25:49.08 He is to our transgressions. "Pastor, how do I know that God is going to address my sorrows?" 00:25:49.11\00:25:57.82 And I'm glad you asked. The reason I know He's going to handle every sorrow is because 00:25:57.85\00:26:07.60 He's already handled every sin. [Congregation: Clapping] Pastor Snell: Oh, I felt that Jessica. 00:26:07.60\00:26:16.94 The reason I know He's going to handle the sorrow is because He's already addressed the sin. 00:26:16.97\00:26:26.95 Doesn't Roman say that if God already freely gave us His Son, won't He also with Him then 00:26:26.98\00:26:35.29 freely give us all things? In other words, if He's already given us the best gift, why then 00:26:35.32\00:26:45.30 would He withhold the inferior gifts? Where are you all at today, church? If He went to the 00:26:45.33\00:26:55.84 Cross, if He went to the grave, if He gave His blood, then won't He pay the bills? Won't He get 00:26:55.88\00:26:58.28 you in school? Won't He answer your prayers? Won't He heal your marriage? Won't He build your 00:26:58.31\00:27:07.16 body? Won't He provide the job? Stop looking at the circumstance. Start looking at 00:27:07.19\00:27:23.57 the cross. The proof is not in your bank account. The proof is seen in the ransom that has been 00:27:23.61\00:27:29.84 paid. The best gift has been given. The covenant has been ratified. Because I've been 00:27:29.88\00:27:44.19 forgiven, because I've received grace, I know He's going to provide, that He cares, that 00:27:44.23\00:27:54.10 He's going to supply every need according to His riches in glory. Somebody praise the God 00:27:54.14\00:28:05.78 who cares today? [Congregation: Continuous Clapping] Pastor Snell: Praise the God who cares 00:28:05.81\00:28:07.95 today! No, no, no. Not be indifferent God, but if you serve a God that cares, He 00:28:07.98\00:28:13.76 cares. He cares. He says cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you. There's 00:28:13.79\00:28:18.43 somebody thinking, "Man, it ain't going to get better until I get myself right spiritually." 00:28:18.46\00:28:41.45 I need you to know that when God saw the tear fall from your eyes, it spoke more powerfully 00:28:41.48\00:28:56.46