Skip to content Digging Ditches Oct 14 · 43 min ...more
October 14, 2022 · 43 min · Culture Wars
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Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies.
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0:02 Many of us know what it is for news to go from bad to worse. For things that begin going south, pick up speed,0:14 and the problems seem to grow and become more exacerbated and irritated and frustrated, where we have to think with0:26 things are getting better only to find out things seem to be getting worse. Sometimes things go from bad to worse. Amen. Amen. Sometimes0:38 when you think things are on the upswing, they go south. When that happens, you become0:50 disappointed. You become just irritated because hope is dashed when things go from1:01 bad to worse. In second Kings chapter 3, we have a story, and I have a1:13 simple challenge to you from this chapter that is to keep digging your ditches. My challenge to you today is to keep1:25 digging your ditches. The situation is explained to us in the first 8 verses of the chapter. I'll1:37 summarize it for you. Feel free to read the whole thing. But 3 kings have come together in a conflict1:50 with Moab. Moab was paying a tax, if you will, to Israel. They decided to no longer pay the tax.2:02 This created a conflict with Israel and Moab. Israel went to to, Judah and, Edom about the problem that Moab was no longer2:14 fulfilling its obligation and a war is about to break out. So that's the scenario. There is a conflict between2:26 these groups of people, the 3 nations Israel, Judah, and Edom against Moab. There's gonna be a clash. So2:38 the kings gathered together to now deal with this problem that has confronted them. That's that's the2:50 situation. But we have a problem in verse 9. So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they made a circuit of 7 days3:01 journey, and there was no water for the army or for the cattle that followed them. They were on their way to3:12 battle, but there was no water. Now they're already in 1 fight because they're getting ready to go fight Moab. They got 1 battle. But3:24 on their way to fight this 1 battle, a new problem shows up. There has been a drought, a dry spell,3:37 and there's no water for the soldiers. There's no water for the cattle. So 1 problem, Moab, has become 2 problems. There is no water, and you3:48 know water is essential to life. Amen. Amen. There was no water. What4:00 do you do when your life is in a drought? When there is no water. Water is regularly used in scripture to talk about life. The Holy Spirit4:12 is referred to as the life giving fountain or water for the soul. And of course, physically, you are without water long enough, you4:24 die. There was no water. How can we fight and we can't be refreshed?4:38 Many of you already see battles that you're gonna face. It's 1 thing to have to fight the virus. It's another thing to have to fight all the inconveniences. It's another thing they have to fight4:50 all of the restrictions and requirement. But when you have to do that and there is no water, there is nothing refreshing you, nothing replenishing you, nothing sustaining5:02 you, but you're still in this battle. That's the problem. The king of Israel, Jehoram, who's an interesting character,5:14 you'll see that in a moment, said, verse 10, alas, for the Lord has caused these 3 kings to give them into the hand of Moab.5:25 So the king of Israel, Jehoram, says, God has put us in a hot mess. God5:38 then hooked us up together to be beaten by the enemy. You ever felt like God set you up? It got it kinda sets you up for a5:50 defeat. Hey, I'm out here trying to fight. We know God controls rain, and he controls the water. There is no water. Where6:02 is God when I'm in a drought? Amen. King of Israel said, God has set us up to fail.6:15 The truth be told, even if you're too stirred to say it, sometimes it feels like God has set you up for defeat.6:28 Because you're in a battle and then things go from bad to worse, there is no water. And you blame God.6:41 You feel it, you think it even though you don't say it because he's the 1 who can make sure that there was water. Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah.6:54 North Israel is the northern kingdom. Judah is the southern kingdom. But Jehoshaphat said now Jehoram is Israel. He said, God has set us up to7:05 fail. But Jehoshaphat in verse 11 speaks and says, is there not a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of the7:17 Lord by him? And 1 of the kings of Israel's servants answered and said, Elijah the son of Shaphat is here who used to pour water on the7:29 hands of Elijah. Stay with me now. Jehoshaphat says, I know you wanna blame God,7:40 Jehoram, but I ain't gonna listen to you. I wanna talk to somebody who knows7:52 God. When I'm in a drought and my world is falling apart and it looks like I'm gonna be defeated and there is nothing to sustain me, is there8:03 not somebody who can hear from God to tell us what to do, who can inquire of the Lord,8:16 who can get some information from heaven for our situation on earth. Now we've gotta put a parenthesis here and and make sure you8:28 understand what the job of a prophet was. Prophecy is more than preaching. It involves8:39 preaching. It involves proclaiming. It involves declaring the word of God. But when prophets show up in scripture, it's not8:51 generic. They show up at specific times to specific people in specific situations to bring9:02 clarity to that person or that circumstance about what they were currently going through. A preached word is for everybody.9:15 A prophetic word is for your situation. I am giving a generic sermon. I am preaching to all who9:27 are listening, but only some will get a prophetic word. It's the difference between saying, heard the sermon,9:39 I enjoyed the sermon, I learned from the sermon, That's good. From a person who said, you talk to me today.9:52 The prophetic word is designed to be a personalized word to your reality where you are and what you are dealing with. So10:04 Jehoshaphat isn't just saying, let me turn on Christian radio to the urban alternative and hear Tony Evans preach. Oh, let's go to church. He's saying,10:16 I need somebody in this particular situation who can bring clarity to what we're going through. Because,10:29 Jehoram, what you're talking about, blaming God is getting us nowhere. I need to find out what God is up to in allowing the situation10:41 to transpire as it has. Is there a prophet? Well, the servant said, well, there is a prophet here named Elisha who used to pour water on the10:53 hands of Elijah. To pour the water on the hands of he was Elijah's servant. So Elisha was the servant of the previous prophet11:04 Elijah. He says, Elisha is is yes. He is nearby. So Jehoshaphat, stay with me here,11:17 said, The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel, Jehoram, and Jehoshaphat and the king of Eden went down to11:28 him because they needed spiritual clarity, watch this, for a physical situation. 2 physical situations.11:40 1, they're in a war, and number 2, have no water. Man, that's that's a physical reality. But they need a spiritual clarification about the spiritual11:52 reality. If you're in a drought right now or if you're in a battle right now in your life, in your world, with your12:04 career, with your finances, with your family, with your future, you're in this battle and there is no water. In other words, no every place you look is dry.12:15 Every place you look is empty. Every place you look, there is nothing that's giving you life sustaining clarity and help, then that means you need a prophetic12:27 word. You need something that will 0 in where you are and what you are dealing with. You need a prophetic word. So the12:39 question on the floor is, is there a prophet somewhere? Is there somewhere I can go and get spiritual clarity12:52 on this cultural confusion since the physical is not working itself out. You need some clarity because the prophetic word is always relevant.13:07 Now Elisha said to the king of Israel watch this. A little funny, but it's serious. In verse 13, what do I have to do with you?13:20 Now there are 3 kings who went. Jehoshaphat, the king of Edom, Jehoram. But he only turns to13:31 Jehoram, the king of Israel, and said, why are you here? Get out of my face.13:45 I don't wanna see you. Move on. I don't mind talking to these other 2 guys. I don't wanna talk to you. I13:57 don't wanna talk to you. You you ever have any people come up in your face you don't wanna talk Why why are you here? Get get leave me alone. But he only says14:09 it to the 1 king. He doesn't say it to the to the to the other 2, although there were 3 there. Alright. Go back to verse 1. Now Jehoram,14:21 the son of Ahab, became king over Israel and Samaria. The beginning of verse 2, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.14:33 Verse 3, nevertheless, he clung to the sins of Jeroboam, the sins of Naboth, which he had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them. So let me tell you about Jehoram.14:45 Jehoram's daddy was Ahab. Jehoram's mother was Jezebel. You starting to track with me?14:57 Ahab and Jezebel. Led a whole herd of false prophets. They went about killing15:09 the prophets of God and bolstering up the prophets of Baal. They had Elijah who was the spiritual father of15:20 Elijah running for his life. They were so oppressive. Like father, like son.15:33 Elijah says, I know about your daddy. I know about your mama. And you as bad as them, you're a chip off the old block. In15:44 fact, he says in verse 13, go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother. And the king of Israel said to him,15:57 no, for the Lord has called these 3 kings together to give them into the hands of Moab. Okay. He says, why are you coming to me?16:08 Why? Why? Why don't you go back to your people? Yeah. Yeah. To the folks that your mom and dad believed in, Baal and Asherah. Why don't you go back to your16:20 false gods? But now he's with the king of Judah, and he's with the king of Edom. He's like a lot of folk. He was an emergency worshiper.16:36 Because see, he in a crisis. He in a drought. He in a situation he can't fix. He's in a problem that he can't resolve. So now he wanna go to church. Now he16:48 wanna hear what the Bible has to say. Now he wants to hear what the word of God has to say because he's in a crisis. You know, that's what folk do. They want God in an16:59 emergency when, they want a spare tire in case something goes flat. So they can peel him out, put him on until they17:11 get their old tire fixed, then they can put him back in the trunk till we get a new flat in my life. Well, what you ought to have seen in the culture is that the culture is going flat.17:27 And there's a drought. There's no sustenance in sight. So he says, go back to your people. You don't you don't believe in God. You don't you haven't called on God before.17:39 You haven't been looking at God all the time there, and then you wanna just show up and get spiritual. What are you doing here? You don't believe in the true God. You're just using Him right now.17:53 And so they've got this emergency. Elisha says, verse 14, as the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand.18:05 In other words, I don't just visit Him, I stand before Him. In other words, He's my lifestyle not just my Sunday morning experience. Before whom I stand. In other18:17 words, this is how I roll. This is how I operate. Before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, the18:29 king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. The only reason I'm talking to you is because Jehoshaphat is18:41 here, the godly king of Judah. So you're gonna get the benefit of a saint in your midst. You're gonna get the benefit even18:52 though you need to go home to mama and daddy and they're dead. You're get the benefit of Jehoshaphat being in the midst. That's why19:04 the bible says the presence of the righteous affects the condition of the wicked. God told Abraham, if you find 5019:16 righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah, I will spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the 50. If you find 40, I'll save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the 40. If you find19:28 30, I'll save Sodom and Gomorrah in the for sake of the 30. If you find 20, I'll save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the 20. He went down to 10. I will save it because the righteous in a19:40 vicinity can give credit to the evil in the environment. Because Jehoshaphat is19:51 here, I'm gonna answer his question that's gonna bless you. That's why Christian presence in a home, the Christian's presence in a community, the20:03 Christian's presence in a culture has a lot to say about what God will or will not do.20:15 So verse 15. They wanna know, is there a word from God about this crisis20:27 of no water? We wanna know is there a word from God about the crisis. You wanna know is there a word of God about the crisis of my school choice, my career choice, my mate20:38 choice, fixing this problem between me and my kids, whatever the crisis is. Is there a word from God? Because I can't find no water.20:51 He says, verse 15, Elisha, but now bring me a minstrel. And it came about when the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him.21:03 Oh, no. You didn't. He said, is there anybody here with a keyboard? Is there anybody here with a21:14 piano? Is there anybody here with an organ? Is there anybody here with a violin? Is there a minstrel that is a musician in the vicinity?21:28 The prophet asked for a musician. Let me explain something. You21:40 can show up here for the sermon, and you'll only get the sermon. Their situation didn't need a sermon. They21:51 needed a prophetic word. And a prophetic word is God speaking personally into your situation. So in order for them to get a prophetic22:03 word, they were going to have to worship, not just sit down and listen to a sermon. The purpose of22:15 music in worship, the minstrel, is not to simply be a prelude to a sermon. It is to set the atmosphere for God to speak.22:31 God did not speak to the prophet Elisha to give him a prophetic word until the atmosphere had been affected. So if you want a prophetic word, don't you22:43 just show up for a sermon because you'll only get a sermon. You need to be part of an atmosphere where God is free to express himself on a personal22:55 level because you are a worshiper and not just an attender looking for a sermon. You could23:07 go a whole year listening to sermons, 52 of them, and never hear a prophetic word. Never hear God speak directly into your situation, and you23:18 wind up living in a drought. The prophet said, give me a musician because I need the atmosphere for God to23:30 speak into. So no. You music isn't just because a song is supposed to be in church. It's supposed to be an atmosphere where God feels comfortable.23:43 And so before he ever heard a specific word, a rhema word a rhema word is a specific utterance, not a general preached truth.23:56 Before he got clarity, he had to have an atmospheric change. So when you get along with God, when you get with him as a general rule,24:09 create some atmosphere so that you can hear a prophetic word. So24:22 the Lord came on him, Elijah. Verse 16, and said, thus saith the Lord, make this valley full of24:34 trenches. I want you to dig ditches. Trenches. Ditches. Make this valley full,24:45 fill it up with holes, with trenches. For thus saith the Lord. Now he only heard this after he heard the minstrel, after the atmosphere was24:57 changed because, I mean, there are 1000000 options out there related to our decision making. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There are 1000000 options out there and25:09 I mean, TV is hitting us with it. You should do this. You should do it. You you don't know you don't know what to take for this. You don't know what to take for that. You don't know. You I mean, there's 1000000 options25:18 out there, and new stuff is coming every day, and you don't know which 1 you should take. A prophetic word gives you a specific word for you. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. This is the strategy25:30 right now for this thing you are dealing with. He says, what God told me to tell you was to dig plenty of25:41 ditches in a valley. Now valley is a low place. So they're in a water. There's no water and they25:53 low. Down, depressed. Low, you're in a valley. I want you to dig ditches, and I want you26:05 to fill up the valley with them. Let me explain something. We all know that we possess 5 senses. Okay?26:17 Yeah. You know, we talk about smell and taste and hearing and seeing, you know, that we have 5 senses. Okay. If you are a Christian, you have a sixth26:28 sense. Amen. There's another part of you and me. If you are a Christian and God is living in your life, the Holy Spirit is in you, that is a sixth26:40 sense. That sixth sense is designed to pick up heaven's frequency, the heavenly broadcast26:51 network. It's designed to pick up things from God that are not evident in your 5 senses. That's not evident27:03 there. Most people's sixth sense lies dormant. They have it, but it's like a television set not on.27:16 It's there. It works, but it has not yet been activated. They're in a drought. A lot of y'all remember Jerry27:27 Curl, don't you? Jerry Curl. Jerry Curl was a process.27:40 Okay. And I know. That was a process. You had to go and you had to put curlers in your hair and put the chemicals in your hair. You know, get the27:52 curl. Okay. The the the the problem with a jerry curl is that it dried out. Jerichurls28:04 dried out. Come on. How many of y'all tell the truth, but had a jury curl? It dried out. So you had to go to the store28:16 Yeah. And buy a curl activator. Am I telling the truth? You had to have some curl activator. And when you when you put the curl activator all on your head,28:28 poof, it came to life again. It was soft and shiny and glittering. You had to activate that thing because if you didn't have curl activated,28:40 you won't look you're gonna look real strange, real strange because your had been dried out. See, a lot of us need some28:51 spirit activated. If you're a Christian, you have, you know, you you have it, but it it may not be29:03 operative. This sixth sense, this ability to pick up on something that is yours29:16 It's when God places something in your spirit, and you know he's talking to you or in a church that to us. 13 years ago,29:28 God placed in my spirit getting the golf course. That was 13 years ago. And once a month or once every 2 months, I go over and sit on the back steps, and I just pray.29:42 And it looked like other people were going to get it because they didn't kinda, like, wanna sell it to us. Long story. It looks like we can get it. I just kept praying. And every time somebody else29:54 tried to get it, something went wrong. 3 times, something went wrong. Something went wrong. Something went wrong until we got the phone call. Are y'all still interested? It was a 13 year process,30:06 but it was like sometimes when God puts something in your spirit, it it's it's like a pregnancy. Nobody knows it's there but you because it hadn't shown up yet.30:19 Other folk may not see it right now, but that sixth sense can pick up on it on the inside until God is ready to reveal it on the outside. It's that30:30 thing that that God does inside the human spirit. And so so he worships. He gets a30:42 specific word. Fill the low place, the valley with ditches, with trenches. Well, what's gonna happen when I do this? Because that30:53 seems weird. Verse 17. For thus saith the Lord, you shall not see wind nor shall you see rain. Yet the valley31:05 shall be filled with water so that you shall drink both you and your cattle and your beast.31:18 K. Listen to this now. When God gives you a prophetic word, it may not make sense. There gonna be31:30 no wind, no rain, and there gonna be water everywhere. That does not fit the natural scheme of things. That's not31:42 normal. It's dry. There is no water here. And there's gonna be no rain, and it's gonna be filled. Yeah. That does not make sense. See, that's why if you're a secular saint Come on. Yeah. Come on.31:54 And you only listen to your 5 senses, and you don't know how to use your sixth sense, then you will not see what God can do. Do you know why he told them build ditches? He told them dig32:06 ditches so that they could make room for God. See, you got to make room for God in your life and in your circumstances and in your situations. But what a lot of32:18 us do is we don't make room for God because to make room for God means I have to go outside of my education. I gotta go outside of my notoriety. I gotta go32:29 outside of my popularity. I gotta go outside of my influence. I I can't limit myself to what my physical world dictates. And32:42 sometimes the information will come back weird. It won't make sense. So he had to help him out. I love this32:54 in verse 18. This is but a slight thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand.33:06 Okay. Okay. This is a sermon right there. Right there. Right there. He says, this ain't hard. Yeah. This is but a slight33:17 thing with the Lord. It ain't all that. You mean to tell me we're gonna dig ditches, the place gonna be full of water, We're gonna be able to feed. The people33:29 gonna drink. The animals gonna drink, and we're gonna defeat Moab. You mean to tell me that? I'm not only telling you that it ain't it ain't nothing but a thing. It ain't it33:41 ain't that hard for the Lord. A woman came to g Campbell Morgan 1 day, and she says, I don't bring big things to33:53 God. I only bring little things to God. G Campbell Morgan said, lady, anything you bring to God is little. Yeah. He said, this34:04 is a small thing. Yeah. Yeah. You got away with child. It's a small thing. You got a marriage that looks like it's gonna end in divorce. It's a small thing.34:18 Your career is on the downside. It's a small thing. I don't know how big it feels, but when it gets placed in the hands of God, he says, this ain't nothing but a34:30 small thing. This ain't that hard when it's your prophetic word because it's what God plans to do. It ain't that hard.34:42 But our God is too small. Yes. He does have a will and we submit to His will, but when His word declares through the written word of34:54 scripture or the prophetic word through the Holy Spirit, it's a small thing. But notice he said,35:08 you're gonna have to dig the ditches. God's not gonna dig the ditches. You dig the ditches because God35:20 wants to see your faith at work. He don't just wanna hear you talking, I believe in God. I trust the Lord. And what? No. No. No. No. No. You're gonna have to dig some ditches. Yeah. Know he35:32 told you he had a job for you, but you got to go job hunting. You got to dig some ditches. And he will only35:43 fill the amount of ditches that you dig. He said, make the valley full of them. You bring a thimble to the Pacific Ocean,35:55 all you're gonna do is get a thimble worth of Pacific. If you bring a glass to the Pacific Ocean, you'll get more than a thimble, but you won't get more than a glass. If you bring a bucket to the Pacific Ocean, you'll36:05 get more than a thimble and more than a glass, but you won't get more than a bucket. If you bring a barrel to the Pacific, you'll get more than a thimble, more than a glass, more than a bucket, but not more than a36:13 barrel. If you bring a tanker to the Pacific, you will get more than a thimble, more than a glass, more than a bucket, more than a barrel, but you won't get more than a tiger. Not because the36:25 Pacific can't handle what you bring. Whatever you bring is a small thing to the Pacific. It depends on what you bring. Depends on the36:37 ditches you dig. How committed are you? You can pray till you're blue in the face. If you don't dig ditches, the prayer won't be answered.36:51 People say, I'm trusting the Lord, but let me see your ditches. Let me see what acts of faith he can supply my need. Let me see your ditches in giving.37:03 He can he can win back my mate. Let me see your ditches of being the right kind of mate that God can work with. He can bring my child back. What kind of ditches are you digging to be the right kind of37:15 parent that you ought to be? He can change my trajectory of my identity. What kind of ditches are you digging to affirm the identity that God says you37:26 are? If you're not digging the ditch, you're wasting your time praying the prayer. He not digging your ditch, but he'll fill your37:38 ditch with water. See, the problem is we are not giving God what he requires to work with.37:53 And if you are struggling digging your ditch, find a Jehoshaphat who will encourage you to dig ditches, who will not let38:05 you just hang out talking a good game, listening to sermons, praying prayers without any ditches for God to work with. There was 1 group of people, they were38:16 praying for rain because it hadn't rained in their town for a long time. They were praying for rain, praying for rain, praying for rain, but it wouldn't rain. Yeah. But it wasn't because they weren't praying. They were38:26 praying for rain, but it wouldn't rain. They got discouraged, and they all went back home. The next day, after they went back home,38:38 it started to get cloudy like it was gonna rain. And in the town square was 1 little boy holding an umbrella.38:49 See, he came expecting God to work. He came expecting it to work. Everybody else was praying. He brought an umbrella. He I'm a dig a ditch. I'm I'm I'm a show God I39:01 believe what he said. I'm going to act on it, not just talk about it or go to church to discuss it. And so39:15 it happened in the morning. Verse 20. About the time of the offering of the sacrifice that behold water came by the way of Eden and the country was39:27 filled with water. Let let me explain something. Do me a favor. Don't box God in. Don't don't buy don't don't say how39:39 he gonna do something. You can declare what he's gonna do. What you can't declare is how he can do something because he knows how to throw a curveball. He can come in so many different ways. He can come39:51 around in so many different avenues. That's why don't get discouraged. Don't quit. Dig ditches. Dig your ditch in your valley. In your low place, dig your40:02 ditch. In your difficult place, dig your ditch. Whatever God tells you to do that you know. He told Martha, move the stone. You won'tShow more
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