Journey of Hope Part 2 Chad Everett – Lead Pastor Mt. Carmel Illinois Church
Focus on the Results from Resistance, Not the Resistance Itself
So Mt. Carmel Illinois Church in this context, the presence of resistance and opposition in my life is not something I want to avoid. It just means that I want to influence it more than it influences me.
As long as I keep influencing it, I’m getting stronger.
So now I love the 10 pound resistance. I want to be around the 10 pound resistance. Why? Because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church it’s making me stronger. Nobody in the gym gets discouraged about moving from 10 pound strength to 20 pound strength. Everybody wants to move up.
They want to get to heavier weights. They want to excel. Nobody’s in the gym supporting a 10 pound club bench press shirt. I’ve been in the gym for 10 years. What are you doing? Yep. 10 pounds. Still knocking it out Mt. Carmel Illinois Church!
Now, Mt. Carmel Illinois Church, my brother has issues. What is it in the gym? We gravitate towards more resistance. Give me more resistance.
I want more resistance because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church I know what that resistance is doing to me. It’s making me stronger. I’m getting strong. I want to go. So right now I’ve got 10 pound strength, but if I’ll keep working on my strength, I’ll graduate to 15 pound strength.
Then I’ll graduate to 20 pounds strength and I can have influence over 25, or 30 pounds. I can keep going. Why? Because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church I’m not focused on the weight. I’m focused on what it’s doing to me.
This is a little bar with two little circles on it. This is not significant. It can be a big rock. It could be a 10 pound rock and still give me the same benefit. So the focus is not on the resistance.
Are you getting what I’m saying? You’re getting it. I don’t know if they’re getting it, but you’re getting it. What happens is we’re focused on our opposition too much instead of focused on how it’s making us stronger.
See, people can lift weights with all kinds of stuff. They can pick up trees and just use it. They can do pull ups with body weight. It’s not about the resistance. It’s about what is it doing to you. It’s the same thing.
I don’t know what your problems are this morning. I don’t know what your adversity is. I don’t know what your trying circumstances are, but I know what mine are. If I focus on them, I’m going to get discouraged.
If I focus on how heavy or how hard that is, I’ll go, “Oh, I just don’t think I want to do that.” Yeah, it is. I don’t want to work out this weight makes me sweat.
Yes, so I want to sweat. It makes me glisten so I can do that because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church lifting this makes me sweat and makes me work. Dealing with resistance and opposition is work.
I may get a little tired out. My breathing may get heavy. I may have some adversity lifting it, but I’m focusing on what it’s doing to me, not on how heavy it is, because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church if I want to excel, if I want to get stronger, I have to embrace the resistance and resist the resistance.
Let me give you a scripture. James chapter 4 verse 7 says, therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
The Stronger the Resistance – The Stronger We Are
The stronger the resistance we are able to control or influence, or have power over, the stronger we are. If I’m able to influence and have power over it for 4 sets of 10 I’ll come back next week and I might be able to get 15.
However, if I will not work with this 10 pound resistance, I will never get to 15 practical application. If I will not influence and have control over 10 pound problems in my life, I will never be able to graduate to 15 pound problems. You’re like, I don’t want 15 pound problems!
It’s pretty simple. I don’t want 50 pounds, but you’re focusing on the problem instead of who you become. I don’t want 15 pound problems either, but I don’t want 10 pound strength.
I’m not asking for 15 pound problems. I’m asking for 15 pounds strength. Let’s go deep. Somebody, I don’t know. I’m not asking for more problems. I don’t want any more problems than you.
I’m not asking for 50 pound problems, but I want 50 pounds strength. We want the strength without having to lift the weight, and without having to go with against the opposition and the resistance.
This is our problem. I want to come and have power over 50 pound devils in my life. Well then you better to have influence and control over the 15 pound ones!
Yeah. If I can’t control my 10 pound temper, and if I can’t control my 10 pound mouth…. If I can’t control 10 pound temptations from the devil, yeah.
If he gets me every time on that same thing, that same 10 pound temptation, I’m never going to be able to overcome. See when he patiently endured what he was doing for Abraham.
What if it wasn’t about? I wrote this down to me so I don’t misquote myself here.
What if by patiently enduring God is not punishing us nor getting his kicks out of just making us wait for the sake of waiting, but rather he is strengthening us to be able to carry the promise after we have patiently endured.
After he had exercised internal and external control over adversity and opposition, then he obtained the promise, but only after.
Why is it? It’s because Mt. Carmel Illinois Church if Abraham was not willing to exercise internal and external control over his circumstances, over his opposition, over his trying situations that he was never going to be strong enough to obtain the promise.
Thanks so much for watching with us. We love our online Mt. Carmel Illinois Church and Norris City Illinois Church family and we invite you to connect with us. We have a few different ways you can do that. Our website is theroads.church. We are on social media as well.
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