Tony Evans - Keep Digging Your Ditches

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I want to talk to you about godliness, and I
would like to suggest to you that is our assignment.
A lot of Christians today are working on the wrong assignment.
We're working hard, we're putting in all the effort we
think we can put in, and it's just not working.
Everything is coming up f We're failing in our lives.

(00:23):
We're failing in our priorities, we're failing in our families,
we're failing in our commitments. We're failing while working hard.
And I'd like to suggest to you that is because
much of what we're doing is not tied to the
assignment we've been given. He wants you to see him

(00:43):
at a level you've never seen it before. So the
question on the floor is how bad do you want
to Sometimes things go from bad to worse. Times when
you think things are on the upswing, they go south.

(01:10):
When that happens, you become disappointed. You become just irritated
because hope is dashed when things go from bad to worse.
In Second King's Chapter three, we have a story and

(01:35):
I have a simple challenge to you from this chapter
for this year. That is to keep digging your ditchits.
The situation is explained to us in the first eight
verses of the chapter. I'll summarize it for you, feel

(01:56):
free to read the whole thing. But three kings have
come together in a conflict with Moab. Moab was paying
a tax, if you will, to Israel. They decided to

(02:17):
no longer pay the tax. This created a conflict with
Israel and Moab. Israel went to Judah and eat them
about the problem that Moab was no longer fulfilling its obligation,
and a war is about to break out. So that's

(02:39):
the scenario. There is a conflict between these groups of people,
the three nations, Israel, Judah and eat them against Moab.
There's going to be a clash. So the kings gathered
together to now deal with this problem that has confronted them.

(03:06):
That's the situation. But we have a problem in verse nine,
So the king of Israel went with the King of
Judah and the King of Edom, and they made a
circuit of seven days journey, and there was no water
for the army or for the cattle that followed them.

(03:28):
They were on their way to battle, but there was
no water. Now they're already in one fight because they're
getting ready to go fight Moab. They got one battle,
but on their way to fight this one battle, a
new problem shows up. There has been a drought, a

(03:52):
dry spell, and there's no water for the soldiers. There's
no water for the cattle. So one problem Moab has
become two problems. There is no water, and you know
water is essential to life. There was no water. What

(04:18):
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 Spirit is referred
to as the life giving fountain or water for the soul.
And of course physically you are without water long enough

(04:42):
you die. There was no water. How can we fight?
And we can't be refreshed? The King of Israel, Jehoram
said versus ted Alas, for the Lord has caused these
three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.

(05:05):
So the King of Israel, your horrm, says, God has
put us in a hot mess. God then hooked us
up together to be beaten by the enemy. You ever
felt like God sets you up, kind of sets you

(05:27):
up for a defeat. Here I'm out here trying to fight.
We know God controls rain, and he controls the water.
There is no water? Where is God? When I'm in
a drought? King of Israel says, God has set us

(05:47):
up to fail. The truth be told, even if you're
too stirred to say it. Sometimes it feel like God
has set you up for a defeat because you're in
a battle and then things go from bad to worse.

(06:09):
There is no water, and you blame God. You feel it,
you think it, even though you don't say it, because
He's the one who can make sure that there was water.
Jehasafat is the king of Judah. North Israel is the

(06:33):
northern kingdom. Judah is the southern kingdom. But Jehasaphat said,
now Jehoram is Israel. He said, God has set us
up to fail. But Jehasafat in verse eleven speaks and says,
is there not a prophet of the Lord here that

(06:53):
we may inquire of the Lord by him? And one
of the kings of Israel's servants answered, said, Elijah, the
son of Shapha is here, who used to pour water
on the hands of Elijah. Stay with me now, Jehosaphat says,

(07:15):
I know you want to blame God, Jehoram, but I
ain't gonna listen to you. I want to talk to
somebody who knows God when I'm in a drought and

(07:35):
my world is falling apart and it looks like I'm
gonna be defeated and there is nothing to sustain me.
Is there not somebody who can hear from God to
tell us what to do, Who can inquire of the Lord,

(07:56):
who can get some information from Heaven for situation on earth.
He's saying, I need somebody in this particular situation who
can bring clarity to what we're going through, because jaharm,

(08:16):
what you're talking about blaming God is getting us nowhere.
I need to find out what God is up to
in allowing the situation to transpire as it has? Is
there a prophet were? The servant said, well, there is
a prophet here named Elisha who used to pour water

(08:39):
on the hands of Elijah. To pour the water on
the hands of he was Elijah's servant. So Elisha was
the servant of the previous prophet Elijah. He says, Elisha is, yes,
he is nearby. So Jehosaphat stay with me here, said

(09:04):
the word of the Lord is with him. So the
King of Israel, your herm and Jehosaphat and the King
of Eden went down to him because they needed spiritual clarity.
Watch this for a physical situation. Two physical situations. One

(09:27):
day in a war and number two days no water.
Now that's that's a physical reality. But they need a
spiritual clarification about the spiritual 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 your career,

(09:51):
with your finances, with your family, with your future, you're
in this battle and there is no war. In other words, no,
every place you look is dry, 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

(10:13):
you need a prophetic word. You need something that will
zero in where you are and what you are dealing with.
You need a prophetic word. So they go down to
get spiritual clarity. Now, Elijha said to the King of Israel,

(10:35):
watch this little funny, but it's serious. In verse thirteen,
what do I have to do with you? Now that
three kings will win Jehosaphat, king of Edom, and Jahorrem.
But he only turns to Jahoram, the King of Israel

(10:59):
and said, why are you here? Get out of my face.
I don't want to see you. Move on. I don't
mind talking to these other two guys. I don't want

(11:19):
to talk to you. But he only says it to
the one king. He doesn't say it to the other two,
although there were three there, all right, go back to
verse one. Now, Jehoram, the son of Ahab, became king
over Israel in Samaria the beginning of verse two, and

(11:42):
he did evil in the sight of the Lord verse three. Nevertheless,
he clung to the sins of Jereboam, the sins of Navid,
which he had made Israel sin. He did not depart
from them. So let me tell you about Jehorah. Jehoram's
daddy was they have Jahome's mother was Jezebel. You're starting

(12:05):
to track with me. A Ab and Jesse let a
whole herd of false prophets. They went about killing the
prophets of God and bolstering up the prophets of Beil.

(12:25):
They had eli Jah, who was the spiritual father of Elisha,
running for his life. They were so oppressive, like father,
like son. Elijah says, I know about your daddy. I

(12:45):
know about your mama, and you as bad as them,
You a chip off the old block. In fact, he
says in verse thirteen, go to the prophets of your
father and to the prophets of your mother. And the
King of Israel said to him, no, for the Lord

(13:07):
has called these three kings together to give him into
the hands of Moab. Okay, he says, why are you
coming to me? Why don't you go back to your people,
to the folks that your mom and dad believed in
bail and Astra. Why don't you go back to your

(13:30):
false gods. But now he's with the King of Judah,
and he's with the King of Eden. He's like a
lot of folks. He was an emergency worshiper because see
here in a crisis. He in a drought, here in
a situation he can't fix. He's in a problem that

(13:52):
he can't resolve. So now he want to go to church.
Now he want to 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 folks do. They want God in an emergency.
So he says, go back to your people don't. You

(14:13):
don't believe in God. You don't. You haven't called on
God before. They haven't been looking at God all the time.
Now and now you want to 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,
And so they've got this emergency Eli, she says verse fourteen.

(14:39):
As the Lord of Hosts lives before whom I stand.
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 other words,
this is how I roll, This is how I operate

(15:00):
my stand. Were it not that I regard the presence
of Jehosaphat, the King of Judah, I would not look
at you nor see you. The only reason I'm talking
to you is because Jehosaphat is here, the godly King

(15:21):
of Judah. So you're gonna get the benefit of a
saint in your midst You're gonna get the benefit even
though you need to go home to Mama and Daddy
and they dead. You're gonna get the benefit of Jehosaphat
being in the mixt That's why the Bible says the

(15:43):
presence of the righteous affects the condition of the wicked,
because the righteous in a vicinity can give credit to
the evil in the environment. Because Jehosaphat is here, I'm

(16:05):
gonna answer his question, that's gonna bless you. Verse fifteen.
They want to know, is there a word from God
about this crisis of no water? He says verse fifteen, Elisha,
But now bring me a minstrel. And it came about

(16:28):
when the menstrul played that the hand of the Lord
came upon him. Oh no, you didn't. He said, Is
there anybody here with a keyboard? Is there anybody here
with a piano? Is there anybody here with an organ?
Is anybody here with a violin? Is there a minstrel?

(16:50):
That is a musician in the vicinity. The prophet asked
for a musician. You can show up here for the sermon,
and you'll only get the sermon. Their situation didn't need
a sermon. They needed a prophetic word. And a prophetic

(17:12):
word is God speaking personally into your situation. So in
order for them to get a prophetic word, they were
going to have to worship, not just sit down and
listen to a sermon. The purpose of music in worship

(17:34):
the minstrel is not to simply be a prelude to
a sermon. It is to set the atmosphere for God
to speak. God did not speak to the prophet Elisha
to give him a prophetic word until the atmosphere had

(17:54):
been affected. So if you want a prophetic word, don't
you just show up for the 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
personal level, because you are a worshiper and not just

(18:16):
an attender looking for a sermon. The prophet said, give
me a musician, because I need the atmosphere for God
to 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. And so,

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before he ever heard a specific word, a rama word,
a ramer word is a specific utterance, not a general
preached truth. Before he got clarity, he had to have
an atmospheric change. So when you get along with God

(19:03):
during the fast, when you get with him as a
general woule create some atmosphere so that you can hear
a prophetic word. So the Lord came on him Elijah

(19:24):
verse sixteen and said, thus, saith the Lord, make this
valley full of trenches. I want you to dig ditches, trenches, ditches.
Make this valley full, fill it up with wholes with trenches.

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For thus saith the Lord. Now he only heard this
after he heard the minstrel, after the atmosphere was changed,
Because I mean, there are a million options out there
related to our decision. Making a prophetic word gives you
a specific word for you. This is the strategy right

(20:12):
now for this thing you are dealing with. He says.
What God told me to tell you was to dig
plenty of ditches in a valley. Now, a valley is
a low place. The valley you low, so they're in
the ward. There's no water, and they low. I want

(20:34):
you to dig ditches, and I want you to fill
up the valley with him. So he worships. He gets
a specific word, fill the low place the valley with
ditches for trenches. Well, what's going to happen when I
do this? Because that seems weird Verse seventeen. For thus

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said the Lord, you shall not see wind, Nor shall
you see rain? Yet the valley shall be filled with water,
so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle
and your beast. Okay, let's leave this now. When God

(21:24):
gives you a prophetic word, it may not make sense.
There gonna be no wind, no rain, and they're gonna
be water everywhere. That does not fit the natural scheme
of things. That's not normal. It's dry. There is no

(21:45):
water here, and there's gonna be no rain, and it's
gonna be filled. Do you know why he told them
build ditches. He told them dig ditches so that they
could make room for God. He says, this ain't hard.
This is but a slight thing with the Lord. It

(22:05):
ain't all that. You mean to tell me. We're gonna
dig ditches. The place is gonna be full of water.
We're gonna be able to feed, the people, gonna drink,
the animal's gonna drink, and we're gonna defeat mo Ab.
You mean to tell me that. I'm not only telling
you that it ain't It ain't nothing, but the thing.
It ain't. It ain't that hard for the Lord. But

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notice he said you're gonna have to dig the ditches.
God's not gonna dig the ditches. You dig the ditches
because God wants to see your faith at work, and
He will only fill the amount of ditches that you dig.
He said, make the valley full of them. And if

(22:53):
you are struggling diging your ditch, find a je hosa
fat who will encourage you to dig ditches, who will
not let you just hang out talking a good game,
listening to sermons, praying prayers, without any dishes for God
to work with. It happened in the morning verse twenty.

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By the time of the offering of the sacrifice that
behold water came by the way of Eden, and the
country was filled world water. Let me explain something, Do
me a favor. Don't box God in, don't don't buy,
don't don't say hi. He gonna do something. He can
come in so many different ways. He can come around

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in so many different avenues. That's why don't get discourage,
don't quit dig ditches. That's why I love, I love
Ephesians chapter three, verse twenty. Now under him who is
able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask
or think, be glory on them through the church. So

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now under Him, in this new year, who can meet
you in your dry spot, in your spiritual battle, in
your trial, in your tribulation, in your singlehood, in your marriage,
in your career, on your job, with your parents, with
your children. Now unto him who can meet you in

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your discouragement, in your depression, in your frustration, in your irritation.
Now unto him who knows your hurt, who knows your mistrust,
who knows your mistreatment. Now, unto him, be glory, honor,
and dominion, now and forever. Somebody better give him some

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praise up in here, up in here, He is worthy
to be praised while you dig your ditchen. The motivation

(25:12):
for pursuing godliness is that we get to experience God
at a deeper, richer level. For many people, even Christians,
God is distant. He's out there somewhere. Believe in him,
maybe have a legal relationship with Him with very limited
experience of him, His closeness, his work in our lives, answer, prayer,

(25:38):
governance and guidance along the way, provision. All of those
things come tied to proximity. So the closer you are
to God through pursuing Godliness, the more of the God
you are pursuing you get to experience. God is not
far away away, draw near and watch what happens when

(26:03):
He draws near to you. I'm standing here in Alaska,

(26:47):
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(27:09):
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Can't wait to be with you.