Dharius Daniels - Overcoming the Unpredictable

First Kings, chapter 19, verse 9. Everybody, First Kings 19, verse 9. It says, «There he went into a cave and spent the night, and the word of the Lord came to him. 'What are you doing here, Elijah? ' He replied, 'I’ve been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with a sword. I’m the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.'» Have you ever felt like that? Everyone has felt like this. I want you to catch this; I want to use this prophet’s story for a teaching today: part three of «Free Your Mind.» I want to talk about, watch this, overcoming the unpredictable. Overcoming the unpredictable, family. There are a number of words that we could use to describe this thing called life, but one that I feel is incredibly important and often overlooked is that life is unpredictable. Now, come on, for those of you that are watching, we participate, not just spectate. I want you to type «unpredictable.» Yeah, type it: unpredictable. Life can be unpredictable. There’s a song the congregation sings in the church I grew up in that says, «Time is filled with swift transitions.» Listen to me. The unpredictable is inevitable. The unpredictable is inevitable. What does that mean? It simply means that it is naive to think life, relationships, resources, or work will go as we anticipate or plan. Therefore, a key life skill everyone must develop is the skill, watch this, of managing what you didn’t see coming. I’m going to say that again: a key life skill everyone has to learn how to develop is managing what you didn’t see coming because unpredictability is inevitable. Listen to me; if everything has to go as planned for you to prosper, then your prospering will be paralyzed by the unpredictable. If everything must go as planned for you to prosper, then, at some point, your prospering—listen to me—is going to be paralyzed by the unpredictable. Nothing, watch this, will always go as planned.

Now, there are two types of surprises, two realities about inevitability. There are types of surprises that we expect, and, excuse me, there are types of surprises that we enjoy. These are pleasant surprises—oh, an engagement! That’s a pleasant surprise. Wow! I guess it’s pleasant depending on who you ask. Jesus! But they are unexpected bonuses, unexpected opportunities, unexpected visits from friends or family members—unexpected pleasant surprises, surprises that we enjoy. Right? Then there’s another type of surprise—those are surprises that we don’t enjoy. An example of that is something we’re facing right now: COVID-19. This was a surprise, meaning not that we didn’t see some of this coming, but I think many of us were surprised by the fallout—the fact that we are losing loved ones to the degree that we are, the fact that we are confined to our homes the way that we are, and the fact that plans many of us had made, opportunities we expected to take advantage of, have all been impacted by this.

So here it is—the question is, how are we going to manage what we can’t control? We can’t control it. So how do we prosper in spite of it? This is really key and critical because this is the heart of what this lesson is all about. While we need to focus on, yes, first and foremost, how this is affecting us physically, we need to be aware of how it affects us relationally. We need to be aware of how this is affecting us financially. We also have to be aware of how this is affecting us mentally. So I think this story here with Elijah is an incredible opportunity for us to pursue how to overcome the unpredictable.

Check this out; this is really interesting because this text is tailored to teach us. I want to give you a few thoughts here. This text is tailored to teach you and me that the worst of times can get the best of us. The worst of times can get the best of us. In other words, even strong people have weak moments. This text that I just read to you is a story about an individual named Elijah. Elijah is a prophet; he has been greatly used by God. He was what we would consider to be a spiritual leader, and the Bible is very clear—crystal clear here—that Elijah has a moment because he is dealing with the unexpected and the unpredictable. As he has this moment in his cave, what God does for him is what I believe God wants to do for us. He wants to give us some perspective. Pastor, what do you mean by that? He wants to give us some perspective. What do I mean by that? He gives him some principles to get his mind out, because he knows when your mind gets out, your life follows. Elijah is called the Iron Man of the Old Testament—greatly used by God, a man of faith, a man of boldness—but he experiences a season that puts him in such despair that his despair turns into a degree of depression. That’s right; he’s a man of God, but his despair turns into a degree of depression. Now remember, when I talk about depression, there are two types, right? There’s chemical, where there are literally chemical imbalances in the minds of people, and God often uses the common…