Dharius Daniels - I Don't Need Closure

Tonight, I want to talk on this subject: are y’all sure y’all are ready? Okay, we’re getting ready to go there. I don’t need closure; I don’t need closure, ladies and gentlemen. I want to LEAP into this lesson tonight by offering you an axiom that I think is extremely important and unsettling at the same time: your God is not just a God of entrances; your God is also the God of excess. Did you hear what I just said? Some of the imagery that the Scriptures use to describe God’s role in our life is shepherd-like imagery. Jesus is described as the Good Shepherd, speaking to the leadership role He wants to play in our lives. It’s as if He’s saying, «I want to do more than save your life; I want to lead it.» But if you let me lead it, you need to understand that if I’m going to lead you into green pastures, you’ve got to be willing to let me lead you out of pastures you like that are no longer green, because I can never lead you in if you are unwilling to let me lead you out. He wants to reframe the way you understand endings so that you see endings are not evil; endings are essential. If adolescence doesn’t end, you never step into adulthood. If singleness never ends, you don’t step into marriage. If spring never ends, you never get to summer. God then will orchestrate the ending of some things in order to arrange the beginning of another. I came to tell somebody that some endings you’re calling the devil—you’ve attributed credit to the wrong person. God’s like, «The devil didn’t break y’all up; that was me.» And «The devil didn’t make them let you go; that was me.» Because I’m the God who wants to lead you to green pastures, but I can’t lead you to green pastures if you don’t let me lead you out of pastures that aren’t green. I came to speak this over somebody’s life today: you’re getting ready to come out. Some of you are shouting about it, but I’m going to say it one more time: you’re getting ready to come out. I’m going to say it until most of you are shouting about it. You are getting ready to come out because God’s saying, «I’m getting ready to put an end to some things in your life.» People who plateau in their progress are those who have not mastered the art of managing endings. A powerful picture of this is seen in the book of First Samuel when God is ending an era of leadership for Israel with Saul and initiating a new era with David. He asks Saul a question: «How long are you going to mourn over that which I rejected? I’m done with it.» Even though you’re crying over it, I’m done with it. And even though you still love Saul, I’m done with it. And even though you wish it wasn’t this way, I’m done with it. Even if it doesn’t make sense, I’m done with it, and I’m not going to resurrect something I want to stay buried. I want that to stay in the grave. Some things I want to come back to life that I want to stay dead. He’s a God who orchestrates endings, and I think there’s an ending He wants to orchestrate for most of us who are watching or listening to this message. I don’t believe He would put this message on my heart if this wasn’t an ending He wants to orchestrate in you. I believe He put this message on my heart because there’s something He wants to bring to an end in you because it’s keeping some of us stuck. If we’re not stuck practically, we’re stuck mentally; if we’re not stuck mentally, we’re stuck emotionally. It’s keeping some of us stuck, and there needs to be an ending to our need for explanations. Come here, Church! Did you hear what I just said? God says, «Yeah, you thought I was going to end people hating on you, and you thought I was going to end people agitating you.» He says, «I need to bring an end to your need to have an explanation before you advance, ” because it’s keeping you stuck. Even when your body’s not stuck, your head is stuck, and you are wherever your mind is. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. You can be in Jamaica, but if your mind is in Atlanta, that’s where you are. And God’s like, „Time is moving; progress should be happening,“ but you’re stuck because you haven’t mastered the ability to move on without a reason. The Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard puts it this way: „Life is to be lived forward, but it is only understood backwards.“ There are some understandings that you and I are looking for in our present that we do not get until we step into our future. Some things don’t make sense proactively; some things make sense retrospectively. So, I’ve got to be willing to move on in seasons where there is no explanation. Some of your „why“ is the reason you cry. There was a powerful—are y’all okay? There’s somebody saying, „No, I’m not!“ There is a powerful picture of what I’m trying to proclaim situated right here in one of the most powerful books of the Bible. It’s a book called Job, and Job’s profundity is not just tied to its content, what’s said in the book; it’s tied to its context. Job is situated in a section of the Bible called wisdom literature. It means that when you start reading things like Psalms and you’re reading Job and you’re reading Proverbs and you’re reading Ecclesiastes…