John K. Jenkins Sr - Recognizing the Season of Transition

All right, today I’ve been in a series on transitions, and today I think-somebody say, I think he thinks-I think today’s going to be the last day unless the Lord tells me something else. But this is my last Sunday I want to talk about transitions, and I believe that God is opening up doors and making transitions for this season and time. However, there is a risk that if you are not aware that you are in the midst of a transition, you might miss it. What I want to do is talk about recognizing when you’re in a season of transition. That 's what this message is аbout: recognizing the season of transition. How do you know when you are in a season of transitions? In the course of my life, I’ve always looked for indicators and moments when God moved me from one place to another. The children of Israel, when God brought them out of slavery to take them to the promised land, went through several transitions. They went through transitions because God gave them clear direction; they had a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Whenever the cloud would move, they would move. If the pillar of cloud by day moved during the day, they would pack up everything and follow the cloud. If it was in the middle of the night, they would wake up everyone and follow the cloud. That 's the kind of people you want to be; that’s the kind of person you want to be: someone who goes wherever God is leading you. I’m afraid that a number of you have missed seasons of transitions because you didn’t recognize that God was trying to move you from one location to another. The last thing you want to do in life is miss being where God wants you to be. Tell your neighbor you don’t want to miss where God wants you to be! That 's what I want to do-be in the center of God’s will for my life, and whenever He wants me to move, I want to be prepared, able, and in a position to move. In our text today, 1 Kings chapter 17 is where I’m taking most of my passages from. Today, Elijah is in seasons of transition in his life; God is moving him from one place to another. In the midst of the 17th chapter, there are a couple of indicators of how he knew God was leading him to move from one location to another, and that’s what I want to talk about. I want to give you some clear ways of recognizing that God is seeking to move you from one location to another. Let me ask you to open your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 17, and it says this in verse 1: «And Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead said to Ahab, 'As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.'» He gave him a word; God told him. Elijah went to the king and said it’s not going to rain until I tell you. In fact, we know that it was three and a half years until it rained again. Three and a half years! So, they were in the middle of a drought. Then in verse 2, it says, «Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'Get away from here, and turn eastward, and hide by the brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan.'» Stick a pin right in verse number 2: «Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying.» There 's the first indication that God wants to move you from one location to another: God will talk to you! Thank all five of you for that resounding amen! I want you all to hear me on this because this is very, very important for your future: God will give you a clear word. Now, somebody said, «Well, I didn’t hear it.» It’s not because God isn 't talking! If you didn’t hear it, it’s not because God is not talking; God is always talking. The question is, are you dull of hearing? Are your ears plugged up? The problem is that many of you have lives that are so full of other stuff that you can’t even hear when God is talking to you. You are so tuned into whatever shows you watch on TV. What shows do you watch? What are these-well, now you' re going to act like you don’t know what I’m talking about! Tim, thank you, baby! Shows! [Laughter] I don’t know-what shows do you watch? Huh? Gray’s Anatomy? Thank you! What else do you all watch? Huh? The Real Housewives of whatever? Let me go over to this side! We are full of watching the wrong things, listening to the wrong things, reading the wrong things. We’re filled with the music we listen to, the shows on television, the books and novels we read; we’re so full of that we can’t hear from God. Now, I told the earlier service at nine o’clock that I had to put some stuff down. I had to be honest with you all; I know you all think I’m super spiritual and that I just sleep with Jesus every day. I had to put some stuff down; I had to put my favorite music…