Keion Henderson - I'm Catching My Breath

I am finally catching my breath, and that’s what I want to talk about. I’m catching my breath. Just high-five somebody behind you and tell them, «I’m catching my breath.» I’ve been tired, but I’m catching my breath. Maybe seated in the presence of the Lord, I feel glory in the room. So can I just get right to it without an introduction? The promise of verse 16 only comes after the peril of verse one. There is no breath to catch if there is no breath that has been lost. The truth is, without knowing your individual circumstance, I would guarantee that something has happened to you recently that knocked the wind out of you-guaranteed. I know what I’m talking about because I’m in the spirit, and the Lord gave me this word. Raise your hand if something has happened to you in the last 45 days that wasn’t planned, wasn’t on the itinerary, and wasn’t on the schedule-just out of nowhere. And literally, you still had to go to work; you still had to pretend like everything was okay. You still had to cook for your children; you still had to be there for your spouse. You had to do all of these things, and just because you were diminished in energy didn’t mean you were diminished in responsibility. That is the nature of a winner: we keep going even though we’re tired. Are there any resilient people in the room? Do me a favor; because the person beside you doesn 't know, tell them, «I’m so tough. Enough has happened to me last week that I shouldn’t even be here this week, but I am still here. I’m still here; I’m still married; I’m still a parent.» See, these are things you can all quit on, right? You could just quit. I’m still a worshiper; I’m still loyal; I’m still faithful. I still have a little fight left in me. I’m still coming; I’m still fighting; I’m still pressing, but I’m tired. I am tired. Life has required more out of me than I thought I had to give, and somewhere along the line, the wind got knocked out of you. Each one of us, especially those of us who are serious about the next level, has finally reached a crossroad where we have to make a decision. Man, you’re either going to fold or go forward. You either fold up and say, «You know what? That’s enough.» By the way, if you fold, that means you’re not qualified. But you’ve got to press toward the mark because on the other side of pressing is a prize, but only for those who can withstand the upward call. When you are being called up, it is only because you are being pulled down. I guarantee you, I’m talking to the whole room. Not every sermon is for the whole room. I appreciate enough sermons to recognize that sometimes I’m preaching to half the crowd, and sometimes I’m preaching to the mature and the immature who get to eavesdrop. Sometimes I’m preaching a sermon about salvation, and those of us who are saved have to sit through it until I get to the end. But sometimes, you come into a cross-section where the word paints the entire canvas, and everybody in the room is trying to catch their breath. There is a promise in verse 16, but only after the peril in verse one. If you get an opportunity, put verse one of chapter 3 of 2 Timothy on the screen because what Paul says lets us know I am addressing this because we are in the last days, or your Bible may say the latter days. It 's basically saying, «Listen, I’ve got this promise, but this promise is coming in the midst of the last days according to the promise of life, which is in Jesus Christ.» What he’s saying is that it’s the last days, but guess what? That 's how you know that it’s time to catch your breath because you’ve made it through the game. You 've made it through the first quarter, and you’ve made it through the second quarter. Then you got to halftime; you have to make some adjustments, right? What you were doing in the first half of your life will not serve you well in the second half. I wish I had some sports fanatics in here; sometimes you have to abandon the game plan and make some adjustments because your adversary used a different plan than what you prepared for. What they prepared is different from what you prepared, and now you have to abandon your original game plan and enact something new. The best coaches understand that you can’t always rely on X’s and O’s; sometimes you have to go by instinct. We don’t have to rely on our instincts; we have to rely on our indwelling. Oh, God, help me! We don’t have to rely on our instincts; we have to rely on our indwelling. See, animals have instincts; humans have indwelling. What is the indwelling? The Holy Ghost! The Holy Ghost is the coach, and He’ll call mid-game decisions. If you go with what God says based on what you had planned, then God is solely responsible for the results. Since He has never lost a case, never lost a patient, and God is from everlasting to everlasting, then when you follow God’s plan, you have to win. Can I prophesy to you? Even though you feel like you’re losing, that’s what winning feels like.