Sheryl Brady - When Heaven Shuts It All Down

I want you to take your Bibles today, if you will, and we’re going to read from a couple of places. It’s just a couple of verses, but we will go to Joshua chapter one. I preached about Joshua a few weeks ago, and I’ve kind of been living in the life of Joshua, reading his story. He was a young man who had to lead people to the other side, from the wilderness into the promised land. I’ve been looking at his life because I think it’s very parallel to what leaders have to do today. So we’re going to read about Joshua; we’re going to Joshua 1, and we’ll read verse 10 and verse 11. If you have your Bibles, you can turn with me, and then we will go to the book of Exodus—Joshua 1, verses 10 and 11. It’s a very familiar passage of Scripture. The Bible says in verse 11, «Pass through the host and command the people, saying, 'Prepare you victuals; for within three days you shall pass over this Jordan. You shall pass over this Jordan within three days. You shall pass over this Jordan, ' and the purpose of passing over the Jordan is that you are going to possess the land which the Lord God gives you to possess.» So you know it’s yours to possess, but you yourself, by the grace of God, have to possess that land. That’s what he said in Joshua 1:10 and 11.

But then I want to flip real quick over to Exodus chapter 16, and I’m going to read it from the Message Bible because I really like this particular translation. It says, «The Israelites ate the manna for 40 years until they arrived at the land where they would settle down. They ate manna for 40 years until they reached the border into Canaan. They ate manna for 40 years; God provided for them every day what they had need of. They ate manna, and then when they got to the border of the promised land, the Bible tells us that the manna ceased. The manna ceased; God stopped opening up the heavens and dropping down what they were used to because He had changed the order.»

So today I want to talk from the subject: «When Heaven Shuts It All Down.» I think many of us know what it feels like when heaven shuts it all down. Spirit of God, how I thank You for this moment and this opportunity to bless Your people. Your word has blessed me; I’ve digested it, and today, as I prepare to feed Your flock, Lord, I ask that You would touch people in their inner ear so that they would hear within their spirit. Let Your Word find us, let Your Word touch us, let Your Word help us, and let Your Word lead us out of where we are and into where we need to go. Have Your way today, Lord. Restore somebody’s hope, their peace, their joy, through the preaching of Your Word today, and we’ll thank You for it in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.

All right, I hope you’re ready; let’s delve into this text. But before I do, I want to tell you a little story. I had a few of my grandchildren over this week, and they spent a couple of nights with me. Mason and Mariah were there, and they’re three, so life is incredibly interesting with two three-year-olds. They really just fight over everything; I mean, everything! They fight over it. So they were in the living room yesterday. Mason came into the kitchen while they were watching something on TV, and he said, «Gigi, I don’t have a bot.» I said, «You don’t have what?» He said, «I don’t have a bot!» I said, «Mason, just slow down and say that to me again. One more time.» He replied, «I don’t have a black.» It took me the longest to try to figure it out, so I just looked into the living room to see what was happening. Mariah had gotten into my rocking chair with a pillow and a blanket, and he wanted to be in that rocking chair; he wanted her to get out of it. So he comes to me and says, «I don’t have a spot!» That’s what he was saying: «I don’t have a spot!»

In other words, «Gigi, come in here and build me a spot. Bring some pillows and some blankets and make it comfortable for me.» Now, I laughed at that, but at the same time, I identified with it because knowing where my spot personally is has always been important to my mental health. I just have to know where my spot is. I don’t have to necessarily have the biggest spot, the best spot, or the brightest spot, but I do need to have a spot, and I need to know that it is mine. And yet, at the same time, I also know what it’s like to be in between spots. I know what it’s like to be in transition, and some of you know what I’m talking about. It’s not comfortable. Transition is not a comfortable thing. It’s hard when you are in between houses.