Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer – When It Feels Like God Is Doing Nothing

 

Priscilla Shirer (born December 31, 1974) is an American author, motivational speaker, actress, and Christian evangelist. Her father is Dallas mega-church pastor Tony Evans and her brother is Christian entertainer Anthony Evans.
The daughter of Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas,[1] Priscilla grew up well acquainted with the Bible. As a freshman at the University of Houston, she interned with a Christian radio station. Soon listeners were calling the station, inviting Priscilla to speak at their Bible study groups and other events. Soon she was invited to lead a weekly Bible study at the Zig Ziglar Corporation and then to join its speaker team. Priscilla has worked as an independent contractor for CBS and hosted a local television show, but recently she has focused solely on Christian ministry opportunities. She calls Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, her mentor in ministry.

Together the Shirers established Going Beyond Ministries, a speaking bureau featuring Priscilla. The parents of three young boys, the Shirers share ministry and family responsibilities. While Priscilla continues to minister full-time, Jerry manages his schedule and other business aspects of Going Beyond Ministries.

Priscilla speaks around the world at churches and other events, including the LifeWay Christian Resources-sponsored Going Beyond conference and Deeper Still: The Event, where she shares the stage with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur. She has also authored several books.

Shirer graduated from Duncanville High School and Dallas Theological Seminary, earning a master’s degree from the latter in Biblical Studies.

In 1993, Shirer was a freshman at the University of Houston. Shirer was married in 1999 to Jerry Shirer, former Hilton Hotels executive. The couple has three sons.

In 2013, Shirer was a speaker at the 2013 Women of Faith conference. In 2015, Shirer made her film debut in the Kendrick Brothers film War Room. In October 2016, Shirer was recognized as one of four prominent women of faith during the 10th anniversary of God’s Leading Ladies Life Enrichment Program at The Potter’s House.[1] Shirer also featured at the 47th GMA Dove Awards.

[Applause]

it’s a privilege to be with you again to

have the opportunity to be it designed

for life I love gathering with you I

love the Lindo so much I love this

incredible church that sponsors this

conference and the amount of Prayer you

can tell can’t you that they’ve already

been praying for us planning for us that

they didn’t just throw this together

last night there’s been a group of

people that really have been on their

knees asking God to meet us in this

place and and so I celebrate that and I

wonder even if before we jump in to just

a few simple thoughts I want to share

with you today I wonder if you join me

in celebrating the lindell’s and

celebrating James River Church and

celebrating the volunteers in the way

for us we are so grateful we’re so

grateful no small task I mean how would

you feel about hosting 10,000 women at

Joe house Lord Jesus thank you for this

morning thank you that we get to be in

your presence in worship thank you that

we get to be amongst the people of God

in your presence father but also I thank

you for your word I thank you that it is

living and active and sharper than any

two-edged sword lord I pray that in

these next few moments that we have

together over a simple portion of

Scripture that you would do what only

you can take this one simple message

would you divide it about six or seven

thousand different ways so that every

single person in the room will know they

have been in the presence of God this

morning that they heard your word

we’re expectant Lord where your

daughter’s were sitting on the edge of

our seat to hear what it is that you

will speak to our hearts it is in Jesus

name the matchless name of Jesus Christ

the name at which every knee will bow

and every tongue will confess it is in

that name that we pray come on let the

daughters of God say Amen

as Savannah mentioned to you just a

moment ago I am the mother of three boys

that is my full-time job trying to feed

these people

I have giant children I’ve got three

giant boys 14 he’s getting ready turn 15

a couple weeks and then I have a 13 year

old that I have a nine year old and

y’all they are just big big old boys my

14 year old is 62 and wears a size 14

shoe so I’m just trying to feed them

that is my whole life mission is to try

to figure out a new way to cook chicken

for dinner every day so that I can get

enough food into their bellies and it is

our joy to rear them and raise them me

and Jerry I was thinking about something

that happened with Jude and I our

youngest Jackson Jerry jr. and Jude Jude

is our surprise boy we still don’t know

how you got here and I’ve told you this

before but when I had him he was our

surprise boy and we named him Jude on

purpose because that’s as close as I

could get to revelation cuz it is

finished it’s over it’s the end of the

line and I was sitting on an airplane

with Jude we were happen to be sitting

looking out the window that was right

over the wing of the airplane and I

could see my little boy he must have

been about 7 or so at the time I could

see him just sort of pensively staring

at the wing of the airplane and

considering it thoughtfully and finally

after a few moments he looked back over

at me and he said mom how do they get

that thing to stick on the plane how do

they get that thing connected how do

they make it stay well I looked back at

him and answered the only way I knew how

mmm

I said but buddy you can ask your uncle

Vaughn Gerry’s brother their dad’s a

brother is uncle Vaughn and Vaughn

happens to work in the airline industry

that’s what he does is he connects the

wiring and the veins that makes the

pieces of the airplane stick together so

this was kind of a little teachable

moment I was having with Jude I said

listen when we get back home you got to

talk to your uncle Vaughn because he can

explain this to you it’s really actually

pretty exciting I’m sure he can he can

try to make sure you understand the

nuances of how the wing gets on the

airplane and I thought I’d take it a

step for further this conversation and I

said to him Jude do you know that when

you grow up you can be anything in the

world that you want to be you do know

that right like you can do exactly what

your uncle Vaughn does when you grow up

if you want to you know if you want to

be a doctor you can be a doctor if you

want to be a lawyer you can be a lawyer

if you want to be a singer you could be

a singer you aren’t you have so much

potential and you can do exactly what

your uncle Vaughn does when you grow up

if you’d like to he looked back at me

and he said mom I don’t want to do what

uncle Vaughn does when I grow up I want

to do what you do when I grow up

[Applause]

you know where you have that moment your

heart gets warm your kid does something

and it just makes you want to melt and

say baby just whatever you want what do

you want I will do it for you today and

then in the next moment it all comes

crumbling down has that ever happened so

I looked back over at my boy and I said

well buddy

what does mama do I had expectations

about what his answer could be I didn’t

know if he would say mama would love to

tell people about Jesus I didn’t know if

he’d say I’d love to write when I grow

up I didn’t I didn’t know exactly what

his answer would be but he looked back

at me and he said mom I wanna do nothing

when I grow up just like you you do

nothing all day every day you do nothing

[Applause]

I said buddy you see them clean clothes

you got on today how do you think you

got those clean clothes so you know how

you eat a homemade meal on a fairly

regular basis how do you think those

meals are getting cooked he was like

what you know that’s just like regular

mom stuff I said buddy do you know how

every now and then I have the privilege

to stand in front of a group of people

and share God’s Word and and that means

I have to study first you know every now

and then there’s a new book or a Bible

study in it and I have to write that

thing he said yeah but you’re just

sitting behind the computer all day

every day doing nothing now I share this

next part with you just to make a point

I hope that at least many of you will

know me well enough to know that I just

really want to make a point by sharing

this part with you yesterday or the day

after I had this conversation with Jude

I thought the timing was interesting

that our publisher emailed me send me an

email to keep me updated on something

that she knows that I don’t normally

keep keep myself updated on she wanted

me to know that a little book I had

written called fervent several years ago

she wanted me to know that that book was

on the New York Times bestseller list

and that it had won several awards

that’s what she emailed to tell me she

knows that you know when you’re trying

to feed three boys you ain’t got time to

keep up with such things and so she

emailed me to let me know that I

appreciated the email but I could only

chuckle when I read it because I

immediately thought back to my

conversation with Jude the day before

that while I was doing what to him look

like absolutely nothing I was actually

crafting something that hopefully had

amounted to something that had brushed

people’s lives and I thought to myself

how often it is that I consider my

relationship with God in the exact same

way but I feel like God is doing nothing

that I’m playing and he’s not hearing my

circumstances are not changing

at the details of my life and I feel

like he is absolutely doing nothing all

day every day disconnected from my life

when all the while most often when we

feel like God is doing nothing y’all he

is crafting chapter after chapter with

the story of your life

that he’s fully engaged and fully

invested in the details of all of our

everyday living he is never not doing

nothing I believe in the sovereignty of

God somebody say sovereignty God

sovereignty is one of his

characteristics that I am most intrigued

by there are many but I love thinking

about the sovereignty of God when you

get a grasp on it it really does give

you a sense of rest and peace and

stability in your life God’s sovereignty

is his overarching orchestration of all

that happens in time and eternity God’s

sovereignty means that God existed

before time began that is pre Genesis

1:1 cuz y’all know the only reason why

there was a Genesis 1:1 was because God

was already there so that he could say

let there be and there was he was in

eternity past he has been there and done

that he has seen all of time from the

beginning of the spectrum of time

Genesis 1:1 all the way through to the

end of time which you and I have not yet

yet yet seen and he has already been

into eternity future the entire spectrum

of eternity and time he’s already been

there and done that

but sovereignty does not just mean he’s

seen it all sovereignty means listen

that the whole thing is in the palm of

his hand

sovereignty is what lets us do what

Psalm 46:10 says be still chill out

relax and know that I am God Providence

is his overarching control of the throes

of the universe I’m sorry sovereignty is

his overarching control of the thorough

of the universe but within that big

umbrella of his sovereignty there is

Providence

Providence is the working of the details

of your life in mind when we feel like

he’s doing nothing when we feel like our

days are just filled with regular 8 to 5

things or when we run into tragedy or

difficulty Providence is knowing that

God is orchestrating the details of our

days and our lives and our encounters

and our opportunities that he’s actually

ordering our footsteps Providence is

Jeremiah 29:11 I know the plans I have

for you I’ve got plans that are designed

to give you a hope and a future

Providence is Ephesians 2:10 that we are

his workmanship created in Christ Jesus

for good works which God prepared

beforehand

Providence means you can trust God with

the stuff of your life because he’s

orchestrating it all I love God’s

providence as seen throughout scripture

that his shows up everywhere even in the

most unlikely places even in the places

when he seems and the seasons of our

life God when he seems most distant or

most disengaged that we can trust that

when we can’t trace his hand we can

trust his heart that is there fully

present fully engaged fully invested in

the details of our life that’s what we

get from Scripture because he’s

everywhere even in the books of the

Bible you know and Esther the name of

God isn’t even really overtly mentioned

and yet he’s there in the book working

and orchestrating all throughout the

scriptures from the beginning to the end

it reminds us about the sovereignty and

the Providence of God right from the

very beginning in Genesis you always see

that he is the breath of life in Exodus

he shows up as the Passover lamb in

Leviticus he is our high priest in

numbers he’s the fire by night in

Deuteronomy

he’s Israel’s guide and Joshua he’s

salvations choice and judges he is his

regard and Ruth

he’s the kinsman redeemer and 1st and

2nd samuel he’s our trusted prophet in

and chronicles we see him as sovereign

and Ezra he’s the true and faithful

scribe in Nehemiah he’s the one who

rebuilds walls and he rebuilds lives and

Esther he is our courage and job

he’s the timeless Redeemer in Psalms

he’s our morning song in proverbs he is

our wisdom in Ecclesiastes he’s a time

in a season in the Song of Solomon

he’s the lovers dream in Isaiah he’s the

Prince of Peace in Jeremiah he’s the

weeping prophet in lamentations he’s the

cry for Israel in Ezekiel he’s the call

from sin in Daniel he’s the stranger

that will show up in your fire in Hosea

he’s the forever faithful and Joel he’s

the spirit’s power and Amos he’s the

strong arms that carry in Obadiah he’s

the Lord our Savior in Jonah he’s the

great missionary in Micah

he’s the promise of peace in mayhem he’s

our strength and shields in Habakkuk and

Zephaniah he’s the one that brings

revival and Haggai he restores anything

that has been lost and in Zechariah he

is our fountain and in Malachi at the

end of the Old Testament we see him as

the Sun of righteousness

rising with healing in his wings and

that’s just who he is in the Old

Testament

cuz you give him a little time wait

about 400 years and then in Matthew Mark

Luke and John you’ll find out he’s not

just God now he’s your Messiah and in

the spirit-filled book of Acts he’s the

reigning fire from heaven in Romans

he’s the grace of God Corinthians he’s

the power of love Galatians

he’s freedom from the curse of sin in

Ephesians

he’s our glorious treasure in

Philippians he’s the servants heart in

Colossians he’s God and the Trinity in

Thessalonians he’s our Colin King in

Timothy Titus and Philemon

he’s our mediator and our faithful

pastor in Hebrews he’s the everlasting

courage in James he’s the one who will

heal you when you’re sick in 1st and 2nd

Peter he’s our faithful Shepherd in John

and Jude he’s the lover coming for his

bride and in the revelation in the very

end he was and is and will always be the

first the last the beginning and the end

amen the scriptures remind us that he is

always there woven throughout every

story and as Debbie was so beautifully

unwrapping for us the mystery of God

that sometimes it sounds to us regular

old girls like us it sounds so big and

so grand and so beyond us that we tend

to disassociate our regular lives from

that mystery we can’t imagine that a

regular housewife like us or a corporate

woman like us or that a single woman

like us or a teenager in high school or

college student in university you can’t

imagine that someone with regular skills

and regular talents and and who lives in

a normal neighborhood and works on a

normal job you can’t imagine that you

could fit into that mystery and I came

to tell you that the details of

all of our regular lives our threads in

the great grand huge miraculous glorious

mystery of our great God there’s nobody

here that’s removed that is too far gone

that your story doesn’t count in that

mystery there is a story in scripture I

think they’re gonna put it on the

screens I’m gonna read several portions

of First Samuel Chapter nine to you

because this is not ever to me more

clearly seen than in this one little

portion of scripture about the life of

Saul Saul the one who would be the king

of Israel his story starts this way in

1st Samuel chapter 9 I’m gonna read

several verses throughout this chapter

listen verse 9 says now there was a man

of Benjamin whose name was Kish that

verse goes on to to list all the lineage

of Kish and then it says at the end of

verse 1 that he was a Benjamite a mighty

man of Valor verse 2 says and he had a

son whose name was Saul listen to Saul’s

resume he was a choice and handsome man

there was not a more handsome person

than he among the sons of Israel he

stood from his shoulders up taller than

any of the people verse 3 now the

donkeys of Kish Saul’s father was were

lost so kiss said to his son Saul

take with you one of the servants and

arise go and search for this donkey talk

about a mundane regular ordinary old

task verse 15 now the day before Saul’s

coming

the Lord had revealed this to Samuel the

Prophet he had told Samuel verse 16

about this time tomorrow I’m gonna send

you a man from the land of Benjamin and

when he shows up you shall annoy him to

be Prince over my people Israel and he

shall deliver my people from the hands

of the Philistines for I have regarded

my people because their cries come up

before me verse 17

when Samuel saw Saul the Lord whispered

to him hey

it’s the guy I spoke to you about this

one shall rule over my people verse 22

through 24 then Samuel he took saul and

his servant he brought them to this

great hall he gave them a place at the

head of those who were invited who were

about thirty men and Samuel said to the

cook hey remember that portion that I

told you to set aside yesterday

verse 24 this is the time bring it out

set it before Saul and Samuel said here

is what has been reserved somebody say

it’s been reserved for me here is what

was reserved set it before you and heat

because it has been kept for you until

the appointed time it’s amazing to me

how sometimes it’s just donkeys that are

connected to destiny sometimes it’s just

the most regular mundane assignment that

we don’t even recognize in the moment is

actually the pathway to something bigger

and grander that the Lord has allowed us

to be included in in the story that he

is crafting in this generation I have a

tendency you have a tendency to despise

the small things the small little

errands that we’ve been requested to run

the needs that arise in a regular daily

life like yours and mine in this case

there is a man named Saul he has been

described as distinct among all the

people he stands head and shoulders

above them all he is more handsome than

them all if he were to be on Instagram

we would definitely be following him

because he had perfectly lit selfies

verse 2 tells us and shows us his

selfies he is choice he is handsome his

resume is one for the record books

and yet what is going to connect him to

his God assignment to his part of the

mystery that the Lord is allowing his

thread to be connected with in the

bigger story that he has for his people

will not be how choice he

in verse 2 it will be a simple mundane

errand that he’s asked to run in verse 3

I love that verse 2 and verse 3 are so

closely connected to each other you know

I believe in the inerrancy of Scripture

meaning that I believe every T is

crossed every I is dotted as it should

be

I not only believed there are no errors

in the scripture I actually believe that

the placement of the books of the Bible

as they are and the verses as they are

the chapters as they are that those are

inspired as well and so when I come

across two verses that do something

either contrasting or comparatively that

draw my attention I lean in carefully to

see why the Lord would have placed these

two particular portions of scripture

that closely connected to each other

that’s why I’m drawn to the fact that in

verse 2 we see Saul’s resume and in

verse 3 we see a simple errand that he

is humble enough that he’s willing to

submit all of the grandeur of verse 2 to

be willing to run this mundane ordinary

errand in verse 3 it occurs to me that

in most of our lives we are riding on

the coattails of our virtue we want

people to be impressed with the way we

appear on social media we want to be

savvy and flashy and we’re hoping that

that will sustain us and carry us and

include us in the bigger plans of God

that if we’re gifted enough if we’re

talented enough if we stand head and

shoulders above everybody else or at

least appear to that will be what

includes us in the plan of God but in

Saul’s story it’s not verse 2 it’s verse

3 his willingness to run a simple errand

that connected him with the promises of

God I want to ask you if you’ve been

turning up your nose at the mundane

regular things that God has set before

you to do I want to ask you if you’ve

ignored the simple details of your life

the errands that you’ve got to run the

dishes that need to get done you know

the laundry that you washed and you

drive but it’s just dumped out on the

dining room table waiting for

somebody to come and fold it the dinner

that needs to be cooked to the

assignment that needs to be written the

details that need to be crafted

throughout the regular course of your

day just to make life work day in and

day out sometimes we turn our noses up

at those errands not realizing that

sometimes it’s the donkey’s that lead to

destiny sometimes it’s the simple

errands that we that we want to somebody

else to take care of because we were

made for bigger and better things

riding on the coattails of our verse2

and we don’t even realize that that

verse two is not the connection it’s not

what God is looking for it’s the one

who’s willing faithfully and diligently

to say yes sir to the assignment that is

in front of them to do listen to me you

want to know what God’s will is for your

life that’s the question we have what is

God’s will for my life I want to know

what God wants for me to do and what we

really mean when we ask that question is

that we want to know what he has for us

for the next 20 years isn’t that what we

want to know we want to know 20 years

from now what his will for our life

looks like and most often when we want

to know what God has for us for 20 years

from now his response is if I can just

get you to be obedient for the next 20

minutes we’ll be on our way somewhere

[Applause]

Elizabeth Elliott said you want to know

God’s will

here it is do the next thing that is

God’s will you here in this conference

be fully here cuz guess what here you

are

be fully and engaged and invested in the

tasks that it is at hand

instead of trying to so busily we so

busily with our ambitions are trying to

climb some ladder trying to look a

certain way and in doing so we miss out

on the beauty and the bounty of the the

regular mundane ordinary tasks to which

he has assigned us we miss out on the

character that it’s supposed to build in

us the backbone it was designed to

fortify in us the humility it was

supposed to develop in us we miss out on

it because we think that mundane tasks

couldn’t be for me because I’ve got some

verse to stuff going on I’ve got some

important less about me some giftedness

some potential in me and I want to use

that and so I’m just gonna wait till God

calls me to bigger and better things so

we ignore the donkey’s not realizing

that the donkey is connected to your

destiny just waiting he’s just waiting

for somebody to be willing to do the

next thing to do what he’s called us to

do I am stunned y’all and how many

divine occurrences throughout the course

of Scripture were connected to regular

ordinary people who were willing to do

regular ordinary things I’m drawn to

Rebekah who was just going to a well to

draw Rockwater a regular ordinary daily

sometimes more than once daily

assignment it would have been a taxing

duty for her to have that water on her

shoulders day in and day out drawing

enough to meet the needs of her family

but on this one particular day she goes

to do this mundane task in obedience and

diligence and by the way she doesn’t go

upset and mad and frustrated and with

the wrong attitude to do the tasks she

goes with an attitude of willingness

humility and generosity she has no idea

that on this day that regular assignment

that regular mundane detail is going to

lead her to the meeting of her spouse

because on that day abraham has sent a

servant saying look for the one who the

Lord will send to marry Isaac she’s just

going to draw water from a well

or Joseph he has no idea when he’s in

prison a circumstance that she does not

particularly care for that

does not want to be in he has no idea

that even while he’s there his

willingness to use his gift to interpret

the dreams of two people two years later

his willingness to do that would

literally be the key that unlocks the

prison doors that set him free in Exodus

chapter 1 a mother who’s just afraid for

the life of her little baby she has no

idea that when she just does the best

that she can and she crafts the little

basket for him to set him a sail on the

NAM rivers and hopefully he will find

some safety she has no idea that just in

being the best mother that she can that

she is sending off a man named Moses who

will be raised as the Prince of Egypt

and who will become the deliverer for

the children of Israel and then there

are some shepherds in Luke 24 of these

Shepherds are out just doing what they

do just tending a flock of sheep they

have no idea that why they sit out under

the star let sky but this will be the

day when they’re just about the business

of doing the ordinary task at hand they

have no idea that this is the night that

the sky will break open and the heavenly

house will announce the arrival of Jesus

Christ the Lord if he’s asked you to

tend sheep y’all tend the Sheep if he’s

asked you to go to the well and draw

water well then you go to the well and

you joke with draw water whatever it is

he’s called you to do come on y’all we

got to do it with all of our minds we do

not know that if Saul’s father lost this

donkey because of a neglect because he

was not doing what he needed to do and

lost his donkey he wasn’t responsible

and lost the donkey we don’t know if it

was because of neglect or just because

life happens because some things like

that just occur we do not know the

details of why the donkey is lost I love

that that detail is left out because

then I can just make it broad enough for

all of us to consider the fact that that

there are some burdens I know in a group

this size you’ve been asked to bear and

some of it is just a reality of the life

that you’re living right now the season

of life that you’re in that this this a

bucket of water you’ve been asked to

carry is heavier than

you expected it to be in this season

this errand you’ve been sent on to chase

this donkey is taking longer for solit

did it took him through three different

provinces and took much longer than he

anticipated in fact he got so frustrated

at how time-consuming this was he

actually wanted to throw in the towel

you can read there in that chapter he

wanted to give up and just go back home

and it occurs to me that in a group this

size there are some of you that are

bearing some mundane ordinary life tasks

and really it’s not as a result of just

life some of it has happened because of

the neglect of other people in your life

that your spouse really isn’t pulling

his weight but your mom or dad have

dropped the ball that your coworker if

that co-worker you know that one

co-worker that one that if she says one

more thing to you you gonna knock her

out that one man if she just pulled her

weight you’d have less to bear it occurs

to me that in a group this size there

are very many of us that are burdened

with tasks that because of someone

else’s neglect we are carrying more than

we ever thought we we would or that we

think we should and yet

Saul was willing and because he was

humble enough to just say okay it

doesn’t matter why the donkey got lost

but I’ve been tasked my father has asked

me to go find the donkey so I’m going to

be willing to do the mundane assignment

to wash the dishes again to change yet

another dirty diaper to go back up to

the school to meet with the teachers

about my teenage son or daughter that

I’m gonna be the one who will faithfully

study who will faithfully be in God’s

Word whether or not there is an audience

listening to hear what it is that my

Bible study produces that I’m gonna be

willing and diligent to write the lyrics

to this song whether or not there’s a

recording contract on the other end that

I’m gonna be diligent to put pen to

paper and write this blog post that I

feel like the Lord is giving me whether

or not anybody comes to my blog and

actually reads it because I’m not doing

it to impress people I’m doing it in

surrender and humility to my great God

what has God called you to do do it do

it your God assignment is waiting on you

when you walk back home tomorrow it’s

what’s right in your house it’s what’s

right on your job the job that you’ve

been trying to leave for the last year

and for some reason the Lord won’t move

you on the neighborhood that you’ve been

trying to get out of you’ve been trying

to buy a house in this neighborhood but

the Lord for some reason keeps you in

this neighborhood those deals keep

falling through and you just can’t move

and you’re hemmed in on every side you

can’t figure out why the Lord won’t let

you move on to that organization or

leave this church to go to this church

he’s got you hemmed in in this place

where you are that is where he wants you

to be and if you’ll be faithful to the

task that is at hand in this season in

this place you’ll be amazed how that

particular donkey is designed to lead

you to your destiny because Saul could

never have known that the Lord had gone

before him that he had already whispered

his name in Samuel the prophets ears he

has said to him there is someone coming

I will point him out to you when he gets

here if Saul will be humble enough

faithful enough to go on the assignment

that he has been given mundane regular

ordinary assignment if he’ll do it he

will intersect his path with yours and

when he shows up I’ll make sure that you

know it’s him I need somebody in the

room to know that God has already

whispered your name to somebody he has

already said this is what Providence is

y’all Providence is when the Lord goes

before you and lights up steps you don’t

even know you’re gonna take yet

Providence is when he goes before you to

set up answers to problems you don’t

even know you’re gonna have Providence

is when he makes provision for you when

he’s whispered your name

but it needs to know in the room there

is an employer that already has your

name on their hearts there’s already a

spot that is in need of your gifts and

your talents and what you can bring to

the table it’s waiting on you if only

you’ll do what he’s put in front of you

to do today you will be on the right

path to intersect with the divine plan

that God has for your life and for this

generation do you know in 1st

Corinthians chapter 16 it says that the

Lord is looking for something it says

that the Lord is looking it boggles my

mind that he’s looking for anything that

our God could be looking for anything it

says that God is on the lookout he’s

looking he’s trying to find somebody

whose heart is holy his who’s fully

surrendered and submitted who’s not

trying to be impressive and applauded by

the people who’s not so arrogant and

needy and has so much hubris that

they’ll only do the things that that put

them in the position of verse 2 he said

I’m looking for some verse 3 people some

folks that can just go ahead and take my

assignment whatever it is for them he

says in a 1st chronicles chapter 16

verse 9 I’m looking for those kinds of

people when I find them he says I’m

going to lend my strong support and my

strong favor to anybody whose heart is

wholly mine I don’t know about you but

I’m after the strong support of God

anybody I want is favor on my life more

that I want to impress people

forgive us Lord when we book bit more

interested in verse 2 standing head and

shoulders above the rest having more

followers and and more friends and more

applause than all the rest forgive us

Lord for making everything so

whitewashed and clean and perfectly

looking in our life that we have

forgotten we were not made to impress

people we were made for the applause of

heaven

do you know most of the people that we

admire most of the people you all at

least me I’m sure I can get a witness in

the house about this but most of the

folks that we really want to be close to

and I mean like women that have gone

before us women that maybe have walked

the road a little bit longer than us

the people who I want to sit at their

feet and just listen for a little while

and hear what they’re saying and what

they’re thinking and where they’ve been

and what they’ve done what attracts me

to them is not because they were

impressive what attracts me to them is

this quality right here that’s what

draws us in it draws us in that they

stayed the path that’s Bobby Houston

would say they stayed the course like

how’d you how have you been married for

54 years what you raised your your kids

and they’re doing well you got grandkids

now I want to sit at the feet of women

like that I want to know what tell me

about your story they might not have the

most notoriety they might not be

impressive to people but what they did

was chase whatever donkey that the Lord

put in their life to chase they were on

a mission to be obedient to God no

matter what that looked like and the

reason why we’re drawn to people like

this the reason why we want to know

about them and we want to be connected

to them is because of this

characteristic of humility and

willingness to do what is assigned to us

that characteristic is more like Jesus

than almost anything else because Jesus

being in the form of God did not regard

equality with God as a thing to be

grasped but taking on the form of a

bondservant he humbled himself he

humbled himself even to the to the point

of death on a cross y’all he emptied out

himself and you and I are often so full

of ourselves that we can’t do what it is

that God has called us to do work so

busy climbing up the ladder we get to

the top of the ladder of success only to

look down and realize that Jesus is

still at the bottom washing feet

so what have you been asked to do the

beautiful mystery of God in our

generation requires that you and I do

what he’s called us to his Providence

makes it so that none of those ordinary

things are disconnected from his glory

being displayed it’s leading you

somewhere it’s taking you somewhere to a

divine intersection and once all showed

up Samuel said hey I got a meal for you

I didn’t just cook it yes just cook it

five minutes ago actually yesterday saw

we were making this meal and I already

told the cook put some aside so Saul

come on over here sit at the head of the

table and he says to the cook listen do

you remember that meal I had reserved

somebody say it’s been reserved I need

somebody to know that you are not

delayed you are not behind even if you

think you’ve wasted a few years and

you’ve not been on the mission that God

has compelled you to be but you feel

like you want to go home and go ahead

and put your hand to the plow and stay

the course and get back in the game I

need you to know there’s some good news

today what God has for you has been

reserved for you it’s got your name on

it it’s been put off to the side just

waiting for you to show up and when you

do it’ll be placed in front of you to

enjoy I want to tell you in closing

there’s a woman named Karen Abercrombie

you all know Karen Abercrombie as Miss

Clara in the movie war room

Karen Abercrombie Karen Abercrombie is a

real actress that’s what she does for a

living it is her craft she went to

school for it

Karen Abercrombie came up with the in

the ranks with other actors and

actresses who if I said their names you

would know all of them she went to

school with them

she lived in LA with them they have all

now won Oscars and climbed the ladder

and are in magazines and she came she

came up in the ranks with these same

contemporaries and she explained to me

how through the years she has sat back

and been so discouraged because she

watched them get all the parts for all

of these blockbuster movies she watched

them continue to excel in their in their

craft and in their field and she just

felt so left out matters got worse when

she would turn down roles that she was

offered because as a person of faith she

just didn’t want to say that and she

didn’t want to do that it just didn’t

gel well with her she felt conviction

about certain things so she would just

say no her agent she told me when she’s

in Los Angeles her agent thought she was

crazy that she would turn down some of

those roles for which now other people

were gonna get awards and recognition

but she just couldn’t do it so she just

said no matters got even worse when her

husband needed to move out of Los

Angeles for work he moved into Charlotte

North Carolina and anybody that is in

the field of acting knows if you’re

serious about it you do not move out of

Los Angeles to Charlotte North Carolina

and there she sat in Charlotte and you

know what

she just said okay I’m discouraged I’m

disappointed this is not what I had

planned for my life but you know Here I

am so she started an acting school and

she just heard him teaching young people

who wanted to be thespians and who

wanted to know about the craft and the

skill of acting and then she just kept

auditioning for small roles and doing

things as she could she just was

faithful with what was in front of her

her husband her son the students that

the Lord had given her little did she

know that there were some movie

producers that of all the places in the

world where they could have filmed a

movie there was just something about a

little suburb 20 minutes outside of

Charlotte North

Linna called Concorde where they decided

it would be the best place to film a

movie called war room and I remember

when we started shooting I arrived two

weeks early and we sat in a casting room

with the directors and the writers of

the film and they said to me Priscilla

we need to pray we need to pray because

the heart and soul of this movie is this

miss Clara character and we have

audition P person after person woman

after woman and we can’t find anybody to

capture this role will you pray with us

that God somehow will providentially

bring the right person at the right time

to fill this position we grabbed hands

together y’all two weeks before we

started and we ask God to bring us a

Miss Clara the last resort for the

writer and the director was to send word

to send word throughout the churches in

Charlotte if there’s anybody that would

like to audition for this role we’d love

to see them we’ve tried every which way

we can the traditional ways to find an

actor and we cannot so please let us

know if there’s anyone in your church a

couple of days later Karen Abercrombie

with a wig on dressed in a big robe

waddled in in her 70 something year old

way she’s in her 50s but she waddled in

as Miss Clara and they knew immediately

she was the one when war room began to

influence people the way it did on such

a broad scale we were not anticipating

that we’re so grateful that the Lord

really galvanized his people in all

walks of life toward the power of prayer

when that happened and it began to

spread far and wide miss Clara

Karen Abercrombie called me up one day

with tears rolling down her face and she

said now I realize I realize why the

Lord didn’t let me do all of that

because what she discovered is that the

directors of the film any actor they

hired they wouldn’t look back at the

resume if there was anything

would compromise the integrity of their

role in this film they would not hire

them no matter how good they were so she

said to me Priscilla I realized that

this was reserved for me and even if the

Lord had to move me out of the place I

thought I needed to be to move me to an

obscure little city which was the place

I needed to be I’m so glad that I didn’t

resist I just went where he asked me to

go and I just did just faithfully

serving in her church and there was word

that she that it was her time to receive

what was reserved for her I want to tell

you that some of you when we leave this

conference tomorrow we still have so

much more that the Lord wants to impart

to us but I’m gonna tell you right now

that when you go back home the question

on the table is going to be will we do

the regular everyday stuff we’ve been

asked to do trusting that his

providential hand is maneuvering and

orchestrating and aligning and preparing

for us what he has for us or will in our

hubris and our arrogance our pride will

we shrink back from the regular stuff of

life expecting something different or

something more I believe that the Lord

is preparing a table for anybody in this

room who’s willing to say yes Lord