Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder, and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets, and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.
well hello everybody and I want to start
right off today by wishing all of our
mothers a blessed and happy and a no
corona Mother’s Day you know I know that
you have inherited an extra burden
because you’ve been housed and your kids
have been housed with you hopefully if
you’re married you’re getting help from
your your mate if you’re not we want
God’s strength to strengthen you on this
Mother’s Day you know when God created
women he did something real special he
created Adam he looked at Adam and said
you know I can really do better than
this and that’s when he created a woman
so I just want you to know that you came
in because God could do something better
and if children if you are there with
your mother as most children are and
you’re of age I want you to tell your
mother to take the day off I want you to
step in as much as you can and take some
of that weight off of her because she
deserves it I don’t want you to be like
the the teenage girl who was seeing her
mother wash dishes on Mother’s Day
so she’s washing our dishes and cleaning
up stuff for Mother’s Day and the
daughter said mom you shouldn’t be doing
this on Mother’s Day why are you doing
the dishes and that’s when I said oh
that was so nice of you and she began to
take off her apron and that’s when the
daughter said no you shouldn’t be doing
this on Mother’s Day don’t do the dishes
till after midnight so you know it’s
just that’s not what we talking about we
talking about some real help to give our
mothers but I want to talk to you today
from the standpoint of a mother since
we’re in a crisis on how to handle a
crisis from a mother who had to you know
in football they throw out the coaches
through our challenge flags this is when
they want to challenge the call of the
of the referee the coach will throw out
a red flag and that says I challenge
that you made a bad decision it’s called
a challenge flag sometimes in life we
want to throw a challenge flag out on
life and if we tell the truth sometimes
even
because sometimes things don’t look
right they don’t look fair the crisis
we’re in doesn’t seem like how could a
good God give us this bad or even allow
such a bad situation like the one we’ve
been dealing with in our throughout a
whole nation and world and sometimes you
know if you don’t tell the truth and the
whole truth and nothing but the truth
you want to throw out that challenge
flag and say hey I don’t get it god it
doesn’t make sense while this fear
confusion while this pain and problems
and so you know life does come at us
that way and that’s the situation that
we find our mother in in second Kings
chapter 4 we see the problem expressed
in verse 1 now a certain woman of the
wives of the sons of the prophets cried
out to Elisha your servant my husband is
dead and you know that your servant
feared the Lord and the creditor has
come to take my two children to be his
slaves I mean it doesn’t get worse than
this this is a multi-faceted crisis that
a mother has to face first of all
she has a crisis that is a financial
crisis she’s in debt you know economics
is a problem today people losing their
jobs or not knowing when they could get
back to work and so she was in a
financial crisis the creditors have come
they’re knocking on a door they’re
ringing up her phone because they want
their bills paid so she’s got a
financial crisis she has a maternal
crisis because they’re going to take
away her children CPS has come in and
said no you’re not gonna be a fit mother
in this economic scenario you can’t take
care of your kids back in the old
testament days they had a labor
situation where your children could work
off your debt and so she’s panicking as
a mother she’s in a physical situation
because she’s run out and of course that
means low on food
you know the food chain has been
disturbed and we were hearing that all
over the place now that that we may have
some question marks about certain
products and meats and stores being
raided so she’s got she’s got a physical
problem she also has a relational
problem you know why her husband has
died she’s a widow she’s alone she’s a
single parent and I know we have single
parents who are hearing our voice today
and you are by yourself with the
economic burden with the parental burden
with the with the struggle of it all now
you can imagine her emotional crisis
she’s scared she’s afraid she’s
panicking she’s in need her emotions are
shot they’re all over the place so we
got an emotional crisis a financial
crisis a relational crisis physical
crisis but none of those are as bad as
this crisis it’s a spiritual crisis
because she tells us that her husband
who died was one of the sons of the
prophets and he feared the Lord he
feared the Lord to lose a mate that a
love of the Lord and the Lord allowed
him to be lost I can relate to that a
little bit and the loss of my wife who
who feared the Lord and yet the Lord
allowed her to leave us so you know
that’s an emotional crisis and one that
often does not make sense and one way
you emotionally even if you don’t
spiritually give up emotionally you want
to reach for that challenge flag and
toss it out on the field of life and say
God why did you make this call it
doesn’t seem fair well she has a
spiritual struggle that’s our problem
a problem is a crisis whatever crisis
you’re facing today
relational financial emotional
you know there’s a lot of abuse of
caring there’s a lot of abuse of
children and women with this pandemic
it’s brought that up you’re in a crisis
maybe the economics has put you in
uncertainty you’re in a crisis the
children are driving you crazy your
nerves are on edge you’re in a crisis
and you’re wondering where is God you’re
in a crisis well that was the problem
enter the profit we’re told in verse one
that this certain woman went to Elijah
Elijah is kind of the head man in charge
he’s – he’s the boss man he’s the lead
prophet she goes to Elijah she goes to
Elijah to get spiritual help on a
problem she was unable to resolve
remember a crisis is when you’re
overwhelmed in a problem a situation and
a circumstance you’re unable to resolve
you’re unable to fix you aren’t able to
change you are trapped in a Cell that’s
been locked and you don’t have a way to
get out that’s her situation she goes to
the Prophet the banker can’t help her
the Baker can’t help her and I’m glad
she didn’t go to the bartender to help
her you know sometimes people choose
Jack Daniels over God because they’re in
a in a situation they don’t know how to
fix and they want to drown their
troubles away I guess that’s why many
places have said that liquor stores are
essential businesses because they know
people in a crisis may want to drink
their problems away no but this woman
goes to the Prophet she goes to the
Prophet of course our husband was one of
the sons of the Prophet he was in the
seminary of the prophets he was learning
how to exercise biblically his prophetic
gift to hear a Rhema word from God
but a prophet wasn’t just a preacher he
wasn’t just opening up the Bible in the
sense and exegete in the text to be sure
they knew the Word of God clearly but
but a prophet spoke into a specific
situation the specific word that was
needed for the scenario that the person
was facing
so it was a Rhema word that the prophets
gave a personal word to a specific
problem faced by a specific individual
or group of individuals so throughout
the Old Testament prophets would speak
to Kings they would speak to people and
they would speak to the whole nation
because God was getting ready to do
something particular to them when you’re
in a crisis you need to go and ask God
for a Rhema word it will always be based
on the written word but it will be a
specific word for your situation so she
goes to the Prophet for a Rhema word she
needed a divine solution for a desperate
situation
this woman was spiritual enough as a
single parent as a single mother to know
that God alone was going to be her
source for the pain problems predicament
she was experiencing when she goes to
the Prophet the Prophet asked her
question what shall I do for you that’s
an odd question she goes she’s in panic
her situation is bleak how can I help
you he knows what a situation is it’s
spelled out and we know that this is the
posture because he immediately tells her
what to do which means he already knows
her situation know what he was getting
at is are you willing to do in God’s Way
the question you will face if you’re
looking for a Rhema word before you ever
get the Rhema word is are you willing to
hear what God
has to say are you willing to do what
God wants done even if you don’t want to
do it even if you don’t prefer to do it
and here’s the 1 and even if it makes
absolutely no sense in the world because
God can be very confusing I’m gonna let
you that now you read the Bible and he
can be very confusing that’s because
Isaiah 55 lets us know his ways are not
our ways his thoughts are not our
thoughts high as the heavens above the
earth they’re not even close so he can
throw you some curveballs that will just
just sometimes give you a little
excedrin headache I’m talking about p.m.
headache cuz it just you already got a
crisis and he gives you something that
makes no sense
seemingly but when God throws you a
curveball and it has prophetic biblical
support don’t look at how confusing it
is look at where it came from he says
here’s what I want you to do I want you
to tell me what do you have in your
house she said your maidservant has
nothing in the house except a jar of oil
remember I said she was poor she was
hungry she doesn’t have food so she’s in
a desperate crisis a dire situation what
do you have in your house let me repeat
that what do you have in your house she
says not much not much folks when God
moves he will often call on you to look
at what you already possess even when
what you already possess seems
irrelevant to the crisis you’re in I
mean uh God asked Moses what is that in
your hand all it was was a shepherd
stick but when it got put in the hands
of God it opened up the Red Sea all
David had was a slingshot but when it
was put in the hands of God it killed
Goliath
all the little boy had was some fish and
barley loaves but when that little was
put in Jesus’s hands it fed 5,000 men
not counting women and children so while
it didn’t seem relevant
and would not have been relevant had not
had been placed in God’s hands
if you take a football and you put it in
my hand it’s only worth the cost of the
ball you take that same football and you
put it in Tom Brady’s hands it may be
the same football but the value of it
and the power of it
has now become worth millions and mega
millions of dollars you take a
basketball and put it in my hand it’s
only worth the cost of the ball but you
put it in LeBron James hands oh now it’s
worth mega millions of dollars you take
a golf club you put it in my hand it’s
even worth less than the cost of the
good club you put that golf club in
Tiger Woods hands it’s not worth mega
mega millions of dollars you take a
tennis racket and put it in my hands
it’s just worth the cost of the racket
you put it in the hands of the Williams
sisters now it’s worth mega millions of
dollars you see it’s not what you start
with
it’s whose hand is it placed in the
profit said I know you know how much you
told me you just have a job but God
likes to take our little and make it
much because he wants to see an act of
faith of whether we’re willing to make
the spiritual transfer of what we see to
what we don’t see so that what we don’t
see changes what we do see and when what
we don’t see changes what we do see we
get to see a miracle at work remember
if all you see is what you see
you never will see all there is to be
seen because when the physical is turned
over to the spiritual and the spiritual
is dictating to the physical the
supernatural can invade the circumstance
so he then tells her to go borrow
vessels verse three of second Kings four
at large for yourself from all your
neighbors even empty vessels and do not
get a few then go in and shut the door
behind you and your sons and pour out
into all these vessels and you will eat
and you will set aside what is full he
says then here’s what I want you do you
got a crisis obviously humans can’t help
you you’ve come to me because you want a
word from God a Rhema word for your
crisis situation I suddenly wish we
could get our political and social and
even medical leaders to understand the
spiritual because if they didn’t took it
seriously not ignoring the science I am
NOT suggesting that but not being
limited to the science either because
it’s been changing every day if you
haven’t noticed if we can only get them
to bring the spiritual in not just as a
polite prayer but I’m talking about to
really see a prophetic word in the midst
of covert 19 crisis then perhaps they
would see what heaven can do when heaven
takes ahold of a historical mess the
mess that we’re in physically medically
and economically well he says here’s
what I want you to do take the little
bit of oil that you have go borrow
vessels from your neighbors bring the
vessels into your house and shut the
door and then pour your little oil into
the empty vessels I don’t know if you
caught that the way you’re going to fix
your problem
is when you meet your neighbors need
okay here this go to your neighbor and
you get their empty vessels meaning they
have a need to and the way we’re going
to meet we’re gonna see God me your need
is by you meeting by you meeting their
need the way we’re going to see the
supernatural happened for you is because
you did something for them he says don’t
get a few I want you to get as many
empty vessels as you can handle and what
happened is when she went and he told
her by the way to shut the door close
the door why because this was not for
the general public
you and your son single parent you go
behind that door and let’s see what God
does in private before he manifests what
he plans to do in public do you notice
how many times in the Bible where Jesus
would say don’t go tell anybody this was
private right now you see some things
God wants to deal with with just you he
wants to see your faith your commitment
your desire your faithfulness he wants
to see are you all in or are you gonna
say that doesn’t make sense
doesn’t feel right you remember naman he
was told to dip seven times in the
Jordan River and he said no that’s too
easy and the Jordan is too dirty and I’m
too mr. bigshot to be doing that don’t
we have another way of fixing my medical
disease and as long as he discussed it
and didn’t get around to obeying it he
found himself trapped in the same
situation look when you get a Rhema word
a word spoken by God it can come through
one of God’s servant but it’s consistent
with the Word of God and it calls on you
to do something in the name of God then
it is absolutely critical that you fully
obey and that you fully implement it
even when it does
make natural human wisdom sense because
God does some of his greatest miraculous
work when life is totally confusing and
when his instructions don’t make sense
he told Moses I want you to take a tree
and throw it in the water that was
contaminated so the people can drink
what they got to do with the price of
tomatoes but he obeyed he threw the tree
in and the Bible says in the water
became sweet he tells her to serve her
neighbors look Luke 6:38 says give and
it will be given to you full measure
pressed down running over what he’s
saying is the key word in that verse is
it giving it what’s the it it’s the
thing you need she needed food she was
out of money so she made a food type
provision for her neighbors now most of
the time when this verse is quoted is
quoted in relationship to money and
certainly it can apply to economics but
the it is bigger than money it refers to
whatever your need is give that need
meet that need for somebody else who has
that need this is called the boomerang
principle of Scripture god boomeranging
back to you what you have given to
somebody else in the same category of
your own need you see this is what the
Bible means when it says it’s more
blessed to give than to receive now we
like to quote that it sounds good most
people don’t pay attention to it most
people don’t believe it even though they
quote it the reason why it’s more
blessed to give than to receive is
because of the boomerang principle when
you give what you need to somebody else
who has your need God spins that because
he sees you are a conduit and not a
container
you’re not just saying bless me in fact
a lot of people have the Miss deaf
initial of a blessing
they interpret a blessing of God’s favor
to me nope
that’s half a blessing a biblical
blessing is God’s favor to me that flows
through me to benefit some money other
than me that’s why God could tell
Abraham I’m going to bless you in
Genesis 12 and through you all the
nations of the earth will be blessed so
if you need to be blessed ask how can I
be a blessing and when you answer the
question how you can be a blessing then
you position yourself to receive a
blessing too many Christians are going
to church when we used to go to church
or going to online services and saying
bless me bless me bless me bless me
bless me bless me bless me bless me you
know I’ve been favored who are unwilling
to be a blessing that’s why they Rob God
and their giving that’s why they’re
selfish and their living no when Hannah
wanted a child guess what she did she
was barren but she said God have you
give me a child I’m gonna give the child
boy child back to you so that you can
take the boy child to be a blessing to
other people and when God saw and heard
a prayer that what she wanted for her
could be used for him he blessed her and
allowed her to get pregnant it was a
supernatural event because it was tied
to being a blessing the Bible says in
job chapter 42 verse 10 when Joel prayed
for his friends God healed job his job
is suffering but God healed him when he
prayed for his friends and everybody
wants prayer but how much prayer in the
same area you need it are you giving to
somebody else so if you’re afraid call
somebody who right now who is afraid and
help them with their fear through prayer
why you are looking for God to calm your
fear see this single parent learned a
lesson she learned a lesson that when
you follow God’s prophetic word there
can be supernatural changes in your life
proverbs 11 verse 25 says he who warned
will himself be watered Deuteronomy 24
19 that sus know that when you are
blessing that somebody else God will
turn that blessing back to you so now
it’s time it’s time to see God do
something special in your life it’s time
to see God work in your life even in the
midst of a pandemic because your
pandemic may be much much more personal
than this one yes this affects everybody
covered 19 but you may be having a
relational pandemic you may be having an
out-of-tune or pandemic you may have a
parent-child pandemic you may be having
all kinds of psychological emotional
pandemics I want to challenge you now
because everybody’s talking about serve
your neighbor help your neighbor
whatever your need is
reach out churches should be doing this
across their memberships all over the
place we’ve challenged our church to do
it go for it this lesson from this
mother lets us know and the good news is
that she was able to pay off all of her
debts verse 7 and you and your sons can
live on the rest she was able to pay off
all of her debts did you know this lady
without an MBA became an entrepreneur
had a business of oil because that’s a
lot of jobs pay off all you did you’d
that get much in debt God turned that
whole thing around and she’s now can
retire how can that all happen
because he told her go and get all your
neighbor’s emptiness get as much of
service and you can provide because when
the pot ran out the oil stopped flowing
because God will only do for you as long
as he can use you when he can’t use you
that he won’t give favor to somebody
who’s going to be selfish with it I
challenge you now let this pandemic
change our attitude about where we go
first in our crisis you got to go to the
prophetic word and where we obey when we
have to implement
God’s will in our crisis
you know many cities like the city I’m
in Dallas have HOV lanes as high
occupancy vehicles that means you can’t
go by yourself they don’t let you go by
yourself they will give you a ticket if
you’re driving by yourself because those
lanes are made for two or more now if
you’re in the regular traffic and things
are blocked you get stuck but if you’re
in the HOV Lane you flow but the only
reason you flow is that special
privilege is given the folks who don’t
travel alone they’re special benefits
given to those who don’t think they have
to operate by themselves God has an HOV
Lane for favor in your crisis but you
can’t get in that Lane if you’re
traveling by yourself if you’re only
thinking about your blessing her world
was changed when the Word of God to her
could flow through her to be a blessing
to other people than her so it bounced
back for her and her life was changed
yep how do you handle a crisis just like
this single parent did we learned from
this woman how God can change a
situation that looks unchangeable even
when you’re desperate for a solution