When my problem is bigger than my victory

The main ideas from this information are that the prophet Elijah faced a situation where his problem seemed bigger than his victory. Despite seeing miracles and victories, he became distraught and focused on the threat from Queen Jezebel. However, God was with him and sent angels to comfort and provide for him. The lesson is that we need to have a grateful and worshipful spirit, even in difficult times, and trust that God is working things out for us. We should not let the enemy separate us from fellowship with God and should remain faithful and thankful. It's good to testify to something true And it's good to say what God has given Because He won't let you fall And there's a place for you Hello, my name is Pastor Gia Clinton with Straight to the Heart Ministries And we're doing a study in the word And we're going to talk tonight about when your victory isn't obvious In other words, the title of tonight's study in the word is When my problem seems bigger than my victory That's tonight's title We're going to look at 1 Kings 18 and the 41st verse And it reads as thus Then Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat, and drink For there is a sound of the abundance of rain So Ahab went up to eat and drink And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel Then he bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea So he went up and looked and said, There's nothing And seven times he said, Go again Then it came to pass that the seventh time That he said, There is a cloud as small as a man's hand Rising out of the sea So he said, Go up and say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot And go down before the rain stops you Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds And the wind and there was a heavy rain So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah And he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab To the entrance of Jezreel Chapter 19 says, And Ahab told Jezebel All that Elijah had done Also how he had executed all the prophets With the sword Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying So let the gods do make your life As the life of one of them by tomorrow About this time No, she said, So let the god do to me And more also if I do not make your life As the life of one of them by tomorrow About this time So what happened was The prophet Elijah You know, being, you know Acting in the power of God and being this just bad man You know what I mean? Like this is the prophet Elijah He had all of the prophets of Baal executed All of them With the sword And these, as you know, were Jezebel's prophets So she's angry Not only that He performed a miracle to the people to prove to him that To them that God was with them He had 12 stones for the 12 tribes of Israel And it was a trough and full of water And they had all of this stuff, this sacrifice So the Lord came down and burned up everything Even the stones He soaked up all the water And he burned up the offering In front of the people To show them this great miracle that God was with them And so that was enough for King Ahab He was like, okay So he told him to, you know, get up God is with us right now And so the miracle happened He said, but first You're going to have to repent for what you have done And go back You know what I mean? You're going to have to slaughter all of those prophets of Baal You're going to have to get rid of all of them And so that's what he did He allowed Elijah to slaughter all those prophets And they were false prophets And wicked ones, they were Jezebel's prophets And then he went back and told Elijah, he went back and told Jezebel what had happened So now, there are miracles and victories happening All around Elijah But all he can focus on Is that tomorrow Jezebel made this declaration I'm going to be a dead man tomorrow I don't know who you think you're messing with You obviously don't know that I'm queen A wicked queen You know, on top of that And she was Jezebel She was the only one in the Bible That could have Elijah quaking in his boots And so With all the miracles that God had shown him Around him I mean, it rained Israel had suffered a drought The land had suffered a complete drought God made it rain He proved himself, he burnt the offering They slaughtered the false prophets The people had turned back to God And all he could think about Was this situation that he was facing Jezebel was going to kill him She had threatened and sworn to kill him And many times in our life When God is allowing us to see his hand And to show us that he's with us And to fight our battles Our situation is so It seems so insurmountable That the victory Just doesn't seem big enough In other words, our situation seems so much bigger Than our victory And it's just not true God was with him All the way And many times when we're going through We become so distraught And you ever get to a place Where God is, you know, working on you And you're going to the father And you're going to talk to the father About your situation And you just begin to rock No words can come out Because you're so distraught You just begin to rock and talk to him And you just begin to say Oh Lord, I don't know what's going on And I don't see a way out of this thing This is bigger than me This is a supernatural experience And so when you begin to talk to God He's there listening And he's trying to help you understand That I got this But we don't always see that Because we're so caught up in What's happening We're so caught up in the problem That we can't see that the solution Is standing in front of us The solution is walking beside us The solution is Jesus And he's working it out even as we're complaining So Sometimes when you're looking for a miracle So he was looking for rain And so he sent his servant up Seven times And he goes back and he says Well, I see the size of a man's hand A blue cloud coming up from the water And he said that's it Go tell Ahab this is it So Sometimes a small sign If your heart's not in the right place If your eyes aren't fixed the right way You could miss it And out of that small hand Came a great rainstorm And suddenly the sky went black And the winds began to come And then the rain came And so What is Pastor Gia saying? Listen, I know that you're going through And I know that It seems insurmountable And I know that our situation Seems bigger than our faith But if you began to look up And just Open your eyes And not become distraught And allow yourself to see Stand still and begin to see The salvation of the Lord Begin to see what's happening around you Sometimes God will send you A cloud the size of a man's hand He'll give you just enough Lord I need more than this This is bigger than this He may want to deal with your situation One step at a time One thing at a time What's big to you And insurmountable to you But he wants to show you I don't need to send you An abundant Windfall right now I can just deal with this one thing at a time So that you can see step by step That God is with you You can begin to see step by step That miracles still happen I got this miracle And that miracle And this miracle And that miracle We don't always need lottery winnings Some things are just God trying to show you Who he is in your life And that the very hairs of your head are numbered And he cares about every little thing That happens to you And it doesn't matter how big it is It's going to seem big to you God I got this bill and that bill And this bill and oh my God It seems like the world is caving around me I've been looking for a job for a long time And this isn't happening And I know what you're thinking, Tess, you can't understand You don't know that I'm dealing with this And I've got a sick child at home And my husband's trying to divorce me Or my wife's trying to divorce me Or I'm just not able to find anybody Listen to me God is with you in every situation Every situation Through your singleness Through your divorce Through your marriage If this is your first time married Or if your relationship is rocking He's right there with you Satan's not going to get upset Of course he's going to get upset He's going to get angry You're experiencing a miracle God is showing himself mighty and strong In your life And the devil is mad Did you see that devil come through Jezebel And threaten the prophet Elijah She said, as the Lord I tell you what I'm so angry with you right now Elijah This time tomorrow you're going to be dead And if I'm not If I'm not a truth teller May it happen to me Because I'm going to make sure That I end your life tomorrow And so of course Elijah's upset And so he goes to God In verse 4 In chapter 19 chapter he says But he himself Went a day's journey Into the wilderness And came and sat down under the broom tree And he prayed That he might die And he said It is enough Now Lord Take my life for I am no better Than my fathers Then as he laid And slept under a Broom tree Poor baby he was so upset That old mean Jezebel then threatened him As he laid down As he laid under a broom tree And he prayed That he might die He said I'm no better than my father Okay let's look at verse 5 Then as he laid And slept under the broom tree Suddenly an angel touched him And said to him arise and eat And he looked And there By his head Was a cake baked And a cup of cold And a jar of water So he ate and drank And laid down again So I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second I'm going to stop here for a second He's not considering That an angel of the Lord That an angel of the Lord Actually came to him I mean it fed him In his distraughtness All he can think about is the enemy That he is facing He seems insurmountable The Bible says that the angel Came twice Then he looked Verse 6 says then he looked And there by his head was a cake We read that on the 7th verse And the angel of the Lord Came the second time And touched him and said Arise and eat Because the journey is too great For you So he arose and he ate and drank And he went in The strength That the food Forty days And forty nights As far as Horeb the mountain of God So what's happening Is Elijah's distraught Elijah's tired And angels Are talking to him And you know there's a great earthquake And the Lord speaks to him And he's tired and he feels that this problem Is just so big That you know there's this wicked king And everybody's turned against me He said let me tell you something He said there are Seven thousand Who have not bowed down To Baal Who have not kissed him Who have not bent the knee To Baal Seven thousand in Israel So What we're seeing is that The devil knows how to wear us out He knows how to get us to look Past all the miracles That God is doing And keep complaining And keep complaining And just keep denying the power That you're seeing in God That God is doing some great miracles And we're too scared To trust him beyond The big picture that we're looking at Not seeing that he's chopping away At every issue that's coming before us Every tongue that rises up In judgment he's condemning Every enemy he's cutting down for you There's nothing that displeases God more Than an ungrateful spirit Than an unthankful heart And Satan knows that And his job Is to keep you unthankful Is to keep you Murmuring and complaining Not even looking at the fact That he even spoke to an angel about two three times And the Lord himself had Spoken to him softly And even In all of that He couldn't see what was happening All he could focus on was that You know Jezebel was going to do this to him He told him he said you know what I want you to do I want you to anoint Nimshi You're going to make him king Over Assyria I'm sorry Hazel Hazel over Syria And also you shall Anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel And you're going to anoint Elisha He's going to be your replacement So sometimes When we complain and complain The Lord will shut us down Okay obviously you know you can't go no further Than this I want you to anoint Elisha And train your replacement at this time Because if you're not Hearing the fact that I've done all These miracles in your place Listen in front of your face he's done them In front of his face He didn't hide Miracle after miracle I've spoken to angels to talk to you twice And I've spoken to you And you're still talking about this is not going to work And I'm telling you now There are 7000 that has not Bent a knee to Baal That has not compromised That has not kissed him But fears me So I think that what The Lord is saying here Is that in Elisha's case Elisha saw victory Because Jezebel the dogs ate her flesh She died horribly So he will deliver you He will set you free He will deal with your enemies But there's got to be something of you left To appreciate the victory If you let the devil beat you So badly that you can't Appreciate seeing an angel twice And hearing the voice of the Lord twice I mean something is really wrong And not to mention all the miracles in between It doesn't take an anvil To fall on your head To know that God is moving in your life But it does take A pliable spirit A grateful spirit If you got to get up and say Lord I'm thankful for the air in my lungs Every time I take a breath I praise you God I thank you that my lights is on I don't know how they feel on God But you still got them on I thank you that I got running water They cut this off and cut that off But I still got food in Though I don't have a job I'm still making it Some kind of way It's all you God And I praise you and I thank you You got to be having a thankful spirit You got to at some point say God I worship you I worship you No matter how this thing looks to you No matter how Satan is painting this picture Because all he wants to do Is to separate you from the fellowship of the Lord The miracles is not the fellowship You have to worship the creator The giver of all things You have to have relationship and fellowship with him He's not Santa Claus He's not somebody just going to bring you presents He's your Lord He's your master He's your savior Your soon coming king And if you can't reverence him And you can't respect him And you can't honor him And you can't thank him for the things that he's doing in your life Something is wrong You got a problem bigger than the problem you're facing Bigger than your small tribulation You got a heart condition And the only way you're going to set that thing right Is to say oh God Forgive me a sinner Forgive me God You're going to have to go to God and ask him for forgiveness I may not be able to see What the Lord is doing for me But I know he's blessing me Right now I can feel his spirit coming down Right now Remember the song You may not be able to see what the Lord has done for me But I know he's blessing me That's faith And if you don't have that kind of faith Something's wrong The situation is much bigger than the things that you're asking God for Those are things Those are trivial things Those are circumstances But he's your Lord He is the answer And if you can't see that that is happening The problem is in me There's something I lost along the way Where I can't be grateful And I can't thank you And I can't see that I'm an overcomer And I can't stay in the fight until the fight is done No matter what it looks like I can stand and see the salvation of the Lord Maybe I'm not going to get the miracle That Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego got But you got your own special way of dealing with me God Of showing me who you are Showing forth yourself mighty and strong And so If you can't talk to him like that Then our problem is bigger than we think And it's time for God To do something in you It's time for God To come visit you We need a different kind of visitation We have a heart condition A faith condition And that's a terminal thing And we need God to fix it Before we are on the outs with him Before we break fellowship with him That's what Satan wants He doesn't want He don't care about the miracles you ask in God Do you really think he cares? He cares about your faith He wants to stop your fellowship with him He is after your soul And the only way he's going to get it Is when you break fellowship with him He wants to get you to break fellowship with him He tried to get Job to curse God and die You think he's not after you? Oh yes he is You think he's not after you? Oh yes he is You're a testimony, you're a miracle God has done great things in your life Time and time again All he's shown you is his miracle and his power And we get so Stagnated and so Oh Lord I'm just Beaten down because I've been going through for so long But you're still standing And if you can't worship him for anything else Thank you God that I'm standing Thank you God that this thing hasn't taken me under Thank you God that I still have breath The scripture says Let everything that have breath praise the Lord And if we don't praise him The rocks is going to cry out I don't want no rocks praising God for me I know how to worship him I know how to get down and praise him For what he's done, for what he's going to do I know how to call forth an existence I'd have been like, Lord I thank you Jezebel's dying tomorrow Woo I thank you You're getting rid of my enemy Because she said She threatened his life She threatened his life with God standing there He was God's servant On God's assignment Do you really think for a second his life was in danger But he did Her threats Met more than all the miracles around him Her threats Were the thing that was ringing in his ear Angels tapping him on his feet Angels having conversations Baking him cakes and serving him dinner He only worried That this devil Said she was going to kill him He has lost his way somehow Even the great prophet Elisha Can lose his way So can you, so can I So we've got to be vigilant And sober And how we deal with one another And how we face situations Because Satan is not after your miracle Satan is after your walk Your relationship with him He wants to stop it He wants to break it down He wants to chip away at it You can't let him do it You've got to double down in prayer You've got to double down in worship You're going to have to fast And get some of that ugly out of your heart That evil out of your heart That comes out through fasting and praying When doubt has crept in to the point Where you don't have a kind word to say to God You can't raise your head up in faith That's the enemy And he came in and he stole something from you You've got to take it back in the name of Jesus You've got to take back your faith You've got to take back what he's stolen Don't give him a victory Listen, as strong as you came in Serving the Lord, you've got to go out strong You've got to go out strong Your epitaph When it's time to go home If you don't cheat death, should say She served the living God He walked by faith and not by sight Oh what a mighty man of God he was What a mighty woman of God she was She served God to the very end That's what it needs to say That's what it needs to say Nobody's going to remember all the miracles you prayed for They're going to remember how you lived Did you trust him? Did you walk with him? Did you worship him every time you saw his miracles? Did you worship him when you saw his cloud The size of a man's hand? Did you worship him when he had the angels make your cake? Did you worship him Did you worship him when he came through and delivered When he called you to rise up and kill all those false prophets Did you worship him when you heard his voice Something is wrong If all of those things are going on And you're still saying Oh no, this is the end I can't When you're still not recognizing his presence Something is wrong Something is wrong And if, listen If he can wear down the prophet Elijah We can be worn down too And many of us are being worn down But oh, what did he say I got 7,000 That have not bent the knee That have not kissed the face of that statue I got 7,000 Cause Elijah said I'm the only one left There's nobody left I know what's happened But there's nobody left, nobody for real It's just me He had isolated himself He had sunken into what the problem was Instead of seeking a solution And because he did that He lost sight of God How many of us Have lost sight of God today How many of us have allowed the devil To shake our problems so far In front of our face That we are not able to see God's hand No matter what miracles happen No matter what he does You're still not able to see him And you're holding up your own blessing You're holding up your own fellowship And your own victory You won't look up You won't see God You're going to miss God Because all you can do is complain about what's happening around you Instead of all the things that he's doing for you In the midst of the trouble He's giving you victory And the biggest victory is coming It's coming He's chipping away at everything that's going wrong in your life And he's repairing and he's rebuilding And he's presenting a new creature And he's turning things around And yes you've been in it a long time And yes you get tired But you don't want to Cut yourself off from his relationship You don't want to miss the creator You don't want to miss the giver of all things Because you're just so tired What is Pastor Gia saying? I'm trying to say to you today That victory, your victory Your victory Is going to come when you begin to look up And you throw those hands up Those hands that seem too heavy to lift And you begin to praise God And you begin to thank him I thank you God for my circumstances I know you're working them out And I know they're not too hard for you Yes they seem bad to me But oh God I know you've got it under control And I worship you, I worship you That's when you're going to see victory When you begin to worship him When you begin to praise him When you begin, oh God it's not food in here But oh I thank you for these can of pork and beans Or whatever you find Show him that you're worthy Show him that you have a relationship And you're grateful And you're going to serve him And you're going to say for God I live and for God I'll die No matter what the circumstances are Because he's working on your circumstances While it is happening In real time And many of us have many miracles round about us And we're missing it We're allowing Satan to paint an illusion And we're missing God And that's not his will beloved That is not his will for you tonight He wants you to surrender He wants you to trust him He wants you to restore the relationship That was broken between you and him Amen Alright now that's all the time Pastor Gia had But we're going to close in a word of prayer Father God in the name of Jesus We thank you for your victory We thank you God for your miracles We thank you for your timing God We're asking right now For everyone under the sound of my voice That is going through Father I'm asking God that you would open their eyes Let them not see men The size of trees But cause them to see in real time What is happening in their life Cause them to see in the moment God Rise them up from that bed Father That bed of affliction Wake them up God cause them to see the blessings that you've given them And that you're still blessing them You're still Every day that they take a breath Every day that things are happening in their favor You're moving and you're blessing them Cause them to see it God In Jesus name Cause them to see your mighty hand Oh God I'm asking in the name of Jesus That they be able to even Say oh God you've done this thing for me They would declare victory You've done this for me And not only declare it in words but declare it in their heart And to see it God In the name of Jesus Restore the fellowship that is broken In them in Jesus name Create in me a clean heart Oh God and renew the right spirit Within me cause them to say it In Jesus name we pray Amen Well that's all the time Pastor Gia has for tonight Remember walk with the king today And be a blessing