LOOK TO YOUR FUTURE AND SMILE | Chad Narayan

0:26 Joshua chapter six, it says this. Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. I wanna stop right there. Notice that in the first verse of this chapter, it says that the walls, the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. Because of the Israelites. I wanna encourage you today, your reputation precedes you. That maybe some of the resistance that you're facing today is not because of sin, is not because that God is mad at you. It is simply because people can see the light that is in you. They can see the light that is on your life. They can recognize this person gets promotions more than I do. This person has influence like I don't. This person, when they talk, people listen.

1:20 I wanna encourage you. Maybe today you're facing some resistance. be encouraged today. God is not against you. You may just be facing some resistance because people recognize the gift of God that is on your life. If you got faith for that, come on, let's clap and thank the Lord today. So the walls, the gates were barred securely because Jericho had heard what God had been doing for the Israelites. He'd heard about their reputation. It says this in verse 2, Then the Lord said to Joshua, See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands. The battle is already won. You can have faith today that the battle for your life is already won. Jesus has already conquered the enemy. We have an eternal hope of salvation.

2:13 The battle is already won. See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands. Verse 3, march around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of ram's horns in front of the ark. March around the city seven times with the trumpets blowing. When you hear the sound, a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up. Everyone straight in. Jumping down to verse 15. Look at this. After they have walked for six days, it says on the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times. The seventh time around when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, shout, for the Lord has given you the city. Verse 17, it says, the city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord.

3:13 Only Rahab, the prostitute, and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies. Jumping down to verse 20, when the trumpet sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed. so everyone charged straight in and they took the city. The title of today's message is this, Look Upon Your Future and Smile. Look upon your future and smile. Turn to the person you're sitting next to, give them a smile. Come on.

3:51 Smile at them big. Like my mom used to say when we were getting school photos, I better see some teeth. Come on now. If you're sitting next to a loved one, grab their hand, give them a smile. I know you was fighting on the way to church, but right now we smiling at each other. Let's go. Look at your future and smile. Look at your future and smile. I probably should have told Natalie this heading into our marriage.

4:22 we probably should have gotten premarital counseling for it we probably should have had this discussion leading into our marriage but i did not tell natalie how much i watched espn i didn't tell her how much i watched sports center if you have never watched espn and sports center they go live at 9 p.m and they tape it and then they replay it at 10 p.m at 11 p.m and then at 12 So 9 p.m. would roll around, and I'd be watching SportsCenter. 10 p.m. would roll around. I'd think to myself, you know what? I probably missed something. Should probably watch it again.

5:01 So I'd watch the 10 o'clock hour, and Natalie would say, you know, you want to watch something? Anything like that? Nope. The 11 o'clock hour is coming in. I probably missed something. I probably need to watch the top 10 again. What I didn't know going into marriage was when Natalie was saying, hey, I'm tired. Heading to bed, that also meant that I was tired.

5:25 And heading to bed. So SportsCenter would be on. I'd be watching. Natalie would say, hey, I'm tired. I think I'm going to head to bed. And I'd say, deuces. See you in the morning. Get that beauty sleep. I'm good. She said, no, no, no, no. Like, I'm tired. I think we should go to bed. I said, great, you should.

5:49 you don't got to stay i got i got two more hours to watch what she didn't realize she realized heading in is how much i watched sports center what i didn't realize heading in to marriage is that her expectations didn't didn't match her reality that the expectations that she had heading into marriage didn't match the reality that she was facing the israelites for 40 years. They are in a season of transition. Moses has passed away. They've left old family. They've entered a new land. They're receiving provision in a new way. They are in a season of transition. And God comes to them and says, hey, I know it's time to take possession of the land, but I want to go possess the land in a different way. I want to give you some different marching orders. And their expectations were not matching the reality that they had. And it makes me think, how many times do we come to God with our expectations and say, God, this is my expectation.

7:04 This is what I'm expecting. This is what I have faith for. And then God gives us instructions and we're like, hold up, what? That's not what I had in my plan. That's not what I thought was in the cards? Can I look at my future and smile if I don't have all the answers? Can I look at my future and smile and be faith-filled and be ready to follow God at his word if his instructions don't match my expectations? Joshua and the nation of Israel are now standing in front of God's instruction saying, well, this isn't what I expected, but can I hold on to this and still trust God? The VP of Google, and he was an engineering fellow, Jeffrey Hinton, stepped down from Google a couple of years ago because he wanted to be able to freely talk about AI and the future of AI. And he wanted more freedom to be able to discuss not only what's good about it, but what's bad about it, which is kind of similar to what all of us experience where, hey, you've my life easier. Also, we're going to be taken over by robots. Sometimes it can be hard to look at the future and say, wow, there's wars and rumors of wars and there's famine and there's earthquakes and there's natural disasters. And I don't know what's happening in my life. And I don't know what God is doing in my life. I don't know what God's doing in my family. I've been praying for 10, 15, 20 years for this prayer request to be answered, and I still haven't gotten an answer from God. I don't know if I can continue following Jesus. Right now, the Israelites, they are up against the wall, so to speak, saying, can I still trust God if he doesn't meet my expectations? I want to talk today from this subject of looking at your future and smiling, because as the Israelites are standing in front of a wall, sometimes what God wants to do in our lives before he will address the wall that's in front of us, he wants to address the wall that's in us.

9:10 That there are walls in us that are hindering us from focusing on God, that are hindering us from trusting him, that are hindering us from taking possession of the promises that we have in God that are standing in the way. And before he says, I want you to take possession of this land, he will address the wall in us. The first wall that he addresses is this, is transition.

9:37 Transition. So the Israelites are in a season of transition. I want to encourage someone today that don't confuse repetition with regression. Do not confuse repetition with regression. Israelites are wandering and they are following God. They are being asked to do something that they have never been asked to do. Can I trust God and march around this wall?

10:10 Remember, remember this, what got you here will not get you there. So I can't, I'm here and I've been here and I've been doing this and I've been trusting God with this and I don't really know where this is gonna go. And so now I've been doing this all my life and I'm freaking out and I'm anxious and I'm stressed out and I've got anxiety. No, no, no, what got me here won't get me there. The promise that God gave me here is not the same promise that he gave me there. So I've got to focus right now on the instructions that God is giving me in this season to be able to take the promise and possession of what he's promised me. Remember, we talked about this last week, Joshua chapter five,

10:54 conversation. And Joshua's response is this, whatever message you have for your servant, I'm here, I'm listening. And I hope today we would, we would leave today with a posture of saying, you know what? I surrender whatever you want to speak to me, God, whatever you want me to phase out of, I trust you. I put my hope in you. I'm surrendered. Whatever you ask of me, come on, give him a praise today. I'm phasing out of old thinking. I'm phasing out of old thinking patterns. Do not carry, let's just make a decision today. We're leaving this phrase in this room today. We've always done it this way. Just because my mom did it this way, and my dad did it this way, and my grandmother did it this way, and my uncle did it this way, does not mean that I have to do it that way. God may be giving you instructions today that we have to let go and just trust God. God, I'm letting go and I'm letting God take control.

11:50 I'm trusting in him. Whatever his word is, whatever his instruction is, whatever he has for me today, come on, give him a praise today. If you're thankful that he speaks and are we willing to, listen, are we willing to surrender? God is willing to speak to us. Sometimes he's just asking, are you willing to listen to what I have to speak to you? Are you willing to listen to the word that I have? I've spoken this word over your life. There are promises that I have for you, promises of a hope and a future. Remember this, God wired you together. You have gifts and talents that he's given specifically to you. The Bible talks about how he knit you together while you were in your mother's womb. He knew your story before you were ever conceived. God knows the promises that he wants you to step into. The challenge for us is, can I phase out of this old way of thinking?

12:46 of the, this is just the way that we've always done it. Remember, the construct that you and I build up in our mind is the construct that you and I obey. That wall has to come down. I was having a conversation with somebody in our church and they were saying, you know what, well, I just leave, you know, on Sundays and Monday and Tuesday, I just feel I'm fired up for reading my Bible and I'm fired up for a connect group and then, you know, Thursday, Friday come around And I don't have that same passion. And I asked him, I go, hey, who told you that you were just supposed to be fired up all the time for God? Because there's more verses in the Bible talking about perseverance and endurance and faith and trust than there are about you and I being fired up for God. So I said, who told you that? Who gave you that expectation? There are expectations that you and I have in our life that may not be biblical, that may not be from God.

13:42 They may not be from his word. And so I have to get in the presence of God and I have to surrender like Joshua did. Lord, whatever you want to speak, your servant is listening. I'm here and I'm willing and I'm ready. Can I look at my future and smile if I don't know the process, if I don't know the method, if I don't know the route, if I don't know the strategy? Can I still trust that God has my best interest in mind? And so the challenge for us is can I stop? I'm not going to believe that anymore. I'm phasing out of that belief system, which leads to trust, the wall of trust. Can I trust God with my life? I know I said it before, but let me say it again. Don't confuse repetition with regression. I was talking to somebody in our New Testament class, our New Testament connect group, and he was telling me, he was like, man, I just feel so good to be back in school. I feel so good to be back in class. It feels so good. And why? Because what's the 10,000 hour rule? 10,000 hour rule is it takes about 10,000 hours to become proficient and a pro at something. And so maybe what God is trying to do in you is to develop something in you, to develop a process, to develop strength, to develop faith, to develop perseverance. Can I

15:11 don't have all the answers? Can I trust him? Can I trust him if his instructions don't match what my expectations are? Maybe as the Israelites were walking around the city of Jericho, they were being met with this question. Can I trust God? Am I willing to continue to walk around the city? Am I willing to give another act of obedience? Am I willing to go to another connect group? Am I willing to do another year of marriage? Am I willing to put in another year at this company? Am I willing to put another prayer in so we can pray about it on Sundays? Am I willing to still give generously?

16:06 Am I willing to still tithe? Am I willing to still serve? Am I willing to continue going through the process if I don't know? I'm kind of dizzy. am I willing? Am I willing to trust God? Am I willing to take another lap? Maybe what God was doing in the Israelites was not just giving them, hey, here's the instructions, go take the city. But maybe he was trying to develop something. And you and I, we get so busy trying to measure the wall that we miss what God is doing in the walk.

16:49 we miss what he's developing in us. Maybe evidence of trust wasn't that Jericho and the walls came down. Maybe evidence of trust was that I found peace while I was walking. Maybe it was that I found peace while I was trusting. Maybe it was that I found peace that even though I didn't have the answers and I didn't have the strategy and I didn't have the method and I didn't understand while I'm still praying for a new job and I'm still praying for kids and I'm still praying for God to elevate me and I'm still praying for this to happen, that I still decided to take another lap. And I wanna encourage you today, take another lap. Don't quit today. Today we're making decisions that I'm gonna trust him, that I'm choosing today, that I'm gonna take another lap, that I may not have all the answers and I may not know what God is doing in this current season, but I'm choosing to take another lap.

17:47 If you got faith to take another lap, give him some praise today. Come on. Come on, turn to your neighbor and say, take another lap. Take another lap. Slap three people. Say, take another lap. Let's go. We're taking another lap. We're not here to give up today. We're not here to give up. We're not here to give in.

18:11 life. There's too much that God has promised you. There's too much gifting in you. There's too much promise in you. There's too much territory in you. There's too much walls that need to come down so that you can receive the promises that God has for you. There's too much that's attached to your life to give in to not wanting to take another lap. Today, no, we're choosing to say, I'm going to take another lap. I got faith to take another lap. This is why connect groups matter. This is on Sunday matters. I got to get in the house of God because I sit next to somebody who, when Pastor Julie is doing the prayer request moment, is also lifting their hands saying, I'm going to take another lap. I'm going to believe God. I'm going to trust God. I'm sitting next to somebody who's praying for something. And we're also sitting next to somebody who's praying for something. And when I get in a connect group, I'm reminded that God is for me. He's not against me. I'm reminded that we're all going through something. I'm reminded that he hasn't given up on me. I'm

19:11 lap. If you're going to take another lap, give them a shout of praise today. Come on, if you're willing to take another lap. I'm not giving in. I can't give in. Neither can you. We got too much at stake to give in. There's a city that needs help. There's a city that needs our serving. There's a city that needs our giving. There's a city that needs our gifts. We got too much at stake to just give in and be numb to the things of God. The devil is not concerned that you're sitting in church today.

19:46 the devil was in heaven and saw God he's got more faith sometimes than you and I do he's not concerned with you sitting in church today he's concerned all of a sudden he goes on red alert when you start lifting your hands he starts going on red alert when you start praising God when you start reading your Bible when you start praying when you get into a connect group, when you start serving, when you start giving, when you choose not to gossip at work, when you choose to be kind to a coworker that nobody else is kind to, when you choose to love people in this city, when you choose to love your family, when your hands go up in worship, he goes on high alert. Why? Because he recognizes that the third one is that there's territory attached to your name. There's territory attached to your name.

20:37 And so Jesus, in Mark chapter 5, Jesus comes into the land. He gets off the boat after the storm. He gets off the boat and he's met by a demon-possessed man. And the man, Jesus speaks, and the demon speaks out of the man. And he says, what's your name? And the demon responds, legion, which means 100. This man is possessed by 100 demons. And Jesus says, nope, it's time to go. I'm setting this man free. I'm setting him free.

21:14 and the demons respond, and they say, just don't let us leave the territory. Don't let us leave the territory, and so they leave the demon-possessed man, and they go into a group of pigs, and the pigs run down into the water, and they drown. The demons were not concerned with the man.

21:39 the devil is not concerned with you. You are a means to an end. He's concerned with your territory. He is concerned with the promises that God has given you. He is concerned with what God has promised you and what God is gonna do in your life and what God wants to do through your life.

22:01 And so the minute you start raising your hands and start worshiping and start praising God, of a sudden he goes on high alert. Why? Because there is obedience that is happening in your life that territory could be lost. Your obedience may be personal, but it has generational impact. Your territory is attached to legacy. I want to invite the worship team to come join me. Your life is attached to legacy.

22:42 Notice. One family is spared from Jericho, and it's Rahab. It's Rahab the harlot, a prostitute.

23:04 she encounters Israel and she encounters who they are. And she says, I'm ready to get out of this life. I'm ready to transition out of this life and I'm ready to trust God and his people. God blesses Rahab and her faith and says that when the walls come down, you are to let her and her family go free. There's one other place in the Bible that Rahab has mentioned. And I wanna show you this on the screen. Check this out. Matthew chapter one, verse five. It says this, look at this. Salmon, not the shoes.

23:53 Salmon, the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Matthew chapter 1 is the lineage of Jesus. Rahab the prostitute made a decision. I'm not doing this life anymore. I'm giving my life to God. Her obedience was attached to the legacy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You have no idea what your obedience is attached to.

24:35 You got no idea what the decisions you make Monday through Saturday make in this city. Come on. And sometimes we wonder, I started following God and life got hard. Yeah, it did. Because the enemy recognizes that he's losing territory.

24:58 Paul says in Ephesians 6, our battle is not against flesh and blood. it's not against flesh and blood. In Joshua, it was against flesh and blood. But in our day, it is in the spirit.

25:18 People don't come to LA and just get together and automatically just say, hey, we're all gonna get together and start struggling on the same thing. there's a spirit that is in LA that wants to take all of us out. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5, be sober, vigilant, for your enemy, the devil, walks around like a, well, like a little rabbit.

25:47 Nope. Walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. care about you. He wants your territory. The battle was never about Joshua. It was about the next generation. It was about Rahab. The battle you're fighting today is not about you, and it's not for you. It's for your legacy. It's for a city that we want to see reached for Jesus. It's for people. It's for people that cannot help themselves coming in contact with some Zoe people that want to love them and take care of them and serve them. It's about a church that says I'm more concerned with legacy than my promise. It's not about you. It's about your children. It's about your children's children. It's about the locations that are going to be not only all across but across the world of people coming in contact with Jesus.

26:55 And they won't make much of our name. They won't make much of Zoe. They will make much of their Lord and Savior that saved them, that set them free, that gave them freedom and new life. I can't encourage you enough. Take another lap. We're not giving up today. We're not choosing to give in. We're not choosing to quit today. The enemy wants you to quit, but I've come to encourage you that greater is he that is within you than he that is within the world. And today, as a church, as a community, we're saying, I'm choosing to take another lap. I'm not giving up. I'm not quitting today. I'm choosing. I got my Fitbit ready. I got my Garmin ready. I got my Apple Watch ready. I got my Hoka's ready. I'm choosing to take another lap. I'm not giving in anything. territory because I recognize who it's attached to. I recognize the future that it's attached to.

27:54 I recognize the people that are attached to it. What are we going to do? We're just going to give up? We're just going to sit back and let the enemy have territory? Or are we going to choose to be obedient? Are we going to choose to walk in the victory that God has for us? Are we going to choose to step up and defend others? Are we going to choose to serve other people? Are we going to to trust God, even if it doesn't match my expectations. Come on, give him a shout. Give him praise. Come on, stand to your feet. If you're grateful, if you're trusting God today, if you're saying, God, my prayer today is I'm choosing to take another lap. Take another lap, Zoe.

28:37 Lean into what God is speaking to you. Lean into what he wants to free you today. Lean into obedience. There's too much. You're too gifted. You got too much grace on your life to quit here.

29:00 the struggle for a lot of us will be leaving and going back to reality. can I go back to my reality and still trust God? I want to encourage you today, smile at the future. It's beautiful.

29:23 It's beautiful. You're beautiful. What are we talking about? We just don't believe the lies of the enemy? We just don't believe what people say? I believe what the Bible says. The Bible says that you're more than a conqueror. The Bible says that you have promises attached to your name. The Bible says that you are created in the image of God. What are we gonna do? Are we just gonna believe what the enemy says? I'm gonna trust God, even when it hurts, even when I don't understand it, even if I've been praying for this for year after year after year, I'm choosing to trust God. Amen? Come on, let's pray. God, we trust you today. We trust you, what you're speaking, what you're healing. God, reveal in us today what we need to release. Reveal in us today what walls need to fall, what walls need to come down, what walls we need to surrender to you.

30:20 God, today we're surrendered to you. God, we thank you for your promises. We thank you for your gifts. We thank you for what you've spoken. God today we recognize that we need our savior in Jesus name and we all said hey thanks for listening here in another week at Zoe Church we hope that you have the best week and if you're looking for more resources or things coming up you can go to our website zoechurch.org slash events but we love you Zoe and we pray you have the best week