WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 Welcome back to our continuing conversation on 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:08.580 Refine for a Purpose. In our last conversation, 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:11.759 we asked a difficult question. Can God trust 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.820 your integrity? We discovered that integrity 00:00:14.820 --> 00:00:17.859 is not simply about never failing. Integrity 00:00:17.859 --> 00:00:20.660 is revealed when our character is tested, when 00:00:20.660 --> 00:00:24.100 nobody is watching, when temptation comes, when 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:26.899 we are angry, when we are hurt, when we have 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:30.309 authority, when compromise would be easier. and 00:00:30.309 --> 00:00:32.750 we discovered that God may not only be preparing 00:00:32.750 --> 00:00:35.689 the blessing, God may be preparing us for the 00:00:35.689 --> 00:00:38.070 weight of the blessing, but today I want us to 00:00:38.070 --> 00:00:41.350 go one step further. Because integrity usually 00:00:41.350 --> 00:00:44.289 does not collapse in one moment. There is often 00:00:44.289 --> 00:00:47.329 something that happens first. In an earlier season 00:00:47.329 --> 00:00:50.450 of Pamoja Ministry, we had a conversation called, 00:00:50.789 --> 00:00:53.270 When the Strong Get Tired, and we discovered 00:00:53.270 --> 00:00:56.189 something important. Strong people can become 00:00:56.189 --> 00:00:59.549 tired. Faithful people can become discouraged. 00:00:59.869 --> 00:01:02.810 Disciplined people can become vulnerable. People 00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:05.189 who have survived enormous battles can still 00:01:05.189 --> 00:01:07.650 experience moments when their defenses are down. 00:01:07.909 --> 00:01:10.909 But people rarely collapse simply because they 00:01:10.909 --> 00:01:13.989 became tired. Usually something happens between 00:01:13.989 --> 00:01:18.290 weariness and collapse. A boundary moves. A compromise 00:01:18.290 --> 00:01:22.530 is justified. An attitude is excused. A warning 00:01:22.530 --> 00:01:26.409 is ignored. A conviction is silenced. Something 00:01:26.409 --> 00:01:30.420 you once resisted. You begin entertaining. Something 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:34.120 you once confessed, you begin defending. Something 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:36.900 you once considered dangerous, you begin believing 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:41.340 you can control. And slowly, a crack develops. 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:45.340 The problem with a crack is that initially, the 00:01:45.340 --> 00:01:47.879 structure can still look strong. The building 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:50.920 is still standing. The ministry is still functioning. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:53.840 The marriage is still together. The career is 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:56.359 still progressing. The person is still preaching, 00:01:56.939 --> 00:02:00.280 still working, still leading. still smiling, 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:04.239 still posting, still praying. From the outside, 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:07.980 everything may appear intact. But somewhere beneath 00:02:07.980 --> 00:02:11.379 the surface, something is cracking. And that 00:02:11.379 --> 00:02:13.780 is what makes this conversation so important. 00:02:14.419 --> 00:02:17.580 Because collapse rarely begins on the day everybody 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:20.319 sees it. Usually something has been cracking 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:23.539 quietly for a long time. And perhaps one of God's 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:26.060 greatest acts of mercy is allowing you to see 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:28.560 the crack while there is still time to repair 00:02:28.560 --> 00:02:32.180 it. So today, our continuing conversation on 00:02:32.180 --> 00:02:36.300 refine for purpose is the crack before the collapse. 00:02:37.539 --> 00:02:39.960 What are the small compromises we keep ignoring? 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:43.800 What attitudes have we started excusing? What 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:47.120 boundaries have we slowly moved? What habits 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:50.199 are growing where nobody can see them? What warning 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:53.500 signs have we dismissed? What conviction from 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:55.939 the Holy Spirit have we repeatedly silenced? 00:02:56.590 --> 00:02:59.870 Because maybe God is not exposing the crack to 00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:03.810 embarrass you. Maybe he is exposing it to save 00:03:03.810 --> 00:03:06.870 what the crack could eventually destroy. And 00:03:06.870 --> 00:03:10.330 listen carefully, the collapse is public. The 00:03:10.330 --> 00:03:13.830 crack is often private. When a building collapses, 00:03:14.550 --> 00:03:17.830 everybody sees the collapse. But engineers may 00:03:17.830 --> 00:03:20.909 later discover that the structural problem existed 00:03:20.909 --> 00:03:23.930 long before the building came down. Maybe there 00:03:23.930 --> 00:03:27.509 was corrosion. Maybe there was repeated stress. 00:03:28.270 --> 00:03:31.310 Maybe there was a fracture. Maybe something had 00:03:31.310 --> 00:03:34.689 been weakening beneath the surface. The collapse 00:03:34.689 --> 00:03:38.430 happened suddenly. The deterioration didn't. 00:03:38.610 --> 00:03:40.969 And sometimes human character works the same 00:03:40.969 --> 00:03:45.150 way. We see someone fall and say, how did this 00:03:45.150 --> 00:03:49.289 happen? But perhaps the better question is, when 00:03:49.289 --> 00:03:53.129 did the crack begin? Because the visible failure 00:03:53.129 --> 00:03:56.360 may have happened today. But the boundary started 00:03:56.360 --> 00:04:00.280 moving months ago. The affair became public today. 00:04:01.300 --> 00:04:03.659 But emotional boundaries may have been disappearing 00:04:03.659 --> 00:04:08.020 long before. The angry explosion happened today. 00:04:09.020 --> 00:04:11.840 But bitterness may have been accumulating for 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:15.979 years. The financial scandal became public today. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.040 But entitlement may have been growing privately 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.620 for a long time. The ministry collapsed today. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:26.439 But accountability may have disappeared years 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:30.939 earlier. The marriage broke today, but communication 00:04:30.939 --> 00:04:33.579 may have been dying quietly for a long time. 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:36.639 The person walked away from God today, but prayer 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:39.319 had been disappearing, the word had been neglected, 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:42.540 conviction had been resisted, and slowly the 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:44.980 distance grew. The collapse gets the attention, 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:48.079 but God was speaking at the crack. James explains 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:51.180 something similar about temptation. James 1 .14 00:04:51.180 --> 00:04:54.519 -15 teaches that a person is tempted when drawn 00:04:54.519 --> 00:04:58.040 away by his own desire and enticed. Then desire 00:04:58.040 --> 00:05:01.459 conceives. Then sin is born. And when sin is 00:05:01.459 --> 00:05:04.959 fully grown, it produces death. Notice the progression. 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:08.839 Desire, enticement, conception, sin, growth, 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.639 death. There is a process. We often focus on 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.160 the final stage. God is concerned about what 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:17.680 is happening at the beginning. Because if you 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:20.160 address the crack early enough, perhaps you never 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:22.839 have to experience the collapse. And this is 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:26.980 why we cannot despise conviction. Conviction 00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:30.060 is an early warning system. There are moments 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:32.579 when the Holy Spirit makes you uncomfortable. 00:05:33.139 --> 00:05:36.519 You said something and afterward something inside 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:40.420 you said that wasn't right. You entered a conversation 00:05:40.420 --> 00:05:43.399 and something told you, you shouldn't be here. 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:46.500 You started becoming too close to someone. and 00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:49.899 something inside you said, this boundary is becoming 00:05:49.899 --> 00:05:52.980 dangerous. You made a financial decision and 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:56.560 felt this isn't honest. You responded in anger 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.560 and knew immediately that wasn't the person God 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:03.519 is calling me to become. You started hiding something, 00:06:04.019 --> 00:06:07.500 deleting something, explaining something, justifying 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:11.300 something. And deep inside, you knew sometimes 00:06:11.300 --> 00:06:14.660 that discomfort is not condemnation. Sometimes 00:06:14.660 --> 00:06:18.019 it is protection. The Holy Spirit is saying, 00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:22.180 look at the crack, not because God wants to humiliate 00:06:22.180 --> 00:06:25.319 you, because he knows where the crack can lead. 00:06:25.980 --> 00:06:28.600 One of the most dangerous things we can do is 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:32.220 repeatedly silence what once convicted us, because 00:06:32.220 --> 00:06:35.259 there is a progression that should concern every 00:06:35.259 --> 00:06:39.040 believer. First, something bothers you, then 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:42.199 you explain it, then you justify it, then you 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:45.589 repeat it. then you normalize it, and eventually, 00:06:46.209 --> 00:06:49.649 you defend it. What once required an apology 00:06:49.649 --> 00:06:53.689 becomes part of your personality. What once brought 00:06:53.689 --> 00:06:57.029 conviction becomes something you now call, that's 00:06:57.029 --> 00:07:01.170 just who I am. Be careful, because refinement 00:07:01.170 --> 00:07:04.009 requires us to remain sensitive to correction. 00:07:04.350 --> 00:07:07.810 And sometimes the evidence of spiritual maturity 00:07:07.810 --> 00:07:11.230 is not that conviction disappears, it is that 00:07:11.230 --> 00:07:14.990 we respond to conviction faster. There is a small 00:07:14.990 --> 00:07:18.930 verse in Song of Solomon 2 .15 that says, catch 00:07:18.930 --> 00:07:22.189 for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin 00:07:22.189 --> 00:07:26.550 the vineyards. The little foxes, not the enormous 00:07:26.550 --> 00:07:30.569 animals, the little ones. Because sometimes what 00:07:30.569 --> 00:07:34.160 destroys something valuable begins small. A little 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:38.459 compromise. A little dishonesty. A little flirtation. 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:42.300 A little bitterness. A little pride. A little 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:45.639 secret. A little resentment. A little habit. 00:07:46.139 --> 00:07:49.180 A little boundary moved. A little prayer life 00:07:49.180 --> 00:07:52.879 neglected. And because it looks small, we tolerate 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:56.480 it. But small does not mean harmless. Little 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:01.300 compromises can create large consequences. Look 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:05.040 at Samson. People often remember Samson's collapse 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:08.839 as the moment Delilah had his haircut. But Samson's 00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:11.899 problem did not begin with the haircut. Long 00:08:11.899 --> 00:08:14.759 before Delilah, Samson had been playing with 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:18.279 boundaries. He repeatedly moved toward things 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:20.980 that should have made him cautious. He became 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:24.439 comfortable living close to compromise. And eventually, 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:27.600 he began telling Delilah pieces of the truth. 00:08:27.860 --> 00:08:32.879 Closer, closer, closer. Until Judges 16 says 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:36.159 that he told her everything. That is how boundaries 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:39.340 often disappear. Not always through one enormous 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:43.000 decision. Sometimes through inches, one conversation, 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:46.179 one message, one meeting, one justification, 00:08:46.659 --> 00:08:50.159 one exception, one more time. And eventually, 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:53.500 you look backward and realize, I am standing 00:08:53.500 --> 00:08:56.500 somewhere I once promised myself I would never 00:08:56.500 --> 00:09:00.259 go. That is the danger of moving boundaries slowly. 00:09:00.429 --> 00:09:03.350 If somebody asked you on the first day to cross 00:09:03.350 --> 00:09:07.129 the final line, you might say, absolutely not. 00:09:07.669 --> 00:09:11.230 But compromise rarely begins by asking for everything. 00:09:11.769 --> 00:09:14.649 It asks for something small, and then something 00:09:14.649 --> 00:09:17.529 smaller becomes normal. And once that becomes 00:09:17.529 --> 00:09:21.529 normal, it asks for something more. Until eventually, 00:09:21.889 --> 00:09:25.269 the abnormal becomes familiar. This is why scripture 00:09:25.269 --> 00:09:29.460 warns in 1 Corinthians 10 -12, Let him that thinketh, 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:33.340 he standeth take heed, lest he fall. The danger 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:36.659 is not strength. The danger is believing strength 00:09:36.659 --> 00:09:40.200 makes you immune. And this takes us back to when 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:43.299 the strong get tired. Sometimes strong people 00:09:43.299 --> 00:09:46.019 become especially vulnerable because everyone 00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:49.500 depends on them. They are always carrying, always 00:09:49.500 --> 00:09:53.759 solving, always helping, always leading, always 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:57.200 producing. And because everybody sees their strength, 00:09:57.370 --> 00:10:00.250 Nobody asks whether they are becoming depleted. 00:10:00.450 --> 00:10:03.629 Sometimes, they don't even ask themselves. And 00:10:03.629 --> 00:10:07.269 when exhaustion combines with isolation, disappointment, 00:10:07.850 --> 00:10:11.429 unresolved pain, temptation, and opportunity, 00:10:12.049 --> 00:10:14.909 the crack can grow quickly. This is why rest 00:10:14.909 --> 00:10:19.090 is spiritual. Accountability is spiritual. Boundaries 00:10:19.090 --> 00:10:22.570 are spiritual. Honest conversations are spiritual. 00:10:23.049 --> 00:10:26.370 Saying, I need help can be spiritual maturity. 00:10:26.679 --> 00:10:29.500 Because you don't have to wait until you collapse 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:33.059 to admit that something is weakening. Strong 00:10:33.059 --> 00:10:36.840 people still need guardrails. Think about David. 00:10:37.700 --> 00:10:40.919 Second Samuel 11 begins with an interesting detail. 00:10:41.379 --> 00:10:44.059 It was the season when kings went out to war, 00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:47.840 but David remained in Jerusalem. One evening 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:50.379 he got up from his bed and walked on the roof, 00:10:50.740 --> 00:10:54.539 and there he saw Bathsheba. Now David's entire 00:10:54.539 --> 00:10:57.820 collapse cannot be reduced to one detail, but 00:10:57.820 --> 00:11:00.259 scripture deliberately gives us the setting. 00:11:00.820 --> 00:11:03.340 David was not where we might have expected the 00:11:03.340 --> 00:11:07.200 king to be. Then he saw. Then he inquired. Then 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:12.080 he sent. Then he took. Again, progression. Saw. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:17.259 Inquired. Sent. Took. There were multiple moments 00:11:17.259 --> 00:11:20.240 where the process could have stopped, and that 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.419 is important. Because sometimes we talk about 00:11:23.419 --> 00:11:26.399 temptation as though there is only one moment 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:29.320 of decision. Often there are many. God gives 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:33.080 us exits, a moment to stop, a moment to reconsider, 00:11:33.460 --> 00:11:36.600 a moment to listen, a moment to call somebody, 00:11:36.940 --> 00:11:40.399 a moment to leave, a moment to confess, a moment 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.600 to say, this is going too far. The question is 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.419 whether we recognize the exit before the crack 00:11:46.419 --> 00:11:49.899 becomes a collapse. And then look at Peter. Before 00:11:49.899 --> 00:11:54.179 Peter denied Jesus, Jesus warned him. Luke 22 00:11:54.179 --> 00:11:57.159 records Jesus telling Peter that Satan desired 00:11:57.159 --> 00:12:00.659 to sift him like wheat. Peter responded confidently. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:03.600 He believed he was ready. He believed he was 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:06.440 strong. He believed he could handle the pressure. 00:12:06.639 --> 00:12:09.799 But Jesus saw something Peter could not yet see. 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:13.139 That is another form of mercy. The warning before 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:16.840 the failure. Sometimes God sends a scripture. 00:12:17.100 --> 00:12:21.019 Sometimes a sermon. Sometimes a spouse, sometimes 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:25.159 a friend, sometimes a mentor, sometimes a leader, 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:29.179 sometimes a conversation, sometimes an uncomfortable 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:32.659 feeling you cannot shake. And because we don't 00:12:32.659 --> 00:12:35.720 like the message, we become angry at the messenger. 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:39.100 But what if the warning is mercy? What if God 00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:41.899 is trying to interrupt something before it grows? 00:12:42.539 --> 00:12:45.259 Proverbs tells us that wounds from a faithful 00:12:45.259 --> 00:12:48.659 friend can be trusted. Sometimes somebody who 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:51.139 loves you enough to make you uncomfortable is 00:12:51.139 --> 00:12:54.399 more valuable than somebody who keeps you comfortable 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:57.059 while you are drifting. And this is where pride 00:12:57.059 --> 00:13:00.500 becomes dangerous. Pride doesn't only say, I 00:13:00.500 --> 00:13:04.039 am better than everybody. Sometimes pride says, 00:13:04.299 --> 00:13:07.639 nobody can tell me anything. Nobody can correct 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:11.240 me. Nobody understands me. Nobody knows what 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:14.039 I've been through. I know what I'm doing. I can 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:17.159 handle it. I can stop whenever I want. I'm not 00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:20.019 going that far. It won't happen to me. Those 00:13:20.019 --> 00:13:22.940 sentences should frighten us because confidence 00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:25.840 without accountability can become blindness. 00:13:26.100 --> 00:13:29.139 And maybe this is why God allows certain uncomfortable 00:13:29.139 --> 00:13:33.320 moments during the refining process. He is confronting 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:37.700 us while there is still time. He is saying, look 00:13:37.700 --> 00:13:41.980 at this. Look at your anger. Look at your pride. 00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:45.600 Look at your relationship with money. Look at 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:49.399 your private conversations Look at your boundaries 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:53.600 Look at the way you speak to your spouse Look 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:56.379 at the way you treat people beneath your authority 00:13:56.379 --> 00:14:00.659 Look at what you are watching Look at what you 00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:05.460 are hiding Look at what you keep deleting Look 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:09.220 at the resentment you keep feeding Look at what 00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:11.759 you have stopped praying about because you already 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:16.279 know what I would tell you not to shame you, 00:14:16.659 --> 00:14:20.379 to save you. Because maybe the greatest miracle 00:14:20.379 --> 00:14:23.179 is not always God rebuilding your life after 00:14:23.179 --> 00:14:26.539 collapse. Maybe sometimes the miracle is God 00:14:26.539 --> 00:14:29.559 showing you the crack early enough that collapse 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:33.139 never has to happen. And this requires humility. 00:14:33.659 --> 00:14:36.759 Don't defend what God is trying to remove. This 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:39.740 is difficult. Because when God touches something 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:42.919 we have become attached to, we immediately begin 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:46.649 explaining. Everybody does it. It's not that 00:14:46.649 --> 00:14:50.470 serious. You don't understand. I deserve this. 00:14:50.889 --> 00:14:53.929 I've been through a lot. I'm still a good person. 00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:57.269 And perhaps all of that may contain pieces of 00:14:57.269 --> 00:15:00.370 truth, but none of it answers the real question. 00:15:01.070 --> 00:15:04.570 What is the Holy Spirit saying? Because refinement 00:15:04.570 --> 00:15:07.049 is not about comparing yourself with everybody 00:15:07.049 --> 00:15:10.330 else. The refiner is looking at what does not 00:15:10.330 --> 00:15:12.590 belong in you. There may be something another 00:15:12.590 --> 00:15:15.870 person can handle. that you cannot. There may 00:15:15.870 --> 00:15:18.730 be a relationship that has become unhealthy for 00:15:18.730 --> 00:15:21.309 you. There may be an environment that awakens 00:15:21.309 --> 00:15:24.289 something dangerous in you. There may be access 00:15:24.289 --> 00:15:27.309 you need to restrict. There may be a conversation 00:15:27.309 --> 00:15:30.529 you need to stop. There may be a habit you need 00:15:30.529 --> 00:15:33.570 to confront. There may be an apology you need 00:15:33.570 --> 00:15:36.330 to make. There may be accountability you need 00:15:36.330 --> 00:15:39.470 to restore. And sometimes obedience looks very 00:15:39.470 --> 00:15:43.049 practical. Delete the number. Leave the conversation. 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:47.000 Change the routine. Stop going there. Tell somebody 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:50.139 the truth. Ask for help. Put the boundary back. 00:15:50.299 --> 00:15:54.539 Rest. Pray. Return to scripture. Return to community. 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:58.019 Return to God. Don't wait for catastrophe to 00:15:58.019 --> 00:16:00.840 become serious about something God has already 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:03.700 been whispering about, because the crack is easier 00:16:03.700 --> 00:16:06.620 to repair than the collapse. But there is something 00:16:06.620 --> 00:16:10.259 else I want us to understand. The crack does 00:16:10.259 --> 00:16:13.649 not mean the structure is worthless. If an engineer 00:16:13.649 --> 00:16:16.149 discovers a crack in a building, the purpose 00:16:16.149 --> 00:16:19.149 of inspection is not automatically to demolish 00:16:19.149 --> 00:16:22.090 the building. The first question is, can it be 00:16:22.090 --> 00:16:24.769 repaired? Can it be reinforced? Can the pressure 00:16:24.769 --> 00:16:28.049 be relieved? Can what has weakened be strengthened? 00:16:28.250 --> 00:16:31.090 And perhaps somebody needs to hear that spiritually. 00:16:31.330 --> 00:16:34.049 God showing you weakness does not mean God has 00:16:34.049 --> 00:16:36.370 abandoned you. God correcting your character 00:16:36.370 --> 00:16:39.950 does not mean he has canceled your purpose. God 00:16:39.950 --> 00:16:43.159 revealing something ugly inside you does not 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:45.679 mean there is nothing beautiful he can still 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:49.639 produce through you. Sometimes revelation is 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:53.059 the beginning of restoration. David's sin was 00:16:53.059 --> 00:16:57.220 exposed. Peter's weakness was exposed. Moses' 00:16:57.379 --> 00:17:01.799 anger was exposed. Jacob's character was confronted, 00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:05.599 and God dealt with them, sometimes painfully, 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:09.720 sometimes through consequences, sometimes through 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:12.700 discipline. But exposure did not automatically 00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:16.380 mean abandonment. And this prepares us for something 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:19.640 we need to understand in our next conversation. 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:23.559 Because when God reveals the crack, what comes 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:28.680 next may feel uncomfortable. Correction. Discipline. 00:17:29.099 --> 00:17:33.519 Consequences. Conviction. And sometimes we interpret 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:37.579 all of those things as rejection. But scripture 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:41.140 teaches something very different. Hebrews tells 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:44.500 us that the Lord disciplines those he loves. 00:17:45.619 --> 00:17:48.500 So perhaps the correction you are resisting is 00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:51.279 not evidence that God has walked away. Perhaps 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:54.160 it is evidence that God refuses to leave you 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:56.940 the way you are. And that will bring us to our 00:17:56.940 --> 00:18:00.359 next continuing conversation. When God corrects 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:03.440 the person he loves, correction is not rejection. 00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:06.539 But before we get there, I want you to sit with 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:09.930 this question. What crack has God been showing 00:18:09.930 --> 00:18:13.789 me? Not your spouse's crack. Not your friend's 00:18:13.789 --> 00:18:17.750 crack. Not your pastor's crack. Not your co -worker's 00:18:17.750 --> 00:18:21.049 crack. Not the person you saw on social media. 00:18:21.490 --> 00:18:25.329 Yours. What have you been excusing? What boundary 00:18:25.329 --> 00:18:29.069 has moved? What conviction have you silenced? 00:18:29.589 --> 00:18:33.170 What warning have you dismissed? What habit has 00:18:33.170 --> 00:18:36.589 become stronger? What attitude have you started 00:18:36.589 --> 00:18:39.890 defending? What are you hiding? What have you 00:18:39.890 --> 00:18:43.490 stopped bringing before God? Maybe this conversation 00:18:43.490 --> 00:18:47.710 itself is part of God's mercy. Maybe God is allowing 00:18:47.710 --> 00:18:50.670 you to see something while there is still time 00:18:50.670 --> 00:18:53.789 to address it. Don't run from the light. Don't 00:18:53.789 --> 00:18:56.390 defend the crack. Don't cover what God wants 00:18:56.390 --> 00:19:00.289 to heal. Bring it to Him. Repent where repentance 00:19:00.289 --> 00:19:04.710 is necessary. Repair what can be repaired. Restore 00:19:04.710 --> 00:19:08.450 the boundary. receive accountability, ask for 00:19:08.450 --> 00:19:12.970 help, return to prayer, return to the word, return 00:19:12.970 --> 00:19:16.390 to obedience. Because collapse does not have 00:19:16.390 --> 00:19:19.609 to become your testimony. Maybe your testimony 00:19:19.609 --> 00:19:23.309 can be, God showed me the crack and I listen. 00:19:24.430 --> 00:19:26.849 Maybe years from now, you will look backward 00:19:26.849 --> 00:19:29.190 and realize that the uncomfortable conviction 00:19:29.190 --> 00:19:32.990 you felt in this season was actually God's protection 00:19:32.990 --> 00:19:36.509 over your marriage. Protection over your family. 00:19:37.410 --> 00:19:40.210 Protection over your ministry. Protection over 00:19:40.210 --> 00:19:44.210 your career. Protection over your calling. Protection 00:19:44.210 --> 00:19:47.369 over your future. Protection over your life. 00:19:47.710 --> 00:19:51.130 Because sometimes God's mercy does not look like 00:19:51.130 --> 00:19:54.509 ignoring the crack. Sometimes God's mercy looks 00:19:54.509 --> 00:19:58.190 like revealing it. You are being refined. Not 00:19:58.190 --> 00:20:02.769 humiliated. Not discarded. Not abandoned. Refined. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:06.700 And perhaps God is showing you what must be repaired 00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:09.700 because He knows what He is preparing you to 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:12.539 carry. Don't waste the warning. Don't silence 00:20:12.539 --> 00:20:15.859 the conviction. Don't ignore the crack. Let God 00:20:15.859 --> 00:20:19.339 refine it now before the crack becomes the collapse. 00:20:19.660 --> 00:20:22.000 You are being refined for a purpose.