This Time is Different

II Corinthians 10:1-6

Context: Paul is writing to the church trying to teach the new converts how to walk in their newfound faith and belief in Jesus.

There's a noticeable shift.

Rumors about Paul start circulating amongst the church.

• Questioning whether he is the author of this text.

This specific text highlights using a different strategy when you're used to the fight looking a certain way.

Your energy should be reserved for the battles that really matter. 

Definition of insanity:

• doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result

Weariness comes from doing the thing that you know you're supposed to do.

There are moments when you get weary from doing the right things.

Enemy makes you think it's better to just give up.

Gets tiring always being the bigger person, seems like other people who aren't doing the right thing are moving ahead.

Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap a harvest if we do not lose heart.

Galatians 6:8

"sowing and reaping"

Your flesh is anything that pulls you away from God.

Sow every season into the Spirit.

If you're going to stay relevant and maintain your authority, have to sow into the Spirit.

You need a new harvest for what you're doing now.

When you sow in the Spirit, be careful not to expect an immediate outcome.

Weariness grows when you have an expectation for an outcome.

You sow to become and not to get.

• Have to be patient in the becoming.

When you sow into the Spirit, you're sowing into the process.

Reaping takes time but sowing is guaranteed when you know what you put in the ground.

When you sow, make sure you don't sow seeds of weariness.

Keep sowing anyway even when it doesn't make sense. Keep feeding your Spirit.

There's a connection between the ability to reap harvest and to protect my heart in seasons where I don't see what I've sown yet.

What you sow, you will reap.

If you lose your heart in the process, you can lose your harvest.

Your heart will make you sensitive to when the harvest is on the way.

There's an abundance of rain on the way.

You're about to see in the flesh what you've been sown in the Spirit.

This weariness is a test.

If you can pass this test and resist the temptation to let your weariness grow, you will receive your harvest.

Your heart was never connected to the outcome, it was connected to the obedience.

It's going to drop in your spirit when harvest is on the way. It'll drop in your heart when harvest is on the way.

When you're growing weary understand that it's not a circumstance issue, it's a heart issue.

Weariness dulls your senses.

• Causes you to miss certain things, don't always hear properly.

Enemy makes you weary of the fight you're already in.

When you're weary you do what worked before.

But that's not what God is saying in this moment. He isn't using the same strategy from back then for now.

It was right then but it's wrong for now.

Right strategy, wrong moment.

Be willing to ask God what is the strategy for this moment and not be so weary that you pull from what you know and not for what you're told - you miss God.

God is trying to show you the diversity in His ability to provide.

David's greatest strength was knowing to use which weapon and when.

• Had enough wisdom to know this strategy worked for certain situations

Different battles, require different weapons.

Grieving the fact we don't have a sling shot when we're not in a sling shot battle.

• All you need is a praise in this season.

Same Lord who delivered me then, will deliver me now.

Every time God tests you, notice you always come out on top?

Limiting God to one weapon will make you weary.

God can do it in any number of ways.

• He can use any method

• Just know that the Lord will deliver you

Some people get instant deliverance, others don't and get discouraged.

You're weary because you're looking for yesterday's solution or your neighbors solution.

Don't limit God.

Recognize that God uses different weapons for different moments.

We have to ask God what weapon do you need for this moment?

Be careful not to assume that the same thing that worked then, will work now.

David was constantly seeking God to find out how to show up in each moment.

Cannot allow your weariness to grow in this season - heart needs to be sensitive enough to discern exactly what you're standing in.

Worst thing we can use is a battle strategy when we're under siege.

Sometimes God needs you to limit your power so He can show up.

He hasn't released you to make a move yet.

• Under siege but there's a strategy connected to it.

Be still in the middle of the battle and praise God while He handles it.

Trust God for something different.

God is not trying to limit your power, He's trying to show you how to really use it.

God won't allow you to use your power for something His power is assigned to.

If you intervene with what God wants to do long term, you won't have any power for the battles He assigned to you.

"Let me handle this." - God

Paul takes the time to respond to the critics as the way that he shows up.

• Trying to teach them about how to respond when you're under siege.

His battle strategy is not what is visible to them. They're expecting him to show up a certain way - therefore, they question his effectiveness.

They had an expectation of what power, victory and strength looks like.

So they were talking about him.

For this particular battle, it requires a different weapon.

Paul was advancing the kingdom in a way that they didn't expect.

• imposing a threat, just not in the way that they anticipated

• he's showing up in strategy to establish the kingdom of heaven

They don't know that this time is different. Using a weapon that you're not even familiar with.

Sometimes God will give you a weapon that is unfamiliar to the context in which you use it. It may only make sense to you and Him.

God is giving you strategy that is different than what you're used to.

He admitted that there's moments where his body was weak.

The anointing is what happens in the Spirit.

Paul knew what was in him even when he was weak.

When we use weapons, they will be different depending on the times.

• Our sensitivity to the times will help us discern when to use what.

This time is different.

Abandon the need to use weapons that we know.

While they're talking about Paul, he's changing minds.

Some victories come from discerning what the moment requires and trusting God to do it differently.

Methods previously used may not work for what is doing in this new season.

Your weapon without God's anointing won't work because this time is different.