You Can Get There From Here - Pastor Rhonda Davis

Sermon Outline: "You Can Get There from Here" I. Introduction: The Divine Waymaker Overcoming the World's Directions: In the natural world, when asking for directions, people might discouragingly tell you, "You can't get there from here." However, God specializes in impossible routes. No matter your starting point or how dead-end your situation seems, God can get you to your divine destination. The Invisible Path: Reading from Psalm 77:19, Pastor Rhonda highlights that God's road often leads straight through the sea and mighty waters—paths that no one even knew existed, leaving no human footsteps behind. The God of Action: Citing Psalm 77:13-14, we serve a great God who actively makes things happen and pulls His people out of the worst kind of trouble. II. Point 1: Start Right Here (The Beauty of the Sanctuary) Choosing a New Path: In Psalm 84, the sons of Korah write about longing for the courts of the Lord. This is significant because their ancestor, Korah, rebelled and was destroyed. Yet, his descendants chose a different path. You may come from generations of brokenness, but you can choose today to serve the Lord. Proximity Over Position: The house of God is beautiful not because of its physical architecture or staging, but because it is where God's people gather to corporately meet with Him. A Day in His Courts: According to the Psalmist, a single day in God's courts is better than a thousand days spent anywhere else. Proximity to God trumps any secular privilege—even a debt-free million-dollar resort or a palace. Strength to Strength: In the sanctuary, believers draw dynamic strength from one another's testimonies—seeing brothers and sisters who have conquered cancer, beaten addictions, and defied medical odds. Together, they pass through the Valley of Baca (weeping) and turn it into a place of fresh, living springs. III. Point 2: Remember God's Track Record The Roundabout Way: When God delivered Israel out of Egypt (Exodus 14), He intentionally did not lead them along the shortest route through Philistine territory. God stated His strategy: He knew that if they faced an immediate battle, they would get discouraged and turn back. Strategic Position vs. Apparent Mistake: God purposefully led them on a roundabout way through the wilderness to camp at a perceived dead end at Baal Zephon. To Pharaoh and the enemy, it looked like they were wandering aimlessly and trapped by the wilderness. The Enemy's Trap: What the world or the enemy labels as a disastrous mistake is actually God's hidden strategy. God didn't build a dead end to trap His people; He built a trap to eliminate their enemy. IV. Point 3: Trust the God Who Takes You Through the Obstacle Through, Not Around: When the crisis hit at the Red Sea, God did not build a bridge over it, send boats to carry them, or take them around it. He took them straight through it. The obstacle itself became the road. Night Season Operations: God blew back the waters all through the night season. When you are in your own dark night season and cannot see a way forward, that is precisely when God is operating behind the scenes to clear your pathway. The Mystery of the Dolphin Skins: In Exodus 26:11, God instructs Moses to cover the ceiling of the Tabernacle's tent of meeting with dolphin skins. While finding sea creatures in the middle of a dry wilderness seems impossible, Jewish history and various scholars suggest a powerful reason: As the Israelites crossed the Red Sea with walls of water stacked high on either side, they could see the marine life. They carried those skins into the wilderness as a permanent structural reminder in their ceiling to look up and remember: “We did not get here by ourselves; it was the Lord who redeemed us.” The Right to Cross Over: Because the blood of Jesus has purchased you, you are legally classified as the redeemed of the Lord, giving you an absolute right to cross over your barriers. V. Point 4: Trust the Process from the Manger to the Throne God's Unconventional Pathways: Throughout history, God has continuously built unexpected avenues of deliverance using unlikely people: He anointed a heathen king named Cyrus to march through the Euphrates River at night to overthrow Babylon and deliver His weeping people. He anointed a simple cupbearer named Nehemiah to stand before King Artaxerxes to secure the rebuilding of Jerusalem's ruined walls. Shouting to the Mountain: When holy projects stop halfway and leave you in disappointment, we must speak the prophetic words of Zechariah 4:7: Cry "Grace, grace" to the mountain, and it shall be leveled into a plain. The Humble Arrival: When the King of Kings arrived, He bypassed the expected pathways of Middle Eastern royalty—the velvet tapestries, marble floors, and royal heralds. Instead, He started in a dusty, earthy manger filled with straw and the smell of livestock. Palace Transmutations: God took a route no human saw coming. If God can navigate a path from a low, dirty manger straight to the right hand of the Throne, He can take the "manger" situations of your life and turn them into a palace. VI. Conclusion: No Throne Without the Cross The Strategic Weapon: The cross was naturally a site of execution, sin, deep shame, and public humiliation. The religious elite and demonic principalities assumed Jesus could never reach the throne from such a low place of defeat. Returning to the Feet of the Cross: The cross is not just the entry point of your salvation; it is your ongoing structural weapon against the enemy. When you are bullied by fear, intrusive thoughts, or defeat, return to the feet of the cross where the veil was torn, sin was destroyed, and shame was paid back. The Third Day Resurrection: The apparent defeat of the cross was turned around on the third day when Jesus was triumphantly resurrected from the tomb. Because of that structural victory, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name that reigns supreme over cancer, sickness, debt, and every dead-end trap of the enemy. Scripture Index Here are the primary scriptures read, cited, or expounded upon during the service: Psalm 77:19 > "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known." Psalm 77:13-14 > "Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people." Psalm 84:1-2 > "How amiable [lovely] are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." Psalm 84:6-7 (Referenced) – Passing through the Valley of Baca [weeping] and making it a well, as they go from strength to strength. Psalm 84:10 > "For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." Exodus 14 (Referenced) – The account of God leading Israel the roundabout way through the wilderness to camp at Baal Zephon, and Pharaoh assuming they were trapped. Isaiah 51:9-10 (Paraphrased) – Awaking the arm of the Lord to put on strength as in ancient generations, drying up the great deep to make a road for the redeemed to cross over. Exodus 26:11 / Exodus 36:19 (Referenced) – The structural command to cover the tent of the Tabernacle with a covering of dolphin skins [badger/sea-cow skins in some translations]. Zechariah 4:7 > "Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." Isaiah 51:11 (Referenced) – The redeemed of the Lord returning and coming with singing unto Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. Numbers 6:24-26 (The Benediction) > "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." "Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.