Pathways Form Where You Walk Most Often

Sermon outline

Peace is a fruit of the Spirit you carry inside, and like the Shunammite woman who said "it is well" over a dead child, you must deliberately unpack it and refuse the Martha syndrome of worry, because no one else can make peace happen for you.

1. Pathways form where you walk most often

   Some people have been going to church for forty years and are still going around the same mountains. Roads form where people walk so often that a pathway is worn, so do not wear pathways to failure, debt, fear and doubt. Make them pathways of victory, success, abundance and overflow.

   “Don't make it roads to failure, debt, fear, doubt. No, no, those pathways aren't for you.”

2. "It is well" was triggered by a seed

   The Shunammite woman perceived that Elisha was a prophet, made room for him and fed him without asking for anything, and that seed went into her future. It brought her a son, then raised that son from the dead, and years later, after she left for the famine, it restored to her everything that had been hers for seven years. She tells the mothers to be smart and skilled, sowing seed now for their children's future.

   Illustration: A member shared the week before that he gave away a car when he had nothing, could not explain why, and it became a turnaround for him and the generations after him.

   “I may not be there, but my seed will speak.”

   • 2 Kings 4:8-37
   • 2 Kings 8:1-6
   • 2 Kings 5:20-27

3. The peace that passes understanding is a fruit you already carry

   The church reads Philippians 4:6-7 together and repeats "His peace" seven times. This peace makes no sense in the middle of turmoil, and it is the eirene, the fruit of the Spirit, growing in a believer planted like a tree by rivers of water. Everything you need has already been provided, so you do not ask God for healing; you command it to come forth from a place of rest.

   “In the midst of turmoil, in the midst of a circumstance, it doesn't make sense to have peace, but you have peace.”

   • Philippians 4:6-7
   • Galatians 5:22
   • Psalm 1:3
   • Isaiah 61:10
   • John 7:38

4. Refuse the Martha syndrome

   Mary sat at Jesus' feet listening while Martha, a great hostess, was anxious and upset about serving. Mothers are so busy doing everything that they fail to look after themselves and to prioritise. You were never built to worry, and worry costs you in your health, in ulcers and doctor's visits, so you become poor in that area too.

   “You were never built to worry. When you start to worry, you start to develop ailments.”

   • Luke 10:38-42

5. You can't ask God for what He has already given you

   She tells candidly of a call from a contractor wanting a very large payment the church had agreed to by a certain date, and of trying to calm her stomach by saying "all is well" while she worked out what to tell him. Then she remembered that God had already given her authority and wealth in salvation, and that she could not ask Him to do what He had asked her to do, so she began to call the money in. By the time she had written down in her journal, the bill was paid.

   Illustration: She cooks and lays the table in silence until Pastor asks who phoned, transfers part of the amount, and the next morning, in the staff meeting, Pastor Wesley sorts out the rest on his phone by quarter past ten.

   “You can't go to God to ask Him for what He's already given you.”

   • Romans 13:8

6. Live on the compounded interest of the blessing

   Give thanks by going back to your journal of past victories, the way companies set this year's budget from last year's results. The Holy Spirit is the deposit, meditation on the Word is the interest, and seed sown taps you into the economy of God for compounded interest. Living in peace and confidence in God can speed up the harvest, and peace in you makes you a transmitter that neutralises chaos around you.

   Illustration: Like the playback speed on a phone or tablet, one times, one and a half, two times, living in peace can speed up the process of your harvest. Pastor always says one word from God can turn what would have happened a year from now into a month from now.

   “If the enemy can not steal your peace, you'll live a better life.”

   • Ephesians 1:13-14
   • Mark 4:20

7. Unpack your peace: no one else can do it for you

   When trouble comes, do not phone a friend to share your misery; find a friend who says "all is well". Peace is part of your arsenal, like a bag you unpack and a coat you put on when contrary circumstances come. The Shunammite woman was not shaken by her son's death; she positioned herself for a word from the prophet. Preach yourself into the blessing, and stop trying to curry favour, because you are already favoured.

   Illustration: "Don't try to curry favour. The curry may be off."

   “No one else can make peace happen for you. Only you.”

   • James 4:7
   • Proverbs 18:21
   • Romans 8:11
   • Romans 4:17
   • Romans 5:17
   • Jeremiah 17:5-7
   • Galatians 2:20

In this message