Steven Furtick's Blog, page 47

Why Following God’s Will Isn’t Supposed to Be Easy

“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large…we can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. All the people we saw there are of great size.

Numbers 13:27-28

The Israelites had finally reached the Promised Land. But it wasn’t what everybody thought it would be.

There was a reward. But there was also opposition.

There were grapes. But there were also giants.

So they came to the conclusion that this couldn’t be what God was calling them to do. This couldn’t be God’s will, because God’s will had to be easier than this.

We tend to think the same way. Many people consider opposition a sign that they must not be in the will of God. We think the Promised Land is where the blessings are going to be. Being in God’s will is where life is supposed to be easy. Therefore, battle, opposition, struggle, and enemies must be a sign that we aren’t in the right place.

But apparently a sign of God’s will is not the ease with which you obtain it. Apparently the very sign of the Promised Land is giants. Conflict. Opposition.

In other words, being in God’s will doesn’t guarantee a tension-free job. Or a conflict-free marriage. Or a trouble-free life. In fact, the very presence of tension, conflict, and trouble could be a sign that you’re right where you need to be.

You might be thinking that you’re not in God’s will right now. You’re going through all this fighting and it shouldn’t be like this. It must mean you’re in the wrong place.

Not necessarily. It might mean that you’re in exactly the right place. I doubt Satan is going to put up a fight to keep you from doing what you shouldn’t be doing. What if you changed your perspective and saw what you’re facing as a sign that you’re exactly where God wants you to be, because giants live in the Promised Land?

That doesn’t make it easy. But remember:

There was opposition for the Israelites. But there was also a reward.

There were giants. But there were also grapes.

A sign of God’s will isn’t just the opposition you’re facing. It’s also the fact that with God you can actually overcome it. And the reward that you will get for sticking it out will far outshine any opposition that you’re facing.

Want more? Check out our series Grapes & Giants: A Walkthrough of Ephesians.

Remembering the Right Things

How is it possible that most of us can remember all the words to ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, but we’ve forgotten the name of the person who taught us to read? It’s fascinating how selective our memory can be. And it doesn’t always seem to remember the best things. In this clip from our series Ghost Stories, Pastor Steven reminds us that instead of dwelling on the challenges, failures, and burdens of our past, God wants us to remember His faithfulness – and the daily blessings He’s given us throughout our lives.

The Thing That Gets Between Us and Jesus

God’s power is unlimited, and as Christians we know there is nothing too big or difficult for Him. Yet, when we call on God, pleading with Him to fix that thing that’s broken or hurting in our lives, we have a hard time believing our own prayers. But God knows our deepest needs, and when He answers our prayers in His way, He does more than change our lives – He heals our hearts. In this sermon, Pastor Steven uses a profound event in Jesus’s life to teach us that, even when our faith is shaken, God is not. And when we bring our most desperate prayers to Christ, His answers are greater than we could imagine.

If You Want to Make God Mad

Exodus 4:10-14

Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses.

There’s a saying that goes, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Well apparently if you want to make God mad, tell him your limitations.

God had approached Moses with an assignment that was over his head. The Lord was going to take on the leader of the most powerful nation in the world at that time in order to free His people from slavery-and Moses was going to be his representative.

Moses’ initial response seemed to indicate a genuine humility: Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt (3:11)?

God simply responds with, “I will be with you.” No hint of anger whatsoever.

Moses continues to ask questions, all of them pretty legitimate. And every time God responds by giving him a game plan and telling him he’s got it covered. Once again, no anger.

But then Moses oversteps his bounds. He implies that his poor communication skills will undercut God’s intention to use him to speak on His behalf. We might be tempted to think that Moses is once again displaying humility.

In fact it’s just the opposite. It’s pride.

Moses’ problem isn’t that he’s too humble and doesn’t believe in himself. It’s that he’s prideful and thinks God’s capability rises and falls with his own inability.

We often think pride means overconfidence in our own abilities. Or possibly attributing the source of those abilities to ourselves rather than God. But there is another side to pride that is often overlooked. It can also mean that you believe your limitations are an unstoppable obstacle to God’s power and purposes in your life.

There’s nothing quite so prideful as thinking that you have the ability to single-handedly thwart what God wants to do in and through you.

This time God isn’t patient or nice to Moses. He doesn’t respond with a “you just need to believe in yourself, you’re better than you think you know,” motivational talk. He actually turns angry because Moses’ perspective is monumentally insulting to God. A God with limitless power and ability has no desire or time to hear about the limitations of the people he wants to use.

True humility doesn’t start with having an accurate view of ourselves. It starts with having an accurate view of God. And an accurate view of God will both shrink us down to size but also make us realize that God is big enough to use anybody of any size.

This includes you.

Maybe you think you’re doomed to be a miserable parent because you had miserable parents. Maybe you think your lack of an education will keep you from making a significant impact for God’s Kingdom. Maybe you believe your friend’s response to Jesus is based solely on the excellence of your gospel presentation. Maybe…

You’re not that big. God knew your limitations long before you were ever even aware of them. Don’t stop selling yourself short. Stop selling God short. He used a stuttering, murdering, shepherd to set a whole nation free.

Imagine what He could do with you.

This entry was originally posted June 16th, 2010.

Why God’s Will Isn’t Really About You

As Christians, when we think about God’s will for our lives, we often focus on our individual role. God, what do you want me to do? What is your calling for my own life? But maybe – just maybe – it’s not all about us after all. Perhaps God has greater plans for us collectively. In this clip from The New Rules of Resolution, Pastor Steven explains that, when it comes to God’s will and His church and fulfilling our calling on the earth, it’s never been about what we can only accomplish by ourselves.

Elevation Worship Live at Time Warner Cable Arena

There isn’t much that compares to the joy that worshiping can bring. The energy, emotions, the heartfelt praise, lifting up the name of Jesus – there is nothing like it. This summer, we have the opportunity to gather with our entire Elevation Church family under one roof and record a brand new live worship album in one of our city’s largest venues, Time Warner Cable Arena. This special night of worship will be on August 1 and will close out Love Week 2014. We hope you will join us. For tickets and more information, visit elevationworshiplive.com.

What To Remember When You Lose Your Confidence

Many Christians believe this – God can, but we can’t. And to a certain extent, it’s true. Before Jesus, we all were broken and separated from God because of our sin. But Jesus paid the price for us on the cross, not that we would only see that God is able, but that we would see our own lives as rescued, redeemed, and valuable. In this clip from our series I Don’t Know What I Believe, Pastor Steven teaches us that trusting God is the first step in our faith – but it also takes faith to believe that even though we are who we are, and we’ve done what we’ve done, we are still able through Christ to do great things for His glory.

Finding Your Focus In the Midst of Daily Distractions

We are constantly pulled in all directions every day. There are so many things that demand our attention – our family, our friends, our jobs. And then we have to deal with all the other distractions of life on top of that. How do we stay focused on our faith in a world that inundates us with these constant requests for our attention? How do we cultivate the seed God has planted in our lives when we suffer from sensory overload? In this sermon, Death By Distraction, Pastor Steven teaches us why and how we are so easily distracted, and what Jesus offers to help us regain our focus.

When the Sun Goes Down

I wrote a book a few years ago making a bold assertion: I have seen the sun stand still. I stand by it. I’ve seen God answer plenty of prayers with a miracle. I’ve seen people physically healed in a way that left doctors speechless. I’ve seen couples who had been labeled infertile give birth to healthy boys and girls. I’ve seen people lose their job, pray, and quickly land a new job that paid twice as much and required a fraction of the travel as the last job.

Sometimes—a lot of times—it goes that way. Faith works. Prayers produce. Praise God. There’s nothing better.

But sometimes—a lot of times, honestly—it goes the other way. Sometimes the sun doesn’t stand still. Sometimes the sun goes down.

Sometimes you pray your best, most honest, heartfelt prayers—and there is no answer. Or the answer is no. Sometimes, even though your motives are pure, your desire is good, and your need is urgent, the breakthrough doesn’t come. The turnaround moment doesn’t occur. The cancer spreads. The finances get tighter. The marriage feels more lonely. The kids grow more distant.

Sometimes the sun keeps sinking down, down, down…and no amount of hoping, fasting, or right living can stop it.

Remember, before Joshua ever saw the sun stand still, he had to watch in agony as the sun set slowly on an entire generation. Yes, God gave him the privilege to lead the charge into the Promised Land. But not before he was forced to endure forty years of wilderness wandering because of someone else’s hesitancy. It wasn’t his fault or his lack of faith. He believed. He wanted to obey. Joshua even did everything he could to persuade Moses to see the situation through eyes of faith. But that generation couldn’t see through the doubts and dangers. So Joshua didn’t get to inherit the promise for a long, long time. Joshua spent a large part of his life living in the shadow of a setback. And I imagine there were days when he wondered whether the sun would ever shine again.

Maybe you’re living in a similar shadow right now. You thought you’d be a lot closer to completing your life goals by now. And you’re pretty sure that you’ve done your part to make it happen. But someone else let you down. Something snuck up from behind and knocked you out cold. A crisis came along and crippled your ambition to do great things for God…or even expect anything good from him at all.

These seasons of setback can be fatal to your faith. It’s easy to lose your way when the sun goes down. You can easily slip into a deep spiritual sleep in an attempt to escape the pain.

Or you can choose to convert your times of crisis into the greatest opportunities of your life. It all depends on how you see your crisis—and whether you seize the chance that lies before you.

I can’t in good conscience promise that God will make the sun stand still every time you walk in faith. Your faith does not control God—in fact, human faith on any scale can never put divine providence in your back pocket. That means that, sometimes, people you love will get sick and they won’t recover. You won’t achieve everything you attempt. You’ll have to absorb and manage some pain you didn’t create or invite or deserve. You’ll have days filled with frustration and misery.

Audacious faith does not guarantee a crisis-free life. But audacious faith does enable you to seize the opportunity to see God’s glory in the midst of every crisis in your life.

Even when—and maybe especially when—the sun goes down.

This entry was originally posted December 7th, 2011.

Where God Wants You To Go In Your Worst Situations

In our very worst situations it’s hard not to crumble under the pressure. We may want to run away from the problem, hide from it, or simply just hang our heads in defeat. But in this clip from our series 52 Days of Thanks and Praise, Pastor Steven shows us the option that Jesus offers us – and when we hear what God has to say about our problems, we can begin to let go of our circumstances and let Him take control.