Steven Furtick's Blog, page 74

Finding Purpose On A Bad Day

We have all been there. Stuck in the midst of chaos. The bad days. When it feels like we’re losing the fight. When all hope seems lost and victory seems furthest away. We cry out for God to rescue us from our struggle and fast forward our lives to a better day in the future. But in this clip from our series Living a Better Story, Pastor Steven explains one of the reasons we struggle, and the greater purpose found within our conflicts.

How To Handle Your Greatest Frustrations

Frustration. It’s born in the space between our expectations and our actual experiences. “This isn’t what marriage was supposed look like.” “I thought this job was going to be different.” “I never thought my kids would act that way.” We have all been there. Overcome with frustration and left with nothing but unmet expectations. How are we supposed to respond? Do we suck it up and get on with life? Do we just lower our expectations? Or is there another way? In the first part of our series The Expectation Gap, Pastor Steven uses Mary and Martha to teach us about the source of our greatest frustrations, and what our response should be, in light of who Jesus is.

Infinite, But Intimate

In the morning I lay my requests before you and I wait in expectation.

Psalm 5:3

Prayer is so much more than the puny, ordinary thing we make it out to be. And that’s because the One we’re praying to is not only so much bigger than we’ll ever be able to comprehend. But also so much more willing to respond to us than we’ll ever be able to comprehend as well.

Think about this:

Our galaxy has approximately 250 billion stars and it is estimated that there are 100 billion other galaxies in the universe, each with hundreds of billions of stars. And He’s named each one.
The universe is so vast in relation to the matter it contains that it can be compared in this way: A building 20 miles long, 20 miles wide and 20 miles high that contains 1 grain of sand. And He’s holding it all in the expanse of His hands.
The largest star to date, Canis Majoris, is so large that if Earth’s Sun were replaced by it, its radius would extend beyond the orbit of Saturn. And He merely spoke it into existence.

Prayer isn’t just an empty box to fill in on your morning checklist. Every day you get to speak to the One who created and is sustaining a universe that makes you look like less than a grain of sand in comparison.

But now think about this:

The same God who knows the names of every star knows your name.

The same God who is holding the universe in the expanse of His hands is holding you in His hands.

God is infinite, but He is also intimate. Prayer isn’t just lofting up requests to a distant God with little chance of Him responding. Every day you get to have face time and collaborate with the Creator of the universe.

That’s why Psalm 5:3 says that you can wait in expectation when you pray. You should actually expect God to respond to your prayers. When I’m expecting something my mind is preoccupied with it. My schedule is arranged accordingly. I’m actually anticipating it to happen. Prayer isn’t just having a little five-minute conversation in the morning and then going about your day. Prayer sets the agenda for your day.

God expects you to expect Him to be able to answer your requests. But He also expects you to expect Him to want to answer your requests.

You might be as small as a grain of sand, but you have a privilege no star or galaxy will ever have. Take advantage of it today. Lay your requests before God. And wait in expectation.

This entry was originally posted June 6, 2011

What You Can Never Do No Matter How Hard You Try

We roll up our sleeves, put our best foot forward, and try to achieve our goals and dreams through our own effort. We make promises and commitments. We set up rules and regulations. But no matter how hard we try, we still fall short. We end up disappointed. We never find true success and fulfillment. We fall short of the expectations God designed for His creation. But there is another way. A way to freedom, hope, and reconciliation. In this clip from our series Greater, Pastor Steven uses the story of the prophet Elisha to show how our lives can be fulfilled in one perfect way.

Elevation Creative: The Last Day of Your Life

When we reach the end of our lives, how will we look back on our time? Will we remember our successes? Our regrets? What will see as our defining moments? In this video by our Creative team, adapted from the Chris Milk short film “Last Day Dream,” we look back at one man’s life, through ups and downs, ultimately asking what – and who – defines our days.

You can download this video, and others, for free from our Elevation Resources site.

The Solution to Our Relationship Problems

Disappointment. Betrayal. Brokenness. Our dependance on others often guarantees that they will one day hurt us. In our lives we will unfortunately experience the pain of burned bridges and unmet expectations. But maybe it’s because we want something out of our relationships that God never intended for us to find there. In this clip from the sermon Frustrations of Fixer, Pastor Steven explains the reason why our relationships fail and how to fix them by recalibrating our source for affirmation.

A New Perspective For Moms

There’s a lot of pressure being a parent. We want to raise our children the right way, but there is no definitive handbook for every difficult situation, and we’re bound to make mistakes along the way. For most of us, we’re our own biggest critic. But what do the people who matter most think? How do our children see us? For Mother’s Day this year, we did an experiment asking moms to describe themselves, and then compared that what their own kids said about them. It’s amazing what you can see when you look from different perspective.

In addition, we had the privilege of hearing an inspiring message for Mother’s Day from our very own Lysa TerKeurst, the President of Proverbs 31 Ministries and the New York Times best-selling author of Made to Crave and Unglued.

Something worse than being single and lonely

Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.

Proverbs 21:19

Apparently the greatest form of loneliness isn’t being alone in the desert. It’s being in the presence of someone who knows you a fraction of what they should. Or respects you a fraction of what they should. Or loves you a fraction of what they should.

The truth is the only thing worse than being single and lonely is being married and lonely.

Some people get married thinking that they have found a life companion. To their surprise they get a new roommate. And one that still eats all their food, but now they can’t really say something anymore.

Some people get married thinking they have a new and unwavering ally to fight for what’s worth fighting for. To their surprise they spend the majority of their time fighting each other. And then they’re too tired to fight for anything else.

It would be really easy to slip into self-pity right now. Don’t. This isn’t about your spouse. It’s about you. I’m not writing this to make you feel sorry for yourself. I’m writing this to give you a glimpse into how your spouse might be feeling.

I don’t know your situation. Maybe you aren’t known, respected, or loved the way you should be. And if that’s true, I’m sorry. But self-pity isn’t going to move you an inch closer to the marriage you originally had in mind. It will pervert your perspective and paralyze your marriage’s potential faster than almost any other emotion.

You can’t control how your spouse treats you. But you can control how you treat your spouse. And they should never be lonely.

Choose today to be more than a person your spouse shares a bed with.

Choose today to not be your spouse’s enemy. They’ve already got an Enemy they have to contend with.

Your marriage isn’t destined to be a perpetual reminder of unmet expectations. And it doesn’t have to be a breeding ground for loneliness. It can change.

But the change starts with you.

This entry was originally posted on January 10, 2011.

What You Should Do When It’s Not Going Your Way

God, look what they did to me. God, are you going to let them treat me that way? We have a tendency to let God know when we’ve been wronged, like it’s up to us to help Him keep up with everyone else. In this clip from our series Mr. & Mrs. Betterhalf, Pastor Steven’s wife, Holly teaches us what God has commanded us to do when things aren’t going our way.

You can keep up with Holly and read her unique perspective on being a wife and mother in the ministry though her blog.

Elevation Creative: Distance

Distance. The separation between two things. An understood space. We’ve been studying it and covering it throughout our human existence. And to open our 3D Easter worship experiences, our creative team designed this motion graphics piece describing the distances we know and the one distance and separation we could never fully understand.

Download helpful resources like this for your church or ministry for free at http://resources.elevationchurch.org.