Elevation with Steven Furtick - Bonus Episode: Root Check (Holly Furtick)

Episode Date: December 2, 2020

“Strong women don’t happen by accident.” In “Root Check,” the first lady of Elevation Church, Holly Furtick, shares a special message for women about being rooted in Christ, fostering a strong community, and becoming a woman of action. Learn how to answer the calling on your life and build a foundation that can weather any storm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Welcome to the Elevation Church podcast. We've got a special bonus podcast for you today from our very own Holly Ferdick. She recently shared this message with the women of our church at our annual event called Reflect. But this message is for everyone. We're excited for you to hear it and learn how we can all end this year strong. Enjoy the message.

Are you ready for a message? Yes. All right. God, we thank you so much. that we can be here together tonight. And together looks different this year, but together this year is beautiful, because you are here and you are in our presence, and you are coming together with us across our screens and across our worlds.

And so, God, we unite our hearts together. We unite our faith together. And we open up our minds and our ears because we want to hear from you, Lord. Would you speak to us now? In Jesus' name I pray, amen. All right. So 2020, it's been a really special year. And I don't know if you're like me, but I am just really thankful that it's November.

Not that I think that the clock is going to strike 2021 and all of this crazy madness is going to go away. But as the year winds down, and I'm beginning to reflect on the last nine months, I'm like, wow, a lot of crazy stuff happened. and like, you know, crazy good, crazy weird, crazy bad. And you know what, though? I'd like to focus on the good stuff that have happened. There have been some really cool moments, right? And we've had some great conversations with our families being forced to be together, and we've made some great memories. And I'm just starting to see that in spite of all the craziness, all the

madness, that I have actually learned a few new things this year. Did anybody else learn anything new this year? Like, did anybody learn how to cook this year? My friend Lisa's here. She called me there today. She said, Holly, I cooked four times this week. Aren't you proud of me? Did anyone learn how to teach kindergarten this year? Did anyone learn how to cook, teach kindergarten and work remotely all at the same time? And I don't know if I would say that. I mastered those things, but I did give it my best shot, except for the kindergarten part. Thank God. I don't have any kindergartners. But I did also learn how to remove my own fingernails. I mean, not the actual nail, but you know that heavy nail polish that we love to get put on. And so I thought that we could

take a few moments to look back at all of the beauty blunders of 2020 as I get started. I like to start with something funny, and this is reflect. And so it's good to laugh at ourselves. So I'll start with myself. Here's a picture that I posted back in March on Instagram. There I am. Two hours. Two hours with foil. I was completely incapacitated with foil on my fingers. Soaking those bad boys off because I didn't have the little drill, you know, that they use and get them off in 20 minutes. Did anyone just chew their nails off? Be honest. Type it in the chat. Just give me the teeth emoji. Okay? Type it in the chat. So now I've been honest with you. Type it in the chat if you attempted to wax your own eyebrows, cut your own bangs.

We saw some really bad bang cuts on Instagram. Abby and I one night we wanted to experiment, so we put a semi-permanent pink hair dye on her hair. And Abby has a lot of hair. And it turned out really great, except that I spent the next two weeks trying to get the dye out of my kitchen sink. So that was a little beauty blender for me. Did anyone else attempt to dye their own hair? I read that Madison Reed. That's a company that sells at-home hair kids. Adrian said she dyed her own hair. Their profits increased 750 percent during the spring of all of you trying to dye your hair at home. How many of you took the approach that no matter what, you were going to wait it out?

I think you were the same women who realized how many days you could actually go without showing. showering before anyone in your family noticed. I love memes, and I love, I try to fill my Instagram feed with things that make me laugh. So I wanted to share with you my absolute favorite meme of quarantine. It says, coming out of quarantine like. So I want to know which one you related to the best. Is it the brows or the roots or the eyelashes and the fingernails? So, okay, the men have no clue how hard quarantine. was on us. There were some really hard things that we went through and that we had to learn. Put that slide back up because my message tonight, my inspiration from my message, comes from that

top right picture. So I want you to type it in the chat if you can relate to needing to get your roots done. I took to Instagram to ask some of you to send me pictures of your roots. and that was hilarious. I laughed so hard that I snorted. Chelsea Reynolds, mostly at your picture that you sent me. Would you like to see a couple of them that people sent me? I did get these ladies' permission, by the way. Okay, so here we go.

I just want to highlight a couple. You guys can go through it a little faster. I just got to see some of these ladies up close. Her eyelashes look good, though. Let's see another one. Oh, I like that one. My friend Jess Stack, who's our campus pastor wife in Raleigh, she wins the prize for the longest roots during quarantine, and she did tell me that I could share this picture, although

fun fact, I got it from her hairdresser, because I texted my friend who's her hairdresser. I said, did you get, there's Jess, did you get any good pictures of people with roots? And she sent me this picture of Jess, and bless your heart, Jess. Thanks for sharing that picture with you. tonight it is time for a root check. So look at your neighbor. If you're sitting with someone and say, let me check your roots. If you're watching on Zoom, just put your head up to the camera.

I'm just kidding. You don't have to do that. But do turn in your Bible to Jeremiah 17, verse 7. Let me get mine up here. Here we go. I just got a little verse. I want to read you. It says this.

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought, and it never fails to bear fruit. I love the Bible, and I love this passage because it paints for us a beautiful picture of a person who is like a tree. And I want to be a tree that has roots that go so deep that no matter what the world throws at me, no matter what happens to me, I can operate from a place of strength. And it is November, ladies, and we all know that this is the busiest season of the year,

and it's in the middle of the craziest year ever. And I just was wondering if there's anybody else out there and you're like me and you're like, by God, I'm going to finish this year strong. Are you with me? So tonight we're going to talk about how to have roots that never fail to bear fruit. It's easy to be, to say that you want to be a woman with roots, you know, like that woman you can just handle business, a woman who's a source of strength for everyone around her, not somebody who's perfect, but just, you never, you know anyone it just seems to have poise,

no matter what happens to her. We all want to be that kind of woman that seems to just be able to handle any situation. Can you think of a woman in your life who has roots? A woman who has weathered some storms and some droughts, but always seems to come out on the other side bearing fruit. Have you ever thought, like, I don't know how she does it. I don't know how she handles it. I can tell you this right now. Strong women do not happen by accident. Like, okay, do you know a woman who has a killer body? What is the thing that everyone asks her? How do you do it? Why do we ask this question?

We all know the answer to this question. The answer is diet and exercise. Anyone who has abs does not eat french fries. And yet I keep asking, like maybe she has found some, you know, magic tea that just shrinks her belly after she eats the french fries. Strength does not happen overnight. It happens over time, day in and day out, staying faithful, staying present, working on becoming the best version of yourself that you can be. And this is hard work. Because the easy thing to do is to just blame others for my situation. The easy thing to do is to stay angry and to stay easily offended by every little thing

that doesn't go our way. It's also easy to try really hard for one day. Have you ever done this? Like, okay, I'm going to wake up at five, and I'm going to read my Bible, and I'm going to pray, and I'm going to fast, too. And then by noon, you are on the phone, screaming at customer service, driving through McDonald's. I have nothing against McDonald's. You said you were going to fast, and now you're driving at McDonald's. And, you know, it's like, I remember the first time I took a group fitness class. Remember, I've told you I've never been MVP before. So I did not take my first group fitness class until I was over 30. And there was this woman that went to our church and she taught this class called Body Pump. And anybody ever take Body Pump before? It's not a very popular

class anymore. But at the time, it was this class where you would lift weights to music. So I show up at the class, and the instructor comes over to me. She was not one of those people who ate French fries. And she just says to me, she was like, hey, listen, just start light. You can even just use the bar, because the weights can get really heavy. And I was like, I can do this with the weights. I mean, I don't want to look stupid. And so very stubbornly, I completed the class with the weights. I probably looked stupid anyway, trying to do it with the weights. And when I tell you that I was sore when I was walking to my car, when I woke up the next morning, I said to my husband, I said, I think I have the flu. I could not

move. I could not move for about a week. I could barely go up the stairs. I was like an old lady. My kids were like, they were babies at the time. They were like, mommy, I'm like a year. That's not how you build strength. That's not how you get strong by going to one class, one time. You get strong little by little, day by day. A tree doesn't grow overnight. A tree takes the time to put down roots. And if you want to be a strong woman, a woman who fights for the things in your life that are important to you,

you're going to have to have some roots. Time under tension creates strength. And Jeremiah says that this tree is planting. by the water, and it sends out its roots by the stream. You see, the most important part of the tree happens below the surface. It happens in the places where people cannot see. And I want us to finish this year strong. I don't want to go limping across the finish line into 2020. I want to look back on this year and say, you know what, 2020 threw some stuff at me, but I think I'm stronger for it. How do we do this? How do we do this? We

We've got to check our roots. So I want you to turn in your Bible to Luke chapter one, and I want to show you a woman who had weathered some pretty tough droughts and storms. And I believe that she has a few things that she can teach us tonight about how to have some deep roots. So we're going to look at the life of Mary. Start with me in verse 26. It says this. In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, See, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin, pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

The angel went to her and said, greetings. You are highly favored. The Lord is with you. And Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants.

Forever, his kingdom will never end. How can this be? Mary asks the angel, since I am a virgin. The angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. so the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age. And she who has said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.

For no word from God will ever fail. I am the Lord's servant, Mary said. May your word to me be fulfilled. And then the angel left her. Mary had a massive calling on her life. She was going to be the mother of the Messiah. She was going to raise God. I don't know what it's like to raise God.

I do know what it's like to attempt to raise children, and that is a massive calling. And we know nothing about Mary prior to this passage of Scripture. As the story unfolds, we find out that she's a girl from Nazareth, who's engaged to be married, and an angel comes to her and says, greeting. Have you ever thought about all of the ways that God spoke to people in the Bible up until this point, up until Jesus came? He spoke through dreams, he spoke through a burning bush, he spoke through a talking donkey, he spoke through writing on the wall and even occasionally an audible voice. But we come to this passage and we find Mary, and where was she when the angel came to her?

What was she doing? The passage doesn't say that she was in church or that she was in church. she was kneeling in prayer, that she was sleeping and he came to her in a dream, it just simply says that an angel came to her. And I wonder if God just knew that he could interrupt any old day in Mary's life, that she had such an awareness of God's presence that she was ready to receive from him during her everyday life. And I'm just wondering, are you aware of God's presence in your everyday life? Or she was ready to receive from him during her everyday life? Is your day so loud and so crowded and so back to back to back that God would have to strike

lightning to get your attention? It's so popular for us to talk about self-care right now. And self-care, it really is important. But what if self-care was not about a girl's night out or a day at the spa? What if self-care was not letting your calendar get so full? What if self-care was about saying no? to another thing that you are asked to do or another sports team for your kid. What if self-care is about taking a break from social media? I'm talking to myself, but if you think that being

aware of God's presence means that you get up and pray at 5 a.m., that's great. And if you can do that, you should. I think getting up early is awesome. I just can't do it. I have tried. And when I get up early, I just fall back asleep. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I splash cold water on my face. I mean, I just can't get up early. And I do think that setting aside time to read and study God's Word and pray and listen to music, I do believe that those things are essential for my strength.

And I do practice those things in my everyday life. It's just that I have to look for pockets. You may not have an hour to spend every day in prayer and on your knees. And it's a beautiful thing, like I said, if you do, but do you have any pockets? Like, what do you do on your commute to work? What do you do when you're sitting at your kids' sports practice? I've sat at a lot of sports practices and played candy crush on my phone. I'm just going to be honest with you.

What is playing in the background while you're doing laundry? What do you do on your lunch break at work? Who do you talk to? Or what do you watch? Are you pulling up the news or Netflix or Instagram? Or here's a really hard one for me to say, what's the last thing you do before you fall asleep at night? Mary had space in her life for God.

And we live in a day and time where we are so lucky because we can fill the space in our life with the most amazing sermons from me. the most incredible preachers around the world and worship music is at our fingertips and audiobooks and podcasts. But if you don't have a plan, then you're going to end up scrolling feeds during every extra second that you have during your day. And while I am on the topic about making space in your life, I just want to say that some

of us, I feel like, are letting church slip through our fingers. When we first went into quarantine, you got up early and you got your family up or you got to your kitchen table and you had your coffee and you had your TV on and you gave God your full attention. But now maybe you're just catching it later on YouTube. And by the way, our buildings are open. I don't know if you knew that. But also just about every church that I know is somehow safely meeting together.

And if you're not careful, if you let the important things slip through your fingers, you're going to find yourself in a very difficult storm, and you're not going to have the roots to get you through because you have not made God's presence a priority in your life. It's time for us to wake up ladies and position ourselves to hear God speak to us because the strength that you need in the next season is right here in the things that God is speaking to you now. Are you aware? Mary was aware. And the angel comes to her and tells her, you have found favor with God. You're going to give birth to the Son of the Most High and the power of the Holy Spirit is going to come upon you. And what did Mary say? She said, I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled. Now, if they were me, if I were married, when the angel came to me and said that, I'm not sure that I am the Lord's servant would be the first thing out of my mouth. I have some things that I would want to know.

If you qualifying, God, did you know that I'm just a girl and I don't know nothing about raising no baby? Or God, did you, like, I don't think anybody's going to believe me. I mean, a virgin pregnant? I'm, I don't, how's that going to go, God? I mean, I'm not good enough. I'm not strong enough. I'm not smart enough.

What about my past? What about the things that I've done, the mistakes that I've made? I mean, God, you don't want to use me. I mean, I think that you could use her. I was actually thinking, Lord, that maybe I could have a more upfront calling than rather like a behind-the-scenes calling. Maybe, God, I could be a prophetess instead of a diaper changer. But Mary accepted the calling that God had placed on her life.

And you've got to have the root of acceptance in your life. Because if you don't, you're going to abandon your calling at the first sign of trouble. Because the thing about a calling is your calling is only for you. You can't trade it for someone else's, although I know sometimes we look at somebody else. you're like, God, why didn't you call me to do that? That looks like so much more fun than this. You can't return it for a different one. I like to return things. It's like a habit that I have. I like to order things online and then try them on and then return them. You can't return your calling. You can either reject it or you can accept it. And I am so guilty of rejecting my own calling, not outright,

of course. I mean, of course, Mary was never going to be like, God, I'm not going to do that. It's more subtle. It's not like Jonah who went in the opposite direction of where God was calling him. I think I can just sometimes let myself get stuck. And some days, if I'm being honest, I'm unwilling to put in the work that's required to accomplish the things that God wants me to do. I'm just going to say it this way. It's kind of hard for you to come out of my mouth, but I'm lazy. And I would rather watch YouTube videos of someone else's day in the life than actually live mine with the purpose that God has given me some days. Can I be honest? I mean, is anybody with me? Some of you were giving me the praise hands. It took me years. There were years

where I just simply did not want to put in the work that was required to preach a good sermon. My husband would be like, I want you to preach. I'm not good at preaching. But you know what? It takes work to write a good sermon. And you know what else it takes to put a good sermon together? Reading your Bible. But at the time, I think it was easier for me to hide behind the idea that I wasn't good enough, that I didn't have what it takes. Was that really it? I'm not sure that it was. I mean, I'm sure that I struggled to have confidence, but I really don't think that I was willing to put in the work, to live. out the things that God was calling me to do. And you're enough.

You have everything that you need to do what God is calling you to do. But it doesn't mean that it's not going to be hard. Repetition over time creates strength. You might be thinking like, well, I don't really know what I'm called to do. I have an answer for you. It's really simple. You're called to do whatever God has placed in your life. life right now. Not one day when I get married, not one day when I have more money, not one day

when I have my own house, I'll have people over. I just want you to hear me say tonight, the best person to raise your kids is you. The best person to do your job is you. The best person to speak up for that cause that's just so burdened on your heart. That's your calling. It's you. You are called to the place that you are right now, your high school, your neighborhood, your coworkers. They need to see you confidently walking in the calling that God has given you. And when you go through something hard, all the people around you are going to see your strength and your resilience and your dependence on God as you go through whatever your challenges are. Challenges are unavoidable in life. And we like to think of Mary when the angel visited her and how glorious

and beautiful that was. But what about Mary when nobody did believe her that she was pregnant? What about that hard part? What about the part where Mary had to give birth to a baby in a barn? Talk about giving birth during COVID. Mary gave birth to a baby in a barn. What about the hard part where Mary stood at the foot of the cross and watched her son. It's a woman. experienced the most unimaginable pain and rejection. And I believe that it was in those moments that Mary had to come back to that encounter with the angel. And she had to remember what she was chosen for. She said, all right, I am the Lord's servant.

Write this down. This is deep. This is really deep. I can do hard things. You can. You can do hard things. Nobody ever said that a calling was easy. Having a calling requires you to have strength so that you can move through the difficult times. And the minute that Mary accepted her calling, she went into action. Look at this. All right, so we've got verse 38, and Mary says, I am the Lord's servant. May your word to me be fulfilled, and then the angel

left her. At that time, Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. Let me ask you a question. When God gives you a direction, what is your response time? God uses people who, who hear His word and move. And it starts with the small things. Because if you can't hear and act in the small things, then you won't be able to do it in the big things. I promise you.

I know you think if God would just call me to do something big, then I would do it, but I don't want to do this small thing. But let me tell you, the small things are practiced for the big things. And I just wonder tonight, what is the last small thing that God asked you to do? Maybe he asked you to apologize to someone. Did you do it? Maybe he asked you to begin the process of forgiveness, and I know that forgiveness is complicated, and I'm not saying they have to go, you know, be friends with that person again, but maybe

he just whispered into your spirit. I want you to start to forgive that person. I know they hurt you, but forgiveness is for you. Did you do it? Maybe he asked you to start an e-group or a Bible study in your home. Becoming a woman of action takes practice. And the absolute best thing that you can do for the people in your life that you love is be a healthy person yourself.

It's to be a woman who is able to hear God's voice and act on it in the simplest, smallest ways. You put down your phone and you spend time with your child or maybe you send a text message. God just put somebody on your heart so you send it. It's the small things. is good, and he is patient, but he is not going to give you step two before you do step one. Now, the good news is that step one is still right there waiting for you right now. A woman who takes action understands that better is not out there. Better is right here right now.

And that woman is able to look around and figure out what is the next step that God wants me to take. What is something that I can do right now? So what does Mary do? She goes to see Elizabeth. And this is the part of the story that really gets me. I'm really passionate about this. I want you to understand that strong women understand the power of attachment. When I am confident in my calling, I don't need to compete, I don't need to compare.

I simply need to align myself with those who can confirm. what is already inside of me. You are never intended to live out your calling alone. And I'm not talking about having a husband. I am talking about having a group of women around you who will support you, but you have to get the order right first. You've got to get the order right first. Mary was aware, so she was able to hear from God when he spoke to her. Then she accepted the calling that God it placed on her life. Then she acted. And so she knew, what is the stuff that I need to take? Well, I'm going to have a baby. So I better get around someone who's a little bit farther down the road from me. And the angel happened to tell me, your cousin Elizabeth has also conceived.

Now, you might be thinking, she talks about friendship every year. Yes, I do. Because I still see women who don't get it. We need each other. I need you and you. You need me. Over the past year or so, I've become obsessed with elephants. You may have caught on to that tonight because we've got an elephant necklace, and we've got an elephant ornament. We've got all these fun things. And it's because, well, it all started with a fiction book by Jody Picoe. I don't know if anybody is a Jody Picoe fan.

I am a fan of fiction. And those of you who know me know that I just, I love stories. So I listened to this book. It was about elephants, and it got me really intrigued. So then I watched some YouTube videos. and I watched the documentary, then I listen to a memoir. It was just the whole thing. So I want to share with you a couple of things that I learned about elephants, because they are an incredible species. They are among the most intelligent species of animals. Their intelligence

can rival that of primates and dolphins and whales. Elephants can solve complex problems. They can recognize their reflection in the mirror, self-awareness. Shout out to reflect five years ago, if you were here. Elephants can dance to the beat of music, and they can even communicate with each other through infrasonic sounds, like these sounds that are inaudible to the human ear when they communicate six miles apart. But that's not the best part about elephants to me. Elephants are a matriarchal society. So this means that they kick the boys out when they become teenagers, and they operate as a unit. They care for each other's young.

The older teach the younger how to watch for danger, how to find water in a drought. They grieve with each other when one loses a baby. They slow down when someone in their herd is sick or injured. And they have this thing that they do when one of their own is vulnerable. They circle up. I want you to look at this picture that I have for you. Keep it up there because as you see, the elephants are in a circle. but the strong ones are facing out.

And I want you to notice that there are some that are obviously older and bigger than others. There are some children there that are learning. This is what we do. This is a herd of elephants. And most likely what they're doing is they're either protecting the young from danger, which I don't think that's what's happening in this picture because we have the little one and kind of poking his head out. Most likely what they're doing is one of their own is in labor.

And so when one of their own is giving birth to something and they're in a vulnerable position, they circle up, they huddle around each other to protect their own from the outward danger that she is facing in that moment. And ladies, I don't know if you've ever had the honor of having some women come around you during a time of need, but it is a beautiful thing to experience. I'm trying to get you to see tonight that, yeah, having roots does require. you to do some things on your own, to be aware of God's presence and to accept or calling, be ready to act.

And when you see that direction from God, but you're also going to need others to support you on your way. And every time I say something about the importance of female friendships, someone inevitably says or comments on my Instagram or whatever, they say something like, well, I've tried and I'm just too hurt and I am just going to go away. alone. And I thought about that tonight, and I thought about all the teenage girls who are out there watching. Shout out to my elevation youth. I know that many of your groups are meeting together, and I just want to say to all the teenage girls who are hearing me talk about having a group

of women around you that mean girls are a real thing. And unfortunately, they don't go away when you graduate high school. But I wonder tonight if maybe you're using the wrong criteria for your support system, what you want to do is get yourself around someone who's a little bit farther down the road from you. Maybe not in age, maybe just immaturity, in maturity, not immaturity. Someone that you look up to for who they are, not what they wear, someone that you admire for the person that they are, not how many followers that they have. And I'm not just talking to the teenage girls anymore, ladies. When Mary got to Elizabeth immediately confirmed what was already happening inside of Mary. She celebrated her, and she brought her into her life. The Bible tells us that

Elizabeth was six months pregnant, and that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months. I don't know if you could do the math on that. But I think that Mary stayed until Elizabeth gave birth. And I don't know about you, but I think when it came time for Mary to give birth to her own child alone in a barn, I just wonder whose voice was in her head because she got herself around somebody who could help her. Check your roots tonight. Who is around you? Who is cheering you on? Who has fought with you?

Who is grieved with you? Maybe you don't know where to start. I have an idea for you. Who are you watching with right now? See, I have some friends in this room whose friendship means everything to me. Some of them live here in town. A few of them got on an airplane during a pandemic to come and see me. And these ladies are more than just people that I hang out with for fun.

We've prayed each other through things. We've prayed each other through cancer and loss. We've prayed each other through ministry and kids. And there are some women in this room that mean the world to me. And in a few minutes, we're going to get to share with each other what God is speaking to us. And I really hope that you'll take the time to dig in on the root of friendship tonight. The whole reason I didn't want you to watch alone is because I am so sick of virtual relationships. I want us to have face-to-face conversation.

Zoom and FaceTime. It counts. But you've got to look somebody in the eyes and say, help. Or can I help you? But if you don't build it now, that's the thing about roots. You've got to build them before the storm comes. They have to send them out to the stream before. the drought comes. Because if you don't build those relationships now, you won't have them

when you need them. And you know what? It is an amazing thing, a beautiful thing to feel the support of other women in your life during a difficult time. But it's also a privilege to do it for someone else. When you walk alongside a friend through a divorce or a loss or a sickness or infertility, You experience a level of friendship that a girl's night out is never going to provide. But it takes vulnerability, takes relationship, takes time. Remember, roots take time. So Elizabeth, she confirms what's inside of Mary. She says,

Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord fulfill his promises to her, and then Mary begins her prayer. And she says, my soul glorifies the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. He picked me. And from now on, all generations will call me blessed for the mighty one, has done great things for me.

Holy is his name. You see, it was good for Mary to have Elizabeth to confirm what God had called Mary to do, but there comes a time when the affirmation that you need has to come from within yourself with your own mouth when you begin to worship God. Before Mary saw any fruit, she had to center her focus on who her God was to her. was her Savior, the mighty one who had done great things for her. Worship like this only flows from someone who has a living, breathing relationship with her father. She goes on to just quote scripture. She just pieces it together from the different prophecies in the Bible. It's scripture

that she had planted in her spirit as a child, and it poured out of her mouth. Because long before she was visited by an angel, she was putting down roots. Mary focused her faith on the one who had called her. She didn't list out all the things that could go wrong. She didn't think about all the hardships that would lay ahead because if she had, she probably wouldn't have accepted this calling, but she stayed focused on who God was and who she was in Christ. This makes sense when we read it about Mary, the mother of Jesus, but these are things

that we must put into action in our own lives. This is the root that you draw from on the days where you feel weak, when you feel like you don't have what it takes, when perhaps no one knows exactly what you're going through because it's just too personal or too soon, or you just can't verbalize it. Sometimes the affirmation that you need has to come from within. Several weeks ago, I woke up to the start of a very long day. And I had a million and one things to do. Some of them small, some of them big. And I already told you, I'm not a morning person.

So when my alarm went off at 6 a.m., I immediately was feeling overwhelmed. And I just, I don't know if you ever feel like that when you wake up. I feel like that when I wake up almost every morning. But this morning, I actually was like deserved to feel that way. And so I woke up and I just, everything just felt so heavy, and I dragged myself out of bed and headed to the bathroom. And I thought to myself, I can do this. And my husband sat up in bed and he said, what can you do? And honestly, I was shocked and I was a little bit embarrassed because I didn't realize that I had said it out loud.

I felt like he was like invading my space. I was like, and I realized I said out loud, I can do this. And so when he said, what can you do, I looked at him and I said, everything. It probably wasn't like that. It was probably more like, everything. Everything that I have to do today, I can do it. I promise you, I do not get this right. 99 times out of 100. But that particular day, in the darkness of my bedroom and in the darkness

of the morning, somehow my soul was able to tap those roots that I had spent time and I was reminded of Philippians 413. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. My goal for you tonight was for you to come and for you to feel refreshed and for you to just take a deep breath, you'd feel encouraged. But most of all, I wanted you to hear me say, you can do this. You can finish 2020 strong. Everything, everything that you were called to do and not one thing extra. You are a chosen child of the most high God, and you are a rooted woman. and you can finish strong. Because together, we're not going to limp across the finish line to 2020.

Together, we're going to help each other. We're going to pray for each other. We're going to lift each other up. And on those mornings where we just feel alone and overwhelmed, we're going to tap that root that's deep inside of us, and we're going to say, all right, God, I can do this. Whatever it is that you've called me to do, God, I can do it. And I'm going to do it with a good attitude. And I'm going to do it because I am empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Remember, the angel said the Holy Spirit will come upon you. You are not alone. You're not alone physically and you're not alone spiritually. Everything that God has called you to do, he's going to put in your spirit and he's going to give you his Spirit, and together you're going to accomplish the amazing things that God has put right in front of you right now. You can do this. Everything, everything, everything that you're called to do and not one thing extra. So I want to pray for you tonight. I just want to take a minute and pray over you. God, thank you for this night. Thank you for these women that are gathered

literally all over our world. Thank you that we live in a day and time where nothing can stop your church. Nothing can stop us from meeting together. Just take a breath. Breathe in and realize that you chosen child of the most high king. And I want to pray for those of you who are tired and overwhelmed, God would just whisper to you in this moment that he is your strength. I want to pray for the one who is busy. God, for those of us who are busy and when we head into the busiest time of the year, it's just busy on top of busy on top of busy. Would you just be busy? Would you? you show us the pockets of time that we have? Would you whisper to our spirit when we're scrolling in the wrong places when we have a minute to hear a word from you, to re-senter our focus and worship

you? Would you just whisper it to us? Would you give us a song to get us through the end of the year? Would you give us a word? Would you give us a verse? God, show us those little pockets of time And I believe that when we center our focus on you, when we see that pocket and we come to you, God, that you're going to give us that little bit of strength that we need for the next thing that you've called us to do. Help us to fight. Help us to keep fighting. Help us to realize that in you, we're stronger than we think we are. Make us aware of your presence in this place right now for every person that's,

watching in this moment, maybe in a couple of hours or in a couple of days. God, you're not bound by time. Your spirit can reach through a screen and grab our hearts when we give you our time and our focus and our faith. And that's what we're doing right now, right here, in this moment. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible.

you can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot, and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.