Elevation with Steven Furtick - Chasing Contentment (Wade Joye)

Episode Date: October 14, 2019

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This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. If you don't know me, my name is Wade Joy. I'm the worship pastor here at the church, and I have the incredible honor and privilege to preach and bring God's word to you this weekend. I am excited. So are you ready for the word? Yes.

All right, I'm ready to preach. Here we go. We're going to be in Philippians chapter four for our short time together. This is verse 6 through 13. It says this, stay standing. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with Thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Now, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. And whatever you've learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. I've rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. And I'm not saying this because I am in need, for I've learned to be content, whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to have plenty. I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation,

whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, I can do all this through him who gives me strength. So the title of the message that God's given me for our church today is chasing contentment. Jesus. Lord, I pray that you speak to us through your word. I pray, God, that you will give us hearts to believe. God, give us ears to hear and the faith to obey. in Jesus' name we pray amen all right go ahead and give about five or six hugs before you head to your seats so like I said I'm I'm the worship pastor here at the church so naturally I love music I'm a retired worship leader retired songwriter I used to dabble and all that and so I was I was with my three kids I have three little girls and I was trying to give them a history lesson of music and specifically

the evolution of my love for music and really this was just an excuse to make them listen to all my favorite high school bands from the 90s. So we listen to Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam. I think we've got some fans in here. Also, Foo Fighters, one of my favorite bands. There's actually, there's a debate in our family. I have twins, Adley and Leanna. Adley loves pop music. She's not a huge fan of rock. Leanna, she's my rock, my rock kid. And her favorite band at 11 years old is Foo Fighters. So if I've done nothing right as a parent, I've at least done that one thing right. So we're just, We were talking about all these bands, and I realized that I really fell in love with music way earlier before high school.

And I think I remembered the very first song I wrote. And it was back in second grade. I grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. Go Gamecocks. It's probably the only time I can never say that with confidence from this age is this weekend. It's probably heresy to say this. I'm sorry, Pastor Stephen. But I grew up in Columbia and had a great childhood.

Amazing parents. They were a tad overprotective. maybe a lot overprotective. But I didn't get it at the time, but I'm a parent now, so I'm kind of overprotective, and I saw that there's, now I see there was love and wisdom behind some of their rules. But my second grade year, I did not comprehend that, because my second grade year was full of angst and frustration due to certain bike riding limitations that were opposed upon me against my will. So I would come home from school, and me and my friends did what every elementary school boy did back in the 80s before the internet. We actually went outside.

We rode our bikes. It was awesome. You should try it. And so, you know, my parents say, let me ride my bike on this one small stretcher road right in front of our house. We lived on Mountain Book Drive, and I could ride my bike all the way up to the stop sign, but I couldn't go past the stop sign. And at first, that was great. I mean, me and my friends, we just tore up the pavement right in front of my house, showing off all of our tricks. It was great. It was great. But then I think my friends started to get a little restless because their parents were a bit more liberal with the rules than mine. So one day, we rode up to the stop sign and then instead of my friends turning around to go back to my house, they just kept going. And they ditched me.

I want you to imagine poor little second grade Wade just standing at the stop sign, just so sad, just wondering what treasures and wonder and joy awaited my friends in this huge neighborhood. And so I pedal my bike back to my parents. And I'm begging, I'm pleading. I'm trying to reason with them with all of my second grade wisdom while I'm responsible. And I can handle it. And my friends are doing it. And none of it worked.

Try a new tactic. And I was like, you know, who's going to mess with a man or boy of my stature? You know, I was very intimidating at second grade. That didn't work either. So every day, ride to the stop sign, wave to my friends. I was just sad, just pouting. So one day I'd had enough, and I just rode my bike back to the house, and I threw my bike up against the fence, and I sat down up against the fence. Once again, picture a little second grade Wade, which was about the size of 43-year-old Wade.

And I'm just sitting here at the fence. May have been tears involved. And then a song began to rise from my spirit, a cry to the Lord. To the best of my knowledge is the first time I remember writing a song, and it went something like this. Nobody understands me. Nobody understands me. It's real complicated if you catch it. Sing a long. Nobody understands me. Big finish.

Nobody understands me. See, you could tell at second grade I had a talent for simplicity. repetition. I knew the power of that in songwriting. And eventually I made it past the stop sign in third grade, but I don't think I ever made it past that feeling, whether in second grade or at 43, thinking like there's something that I'm missing out on just beyond the stop sign. How in the world could I be happy or content on this small stretch of road when a whole neighborhood awaits if I could just get there, if I could just be that, if I could just achieve that, then maybe I would be happy, maybe I could find joy, maybe I could be content. And so Paul's writing in Philippians about

contentment, and I think I've always thought contentment was one of two things. Either my life had to be perfect, which I don't know about you, but mine's never been that way, or I have to pretend like it's perfect and fake it and be happy with decisions. that are made that I had no control over, and somehow that was contentment. And, you know, full disclosure, I have a very blessed life. I love my life. I love my family. I love my church. I'm getting to live out my dreams. But how many of you know that the struggle for contentment is not just when you're in the valley and you wish you were on the mountain? Sometimes you're on the mountain and you're satisfied and you're happy that you're on the mountain until you look over and you see

your friend on another mountain that's just a little bit taller, a little bit bigger, a little bit sexier than your mountain, and you feel like, you know, I was satisfied, but now I'm not. Because we all want this. We all want that feeling of contentment. We want to be content with our relationships, our friendships, our friendships. We want to be content with our career. We want to be content with our bank account and our finances. You know, we want to be content. We have this picture-perfect image of what our life should be. And if it could just be that, then I'd be content. But I didn't really know how to be content when I got the call from the doctor seven years ago that my five-week-old daughter, Sidney, had cystic fibrosis. I wasn't sure how to be content with that. And I wasn't sure how to

one day tell her to be content with that. I mean, how do you be content with the fact that your husband just walked out and left. How are you content with the fact that you raised your son in church and now they're hooked on drugs? How are you content with a job that you hate? How are you content with the things in your life that you really wished you had the power to change, but you can't? So we keep chasing it and we keep struggling with it and we keep thinking, if we can just get my life to look this way, then I'll finally get it. Then I'll finally get it. finally be content. And sometimes for me, in the chasing, I've made some of the dumbest decisions of my life, chasing this fleeting feeling of contentment. And I really believe God put this strongly

in my heart. Some of you are on the verge of sabotaging your life trying to find contentment, because you think it's in the next marriage, and you're about to abandon this one. You think it's in the next career, and you're about to make a choice to find contentment and ruin your life. in the process. And so somewhere along the way, I think I've caught the wrong thought about what contentment really is. And maybe you have to. How many of you heard the sermon last weekend? I caught a thought. Incredible sermon, wasn't it? If you haven't listened, you need to go back and listen to it. But I think I've caught the wrong thought. I think our culture has caught the wrong thought about what contentment is. And I think Paul's trying to explain it to us right here.

and if you don't know, Paul was writing this whole treatise on contentment from a prison cell, which is not the ideal place in my mind to write about contentment. But I think it's exactly where God wanted him to write it from. See, Paul's not saying I'm content with the prison. He's not saying I'm happy about it. He's not saying I'm content with the lack of resource. I'm content with the fact that I'm being persecuted for the gospel. That's not it at all.

And I think if you don't read verse 12 carefully, you'll miss it. This is what Paul says. It says, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. So Paul is not saying there's a secret to being content with your season. Because honestly, sometimes I don't think God's content with our season. I don't think God wants us to hurt that way or to suffer. But Paul is saying there's a secret of being content in it. It's not with it.

It's in it. I had the wrong preposition there the whole time. Paul is saying there's a secret of being content in your trial, not with your trial. And I think that is what caused the first century world to take notice of these people like Paul who claimed to follow this self-proclaimed Messiah named Jesus, and they're facing down death and persecution, and they still have joy, and they're still rejoicing. And the first century world didn't understand that. And honestly, sometimes I don't understand it either.

I don't understand how to be content in any and every season. And so that was the message that I really wanted to preach today, that it's not with, it's in, because it sounds cute and it's true at face value. But the more I started thinking about it, and the more I started thinking about, you know, how do I explain to Sidney one day? How are you content in cystic fibrosis? How do I explain to the person who doesn't have a job? How are you, don't just, stop being content with it, just be content in it.

It doesn't change how you feel. It doesn't matter what words you put there. It doesn't matter, you know, what sounds cute. I still feel miserable. I still feel frustrated. I still feel like there's just something missing in my life. So maybe that's part of the secret, but maybe it's not all of the secret. And so last Sunday after church, I was sitting on my couch, 2.30 in the afternoon.

And I was just looking at Philippians floor. I was like, God, what is the secret? I really, I want to know because I struggle with this. And here's what I love about the Word of God. You can read a passage for years. And then in a moment, the Holy Spirit can just illuminate a truth that you needed to hear that exact right moment at that exact right time. And when God showed me this, I wanted to come to Valentine right then and preach. And normally, I'm usually really nervous to stand on the stage.

I'm nervous right now. But I couldn't wait to share this with you because it started to help me. And I really pray it helps you. And I think the secret is in verse 9. Here it is. Paul says, whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. So I think God sent me here to tell you to stop chasing contentment. Practice it. Contentment is not a chase. It's not a magical download. Contentment is a practice and it takes work and it takes repetition and it's not normal. It's a practice. Turn to your

your neighbors say, we're talking about practice here today. I feel the spirit of Alan Iverson coming over me. We're talking about practice. See, you can be content in your situation, but it takes practice. It's not your default setting. See, I love guitar. My favorite guitar player, Stevie Ray Vaughn. And, you know, I wish, one Stevie Ray fan right over there. And I wish I just came out of the womb with a guitar in hand, just playing his version of Little wing. First, that would have been a very awkward and painful birth for my mom. That was the case. But no, I didn't know anything about a guitar. It took years and years and years in high school of just closing the door, playing along with my favorite bands, my favorite music, practicing my

scales, learning a C chord and a D chord and a G chord. And now I don't play anywhere near Stevie Ray. If I did, I'd be taking Joey's spot over here every single weekend. But I'm know enough chords to get the job done. And I don't have to think anymore. more about how to play a C or how to play a D or an E minor, it comes naturally. And so it took practice to make something that wasn't natural feel natural. And so Paul is saying, you are not prone to make the choice that leads to consentment. It is not natural. But as he looked at his life and looked at some skills that he had put into practice

day after day, month after month, year after year, even when it didn't feel normal, when he began to learn the secret of being content in a situation. He is telling the church in Philippi, if you practice these things, you can learn it too. So I think there's three skills that we can practice. So the rest of our time together, the next 22 minutes, it's not a sermon, it's practice. So get your sweats on, stretch, get loose. We're going to practice together. Three skills that we're going to practice to help cultivate a heart of contentment.

And the first is this. So note takers, write this down. It's practice the petition. practice the petition. So one of my daughters, Adley, it doesn't matter if it's breakfast, lunch, dinner, if I ever ask her where she wants to eat. It doesn't matter if it's a daddy-daughter date, we're going to hurry on the way to church. Her response is 100% without fail, without a doubt, always the same. Gingas Grill.

Loves Gingis Grill. I mean, she loves everything about Gingis Grill. She loves the selection on the men. the variety. She loves the dining experience, the ambience, the atmosphere. She just graduated from a small bowl to a big bowl. She loves everything about Gingas. I enjoy Genghis. I feel like I've said yes to Gingis enough to show my love for Adley and the great dining establishment of Gingis Grill. But there's also not a Gingis close to our house. So I've also exercised my fatherly veto many times. We're in a hurry and I'm like, we can't go to Gingis today. Well, a few weeks ago,

I came home from church. I'd been visiting some campuses, and Ferris and the girls had beat me home, and Adley is just smiling. Her face is just beaming ear to ear. And I'm like, oh, gosh, like, one of her friends must have given their life to Christ. Somebody must have gotten baptized at church. I'm like, Adley, what happened? And she's like, Mommy took me to Gingas. Well, she's easy to please. And she was like, you know, we were running errands on the way home from church, and we stopped at a place that was really close to Gingis, and I wanted to ask Mommy if we could go. but I figured she'd probably say no when I kept almost asking and then I didn't

and I almost asked and I thought she'd say no and finally we were walking out the door and I was like, Mommy, there's Gingis and she said yes and at first I was really shocked that she's surprised that Ferris would say yes because our bank account shows that she says yes to Adley a lot.

That didn't quite connect. But I realized that I think the exact same thoughts about God that it doesn't matter how many good things the Lord has done for me over my life. For some reason, I think his disposition towards me is no. And I might tell you, yes, God is good, but I have a hard time believing that he actually wants good things for me. I mean, he might take me to McDonald's, but not Gingas. I mean,

it's so hard for me to believe the truth that God wants something good for me. And sometimes I feel like if I want something enough, it's probably an idol. There's no way God would want me to have it. And I've misdefined contentment as believing for a no, so I'm not disappointed when I want a yes, and I don't get it. And all that does for me is I lower my level of expectation, I lower my level of faith, I lower my level of belief, and I claim it's contentment and it's really just complacency. I've just settled. And I don't think Paul says contentment is found from me.

just accepting your situation, no questions asked. I think Paul says, God wants us to ask. He wants us to ask him to move, ask him to work. Look at Philippians 4-6, one more time. It says, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your request to God. So Paul says offer up prayers and petitions. Prayer is one of those words. We say a lot in church, and we can become numb to it. So I want to focus on the word petition. because it sounded like a strong word, and I was drawn to it. So I looked it up. And the definition of petition is to make or present a formal request to an authority with respect to a particular cause. So contentment isn't found in just accepting things as they are. It's found when we

recognize that there's actually someone in our life with the power and authority to make it better. And that person is not us. It's appealing to a higher authority who has the power to act, but also the wisdom to know when and how to act. And sometimes when not to act. So the first step is recognizing that I am not in authority over my life. There are some things, like, he might be discontent because everyone else is getting the promotion. And it's really because you're late and you're lazy and you don't actually work hard. That's when things are in your authority. I'm talking about the things that are actually out of your control and realizing that there's nothing we can do to fix this. So we have to appeal to a higher authority. And so to make petitions, we have to stop hiding our emotions,

hiding our desires, hiding our requests from God. I mean, it's the worst game of hide and seek ever. You can't hide anything from the Lord. And my twins are right here and I feel like I need to confess in front of thousands of people right now that all those times growing up when we played hide and seek and I was like, where's Leanna? Where's Avley? I knew where y'all were the entire time. So forgive me, dad lie. But that's the way it is we try to hide what we want from God and he knows. And here's what actually makes that dangerous. It's when we do that, we begin to believe the lie that God doesn't listen and God doesn't care.

And when that happens, we start to lose hope. And there's no way you can have contentment without hope. The Bible says that hope deferred makes the heart sick. we have to hope that God wants to move and can move if we're ever going to cultivate a heart of contentment. And so petitioning God is also cultivating hope. So here's what that looks like in my life right now. This is just a window into my prayer life. And I wish I could say that I wake up at five in the morning and spend an hour of uninterrupted communion with the blessed Lord Jesus. And I just hear his audible voice. I'm barely saved at five in the morning.

I'm not away. I'm not one of those. I wake up at five and go work out. I'm not that person. I get my best prayer time done in the car. And that's not just praying blessings over people in Charlotte traffic. It's actually, I can be still and quiet and alone and actually talk to God because prayer for me right now is it's kind of messy and it doesn't feel very churchy. And it starts with trying to be brutally honest with God. So I'll just try to get all my feelings. out and I'll say, okay, God, I'm really, really nervous about this meeting today. I feel like everyone's going to finally realize that I'm not that smart and I don't have what it takes, or I'm nervous about this conversation because I really want this person to like me, but I know you want me to say this. You know, I feel like no one understands me. I'm still that second grade kid,

you know, mad about the bike. And I just get all the emotions out, all of it. And then I try to move past the emotion to truth and say, God, but I do know, no, matter how I feel, that you are for me, that you've called me, that you've equipped me. And so I try to say it out loud so I actually, like, get that in my heart. And then I make the petition. And the petition doesn't have to be very big. In fact, just, you know, a month or two ago, I was driving home from work and I had a day where I felt like just one of those days I didn't feel like I was winning.

And I remember just praying to God and telling them all that, saying, you know, Lord, I know that you're supposed to be the source of mine. and my validation, and I'm not supposed to need other people's encouragement. But just this once. If just I could hear your approval of me through the lips of another, that would be awesome. But if you say, no, I get it. You're probably trying to teach me that I don't need that. And then I just kind of threw the prayer out.

Kind of like, hey, Gingas, it's right over there. And I didn't think about it. Well, that night I get home, and I get two unsolicited texts from two people who are not prone to give me encouragement, but it was very specific. It was very timely, and it was almost like God heard my prayer and answered it. And it started to, like, stir up faith in my heart. And you might call it coincidence, and maybe it was, but that doesn't change the fact that it made me think, okay, God does listen to me. And maybe I'm starting to look over here and say, well, maybe that's God working there and maybe that's God working here. And I start to begin to make bolder petitions about bigger things. And I remember

that yes, my daughter, Sidney has cystic fibrosis, and she's healthy now, but I kind of gotten complacent and praying for her healing. And life expectancy for that is age 40. And so God was like, stop, stop just accepting that, but like be bold in your petition, be bold in your faith, start hoping again. And I wonder if there are things in your life where you've given up hope. And God has sent a five-foot, six-inch blonde man to tell you, to hope again that God, he's an authority over your life. He has the power to act. But we've got to bring our whole heart, our whole self to him.

We have to stop hiding from God, start hoping in God. That's the only way we're ever going to be able to cultivate a heart that's content. Because even when the answer is no, the posture of forgiveness is just submitting to our authority and saying, God, I trust you, I love you. I know even if your answer is no now that you can work all things together for good. So we've got to practice the petition. Here's the second skill to practice, and that is practice the pivot. Practice the pivot.

So here's Paul in prison, not denying the reality of his situation, but he's trying to teach the church that even in the worst situation possible, you can still choose your focus. So you can say either I'm going to focus on the thing that feeds my fear or I'm going to pivot my heart and my focus to the thing that fuels my faith. I can focus on the source of my worry and I can obsess over that or I can pivot my heart to the whatever. And this is the whatever that he's talking about. Verse 8, I love this verse. It says, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, whatever is admirable, whatever is admirable, whatever is admirable.

whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things paul is saying that there is a whatever in any season in any circumstance no matter how bad it is we can find a whatever if we learn to pivot one of my favorite series pastors even ever taught is god's will is whatever any of y'all around for that it's amazing series and i would like to humbly just suggest and propose that maybe this could be a sequel and that is your contentment is whatever. It's whatever you feed, whatever you focus on, whatever you gaze at with your heart. We have to learn the art of the whatever, of the pivot, because it's not whatever feels true or feels right. It's whatever is true. Whatever is right. There's a big difference.

Contentment is not a feeling. It's a focus. And that heart pivot is not natural. It takes practice. So, you know, Paul is saying, don't just say this situation isn't good. pivot your heart to say, but I know God is good. He's not just saying, you know, obsess over the betrayal. He's saying pivot your heart to say, I'm going to actually act on and move on forgiveness. Yes, you can recognize this is the hardest thing I've ever been through, but learn to pivot your heart to remember that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It's the art of the pivot. And that's why what we're doing in here right now and what we do every single weekend is so, so important because your greatest weapon in the fight for contentment

is worship. Because there is no greater thing to help you pivot your eyes off of yourself, your eyes off of your circumstances, and onto Jesus and on to God and onto the higher authority, then worship. This atmosphere of faith, we have to make sure we prioritize that because this is, it's pivot practice, it's contentment practice every time we're in the house of God. So Friday, I came in here to practice my message because this is not my default setting. And so I wanted to run it. I was hoping there'd be nobody in here so I could work out some things. And I start the message and then all of a sudden somebody walks in and they were hired to fix some things in the auditorium.

And at first I was pretty bummed out because I was like, oh, this is going to be awkward. Now I'm going to have to like mumble and I'm over here kind of whispering the message to myself. And so halfway through the message, he raises his hand. He says, excuse me, sir, are you practicing the word for this weekend? And I thought if I told him yes, then maybe he'd actually leave. And so I just honesty. And I said, yes, I am. And he's like, well, you don't have to mumble to yourself.

I love a good word. I'd love to hear it. It's like, okay, change the plans. So then he comes down and he sits right here where Philip is. And so he's right here, looking at me right there, empty auditorium. Imagine how awkward it is. This whole sermon is just you and me. It was great.

So I look down at my notes and it says, practice the pivot. I'm like, of course you would, God. Thank you. So in that moment, practice what you preach. I had to pivot away from frustration to this new assignment God had given me. And so I finished the message and I end up talking to him. when we pray together. And he said, you know, I watch Pastor Stephen on TV every week, but I feel like God said, you know, it's time for you to get back in church. And we had a good

conversation about how important it is to surround yourself with the right people, because people help you pivot, too, one way or the other. And I realized, I realized if I just stayed focused on my frustration, I would have missed that moment. And so many of us were missing opportunities for contentment and opportunities for purpose because we're so busy focused on the frustration. We have to practice the pivot. And here's the final thing. Here's the final thing we're going to practice together. And that is practice the present. Practice the present. So I think one of my greatest struggles every day is just being present in this moment. And the season God has me in. And if I'm honest, I think it's probably one of the biggest struggles of our generation.

because we're just staring at this all day, looking at everybody else's moment, everybody else's season, just standing at the stop sign, just scrolling. Oh, I didn't know. I don't know there was a party this weekend. I guess I wasn't invited. Nobody understands me. Oh, man, we couldn't go on a vacation. year. That Disney cruise must have been nice. Nobody understands me. Oh, she got a ring?

Man, am I ever going to? This has become my new stop sign. And if I could just get through this screen to their life, to their job, to their family, to their situation, then just maybe I could be content. But I think God is telling us today, contentment is never in the next season if we can't cultivate it in the present one. Contentment is not in the next. It's the now. And so we've got to practice being present, which is so hard because there are some legitimate situations that are hurtful and they're painful, and we won't escape from them. But Paul's writing from one of those right here in Philippians 4 because Paul is not some super Christian who was immune from struggles.

I mean, if you read Paul's writings, a lot of times it looks like he actually struggled with depression and he was, you know, it was hard for him to believe the things he was writing. But I have to think as he's in his prison cell and he begins to stop chasing and stop scrolling and really quiet his mind and pivot his heart to Jesus and just be present because he had to. He's in a prison cell. There's nowhere he could go. And as he quieted his heart, I wonder if he started to recognize that there was another presence that was with him in that prison cell.

been with him in every part of his life because he writes about it in verse nine. And these are just, it's a couple words that you could miss if you're not careful. But this, I think, is the hinge that contentment swings on. Verse nine says, the God of peace will be with you. Paul's saying, as I look back over my life, if I look at when I was on the platform, when I was being persecuted, when I was being celebrated, when I'm in the prison cell, in every single season, God was there. God never left me. His presence was there with me. And I believe that part of being present and practicing being present is not trying to bypass how we feel, because sometimes all you can feel is hurt. All you can feel is pain. There are some horrible things that you may be walking through.

And the Bible says, mourn with those who mourn, weep with those who weep. Sometimes you just have to feel it. And there's no other response but crying out to God saying, God, I do not understand. this. But I think contentment is realizing that even when I don't feel peace, the God of peace is with you. He's with you in your situation. And there was nobody who knew the Old Testament better than Paul. So I have to believe he was thinking somewhere in the back of his mind, Psalm 139. And I want you to get this truth deep in your spirit today. It says, where can I go from your spirit. Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens you are there, if I make my bed in the depths you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there, your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, surely, the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me. Even the darkness will not be dark to you. The night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. In your story, you're not the only one who's been doing the chasing. I think God is wanting to remind us that even in the seasons where you're chasing after contentment in someone else, you're chasing after contentment in a new job, in a new relationship. In every season, God has been chasing after you. You have never once escaped his spirit.

You have never once escaped his presence. And you can stop chasing contentment because contentment has been chasing you in the person of Jesus Christ. And he is offering that up to you today. You don't have to like your situation to recognize that Christ will never leave you in it. He's always there. You don't have to be good with it to recognize that there is good in it. And if you are having trouble finding your whatever, Christ is your whatever. He's whatever is good, whatever is pure, whatever is noble.

And he is there with you. And even if you are in a dark season right now, the word of the Lord for you today is this. He sees you. He knows you. He is for you. His grace covers you. And he is with you. He loves you. So I want us to stand together. We're going to close with a little contentment practice.

I want to give you just a short prayer, two sentences, that you can pray every day this week. You can pray it multiple times a day. You can pray it in your car. You can pray it in your cubicle. But this is just a tangible way that we can pivot our hearts to God. So this is what you say to him this week. I want you to say, you are good and you're with me. Say it like you believe it. You are good. and you are with me. You can say this even under your breath in the cubicle so people don't look at you weird. Say you are good? You are with me.

You can say that even after you leave that meeting and you just lost your job and you have no idea how God's going to provide. You just need to remind yourself. Say you are good. You are with me. Even if you have to say it through tears, say it out in faith. That's not faking it. It's faith. Just believe it in your heart.

Come on. You are good? You're with me. You're good in the valley. You're with me on the mountaintop. Come on, you are good. You are with me. Thank you for joining us.

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Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.