Elevation with Steven Furtick - Hold Your Peace (Pastor Holly Furtick)

Episode Date: May 11, 2025

Peace isn’t passive, it’s practiced. Trouble is real, but God has given you everything you need to hold onto peace when life feels overwhelming. To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world, click here: www.elevationchurch.org/giving/ Scripture References:Philippians 4, verses 6-9John 16, verse 33Ephesians 6, verses 11-15See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. Are you ready for the word today? I'm excited. Turn in your Bible, if you have one. If not, we'll have it up here on the screens. To Philippians 4, starting in verse. six, has our pastor not been on fire for the last several weeks? I mean, like eight, nine weeks he's been preaching. He did the series called Called. Did you enjoy that? I mean, I don't know

about you, but every single week, this man brought a word for me. Did you have a favorite? I think my favorite was Martha, Martha. But then I also like the one about Jacob with the wagons, and then I like the one about Samuel and Han. It was like every week, I was like, no, this one's my favorite. And then last week, he said, all you have to do is don't. And that really ministered to me. I wish you could see how hard our pastor fights every single week. He makes it look easy, but he fights so hard every week to bring us a relevant now word for our church.

Aren't you grateful for our pastor? So it's my turn this week, and I feel like God has given me a word, not just for all of the moms here, but for everyone. All right. So we're in Philippians 4, starting in verse 6. It says this, 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 minds in Christ Jesus. 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. 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. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that your word is a lamp and our feet and alight into our path. God, we open up our hearts to hear from you today. Lord, we know that sometimes Mother's Day can be a day that is painful, but we're here, Lord, and we want to hear from you. Would you shine your light in the darkest areas of our hearts today? Lord, use me now. It's in your name I pray. Amen. All right. So we have a little problem with the DNA in the Ferdick family. See, I am a very opinionated,

like there is a right and a wrong kind of person. And then I married Stephen Ferdick, who's a very opinionated, there is a right and a wrong kind of person. So together, we make a great team when it comes to proclaiming the word of God. Now, I'm not a genetic expert. I never really understood that little box with the gene thing. I don't even remember what it's called. What is it called, Graham? Punnett Square. Junior accolade right here. I don't know anything about the punnet square. But I can tell you that when Stephen and Holly Ferdick made babies, we managed to produce three of the most opinionated, there is a right and wrong, and I need to make sure that it's clear kind of people. So all five of us together, we have a problem. And when a disagreement occurs in our family,

which is rare because we are a pastor's family, we each have this innate desire to have the last word. I know this is not a problem in your house, but this is a problem in my house. So the other day, the weather was nice, and Stephen and Abby and I, we were having dinner on our peaceful porch. And earlier that day, I had asked my friend Ashley, whose children go to the same school as Abby, if she could bring Abby home for me. And so we're having dinner, and Abby starts talking about her afternoon, as she often does. And she started in and talking about how Ashley had Chick-fil-A waiting for her in the car, because they had to kill her. an hour until Abby was dismissed. Now, Ashley's kids are in the same school as Abby, but they're in the lower school, and they get out like 20 minutes before Abby. So I needed to stop the story right there,

because I would never inconvenience someone as to make them wait an hour to pick up my child. So I had to interrupt the story, and I said, no, they get out at 230, and you get out at 255. And she said, no, they get out at 2, and I get out at 255. And I said, no, they get out at 2.30. And she said, Mom, I think I would know what time we get out of school. And Stephen said, guys, does this fact really even matter? We're having a peaceful meal here. So I held my tongue, and Abby proceeded with her story.

And while she was talking, I went on the school webber. website. And I grabbed a screenshot of the school's dismissal times, and I sent that off to her. And just in case you were wondering, they get out at 2.30, and Abby gets out at 255. The title of my sermon today is Hold Your Peace. You like that? And I want to talk to you about the power of peace in your life. And I want to show you that sometimes in order, sometimes you have to hold your peace in order to hold your peace. Okay? And I want you to know that you can have peace, biblical peace in your mind and in your relationships, no matter what is going on in the world around you. As a believer in Christ, we have access to a type of peace that

Paul is telling us in this scripture that cannot even be explained. He says, it transcends all understanding. Peace in the midst of your pain, peace in the midst of your circumstances, peace in the midst of your disappointment. It is a benefit of knowing Jesus. Jesus said to his disciples in John 163, he said, I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. You see, peace is not the absence of problems in your life. Jesus said, in this world, you will have trouble. So trouble is the common denominator of every person who has breath in their lungs.

Peace is the addition of power to whatever trouble that you're in. So before we go any further, I need to clear up exactly what kind of peace I'm talking about. I'm not talking about a mood or a mental state where everything feels well. I'm not talking about a spa or a vacation spot. I'm not even talking about a quiet Saturday morning in your slippers while everyone else is asleep. Because I don't know what your life is like, but if I have to wait for those moments, if I have to wait for that kind of peace, I'm not going to have a very peaceful life. Now, there are two types of peace in the Bible that we find. There's external peace, and then there's internal peace. And external peace refers to your relationships with others. Internal peace refers to a mental perspective or an attitude towards your personal or your current trouble. And I need you to understand today that the two are connected. They feed each other. So my external peace, my relationships with others affects my internal peace.

but also my internal peace affects how I act and how I respond to others. So both are really important. And if the enemy can't get to your inner peace, he's going to go after your relational piece because he knows the external affects the internal and the internal affects the external. And he knows that if he can steal your peace, then he can steal your joy, then he can get you to question your faith, and then it can get you to question your calling. So if trouble is the common denominator of all humans, then peace is the X factor. It's the thing that sets us apart. It's the stabilizing force that allows you to push through the trouble.

And if the enemy can't get to your inner peace, then he's going to go after your relational peace. Do you understand that? And I want to illustrate this for you today, hopefully in a way that you won't forget. just read Philippians 4. I meant to read it out of my Bible. I always read it off of my iPad, but I want to show you in my Bible, so this is Philippians 4, which is a letter that was written to the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi. And maybe you know this, maybe you don't, but Paul wrote this letter from a prison cell in Rome. But this is not the only letter that he wrote. He also wrote Ephesians and Colossians, and they're all right here together. And

Throughout these three letters, Paul has a lot to say about peace, because he's writing to the persecuted believers who needed inner peace, as well as the new believers who needed external peace with one another. So I'm going to come back to Philippians 4, but I want to flip back one page to Ephesion 6 to give you a vivid picture of peace, also written by Paul. So this is Ephesion 6, and we're going to start in verse 11. It says, put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God. So when the day of evil comes, you may be able to see. stand your ground. And after you have done everything to stand, stand firm. And stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Paul is painting this picture of a soldier, getting ready for battle. Because it's one thing to recognize that there is an enemy. It's another thing.

to realize that you have to get ready to fight back against the enemy. I think that one of the ways that the enemy attacks us is by diverting our attention. You think your enemy is your boss or your spouse or maybe your mother-in-law, not me. Some of us wake up in the morning. We're ready for a fight with the wrong enemy. Paul says our struggle is not against people. It's not against flesh and blood. It is against spiritual forces in a heavenly realm. And you've got to get ready. And here's how you do it. He says, you put on your armor. Now, when we get dressed for the day, at least when I get dressed for the day,

the last thing I do is put my shoes on. But if you were putting on armor, like you're going to have a breastplate and a shield and a sword. Your hands are going to be tied up. So you've got to put your shoes on first, right? And Paul says that our feet are fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Look at your neighbor and say, I'm ready. Now look down at their shoes and tell me how ready you think they are. Oh, my goodness. No. How many of you are looking at my job? shoes and they're like, she ain't ready. Shoes matter. Stephen and I have this funny thing that we say. We got her from like a book from several years ago. And so we say to each other, did you shoes wisely? Like he was preaching at an event recently in Orlando, and so we had to get up super early,

and we flew to the location, and we went straight from the airport to the convention center. And by the time we got to the hotel, hours and hours later, he looked at me in the elevator, and he looked down at my shoes, and he said, did you shoes wisely? I rarely do. I'm vain. I always go for fashion first. Have you ever wondered why, when I do the welcome? If my chair is right there, why do I not come up these stairs? Why do I walk all the way around and come from the back, it's because I'm always a little bit unstable in my vanity shoes. I just am. I would never come up these stairs because I'm so afraid that I'm just going to fall in front of everyone.

Let me show you my steadiest shoes that I owned. I packed a bag for this sermon. So, reflect bag. These are my hiking boots. They are sturdy, and they are waterproof. And when I have these shoes on, I really feel like I can maybe walk forever. Not exactly, but the longest time in these shoes. And Stephen and I like to hike together. Now, if you're watching this and you live in Colorado,

you might call what we do walking in the woods. But it's, we live in North Carolina, and we actually, if you think of Asheville, we live like two hours from Asheville. So what we do is hiking to us. So we can drive about an hour west of our house and find a good trail that's not too long, not too steep, enough for us to feel like we got out in the great outdoors and got a little bit of exercise and got home by dinner. And so I use this app. It's called All Trails to find new trails to download the maps. And so don't they make the most amazing apps these days? There's an app for everything. So the other day, I wanted us to try a new trail that I found that's called the Baden Lake Trail.

So we pull up, we drive, it's about an hour and 20 minutes from our house, we pull up to the trail and it looks paved from the car. And so I decided not to put my boots on. Remember, I fashioned first. So I'm like, we went to lunch, so I wasn't going to wear these to lunch. So they were in the car. I had my white hokas on. And I thought that they would be fine. Maybe you can feel where this story is going. The trail was paved for about 50 yards. Rookie mistake. And we go hiking all the time. And normally even when we do a new trail, I'll read the reviews about the trail. I don't know, just see if it's a good one. And for some reason, I didn't read the reviews that time.

And so I went back when I was preparing this sermon, and I looked up the reviews of this particular trail, and I want to show it to you. So it says, oh, it's got 4.4 stars, and a thousand people have reviewed this trail. And then it says, trailgoers are saying. Highlights include beautiful lake views, a well-marked trail, and it's dog-friendly. Challenges are muddy areas, rocky sections, and limited parking. Reviewers suggest sturdy footwear and bug spray. Guys, we walked over five miles, and I was trying so hard to keep my shoes white.

So I was like hopping over puddles, and we were like crossing creeks at times, and my feet were, I know some of you are like, well, you were in tennis shoes, but my feet were like sliding all around in my tennis shoes. And about mile three, I started to get a blister on the bottom of one of my toes. And by the time we got back to the car, I didn't want to complain. So I was trying not to say anything. By the time we got to the car, I was walking like this. And my shoes were so dirty. I did not choose wisely. Look again one more time at Ephesians 615.

It says, and with your feet, fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Paul is saying, there is a battle going on for your very soul. and you have got to fight back. And your first line of defense is to make sure that your feet are stable with the gospel of peace. So, thank you. This is not peace. Don't judge me. You steal the hotel slippers, too.

Also, this, these, this is not peace. This is peace. So some scholars say that Paul is making a reference to the sandals that the Roman soldiers wore and how they were like specifically designed to go long distances and to go over rough terrains. And actually they, um, the Roman soldiers could like, oh no, my pants. I just tied my pants into the, hold on, guys. It's really hard to talk and tie your shoes at the same time. The Roman soldiers, they could cover distances like twice as fast as the other armies. And a lot of people say it was because they had spent a lot of time on their shoes. They even put like metal little tacks on the bottom of them so that they could, they were more sturdy.

Other people say that Paul was referring to the prophecy from Isaiah when he said, sorry, I have to look down here, when he said, how beautiful are the feet on the mountains that bring the good news. Let me tie this up so I can stand up and tell you that I'm saying it's both. When you lace up with peace, you're getting yourself ready for the fight that's ahead. and all the people that are watching you walk up that mountain, they're going to be amazed. They're going to look at your life, and they're going to wonder, how are you handling your circumstances? You're going to try and tell them that what you have is peace, but it's indescribable. It's not pretty, but it's what's holding you up.

And if you want to have, I'm going to preach in these shoes the rest of the time because they're way more comfortable. If you want to have any chance in this fight, you're going to have to operate from a place of peace. If you want to hold your peace, you've got to tie it on. You've got to double knot it. Look how steady I am now. Look, I can even go up and down the stairs like Pastor Stephen when he preaches. Here, you can't even see my shoes. But when I go back up here, you can see the full picture. I think life is like that, you know?

Maybe there's someone you know that seems so peaceful. Do a close-up again. And when you do a close-up, there are things about me right now that you can't see. Because you're not getting the full picture of preparation. that I have done to handle whatever trouble faces me. You see, you don't see my practices. You don't see me double-knodding my peace so that I don't lose it with the people that I work with or the people that I live with. All right, now I want to go back to Philippians 4, and I want to talk to you about the practices of peace. So Paul gives us a picture in Ephesians, but now,

In Philippians, he's going to give us a practice. And it says this. We're going to read the whole thing again. 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 minds in Christ Jesus. 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard or seen in me, put it into practice and the God of peace will be with you.

You see, I want you to know today that peace follows practice. God's presence follows. my practice, not the other way around. And the truth is, no one likes to practice. Just ask any 14-year-old in piano lessons. Are there any 14-year-olds in piano lessons in here? Oh, Abby Ferdick, Abby, would you like to play the piano as well as Ella one day? Would you like to play the piano as well as LJ one day. Okay, that's her goal, right? Abby, how many hours of practice do you think they have on you? She just says she doesn't. Thousands. Thousands, thousands of hours of practice. When you see somebody who does something really well, they have practiced it. So real close.

Real quick, as I close, don't worry. I'm not going to go super long, but I do want to show you three things that you need to practice if you want to hold your peace. And I feel really silly in my boots, but I hope that this will be a reminder to you that peace is not pretty. And practice is not pretty. Practice is where you learn from your mistakes. It's not the place where you perform for others. Okay, so three things. First one is the practice of prayer. Sometimes when I'm faced with a difficult situation, I'm going to be honest with you. I do everything but pray. I talk about it. I worry about it. I worry about it and call it praying. I talk about it some more. And then I start time traveling. We're any of you here last week when Pastor Stephen said, don't

time travel, I know that he made that point up about me, because I am a professional time traveler. I go back in time and I think of all the things that I did wrong. The other day, I got in my time machine and I told myself this elaborate story of how something in my life today would have been so different if I had said no to one question that someone asked me 10 years ago. And if I had said no, so I'm in the time machine, and I'm just thinking about that. I was like, if I had said no to that, then this would have happened, and then this wouldn't have happened, and then this would have happened. And I had pretty much convinced myself that everything today is my fault. And so I said to Stephen, because I really was convinced, and I said that I was like, do you ever wonder what would have happened if I had said no to that one situation?

And my husband looked back at me, and he was like, Holly, you can't think that way. He said, you're going back and you're changing a past situation with future information. He said, that's not fair to your past self. And furthermore, he doesn't actually say furthermore, but that just makes it sound. He said, furthermore, he said, you're not. not taking into account all the things that could have happened if you'd said yes. He said, you're making up the perfect scenario and life is not perfect. And you did the best that you could with the information that you had at that time. And maybe that's a word for someone today who's been

time traveling back and trying to do something over. But you know what? I'm so good at time travel. I can also go forward in time. A situation happened with one of my kids recently and I got in time machine. And the problem is I read too much fiction. And so I know a lot about time travel and time loops. And so I was off. And I was like, well, what if this happens while they're driving? And then what if this happens? And then what if that happens? And then what it? And I was so worried about a scenario that was not even happening. And then I wonder why I feel anxious. pastors even told us last week, all you have to do is don't. And Paul is backing this up. He says, do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your

request to God. And the peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. I feel like the Lord sent me here today to tell someone, don't talk about it anymore. Like I say to my kids, not another word out of your mouth. Take it to the Lord in prayer, and no one else. Stop talking about it. Yes, there are times when you rally praying people around you to believe with you for a certain situation, I have a handful of women in my life who have prayed me through some really hard stuff. But sometimes, in all my running around and telling people to pray, I neglect to actually pray.

And Paul didn't say, present your request to people. He said, present your request to God and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Sometimes we want something so bad for someone we love. but we're going about getting it all the wrong way. And I'm telling you this because I have learned this the hard way, and I still get it wrong. I have tried to manipulate situations for people that I love, and it is exhausting. And then I wonder why I'm the only one who's worried. But here's the lesson that I have learned.

When I want something for someone that I love, if I take it to God, He will change them or he'll change my heart. Now, a miracle happened in our home last week. This has been a miracle that is 23 years in the making for me. Stephen and I are about to celebrate 23 years of being happily married. Thank you. Please clap for us. Because we've worked really hard at the happy part.

And I want you to know that what I'm about to share has only come after 23 years of learning the hard way about the power that comes when I hold my peace by practicing the work of prayer. So the other day, Stephen woke up, and he looked at me and he said, babe, I had the craziest dream last night. you were talking to me, and you were saying the nicest things to me, and you were encouraging me about that situation that we've been talking about. I was speechless, which is rare. When I tell you that the things that he said, I was saying to him in his dream, they were the very things that I had been silently holding my peace about and only talking to God about. And God let me speak to that man

in his sleep. I've had to speak my peace. Guys, I have found that God can whisper in the ear of the one that I love, the very thing that I have been shouting at them for months. or this one's not as fun, he can whisper to me that he has the situation in his hands. And he can give me a peace that only comes by prayer. Peace comes by the practice of prayer. The Bible also tells us that peace comes by the practice of patterns. Watch for the pattern here. Philippians 4-8.

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. Keep going, whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen of me, put it into practice, and the God of peace will be with you. Do you see a pattern here? There is power in our patterns. Our patterns will either accentuate the presence of God, or they will diminish our awareness of it.

It's not that God's presence comes and goes. He's always with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. It's just my awareness of his presence is affected by my patterns. How many of you would agree that you've had a time when you came to church or you joined online, and when it was over, You just had a piece about your situation. Raise your hand. I want to see. Wow. Okay. Put in the chat.

Raise your hand in the chat. Okay. So, if that's true, my first question to you is, wouldn't you maybe want to come to church a little bit more frequently? A little more regularly? Maybe if you come once a month, you could bump it up to twice a month. Maybe if you come twice a month, you could bump it up. up again. I'm just saying, you raised your hand and you said you felt God's presence here

when you joined us. What are your patterns? My second question is, why would you limit the presence of God to once a week at church? We have to look at our daily routines and habits and evaluate. Is this promoting peace in my life, or is it stealing it? For months, I have felt God asking me to do this little thing. It's so stupid, okay? But here's what it is. For months, I felt like God has been telling me, stop looking at Instagram first thing in the morning.

Now, he did not ask me to delete Instagram. He just said, stop going on Instagram first thing in the morning. And I have ignored it. And I have told myself, this is harmless. This is a way to just wake up my brain. And I have told myself that my feed is very light. It's not even news. It's like gender reveals and dogs doing cool things and people falling down.

And I told God, I was like, God, it's fine. It's just like caffeine for my brain. I'm just like using it to wake up. And then last week, I read this quote in a book by a priest. Her name is Tish Warren. and she said this. We've covered a lot here. She said,

By reaching for my smartphone every morning, I had developed a ritual that trained me toward a certain end, entertainment and stimulation via technology. She said, my unexamined daily habit was shaping me into a worshipper of glowing screens. So I said, okay, God, I hear you. I won't look at Instagram anymore in the morning. Okay, full disclosure.

I have relapsed once, but I'm back on the wagon. My wagons have wings. Morning practice promote the peace of God in your life. I'm not saying that you can't play wordle while you're drinking your coffee. I'm not saying that you have to wake up at 5 a.m. and read your Bible and journal for an hour before you start your day. What I am saying is, if you do that, that's wonderful. but I'm not a 5 a.m. kind of person. What I am saying is, if your priority is a feed,

social media or news, you might not feel very peaceful. Your peace and your priorities are directly connected. What patterns do you need to put in your life in order to protect your peace, in order to make you more steady as you face your day? Here's the last one. The practice of praise. Paul says, is there anything excellent or praiseworthy? Think about such things. If you want to study yourself with the gospel of peace, you're going to have to fix your focus on the things in your life that are worthy of praise. The things that come out of your mouth matter. I don't care what. you say, it matters what you say. Have you ever had a conversation turned negative and you can literally feel it drag the mood down? It happens. But remember, it's okay. Peace is a practice.

And practice doesn't make perfect, but maybe in this context, practice makes presence. So if we want to feel the presence of God in our conversations, we have to be careful about what we say. I have a friend that I respect so much. about the way that she is careful about how she talks. Like sometimes to the point that I'm like annoyed by it. Because she is so careful about how she talks about her kids, how she talks about her spouse, how she talks about her day. I mean, it is really hard to get her to speak negatively, not only to say something negative, but it's really hard to even get her to talk about what she's afraid of. I want to be like that. And it's not that.

She's like this perfect person. She's never honest and she never has a bad day. But she is so careful not to let herself spiral into negative talk and negative thoughts. She actually told me that she read that it is scientifically proven that venting does not make you feel better. And it's weird because after she said that, I noticed that almost every time I vent, every time I just let off a little steam, I feel worse because I say things that I don't mean and I exaggerate my situation to a place that it hasn't even gotten to. Now, processing, processing is different from venting and processing with the right person. Like, talk to your therapist, talk to your spouse, talk to a friend that you trust,

but make sure that when you are processing, that you begin to take a turn and point your soul to whatever is good, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is true, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, because you will find what you are looking for. I know they get on your nerves. I know it feels like this situation could not get any worse. I know you feel frustrated, but remember, trouble is the common denominator. You've got to get the X factor of peace into play. And sometimes that means speaking out loud what is praiseworthy. Sometimes that just means going, okay, God, I thank you that you are working

in places that I cannot see. God, I think you that you are bigger than this problem. God, I thank you that you are my provider. I praise you because you are Jehovah Jira. You have never let me down. God, I thank you that you are going to give me wisdom and grace as I move into this day. When you begin to speak the praises of God, you will sense that peace coming around you for whatever is next. You don't have to go through this life, anxious and worried and unsteady. There is a piece that is available to you, but it doesn't just fall into your lap. You've got to grab it.

You've got to hold tight to it. You've got to strap it on. You've got to practice it. Isaiah said, how beautiful are the feet on the mountain that proclaim the good news of peace. When you put these things into practice, you will not only hold tightly to your truth, but others will see it, and they'll wonder, and you'll try to explain it to them, but you can't. Corrie Tin Boom, anybody know Corey Thin Boom? She's like one of my heroes. She was a Holocaust survivor, and she was a Christian who was imprisoned because they hid Jews in their house in Holland.

And her sister and her were sent to Ravensbrook, the concentration camp in Nazi Germany. And she survived to tell her story. And she traveled the world. And she preached about the forgiveness of God. And she told this story about how she and her sister had a secret Bible study where they would speak out loud the things that they could praise God for. And her sister would make her praise God for, they had a Bible, and she would make her praise God for the fleas that were in the concentration camp

because the fleas kept the guards out. And they just went through the most horrific circumstances. And Corey wrote this when she described their barracks one time. She said, there was no way to walk to and from the meeting without passing through every row of bunks and at everyone I would see the light of God in the eyes of people facing death, starvation, and cruelty. In such a place, peace was not just possible. It was real. And I want you to know today, you might be in your darkest hour, but you're going to have a peace that will be.

guard your heart and mind to an extent that you cannot even explain how it is happening. You just know that it's real. We are in a fight. It is a battle against spiritual enemies in heavenly realms that we cannot even see and we cannot go into it, unprepared and unaware. Paul said, if anything is excellent, if anything is worthy of praise, Sometimes the only way to hold your peace is to praise. Drown out the noise of the evil one with songs of deliverance in your home, in your car, at your desk.

Maybe you've got to put on AirPods. Drown out the noise of the enemy with songs of praise. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this. generously to this ministry is 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.