Elevation with Steven Furtick - Kept In The Dark

Episode Date: December 6, 2021

How do you keep going when you don’t know how it’s going to turn out? In “Kept In The Dark,” we are challenged to trust God — even when we can’t see how He’s working.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I want to pray one more time before I preach. I want to pray for something specifically. Everyone's standing at every location, in your home stand, in your kitchen stand. Get out the bed and stand up in your Tommy Johns if you have to put a robe on, robes of righteousness, and stand up. And I want to pray, I don't have long to really talk about it,

but I want to pray about it about our offering next Sunday, December 12. This is a tradition, and more than it's a tradition, because some traditions are empty. This is not an empty tradition like a turkey or something like that that's going to put you to sleep anyway. This is training. This is how when we trust God, when we bring him the first fruits of everything that he's given us, which thousands of people will commit to do here between now at the end of the year and set it up online and all that. And many people giving above and beyond, I've already got my offering ready. I got a head start.

I started on this, started praying about this in October, so I'm ready. But we're calling the offering better. That's the word that we associated with the offering. I took it from where he said the glory of the latter house will be greater than the glory of the former house. And so many people right now are in seasons of rebuilding. But the Lord doesn't just want to rebuild what we had before. He wants to take us to a new place.

with new priorities and new perspective. So now the key to all of this, do you really trust that he's your provider? Do you really trust that he is Jehovah Jira? The Lord provides, the Lord sees. So when I bring my offering, it's not just, oh, so we can keep paying staff members. Oh, so we can keep changing guitar strings on Joey's Les Paul back there. Oh, so we can keep buying goldfish crackers for the kids over in E-Kids so they don't freak out while I'm preaching too.

long. For me, it's training, it's teaching me to trust God. And it also does something amazing because then I get to see the fruit of preaching the gospel all around the world. I want to thank all of you who tithe to this ministry, who give to this ministry. We preach Jesus all over the world daily. I mean, every hour of every day, there's somebody being blessed somewhere by this ministry and we get to do that together so I'm excited really excited I'm grown up now so I'm more excited about giving than receiving because I'm grown up now I'm grown up now and so we're going to pray for all who are praying and asking God God we want me to give above and beyond the tie begin to tithe bow let me pray because only God can speak these things to you by your head

father I thank you for what you've already done I don't want to skip that if you never never did anything else for Stephen Ferdig, for Elevation Church, for the people that I'm looking at. You already gave us this many breaths, this many days, this many blessings, this many breakthroughs, this many victories, this many slain giants, this many crumbled walls. You've already done enough to be worthy because you saved us and you loved us and you came to tabernacle and live in us. So it's already enough. But you promise that you're able to do immeasurably more. I declare that over your children today that their best is not behind them and the devil is

a liar. That the glory of the present house, what you're building right now by your spirit, in the name of Jesus, it will be greater. Say it, it will be greater. In the chat, it will be greater. Riverwalk. It will be greater. Valentine, it will be greater.

And we give you praise by faith in Jesus' name. If you believe that, give God a mighty shout of praise. Hallelujah! Yeah. All right. So they'll give you the details how to give that offering. I need everybody participating on the level where God has blessed you. I'm going to be sneaking out of here.

Well, the church is big. They don't need my money. It's not about the church needing your money. It's about you needing God. So it will be great. And if you never, ever give, we'll still be here for you. Isn't that cool? The restaurant doesn't tell you that.

Hey, we'll still feed you, man. Just keep on coming. We'll keep on whatever you want, free refill as long as you want. That'll kick you out. But this is a ministry that will be here for you. Be here for you. One dude told me he left the church for four years. He said, I was mad at you.

I said, mad at me? I had never met him before. He said, yeah, you were preaching some things that I didn't want to hear. But he said, I came back because what God said through you was right. And he said, when I finally, it reminded me of the prodigal son when he went off in the pig pen and stuff and he came to his senses. I didn't tell him that. You look like you've been in the pig pen, buddy. But he said, when I finally got my mind back right.

I knew where I could come back to was elevation because I knew I'll be accepted and welcome and in grace. And that's what I like about this church. I love this church, man. Oh, come all you faithful. Oh, come all you faithless. Oh, come all ye heathen. Oh, come all you pagans. Oh, come all you addicted.

Oh, come all ye pretty. I'll come all ye ugly. I'll come of you buff. I'll come of you skinny, scrawny. Fat, I don't care. Oh, come. Just come. Just come.

So it'll be amazing. I'm glad you came. Hey, touch at least five people on your way down. Don't touch them, don't touch him, don't touch him, because that's illegal. I forgot. I'm sorry, oh, habit, oh, habit, oh, habit. Just look at five people and tell them, I'm glad you came today. Put it in the chat online.

I'm glad you came today. When you found five people, take your seat. Let's go. Let's go. Take your seat. I am giving you your Christmas sermon early. I know how you are, and I know there's shipping delays. in the natural.

And I know also the closer it gets to Christmas, the less docking room at the docks you're going to have to hear God's word because your life's going to be so busy and crowded. You'll be around all these people you don't like, cleaning up your house to impress them and don't even like them, buying them stuff, and they don't even wear what you bought them last year. And you have noticed. So I'm going to give you your gift early. I'm going to get out ahead. I got out ahead on all of Holly's gifts this year.

I've got them all there already. I bought them early. That's right. And Abby knows everything that she's getting. Holly doesn't. So that's because I trust Abby now. Trust her. I can tell her. Honestly, y'all, all of my kids, when they were little, they all spoiled presents. One time Elijah came back from South Park with me, and he told Holly, because I took him shop in and he saw Santa, and I know you think Santa's pagan, but he is five, okay? And so I took him to go sit on Santa's lap, And he came back and told Holly, I'm not allowed to tell you that we got you sweatpants from juicy. Oh, man. But I trust Abby now, so I don't keep her in the dark anymore.

Go to Matthew Chapter 2. I told Graham sitting on the front row, this sermon keeps getting bigger in me. The longer we sit here, they need to stop singing so I can preach because I feel like I'm about to get burned. birth, which is exactly what Mary said. In Bethlehem. She wasn't planning to give birth in Bethlehem, but she had to anyway. And that's where we're going to pick up today in Matthew chapter 2. You ready?

Ready or not? Here comes Jesus. Matthew chapter 2, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem. and asked, where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed. Uh-oh. And all Jerusalem with him. Because if Herod gets mad, he's going to do crazy stuff to them. Because he's this provincial governor. He's not really in charge. He's appointed by the Roman government. So, you

Caesar Augustus is really the headman, but he's got Herod watching out for all of these Jewish people. So verse 4 says, when he had called together all the people's chief priest and teachers of the law, he asked them, where the Messiah was to be born? In Bethlehem and Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written. But you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. Now, I love that verse because it comes from Micah 5, too, and it lets me know, oh, little town of Bethlehem, big things can come from small places. Y'all need to drink your coffee 30 minutes earlier next week, because big things can come from small places.

Look at your neighbors, say, be nice to me. I'm carrying something big. I know you can't see it right now, but out of me is going to come something that can change the world. Yeah, let's go. Merry Christmas, y'all. For out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. Shepard my people Israel. Then Herod called the magi secretly, found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report back to me, so I can go worship him too. I want to go worship him too, just to kill him. But he's threatened by him. After they heard the king, they went on their way. And the star they had seen when it rose, a thousand miles back where they came from in Persia, went ahead of them five more miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Until it stopped in the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were over joy.

Came a long way to see this. It validated their instinct that something big was happening. And on coming to the house, they saw the child. A child means Jesus is a little bigger now. He's not, I know you've got that precious moments thing on the credenza, but he's not a baby. He's not in a barn at this point. He's in a house. And there weren't three of these guys.

The three wise men, they brought three gifts. Gold represents divinity. Frankencence represents priesthood. Murr represents Jesus' burial at his death. It's all symbolic. And it's also about to finance the trip that Joseph doesn't even know that he's going to have to take yet because God is already working. even before you realize it. So they presented him, they opened their treasures, they bowed down and worshipped him,

it said, they saw the child with his mother Mary, they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream, not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another rude. Now, let's prepare for our scripture landing here. when they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child and kill him. So he got up, took the child and his mother,

during the night and left for Egypt where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet, out of Egypt, I called my son." This sermon is called Kept in the Dark. Kept in the Dark. Here we are again with the same familiar cast of Christmas characters. And the challenge of reading the Christmas story as a pastor is you just want to skip ahead to the part where he gets up from the grave and skip past all this stuff where he had to run. You also understand that we're watching these characters as they are walking through what we are watching with knowledge of where they end up. So that's why it's hard to really,

grasp the meaning of a scripture is because we're watching something that they're walking through. But we are watching with knowledge what they are walking through. And we know how, so you kind of want to pull them aside. You want to be like, hey, Joseph, Mary's not lying. It really was the Holy Spirit that got her pregnant. You're not crazy. You're not simping. When she really, when she told you that it was the Lord who came to her and you kind of wonder,

was it really the Lord or was it, was it Leroy? And so Joseph, y'all please be good. This is a Christmas sermon. It's kind of like you want to pull him to the side and be like, hey, Joseph, because Joseph had it rough, right? He really never knew. He died not knowing if this was really the Messiah. I'm sure he saw stuff that made him think, okay, okay, this kid's pretty special. I'm sure in the carpenter shop Jesus would do something every now and then,

maybe make a two-by-four pop up and levitate in the shape of a cross, just to give Joseph a little bit of confidence that this is real. But he didn't really know. All he had to go on, watch this, I didn't read this scripture, was the Lord came to him in a dream. Do you believe your dreams? I don't believe my dreams. I'd be in jail.

I'd be on so many pill, prescription pills for anxiety if I believe my dreams. So he has to hold on to something that he saw in his sleep and walk it out in his life. We are watching with the knowledge. Hey, Joseph, just hang in there, man. Just do the best you can to raise the kid. you know, show him a few things. You really can't mess this up. He's kind of like, he's kind of got a little special protection agency. You've got a little heavenly secret service around him. Even if you lose him at the temple when he's 12, you know, he'll find his way back. He kind of paves the roads with

golden heavens so he can find his way through the streets of Jerusalem. It's going to be all right. You kind of want to tell him that. He didn't know. And if you hang in there, they're going to be Every middle-aged man and every little Methodist church in America is going to be pretending to be you and dressing up like you in the month of December one day, right? You kind of want to tell the Magi, because they come so far, right? They come from Persia. These are not even preachers. They're astrologers. These are not even Jews.

They're Gentiles. They are following something that they shouldn't even be following to see the will of them. God and it still got them there. And they had to travel, as I think I mentioned, a long way. How far is a long way? Five miles, ten miles, 20 miles, 50 miles, 100 miles. How many times did they have to recharge the Tesla to get a thousand miles from Persia with these heavy gifts? Estimated to be worth like $4 million.

And then it was all worth it. And you kind of want to tell them that, like, hey, just so you know, that star is got you five miles within. Sometimes you want to tell somebody, you are so close. Don't quit right now. You are so close. They were five miles from where Jesus was. So you kind of want to tell them, because you have the knowledge. If you go five more miles, you are going to see the Savior of the world. Now, we're reading it, right? with the knowledge of where it ends up. They aren't watching themselves travel a thousand miles. They are walking a thousand miles. So here's the thing that'll keep you humble. Be careful who you judge when they're walking through something that you are only watching from a distance. You've never walked through the age that your mom is before. You've never walked. Well, you have walked through the age that your kids were before,

But you never walked through it with a Snapchat. Ah, I got you, right? You were like, I have been a teenager. I've seen it all. You hadn't seen anything. But TikTok, passage of time will teach you sometimes that you got to be careful that when you're watching someone else go through something, it's interesting, isn't it?

Because everybody in the passage is walking through something, that they don't know where it ends up. Whether it's the Magi or even Herod, you kind of want to pull Herod to the side, right? Because he's trying to keep Jesus from being the king, and you've got to want to be like, don't bother. Like, really, man, save your bullets. You can search all you want to kill Jesus, but you won't succeed. I felt the Holy Ghost. I want to tell the devil this morning, you can.

search all you want, but it won't work. You can come at the child of God with everything you got in your arsenal and keep flying at them in the middle of the night, but I read to the back of the book, and you can search all you want, but it won't succeed, for the Lord's purpose will prevail. The Lord's purpose will prevail. I'm going to herald it from the mountain top today. It won't work, Heron. You can search all of Bethlehem. You can kill every baby. You can lie all you want to, but it won't work because of Jeremiah 112. See, Jeremiah 112 is a Christmas scripture that never got preached on Christmas, but I'm going to give it to you today. The Lord said to Jeremiah, you have seen correctly. Watch this. For I am watching over my word to see that it is fulfilled. Now you ought to shout about Jesus. You are to shout about Jeremiah 112.

He said, I'm watching to see that my word is fulfilled. And this scripture only made so much sense until Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Now I want you to look at Jeremiah chapter 1 in the light of Matthew chapter 2. That after Jesus was born, remember Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but he didn't come from Bethlehem. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That's John, Chapter 1. So when the Bible says that God is watching over His Word to fulfill it, it means that no matter how much Herod searched for the baby called Jesus, God was watching over the seed of his son that would bring forth the harvest of salvation.

Yeah. Oh, y'all missed the 6.30 a.m. service today. That's when God gave all this to me. Y'all missed the good service today. Oh, my God. He's watching over you. And yet you wonder, like, if you could tell Herod, hey, man, in the end, Josephus said that in Herod's later years, he couldn't stop eating. and there were worms in his intestines. You kind of want to tell him, man, stop trying to kill Jesus. This is not the path you want to go down. But see, you know how it ends. He did.

You kind of want to tell Joseph, have faith, man. Everything in the passage I just read you, from a human perspective, was a problem. But from a heavenly perspective, it was a prophecy. So Christmas gives me this perspective. that God disguises prophecy as problems. Verse one said, he was born in Bethlehem. That was not where they had the reservations. It was a problem. It also says, if you notice, they had to escape to Egypt because they were trying, the king of their region was trying to kill him. That is also a problem. It says later that when Joseph got up to leave for Egypt, he had to go back to Galilee.

He couldn't even go to Nazareth where he was from for a little while. He had to wait in Egypt. That's also a problem. But the same things that I read in that passage that were problems were designed to fulfill a prophetic word. Because he watches over his word to fulfill it. In Micah 5-2, it says he will be born in Bethlehem. So maybe this is why Mary's water broke early. Because she had to give birth in the place that the prophet spoke.

And at the same time that they are considering, where are we going to do this? There's no room in the end. This is not on our plan. Look at this. God is not protecting your plan. He's protecting his promise. He's not protecting your preference. of how you wanted it to go, how you wanted it to be, who you wanted to stay.

He's not protecting any of that. In fact, he's disguising the prophecies. See, we know that these are prophecies, but the Magi didn't know that. They didn't even quote a single scripture, and they found Jesus. Yeah, weird. And then what the chief priest and the scribes and the teachers of the law, they know every scripture, and they don't even see the Savior. The ones who should have seen God first were kept in the dark. I don't like being kept in the dark.

Do you? Do you? Then you would not have liked to have been a disciple of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, because his communication skills were suspect at best. You could have told me to feed 5,000 men and their wives and children before you were on the third hour of your sermon, Jesus. Why did you wait until now to ask us if we have any food for these people? You know all the times that the disciples were, and we think about everything that Jesus taught his disciples,

but how about all the things he didn't tell them? Hey, go over in that vote to the other side. I'm going to see you there in a little while. He didn't say anything about the storm that they would spend the next six hours rolling through. How would you love somebody and keep them in the dark? I've told my staff one time, I said, do not play God with information that you are waiting to give me until I'm in a good mood. Because by the time you're figuring out how to tell me, how to tell me,

it's going to get three times worse. I need to turn off the sink or unhooked the pipes or burn down the house or whatever I need to do. So tell me now! I don't want to be kept in the dark. I used to go on Twitter. This was BC But it would say on Twitter I was at the so-and-so campus today at Elevation

And the sermon went down in the middle of the sermon And nobody on my team had told me And I'm like, I'm calling a meeting Monday I'm like, y'all, if the video for the sermon cuts out At the Matthews campus You got to tell me I can't find out on Twitter I'm going to find out Because I'm trolling the internet to see all these problems

Y'all are trying to hide from me. So tell me. And I... Should I say this? I've told God before. You've got to tell me stuff. You can't let me get out of here with a slingshot and a bag lunch and put a Deliant in front of me. Tell me there's got to be a giant so I can do some bicep curls and some judicious training.

Me! Don't keep me in the dark. If you love me, the Bible says that in him was life and that life was the life. light of men. And so why would God, who is the way, the truth and the life, whose life is the light of men, whose light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not? John 1-5, King James Version, why would the God who dwells in ineffable light keep his children in the dark? Why didn't he just tell Joseph when he said, hey, Mary's pregnant, it's the Holy Spirit? Why didn't he tell him that before Mary started to show? Why has she got to be six

months along before you give me a dream. Don't keep me in the dart. Just tell me when I meet somebody. They are lying through their teeth, and you will not even want to see their name on your phone three months from now. Just tell me, God. I could save a lot of text back and forth. I could just block them on day one. If I had some advanced planning, strategic knowledge, Just tell me, hey, by the way, you're going to have the baby's birth in Bethlehem, so get a room. Why ain't you have to trick me into going to Bethlehem with the census that Caesar called for to get me there so I wouldn't even expecting it? Why didn't you tell me, God, before we had multiple kids? No, I'm kidding. I love all my kids.

But I'm saying, I could have planned for it. I could have saved for it. I could have got ready for it. Maybe I wouldn't have built all these campuses if I had known about COVID. Ah. Maybe God doesn't keep you in the dark all the time because he's cruel. Maybe sometimes he keeps you in the dark because he's getting something ready. Inside of you.

Like right now in our house, Holly has a little room right off the kitchen. And the door is shut all the time right now. It wasn't shut last month. I see all this stuff that's coming through our house right now. All these boxes. Giving me gray hairs and my beard how many boxes come in my house this time of year. All these boxes. Holly's a wonderful wife.

She's always happy to see me. But she's been telling me lately on the other side of the door in that little office where she's got all these Christmas gifts, she says, stay out. And I'm like, who are you talking to right now? This is not Graham knocking on the door. This is not one of your children. This is your husband. No, stay out.

Because I'm getting something ready for you. Stay out right now. I'm not in this room. Now, you're saying that's kind of a silly illustration. Is it? Is Holly not like God? You like that? Is she not like your God who sometimes you say, God, show me this and tell me that and give me your direction for this and that and does God not sometimes in his silence send you the message?

I need you to stay out because my ways are not your ways. Thank you, Jesus. I didn't even think of Isaiah 55. And my thoughts are not your thoughts and as high as the heavens are above the earth So are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts and Sometimes God because he's got these, see he's got these boxes that have been coming in of something that he ordered Before time began from eternity he spoke a word a prophecy concerning your life not just the life of Jesus. No, no. There's a prophecy over your life. And the prophet said before you were born,

I knew you. When you were in the darkness of your mother's womb, I set you apart and I kept you in the dark. And no eye has seen and no ear has heard and it hasn't even into your heart. What God has prepared for those who love him and trust him enough. to follow him even when he keeps you in the dark. Do you trust the one who's behind that door? You think he's wrapping up anthrax in those boxes trying to hurt you? He said, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I'm a good God.

The irony of the passage is everybody was kept in the dark. All of them. Mary did not. Mary, did you know? No. That's the remix. That's the Stephen Verdict remix. Y'all put that on Spotify for me.

No. She didn't know. She hoped. She carried. She didn't know. You don't know. Merry Christmas. That's the message of Christmas.

That's the message I'm getting from this passage. We saw a star. We came to worship him. Where is he? They didn't know. The ones who should have known didn't know because of their knowledge that kept them from knowing what they were supposed to know.

They knew the Bible too good to believe it. God said, I'm going to leave the pagans to a place that the priest wouldn't even go. Oh, my God. You mean what I think I know about God could keep me from seeing him for who he really is? Yes. You mean I don't know God in all of his fullness? No, he's omniscient. You're not.

I'm not even sumnicious. I'm no-nissient. I don't know nothing. I don't even know grammar. Can't you tell? You. See, now you're kind of in the Christmas story, because you're like the Magi. You don't know. You don't know where this is going. You came to Charlotte for a job, and then they fired you eight months in. What if God got you? What if the problem is the costume for a prophecy? Why did you keep me in the dark? Why didn't you tell me that that relationship would fail? Maybe he wanted the relationship to surface some stuff in you that he could work on

so your relationship with him could get better. If he had told you how it would end, you wouldn't have taken the first step. So now I know why God didn't call a committee meeting before Christmas. Okay. Shepherds, angels, you know, like he's running a Christmas pageant or something like that. All right, come on, Madjohn, here's how it works. Joseph, here's what's going to happen. Mary's going to come up.

Yeah, we read it. We're so smug. And honestly, like, if I can be real, I spent all of my 30s hating Christmas as a pastor. Because people come in and it's like, they don't really even want to hear a sermon. It's just like, especially when it comes to Christmas. People are coming in because they're supposed to. You can't say much to somebody who's there because they feel like they're doing God a favor to come to church. People have to have need that they're aware of to really receive from God.

That's why I push my Christmas message early to avoid the shipping delays. So you could get this word and God is Thank you, Jesus, watching over his word. We are watching. what they are walking through. We know where they end up. They don't. And that takes faith, man. I mean, if you know the whole 23rd Psalm, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for that or not with me that run that step they comfort me. You know it ends with the wolves getting driven off by the staff. But if you're right in the middle of the valley,

you think it's your new mailing address. Oh, I guess that's just how it is. The shadow of death? Well, that's an allusion to Galilee where Jesus ended up being raised. That's what Isaiah prophesied. He said, those of you in what was it? Help me out. Zebulin and Neftili. Man, Galilee was so scrawny to the Jewish people. When Solomon was paying off his debts and he had to get the King of Hiram something,

he gave him 20 cities in Galilee. Just wrote them over. Here, you can have this, the northern part of the kingdom, part they didn't want, the part where a lot of the Canaanites still lived because it was still overrun by enemies. He said, oh, you can have Galilee. And the King of Tiger got it and he said, what did you give me, my brother? You can have this back. That's where Jesus did his ministry. In the land of those dwelling in darkness. Galilee, where Jesus faced his ministry, now please don't think this is a geography lesson. This is a prophetic word for you.

the place that was associated with darkness, that's where Jesus did the most. It was known as the land of shadow and death. Shadow and death. And the thing is, you don't know which it is when you're walking through it. Is this going to kill me? Or is this just a shadow? And God doesn't tell you. You ever wish God would give you an age you're going to die at so you can know how much to save

how much to enjoy? Because I would spend it all if God told me I had till 43. I wouldn't leave the kids a dime. I probably wouldn't come preach again either, honestly, if I only had till 43. I might do one more message, you know, and put it out there and see if you want to see it. I don't know, but I'd definitely, I'd spend all the money. And God knows that. That's why if God told me when I was going to die, or if God told you when you, did you, did you notice what the angel told Joseph, go to eat. of Herod's trying to kill your kid, but watch us, I'm going to keep him in the dark. I'm not going to let him find him.

He can search all he wants to kill Jesus, but I am watching over my word to fulfill it. So no weapon formed against the Word of God that is in your arms will prosper. Before I forget, let me tell you this. God said to tell you that he is keeping your kids. God said to tell you that as they walk through the darkness of the valley of this cultural shadow of death, the hand of the The Lord is upon your children. I want you to shout if you receive this prophecy by fame. Eric can look all he wants, but he won't kill mine.

He won't get yours. The blood is on my house. The blood is on my life. Hey! The angel of the Lord! Ah! You settle down. Silent night.

Holy night. All is called. All is calm. All is bright. All is not bright. All is not bright. All is not bright. That's pretty to sing.

It's a nice image. It helps the Christmas-like tree-like manufacturers sell a lot of merchandise, but all is not bright. He said, I was so distracted by the star in Matthew 2, and how bright it had to be to lead them a thousand miles. Because I like the bright stuff, don't you? I like the bright spots. like when I can see. I like when God gives me light. Let there be light. I love when God says let there be light and he shows me something clearly. I loved Saturday morning when God gave me this message. I love this morning when he gave me even more. I'm not going to love it when I have to think about all this stuff I didn't get to. I didn't love Thursday. Thursday, I was groping around in the dark.

Eloy, Eloy, Lama Shabakteni, my God, my God, why have that forsaken me? I'm so sorry, Lord, whatever I did. I won't do it again. Just give me a message. I don't even feel like the Bible's in English right now. Oh, God. I don't like that. You know, like, I try to give you what God gives me and re-gifted.

Now I'm coming to a point in my life where I try to give you what I would give to my own kids. And that's deeper than giving you a lesson from the Bible. So it pushes me to go deeper, but deeper means darker. You need to look low for God, not always up here in the cloud somewhere on some inspirational feeling. He said, you're going to find the child on the ground in little old Bethlehem. Oh, little town of Bethlehem wasn't a compliment. It was an insult. And from that place, God, wherever you feel the most insecure, wherever you feel the most insulted, wherever it is the darkest, wherever is your Galilee, that's where God's glory is the greatest.

Elijah told me the other day during her workout, I'm sorry, my energy is low. I slept horrible last night. I messed up and listened to this music that got me in this dark mood, and then I just was like, I couldn't get it. my head and I'm laying there and I'm sitting there like I can't sleep and then I try to look at my phone because that's what I normally do but that made it worse. But he has me something. You ever have nights like that, Dad? The guy in me that wants to be so admired and respected wanted to say, of course not, son, I don't count sheep, I talk to the shepherd.

You know what? I don't think you should keep your kids all the way in the dark about what you struggle with. You don't need to tell them everything. No, don't, hey, please don't tell them everything. That's going to build up a therapy bill that, you know, be bigger than their college fund. I am saying, I am saying, there's moments where I realize, you know, he already sees me preaching. He's 16. I said, nights like that, I've had months like that. No, I had no nights like that. I've had a year like that.

Not this year. And that's when the Lord took me back to my passage. I thought the passage was about the star. I had a message going. It was pretty good, too. I don't know why the Lord won't tell me the right message the first time. Why does he keep me in the dark? I'm studying about the star, like how it's God's GPS system.

That's what I was going to tell you. God is your GPS. Merry Christmas. Larch said that's a, look at Matthew 2.14. It said that after they saw the star bowed down and worshiped him, an angel came and he took the child and his mother during the night. And that's what I realized, that God does a lot of things at night, that he can't do during the day.

They left for Egypt. They would stay for a year. Wasn't their plan? They weren't packed for it. It wasn't your plan to be right now. Are you exactly where you plan to be right now? Because if so, I want to worship you, Jesus. I want to give you gifts of gold and frankincense and myrr.

They left during the night. You've got to follow at night sometimes. Are you following God in the night right now? What I mean is you can't really see what's two steps ahead. And you keep bumping into stuff that makes you want to cuss. And you can't even hardly find a bathroom at night. And you don't really know. You're just like Joseph.

You're just like Mary. You're just like the Magi. You're even just like Herod. There was only one in the passage who knew where this was headed. he couldn't even walk yet. Nobody else knew. So I tell my sons about, my daughter, about my church about nights like that. I don't want to just tell them about the God of 9.30 on Sunday morning. It's got too much makeup on. Then they won't realize God when he has to show up at 4 a.m. I want to pastor a church and to be a person.

who has 4 a.m. faith. During the night, because I want my kids to see me do great things from God and write great songs for God and preach great messages and make good decisions and love their mom and be a memory-making dad and give them all of these wonderful experiences. But I want them to know that I had some nights. What I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know if the church would keep going. especially when it was a baby. I would walk out every week, not knowing if anybody would be out there. I would say, I hate when God prompts me to tell you stuff that's embarrassing to me. I'd rather keep you in the dark. I would rather roll out on the stage. Hey, praise the Lord, everybody. God is your GPS and he's going to reroute you. Am I right?

But the Lord said to tell you the things you doubt about, I doubt about. You hear me, son? I've had nights like that. I had nights where I wished I could throw up, but I couldn't because it wasn't physical what was making me sick. There's no sickness like night sickness. I never had morning sickness like Holly did, but let me tell you something. He's not just the God of 9.30 Sunday morning.

He led Joseph to even at night. So if you ever see me do anything great, boy. It's not because I always walked in the light, it's because I was kept in the dark. Everybody who God ever used, he didn't use them because they always had so much light, so much knowledge, so much goodness. You see all this other stuff. Everybody's posing on Instagram, and they got all these lights that are so flattering and all these filters. but the God of 4 a.m. The God of 4 a.m.

The God who got up from the grave in the physical body of a man named Jesus. In John 20, verse 1, it says, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. He didn't get up when the light came out. Easter didn't start with a sunrise. It started in the dark.

So, if you are in the dark, dark today and you don't know and you can't feel and my God, why have you forsaken me and how does this end and why does it hurt and when does it stop and when can I leave? I need you to know that he's watching you and keeping you and holding you and with you in the fourth watch of the night. Yes, there's a star that guides you. Yes, there's a light that guides you. Yes, there are blessings that attend you. Yes, there is favor that you can feel, and you will experience all of those things. But sometimes he's going to tell you things in the night and lead you through things at the night. And what he does at the night, you will be shouting about in the day.

This is why you got to hold on. This is why you can't give up. This is why you got to get help. This is why you got to get help. This is why he got to work through it. This why he can't accept the feet. This is why Harris searching for you. But he couldn't find you yet. He couldn't kill you yet. What he couldn't kill is Christ in you, the hope of glory. And he leads me not just with a star.

Not yet, not yet, not yet. Y'all don't want to go yet, do you? Y'all don't want to go yet, do you? Y'all got enough battles at home. Just stay with me for a minute. Get under this blessing for a minute. The night is coming when no man can work. Let us work the works of him who sent us. He's watching over me. Yes, he is. Because I got

something in common with Mary and Joseph. I'm carrying Jesus. I got Jesus on the inside of me. Everything that God spoke to Joseph that confirmed his word, he did it at night. In a dream, take Mary home, in a dream go to Egypt, in a dream go back to Nazarne. Everything God did in Joseph's life, he did it at night. What is he doing on the night watch for you right now? What is he doing? I'm telling you, we're going to be shouting about it tomorrow, but right now it's night. Right now it's night. I always feel like coming out here to preach is a little bit like a detective novel. I'm trying to find, who are you? Who are you that God gave me this word for? That he just stirred me up to like I told Graham, I feel like I'm about to give birth.

Who are you? What are you carrying? What does Herod know about you that has him trying to track you down and kill you? Why has the attack been so strong if you were not carrying Jesus? If you were not sent for purpose, if there was not a prophecy over your life, you wouldn't be feeling any pain. The pain is a labor pain. You're about to bring something forth. And it made me think that this is not the only Joseph, that there's another Joseph who had to go to Egypt. Y'all know the other Joseph? You all know O.T. Joseph?

Old Testament, Joseph, you know Joseph? Put it in the chat. I know Joseph. I know Joseph. I know what you're talking about. You're not talking about Joseph who married married. You're talking about Joseph, who was promised that God would raise him up to feed his whole family and save his whole nation in a time of famine. That Joseph, who saw the stars and saw the grain, but God didn't show him everything he would go through. God kept him in the dark. He didn't tell him, your brothers are going to betray you. The very ones you're going to that has to feed. You're going through something right now, and you didn't see this coming. He didn't see himself pushed into a sister. He didn't see himself sold into slavery. He didn't see himself rotting away in a prison while he was forgotten by the cup bearer and the baker. But you know what Joseph told me to tell you, God kept me in the dark. He was with me. He kept me. He held me steady. He held me down. He held me. level. He kept me safe. He preserved my mind. He walked with me through the valley of the shadow of death.

I will fear no evil. He's with me. That's how I'm here. He kept me. Everybody God kept giving praise right here. He kept me. He kept me in the dark. He kept me in the dark. He kept me in the dark. In the He kept me from killing myself. He kept me from walking away. He kept me from giving up my dream. He kept me from turning my back on my faith. I'm not here because I always walked in the light. I'm here because he kept me in the dark.

That's how I got here. He kept me in the dark. He didn't tell me everything. That's how he got me here. He told me one thing at a time, and that's how he's going to speak to you. One thing at a time. Give us this day our daily prayer. He kept me in the dark.

If God told you everything, you start spazzing out, we have to call the ambulance to your campus. I used to pray, and I still pray. God give me light, but this is a Christmas Christmas. prayer. God keep me in the dark. When I doubt you, don't let me deny you. One man said from the 1920s, don't forget in the darkness what you learned in the light. He got up at night. Joseph went to Egypt. You're following God right now to a strange place. I know you are. He spoke to me about you. He said to tell you, I'm keeping you. I'm keeping God.

you in the dark. You've got to turn it over. You've got to trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your past. What's he saying? He will keep you in the dark. You remember when God's people came out of Egypt in the Old Testament? The Bible says that they had to leave and the firstborn of all of Egypt was struck down. So committed was God to the freedom of his people. God is committed to your freedom. Yeah, God is committed to his children. He is watching over his word to perform it.

In your life, in this moment, at night, he neither sleeps nor slumbers. And one time I heard a fellow say, well, if God never sleeps nor slumbers, then I'm going to get some rest. as one of us should. The Bible says that the people of Israel and look at this. Holly, this came to me in the last

minute how God does it. The first Joseph who went to Egypt in the Bible was Joseph who went to preserve the nation of Israel. And watch what it says in Exodus chapter 12 verse 40. And this is the word I want to leave you with today.

Now the length of the time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. Y'all, I don't care who you are. That's a long night. That's a long time to wonder, where are you, God? Now, it's been 81 generations since the birth of Christ that we live in, and I think we have completely messed up the message of Christmas in those 81 generations, because we only associate God with the light, and he is the light. There's no darkness in him. However, look what the Bible says to the people. This is thousands of years before Jesus and watch how the prophetic word aligns, how God is watching over his word to perform it. Next verse.

At the end of 430 years to the very day, all the Lord's divisions left Egypt. Go, go, go, go. Because the Lord kept vigil that night. Somebody say that night. Do you know the one I'm talking about? the one I'm talking about? The one where the anxiety was beating, the breakers were pounding. You know the one I'm talking about where all the memories came flooding back? You know the one I'm talking about all the regrets? That 4 a.m. devil that you fought, that was searching

like Herod was searching, like Theril wanted to kill the Israelites, like he wanted to strike them down. But he couldn't watch why. Because the Lord kept this. that night. And this is what the scripture says, to bring them out of Egypt on this night. Somebody say this night. Now follow me, follow me. Receive this word. How many of you received this word that I'm preaching to you today? That is a weak response if you have heard this word. If you receive this word, maybe it's for somebody on the epham. Maybe it's you that this This word is coming for. All right.

So give me the scripture again. He said, on this night, because the Lord kept vigil that night, I want you on this night to keep vigil, to honor the Lord for the generations to come. Aren't you glad that Joseph followed in the dark so we could have Jesus in our hearts and in our lives. What are you carrying? What is the important thing on the other side of this night? That night, the night they left Egypt with the blood on their door so that the angel of death passed over their houses. That night, God stayed up and watched. And now so he said, you keep it. If you were kept in the dark, then don't you get in the dark and lose your faith.

Don't you let this knock you off of what the solid rock you've been standing on. Don't you let this snatch your prophecy. This is bigger than you. You hear me? This is bigger than how you feel right now. This is for generations to come. That's why you have to make it through the night. That's why I had to make it through the night so I could tell my 16-year-old.

So he can tell his 16-year-old. I've had nights like that. But watch this. No matter how dark the night. God never stopped watching. God never stopped keeping. God never stopped working. God never stopped sustaining.

Because there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. God is a good shepherd. He watches his flock at night. He doesn't only like you in the light of day. He watches you in the grimy place. He's a grimy god. He'll roll up his sleeves and come down, born of a virgin,

dressed like a man to set his people free. He never stopped watching me. Never stopped. He never stopped watching. He never stopped watching. Give God worship if he never took his eye. Off you. I mean, it's great to have promises that God made you in the light.

But the promises that God makes in the light have to be kept in the dark. The whole church missed it, but you, Tim. It's where you need Jesus. I think no matter how long the light is, the day is going to be greater. I do. I do. do. Never. You remember when he came out walking to the disciples on the water? It was the fourth watch of the night. What I love about it, Che, watch this. I'm going to get out

of y'all's way in a minute. I know it's late, but it's late in your life too. Huh? It's late in your life too. It said that Jesus came walking to them on the storm and the water. What I love about it is, before he walked out to them, he never stopped watching him. He saw him the whole time they were in the storm. God is watching over his word. Whether it's Herod, whether it's depression, whether it's your dumb decisions, they are not stronger than the prophecy. Yeah.

And until Christ this brought forward, God is watching. Oh, God. I thank you that you're watching over my house. I thank you that you're watching over my gift. I thank you that you're watching over my spirit. I thank you that you're watching over my broken heart so that nothing seeps in that would keep me from seeing you. God, I thank you that you are watching over these men and women.

I thank you that no storm that they are in reduces your visibility. For you have an all-seeing eye. You are the all-knowing God. You are the living word. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. That same word that came forth. 42 generations and past 80 generations to come to us today.

We have our eyes on you now. Watch God. Watch God. Watch God. Keep your focus. Even in the door. Watch God. Watch God.

Watch God. Watch his word. Meditate on it in your bed. Remember it. Play it in your heart. Watch God. Watch God bring you out. Watch God do a miracle.

Watch God give you a testimony. Watch God turn it around. Watch God use this very thing. Watch God, watch God, watch God, watch God, watch God. Turn around and tell five people, watch God, watch God, watch God, watch God, watch God, watch God, watch God, watch God, watch God, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, stop watching the news for five minutes and watch God. God doesn't watch the news. He is good news.

He is glad tidings. It brings great joy. And he watches over his flock by night. Give him praise if you receive this word. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Well, if you enjoyed today's podcast, there are a couple things I'd love for you to do.

Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. You can also help us reach others by investing today at elevationchurch.org slash give. And thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human.