Elevation with Steven Furtick - Look Forward Not Far

Episode Date: January 27, 2025

We all go through times when we’re looking ahead, and our future looks uncertain. We want clarity, but instead, God gives us the courage to move forward in faith. It’s in these moments we learn not to be driven by what’s easy but to be pulled forward by purpose. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References:Deuteronomy 20, verses 1, 19-20Ephesians 6, verse 13Exodus 16, verse 35John 15, verse 4See 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 fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. I think they'll be praising God like that in Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Toronto, Canada, Detroit, Michigan, Hartford, Connecticut, Newark, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. Elevation Nights is just a few weeks away. Go to Elevationnights.com and get your tickets. It'll be good. We'll be there worshiping God together.

We can't wait to worship God with you. Also, thank you to all of the amazing men and women who have signed up to lead an e-group over this next semester. Thank you for opening your home, your heart. Thank you for saying yes to God. I pray that God is going to bring just the right people in those e-groups who can help each other. I pray that God would make connections, divine connections, that God would be like a spiritual matchmaker. I'm not necessarily talking about a romantic match, although if the Lord wants to do that through an e-group, he's God.

Amen. But just that God would help you find somebody where they could say, oh, I went through that. And here's something God gave me. One theologian said that Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where they found bread. And sometimes God gives somebody something that you need in the season that you're in. And so when you walk through those e-group tents today or when they come online in a little while and say, hey, sign up, don't put it off. And don't tell 15 excuses why you're too busy.

I'm going to tell you, that's the problem with you. You're too busy. You're too busy. And sometimes you don't slow down enough. So you spend a lot of effort, but you don't get a lot of. of result. It's going to come through alignment in this season of your life. So this is an amazing opportunity. Holly, you've written an amazing study. Britt, the whole team, I'm so proud of you. I'm so excited about the change that will be experienced. That's on just

go to elevationchurch.org and join an e-group. Right now, it's time for the word of God. Let's go. The Book of Philippians chapter one. The book of Philippians chapter one, verse 20 through 26. No, no, no, let's go all the way back to verse 18. I was going to speed it up for time, but I want to read from verse 18, so I'm going to read from verse 18. And then the Lord gave me this scripture, and then he gave me a picture, and I want to give both of you today. But what does it matter?

The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice. Yeah. and I will continue to rejoice. For I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. Verse 20 says, I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage, so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body,

whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I'm to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I don't know. I'm torn between the two. I'm torn between the two. I'm trying to make a decision.

I don't know which to choose. I'm torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. But it's more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain. Tell your neighbor you're going to make it. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain. And I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith

so that through my being with you again, you're boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. I know you've been standing for a long time, but stay on your feet one more moment, because the Lord told me to give you an instruction today that will be very specific for you. It goes like this. Look forward, not far. Been distracted, overwhelmed. I feel like you're kind of going crazy sometimes, coming from every direction.

The Lord said, look forward, not far. Tell your neighbor, look forward, not far. And now on your way to your seat, tell your neighbor one thing you're looking forward to this week. go ahead and tell them real quick. One thing you're looking forward to this week. I'm looking forward to Pastor Stephen finishing this sermon so I can go to Chipotle. I know how y'all are. I'm looking forward to this sermon that the man of God is about to preach. I'm looking forward to put it in the comments too. I'm going to read a few from online. Somebody shout out something appropriate that you're looking forward to this week real quick in the room. Looking forward to it.

Looking forward to it. Everybody in the chat put, I'm looking forward to it. And then tell me one thing you're looking forward to. Forward, not far. It really helped me because when I walk out to preach, it's always a little unpredictable. I never really know how it's going to go. And so I do a little trick, and this is a little bit squeamish for me to tell you about. You might roll your eyes, and Abby's going to cringe on the front row

because she hates when I say romantic things in front of thousands of people about her mother. But I always squeeze Holly's hand before I go back to get ready to preach if she's not deep in rapturous worship. If she's in the chakina glory, I just walk out and let her have a moment with Jesus. I want to cut in. But if she's halfway aware, I'll just squeeze her hand. And it's my reminder that in a few minutes, however long it takes me to preach this sermon, in about three and a half hours, no matter what happens up here, I'm going home with her. Now, here's what that's called psychologically.

Anticipatory pleasure. And I don't mean what you think I mean by that. Chances are all we're going to do is eat, take a nap. If there's something we're watching, we might watch it. We probably fall asleep trying to watch it. But something to look forward to after it's over, it somehow fortifies me for what I need to do up here. And reminding myself that in a role,

as preacher or pastor does not exist the entire definition of who I am as a person. It takes the performance anxiety off, because whether you love it or hate it, I'm going home with her. And she never told me I preached a bad sermon. I know she probably thought it, but she never said it out loud. And on the chat right now, there's all kinds of people saying, I'm looking forward to the chief's winning today. I'm looking forward to seek him more this week. See, you've got spirit and flesh. in flesh, all in the comments. I'm looking forward to teach my students. Well, that's cool. I thought that was cool just when I read it. I thought, well, that's not you looking forward to somebody doing something for you as you doing something for somebody. What a cool way to think.

I don't know if you're telling the truth or not, but might as well frame it that way. Looking forward to closing a door. Looking forward to a few days off work. looking forward to my, I won't say that out loud, looking forward to feeling better. I'm looking forward to, yeah, it's going too fast. I don't know how to slow it down. But I think it's important, always in your life, to have something to look forward to. It's real dangerous. If you are getting a place where you can't look forward to anything and feel joy, you need to talk to somebody.

That's a dangerous place for you to stay. And I don't just mean for a moment where you're tired or overwhelmed and you just want everybody to leave you alone. But if you ever get to a place where there is a prolonged sense of the postponement of joy, do you know what I mean by postponing joy where you're like, well, I might be happy one day, but I can't see anything in my immediate future that I look forward to. That is a dangerous way to live. And it doesn't mean that everything you do every day has to be something that you enjoy, Snowflake. But it does mean that there ought to be something, even within the most challenging seasons

of your life, that you can go, I look forward to that. That's why I want every married couple doing date nights. I want you to do it so you can look forward to that time. You can understand that even if we've been busy all week, I mean, it doesn't have to be an expensive date night, make a sandwich, but set aside a time that you can look forward to, that you can know, especially if you have kids or little kids or something like that, set it up where you know, okay, we are so busy managing this corporation called our kids. Excuse me, this terrorist organization called our kids.

That we need a time set aside that I can look forward to connecting with my girlfriend, my boyfriend, the one that I used to spend hours on the phone with. And I think that's really important that you put something that you can look forward to, even if it's a little thing. That's why I got the fridge stock with Fair Life shakes. Because after I've done all my squats and all my curls, I know there is the taste of artificial sweetener awaiting me. Just something to trigger my tongue to let me know. You did good today.

Well done, thou, good and faithful servant. Again, I'm taking a moment to set this up because if I don't set it up practically, if we jump straight to what Paul said from prison, you will think that this message only applies when you're going through the hardest situation in your life. But I saw a principle this week that was so practical that it reminded me about something that Brennan Manning said in one of his books when a man went to visit Mother Teresa at the House of the Dying in Calcutta. And this brilliant ethicist, John Kavanaugh went to see her for three months.

And on the first day, he met Mother Teresa. And the report goes that he was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life and he felt foggy about it. Now, stop right here. You might feel the same way today. You might not be going to see Mother Teresa, but you came to Elevation Church, or you clicked on the link,

and you're feeling like, what do I do with the rest of my life? Or what do I do in this next week? Or what do I even do for my next step? Well, Mother Teresa, upon meeting the man, said, what can I do for you? And he said, I would love for you to pray for me. And she said,

what would you like for me to pray for you? And he said, pray that God will give me clarity, that God will give me clarity. And she said, I won't do it. I won't do it. I've never had clarity. And he said, but you always seem to have clarity. And Mother Teresa said, I've never had clarity. What I've had is trust. So I will pray that you will trust in God. The Apostle Paul, writing to the church that he founded, which was the first church in Europe, incidentally, was founded when he was in prison another time, is now riding to span 800 miles from Rome,

where he is sitting, awaiting a verdict of his current imprisonment for preaching the gospel, to the church that he loves, and he's worried about them and burdened for them. Yotia and Sintechi are arguing. There seems to be within the Philippian church a sense that when the teacher left class, we can do whatever we want. He checks in to let them know, I'm proud of you, but you need to keep making progress. And in doing that, he shares with them an update about his situation as well. As we are expecting Paul to give the exact details of whether or not he will be released to continue to preach the gospel, or whether he will continue to be restrained by his chains,

He does something very interesting and different. He begins to share with them not about the conclusion of his trial, but about the courage that God has given him to face it. Y'all missed your chance to say amen. I've been pastor in this church almost 20 years, and y'all still will know when I said something good. I don't have to get loud for it to be good. I said, sometimes God won't give you the conclusion. He will just give you courage.

And the people like Mother Teresa and the Apostle Paul, who are really confident, is not because they have so much clarity. It's not because they always know what to do next. It's just that they're always focused on what God has called them to do now. And this is a great distinction for all of us who are overwhelmed. From a man who had every right to be depressed and despondent, for a man who had every right to feel and communicate his sense of total utter despair. comes a book like Philippians, where he says, yes, I will continue to rejoice. Why are you rejoicing, Paul? Did you just get good news that they're going to let you out in a week?

Why are you rejoicing, Paul? Did Andy Dufrein just take a rock hammer and crack halfway through the shawshank wall? Is Morgan Freeman narrating your last night in prison? Why are you rejoicing? He said, because. Everybody say because. Now, one day I want to do a whole series when I get the opportunity. on why you need a better because. A better because. Verse 18, please again. He says, I'll continue

to rejoice because, verse 19. Oh, no, that's not where he says it. He says in verse 18. Yeah, yeah. And because of this, I rejoice. There it is. I went too far. I went too far. I was looking for that word, but I went too far. I dropped down to the end of it. I went too far. I meant to show you that word, because, circle because back there for me in the back, Justin, if you can, and because of this, I rejoice. Now, whatever your this is controls your rejoicing. Paul's this was the purpose of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, what he was sent to do. And since that was still happening and happening at an accelerated rate, Paul said, I have a cause to rejoice because my calling is being fulfilled. If your cause to rejoice is your comfort being satisfied, then any moment you are uncomfortable,

you will not have the ability to rejoice. You need a better because. Some of us need a better because when we come to worship. Some of us only praise God on the weeks where we feel grateful. What a small God you serve. That you need a feeling of gratitude to prompt an act of faith called worship. You're worshiping a God you can't see. You're worshiping a God who's not made by human hands.

You're worshiping a God who does not exist to serve you. You exist to serve Him. So if the reason that I worship is tied to the work that he does on my behalf, or the wish list that he fulfilled based on my preferences, that is a limited lens through which to see the God that I worship. Sometimes it's good for us to lift our hands because he's great. Because he's holy, because he's awesome, because he's sovereign, because he's God all by himself, because before Abraham was, he was, because he is the great I am, because he is perfect in all of his ways, because I'm created to do it, because I love him, because he first loved me, because he forgave me, because he sent his son to die for me, because he gave me breath in my lungs, because I'm living

on borrowed breath, because tomorrow is not promised, because God brought me this far. And if he never does anything else, he's done enough to be worthy of this next one. And Paul is playing games with the devil in this letter, because at the moment that he has every right to be discouraged, despondent, and at the dead end of his own despair, He turns his attention outward and begins to think about that church that God has called him to serve. He turns his attention outward, and he begins to focus on their future. And it's almost like he's setting up an appointment. Walk slow with me here. I want to meet you in this text. You can see Paul, who's about 55 years old at this point in his life, saying, I don't know when, but I'll see you again.

What's he doing? He's created. a sense of anticipatory joy, even though the timeline is uncertain. He doesn't have clarity, but he trusts God. And you can see in this wrestling match that is written on the page and preserved for us through the passage of time, as Paul is wrestling with his own volition and will, because there's so much about the situation that he can't control. It's not as if when he says, what shall I choose? He gets a vote in whether or not he's executed.

Now, just to make sure you understand the situation, Paul is about to be put on trial, and they have the power to decide, does he live or does he die? Paul does not have the power to decide whether he lives or dies, but he still has the power to choose how he lives in the meantime. And so here he is wrestling with the decision that's really not. his to make. And I thought it was kind of funny. And maybe there's even a little swagger on what Paul is doing here, because he's telling the devil, I haven't decided yet. I haven't decided

yet whether I'm going to let them kill me so I can just be done with this and go get all my crowns from Jesus. I hadn't decided yet whether I just want to get out of here and see his face, the one who died for me, the one who knocked me off my horse on the Damascus Road. I hadn't decided yet whether I want to be done with all these trifling Pharisees that I used to be one of that keep running me from city to city. I hadn't decided yet, do I want to be done with the storms and the shipwrecks and the stonings and just see him and be known as I am known? I hadn't decided yet, do I just want to leave or do I want to stay? And he's an interesting term. He said, I'm torn between the two. What a picture. I'm torn. I'm torn.

between the two. Recap. He's in prison, but when it came to describing his condition, he didn't say I'm trapped. He said, I'm torn. Two things could happen here, and I don't know which one God's going to do yet. Either my life could be over in a matter of weeks, months, even days, and I could be with Christ, or I could stay here and keep serving Christ longer. And I'm torn. Everybody say it. I'm torn. I'm torn. For everybody today who is feeling torn in an area of your life, let the Apostle Paul administer to you these words of encouragement. He says, if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor, yet what shall I choose? I do not know. And write this. down and put it on your mirror, it's okay to not know. It's okay to not know. It's okay to not have

clarity. It's okay to not have a five-year plan. It's okay to not know how you're going to get out of this exactly. It's okay not to know. If Paul, who said, and we know that in all things God works together for the good of them that are loving them and called according to his purpose said, I don't know about this one. You have, I don't know moment. that you have been hiding because you think that somehow means you don't have faith. And it is okay to say, I don't know. In fact, just say it right now. It'll feel like 100 pounds lift it off yet.

I don't know. You can't say it proper. I do not know. I have not the information. Don't say it formal. Just say, I don't know. Paul says, I don't know which one I want yet. I kind of want to get out of here.

But I kind of think I need to stay. It'd be awesome if I never had to deal with the opposition that I'm dealing with again. It's hard out here for a preacher. But I kind of think you need me because y'all are fighting back home. I kind of think you need me because I've heard some rumors about you. And I don't know if I want to get out of here or if I need to stay in this for a little while. And he's acting like he gets some. to choose like he won the coin toss, but nobody's coming to ask him. So what is he really

wrestling with? Paul is wrestling with the tension of looking forward into a future that is uncertain with unwavering confidence in Christ. Everybody in this room is facing the same challenge. Your future is not certain, and your hope is Christ. I just hit everybody in the room. How do you preach to so many backgrounds of people, and there's rich people, and poor people, and there's young people, and there's old people, and there's religious people, and there's people whose eyes look like they just, you know, right before they came to church, they may have something that wasn't the Holy Spirit. And how do you preach to all those people?

Because every single one of you, your future is uncertain, and your hope is Christ. And in this way, you are no different than Paul. And so he says, I don't know. I'm torn. I kind of want to just see Jesus. God be nice that this was all over. I guess because I was preaching on prison, I was doing research. I mentioned Shawshank Redemption and then turn off the TV, all of you that are real religious.

We watched the Green Mile this week, too, with John Coffey. And the Green Mile is trippy. I'm going to give you a spoiler alert. The movie is like 40 years old, so if you hadn't seen it by now, you deserve to have it spoil. But at the end, you find out that the man, the prison guard, He can't die. Well, he's going to die, but he's like 102, and he doesn't know how long he's going to have to live.

And that's the end of the movie, and me and Graham were watching it together. And he goes, well, that was kind of anticlimactic. I thought it was going to be scary. I said, son, that is the scariest thing I've ever seen in a movie. You don't understand now, but you will. That the thought that this is going to go on forever like this? I said, that sounds cool to you right now. You're 17.

I'm 44. Trust me, this is a horror movie. That was the scariest scene I've ever seen it. I've never seen anybody jump out the bushes that was scarier. I've never seen a chainsaw that was scarier. The fact that, I don't know how long I'm going to be here. In fact, they've even done studies. They did a surgery on people, and they told them, now,

the surgery, after six months, the condition might be reversible. And then they did other people, and they said, it's not reversible. You're just going to have to live with this. The people that they told in. six months will check and it might be reversible, you might get better, come back in six months, they were less happy than the people who were told, it's this way forever, get used to it. Because the people who were told this is how it's going to be, they began to adapt. And when they began to adapt, they started to see that I can live with this.

It's not what I wanted, but I can live with this. It's not what I asked for, but I can live with this. It's not what I would have chosen, but I can live with this. The people who were told it might be reversible, they were living in a suspended state of anticipation that it might get better and it might not. And what was worse than the pain they were suffering was the deferred hope that it might get better. Because if you just tell me this is the way it's going to be, then I'll make arrangements

around the way that it is. But to give me the possibility that it could change, but I'm not sure when or how it might, is the most painful hope at all. I want to talk about the ache of faith for a moment. I want to talk about when you know there's something more in you, but it can't express itself because of what's blocking you. I want to talk about when you know you have love to give, but no one to trust to give it to. I want to talk about the ache of faith today. When you know that God brought you through this for a reason, but you can't see what it is yet, Paul said, I'm torn right now. I'm aching in faith right now. A part of my heart wants to be with you, but a part of my heart says this is hard, and I don't know which one is better.

On one hand, he says, I think it's better to be with Christ. In fact, he says something interesting in 23. I desire to depart. I want to get out of this. It's better by far. Semicolon. But let's go real slow so everybody can apply this in their life, how they need to. It would be better for me if,

go back to verse 23, and I'm torn about it, and I think it would be better for me if, by far, but. Okay. So notice what he's doing. He's setting it up that my preference would be that I go to Jesus now and get my reward. And I'm not saying anybody in here just wants to die. I'm just setting that up as a metaphor. I would like for this to be over. but I would like for this to end, but 24. It is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.

I want to do the whole sweeping thing again from 23 on. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. So there is something drawing Paul. He says, to live is Christ, to die his gain, I could just go to heaven. That would be easier for me. It would be easier for me, 24, but you need me. And this would be easier, but this would be needed. And I'm torn.

It would be easier for me. just to let go and surrender and ask God to take me now. But you need me here. And because you need me, I'm going to let go of what would be easy. And Paul says, I'm going to let my purpose pull me. Come here, Graham.

Come here, Gavin. Graham on my left arm right over here, all the way down the stairs. Gavin on my right arm. Real gentle. Gavin is go be with God. Graham is stay here and help us. Pull me a little bit.

I want to, I want to be easier, but you need me. And at some point during Paul's wrestling match, because what he's doing here is modeling for you what to do when you are caught in a space where you don't have clarity, but you need courage, where you don't know how to handle this, but you need his help. And you can't really figure out what to set in front of you. For some of you, you don't even know what to look forward to. So it is difficult to attach faith to a future that you can't even articulate. So you don't even really know what you're asking God to do, and it would be easier just for you to give up.

But the need started pulling. Now, Graham, pull me like you're stronger than Gavin. And at some point, the need, keep going, the need became strong enough to release Paul from what he wanted so that he could respond. to what was needed. I am teaching the Bible like it's my last day in Valentine. You see what I'm doing? I'm pulled by purpose. So watch this. Come here. One thing is pulling me to give up. Oh, it would be easier to go up to heaven. In the sweet, by and by I'll fly away, oh glory. But just by time he's ready to fly away, something's pulling him back. And he said, this would be easy, but this is what you need.

And so at some point, Christians, we've got to decide. Are we just going to be driven by decisions of what's easy? Are we going to be pulled by purpose into what is necessary? And I came to let you know that there is a necessary next in your life. Help me, Hammond, Oregon. There is a necessary next. If the brook dried up, there's a widow in Zer. down to her last meal. And God is positioning you in this season for a need you don't even

know about yet. So it's very important right now that as we look at the example of Paul, which to me I told you was a picture. It's a picture of somebody being pulled. It's a picture of everybody in this room who is being pulled. The easy thing and the needed thing. The easy thing and the needed thing. The thing that you want. But see, sometimes when you get old, you get far-sighted.

You get far-sighted. Holly started looking me funny the other day. We were in a restaurant, and she was looking at me funny. I was paying the bill, and she was looking at me funny. What are you looking at? I thought she was looking to see, because I tip bigger than her. I thought she was scrutinizing my tip percent. Because y'all pray for her, because I'm generous.

And I thought she was scrutinizing the bill. But then later that night, she was looking at me funny. I was in bed reading a book, and she was looking at me funny. She was looking at me funny. And a few days later, I came home, and she said, I left something for you in the bedroom beside the bed. I'm like, oh? She's like, no, it's just still something that I think you need. And that woman looked at me.

Stone cold ice in her. veins and said, it's time. I watched it at the restaurant. I'm not going to sit there while you pull out your flashlight for 15 minutes trying to read. Is it a five or a seven? They keep it so dark in the restaurants. Can I preach about how the devil is busy with the light-dimming ministry? The Prince of Darkness. She said, it's time. I said, no, no, I got more a year. I can make the font 72 and I'll use my iPad when I preach. She said, no, you might want to use a paper Bible. It's I'm not. And you're far-sighted.

I said, no, I'm actually close-sighted or whatever the other one, because I can see it if it's far. I just can't see it if it's close. She said, that's what far-sighted means. It means you can see far, not close. She said, there's another name. She had done research. She said, there's another name for it.

When you get over 40, it's called aging eyes. Soft way to say getting old. Aging eyes. There was even some Greek word she used for it. I don't even remember. Presby something in it. Somebody can, an ophthalmologist, can send us a text about this message and correct everything I'm saying this wrong. But she said, it's time. Y'all can't even take me seriously with those on things. You're going to have to get used to it because I need to see what's

right in front of me in this season. And I'm afraid that if I can only see what's far away, Paul said, I want to be in heaven with Jesus, but God said that's too far, Paul. One day, one day I'll give you a well-done, but not today, because I still got stuff for you to do that's right in front of you. And convinced of this, Paul says, I decided that I'm going to make what's right in front of me that I could miss if I was too far-sighted my focus. So the Word of the Lord is, whatever is right in front of you that God has given you to do, that is your focus in this season. And all you have to do with the parts you don't know about God's plan for your life,

because, you know, Jeremiah 29-11 is a wonderful scripture, for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope in a future. That was spoken to prepare them for their captivity in back. Babylon, which would last 70 years. And he said, in the meantime, while you're in Babylon, you need these. Because while you are waiting for the future that you believe God has for you, I don't want you to get far-sighted and miss what's right in front of you.

Put it in the comments, I don't want to miss it. Tell your neighbor, I don't want to miss it. And sometimes the reason I miss it is because it's right here and I'm looking out there. Now, this is for all of the worriers that call themselves planners. You do know that every time God gives a gift, the enemy attacks it with a perversion. Planning is God's gift to you. Worry is the perversion of God's gift called planning. And people who are good at planning are also world-class warriors.

So worrying is, watch this, when I don't have clarity about the situation, because I'm looking so far. and I'll illustrate this one other way because I'm passionate that you get the picture. Because I don't want to just preach these messages, and when they say Tuesday, do you go to church? Yeah, what do you preach about? God? I want you to have something that you can remember. And what I see you doing is this. You're going forward, right?

God, direct my pass, but you are looking so far. I promise you, I will not take one more step. Get a wide shot so they can see what I'm saying, y'all. I will not take one more step. It's too risky for me to go forward looking that far. I mean, maybe I could do it. It's way, remember, I'm 44, it's way too risky for me to take that step. If I'm going to go forward, that's what I'm going to look at next.

Now, somebody who wants me to come up there and give them a hug, wave at me real quick. Okay, I'm coming for you in the back row right there. I see who I'm coming to. Everybody, let's put your hand down. I'm coming all the way to you. That's my future. But I am not coming to give you that hug, which I'm going to give you in just a few moments. I am not, I'm going to come that far.

I'm going to come toward you. That is the future. But I am not going to look that far. Because if I look that far, I'll fall. That's the definition of anxiety. That's why Peter didn't make it all the way to Jesus. Because he saw the wind in the waves, and when you look too far, you fall. But if you take this next step by faith and say to the devil, my purpose is pulling me.

Now, this is the next sandwich I need to make. This is the next bill I need to pay. I'm not going to think about the other $18,000 in debt right now. This bill, this baby step, this phone call, this workout, this breath. This appointment, this phone call, this day, this hour, this minute. And I'll tell you what, I found out that the Word of God, I'm coming, I'm coming, sis, I'm coming. I found out, give me my camera before I come, that the Word of God is like headlights on a car. When you're driving at night, you can only see as far as your headlights.

But you can make the whole trip that way, three feet at a time. I promise you, I'm a look here while I'm walking there. And this to me is the balancing act of great faith. Look forward, but not far. Look forward. Now, watch, I'm not going to do this. I'm definitely not going to do that. I got that much down.

But if the enemy can't get you to look back on your past, he will try to get you to go so far into your future that it is just as dangerous for me to look at where I'm not. going all the way up there as it is for me to look back at where I came from. So it's dangerous not to look forward. It's dangerous not to have anything to look forward to. It's dangerous for you not to have a plan for this year of your life. It's dangerous for you to not have structure around your day.

It's dangerous for you to not have a budget. It's dangerous for you to not have an eating plan. It's dangerous for you not have a Bible reading plan because you will need a plan to produce what you're called to produce. It's dangerous not to look forward. It is just as dangerous to look too far forward, to try to control things that only God can control, to start thinking about the product while you're still in the process of making it.

You don't know what it's going to be. And if you look too far and go, OK, I'm going to be sober, the rest of my life! Too far. Too far. That can be where you're headed. That can be where you're going. But what I want you focused on right now is that the presence of God is enough to keep me out of these chains today.

I'm not drinking it today. I'm not doing it today. I'm never eating sugar again. That's too far. Don't eat it this week. Can we do this week? Ooh, big old jump, just like that. Can we do it for a week?

And in this way, your faith is like headlights. Paul said in verse 20, I eagerly expect, you're taking my video? You can do it. I preach this just to you. Paul used the term that you can film it too. I want you to remember it. Oh, this is amazing. You're getting a hug on the way to the hug.

Oh, that's awesome. You don't even know what you just did for me. You preach the sermon. You see how much that meant to him that I hugged him? You see how much that meant? That didn't even what I came up here to do. What if God wants to use you on the way to where you think you're going in a greater way than you could ever be used when you get there?

What if I had been far-sighted? What if I couldn't see where I was supposed to stop? You like the glasses? I feel dignified with these. I feel theological with these. I feel like I need God to hand me these for the times of my eyes. the times in my life when I can't see what's right in front of me. So here it is, not back, forward, but not far.

What is there along the way that God wants to show you? What is there along the way that God wants to do? Paul was so good at glasses. He looked and saw, oh, these chains that are on my wrist are going to be a testimony so that the guards can get saved because I want to have a bigger church when I leave this prison than I did. Cool. I'm going to have a prison campus.

That's how Paul thought about it. That's what happens when God gives you glasses. God, give me the glasses this week to see what's right in front of me. And then along the way, I see some things, I'll learn some things, we'll have some moments. But I'm going to get there. I'm going to do what I promised to do, what I set out to do, and I'm going to hug the one that I saw. God bless you. God bless you.

You like my glasses? Holly gave me these. She said it's time. She said his time. And God wants to give you these. Because you are missing what's right in front of you. One more thing I want to show you. Are you full?

I can save it until next week. Or I can bring the whole thing and break it down right now in case you don't get back. You know, I can't trust you to come back every week. I got to give it to you while you're here. Now, listen, as I make my way back down, notice what I'm doing. I'm going far. I'm not looking far. I'm going far, but I'm not looking far. That's what God wants you to see. I eagerly expect in hope, verse 20. It's a Greek word that Paul used, not for glasses, but he makes this word apocaridokia. Were any of you in the church

the first year that I preached that? Apocarodokia. It means to stretch the head forward. Apocaradokia. When he says, I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that whatever happens, Christ will be exalted in my body. He says, Apokarodoki. He says, I stretch my head forward, but not far. Because I'm in chains right now. Forward, not far. Little steps, little things, little moments, forward, but not far. And not to make this negative.

But I want to give you the antithesis of Paul's perspective. I relate to so much. See, when the children of Israel had the opportunity to enter the promised land under the leadership of Moses, they forfeited that. They forfeited that. It was theirs, and they forfeited that. It was what God wanted them to have, and they forfeited that. So the account is pretty well known, but I don't know that the details have ever really been looked at up close. when the spies that went to check out the land where they would have to fight the battles to win the promise. You have to fight the battles to win the promise. You have to fight the battles

to win the promise. And when they came back and said, you know, it's pretty amazing in there in Numbers chapter 13. Go ahead and put that scripture on the screen, please. They gave Moses this account. We went into the land to which you sent us, and I'm going to stop on this sentence for a moment. It does flow with milk and honey. Here is its fruit. Where is its fruit? Here. They brought it back on a pole. Two of them carried the fruit of Canaan. These people had never eaten the fruit of the land. Many of them had only existed in Egypt. And so they had never had this kind of fruit before. Well, just about the time that they're looking at the fruit and seeing a picture, catch this phrase, of what their tomorrow could taste like.

What their tomorrow could taste like. Sometimes God will give you a taste of what your tomorrow could be like, of what it could be like if you were open and free, of what it could be like if you were focused and not distracted, of what it could be like if you were a servant rather than seeing yourself as a continual chaser of status. God will give you a glimpse and a taste of what tomorrow could be like. Here is its fruit. the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large.

We even saw descendants of Anak there. Go back to verse 27. Here is its fruit. It's fruitful. It's beautiful. It's amazing. We saw it with our own eyes. It's fruitful, and it flows. But watch this, verse 28. It's fortified. And we're going to have to fight. Now, fortified means that it's protected. Some of you will remember that the first city that they thought was Jericho. And the significance about Jericho was not the size of the city. It was the height of the walls. So when they said it's fortified, they said, it's got really big walls, right?

It's fortified. It's fruitful, but it's fortified. Now, here comes the decision. Paul said, what shall I choose? One is pulling me toward purpose. One is pulling me toward what is easy. I'm going to go with the purpose of God in this season of my life. Apokarodokia.

I'm stretching my head forward. And that just the moment that the people of God could have gone forward, they got far-sighted. They started thinking about who they were going to have to fight when they got there. But here's the bad thing about forecasting a fight before you are even on site to fight. You don't realize that God is going to give you the backup when you show up. You don't know the future that when you look at those fortified Jericho walls, those hard things in your life, those tall things, those strongholds in your life. You don't realize that as you think about them in the future, they are fortified.

But when you get there, God's going to give you a trumpet to blow. And when you blow that trumpet, something supernatural is going to happen that only God could do. You couldn't do it. I like shaking my glasses at you. They're like a wise old man, full of passion and insight. Because when you get there, you will have the strength for there. You've got to go forward, but not too far. You've got to go forward and don't start thinking about what is this going to be.

in three years? What is it going to be in three minutes? When we first started church, I don't know if you remember this chunks, but people used to always meet with us. The church grew so fast, right? And we would meet with people, and at the time, most of people coming to the church were teenagers and their parents. There was no in-betweens. And I figured out what happened. The teenagers came, they thought it was cool. The parents came to see if it was a cult. Isn't that exactly what happened? And we just grew both ways there. And then the parents came there like, it's not a cult, but it is pretty cool. And everybody stayed, and we preached Christ and God did amazing miracles.

But when we sat down for the first time to meet with many of the couples that were coming, they would ask a question. And I think three in a row asked this. They said, well, what's the plan for Elevation Church if you get hit by a bus, pastor? And when the first person asked it, I was like, I don't know. Second person asked, I'm like, I don't know. Third person asked them, I'm like, do you know something about a bus driver that I, is there? Bus phobia.

Still kind of cringe when I see a bus. It's just traumatizing. What is the church going to do without you? They would ask. And I finally looked at the third one and said, I don't even know what church's going to do with me. I never did this before. What happens if you get hit by a bus?

What happens if I don't? I don't even know the second one. How could I know the first one? And I believe in a succession plan. And I believe in contingencies. And I believe in plan B's. But I also believe that you need to trust God. That you need to trust God.

Trust him so you don't trip. Trust him so you don't trip. Trust him right now. Paul said so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body. So there are two groups of people in here. The first one is like the Israelites. And when they thought about what was ahead of them in the fight and the expense of it, and those of us who live in states of mind that are always forecasting the fights in the future,

This is what happens. In Chapter 14 of Exodus, I think this is one of the, or in numbers, this is one of the saddest scriptures that you will ever see. The people of God who were poised and promised to be possessors of the land, they start questioning God. Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? And you can't go forward looking back like that. And you can't go forward trying to forecast what's going to happen with a wall that God is going to knock down that you don't even know about yet.

Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? First four. And they said to each other, we should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Paul does just the opposite. In the moment of uncertainty, he says, I'm not going back anywhere. I'm going forward. and I'm going to focus on what's right in front of me at this moment, and I'm letting go of what I can't control. Is this your word, man?

Because there is somebody in here who is being pulled back, dragged back, tempted back, distracted, back. And the word of the Lord is forward, not far. Not far. This is going to be a step-by-step miracle. This is going to be a breath-by-breadth miracle. This is going to be a day by day, moment by moment, miracle, and God is doing it in your life. Just so long as you know that you can stretch your head forward in faith. You can only see three feet, but you can make the whole trip that way.

And by the way, Holly, they were 150 miles from Egypt, only 50 miles from Canaan. it would have been closer for them to keep going forward than it would to go back. I came to tell somebody you're closer than you think you are. You cannot go back now. No, no, listen to me. You have come too far. You hear me? You have come too far to forfeit this.

After all that he's done, after all that you've seen, After all that he brought you through, don't you want to run on and see what the end is going to be? I will go. And Father, I thank you for your prevailing word. All flesh is like the grass of the field. It pales and it withers and it fades and it dies, but the word of the Lord stands forever. God, I thank you for the great faith of the Apostle Paul, who gives us a picture today. of what it means to be in a space that never would have been his choice.

But I thank you, Lord, that he gave us a picture of what to do when the situation that is surrounding us does not correspond to the promise that is inside of us. I'm stretching forward. If all I can stretch forward is my head, I stretch my head forward. If all I can stretch forward is a weak prayer, I stretch that forward too. because I know that you did not bring me this far to leave me. I thank you, God, that you do have plans, a hope, a future for each and everyone that you sent me to minister to today. I thank you that this week they're going to get your glasses.

I pray, God, this week that when parents are starting to worry too much, teenagers would hand them some glasses. I pray that when teenagers are starting to get too distracted by what's out in the front, that a parent will hand them some glasses. I pray that when we're all alone in the secrecy of our own self-sabotage and the thoughts that we think that torment us, that you would give us your glasses, so that we would go forward and realize that you are not far. Thank you for drawing near to us today, God. It's amazing how you meet with us.

you for the promise that when we draw near to you, you will draw near to us, and if we humble ourselves under your mighty hand, you'll lift us up in due time. I pray for each person today who is experiencing a prison sentence of sorts. I pray that they would not have clarity, but that they would trust in God. I pray that you would trust in God. I trust in God. Sing it myself. We'll never fail. That's my prayer for you.

That's what Paul said. Yeah. As for me in my house, we trust in God. We will serve the Lord. Serve him when it's cloudy. Serve him when it's tight. Serve him when it's confusing. My purpose is pulling me forward right now.

Come on, let the words sink in. Respond in worship, and the word will go deeper. The word will go deeper if you worship. I trust it now. I want that bridge now. Lift your hands and testify. Come on. That's my testimony.

Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that this ministry is possible. you can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot, and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.