Elevation with Steven Furtick - Running For A Reason

Episode Date: August 4, 2024

Our expectation of God must not be that there will never be anything chasing us in life but that we are chosen while we are chased. In “Running For A Reason,” Pastor Steven Furtick reminds us that even though God has placed something significant in us, certain development can only happen in the caves of our lives. To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: www.elevationchurch.org/giving/ If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References: 1 Samuel 22, verses 1-51 Corinthians 9, verses 24-261 Samuel 17, verses 22-24, 48Psalm 142, verses 3-7See 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. How many are grateful to be in God's house today? All right. For all the early adopters who sat down, stand back up. I hadn't read my scripture yet. You jumped a gun, didn't you? Oh, man. I have a message today that I believe is going to inspire your life and encourage your faith

for all of the things that God has called you to do. If you receive it by faith, say amen. We're going to read two scriptures. 1 Samuel chapter 22 verses 1 through 5 and 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 24 through 26. The Word of the Lord from 1 Samuel 22, 1 through 5, and 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 24 through 26 the first one is about the great king David and the second one is from the great apostle Paul David left Gath and escaped to the cave of adulam when his brothers and his father's household heard about it they went down to him there all those who were in distress or in debt

or discontented gathered around him and he became their commander About 400 men were with him. From there, David went to Mizpa in Moab and said to the king of Moab, Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me? That is a very powerful way that he says that, until I learn what God will do for me. So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold. But the prophet Gad said to David, do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah. So David left and went to the forest of Heret. That's the first scripture. The second one, which will come on the screen as well, is in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. The apostle Paul writing to the church at Corinth gives a metaphor that I want us to apply our minds to for a moment today. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize, run in such a way as to get the prize?

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it. Look at your neighbors. Say we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. Let's stop there. I do not run like someone running aimlessly.

I want you to look at your neighbor like you're on the same Olympic team and tell them real quick. Just give them an Olympic look real quick. Look at him with some Olympic eyes. Did he say Olympic eyes? Olympic eyes. Look at them like a winner. Look them deep in their eyes and tell them, we run for a reason.

We run for a reason. I want to remind somebody that came to church today, we run for a reason. Yeah. We run for a reason. God only you know all of the purposes that you have in eternity for this moment in time. So I ask you God of heaven to invade earth. these earthen vessels with the glory of the oil of your anointing so that we can flow and move forward in everything you've called us to do. We cannot afford in this season of our

life to run dry. So now God, we ask that you would pour into us, for we are poor without you. Your word says that we will receive from you as we acknowledge our need for you. Father, we need you this hour. Please come in a way that we didn't ask for because we didn't know we needed it. Touch the place in us that is too insecure to be shown to others. But in your presence, there's no modesty for you are our maker. Every hidden part, every secret thing, deal with it, God, in this place. Between you and them, God, use me as your instrument. I'm available to you. Blow through me, Holy Spirit, as if I were a woodwind instrument and speak to these people what you need them to know. For the place that you've called them to, I consider it done

because you're good and you're faithful. And I thank you for it in advance. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. All the runners in the house, raise your hand. I wrote that title down. We run for a reason. That's my message. Running for a reason. I thought, now that sounds like I'm launching a 5K. That doesn't sound like I'm starting a sermon. But the Lord comes with these amazing confirmations. You know, I put my Bible down. yesterday for a few minutes to take a little study break. I've been up since early working on this message. And I just needed a little break. And when I put it on the Olympics, they were running the relay race. And I'd already picked out the title and the scripture. We run for

a reason, so I kind of took it as a little bit of a sign. What I must confess to you is what... It's so embarrassing. I start crying, why? Watching these people run. Not in a big, ugly cry, tears or anything, not crocodile tears, just a little trickle tear. But the bad part about it was the person who won wasn't even American. They weren't even from our country. And I didn't feel the tears come while she was running. I felt the tears come when she was looking at her teammates after she pulled ahead and won.

And I'm like, why am I crying? This isn't even my country. I don't even like to run. Back when I see runners on the road, I judge them. Don't you know there's a better way to get in shape than this? There are so many preferable ways to exercise. It's a runner's high. Okay, well, you know, I would choose a non-runners low over whatever run.

There's no high on the other side of that that makes it worth it to me. But observing this lady, it made me emotional. As I paused and thought about the correlation maybe between the message that I was preparing and the emotion I experienced, I saw that watching someone run and knowing the importance and the priority of what they're running for and who they're running with, that's why it made me emotional. Because when I saw as a relay race, so when I saw all the people that the anchor of the race brought along with her into victory, it touched me to know that something kicked in at that moment that made her say, for my country, I've got to do this. For my friend,

I've got to do this. For my mom, who sat at every track meet since I was four years. And I thought about all the people that believed in her when she first started running, when she wasn't much of a runner. And I thought about my wife, Holly. And I'm just telling you this because the connection was profound to me. When we first started doing ministry together, I had no visible gift or really any kind of clues that this ministry would exist one day. but she believed in me. She believed in me, and I know that she believed in me because we served on a ministry team together where we sat down, and I didn't know how to be a leader. I'd never let a ministry team before, and we're sitting there, and we're planning out our summer that we're going to go around and travel and preach. And I'll never forget this. I put up for a discussion, what should our theme be for the summer, ministry? And I was trying to get everybody involved, you know. But I found out that God so loved.

the world, he didn't send a committee, and if you really want to get something done, you've just got to make a decision. And we're going back and forth, and I threw out the theme, run to win. I said, how about run to win? Wouldn't that be a good theme from 1st Corinthians chapter 9? And, well, one person didn't think that was a very good idea because, you know, well, it's really not a competition. You know, it's really not about winning. You remember when that girl told you, it's not whether you win or my son Elijah, my oldest son. A girl told him one time, it's not whether you win or lose is whether you're having fun. And he looked back at her cold-blooded and said, well, I'm not having fun unless I'm winning. And he was like five when he said that. So it's in

the blood, man. We're kind of competitive. And I like that theme about run to win. And so this guy's saying, well, it's not really a competition. And then this girl over here is saying, well, I think that the Christian life is really more like a walk. One's got a problem with the word win, and one's got a problem with the word run. All I'm left with is two. And one of the team members looked at me, and she had real soft-spoken, she said, Stephen, we need you to lead us. Tell us what to do. From that moment forward, I decided you can be confused as long as you're confident.

That's a great secret for life. You can really bluff your way through a lot of stuff in life. Because then I just said when she said that to me so soft, I don't even know if anybody else on the team heard, but she said that to me. And I said, run to win. And then we went on the road, right? We went on the road, and we get to our first church. And I'm going to get to this story about David in just a moment and what Paul said in First Corinthians. But just to set the table for this revelation, we get to our very first church.

We're so excited. We have developed our curriculum. We have developed our teachings. And this is Holly's session, and this is Seth's session, and this is Joni's session, and this is Grace's session. and I'm going to come in and close it out, and we're going to do it over the course of five days and really build this theme of run to win, you know, all these wonderful plans. But we arrived to the spot and there were no people. Zero kids had showed up for the youth camp, and it was our first camp of the summer. And I looked at Holly and I'd learned from our little committee meeting, we need you to lead us.

and I said, you, make a flyer. And I pointed at her. And I think that's the moment that she fell in love with me. When I said, you, make a flyer. I think something about that. Just, ooh, make a flyer. And she made a flyer, said run to win. We went to Walmart.

We covered 500 windshields with run to win. propaganda telling those kids to get to the Baptist Church. And by the end of the week, there were 25 kids in the room, and I preached like it was 25,000, because I've always been doing it from a place of passion, not a place of performance. And I'll preach if there's five of you, 5,000, 5 million. See, I think that this is a common misconception about people that you see who go really hard after something, is that a lot of times you will see the results of their ambition and not really understand the reasons for their ambition. And for me and Holly, I'm thankful that not only have we always had something to run for,

but I'm grateful that I had someone to run with. And that made me smile to think about how here I am, how many, 25 years later, still running with the right one. Now, this is not a marriage seminar. So I'm crying, watching the Olympics, and I'm thinking, God, this is you speaking to me because I must be speaking today to people who are exhausted. I must be speaking today to people who need a second win. Come on.

I must be speaking to people today who are running the race of their life, running around, running like a chicken with their head cut off. What a disturbing image we use to just describe picking the kids up from practice. I've been running around with a chicken. Why you've got to cut a chicken's head off? Just say you're busy. But Paul said, watch this. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run?

When I asked a moment ago, how many runners do I have in the room? I was surprised. I thought every hand should go up. Because everybody, watch me preach, is running from something. As a matter of fact, if you are not a runner, you will find yourself lonely in the context of the Christian faith. The Judeo-Christian faith, which takes its roots and has its ripples from this Holy Scripture, is full of people who ran for different reasons. Starting with, let's talk about our most famous runner in the Bible.

If I say, a big fish swallowed him up and spit him out, you say, Jonah, look how smart you were with that Bible trivia. You studied, didn't you? And the Bible says that Jonah ran away from the Lord. Okay, well, Judge Jonah all you want, but Moses ran from a crime that he committed once it had been discovered. Moses ran from a body that he buried in an effort to defend his own people. Moses ran so far, he ended up leaving the place where he was the prince of Egypt and becoming a shepherd for his father-in-law, Jethro. Jacob ran from Esau. He ran from his own brother because he tried to steal his identity. Did I say Joseph? I meant Jacob. Did I say Jacob?

Well, Joseph didn't run. Joseph was placed in Egypt and he couldn't run because they tied him up. You know, we never talk about runners, though, in the Bible. David. David. David ran. You don't believe me? Well, he shows up one day with some lunch for his brothers. Check this out. And he's just a young boy. He's like 17 years old, something like that. He wasn't able to go out to the war, but his dad charged him to bring his brothers a meal. And I love this picture. What's the first one I gave you in 1st Samuel 17? It's somewhere in the 20-something verses. Put it on the screen, please. Yeah. It says, David left his things with the keeper of supplies and ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. If you know this story, you won't be surprised to find that when David ran to the battle lines, look at verse 23.

Next thing that happens. Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath stepped out, oh, I feel the Holy Spirit, from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it, verse 24. Whenever the Israelites, that's all the people who had been watching this, go down day after, day after day after day, they all fled from him in great fear. So watch this. David is running toward what others are running from. There is a spirit about David. There is a belligerence about David. Some would say a naivete about David, that what everybody else is running from, he's like, who's that? Some would call David Dumb.

I believe he's running for a reason. And the reason I believe he's running in this moment is he hasn't lived enough yet to know that you don't run toward giants. You run from giants. Some things being dumb and young will help you with in trusting God. They really will. Sometimes being young and dumb, will make you go to Walmart or Kinkos and make 500 flyers when nobody showed up for your event

and walk around Walmart, putting them on windshields and not even worry. What if somebody shoots me while I'm touching their car without permission? That's things I would think about now. What if it's a lawsuit? If I don't want nobody putting them on my windshield, I don't want to do this. But something about being young will make you run. We were laughing the other day because Elijah's been home for the summer. and I've missed the sound of him just running through the house.

No, not running for any specific thing through the house, just running because apparently he has the excess energy to just get where he's going that much faster. And you would think maybe he was late for an appointment or maybe there was something that needed a tenant to. No, just running because he's young. Just running because why not? I just feel like running. And I think to myself, I wish that I had the energy just to run for no reason.

But wouldn't that look weird if you saw me run? I mean, why do you laugh? Because it doesn't look right for me at this age to just be running for no reason. You are thinking to yourself, look, man, I mean, that's kind of awkward. We don't want to watch you run just for no reason, just because you've got excess energy to burn. Touch your neighbor and say, I'm running for a reason. And a lot of the times the initial thing that fuels our passion in our walk with Christ is our ignorance, not our awareness. It's why we run into relationships and we have no trouble trusting people because we've never had trouble with people.

We don't know yet not to trust them. Our trust muscle has not yet been ruptured. So we run. So we run. We run to opportunities because we've never experienced loss. We run to investment because we've never experienced collapse. We run because we're young. David not only runs to the battle lies when he's delivering the food to his brothers, but when Goliath came toward him with the sword,

by some estimates, nine feet tall of Philistine fierce warrior energy. Steps to the battle lines. And the Bible says in 17 verse 40 something, put that one on the screen. I've got to show you. As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran. He ran quickly. Something about this dumb young David. that I think we all miss in our lives.

That's the power of nostalgia. It's taking you back to a time when it was new to you, and you didn't know what you didn't know, so you would just go without a plan. Who needs a plan when I got youth? Who needs a plan? When I got personality. Who needs a plan? I'll figure it out when I get there.

And y'all, to me, these days, I don't go 12 minutes from the house without locating the nearest restroom that I might have stopped at along the way. Now, that's just the truth. But here's what I want you to know. Listen to me. Listen to me. It's one thing to run when you're young. It is another thing to intentionally run when you've been through some experiences that could

have made you bitter, that could have made you afraid, that could have you Put a major state, put where you are. Paul is describing in his great letter to the Corinthian church how the runners run in a game. He says they set their mind on a goal and they set their feet on a path and they run in a line. And when they enter the games, I don't know if you noticed this, he said, they go into strict training. And then David, now, let's do a little bit of a relay race from David to Paul, because David, of course, was hundreds of years before Paul came along. David and Paul are both experiencing the same type of thing. Paul is taking the gospel to the churches that have never heard about Jesus, and he is

dealing with these issues. David, of course, is the second king that Israel has ever known. He's following in the wake of King Saul, who was supposed to support him and supposed to mentor him and supposed to show him how to do this king thing. Ah, but Saul attacked what God was trying to anoint. There is a sense in which sometimes God is bringing you something that is intended to relieve you, but you resist it because of something that is within you, and you can't even figure out why you're pushing things away,

things that God sent as an answer to your prayer. Have you ever pushed away an answered prayer because you didn't know how to sustainably deal with it? I have. I have prayed to God in seasons of my life to send me people to encourage me and support me. But when the encouragers came to support me, I didn't believe what they said. Because my own insecurity made it impossible for me to believe that you could really feel that way about me. So I pray a prayer for God to send a person. God sends a person in response to the prayer. But the patterns of my life will not enable me to receive.

receive that person. So I've prayed a prayer for a person. I got a pattern that won't allow me to receive the person. And now I keep praying about people that God has sent, and I am praying away what God gave because of something on the inside of me. What I'm trying to say is, as fast as God is running to you, some of you are running from the answer that he gave because it does not feel familiar. Now, let me slow down, because I feel like I might be going a little fast. Am I going a little fast? In Paul's letter, he was talking about people who run to get a prize. And in David's story, there's a similarity. Both are about running, but for different reasons. I want to read you the story again now that I've set the context in 1st Samuel 22,

verse one and then I'll answer the question of the text. It says, David left Gath and escaped to the cave of a Dulum. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. And here's what we need to take a little break away. David is in a cave, but he's called to be a king. Ain't it confusing? When God calls you one thing, and your circumstances call you another? Isn't it crazy when God calls you free and your habits call you addict? Isn't it crazy when God calls you love,

but your emotions feel closed? Isn't it amazing when God calls you chosen, but you feel left out? Enter David, the chosen one of God. The one who wasn't called to appear before the prophet Samuel when he came to anoint the future king. As a matter of fact, at the moment that the king was about to be chosen, David was just doing his chores, tending the sheep. But the prophet knew each time he went to anoint another son with oil that this is not the one that God has chosen.

So one commentary says that the oil froze until David showed up. The oil would not move from the flask of the prophet to anoint the next king. And David did not have to chase the crown. The crown chased David. This may set you free from thinking that you have to be at a certain place at a certain time, or you have to get the attention of a certain person, or you have to be recognized in a certain way in order for your anointing to be real. Being recognized doesn't make it real. it is what it is before they say what they say. I was anointed to preach when there were no people coming to the run-to-win seminar. I'm anointed to preach today.

The only difference in what has changed is the number of people that I'm doing it with and for. But one thing I need you to know about your life is that it's one thing to run for something that you chose to run toward. I'm going to start this business. I'm going to find a husband. I'm going to get my life together. I'm going to lose 20 pounds. I'm going to run a marathon. The devil is a liar.

The Lord didn't tell you to do that. It's one thing to run after something that you chose, but it's another thing to run when you're being chased. And I don't necessarily just want to preach to those today who are running towards something, because that's wonderful. If you're motivated and you're inspired and you're like, by 50, I want to have this much money. I'm going to have that much, so when I'm 50, I can have this much.

That's fine if you've figured that out. But there is a sense in which you and I both know that sometimes what's really moving you in your life is not what you're running to. It's what you're running from. And people see what you run to, and they judge you by that. People see what you run to, and sometimes they admire you for that. But the significance of the text in 1 Samuel 22 is that David is a king and he's in a cave. And he's not running from a giant, no.

He's not running from his assignment from God, no. He is running from the king and he is running from what he is going to be. Not by his own choice. David did not sign up for this event. Saul, the king, was supposed to hand David the baton, and instead he is beating him over the head with the baton that he is supposed to be handing off. See, some of us run because we weren't handed everything easily.

Some of us run because what we were handed was hazardous. Well, I'm preaching. Some of us run. We don't even understand what compels us and drives us, and you don't really understand this until you take some time in life to reflect and say, why am I so hard on myself? Why am I so prone to anger? Why do I always look for how things are going to go wrong, even when they're going right? And you start discovering that some of the things that you are broken by are because of the

batons that were not handed to you in the relay that never was because you are. running from something. It's hard to run toward what I've never seen. It's hard to run toward wholeness when I only saw my parents cuss each other out. It's hard to run toward wholeness when I only saw people continue to self-sabotage. It is hard to run towards something that has never been exemplified before me. So now I find myself, watch this, like David, running from something that I ought to be able to run too. Saul should have helped David, and he didn't.

So David is in a cave because of a king that did not ever want his crown to begin with. And the Lord sent me to speak to somebody today to tell you, don't let the place you're in make you confused about the person that you are. That oil that was on David's head, it didn't just stop on his head. It ran down because when they anoint. you in the Bible times, the an anointing was an announcement. And the Bible says that Samuel had a flask filled with oil. It wasn't a quarterful. It wasn't half full. It was a full horn of oil. And it was dumped on David's head. And it was dumped on David's head to signify

David's destiny. And as the oil ran down his head, David didn't know what it really meant at the time. But the oil was trying to tell him something. The oil was trying to tell him that every king will have some caves. Don't let the cave that you're in right now, cause you to forfeit or discontinue the thing that God has put in you. Maybe this is why it meant so much when I went to preach to the women in the prison this week, because every day they are surrounded by signals and signs that say my life is over. And when we went in with our worship team and our staff that go out there every month, not just once a year, and we showed up to announce to them that God knows your name,

all of a sudden women who were stuck in a situation were lifted to a place to remember that before the situation, God spoke his word over your life. So this cage situation in 1 Samuel 22 is not David's fault. He is not like Jonah who decided to run for God. He is not like an Olympic athlete who wanted to give their life to get a gold medal. He is not like Elijah. Remember Elijah? Not that one in the Bible.

The one who ran from Jezebel. And you want to be like, dude, what are you running from? You just called down fire on 850 false profits. And excuse me, I'm not being sexist. But one woman? One woman? One anything. After what you've seen should be enough to make you stand firm.

Maybe you need an illustration. I think you need an illustration. Okay. All in our backyard, we have deer. We also have a Boston Terrier. I noticed that the dog is smaller than the deer. I also noticed that the deer run from the dog. Now, if you watch Bo chase a deer, you can see his arrogance that is unjustified.

Because this little dog who can't do anything is chasing a big deer. And I'm thinking to myself, this must be the most thrilling event in the world for his brain. to process, that I can make something this big run and I don't even have to bark. All I just got to do is this. But I saw a movie in my mind the other day. I wondered, what if the deer turned back and ran at Bo? What if the deer even hissed at Bo? All of a sudden, I don't think Bo would be so bold because he would realize this thing

that is bigger is being triggered by emotion that can't. affect him in the least. And so I can no longer manipulate this thing that is bigger than me into running from me. If the deer ever turned around, it would be the worst day of Bo's life. If the deer ever found out I'm bigger than you, Bo wouldn't run up on a deer. Bo wouldn't go outside. I told you last week he's scared of a suitcase. What do you think he's going to do with a deer? If you ever got the revelation, that greater is The I am. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The devil is hoping you never find out you're bigger. The devil is hoping you'll always flinch. But I see somebody turning around today. You're going to run. If you're going to quit your family, at least have a good reason. Don't do it because they got on your nerves. If you're going to quit loving your wife, at least have a good reason. Don't do it because she didn't appreciate you.

That's not a good. good enough reason. Trouble isn't a good enough reason for you to give up. Look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despising his shame. Jesus said, I hate this, but I love that. The joy set before him. What I'm running toward, what I'm running from.

It all comes in concert in David's life. Now look at your neighbor and tell them with confidence, okay? Tell him, if God did it for David, I expect him to do it for you. Now high-five him and tell him run to win. Yeah. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. God didn't protect David. Yes, he did.

He didn't protect him from being chased. He kept him chosen, although he was chosen. Our expectation of God must not be that there will never be anything chasing us. Our expectation of God is that we are chosen while we are chased. I'm not preaching to everybody today. Some messages are for everybody. This one's for somebody who's got something on your heels. Matter of fact, you got hell on your heels and you are running from something and you can't

figure out why and you're like, but the Bible says, Rest in the salvation of God. Yes, rest in his salvation, but run toward his arms for this season of your life and let him be your strength. You know this preacher from California? He pulled me aside one time and he said, I can tell you struggle with depression. I said, you act like that's a hieroglyphics revelation, the Da Vinci Code. I tell my church all the time that I deal with depression. He said, no, I can tell, and I thought this was a nice thing for him to say.

I could tell that you deal with it because you give people the tools to deal with it. And then he said something, and you know how preacher's talking in literated outlines, he said. The tools that you use tell me a lot about the trouble that you've been through. I said, that's a compliment? I said, I'm not depressed all the time. He said, no, I just can tell what you've been through by your tools. And maybe this is a helpful way for you to look at the situations in your life. You know, David, I've got to tell you a little bit more about David.

Do you know that David prayed in the cave? He's hiding from Saul, who's already thrown multiple spears at him, at his head. Talk about experience on the world. the job training, and he's lost his best friend. And so he's all alone. And he prays in the cave. Now look at this in Psalm 142. This is the prayer that David prayed in the cave. And you're going to be surprised what David prayed in that cave. But maybe it'll be a tool for you to use when you're in the cave. Look at verse 3. He said, when my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who watch over my way in the path where I walk. People have hidden a snare for me. I'm reading this fast,

because there's one verse I want to get to. Look and see, there is no one at my right hand. No one is concerned for me. No one is concerned for me. I have no refuge. No one cares for my life. I cry to you, Lord. I say, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Listen to my cry. I think he is feeling unheard. I think he is feeling unseen. You don't say listen to my cry. if you feel like the person is already involved in the situation. Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. Oh, David, I can tell you deal with depression. You think so? I put it in the Bible. I am in desperate need. The three people who need this message are going to really receive from this next part right now. The three people who have been running a race and you are being chased

by something and you cannot see what you are running from, but you can feel it and you know it, and you know it and it has become a template for the track that your life has taken and the trajectory that you're on. Watch this. He said, rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me. Now, when he said, the righteous will gather about me when you get me out of this, because some of y'all praying, God, when you get me out of this, When you get me out of this, oh, it's going to be amazing. I'm going to pay my ties. Lord, I'm going to get you 50 percent if you just get me out of this.

55, do I hear of 56? Do I hear of 57? Lord's like, whatever, whatever. Listen to this. He's praying. The righteous will gather about me. He's praying for support. He's praying for help. He's praying for somebody to care. He's praying for somebody to see. He's praying for somebody to hear. He's screaming in the cave. There's echo, echo, echo. And there's no. No one talking back. But watch what happened in 1 Samuel 22, verse 1. His father's household heard David was running, and they went down to him there. Not only his family, which we're

going to talk about in second, but look who else came. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him. Okay, God, remember how I was. is praying for you to send me people. I take it back. I don't need anybody, Lord. Just me and you, Lord. All I need is you, Lord. And here come 400 lined up. And what are they? They are David's 3D Army. 3D. You say, where you get that from? They were in distress, they were in debt, and they were discontented. God might show up at your door with 3D this week. But remember, Remember how we were saying sometimes you pray for something, and then it comes and you don't want it because it came in 3D?

It came in debt, distress, discontented. It came in the form of a need. Why would God answer a prayer with a need? Come on, think with me. Think with me. I can't just say stuff that makes you want to shout. I got to help you so you know that while he was praying in that cave, these, you know, he prayed, God, then the righteous will surround me. And here comes, in debt, in distress,

discontented. David's like, let me try that again. Then the righteous, I thought I said ratchet. I said righteous. Sorry, Lord. And now we have a decision to make, church. The question is, why did these 400 people show up at David's cave in the moment of greatest need in response to God's answer to the prayer? And I will suggest to you that it's this, because David was anointed, because he was chosen, because he was anointed. And for everybody who is in the cycle of self-pity of why is everybody always making with withdrawals from me and not deposits because you're anointed. Why doesn't anybody tell me good job because you're consistent? They won't tell you good job when you do it consistently.

They'll tell you good job when they're surprised by it. The moment they stop being surprised, they stop saying something. Ask your kids who ate your peanut butter and didn't say a word. Didn't even throw the jar away either. Just left it in there. Because they expect peanut butter in the pantry. Because they expect you to be on time. Because they expect you to be kind.

And their expectation is the greatest compliment. So don't cry about it. I told one preacher one day, I say, You will know you're a good preacher when people stop telling you good sermon. Because they will become all of a sudden less concerned about you and how you felt about it. And they will become more concerned about them and what God spoke to them through it. And I put this to you as a personal challenge today. Are they running to you for a reason?

What did you think God anointed you for? What did you think the oil was for? What did you think God blessed you with that experience for? And you say, well, they're using me. Uh-uh. God is. God is. The moment that the oil hit David's head, he should have known.

Uh-oh. Because there is no crown where there are no caves. So if God is going to do this thing for me, there are going to be caves along the way. Oh, how I want to preach to everybody who has a great dream. Oh, how I want to preach to everybody who wants to have a loving family or a righteous life in Christ, that there will be caves along the way. You will be confused along the way. Wait, I want this, and I'm reaching for that, and I feel this, and I'm doing that, and I did that for them, and they did that to me.

Don't let the cave confuse you. You're still anointed. Don't let their lack of appreciation confuse you. You're still anointed. Don't let the fact that they don't want to run with you anymore or confuse you. You're so anointed. They don't want to go that direction anymore. That's fine.

God will give you somebody else to run with. And they might be 3D. But you're just going to have to watch. This is the heart of the message. Look at me. This message is dedicated to my brother-in-law who just turned 47 yesterday. I told him I'm going to dedicate this message to him. Look at me, Jody.

Do it confused. Do it confused. David was used by God. But in this moment of his life, he was very confused about what God is doing. Can both be true? Absolutely. I am very confused about what God is doing a lot of the time that He is using me. Do you remember when Jesus knelt down and washed the disciples' feet?

He told them something very important. He said, you do not understand what I do now, but later you will. Sometimes you have to take a lap and understand later. Sometimes you have to take a lap and understand later. you have to take six laps around the walls of Jericho and trust that something's going to happen when I blow this trumpet. Something's going to happen when I blow this trumpet. I come against the discouragement in your spirit that says what's the point? I come against the catalog in your mind that tells you it was all in vain. I come against the tears that you've cried

because of who wasn't by your side. Open your eyes. David is a king in a cave. And so are you. So are you. He is running from a king, and he's going to be a king. But kings can be announced and anointed anywhere. They can only be developed in caves.

The thing in me, that needed to preach today, needed to show up at age 18, and there were no kids. It needed to be set free from the need to do it because of approval. I could not have delivered this word to you today without my caves. And I am saying to you, my brother, my brother in Christ, my sister in Christ, I don't know what you're running from. I don't know if it's generational. I don't know if it's recent. I don't know if it's been heightened.

I don't know if it's other people. I don't know if it's deep down inside of you. But God said to tell you, don't waste this cave. Don't waste this cave. Tell your neighbor, don't waste your cave. Caves come with the territory. Everybody's running from something. Everybody's running after something.

Paul said, I'm just not running aimless anymore. Running around like a Christian with your head cut off. Not even thinking about it anymore, not even strategizing it anymore. Look what David did in verse 3. The pressure was so overwhelming. He is already a fugitive. He is already confused. He looks around and hears his old dad and his old mom talking about, hey, David, we heard

you were in the cave. We came to keep you some company. Do you mean, Holly, this is the same Jesse that didn't even bring David in from the field when they were coming to get the king, but now he needs to. them. And I'm going to tell you something very important about people. People see you how they need you. That's why some people hate you and don't even know you. They need you to be an enemy. Because if they make you an enemy, they don't have to take responsibility. Be honest with you, that's why some people think too highly of you, because they need you to be a Savior. And the truth is, you're neither.

So in the moment that the 3D army, the dysfunctional army, the 3D army of dysfunctional derelicts arrives at David's door with his mom and dad, he goes to Moab. You remember anything about Moab? Remember a lady named Ruth David's great-grandmother? He had Moabite blood, but Moab was in his home, but he had to leave his home for a little while, and he took his parents to Moab, and he went to the king of Moab, who wasn't exactly his friend. And he said in verse 3, 1 Samuel 22, this most anointed verse I've read in a long time in this church, he said, would you let my father and mother come stay with you

until I learn what God will do for me? My senses were heightened and my attention was riveted by the word until. Until. Because when the oil hit my head and when it flowed in it, And it ran all the way down. It ran for a reason. But I'm not sure what it is yet. I know God is speaking to me about some things. I know there are some things that he's pruning off my life right now, but I don't know yet. And I'm not even doubting God's capacity at this moment.

I'm just lacking clarity. Listen to that again. You're not doubting his capacity. You're lacking clarity. And David said, this is too much for me right now. He prayed, God, I have no one to support me. Now look at me, look at me. You can be surrounded and still not supported.

You can have 50,000 friends on your phone and no one to be intimate with. You can live in the house with them, breathe the air with them, share the food with them, and still not feel like you're one of them. Now, David is charged with the task of receiving his own family. He is running from a king, and he is becoming a king, and he is about to occupy an office that he did not even run for. There was no process of David putting himself forth as a candidate for king. I'm here to preach to somebody today you didn't ask for this battle.

You did not even ask for this. You didn't even know what it was. You did not point to that item on the menu. You did not say, I want to deal with this. You did not ask to be raised that way, exposed to that thing, dealing with that thing. You did not plant it, but now you are having to deal with the weeds of it. Well, what then? What is the answer for those of us who are living in the until?

Because the truth of the matter is David was anointed long before the others knew it. I want to say about you that what will be true of you in the future is true of you right now. You are a king even in this cave. You are valuable even though no one else sees it right now. There are times when I'm preaching, you just have to believe me, where the Holy Spirit is giving me what to say, and it is for somebody, and I do not know who that it is, but God is calling you, watch this, saying, this cave that you have been in is closed for business because I have more for your future, and I need you to move forward even though you're confused.

You imagine the faith of that, Mike, to come out of a cave. And to go to Moab and say, can you take care of my parents? I don't know what God's going to do. I don't know how this report is going to turn out. I'll know if my kid's going to come back. I thought they were the last time. But that was just a false alarm, and they're still not doing well. I don't know, but will you keep what's important to me, even in my confusion?

And I just pictured somebody in here today that you've been running. with weights that God does not intend for you to carry forward into your future. There are some things that you need to drop for what God has called you to do, the expectation of where you should have been by now, the guilt that Christ paid for and nailed to his cross. Would you put that behind you so that you can run the race that is marked out for you? And while you're at it, stop looking around at other people's race. God has called you to run at your pace for this season. And I found out something about God.

And I found out something about the enemy. And it's this, when God puts something significant in me, the enemy sends something significant after me. You should have known the moment that the oil hit your head that this was not going to be easy. You should have known the moment that you survived the car accident, that there's a reason the devil tried to end my life right there. There is something ahead of me that is so great it makes the devil afraid. And that is the reason I run because I figure if the enemy sent something against me

in this season to try to get me to abandon it, there must be something ahead of me. That is absolutely amazing. That it's amazing what's ahead of you, bro. It's amazing what's ahead of you, man. Your kids are going to talk about dead and she still carried us. So the Lord said, make me your stronghold. Make me your stronghold. You don't need that cave.

When you're called your cover, and the prophet told David, I know you're running and I know there's a reason, but look at verse 5. Do not stay in the stronghold. What is a stronghold church? It is a place of temporary protection. It is meant to be visited but not lived in. Some of the ways that you developed to deal with your life, they were temporary and they served a purpose, but they're over now.

They're over now. And the prophet named Gad told David something. He said, go to Judah. Why Judah? Put the verse up, please. Verse 5. Go to Judah. Because that was the place David was from.

And that was the place where he would be anointed. And that was the place where he would be covered, and that was the place he would be protected. So God says, I will cover you in every place that I call you to. Would you come out of the stronghold? Would you come out of the stronghold just for a moment today? I know the cave felt safe for a season, but the cave is closed now. I know you kind of had to be like that for a season to get through it, and I know you were trying to prove something, having sex with every different woman to try to prove something.

that you never received in your childhood. But would you come out of that now? It's time to grow up. God's got something with your name on it to make a difference in the earth, and it's not just about you anymore. Come to Judah with me. Judah is the tribe that David is from, and Judah is the name that means praise. I found it significant that when David left the cave, God called him to a place that meant literally praise. I think it is a sign that when we praise God in the place, where we are. I said when we praise God in the place where we are, yeah, that God begins to move, that the oil begins to flow, and I don't run for nothing. Everybody runs, but I'm running for something. I'm running with someone. And the Lord told me that if I can't

run anymore, he'll lift me up on wings like eagles. So I appreciate the case. but I'm already covered. I appreciate the cave, but I'm already covered. Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for the blood that covers me today. I thank you for the times in my life that I've known it to be true, that while I was praying in a cave, you were sending people. Hallelujah. You were making plans. Thank you, Jesus, and you were fulfilling purpose. purpose, sending people, making plans, fulfilling purpose. I declare your word over this church. Jeremiah 2911 says, for I know the plans I have for you.

That just because we are not aware of them does not mean they are not active. God, I come against everything that shove those kings in those caves. I come against everything that has told this child of God, this individual. that they will never be what you've called them. And right now, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for your covering, protecting presence over our families. Say it out loud. Devil?

In the name of Jesus. You can't have my kids. They're covered. Now start clapping like you know your kids are covered. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Diane. Cover? Try this.

Devil? You can't have my mind. It's covered. Can't have my heart is covered. Can't have my vision. It's covered. And I declare that in Christ, I am a new creation. I am a child of God. And I'm running this race in the strength of Jesus. There's a strong anointing. Bow your head, close your eyes. Somebody needs to come to Jesus right now. You need to run to Jesus right now. He's already running to you.

The Bible says in the story of the prodigal son, the father ran toward his son. God is running toward you, running with forgiveness, running for your redemption, running to receive you with arms open wide. All you got to do is repent. All you got to do is say, God, I'm here. I'm sorry that I ran from you. I was running from you when I should have been running to you. There's somebody here today.

You need to receive Jesus. This is your chance. I want to pray a prayer with you. If you will pray this prayer from your heart, the Bible says that God will hear you from heaven. He will forgive your sin. He will give you his grace, and he will make you new. You will be born again. You will be saved.

This is your moment. Repeat after me. Heavenly Father, I am a soul. sinner in need of a Savior. And I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. And today, I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe he died, that I would be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. This is my new beginning. Three, shoot your hand up if you prayed that prayer. I want to celebrate you.

One, two, three. Shoot it up, shoot it up. Shoot it up. I see you. Incredible. Come on, we can do that. Five, at least three people say I'm running for a reason. Campus pastors, you can have it.

Valentine, look at me this week. You got something to run for and you got someone to run with. You are not alone in this thing. You hear me? I know it feels lonely to be chosen sometimes. You're not alone. You're chosen. The two feel the same sometimes.

You're not alone. You're chosen. Tell somebody you're chosen. That's why you're running. That's why the devil's chasing you. You're chosen. But guess what? What I'm running toward is greater than what I'm running from.

So I'll see you on the next lap. And now unto him, lift your hands, who is able to do immeasurably more than you ask or imagine. To him be glory through Christ Jesus in the church now and forever. High five, somebody say, run your race. 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 Elevation,

Church.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.