Elevation with Steven Furtick - This Doesn't Fit (Dharius Daniels)

Episode Date: June 27, 2022

God wants to use what makes you different. In “This Doesn’t Fit,” Dr. Dharius Daniels of Change Church reminds us how God can use what sets us apart to do something significant. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfrSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. So incredibly honored to be home, y'all, my cousin, and them now. What's up, family? So honored to be here. And I've got to pause for the cause and just celebrate, in my opinion, not just one of the greatest preachers I've ever heard, but one of the greatest people I've ever met.

And that is your incredible pastor, my friend and brother, Pastor Stephen. We celebrate him. And this incredible church, and to the dream team, the volunteers, I've learned this a long time ago. You don't go as far as your dream. You go as far as your team. So come on, let's make some major noise for dream teams in every day. location and online. EFAM excited.

I'm a part of the EFAM because between my services, I'm pulling up on YouTube. But just incredibly excited to be here. I heard y'all talk back to the preacher at this church. So there's something on my heart I want to share. I want to read just a couple of verses of scripture from a story found in the Old Testament. is captured in a book called 1 Samuel 17. And I want to read just a couple of verses beginning at verse 39. And I'm reading today from the new international version of the scriptures.

And this is what 1st Samuel 17, verse 39 says. It says, David fastened on his sword over the tunic. And he tried walking around because he was not used to. to them. I cannot go in these, he said to Saul, because I'm not used to them. So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag, and with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine. I want to read verse 40 if I can one more time. Verse 39 is with saying, so he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand. Chose five smooth stones from the string, put them in the pouch of

his shepherd's bag with his sling in his hand and approached the Philistay. I think I'm going to read that one more time. Verse 39 says, so he took off Saul's armor. And then verse 40 said, not only did he take off Saul's armor, but then he took his staff in his hand. He chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag with his sling in his hand and approach the Philistine. I want to stop reading right there. And I want to tag a title to this text. I want to talk from this subject in our time together today. This doesn't fit. This doesn't fit. If you're excited about God's word, let's clap our hands wherever we are. Family, I want to start this sermon with a statement. It's a statement that I think is extremely important, yet often overlooked.

And here it is. How far you go and how much you grow is not just determined by what you believe about God. it is equally impacted by what you believe about you. I'm going to say that one more time. How far you go and how much you grow is not just determined by what you believe about God. It is equally impacted by what you believe about you. A sage named Solomon framed it this way in a book of the Bible called Proverbs. Solomon says this, as a man or woman thinks in their heart, so is he.

Notice now, notice what Solomon did not say. He did not say as a man, watch this, or excuse me, as God thinks about a man or a woman. So is he. He says, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. In other words, you will always behave in a way. that is consistent with how you see yourself, meaning there it is possible for there to be some inconsistency, some dissonance, a gap between what God thinks about you and what you think about yourself. And what God is attempting to do on our journey of spiritual growth is aligned what he

thinks about us with what we think about ourselves so we can behave in a way that is consistent with what he thinks about us and not just what we think about what we think about ourselves. And this may be the reason that God regularly and repeatedly and consistently all throughout scripture reminds us of who we are. When you really go from Old Testament to New Testament, it seems a bit excessive. You will see God regularly and repeatedly telling you who you are. salt, light, royal, chosen, peculiar, beloved, special, anointed, head, not tell, above only, not beneath. Am I making sense?

So if I am that, why does he have to keep telling me that? Because he knows who I am is my truth. That's his truth, but his truth isn't always my experience. So he says, that's who you are, that's truth. That's truth. That's what I know. But it doesn't become what you experience until you believe it. If I'm making sense, say yes.

And what I want us to see here, when we get this revelation, it should cause a revolution. Because when the enemy cannot change what you think about God, his next step is to try to change what you think about you. But I've got good news elevation. I said, I've got good news elevation. they would say it this way in the church I grew up in, the devil is a liar. No, no, this is what that means. It doesn't mean he just doesn't tell the truth. It means he can't tell the truth.

Jesus said the truth is not even in him, which means whatever he is telling you about you can't be true. So instead of panicking, based on what he's telling you about you, you ought to start praising based on what he's telling you about you because whatever he is telling you, the very opposite is true. And so if he's telling you you're not going to make it, you're getting ready to make it. If he's telling you you're not coming out, you're getting ready to come out. If he's telling you it's over, it's just beginning.

And I want to know, is there anybody online, anybody at the locations that will just pause and give God a praise because the devil is a liar. He's a liar, and one of the things he wants to lie to us about is our identity. There's this some embrace it, some don't, is this principle of biblical interpretation. We'll call it a hermeneutic. It's called the law first mention, which means that very often, specifically in the book of Genesis, if you see something mentioned for the first time, that might be a picturing, picture or a pattern of how that thing's going to be seen throughout the thread of scripture.

And when we see the enemy's interaction with the human species for the very first time, what did he try to create? He tried to create an identity crisis. When he is engaged, watch this, remember? So whether this is literal or metaphorical, this is what's happening. In the garden, there is a snake. And why is the snake significant in the garden? It's significant because you wouldn't be surprised to see a snake in one. Because sometimes the devil shows up looking like he belongs. Right. So he's engaging in conversation with Eve, right?

And telling Adam and Eve, listen, no, no, no, no, it's okay. You can eat that. You can eat that. And this is what he says. He says, God knows if you eat that, you'll be like him. That's what he said, right? God knows if you eat that, you'll be like him. Well, you see this engagement happening in Genesis 3, but you go all the way back to Genesis 1.

You'll see when God's having a conversation about creation, he says, let us make man in our image and likeness. So Satan tells Eve, God knows if you eat that, you'll be like him. But in Genesis 1, when he created Adam and Eve, he created them in his image and likeness. They weren't God, but they were like God in some ways. So she's trying to become what she already is. Did you hear what I just said? I said she's trying to become what she already is. Because what the enemy does is he can't take your worth, but he can take your awareness of it.

He can't take your value, but he can't take your vision. He can't take your gift, but he can take your grit. But I just believe I just feel something in this room and in your living room and at every location I believe there are some people that are getting ready

to make an exit and an exodus out of your identity crisis and you're going to start saying to yourself I am who he says I am I'm blessed, not cursed I'm the head, not the tail I'm above only, not beneath I'm not just a conqueror

We don't just barely conquer. I'm more than a conqueror. I don't just survive. I thrive. Who am I preaching to today? And it's an identity crisis. And one of the ways he orchestrates this, man, I've seen this, I've been seeing this so much recently.

One of the ways he orchestrates this is by infecting us, infecting us. Watch this. with inadequacy. Can we just talk? We family. Y'all, my cousin, right? Okay. So, so this is, I want to say this. Let's talk. The same enemy that orchestrates arrogance is the same one that orchestrates inadequacy. But in a lot of our religious spaces, the emphasis is on arrogance. There is an obsession with arresting and addressing arrogance. Be humble.

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and in due season. He will exalt you. That's important. That's necessary. It's not incorrect. But if that's all we address, it's incomplete. Because in some ways the enemy is working,

attempting to cause people to think too highly of themselves. But then in other ways, enemy is working, causing people to think too low of themselves. And I am telling you that, watch this, that inadequacy has assassinated just as many assignments as arrogance has, that the devil uses inadequacy just as much as he uses arrogance. As a matter of fact, very often when we see people being called to do something significant in scripture before they accept the assignment, God has to talk them out of inadequacy. It's all throughout scripture.

See, just because you aren't thinking low about yourself doesn't mean you're thinking right. He called Moses. Moses responds with inadequacy. He says, Moses, I'm going to use you. You're going to go back to Pharaoh and you're going to be a leader and you're going to lead people out of a place and a space and a state that's inconsistent with my intention for their life. And Moses is like, wait a minute, time out.

Hold up. Flag on the play. Wait a minute. I don't, you say I'm going to, I'm going to go before Pharaoh and speak. No, I'm a background person. This is, you're calling me to do something that is that, watch this. That's in the exact area I feel inadequate in. He said, I'm slow with speech. I don't do that speaking thing. Moses is like, I can't do this without you. And God's like, Exactly. That's why I picked you because you know you can't do this without me and you will never try to do this without me. What you feel like is inadequacy, Moses. It's actually insurance, Moses. It's insurance because now I'm insured or assured that you're always going to lean on me, depend on me, trust me, look to me, consult me. He called Moses. Moses' inadequacy responded. when he called a gentleman named Jeremiah, Jeremiah responded with inadequacy.

He said, I can't do this, I'm but a youth. I don't have the experience. And we could take that same text, and old Jeremiah talks about how young he is. We could take that text and just apply it generally to something called age in general. And some people would say, I'm too old. It's too late. He's calling him to do something. And Jeremiah is using his age as a limitation, inadequacy. He calls Gideon. Gideon uses his family. He said, do you know who my cousin is?

So you have generations of people who are waiting on them to unleash what God put in them. And because the enemy cannot ungift them, he arrests their ability to use their gift by causing them not to see the value of what God has put on the inside of them. But I came today to be a matchmaker and I'm not talking about Christian mingo. I came to be a matchmaker to hook you up, not with somebody else, but to hook you up with you. I want to introduce you to a you you hadn't met yet. A stronger you, a wiser you, a more courageous you. There's some things on the inside of you that God wants to unleash and unlock,

but he wants us to cultivate, not arrogance, but confidence in the way you've been wired and how you've been crafted. And in my estimation, there is no better example of what I'm trying to articulate than the example that is seen in the life and in the leadership of a dude named David. We read a brief part of his story found in 1st Samuel chapter number 17, but contextually his story begins in 1st Samuel chapter number 6. when God is looking for a successor to a king named Saul. And in 1 Samuel 16, verse 1, this is one of the most interesting parts of David's story.

This is what it says. It said, the Lord said to a civil and spiritual leader named Samuel, how long will you mourn for Saul since I rejected him as king over Israel? Samuel, how long? Are you going to nurture an emotional attachment to something I'm done with? Right? Saul represents an era of leadership in Israel. It represents a season, an age.

And so it's like God's asking Samuel, how long are you going to keep nurturing an emotional attachment to a season that I'm not going to revisit? it. It's like he's saying, Samuel, now if you're going to continue to walk with me, you have to master moving on without closure. Did you hear what I just said? Because if you're like me, you want closure. You want an explanation. If they hurt me, I want to know why. I want to know what you were thinking. And I want to know how could you do this to me based on what I've done to you, right? I want to closure. I want closure. I want explanations. But watch this. Where trust is present. Explanations aren't needed. God says if you have an explanation, you don't need trust. But you need to trust my character and trust who I am when you don't understand what I'm doing. And he's like, Samuel, I know you enjoy this season with Saul. But this is done with it. I'm doing. I'm doing something new. So I want to know how long are you going to keep crying over this because your tears don't change my will. He said, Samuel, I need to know how long

are you going to mourn? And the reason is, Samuel, as soon as you stop talking about what was, I can start talking about what is. Samuel, as soon as you start stop talking about what you you used to have. I can start talking to you about what you're getting ready to have. As soon as you stop talking about how it used to be, I can start talking to you about how it's getting ready to be because the ladder is going to be greater than the former. Let me just contemporize it. The best is not behind me. The best is in front of me. And God is saying, I will never take something from you and give you something inferior in exchange. So if I took something you liked, I'm getting ready to give you something you love. Somebody praise God in this room, in your living

room, in every room. Y'all okay? I'm almost done. Okay, here it is. He says, how long, verse 13, verse one, how long will you mourn over Saul since I've rejected him, rejected him as king over Israel. Then he says this, fill your horn with oil and be on your way. I'm sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. Watch what he says. Fill your horn with oil because I'm getting ready to send you to the right place to pour it. He's saying your oil doesn't belong there anymore. So you're trying to pour your oil on someone who no longer values it. no longer wants it, no longer respects it. See, your oil can represent your ability.

The biblical word here is anointing, right? That's what it represents. And he says, listen, I don't want you to, watch this. I don't want you to waste the oil that I've given you. So I'm going to give you direction on how to use it in this season. I want to tell some of you, nothing's wrong with your oil. You've just been pouring it in the wrong places. So Samuel obeys

He goes to Jesse's house He said, Jesse Do you have any cheerin? He said, yeah, I got seven sons And he calls his sons He said, call the sons Because the next king, Jesse, is in your house.

He said, for real? He said, yeah, for real, for real? He said, yeah. So he calls his sons And the first one walks up. His name is Iliah. He's swaggy. The Bible talks about his appearance and his vibe and his aura.

He looks like what you think a king would look like. And Samuel looks at Iliab and say, this is it. Surely this is the Lord's anointing. And God has to correct Samuel. He's a judge. He has what's called prophetic gifting. He's able to see things that were called seers. And the seer couldn't see.

His attachment to the past was affecting his discernment in the future. Because Iliab kind of looked like Saul. The Bible describes Saul that way. So his attachment to the past was affecting his discernment in the present. And God has to tell Samuel and remind him, we don't use the same criteria when it comes to picking kings. He says, man looks at the outward appearance. but I look at the heart.

There's heart criteria that I'm looking for to determine who I'm going to use. So it says, Iliab, isn't it? So another son comes. He's not it. Another son comes. He's not it. Seven sons come to Samuel. And God's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Seven. And Samuel's confused. So he says to Jesse, he says, are these all your sons? He says, yeah, I got one more, but I know he's not the one. Samuel said, you got one more. Call him. We won't sit down until he gets here. And the Bible says, here comes David.

And God says to Samuel, that's the one. Now, wait a minute. I want you to catch this. seven people got to Samuel before David. Seven people got to the opportunity before David. Seven people got to the door before David. Let's contemporize it. Seven people met Samuel before David.

Seven people applied before David. But God held it. it in place until David got them. Because when God has something for you, it doesn't matter who gets there first. They can see it first. They can apply first. They can call first. But if your name is on it and God has assigned you to it, what God has for you is for you.

Notice what the text says, 1 Samuel 16, 13. It says, so Samuel took the horn of oil. and anointed him. Now, I don't know. I love the Bible. I read the Bible. I try to read it objectively as I can. This seemed a little petty to me.

I love it. I love it, though. It's the pettiness for me. I just, I love it. Here it is. He says, so Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him. Listen to what the writer says

in the presence of his brothers. I don't see the necessity of that detail. I don't see how that's relevant to the story. It feels a little petty to me, but I'm here for it. I'm here for it all. He says he anointed him in the presence of his brothers. So the same people that did not think enough of him to even invite him to meet Samuel are the same people that have to sit there and watch him get what they didn't think he'd deserve.

And I think this is a powerful picture of divine retribution of what the Apostle Paul calls vengeance. See, vengeance is not God inflicting harm on your enemies. Vengeance is God empowering you to succeed in spite of what your enemies did and then putting your enemies in close proximity and their punishment is to watch you win. I want somebody online, somebody in every location to give God praise because he's about to punish your enemies by making them watch you win. I want to tell somebody they watch it. They're not commenting under the post, but they're watching. They're not pressing that like button, but they're watching.

They're seeing everything God's doing in your life. Here it is. I want you see. It's the anonymous presence of the brothers. That's not all. It says, and from that day on, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David. You guys see that. So it says from that day on, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David.

From that day on, Spirit of the Lord came powerful of David. Okay. But then this is what's this said? This is confusing to me. It says, Samuel then went to Ramah. This is the one point in the sermon. I'm okay if you confused. I want you to be confused right now because this is, I want you to picture this.

Let's use imagery here. David is sitting outside greasy. He's just greasy, just oily everywhere, greasy. Right? Daddy hugging him. You're going to be king. I'm so proud of you. Samuel puts all this oil on his head, has him greasy, then leave. Now, you're not just about to grease me up and leave me. If I'm David, I'm like, I'm the next king, right?

Yes. You got all this oil on me. Yes, I'm sitting here cooking into Crisco. right so so you leave and so what would you know you're going to send the uber you're going to send the chariot uber back to get me because i'm anointed to be king my anointing has changed the spirit of lord came up on them that day powerfully my ability has changed but my responsibility hadn't you mean you anoint you mean you anointed me for something i'm not about to do yet have you ever felt like

your oil is greater than your assignment. Have you ever felt like your ability is greater than your responsibility? You're like, how am I sitting here this greasy and had to go right back to tending to my father's sheep? Because all of us go through seasons where our ability and our responsibility don't match. That's not, listen to me, that is. It's not punishment that's purposeful. It's what I call the God gap. And it's a gift to you.

He says, because what I need to do is I need to use this length of time where your ability and responsibility don't match to do some development, not just on what you can do, but development on who you are. Because when you get to the palace, there's more than a throne waiting on you. there's a jealous ex-king Saul so I need to develop the character in you David so that when you

get to where I'm taking you you have the character to handle what's about to happen to you because I know you and I know you and I know you defeated a lion and a bear with your bare hands I know you and I know if I don't deal with you

when Saul throw that first spear you throwing one back so let me see who's going to be honest at elevation. He says, he said, you're going to, you're going to be, okay, Saul, I respect you and everything, but we, we got one more time to throw a spear. It's the God gap. He says, it's, it's the time I use to get you ready for, what you're ready for, but you're

not ready for. You're ready for it. He said, but you're not ready for it. Because there's a backside to this. There's a front side to the blessing. That's the promotion. There's a backside to it. That's the pressure.

And it says, I'm going to use the gap to prepare. You're ready for the front side, but I need the gap to prepare you for the back side. Because when you get to destiny underdevelop what should feel like a blessing starts feeling like a curse. And so God, God uses, it's just a supernaturally like arranges circumstances to get David in the palace and actually gets in the palace by working for Saul as a musician. And Saul loves David so much. He moves him from musician to what's called in on. a person who would literally bear and carry and take care of the king's armor. And David would work for Saul and then go back home and tend to his father's sheep. So no matter what happened outside his father's house, he was still faithful to the father's house. God blessed him outside the father's house, but he was still faithful to the father's house because he recognized I got found in the father's

house. And so he goes back to the father's house. And one day he's getting ready to go to work. And his dad tells him, Take this food to your brothers who are in the military when you go back to work. So David is taking his brother's food. And while he's taking his brother's food, before he gets ready to go to work, he hears this noise, this talking. He said, what is that? And it's this Philistine giant named Goliath who's just insulting Israel. And David's dropping off the ham sandwiches.

He said, David started looking around. he say, uh, y'all don't hear that? Nobody has a problem with that? Why are we just letting him talk to us like that? This is what I call unique agitation. That God not only gives us anointings, he gives us customized agitations. That you and I can walk in the same room and you can see something and it bothers you and it not bother me. Because the problems that you, that bother you to most are the problems that you're being created to solve. Purpose is an answer to a problem. And so, did you hear what I just said? So God has to give you an agitation for the thing that you've been called to do something about.

And the reason other people could live with what Goliath was doing is because they weren't born to take him out. And there are some Goliath that exist in our communities, that exist in culture, that you've been called to address and arrest. And God gives you a unique agitation for those things. You say, who is this? It's Philistine who dares to defy the armies of the living God. He said, you all scared? I'm not scared. Word gets back to the king that David's willing to fight.

The king tries to talk David out of it. And David convinces the king. So the king says, all right, you ready to fight Goliath? This is no problem. Take my armor. This is the best in the land. I want you to wear this. Take my sword.

It's the best sword available. I want you to use this. It's the king's armor. It's the best. It was probably battle tested. It was probably something that was successful for Saul. Are you following me, elevation? but just because it worked for Saul

doesn't mean it fit David so in order for David to accomplish his assignment David had to recognize what doesn't fit him can you imagine the tension he's dealing with with a king that he respects so much and honors and loves and he has to tell a king

I know that's the way culture does it. I know that's the way everybody says it has to be done. And I know many people have done it that way and been successful. But that is not the way God wired me. And I am telling you, one of David's most courageous acts wasn't just fighting Goliath. One of David's most courageous acts was rejecting that armor. Because it took courage for David to say, everybody uses a sword, but I'm going to use a rock.

Because my rock will work if I work it right. And the Bible says that David goes out against that Philistine, and that Philistine is thinking he's about, y'all, excuse me, I grew up watching wrestling, not this new wrestling, I grew up watching real wrestling, that old school wrestling, the Hulk Hogan wrestling, the Ultimate Warrior, wrestling. I'm about to date some of y'all. This is too old for some of y'all, the junkyard dog. Okay. Okay. The Superfly Jimmy Snooker. I'm talking about the road warriors wrestling.

Right. And so I can imagine Goliath thinking I'm about to put him in a headlock. I'm about to, I'm about to do him like Jake the Snake, Rob, but he doesn't, watch this. He doesn't realize, Goliath doesn't realize his advantages only work in close combat, that your soul. Lord only works in close combat, that your strength only works in close combat, that the spear only works at a distance. So what some people saw in David as a disadvantage was actually his advantage. The thing most people would have had inadequacy about is the thing that made him uniquely capable of taking out Goliath. Because no one probably could have got him with hand-to-hand combat.

But David didn't fight him close up. David fought him at a distance because your rock has been designed to work against the giant you've been called to knock down. And if you don't use your rock, you lose your advantage. I want to tell you, you must be willing to live through a season where you feel weird so God can push you in a season where you feel relevant. The same thing that makes you feel small in one season is the same thing God will use to enable you to do something big in another. And I just came to tell my cousin and my friends and my family at elevation, your rock works.

And don't you allow anybody, any enemy, or the inner you, to talk you out of using. what God has given you. You stir up the gift of God on the inside of you, and you will knock your giant down because your rock works. Your rock works. Your rock works. I'm done. I came for people today like me who for my.

who for most of my life didn't quite feel like I ever quite fit in anywhere. Came for people like me who felt like I wondered, was there something wrong with me? Because I felt so weird. Came for people like me who wrestled with inadequacy. And inadequacy is an inside job. I got a bunch of degrees. I feel like a thermometer. But none of them made me feel any better about me.

Even when I got called to ministry, I learned something, your calling is not your healing. And I saw the way other people were approaching pastoral ministry. And I was like, that's so amazing and it's working. Can't wear that, though. I got a lead, but I got a right. And I got a lead, but I got to teach. And I felt so weird until I got to a season

where God began to show me that what makes you feel weird in one season is what makes you relevant in another. You aren't weird, you're right, because difference makers are different. So today, I'm challenging you, I'm challenging us, to embrace neat design, that there are people depending on you

to be you and use your rock. And I'm getting ready to pray for you, that God, you know, we talk about, miracles, but I think some of the most significant miracles are emotional ones. It's when God does something in a unique and accelerated way. They're calling me epiphanies in culture, a light ball. I'm praying for that. Because your problem in this season, because I've been there,

it's not that you aren't seeing God right, it's you're seeing you wrong. Numbers 13, we were like grasshoppers in our own eyes. you're not losing to the giant out there, you're losing to the grasshopper in here. Because your grasshopper is bigger than your giant for a miracle in our hearts. So Father, in this room, online at every location, I pray for spiritual epiphanies. You did it for Gideon. You did it for Jeremiah.

You did it for Moses. I pray that you do it for us, that you give us the courage not to wear what doesn't fit us. Who you've called us to be and to do what you've called us to do the way you've called us to do it. May our eyes be open to see us as you do. Lord, open our eyes. This is my prayer for your people. And as we see ourselves correctly, may it be said of us as it was said of the early church. that have turned the world upside down.

In Jesus' name, amen. Well, if you enjoyed today's podcast, there are a couple things I'd love for you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. You can also help us reach others by investing today at elevationchurch.org slash give. And thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast,

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