Elevation with Steven Furtick - Wind vs. Word (Trusting God's Timing)

Episode Date: September 16, 2019

To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: http://ele.vc/TI55jRSee 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'm going to share one verse, and then I'm going to let you be seated. And the verse is actually in Ecclesiastes 11. I have unintentionally been working my way backwards through this passage of Scripture. And I haven't started a series lately, but I've unintentionally just been using these thoughts from Solomon, who has us enrolled in the School of Wisdom. And he has the right to do it because some people called him the wisest man who ever lived. He was like Elon Musk of the Old Testament. But the only difference between Solomon and Elon Musk is he wrote his treatise to help us see that if you succeed but you're not fulfilled, or if you're not fulfilled, or if you're you.

you succeed but you don't have peace or if you succeed but you're succeeding at things that don't have real meaning you will come up empty in the end and so he helps us with that with a few principles from the Word of God and this one today I want to share is very very simple from the School of Solomon Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 4 says this whoever watches the wind will not plant whoever looks at the clouds will not reap So I know I told you I was going to preach today, but really this is more like an announcement of a fight. So really we came to watch a fight today.

The title of this message is called Wind versus Word. In this corner is the wind and his opponent is the word. And I believe this message is for someone today who is conflicted between the wind and the word of God. And I believe today God is going to speak to your heart. Do it, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Touch somebody, say ding ding, ding.

You may be seated. One thing that is interesting to me and the verse really suggests this same reality is how when When your spirit makes a decision to do something, your mind will find reasons not to do it now. Now, if you decide to do something like go on a diet, your mind will immediately start calculating why it's not a good idea to go on a diet now. Some of y'all are already doing the math. Well, you know, Christmas is right around the corner. It's like months till Christmas, but you already got the countdown timer.

it's easy to find a reason. And really the way that our human mind's work sometimes is in opposition to our spirit, which is divine. And that's why you could find yourself even with the Apostle Paul who lamented one time, what I want to do, I don't do, what I don't want to do, I do, because often your mind will contradict your spirit. And it's actually deeper than that because the way this works in daily life is that your heart, you know, your heart reaches a verdict and then gives evidence to support the verdict whether or not the verdict was true. In a court of law, this would be a mistrial. But in our lives, this is often just standard operating procedure, is that we come to a conclusion.

And then once we've come to that conclusion, our mind is brilliant, like some kind of, you know, $400 an hour attorney to find evidence. to support the conclusion. And in so many areas of our lives, we find a reason. I mean, you can find a reason, and this is what Solomon is saying, if you look for a reason not to sow, or if you look for a reason not to reap, you will find one every time. It's very true, because right now I promise you, you can find a reason. Your mind can find a reason to complain, even though your spirit knows that God has

been good to me. How many of you in your spirit you know that God has been good to you and better than you deserve? And yet you could find a reason, couldn't you? I'll give you one. You want one? If you just need a reason to complain, I'll give you a reason right now to complain. For some of y'all, it's too cold in the auditorium. If you just need a reason to complain, if the praise songs of the Most High God didn't give you enough reason to praise,

let's find something for you to complain about. Some of y'all, this sermon's going to be too long for you. Some of you it's going to be too short for you. Some of you don't like a preacher in tight britches. You can find one if you need one. And it's really not that hard to find a reason to complain. In fact, if we want to go even deeper than that, and I don't mean to take a dark turn early in the sermon

because it's really good atmosphere in here and I don't want to mess it up. But if you wanted to, you could find a reason to go into a whole depression. If you wanted to think about a certain problem in your life right now, you could distract yourself with a problem that is not in this room to the point that you don't hear another word I say this whole sermon. Because your mind will collect evidence for a verdict that you've already decided on. And that's why when you wake up some mornings like I do and say it's just going to be one of those days, you will find every reason why it's one of those days because your heart reached a verdict and now you've sent your mind an investigative search of the support. You know I'm preaching in my introduction.

I'm rested for this message. And see, even if you want to try to be tired, you can try to be tired. If you want a reason to be tired, you can have a reason to be tired right now. I mean, if you just need a reason, you can find a reason when you need a reason, and that's why it's a bad idea. Watch this, sharp turn. To sit around watching the weather. My least favorite thing about being a pastor is when inclement weather. And by inclement weather, here's what I mean for church people.

I'm about to have some group therapy. Inclement weather means it could mean that is so beautiful outside that we can't possibly go to church. We need to take this time to go be outside. I'm not talking to y'all. I'm talking to the people who skip church. Let me look at the camera. Because y'all are safe. Y'all are here right now.

Inclement weather. It's not too cold. We don't have to go out in the rain. It's not too perfect. We're not missing anything outside. It is perfect church weather. We actually have a little joke on our staff when it's just a little too cold for you to be outside, but it's not too cold where you have to suffer for five seconds before your seat warmers kick in.

It's perfect church weather. And it's really hard to be a pastor, especially when they are forecasting. You know, torrential weather that may or may not even hit our state. And what's really difficult about it, and I promise you this is in the text, is that sometimes all the milk and all the bread will be off of the grocery store shelves, and there will be no snow on the ground. But it was the threat, or I could say it like this, it was the forecast. that created fear of something that was never even in our future.

Now you went to Sam's and Costco, bought out all the batteries, and the sun was out, and it was 77 degrees. Now, one thing that I love about our church is when a real tragedy happens, we've already got supplies on the ground in the Bahamas because of your giving. We've already got supplies moving toward people when there's, It's an emergency. And that's not the part that I struggle with as a pastor. The hard part is knowing that so many people, see, my dad used to wake up every morning

and watch the news. And he would always, I thought this was so weird growing up, he would always cuss out the weatherman. And I need to give you full disclosure because this is a very complicated part of my personal psychology. I did not want to be a preacher when I was a little boy. I wanted to be a weatherman. I think it was a form of rebellion. Because I would stand with my Sesame Street Globe in an antenna that I broke off my TV so

I could point at the globe and I would forecast the weather. This is like six years old, seven years old, and I would forecast the weather in places in the world that I couldn't pronounce. I liked it. I liked the ability to predict the future. But then my dad, he would cuss out the weatherman and I was conflicted. And what made him so mad about the weatherman was that he understood that even though I respect meteorologists, remember, I could have been one.

If it had just gone a little bit different, just a little different path, I could have been one. But the thing that my dad couldn't stand about it was to watch how people would go into a frenzy over something that was in a forecast. And now my dad is no longer living. I just want to say to him if he's watching this on a heavenly celestial live stream broadcast channel that I get it now because it's frustrating when you're trying to plan church and people don't come not because it's snowing, not because it's raining, but because it might.

You know how many things that the devil has kept you from doing in your life that God called you to do because of what might happen if you did. And a lot of us, the enemy doesn't even have to fight us with real events or circumstances. Just even the suggestion of a disaster is enough to send some of us into a retreat. And so just even the thought that what if they don't like you is enough to keep you in the house? Or just even a thought if, what if they break my heart is enough to keep you from extending yourself in relationship. Or just even a thought, you know, many of you are reluctant to get involved in this church because you had a previous bad church experience.

And I understand that because once you have been through a storm, I live through Hurricane Hugo. I was eight years old when Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston, South Carolina. It terrified me. I didn't want to spend the night away from home for two years after that as a little boy. Because one thing after you have survived a storm, after you have survived bad weather, after you have survived abuse, what people don't tell you about is that even after the storm is over, it still rages on on the inside of you. And the saddest thing in the world is to see a Christian who has been set free by the love of Christ to know that neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, neither death nor life, neither ever ever death nor life, neither ever ever. Angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any other powers shall be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, my Lord.

What I'm trying to say, some of us need to fire the devil as our weatherman. We have been consulting the wrong source to find out what our future looks like. And so now we stay indoors and we stay in fear and we stay in paranoia. And we never plant and we never reap. Solomon said, because we watch the wind. What a weird image. You really can't see the wind. You can only see the effects of it.

And he says, when you watch the wind, you know, like, is this a good time? I'll give you one. This is what looks like to watch the wind. Because I'll think about that phrase, watch the wind. And I was like, this is not a literal message. I'm not using it to talk about physical storms. I'm using it to talk about when the sower goes to sew, he wants the wind to work with him. And when the wind is blowing the opposite direction, all your seed smacks you in your face. But you ever feel like everything you sew just, you don't feel like stuff just backfires on you?

Are you trying to be nice to somebody? That's the last one of those I'm doing. I got to preach this twice tomorrow. I need my brain cells. But you ever just been smacked by your own seed? Because that's what he's saying. When the wind is blowing against you, some of the, some of the, you. you have had the wind against you your whole life. You didn't have the right shoes. Your parents

didn't make a lot of money. You had to learn to fit in. You had to learn how to be tough. You had to learn how to be hard. And you learned how to survive a storm. But the problem with that, the only problem with that is sometimes the wind isn't even against you, but you still feel like it is. Because your mind is collecting evidence in support of a verdict that is no longer accurate. So you watch the wind. Try to find out was popular. It's not popular. I'm appreciative to our students.

They've got Rhythm Night coming up next Sunday night. And I want you to talk about this in some form, Tim, is that watching the wind is like trying to determine what's going to gain you clout, and then you let clout overrule character. And watching the wind is trying to be like, oh, do they like me? Do they like me? Is this what I need to be to be like? That's watching the wind. Can I give you another one that's watching the wind? Is needing to be in a good mood to keep your commitments? That's watching the wind. Because some of my weather systems are internal.

And I found out a long time ago that usually the mood that you're in when you make a commitment will not match the mood that you're in when it's time to keep the commitment. And so to watch the wind is for those of us who sometimes need to feel it in order to fulfill it. And Solomon says, the wisest man, the richest man, the man who said that to do things for vanity's sake is like chasing after the wind. He uses this metaphor a lot in his book, Ecclesiastes, the collected teachings, which are like Proverbs, but it's written in such a way as to convince the knowledge of the universe and the futility of vanity. He uses this image of the wind.

Why? Because it is an invisible force. And he says, if you are always checking with and consulting how you feel, you will always find a reason to contradict your responsibility. So there will always be a reason, watch this, that you don't feel like forgiving people. But if you want to be free, you might have to go against your feelings in order to live in freedom. I'm saying you might have to walk against the wind. You might have to forgive against the wind, especially in marriage. I love Holly. so much because she decided

a long time ago that I was the man for her. She reached the verdict on verdict before she ever took my name as her own. And because she reached the verdict that she loves me and I'm a good man,

in our marriage, she works to collect evidence to support that I'm the man for her. She could just as easily do the opposite. She could find 15 reasons. Well, he's only 5 foot 9, he's bigger on screen. She could find 15

reasons. I'm usually moody three and a half days out of seven. She could find 15 reasons not to feel that way about me. But sometimes commitment means facing resistance

with resolve in your heart. You can find a reason to leave this church in the next three days if you want one. Matter of fact, the law of averages says that there's somebody on your row right now who, if you get to know them, they will give you a reason to leave this church in the next three days because they will disappoint you with their lack of Christian character.

But if you move one person over on the same row, I bet you there's somebody on that row that loves Jesus. There's somebody on that row who is honest. There is somebody on that row that is sincere, but you'll never so. But see, I'm going to get my, well, I'm going to do, I'm going to get my, I'm going to do the tithing thing, but I'm going to do it after I get my thing, because the thing after the thing is going to do the thing. And then this thing happened, there was the thing, but the economy, but the presidential election. You see how we do it? consulting the forecast instead of consulting our faith. He who regards the wind or observes the wind will never sow.

And he who looks at the clouds will never reap. Because it always looks like it could rain any time. And you can't get the harvest in when it's wet. And Solomon didn't have a weather channel app. And Solomon didn't have a weather channel. He's dealing with people who would consult the conditions. before keeping their commitments, watching the wind. How many people have not started what God told them to start

because they've been watching the wind? Been waiting for more spare time. I'm going to write a book one day. You don't even keep a journal right now. I'm going to write a book one day. Where are you going to write it? I'm going to build a cottage in Maine. It's the thing I'm going to do one day.

You got some family land? Nope. It's an imaginary scenario that keeps you from an actual opportunity. Do you see it? Watching the wind is wishing that you had a different wife instead of loving the one that you've got like Christ loves the church. This is getting good. This message is going to be better than your beard by the time I finish with it, my brother.

And that's saying a lot. But you know, Peter knew something about watching the wind, though, didn't he? Peter, the apostle who was always wanting to do something impulsive. Sometimes it worked for him, sometimes it worked against him. But one thing that you got to love about him, he did not wait for perfect circumstances to say he didn't wait until he had knowledge to give his opinion. You ever live with somebody like that? It's terrible.

And I noticed something about God. And I wanted to give this to you, because they have these things in church. They say, well, God is an on-time God. Yes, he is. He's an on-time God. He's sailed them early, but he's never late. Ask Lazarus if he was ever late. Lazarus, he's about four days late, decomposing body, worms working their way into the eye socket

by the time Jesus got there, and Mary and Martha had set their watch by it. Ask Peter if Jesus was ever late. ask him. Ask him if one time they did not get sent out into a storm by the instruction that Jesus gave to go to the other side. Now, this has been really exciting to me as I've studied it this week because the real thing of faith is do you trust God's timing? You know that, right? And that was the for Mary and Martha. Jesus said, I am the resurrection in the life. And she said, well, you know, I am the resurrection. And she said, well, I know my brother's going to rise again at the last day. He said, no, I am the resurrection. It wasn't that she didn't trust what he was able to do.

It was, are you able to trust when God is going to do it? You can trust somebody's intention, but not trust their timing. And since I already talked good about Holly in this sermon, Let me just say, I trust her with my life. I trust her to be faithful to our marriage vows. I trust her if she cooks for me or orders for me off of a menu. I trust she knows what I want to eat more than I want to eat. She knows me like that. I trust this woman with everything but time.

When she says it's going to be 30 minutes, I allot three hours. Because she taught me that her concept of time is different than mine. One is correct. One is delusional. And I trust her. I really do. I trust her. I put her in a room full of supermodels, men, calendar men, and trust her in there.

But if she said we're going to leave in an hour, I would set three alarms because I trust her with everything but time. Some of us trust that God is going to get us to heaven one day. Some of us trust that he died on the cross for our sin. We trust him with everything, but let him not do something at the moment that we want him to do it. Let him leave us in the fiery furnace four seconds too long, and we'll be screaming, God get me out of this. But God set the real test for a mature Christian is, do you trust? me with my timing. Trusting him in the meantime is where maturity is developed. And Jesus was always

doing stuff at a bad time. He was always going to Jerusalem at the time when they all wanted to kill him. That's a bad time to show up when they're looking for you to execute you. It's a bad time. 5,000 men, women and children, show up on the other side. Now, this is right after John the Baptist. I just want you to know how often God does things in our life at a bad time. Because some of y'all are like, right now in your life, like, well, this is a bad time for me, God. And I used to have this friend every time he called me on the phone.

He was so respectful. He would say, good time or a bad time. Always wanted to know that before he said anything else. And I believe the Holy Spirit is saying to somebody today, Good time or a bad time? And you're like, this is a bad time. I'm too old to be doing this now. I'm too young to be doing this now. I'm too busy to be doing this now. I used to have a better job. I used to have more money. It's a bad time. But God likes to bless people at a bad time. He likes to raise people on the fourth day. And when Jesus had heard that John the Baptist had his head cut off by Herod, it was a bad time. And he wanted to get away from the crowds. So he went over to the other side. with the disciples and when they got there, there was a crowd waiting to get autographs and healing and fission chips and all this stuff. As a matter of fact, when he did the miracle and he feeds the 5,000, the first thing the disciples said was what? It's late. It's a bad time. It's a bad time.

And Jesus, when he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, he did the miracle at a bad time. Now I'm divorced. Now I'm a single mom. Now it's a bad time for me to be believing God. It's a bad time. I really wasted a lot of years. It's a bad time for me to be doing this. I think I made the wrong decision. I don't even think I'm supposed to live in Roanoke. I don't even think I'm supposed to live in Charlotte. It's a bad time. It's a bad place. That's what the disciples said. They said, it's a remote place and it's already late. So send the crowds away. And Jesus said, no, I want to bless them when it's too little and when it's too late. Because I want to bless you when you think it's a bad time.

So I can teach you how to consult your faith instead of consulting your forecast. You got the wrong weather man. You keep watching the weather. And so now you live in fear of everything that could happen and everything that has happened. And as long as you watch the weather, as long as you keep that wrong weather, man, this is what God showed me. The weather is meant to be checked, not watched. When you sit around and watch it all day, it scares you. Oh, everything.

It's good to plan. It's good to make provision. But don't watch the weather. If you watch the weather, you'll get in your feelings and you'll get out of your faith. And now the wind, watch this, will work again. against you to contradict the word that God spoke to you. So this is the point where Jesus, after feeding the 5,000, sends the disciples into a storm. I want to read this to you for everybody who's been watching the wind in your life, worrying

about uncertain situations that you cannot control. I'm not talking about those of you that are trying to make a plan to pay off the your debt, that's good. That's not a lack of faith. That's a presence of wisdom. But watching the wind is trying to calculate something that you can't control. You are worried your kid is going to end up dropping out of school, and they are three months old, and they don't like baby Einstein enough yet. And you are worried that they won't get into Harvard. You're watching the wind, trying to figure out stuff that's in the future. Now watch this. This is so weird because it says immediately after Jesus blessed all the multitudes and the crowds at a bad time, he made them go into the boat,

22, and go on ahead of him to the other side while he dismissed the crowd. So at some point during his instructions, he told them, I will meet you on the other side. He gave them his word. He gave them His word. I will see you on the other side. He gave them his word. Touch somebody next to you and say, He gave you his word. No, I need you to help me preach this, not look at me with a little church face. Tell him, He gave you his word. But the challenge is not believing that you will see him on the other side is how long is it going to be before I get there. He gave me his word that he would never leave me nor forsake me. He gave me his word. In this corner, weighing in at unlimited pounds, hailing from eternity, made flesh by the

will of the Father to redeem humanity, is the living, breathing, Logos, Word of God, Jesus Christ. In the beginning, what's the Word? The Word was with God, and the Word was God. And all things were made by Him and for Him, for He was with God in the beginning. He gave me His word. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. And when evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land,

buffeted by the waves, because why the wind was against it? and his opponent, raging on the storm-tossed sea, the wind. And we came to church really today to find out which one's going to win. The calling that God put on your life or the circumstances that contradicted. Your faith or your fear. The wind versus the word. The challenger. You ever watch M.A?

Sometimes I like to preach the word and then watch people beat each other half to death on Saturday nights. It's a recovery method. It's kind of my own spiritual cryotherapy. But the challenger. And then you got the undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion. Anyway, I'm going to get back to the text. Because it said the wind was against the boat. And the boat did not represent disobedience like it did for Jonah, who was.

was going away from God, they were going into their assignment, which led them into a storm, which meant that they had to keep moving forward against the wind. Now if you watch the wind, you'll never set out. If they would have had a Weather Channel app, they would have never gotten in the boat. Sometimes we know too much. we overthink things. Who's this message for? If you are a chronic overthinker, you are a wind watcher. Well, I might get a flat tire. They've been doing a lot of construction. I don't know if I should take this job or not. So, verse 25, the fourth watch, the Romans divided it up into four

quarters, all right? Six p.m. to six a.m. four watches, three hours each. Six p.m. to nine p.m. first watch, nine p.m. to midnight, second watch, midnight to three a.m. third watch. And when does Jesus show up? I mean, this dude, is that disrespectful to call him that? He was fully God and fully man, and he shows up, not the first watch of the night, second watch, third watch. What I like about the text is even the term watch has significance. Because if you remember what I just read you, it said that he went up on a mountainside to pray. Now the sea was situated well below the mountain, which means that as they went through the storm,

even though he didn't stop it, he saw them in it. I want you to be encouraged today, my sister, my brother, my fellow child of God. Just because the storm is raging doesn't mean God has left the scene. And just because he hasn't stopped it doesn't mean he doesn't mean he's. He doesn't see it. And just because the devil started it doesn't mean he won't use it. And just because I don't know how long until we get there doesn't make me doubt his presence in the middle of it.

He was watching the whole time. He knew just when he wanted to step in so they could see him as he had never been seen. And I believe God is speaking over somebody's situation today that his eye is on you. I believe that he has numbered the hairs on your head. I believe that even the bad things that have happened in your life, he kept every tear in a jar. And I don't believe that one of them is beyond redemption. Now, the Bible says that when it got to the last watch of the night, after they have rowed four to five miles in their own strength, Jesus went out to them walking on the lake.

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were at peace. Nope. First, when you see God, your first response is fear. Why? You don't know if this is really him. That's the problem. I don't know if this is God or I don't know if this is the devil or I don't know if I'm supposed to do this or I don't know if I'm supposed to do that and the challenge is trusting God in uncertainty and you got to believe that the disciples were wondering did we hear him right? Did he really say get in the boat? Surely he wouldn't have sent us into a storm like this and now enters the mythology that the Jewish people would have believed at this point that underneath the sea was controlled by an evil sport. So when Jesus comes walking to them and they can't fully trace the silhouette because it's still dark and because it's foggy and the wind is against them, their first instinct is it must be a ghost. See, you keep thinking when God shows up in the situation, it's going to feel better all of a sudden. But this will blow your mind.

The Bible doesn't say they were scared at all until Jesus shows up. Now you see why you can't go by your feelings? Sometimes the moment when he's closest is the same moment when the wind is blowing the strongest. So they were terrified. It's a ghost, they said. And they cried out in fear. Now, Jesus, instead of rebuking them for their fear, responds to their initiative. And he said, remember this is a significant term, Yahweh, I am, the name of God.

It's a name that Jesus embodied in flesh. God is that in spirit, but Jesus shows us that in flesh. And when he says, take courage, it is I. It's more than him just saying, it's me, boys. He's identifying his presence and connecting it to the eternal God and the eternal word. When he speaks it as I, don't be afraid, Peter, in equal parts doubt and equal parts curiosity, because he just got to participate in a miracle of feeding 5,000 is like, I want to get in on this one too. And I'm tired of being in this boat with John.

He gets on my nerves. He doesn't row. You know, John was laid back. And Peter's like, if it's you. Get me out of this boat. Tell me to come. I preached this for a long time the wrong way and I've corrected it since. I used to say that Peter walked on water, but if you look at verse 29, Jesus said, come. And then Peter got down out of the boat and walked on the water, but he was really walking on the word. I'm going to just ask you something. This is not a preachery question. Have you ever had to just walk through something just on sheer faith that if God brought me out here, he will not leave me now? That's what it means to walk on the word. Have you ever had to move towards something in your life that scared you to death?

And you don't have any experience for it? And your nautical knowledge did not prepare you for this incident. But all of a sudden, the sea became a heart. wood floor underneath your feet with each step. That's what I mean by walking on the word. Have you ever had to take a promise from God's word and just hold on to it for dear life? A promise for someone that you love who's sick. A promise for provision when you don't see where it's coming from.

A promise that God is going to fulfill his purpose for your kids. And even if you don't know how it's going to... Have you ever had to hold on so tight to something? in the fourth watch of the night. That's what I mean by walking on the word. And Peter is walking on the word, but he's walking against the wind. And so are we. See, Jesus didn't stop the wind, but he gave the word. He said, that's no more instruction than you give your golden retriever. come. And maybe a golden retriever is smarter than some of us, because a golden retriever doesn't question

the master. But yet some of us, the first trace of wind, the first trace of disappointment. And I always thought Peter fell down walking to Jesus because, you know, he gets out there a little ways. And most of us do. We get out there a little ways. And we ingrain a habit for a little while, and we go in a new direction by faith and trust God for a time. But at somewhere during the process, the Bible says that after Peter had walked on the water and came toward Jesus, verse 30, he made a critical mistake.

He saw the wind. Which one is stronger? The word or the wind? I want to say it depends which one you watch. I want to say that the wind did not have the strength to knock Peter off of his feet. The only reason he went down is because he took his eyes off of the word and started watching the wind. See, faith is not an imaginary state where I get myself worked up into a delusion like nothing's ever going to go bad again. and then I'm surprised when bad stuff happens.

Faith is a focus. Faith is the ability to say, I'm putting my eyes on the goodness of God in this moment, and I'm not looking back, and I'm not looking forward, and I'm not looking around. My mind has already reached a conclusion. God is for me. God is with me.

If the wind be against me, if the world be against me, if all hell's power nails him to a question, In three days he will rise because my faith is focused on the word of God that I'm walking toward. And I want to prophesy over somebody today and declare over your life. The wind doesn't have to stop for you to keep walking toward Jesus. And the situation doesn't have to get better for you to see the glory of God. I'm telling you what I know.

If everything goes worse, if everything gets crazy, if everything rises up against you, God is an army, God is a second circle, God is an ever-present help in the time of trouble. And if your life is built on the foundation of His Word, there is no wind that can rage against you that can shake it off. Because I'm not walking on water and I'm not watching the wind. I love how the Old Testament prophet Elijah, he went up on this mountain and there had been a drought in the land for like three and a half years. And he heard something.

He heard the sound of the abundance of rain. He heard a prophetic indication that God was about to send blessing on the land again. So he did something that looked weird. He put his head in a prayer posture by his knees, and he sent his servant to go look, to check and see if there was anything at the sky. Now, when I read that passage, I thought how at that point, if Elijah had looked at the weather, if he would have looked at the surface of his situation, or if he would have consulted what he felt, or if he would have consulted what he felt. or what he saw, he would have lost his faith. And that's why he knew you can't watch the weather. You can't spend all this time in your life.

Look, man, the reason that you're stressed out might be over stuff that is a hypothetical scenario that the enemy suggested to try to get you off track because he knows if you walk on this word, no wind is strong enough to knock you off your balance. You're in a situation right now, and it's wind versus word. And the one that is going to win is going to be the one that you focus on. And you can't afford to be doing like this to see if it's okay to serve God. Look, I can give you ten reasons right now why you could question if God even exists. We could all do it.

We see horrible things happen all the time. I could give you ten reasons. But see, I know that he is with me. And so I'm not collecting evidence to see if he's with me. I already know he's with me because how would I have made it this far if he wasn't? How would I have life or breath or grace? I know he is. And I just want us in this moment to be very sure that if he has spoken it,

that nothing you can see in your situation or nothing that you can see. see, look, your eyes are tricky, your ears are tricky, your senses are tricky. When he saw the wind, when he trusted his senses, he slipped. Your faith will always slip when you start consulting your feelings. It'll always slip. We just want to take a moment and do what the disciples did when they got back in the boat. Really interesting little phrase that Matthew puts in the gospel that he says, that after Peter sank and Jesus helped him back up.

You know, Jesus is so gracious. He doesn't hold him underwater for 15 seconds, so he'll learn the lesson real good. You know that view of God that you grew up with that said that he was just looking for an opportunity to punish you? No, he was right there to catch him. Go-go gadget arms or something like that. He could do anything. He could do anything. And when he asked him the question, why did you doubt?

Verse 31, the answer was the win. He doubted because he lost focus. And focus is about what you choose to look at. It doesn't make anything go away. It just redirects your attention to what you need to be thinking about, what you need to be looking at, what you need to be considering. So when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. the wind didn't die down so that the miracle could happen.

In fact, the wind was against them to prove that God's word was greater than the wind. So let's just take a moment right now and clap our hands that the wind may be against me. Come on, I'm going to need you to stand up and worship for a moment. To get back in the boat and worship him. that He is God in this storm. By your strides, I am here. With one touch, I am made whole. You have spoken.

That's the word. You've been in a storm. Lift your hands. In the storm. By your strides. I want to pray in this moment with your head bowed and your eyes closed. For those of you who have been able to be. working against the wind, I understand that the nature of life is that all of us will face

challenges in any 24-hour period, and so it kind of depends on when we catch you. But what I mean is that you've been in a season where, like Solomon says, you've been watching the wind. Instead of remembering the Word of God and focusing on the things that he's placed in your life to help you, you've been thinking about things that didn't happen or might happen, and it's just got you watching the wind. I want to pray for you right now. Father, in the name of Jesus, I lift up every wind watcher to you because we're meant to be word walkers, not wind watchers, and we are meant to believe something deeper than what our eyes can see.

And so I pray today that as this word that you gave me in my own personal time with you has gone forth to them, that they received it on the level that they needed it, that they received the word that they needed to walk on in the coming week. And they might just have to walk on it one moment at a time, one step at a time, one moment at a time, because I can't see and because I can't feel, but I'm walking on the Word of God. And so I will survive because He gave me His Word, and I will make it because He gave me His Word. And I will do it because God is not a liar. And I will see it on the other side because the God I serve has never failed. Come on, let's lift our voices in praise and worship and thanksgiving that He is God, that He is Lord over every storm.

Come on, let's give him worship above the wind, give him worship above the warfare, give him worship. 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.