Shownotes Transcript
You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Hey, this is Stephen Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. I hope this inspires you. I hope it builds your faith. I hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. When I say God is good, you say, all the time. And then I say all the time, and you say, God is good all the time. Grab the hand of the person next to you. Father, thank you for this moment.
A holy moment, a sanctified moment, a set apart moment, a special moment, a moment that we'll never see again. Thank you for this day. Thank you for the sunrise. Thank you for that breath. Thank you for the person whose hand I'm holding. Thank you for bringing them through and bringing them here. Thank you for what you brought them out of. Thank you for what you're leading them into. I ask for the person that's on my right and on my left today that you would give them the kind of confidence that comes from knowing that they will never take a step that you haven't already gone before them.
I thank you that you are the God who goes before us. When we feel like falling, I thank you that you are the God who catches us, a firm foundation beneath our feet. And when we sometimes forget how big you are, I want to thank you that you are the God who is above us, and your ways are higher than our ways, your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. As the rain falls from the heaven and waters the earth and doesn't return to it without accomplishing that which it was sent to do, so shall your word be that comes forth from your mouth today.
It will not return unto you void. It never does. It can't. It must accomplish what you sent it to do. I thank you for the worship your people have given you today. You're worthy of it. We clap our hands right now because you're worthy of it. We worship you because you're worthy. Now repeat after me. Say, "And God, I thank you for this word that you are about to speak. I receive it. It's true. Amen." High-five 15 people and stay standing for the reading of God's Word.
Put all of that in the chat, would you? I receive it. It's true. Put it in the chat right now. God speak. I receive it. It's true. God speak. I receive it. It's true. Remain standing. I thought I said that. Sorry about that. Just all kinds of exercise you're getting today. Jumping and sitting and standing. Tell your neighbor this counts as your workout.
I got to the point in my life where I don't like to skip physical workouts, but if I had to skip either a physical workout or if I had to skip the Word of God, I would skip the physical one because the things that I'm battling in my life right now are not flesh and blood. There are some of us in the room who are wrestling against principalities, spirits of discouragement, spirits of despair.
and you never know what news you're going to get when you leave this place, but I promise you God has good news for you today. That's what gospel means. It means good news that we were dead and made alive in Christ, that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. He has come to bind up the brokenhearted, to set the captive free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Somebody shout, "This is my year." I don't know what the first four months were like, but tell them these next eight
These next eight are going to be great. Praise the Lord. I want to share with you today from a passage of Scripture that I mentioned last week. When I mentioned it last week, I knew immediately that this is where we would start today, because something very special happened in the moment that I read Galatians 6:9. This may be a Scripture you want to memorize. You may need to quote this one back to the Devil, and you may need to quote it to yourself.
or you may need to give it to a friend who's fighting cancer. But I really love this verse, and I'm going to share it with you today from Galatians 6.9. At least that's where we'll start. You're like, ooh, short sermon, only one verse. Do not be deceived. Galatians 6.9. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.
Told you the word of God is powerful. Let's read it out loud together, please. Verse 9. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. Now that you got my cadence, let's read it together again. And let us not grow weary of doing good,
for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. Yeah. Go ahead and respond to that however you want to. All right. So I want to give you my title to your neighbor today, and just look at them real quick in their eyes and say, I know you're going through a lot. I know you've been confused about a few things, and I know you don't know who to talk to because you don't know who you can trust, and I know it feels like
There's more on you than you can bear. Now here comes the title. Tell them this. But all you've got to do is don't. All you've got to do is don't. See how that big to-do list you came to church with just got smaller? All you've got to do is don't. Father, help me show it to them how you showed it to me, and we'll all be better. I give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Shout don't on your way to your seat. Be seated. Be seated.
Sometimes your teenagers help you to understand your sermon a little bit better. Abby came downstairs after sleeping till noon yesterday, and I said, how are you? Good morning. She said, I'm tired. Now, why are you tired? You went to bed at 10 p.m. You woke up at 12 p.m. 14 hours is sufficient rest. I get it. There have been times in my life where I went on vacation, came back and needed a vacation for recovery from the vacation.
Really, it's your expectations of vacations that mess you up because you think like, "Oh, if I can just make it to this beach. If I can just make it to these mountains." But every single thing that you had with you in the valley goes with you to the mountain, and every single mountain that you have in your life goes with you to the beach. In Galatians 6:9, the great apostle Paul, speaking to the church in modern-day Turkey, is giving an encouragement.
to some Christians who are being tempted to go back to an old way of life in Judaism. Now, these particular Christians are Gentile Christians, so they're not familiar with Jewish customs. And one of the customs that the Jewish believers wanted to put on their Gentile counterparts was this custom called circumcision. And they were saying, if you really want to follow Christ, you need to be circumcised. And Paul said, no, you don't. Turn to your neighbor and say, no, you don't.
Half the rules that people tell you about being a Christian, that you have to do this and you have to do that. No, you don't. Somebody told me, I want to come to Elevation, but I heard you have to dress up. I was like, you have to dress. That's the dress code at Elevation. Do. Just do. Dress. And that's it. A lot of the things that you think you need to enter in the presence of God. No, you don't. You just need the name of Jesus.
The blood of Jesus and an open heart. So if you think you need to have a perfect week before you can pray to God, no, you don't. Tell your neighbor, no, you don't. In fact, if there's somebody here today and you're thinking about becoming a follower of Christ and you think you need to clean up your life to come to him, much like these people in Galatia might have thought they needed to be circumcised externally in order to come to Christ. If you think you need to make an outward behavior modification before you can have an inward renewal or change, no, you don't.
In fact, if the sun sets you free, you're free indeed. And sometimes what wears us out and exhausts us is expectations. The Lord spoke that to me one time. Now, I want to tell you this in the most personal way possible, but not share any inappropriate details. There was a moment in my ministry where I felt very close to what I've heard called burnout. And it's been several years ago, but it was intense enough that I was telling the Lord things like, I can't do this, I can't go on, and I don't have what it takes.
In the process of that being cyclical, not just once on a Wednesday for a hard meeting, but week after week after week after week, the chronic urge to quit is a signal that something needs to shift. The chronic urge to quit, not the passing fleeting urge to quit, but the chronic urge to quit is a signal that something needs to shift.
And in my particular case, I felt like all of the work that was on me combined with the work of raising a family. And you're like, no, raising a family isn't work. Raising a family is a reward. Children are a blessing from the Lord. And they are. But have you ever had your quiver full? Quiver full with sharp objects called arrows? A full quiver hurts sometimes. You even want to quit filling that quiver sometimes. But as I was processing all of that,
In my heart and in my prayers, the Lord showed me something very powerful. And I think that it will help you today. He said, you keep thinking that the problem is that the work is too great for you. And you assume that you are weary because of the work that I gave you.
The work of being a dad, the work of being a husband, the work of being a pastor, the work of leading a church, and all of the work. The travel was intense at that point in time. The organizational life cycle was at a very immature stage of development, and it was moving through some transitions. And he said, you think that the reason you're weary, Paul said, let us not grow weary of doing good. You think that the reason you're weary is because of the work, but
But the reason you're weary is not because of the work. It's because of your worry about the work. I started to see that it was not what I was doing for God that was wearing me out. It was what I was doing for God that God never asked me to do to begin with that was wearing me out. Does this sermon feel like a lifeline to anybody in the room today?
So, when he says, "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up," we have to start by asking the question, "Why am I really weary?" This is not intended for those of you who are visiting a relative at the nursing home every day right now or you are in a custody battle that is sucking all of your resources. Although there is a word for you today, I am not telling you that if you would simply turn it over, it would no longer be hard.
I am saying that you would be able to handle much more weight if you would change the way you do the work. The Bible says, "Let us not grow weary in doing good." "Don't grow weary" is one of those things people say that sounds good until you really think about it. How am I supposed to "don't grow weary"?
with this schedule that I have? How am I supposed to not grow weary when it's 24/7? How am I supposed to not grow weary when everybody is wearing me out? It's kind of like people telling you, "Get well soon when you're sick." "Oh, gee, thanks. I'll get right on that. That sounds like a plan." "Don't grow weary" can kind of sound like "Get well soon" unless you stop and realize that beneath the injunction, "Don't grow weary," is an invitation.
to understand why you're weary. In my case, as I began to break down all of the expectations, I realized that it was expectations that were exhausting me. Expectations can be exhausting. Expectations can be exhausting. Am I right about it? The expectations that others have of you can be exhausting. The expectations of what it means to be a mom in this day and age,
can be exhausting of you. The expectation when I was growing up to have your kid in sports was just to get them to the field on Tuesday and Thursday for their baseball game. But now, if your kid is going to be a real baseball player, you have to sign them up for a AAA team when they're seven years old. Oh, no. You will no longer have time for church on Sunday. You are going to be in travel ball
Because if your kid misses one season of travel ball, they will be traumatized by the fact that they didn't play travel ball. And it feels like, to me, there is greater and greater expectation, not only for parents, but there is greater expectation on our kids than ever before, too. Not just because they have to be on this team or that team, but because they are spending so much time on everybody else's timeline.
and now our kids no longer have FOMO, fear of missing out. They have POMO, proof of missing out.
Because not only do I have to think about the fact that they might be doing something without me, I actually see the proof that they're doing something without me. So now I've got anxiety coupled with depression and isolation at the most vulnerable time in my life, and I'm only 14 years old, and I don't know how to handle it. Why am I tired? Why are kids going so crazy these days?
Why does there seem to be such a surge in mental health epidemics that we keep reading about statistically that can only be fixed spiritually? Because the Bible says, let us not grow weary in doing good. What the Lord gave me during that season of burnout that was very helpful to me, and I share it with you in the offer that it can be of use, is I will give you the strength you need to do your job.
but I will not give you the strength to do mine. God said, I will give you all the strength you need to do your job, but I will not give you the strength to do mine. This phrase comes up in the text. It says, let us not grow weary of doing good. Doing good is an interesting phrase too, by the way, because it's never been harder to feel like you're doing good than it is right now.
I thought I was good at playing guitar growing up, because none of my other friends played guitar. So, compared to them, I was doing good. I didn't have proof in my pocket that there are nine-year-olds who can play guitar better than me at age 45. It's never been harder to do good. You used to have to go to the lake to see your friend had a better boat than you. Now all you have to do is pick up your same device that has your Bible app on it
and you have to see their boat on the same device you picked up to see your Bible when you scroll their Instagram account. What you don't know is that they went broke to buy the boat, and you are blind to their brokenness, so you are discouraged by their boat. No wonder you're tired. You thought you weren't getting enough protein. You thought you weren't getting enough sleep, and you might not be, but why not? The Lord showed me, "I will give you the hours you need to do your job, not mine."
I will give you the wisdom you need to do your job, not mine. I will give you the strength you need to do what I've assigned you to do. But the moment I forget that God is sovereign, the moment that I forget that God makes the schedule, I negate the topic called due time. Let us not grow weary of doing good, doing good for in due season we will reap.
The problem is that somebody on your row is doing better than you, and somebody on your row is doing worse than you, and you are comparing how you know you're doing to how you think they're doing. Am I preaching this thing, or am I just caffeinated today? Do season. It's one of those phrases in church that just makes us want to shout.
For in due season… There is a due season that God knows how to bring everything you need into a moment. The Greek for this is kairos idio. It means the appointed time. The word kairos in Greek does not mean time like a clock or a calendar. That word is chronos. That word is a word that challenges my wife Holly. Holly struggles with chronos times.
Like what time it is. She brought me an article recently that showed me that scientifically there is a condition called time blindness. And she said, babe, I figured out why I'm always late. But you know, worse than being blind to Kronos time is being blind to Kairos time.
The word for due season in Galatians 6:9 is kairos time. Kairos time means you showed up at 8:30, and you were supposed to be there at 8:00. That's kairos conflict. I don't have enough time to get it done. Kairos time means I can be on time for everything I'm supposed to do and miss the very reason God brought me to that moment.
because a lot of the things we worry about kill the kairos in our life. There are many here today that God wants to speak a word to, and he brought you to speak it to you. But if you check your phone while I'm preaching, you could kill your kairos. You could kill the moment that God wanted to show you a distinction in a battle you're dealing with. You could kill that moment because you had to check a text to
You say, well, I have to check the text right now. You don't have to multitask when you're in the presence of the Master of the universe. With maybe three exceptions in this room, you have a sick kid in there not with you. You don't have to check out right now.
Many of the times in my life where I have killed a Kairos moment because I was chronos aware, I was trying to get it all done, and I missed what God wanted to do because I was busy trying to get it all done. But sometimes God will stop you in your tracks.
and say, "I'm shifting the priority in this season. I'm shifting what you think you need to do. I'm shifting where you think you need to be. I'm tired of you killing your Kairos moments, and nothing will kill it quicker than comparison."
Nothing will kill your Kairos moments, the season God has you in as a man, has you in as a single person, has you in as a mom, has you in as somebody who is waiting for your next step to be revealed. Nothing will kill what God is doing in you quicker than you comparing it to what you think God is doing in someone else. Somebody shout, "'Due season.'"
due season. Now, this does not mean the season when you get what you deserve from God, because I promise you, you don't ever want that season to come. I'm going to come over to the real side of the room.
I stumbled over into the Super Save section for that point, and I should have been over here. There are some of us in this room who don't want God to give us what we deserve. I'm going to come to the back of the room, because I'm surrounded by holy angels.
who always lived right, who always lived good, who always said their prayers and ate their vitamins like Hulk Hogan taught them to. But there are some of us who don't want God to give us what we deserve. That's mercy. Mercy is when God does not give you what you deserve.
Mercy is when your sin is nailed to the cross, and you can say, "Oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, O my soul." That's mercy when God doesn't give me the wrath and punishment my sin deserved, but grace takes it a step further. Not only that God did not give me what my sins deserved,
but that grace gives me what I did not deserve, that I could never earn, that grace gave me what I could never grind to get, that I could grind my whole life, sow my whole life, work my whole life. How many know one moment of kairos, one moment of grace, one moment of God's favor, one moment of God's hand moving things around in your life?
I want to put this out there for somebody. God can give you so much grace it will make the time you wasted irrelevant. So when we say due season, it may be easy for you to shout about that because you may be living in it right now. You may be living in the blessing that you prayed for right now. You may be experiencing things that you dreamed about right now. You may have your family back together right now, and it may be a happy time around your table, and we rejoice with you today.
I think we have some jealous Christians in here. We rejoice with you today. If the man of your dreams just proposed to you last night, took you to a restaurant with tablecloths and menus, and you came in here today not only to worship the Lord but to show off your ring, we celebrate with you. We celebrate with you. Due season. Come on, y'all. They prayed for a long time about that. It's due season. If you just got a raise, I celebrate with you, and you better tithe.
But God said there are some people on your row who, while you are celebrating due season, there are just as many people in here who are in don't season. I want to preach about what to do in don't season.
What to do in don't season. When you feel the presence of God, that is a wonderful time to praise God. But I want to preach about the season when you don't. When you don't believe the words that are coming up on the screen, but you sing them like he saved you to believe them, not just feel them. I want to preach about don't season today. Don't season. Don't season.
When she has a ring and you don't… I want to preach to empty ring fingers today. I want to preach to "Don't season." I want to preach to when people call them and ask them to go to parties, and they don't call you because you are trying to live different. I want to preach about "Don't season." The reason we don't preach about "Don't season" is because it doesn't clip good for TikTok.
Nobody wants to hear that the same God who will bring you into a do season will walk you through a don't season. There are some things God helped me preach.
that can only be learned about God in the don't season, when I don't feel encouraged, when I don't feel hopeful, when I don't know what to do, but I do the last thing he said, when I don't doubt in the darkness what he showed me in the light. There are 500 of you who are in a
don't season today, but you did what you did when you came to church, because God is who he is, whether he does or he doesn't do what you thought he was going to do when you thought he was going to do it. Somebody shout, "This is my season to do it when he doesn't."
I thank God for the times I stand up to preach to you, and I feel like he has given me a word, and I know what he told me to speak. Those are wonderful times. They are cotton candy and licorice and blow pops and Jolly Ranchers. Oh, how sweet it is to know that God spoke to me, but I still have to do it when I don't. You have to do it when you don't, bro. I'm going to say it real nice. Forget your feelings.
Stop sowing to the flesh. Sow to the Spirit. That's Galatians 6:8. If we sow to the flesh, we from the flesh reap corruption. But if we sow to the Spirit, we will from the Spirit reap life. By the way, what you sow to is where you reap from. So whenever you're doing good, do it to people but not for people. If you do good for people, then you have to get good from people.
But if you do good for God, then whether people do good back to you or not, you will reap from the Spirit. I wanted to tell you something that Jesus said, but I want to give it to you in three points. Now, you're going to have something to write down today, so you will have proof that you went to church. Number one, the thing I hear the Lord saying for everybody who is in a don't season of your life is, don't hold too tight. Maybe grammatically it should be tightly.
but you can either write it down how it sounds cool or how it's correct. The cool way to say it is, "Don't hold too tight." "How many times was I worried, and so I was weary? And I thought it was the work, but it was the worry." Galatians 6:9 says, "Due time is God's job, and God will give you the strength to do your job, but not his." God will give you the strength to do good. He said, "Don't grow weary of doing good." God will give you the strength to do good, but he will not give you the strength to do God.
So if one enemy of Kairos in your life, and when God aligns things in your life, if one enemy is comparison to somebody else's Kairos, another enemy of that is control. And if the metaphor of this is sowing a seed, if he says, let us not grow weary in doing good for in due season, that seed will become a harvest and you will reap if you don't give up. If that is the metaphor, then the seed is not effective without release. And so there is an element of control of timing here.
that we all want to put God on our chronos. We want God to do his kairos in our chronos, to do his stuff on our schedule. Now, I preach about this all the time because our deadlines kill our kairos. That's why he said you got to understand due season. God does stuff. How many agree with that? I should make a point and put that on the screen. God does stuff. God does stuff.
on his schedule. How many agree with that? So it's due season. Don't hold too tight. Don't strangle a seed. Don't hold too tight. When I first started lifting real heavy weights, and y'all, I can lift pretty heavy weights, I got an injury in my elbows.
I came to Chunks, who is our executive pastor of the church. He used to be a physical therapist. I said, "I guess I'm going to have to stop lifting so heavy. I'm lifting so heavy my elbows are hurting." He looked at me like he had seen this a thousand times. He goes, "You're not lifting too heavy. You're not lifting too heavy. You're gripping too tight." He said, "You're holding those dumbbells?" At the time, I was bench-pressing 95-pound dumbbells on an incline bench. Some heavy weight.
He hadn't been excited all day. I've been talking about the Lord, and that's the first clap I got out of him right there. I'll take it, brother. He said… Do you remember when I shared this back when COVID first started, LB? He said, you can lift more if you would fix your grip. You can lift that weight if you would change the way you lift it. One of the things I have to come back to again and again in my life is
Am I weary because of the work? Because sometimes you have to narrow things down. Or am I weary because I'm worrying about them? Which leads me to point number two. Don't time travel. Don't time travel. Jesus said clearly in Matthew 6, verse 34, do not worry about tomorrow. Time travel. For tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day...
has enough trouble of its own. So, am I tired because of my to-do list or am I tired because of my tomorrow list? Remember the first time I went to Australia to preach? I was so jet-lagged, because when you go to Australia, it's like a 14-hour time difference. You cross over the international date line, so you are literally in tomorrow. Your body comes from yesterday into tomorrow. That's what happens.
Nobody told me how bad the jet lag was, so I flew in the same day I had to preach the first session. This was my first time preaching on the continent. I'm just landing, and back home it's like 7 p.m., and in Australia it's 9 a.m., so I figured I'd freak the kids out. Holly was putting them to bed, and I FaceTimed, and I opened the blinds. The sun was, of course, shining brightly because it's 9 a.m. in Australia.
and at 7:00 p.m. where they are, so it was dark outside. They were so confused. How is the sun up? They were very young. You understand. They're much more sophisticated now. They understand the solar system and all of its complexities and sophistication. "How is the sun up over there when you're in Australia?" So I told them, "I'm in tomorrow." They thought that was so cool. Just before we hung up the call, because I had to go preach and they had to go to sleep,
One of them looked at me and said, "'Hey, Daddy, before you go, can you tell us what happens tomorrow?' Isn't that a powerful thing to have a father who's already in your future? Isn't that a powerful thing that Jesus said,
The pagans run after all these things: what to wear, what to drink, what to eat…all the things we put on our to-do list. But Jesus summarizes all of those worries down, all of those worries that have you so weary and running around and now can't sleep even when you have time to sleep, because when you should be sleeping you're scrolling, and you're scrolling when you should be sleeping because you're trying to see something that will soothe something
from trying to control something that is outside of your control. So now not only am I gripping too tight, but I am trying to do today from tomorrow. I am worried about tomorrow, but tomorrow has somebody already in it who controls it. If I'm a Christian, if I believe in God, if I believe in Jesus, then I have a Father who is already in the future.
There are some of us who are spiritually jet-lagged because we get to tomorrow too soon.
You keep crossing over the international date line. You are not only thinking about tomorrow; you are thinking about 10,000 tomorrows from now. "Why am I tired? Why am I weary of doing good? Because I am no longer only focused on the good God has given me to do today. I am focused on the good I am concerned he will not do for me tomorrow. But if he was good to me yesterday…"
If he's good today, and if God is good, then all the time, and I will bless the Lord.
at all times, and his praise will continually be in my mouth. So I can plan for tomorrow, but the part I can't plan for I can pray about, and the part I can't pray about I can praise about. Even when I don't know what to pray, God is already in tomorrow doing what he needs to do. Due season.
Sometimes you have to say, "God, you do it. I can't. It's due season. It's time for you to do something about this, God. I've tried everything I know to try. I've said everything I know to say. I've wished everything I've learned to wish. I've followed everybody I thought to follow. I've asked everybody whose number is in my phone, but I need to call on somebody who's not in my phone. I need a Father who's in my future."
Who knows I need these things so I can seek first the kingdom? You keep talking to yourself about tomorrow, and you're not in it. So now you have jet lag because you're trying to go to tomorrow with today's strength. I told you your to-do list just got shorter. You can put your plan for next month on there. We all have to keep calendars. We all have to do Kronos, but Kairos can swallow Kronos like that.
I was meeting with some pastors a couple of weeks ago, and the Lord told me to tell them this. Some of you are worried that the time you took to be at this meeting is going to cost too much, and you have too much to do to be here, but you flew in and you sacrificed to be here. God can do something in one moment that will make six months of meetings unnecessary when you get back home. Do you believe that? Or you might have to have the meeting, which gives me my third point. Don't hold too tight. Don't time travel.
Don't time travel to tomorrow, and don't time travel to the past either. Don't you think you have a DeLorean up in this church? Don't you think you're Marty McFly up in this church? Number three, turn and let us grow weary in doing good. This might be the first time they've heard it all week. Would you turn to the person next to you and shake their hand and say, "You're doing good? You're doing good. You're doing good to be in church. You're doing good to be watching a YouTube sermon on YouTube."
There are other things on YouTube. You chose this or the algorithm did. I pray all the time, "Lord, hijack the algorithm and get this message to somebody's phone who needs it. Just do a terrorist takeover of their algorithm." The Lord said, "Don't turn back." I want to tell you a story that parallels with Galatians 6:9 just to illustrate what we're saying from the Bible. I love to illustrate the Bible with the Bible. When we say, "And let us not grow weary in doing good,"
for in due season we will reap if we do not give up." Put the verse up one more time before we move forward. "And let us not grow weary of doing good," underline "doing good," for in due season, underline "due season." God is going to do it. God does stuff on God's schedule. Due season, in due season, we will reap, and all you have to do is don't give, underline "do not," because somebody is in a "don't" season today.
I don't have what it takes, and I don't know what to do. You don't have to raise your hand. I would not single you out for that, but you listen to me. If you are in a don't season today, I don't have what it takes, and I don't know what to do. I want to tell you an Old Testament story about a king named Jehoshaphat. You can find this story in 2 Chronicles 20. There are several chapters about his reign. There are some peaks and some valleys, some good decisions, some bad decisions. Sometimes he trusted God, and sometimes when he trusted his own flesh and his own mind.
But in this particular case, I think he's a wonderful example for what to do in a don't season. See, he was doing good. He was doing really good. He was a king of Judah, which was the southern kingdom. This was a very rebellious, idolatrous nation, much like ours. We don't have all these same shrines that they have, but we have all of our same priorities mixed up. We worship status, and we worship stuff, and
We worship people's opinions more than we seek God's validation and commands, so we relate to this. He was doing good as a king. He went out on one bad run with Ahab. Ahab died. He lived. I think he was sobered up by coming that close to death. You know how when you have a close call, when you're like, "'Oh, I've got to get it together.'"
I think that's what happened to him because he started sending all these priests all through the kingdom to reestablish the covenant that the people had with God, that he was to be their God, that the Lord said, do not put any other gods beside me or before me. Don't do it. So he was kind of sending a revival wave through the nation and, in the process of all of this, building a lot of military power. But there came a battle upon him that he was not expecting, was not prepared for.
and didn't know what to do. So, when they came to him in 2 Chronicles 20 verse 1 and told him there was an attack, it says, after this, after all the good things he was doing… By the way, we tend to assume that if things are going bad in our life, that we must be off track with God. If things are going good in our life, then we must be on track with God. Sometimes the devil will leave you alone if you're not following Christ, and you'll actually feel like you're in a good season when actually you are in a season of compromised faith.
Not always, but sometimes. Now, Jehoshaphat, who is doing good reforms, religious reforms and revival. Remember, God corrects his people for rebellion, but the enemy attacks God's people when they're in revival. And you might be in a revival in your life right now, but the attack is strong.
So they said, they're coming at you, the Ammonites, the Moabites, even the Miuites, which I'd never heard of before. So enemies are coming out of everywhere. Enemies I've never even heard of before in the Bible are coming after this guy. The Bible says he was alarmed by this. He was surprised by it. Now, one of the reasons that we struggle with spiritual attacks is because we're surprised when they happen. If we could just make up our minds to know, then I'm not surprised.
I'm not surprised by this. I'm not surprised that the temptation came back strong. I'm not surprised that things are starting to act. This would be my fourth point. Don't be surprised. But his surprise drove him to a place of seeking strength and seeking the Lord and seeking strength from the Lord. So now he begins to pray, and he begins to
He begins to remind God of all he did for his people in the past. He said, "God, you said if we would stand here and pray to you that you would drive back your enemies for your glory. You promised this from the time of Abraham. You've been doing this a long time, God. Now I need you to do what you do, God."
Here is the key phrase of 2 Chronicles 20:12. He said, "O our God, will you not judge them?" These are enemies who are bigger than us. These are enemies who are positioned to kill us, and they are close by.
They are already in En Gedi, a day's march away. So, by this time tomorrow, they are going to overtake us. We do not have time to strategize. We do not have time to build up for this. Our enemies did not ask our permission or give us advance notice before they snuck up on us.
This season of my life did not ask my permission before it came. It didn't even schedule itself on a chronos calendar. I didn't see this coming just out of nowhere. Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power. We don't have what it takes. Do you feel that way today?
We don't have what it takes, and I don't have what they need, and I don't have what this moment requires. We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us, and we don't know what to do. We don't have what it takes, and we don't know what to do. Is that you today in a don't season? I don't have what it takes.
It's too strong for me now, God. I don't have what it takes. You have been saying that this week. I know you have. A lady told my mom yesterday… I think Pastor Stephen has cameras in my house when he preaches, because he says the thing I was saying all week. I know what you've been saying, because I've been saying it too, because I've been holding too tight, and I've been traveling to tomorrow, and I only can come to the conclusion I don't
what it takes. This is the worst part of all. I don't know what to do. We don't have what it takes. We don't know what to do. We did not come to church because we have it all together. We did not come to church because we have all knowledge. We did not come to church because we're omniscient. We did not praise God because we have no problems. We are not praising God because the truth always feels true. We are not
singing because we always intellectually make sense out of the words we sing. We are not worshiping God because we know why everything is happening in our life. That is not why I'm serving you. I'm looking to you, God, because I don't have what it takes, and I don't know what to do, but eyes are on you. Let me tell you what to don't if you don't know what to do.
Don't look at other stuff. Let me tell you what to don't if you don't know what to do. Don't look around for your help. You lift your eyes to the hills, beyond the hills, to where your help comes. Your help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He said, "'I'm not looking around because I don't have what it takes.'"
I don't know what to do, but my eyes are on you. So, God, I need you to show me what to do about this situation. I need you to show me what to do about this loan. I need you to show me what to do about this relationship. I need you to show me what to do about this decision I have to make about my future by Tuesday. I need you to show me what to do about this apartment. I need you to show me what to do about this job. I need you to show me what to do about this person I can't fire, but they won't quit.
I need you to show me what to do about this depression. I need you to show me what to do about this bipolar. I need you to show me what to do about these thoughts that are going through my head and making me crazy. I need you to show me what to do about the stretching schedule and the shrinking timeframe I have to get it done. I need you to show me what to do. Verse 13. Verse 13.
All the men of Judah with their wives and children and little ones stood there before the Lord, not knowing what to do. They are in a don't season, and they need the Lord to show them what to do. Here's where it gets good. You say, this is already pretty good to me. It's about to get gooder. It's about to get gooder. It's about to get goodest. This is about to be the goodest sermon you ever heard. The Bible says they stood there before the Lord in a don't moment.
in a don't moment. I don't know what to do, but I know where to go. I'm standing here until you speak. Now watch what the Bible says. Verse 14, Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jehaziel, son of Zechariah, son of Benaniah,
son of Jael, son of Matani, son of a Levite, and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly. He said, Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem. This is
is what the Lord says to you. So, he's about to show me what to do. He's about to show me what to do about this attack coming up from behind me. He's about to show me what to do about these enemies that are coming after me. He's about to show me what to do about what I'm going through. He's about to show me what to do. This is what the Lord says to you. Don't be afraid, and don't be discouraged.
So, when you tell God, "I don't know what to do," the first thing he will tell you is what to don't. Don't be afraid, because you can't hear what he says next if you filter it through fear. If fear is your filter, you will not clearly hear the voice of God.
So, the first thing you need to do is don't be afraid. I'm not afraid of tomorrow. I'm not ashamed of my past. I'm standing in the presence of God because of what Jesus did for me. Don't be afraid, and don't be discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle is not yours.
But God, get ready to shout. I'm giving you five seconds to warm up. Because the prophet said, because the word of God said, because the Bible said, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Verse 16. Tomorrow. Tomorrow.
It's God's tomorrow, not yours. Tomorrow is God's job. Don't be afraid. Don't run away. Don't turn back. Don't stress about this. Don't pick up the phone. Don't run yourself ragged. This battle is not yours. It belongs to God.
Now, let's time travel. Verse 16. Tomorrow, march down against your enemies, the ones you don't know what to do about, the ones you don't know how to handle, the ones you don't know how to defeat, the ones you don't know how to deal with, the ones you didn't see coming. March against them tomorrow, and they will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the desert of Jeruel. Here is the good news for everybody today.
Who's on the verge of giving up? When you get there… Oh, hold on. God, don't know how to fight this battle. All you have to do is don't. You will not have to fight this battle. You will not have to fight this battle. That's all you have to do. Don't. Don't fight it in your own strength.
Don't fight it in your own flesh. Don't fight it with your own logic. Don't fight it with your own strength. Don't fight it in your own flesh. Don't fight it in your own logic. All you have to do when you don't know what to do is don't. You take up your positions. You stand firm, and you see the deliverance of the Lord, which he will give you
Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid. Somebody shout, "Don't." Do not be discouraged. Somebody shout, "Don't." Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you. Isn't it good to have a Father who is already in tomorrow who can tell you what happens tomorrow so you can do what you need to do today? So let us not grow weary.
in doing good, for in due season we will reap. All we have to do is don't give up." Y'all, when they march down there in verse 18 with a word from the Lord… I see you marching toward your challenge with a word from the Lord. I see you marching out of this church with a word from the Lord. I see you marching out of church still not knowing but going forward in the strength of the Lord by the word of the Lord.
Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground because he didn't know what to do. He bowed with his face to the ground because he didn't have what it took. All of the people fell down face down with him in worship before the Lord. What God does is his business. What you do until he does is worship and walk, and all you have to do is don't.
David is in the cave with Saul. He's called to be a future king. He has the opportunity to kill Saul right now and take a shortcut, but do it God's way. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the Persian kingdom, and they were told to bow down and worship a false god, but don't, because even if they throw you in the fire, you can't burn up if God is in there with you. Don't. All you have to do is don't. Jesus could have called legions of angels from the cross and come down, but don't.
because if he came down, we could not be saved through his blood. All you have to do when you don't know what to do, when you are in a don't season, all you have to do is don't. We will reap if we don't give up. What a relief it was when they found out you don't even have to fight this battle. You don't. Not by yourself. Now you have to face it, but you don't have to fight it alone.
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.
You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.