Steven Furtick - Stop Waiting For The "Right" Time
This is an excerpt from: This Is That Day
What we want to talk about today is a little bit different, because we understand it is our responsibility, as Christian people, to manage our expectation. Meaning, I have to make sure I don’t let my experiences in life regulate my expectations of God. Let’s say this out loud. «I will not allow my experience in life to regulate my expectation of God». That is a daily decision you have to make. I think a lot of the damaged relationships in our lives are because of unmanaged expectations. We really started depending on somebody to do things for us that only God could do for us. We really started expecting things to be like the perfect little movies we make up in our minds of how things are supposed to go when we show up.
So, the integrated faith Isaiah describes… It’s very beautiful, because he says there are two things happening. There is a fight. That’s verse 1 of Isaiah 27. «In that day, the Lord will punish with his sword…» Now, you don’t have a sword if you’re just going through life, strolling through your day. So, there’s a fight happening, and then in verse 2 it says, «In that day, sing about a fruitful vineyard». Let me point something out to you. There’s a sword in verse 1, and there’s a song in verse 2, but the sword and the song are happening on the same day. Okay. This integrated faith will make me get up in the morning and never say again, «It’s going to be one of those days,» because it’s always going to be one of those days. I almost got discouraged before I came out today because my hair right there was flat and I couldn’t get it up.
I was going, «Oh, God. How am I going to preach if my hair is flat right there»? Are you serious? You have the Word of God and the Spirit of God, and you’re going to have a bad hair day and get up in the pulpit without confidence. I think I fixed it, but I’m still not really sure, so I’m kind of insecure as I stand before you. It’s amazing. It doesn’t take much to remove us from a hopeful expectation. My expectation is my responsibility. Nobody can ruin my day. I have a verse for that. Psalm 118:24. It’s the year 2024, right? This is a verse 24 for you. «This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it». So, if God made this day, nobody else gets to mess it up. I used to say to people when they’d send me a nice text, «You made my day». I quit saying that, because I figure if they can make my day by sending me a nice text, they can mess up my day if they send me another type of text.
Now we want to get up every day this year and say, «This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it». So, it’s the challenge to remain in hope while leaving room for disappointment. I think our expectations this time of year could use a little HGH (Holy Ghost Hormone) to get us on an expecting path, that God has given me a hope and a future and an expected end. No matter what they did or didn’t do for you, no matter who left or who stayed or who called back or who blocked your number… «I have an expected end». Yet as I walk through these days, I understand that my challenge is to remain. If you want to take notes on my message today, my first word is remain, because I want to challenge you to remain in hope this year and leave room for disappointment. You’re like, «Which one is it»? I want you to do both. I want you to expect the blessing and accept the mess. In that day, there will be a sword, because everybody in here is fighting something. Everybody in here has a Leviathan. I might preach about Leviathan next week, a whole sermon on Leviathan.
Notice that while the sword is fighting Leviathan… Everybody has a Leviathan, and everybody knows how to hide it. It’s a coiling serpent. It’s a gliding serpent. You hide your Leviathan behind a smile. You hide your Leviathan behind new clothes to disguise the fact that you drag old habits underneath new clothes. Some of us have new hair. I talked about a bad hair day. Some of us actually have new hair on our head in a new year. Yet notice this in the text. At the same time that God is dealing with the enemy, he commands you to sing about the fruit that is coming forth in your life. I love the Bible, because this gives me an integrated expectation of God. There will always be a fight in my life, but there will always be fruit in my life. As a matter of fact, I learned the bigger the fight, the bigger the fruit is going to be. The size of the fight is a preview of the size of the fruit.
High-five somebody and say, «It’s going to be big, baby». He talks about Jacob. He talks about Israel being planted and bearing fruit, having root and bearing fruit. I wonder. Are you rooted in the right thing as this year begins? I came to ask one question of our global eFam and our local campuses all around the world. What will you do with your 24? I think we’re all a little humbler about our New Year’s resolutions after the year formerly known as 2020. Every preacher I know was up preaching about vision, 2020 vision, and then completely blindsided by the fact that the Lord didn’t give us a prophetic word that we would be looking at empty seats all year, preaching in our empty buildings. So all of the sermons are humbler in the new year. All of the plans are a little bit moderated, mitigated, modulated. I found a verse for that too. Proverbs 27:1. I put this one in the King James. «Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth».
When I had you shout, «This is that day…» Shout it again. «This is that day». Some of y’all said that in lowercase letters, no exclamation point. This is that day. You’re very deep, so you’re like, «What do you mean by 'that day'»? I was just reading the Bible. Isaiah said, «In that day, the Lord is going to fight your enemies, and in that day, you will sing of a fruitful vineyard». That day. You know that day you dream of? There are many of you today who are dreaming of a day. We have an expectation that God is going to free us from certain things this year, that God is going to deliver us from certain dilemmas this year, that God is going to provide for us. Expectation is great as long as it’s integrated. I think the danger of having expectations about what God is going to do… You know, «2024. God is going to do more in '24. I’m leaving the shore in '24. I’m going to get a stronger core in '24». Do you want another one? «Something I’ve never seen before in 2024. My ceiling is going to be my floor in 2024. I’m not going to be poor…»
While we say that, and while it’s good to envision that… I’ll be honest with you. Some of the things I’m seeing today in my life are the result of a vision God gave me at a time when I couldn’t see anything like what I’m seeing today. I believe in that expectation. I think the danger we should talk about as you move into your new year and what God wants to do through you is that sometimes your expectation of the future can become your excuse right now. I’ll break it down to a phrase I heard, and I’ll use Elijah to give it to you. When he was very little, we were taking Easter pictures as a family. Of course, our kids just love taking Easter pictures because they’re the pastor’s kids. They were fighting. They were angry. They were despondent. Elijah finally, after having to change outfits a few times… This is a legendary line he said in our family. He said, «I hate Easter. When I’m the pastor…»
So, let’s break this down. He said, «One day, when I’m the pastor, we’re not even going to have Easter. I’m canceling Easter». He was like 5, so don’t judge him like that. «Oh my god»! He was 5. But check this out, a 5-year-old’s perspective. «One day, when I’m the pastor…» One day when. Have you ever been a victim of «One day when» syndrome? «Yeah, I’m not doing too good right now, but one day, when I get these kids out of the house…» The problem I have with that plan «One day, when I get the kids out of the house» is that 20 years ago you were saying, «One day, when I have kids of my own…» Now it has shifted to a future stage where you think you’ll have more space and less stress. Let’s do another one. «I’m going to start a business one day when I have the right partner».
I used to laugh when teams would come to see our church and they were starting their own church. The pastor would pull me aside and say, «Hey, I have a gift. I have an anointing. I got called to start a church. I want to reach people far from God, but I don’t have a team. Where do you get your team»? I would always make something up. «Oh, you know the Build-A-Bear store? Well, they have a 'Build a ministry team' store. I went down there and found the right amount of achiever and doer and the right amount of dreamer, and I put a team together». Where do you think the team came from? The same place Jesus got his team. You find the people God has placed in your life who are imperfect, and you make it happen with who you have. Now, if you are expecting a stage in your life when the perfect people will come into your life to help you figure out your imperfect life… If God sends perfect people in your life, you should send them away so they stay perfect, because the moment they get tangled up with you and me, they won’t be perfect anymore.
Did you ever do the «One day when» thing? «I’m going to get in shape one day when…» One day when…what? «I’m going to do the diet one day when…» One day when…what? I’ll tell you what happened to me. This is so embarrassing. One day, I saw in the mirror… I don’t know how you see 45 pounds you’ve gained all at once, but it was like a flash of revelation. It was like a road to Damascus to me. I walked by the mirror with my shirt off after being married to Holly for 18 months, and I said, «Why didn’t you tell me this was happening to me, and why did you contribute to it with your cooking»? I said, «I’m going on Atkins». Because that’s the diet I knew, and it involved bacon, and I like bacon. «I’ve got to lose this belly, but I’ve got to use bacon to do it, because I’m not going to be counting macros anytime soon». Holly said, «Great. That’s great. We could go on a diet next week». I said, «No. I’m not eating another carb starting right now».
And I didn’t. We went to Wendy’s that night. I donated back the bun to the homeless ministry and just ate the patty. I did that over and over and over and over. She thought that was so strange. She said, «You could have given me time. We could have shopped. We could have hired a nutritionist». But I knew too much to have to give a nutritionist money to start doing what I could do today. «I’m telling you, one day, when I have more time, I’m going to write a book». «One day, when my wife starts acting right… I could really be a great businessman if my wife would believe in me. One day, when she gets the vision…» What if she doesn’t need to get the vision? What if you need to show the discipline? «I’m going to tell you, Pastor Steven. I’m going to start giving to the church. One day, when I manifest all of the riches… I know the day is coming. God has told me I will be a millionaire. I will fund the kingdom. I will send apostles into the earth». «One day, when I get this business right…»
If you won’t do it with $10, I promise you won’t do it with millions. I promise, because it’s going to be more zeroes. It’s going to make you throw up even that much more when you give it. «One day when». Now, I know this New Year’s message is not the shoutiest New Year’s message, but I think it could be a sustaining one for you if you make a subtle shift. If the first point of this sermon is «Remain in hope, but leave room for disappointment…» Because there will always be a fight, and there will always be fruit, and sometimes you have to really allow the fight to take its course to see the fruit come forth. If the first word is remain, the second thing I want you to do this year is reduce.
Again, this is not a weight loss seminar. I know reduce is not a juicy New Year’s word, and I know we want God to add to our lives. And you should. I want you to have more influence. I want you to have more happy moments. I want you to have more laughter. I want you to have more peaceful sleep at night, more hours of sleep. I want you to be able to see more places and create more opportunities for others and yourself. At the same time I want you to experience more, I want to point out to you that in the text I read, God did not say anything to Israel about years. In Isaiah 27:1 he says, «In that day…» Verse 2: «In that day…» Verse 6: «In days to come…» I wonder. Are we stressed, discouraged, defeated, and lacking momentum and victory in our lives because when I asked, «What are you going to do with your 24»? you thought years? The real answer to the question, «What will you do with your 24?» is not about a year called '24. It’s about «This is the day the Lord has made».
When I woke up this morning, I had 24 hours of opportunity deposited into my account. I can sit here with you and dream about all of the amazing things I’m going to accomplish for God this year. I could sit here and advertise to you all of the amazing possibilities that could happen in your life this year. More in '24. Leave the shore in '24. Strengthen your core in '24. All of that I say about '24 is wonderful and abstract, but it falls into the category of «One day when…» «So, round about June I’m going to have my beach body. So, round about December I’m going to have some of these debts paid off. So, round about three years from now my family is going to be back together. Round about 10 years from now my kids are going to college». I believe in long-term vision. I think it’s all amazing, but I think this «One day when» can be a trap to keep you focused so much on the years that you don’t do with the days what you could do with the days.
Isn’t this what Jesus said? «Why do you worry about tomorrow? Tomorrow has enough trouble of its own». Let me ask you a question if you’re anxious. Are you anxious about today or are you anxious about Wednesday or are you anxious about Wednesday three weeks from now or are you anxious about when you retire when you’re 75? You’re 17. You have time. There are days between here and there. Do you know how much peace it’ll bring you to recognize the revelation of a day? Here’s the revelation of a day: the grace for the day is in the day.