Steven Furtick - Move It to The Middle
We’re so excited that you’re here today. We’ve been preparing for you and praying for you and asking God to speak to you. We’re about to leave on tour in just a few days. Be in prayer for us. Elevation Nights is coming to Fort Worth, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Toronto, Canada; and other places too…Newark, New Jersey; Washington, D.C. (go to elevationnights.com); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (go there right now); Detroit, Michigan (go there right now); Hartford, Connecticut. I’m getting cold just thinking about it. I’m going to need a heavier jacket than this. But come ready, come expectant…elevationnights.com. I also wanted to celebrate and welcome a few of our eFam leaders. Where are you at in the room? Welcome to these eFam leaders. They came to be with us today from four different countries and 15 different states. I’m glad you made the trip. As excited as I am about these Elevation Nights, we’re not in Pittsburgh today. We’re not in Toronto. We’re not in Detroit.
Today, we’re right here in Ballantyne. I am so excited to continue what I began to build last week about those times in our lives (and we’ve all had them, whether we responded to them or not) where God calls your name. Very specifically, I was talking about some times in the Scripture where God called somebody by their name and he said their name not once but twice. My point was that sometimes you are in a pivotal moment of your life where it’s your past versus your potential, your past versus your purpose. In those moments, sometimes God will use repetition to underscore the urgency of what he has for you to hear. I believe there are many of us, maybe not all of us, who would find ourselves in a moment like that.
So, today, I want to continue that from Exodus, chapter 3, verses 1-11. All of the Bible school students already know who we’re talking about today. Somebody say, «Moses, Moses». We grew up singing a song in church called «Pharaoh, Pharaoh». It went «Pharaoh, Pharaoh, oh baby, let my people go». Then, if you really got into it, you would go, «Huh! Yeah, yeah, yeah»! It was to the tune of «Louie Louie». I don’t want to get a copyright strike on YouTube, so I won’t sing it, but we would do that. «Pharaoh, Pharaoh, oh baby, let my people go». Then everybody would go, «Huh»! Quick story. One time, I was 17 years old, just getting started in ministry, and I was leading that for the youth.
One of the parents was really uptight, and she walked in and saw how I had all of the kids going, «Huh»! She said, «Don’t do that again. That’s not a holy gesture». I said, «Lady, it’s just a 'huh.'» But she was really special and sanctified and holy in her own way. Exodus, chapter 3. Somebody say, «Moses, Moses». «Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness…» Yeah. That was a confirmation on my message. Okay. «…the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, 'I will go over and see this strange sight [this is crazy]—why the bush does not burn up.'»
«I’ve got to figure this out. This thing should be down to a stub, but somehow it’s still standing. This thing should be flickering out, but somehow there’s still a flame. This thing should be over, but somehow it’s kept going». When he thought like that… Just touch the person next to you and say, «It doesn’t make any sense». «It doesn’t make any sense why I’m still here. After all of the times I thought about quitting, it doesn’t make any sense why I’m still here. After all of the times I tried to push God away, but he wouldn’t let me, it makes no sense why I’m here». Watch this. Verse 4: «When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses! '»
Only one of seven times this happens in the Bible where he said the name twice. And Moses said, «Here I am, Lord. Here I am». «'Do not come any closer, ' God said. 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.' Then he said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, 'I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land…'»
This isn’t going to be a mid land; this is a good and spacious land. This isn’t going to be a cramped land; this is going to be a good and spacious land. «…a land flowing…» It won’t be dry like the desert. It’s going to be flowing with milk and honey. «…the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. [I am sending you to Pharaoh, Pharaoh to tell him 'Huh! Oh baby, let my people go.']» But Moses said, «That’s not very appropriate, God. I can’t say that to Pharaoh». Verse 11, and then I’ll give you my subject for the day. «Moses said to God, 'Who am I…'» This is what I call the burning question. «Who am I»? Not only the burning bush but the burning question. «Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt»?
So, the Lord gave me a word for your insecurities today and for the things you’re dealing with that are chapters in your life that feel like it’s never going to change. This is what the Lord said: Move It to the Middle. Touch your neighbor on your right or your left (you choose) and say, «Move it to the middle». Touch your other neighbor that feels very, very discouraged by your lack of preference for them, and put it in the chat when you say it. Say, «Move it to the middle». In Jesus' name. You may be seated. Move It to the Middle. Okay. Four points to this message. I’m not going to preach them. I’m going to preach it how the Lord gave it to me, like a prophecy. Sometimes you’ve got to prophesy. Sometimes you don’t need points. Sometimes you need a prophecy where the Word of the Lord transcends human understanding and all rational, factual evidence and tells you what God says.
That’s a shift in perspective that we need to learn. The first part of this message might hurt a little bit, but I’ll stitch you up before lunch. But I’ll do it at my own expense, so maybe that’ll make it better. We just got back from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. As we were moving through the airport, Abbey said, «I hope there’s an update in a few years where you can see projected over people’s heads where they’re going». Now, apparently, my daughter has been sneaking episodes of Black Mirror. Apparently we need more parental supervision over our 13-year-old. Just about the time I told her, «That’s ridiculous,» I thought, «It might actually happen». Upon further questioning as to why she would want to see where someone was headed, we looked around the airport and realized that everybody in the airport was carrying and moving in what’s commonly culturally called main character energy.
I don’t know if you’ve heard this phrase. It’s something that is often encouraged to say, «Hey, you’ve got to own your story. You can’t wait for other people to come rescue you. You can’t wait for somebody else to do it for you. You need that main character energy». It’s often used to speak of people who are very charismatic, driven, and disposed and biased toward action. «They’ve got main character energy». Maybe they just seem special or something like that. Moses was born with what might have been called main character energy, if the video game had been invented by then. You know, it’s kind of a video game term. Everybody else is just an NPC and you’re the main character. Everybody exists to help you on your quest. Moses, when he was born, was born in a very difficult circumstance.
I’d like to break his life down into three 40-year stages to help you understand this message today called Move It to the Middle. The first 40 years of Moses' life were spent being raised as Pharaoh’s daughter’s, though he was not Pharaoh’s daughter’s. At the time Moses was born as a Hebrew, the Hebrew boys were under tremendous threat. Pharaoh had decided their presence represented a threat to him, so each of the Hebrew firstborn boys were to be murdered and thrown into the Nile River. The Hebrew women were so vigorous in giving birth, the midwives could not allow them not to live. They would have the baby before the midwife would show up and carry out the assassination plot. This presented an opportunity for some of the children that were born during that time to live when they should have died. Moses was one of them.
The Bible says he was no ordinary child. When his parents saw he was special, they did something kind of cool. They made a basket and floated him down the Nile River. It just so happened at that point in time that Pharaoh’s daughter was out there kind of cleaning, doing some Nile River activities, and seeing how beautiful the baby was, she decided to take him in as her own. Needing a nurse for the baby, she located the nearest nurse she could find, which happened to be Moses' mother. You can see how this presents not only a sense of Moses' uniqueness but perhaps a sense of loneliness as well, for as he grows up, you could say that he is a Hebrew in nature and an Egyptian in nurture. He is an Israelite baby in nature in an environment of Egypt in which he’s being nurtured.
The first 40 years of his life go this way. One day, Moses takes a trip. In fact, rather than tell you this, let me just read this to you. I think it’d be good if we read it for a moment. If you go over to Acts, chapter 7, we can summarize the life of Moses from the speech of Stephen. Now, Stephen was an apostle in the New Testament church who was being stoned (not recreationally). In all seriousness, he was being persecuted for his faith in Jesus, and his face shone as they stoned him. He was shining with something from the inside even as he was being killed on the outside. In giving his speech to the people who are stoning him and accusing them of missing Jesus, the Messiah, when he came to save them, he goes into a little history lesson about Moses.
I thought it would be great for us to pick it up right in verse 20. He goes back thousands of years and says, «At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action». I wanted to read that verse because, often, Moses is presented to us as being a bumbling, stumbling idiot, because when God called him he was like, «I don’t talk too good, Lord».
So we kind of made Moses this Bubba who was born in a basket, missing the point that he spent the first 40 years of his life not only as a survivor but a student in the most powerful position of his day. All that background is going to play into what I’m going to tell you in a moment, but move down to verse 23, because this moves us into the second phase of Moses' life. The Bible says, «When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not». He thought he would be helpful, but they hated him for being helpful. He thought he was doing something significant, but it ended up that what he did that he thought was significant actually became the end of his time in Egypt.
Verse 26 says, «The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other? ' But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday? '» Uh-oh! «When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons». Verse 30: «After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai». We just read about this in Exodus, chapter 3, but when we read about it in Exodus, chapter 3, we missed a crucial bit of context that I want us to come back to for a moment.
In Exodus, chapter 3, verse 1, it says, «Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian…» But in Acts, chapter 7, verse 30, we learn, «After forty years had passed…» So, what is presented in one sentence in Exodus 3 took four decades from Moses' perspective at the time it happened. Everybody in your life is in the middle of something. Our tendency is to treat people according to where we meet people. This is the part I told you would be challenging. Some of us, if we meet somebody, and it seems like they’re in a position to help us, we are good to those who we think are good for us. Some of us, if we meet people, and we see them as a liability to our social credibility or maybe a liability to our time or our energy, we have a tendency to treat people according to where we meet people. Christian maturity does not treat people according to where you meet people. Christian maturity never judges the man by the moment.
Let me be inclusive. Never judges the woman by the moment; never judges the book by the chapter; never judges the potential of someone by the problem they are currently carrying. So, you find in life two different approaches: main character energy, which is kind of like, «I’m focused on what I’m doing. I’m focused on what I’m becoming. I’m focused on my goals…» Sadly, a lot of this gets peddled in the church as spiritual growth, but it is not sanctification, because sanctification and self-help sometimes are a little different. Self-help is sometimes about what you can do for you to reach the goal that you set without God. Sanctification starts with God’s goal that he wants to do that is much bigger than what you see right now. Moses did it his way; he became a murderer. Moses did it God’s way; he was a messenger.
All I’m trying to get you to see is that it’s a matter of perspective. Tell somebody, «Move it to the middle». Come on. Tell the person on either side of you, «Move it to the middle». Tell both of them in case the first one doesn’t like it. Tell the second one so you’ve got a backup plan. «Move it to the middle». Amy, I’ll never forget something you said to me. We got cut off by somebody in traffic. This has been years ago. I never forgot it. Amy lives her life with whatever is the opposite of main character energy. She lives her life with Christlike nature. I guess that’s the opposite of main character energy. It’s not like she’s a side character; she’s just more Christlike than me.
I was talking about the person who cut us off in traffic in a certain way that wasn’t very mindful of their potential in Christ or their value to God. I said, «Amy, how do you never get mad when you get cut off in traffic? I’ve never seen you road rage». She said, «Well, I like to play a game. I like to pretend that the person in the passenger seat is pregnant and the person driving them has to get them to the hospital because their water just broke». I don’t know if you remember that, but I never forgot it, because I also like to play pretend when somebody cuts me off in traffic. I like to pretend I’m not a pastor and I never even met Jesus and I never even heard his name. I like to pretend like I’m a terrorist. I like to pretend like I’ve been training as an assassin. I like to pretend like «God sent me to teach you a lesson. Can’t let you get away with that». I saw it as a shift.
Now, here’s the picture the Lord gave me. We’re going to work this out on the fly because, honestly, I kind of thought of it last minute. When we finish singing at the church, usually they bring my pulpit to the stage and put it in the place where it goes. We do it in a way where it kind of signals a shift to say, «We’ve worshiped God with our singing and the melodies; now we are going to worship God through his spoken Word and his message,» and both are worship. So, when we position the pulpit, the camera shots also change. You will notice that you no longer see the drummer very much once it’s preaching time. You no longer see Scotty, as handsome as he is and as dignified as he looked leading the South Carolina state choir last week. I mean, he’s got that main character gift. But everybody switches positions.
Somebody say, «Positions». Now say, «Perspective». Okay, now that we’re in this part of the message, the perspective has shifted, not because I’m more important than anybody on the stage but because it is my time to deliver the message God has given me to share with you. Therefore, the camera operators have to be instructed at this point, «You no longer need to show Otis. You no longer need to show Scotty. They’ll be back when we sing again, but for now, this is our focus». Now, here’s what I want you to understand about the way a lot of us live our lives. If they disobeyed that order… And just go with me for this picture, because I’m going to show you a lot of why we stay stressed out. I’m going to show you a lot of why we stay resentful, bitter, demotivated, angry. I’m going to tell you why a lot of our passion goes out because people hurt our feelings.
If at the moment I take this pulpit the camera operator just decides to rebel and go like, «I think the podium is boring…» Now, camera operator, do what I’m about to say to illustrate my point. (We have not worked this out, so I hope it goes well.) Just put the camera somewhere else that has nothing to do with this and show them what I’m talking about. And, again, we did not plan this. I’m just working this illustration through with you. Wave at the people, Otis. As suave, as debonaire as he is on those drums, it is a distraction at this moment to show the drums. Now go back to what you’re supposed to be shooting, not because I’m better looking, not because of status, not because I’m the boss around here, but because of purpose. Purpose determines position. Get the picture, and then we’ll break it down. Purpose determines position.
So, show them the Otis shot. This is me focusing on something that is meant to be peripheral in the moment. Show them the tight shot. This is me focusing on what is being spoken from God. If you keep doing this, you’re going to miss this. (Clap your hands. I thought that turned out pretty good.) Now, of course (put it back on the drums), I could… It takes two men to carry this out most Sundays. I could do that. I could carry the burden for a little while. I’m pretty strong. I curled some 50s yesterday. I could do it for a little while, but I don’t think I could do it for long. So, which one is easier? (Go back to Otis.) Which one is easier? For me to carry this and move it to the middle or (stay on Otis) for them to do this and move it to the middle? God said what you’re trying to do by lifting you could do by looking. I divide Moses' life… Can I preach this like God gave it to me?
Come on. I’ll behave in Fort Worth. I promise I’ll represent you well in Detroit. I’ll preach polite in Toronto. I’ll do it, but this is my church where I can preach it dirty, where I can preach the Word like a bush coming up out of the desert ground that won’t burn up no matter how long it’s been burning, that won’t give out no matter how much it’s gone through, that represents the very life of Moses himself whose perspective is being shifted from the first 40 years of his life, which started in a basket, past the 40 years of his life he spent in Midian, and now this bush… A basket (first 40), a bush (next 40). But the 40 years that we read in one sentence is the middle.
Now, I guarantee you it did not feel like the middle to Moses. I’ll tell you how I know. The verse I read you in Acts, chapter 7… Oh, I’m so glad I got that New Testament perspective on Moses, because if I would have just read, «He was tending sheep and a bush burned,» we would have thought we’re meeting Moses at the beginning of his story, but for Moses, it didn’t feel like the beginning; it felt like the end. The Bible says that when Moses heard this, he fled (Acts 7:29) to Midian where he settled. He settled. He wasn’t passing through in his mind. He settled in Midian and had two sons. That’s not something you do on a quick trip. That’s not something you do just passing through. He’s in a place called Midian, and it feels like the end, but to us it looks like the beginning.
I need you to remember so you have Christian empathy that everybody you meet is in the middle of something. We could be nicer to people on road rage if we said, «They must be in the middle of something very important». «They must be in the middle of giving birth to a child. Maybe that child will be the next Moses». That’s how Amy does it. I’m like, «Maybe they’re going to die before they get there if they cut me off one more time». That’s me. Main character energy; Christlike energy. Oh, I feel this strong. When you realize that everybody you meet is in the middle of something, you will be more merciful. The middle will make you merciful. It will make me and it will make you more sanctified in order to stop seeing ourselves as the point of every pursuit, to stop seeing ourselves with a destination over our head, rushing through the airport, trying to get somewhere.
Here’s Moses in a place that seems like a destination. It feels like a detour. It’s not the beginning. It’s not the end either. Moses doesn’t know that yet, and neither do you when you’re in it. You know, that’s the thing about it. When you’re in it, the middle feels like the end. I’m talking about failures. I’m talking about moments of setback. I’m talking about closed doors. I’m talking about rejection. You know what was interesting to me to study about Moses? I wanted to give you this because I thought it was very psychologically and theologically aligned. The Bible goes on to say that he was sent to deliver the children of Israel. He was sent to deliver the children of Israel, but the children of Israel resented him. He is sent to someone who resents him. He’s not all Hebrew in their mind. He’s not all Egyptian either. He is a middle child.
When you are in the middle, it can be difficult to find where you fit in. Someone told me one time my preaching was too Black. In fact, they said, «I used to listen to you on podcast. I was surprised to find out you were white the first time I saw you on video». But what they said was, «You might want to consider modulating your preaching in order to reach a broader audience». I said, «What exactly do you mean, 'modulate'»? They said, «Sometimes when you do the really high preaching and the organ starts playing, it’s a little distracting». I said, «It’s only distracting for you because it is different to you». And if you think I preach like I preach because I did a market study on ways to incorporate different ethnocentric backgrounds into a message so that all people will feel included, you’re crazy.
I preach how I preach because when I was 16, Chris Dixon invited me to join The Voices of Unity Gospel Choir where I was the only white one in the whole choir. I stood in the middle. I didn’t sway in rhythm, but I stayed in the middle. Because of that, my life was informed that there are different styles and the same substance. I don’t have to apologize to you for any weapon in my arsenal that God gave me to get this word across, because I don’t have to preach like I’m white. I don’t have to preach… I can move it to the middle. I can do it either way…Pentecostal, Bapticostal, Episcopalian, Catholic. I can «Hail Mary». I can «Thank you, Jesus». I can do it in tongues. I can give a TED talk. I can preach it how he gives it to me, because I’m a middle child. Don’t label me.
Touch your neighbor and say, «Don’t limit me. I’m a middle child». All the middle children, give God a praise. I’m a middle child. Holly is a middle child. Graham is a middle child. There are benefits of being a middle child. You can watch how the first one did it dumb, make some corrections, get right in front of the younger one that they’re still more busy with, and do what you need to do. No less significant, just hidden in the middle. My legal name is not Steven Furtick. My legal name is Larry. That’s funny. You know you just offended every Larry watching this sermon online. You are going to get us canceled by the Larrys and the Karens. You messed the whole thing up.
Yeah, little Larry Furtick, because I’m Larry Stevens Furtick, Jr. «Why are you 'Stevens'? Do you have multiple personalities»? Perhaps, and so do you. Depends on which moment I meet you in. Mm-hmm. Saying «Hallelujah» one minute and other multisyllabic words the next minute. Never judge a man by the moment. Never judge yourself by your lowest moment. Never pride yourself in your high moment. Moses, who was in a murderous situation, hid in a place called Midian and assumed that these 40 years would be the end. Forty years is a long time to wait for an angel, y’all. I think it’s verse 30. Put it up and see if I’m right. It said after forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses and said, «Moses, Moses». I guess God was calling him by his middle name. «Moses, Moses».
Moses means to draw out, because he was drawn out of the river, and now he was being sent to draw out. He was moving from what God had done for him to what he was being called to do for others, and God said, «Moses, Moses». You know, as much as my name made you laugh, it could have been a lot worse. My mother tells me there was a time when my parents considered naming me different names. Well, Larry Stevens Furtick Jr., it turns out, is not the worst one they rehearsed. She says… And he’s in heaven now, so he can neither confirm or deny that there was a season of time where my dad seriously and sincerely wanted to name me Clem. His reasoning was solid. Don’t judge the name till you’ve heard what creative plans he had for it. He said, «I wanted to name you Clem so when I called you I could say, 'Clem, son.'»
See, my mom went to Clemson University, and my dad thought it would be so amazing if when he said my name, the next thing that came… «Clem, son». Let’s all thank God for my mom. (This is why I threw my notes away, because I knew the Lord was going to take us in a few directions today.) It’s what came after my name that mattered to him. It’s what came after my name. «Clem, son. You’re my son, son. Get it? Clem-son». And here’s God calling Moses, but he doesn’t really talk about Moses. I want to read it to you from Exodus, chapter 3. Oh, this is going to help you so much. Let me give you this principle real quick. Selflessness is the most underused tool for stress management. Selflessness. I don’t mean thinking less of yourself; I mean thinking of yourself less. Selflessness is the most underutilized tool for stress management. Being at the center is keeping you stressed.
I’ll show it to you from Moses, and then I’ll show you why, and then we’ll have a big party in the place and go home. Moses gets all caught up in main character energy, and we forgive him, because look. The Lord calls his name and says, «Moses, Moses,» and Moses is like, «That’s me. Here I am. I’m here in Midian». «'Do not come any closer, ' God said». This is verse 5. «The place where you are standing is holy ground. Take your shoes off. You’re not going to run from this one». Remember, Moses ran to Midian, fleeing and hiding, and then God is bringing him to this bush, and he says, «You’re not running away this time». Now that he’s standing and not running, turning and paying attention to what God is doing, the Lord says, «The place where you are standing is holy ground». Then, the next thing God said is, «I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob».
God has been doing this a long time, y’all. God’s miracles didn’t start with your mortgage payment. The God you prayed to has done much tougher stuff than what you’re asking him to do right now. This man led a nation out of slavery. You don’t think God will show you how to raise those kids? Have you lost your mind? You forgot who you’re talking to. You forgot who called you. You forgot who promised to keep you. You forgot who lives in you. But just about the time we get the perspective of who God is and what he’s come to do… Verse 8: «I’ve come down to rescue my people out of the Egyptians' hands and to bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey». Verse 9: «And now the cry has reached me».
Verse 10: «'So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.' But Moses said to God, 'Who am I…? '» This is where I think we miss it. (Go to the drums real quick, cameraman.) That is the total wrong focus. When God is speaking and you shift your attention back to you… Let me say it this way. When the Great I Am is talking and you say, «Who am I»? you need to shift your attention back to me, back to the one who is speaking to you, back to the one who put you in the basket, back to the one who floated you down the Nile, back to the one who made sure you survived. There’s one thing about it for sure.
The Enemy has already made so many attempts to end your faith journey, to end your life, to end your hope, to end your optimism, to end your faith, to end your progress, to end your sanctification process. The Enemy has already tried to end it, and he didn’t. Why is that? Because he couldn’t. Because it was what came after what God called Moses («Moses, Moses») that mattered more than what Moses was. I’ll put it to you this way. When Moses got confused and said, «Who do I say sent me to them if they doubt me»? God said, «Tell them I Am That I Am». You didn’t know this verse, but Exodus 3:14 teaches us something very powerful. God’s name, Yahweh, is I Am. He wasn’t «Was». He isn’t «Going To Be». He is I Am.
Now, I’ve taught you that before, and I’ve taught you that his name being I Am means he’s a present help in the time of trouble, but what I never taught you so clear before is when he said, «I Am That I Am,» the place of that is meant to represent every place where God will express his power in your life. So, let’s say in this specific season of your life God wants to accomplish a purpose, and in order to accomplish his purpose, he is going to have to open a door for you that you can’t open for yourself, and only God can do that. Well, I Am That (open door) I Am. Let’s say you’re in a season in your life where it looks like there’s no way you’re going to be able to move through this next month. It is so busy. It is so hectic. It is so overwhelmed, and you need a sustaining power in your life. Come on.
A sustaining energy over your life. Some of you are so tired, your biggest prayer last week was, «I can’t do this». You didn’t even have the faith left to ask. Every time you thought about it, it started twisting up inside of you. But what you didn’t realize about God’s name is that that feeling, that place, that need is the place where God wants to express his name. So, if tired is the place where you need God to show up, that is the place where God’s energy will be. Wherever it is that he has positioned you, that’s where it is that he will empower you. I’ll take it further. If there is an insecurity in your life that makes you think you can’t do it, that’s good.
The insecurity is the insurance policy that lets you know that when it gets done, you won’t be tempted to take the credit, because you’ll know and they’ll know and everybody who knows you will know, «It had to be God. I watched them in the basket. I saw them make a mistake, but somehow God kept drawing them out». That’s what I see in this season for your life. You’re going to be drawing from the God who drew you out of the water, and you are not going to run out of resource because you will not run out of God. You are not going to run out of wisdom because you will not run out of God. You will not run out of meal because you will not run out of God. You will not run out of support because you will not run out of God. You will not run out of it because you will not run out of him. You will not run out of it because you will not run out of him, because I Am That I Am.
Take your need and move it to the middle and make a Great I Am sandwich. God says, «I Am That I Am». Boy, if I’d have planned this better, I’d have brought some bologna and some pumpernickel bread up here, and I would have showed you how to sandwich your situation by the presence and the spoken promise of God and move it to the middle. What we know that Moses doesn’t know… And that’s a bold statement, because the Bible said, «Other prophets have I spoken to other ways, but Moses I spoke to face to face».
Now, that’s in Numbers after they complained to Moses and didn’t appreciate him. Oh, I almost forgot to say this. Thank you, Lord. His hesitancy to do what God called him to do, because he argued back and forth with God… His hesitancy to do it wasn’t rooted in rebellion; it was rooted in rejection, because he tried to do this. The first time, it didn’t work. The first time he tried to fight for his people, it cost him 40 years in the wilderness. Now you understand why you’re uncomfortable receiving love from others, and when people try to treat you good, you treat them bad just to get things back to the natural habitat you’re used to, seeking the lower state because it’s the state you know. He wasn’t rebelling against God. That’s Jonah. He wasn’t rebelling against God. That’s Jonah. He was rejected by them, and the rejection takes root. It gets to the place where you go, «I don’t really want to put it out there like that anymore».
I love when y’all get quiet. Thinking about those hesitancies in your life to trust God because of a root of rejection where the first time it didn’t work. After 40 years, you pretty much assume, «This is it, and there’s not much I can do about it». But Moses should have known, because he was no ordinary child, that even in those 40 years, and even with his perceived lack of natural talent to speak… Watch this. He should have known «This can’t be the end. It’s called Mid-ian». This can’t be the end. It’s Midian.
Now, a few years ago, I was having my own sort of Moses moment. I know. «Boo-hoo. Wah-wah. Tell us your therapy session, Pastor Steven. That’s what we came for». No, no. I’m just trying to relate this, because it’s one of the most powerful things I ever did in my life. It helped me so much. The story that was going in my mind was a little bit like the Moses story in that I had had a few things I tried to do in an effort to trust God, and I’m sure I didn’t do them perfectly, but I was doing them sincerely. Have you ever been there? I’m not saying I did it exactly right, but I meant well. I’m not saying it wasn’t a mistake, but I meant well. That’s Moses' story. That’s why he’s in Midian. «I meant well. I was trying to protect an Israelite, but I ended up killing an Egyptian. Maybe I shouldn’t have got in the middle of it».
So, now he’s on the far side of the desert in a place called Midian. This place will ultimately be the mountain where God will give the Ten Commandments, Mount Sinai, but it’s not yet, because this is just the middle. Now, here’s Moses, tending his sheep. All of a sudden, the burning bush (go to Otis) becomes the focal point, and Moses moves over in order to see why it doesn’t burn up. (Okay, now go back to the normal camera shot.) As he’s doing this, the voice of the Lord speaks to him about the future God has planned for him, which revolves around the purpose God has created him for. Now, that’s what this is about in your life…nothing else. For a few days, forget about your preference and your plan of the way you want this situation to turn out, because I see you going through a valley, and that feels like that’s all there is.
I was recently reminded that it can only be a valley if there are mountains on either side of it. So, now we’ve got a Moses who spent 40 years, rough start. He went through a dry season, and now God is bringing him to an expected end to be the leader God has always meant for him to be, and he’s in a place called Midian. As I was going through some of my self-pity in moments… Specifically, the narrative that was playing out is «The best is behind me». Now, I think that’s one of the lies the Devil tells that we don’t talk about very much that we all walk around wondering about. It’s like, «Is this going to be all there is for my life»? It doesn’t take a divorce to make you feel that way. It doesn’t take turning 45 to make you feel that way. It doesn’t take having to wear readers to make you feel that way. You can hit a wall in your life where you wonder, «Is this the most joy I’m going to experience? Is this the most difference I’m going to make? Is this the greatest accomplishment I’m ever going to accomplish»?
Then you hit a wall or you hit what you call a failure. It may not be a failure; you just see it as a failure. So then the Enemy says, «It’s the end». The Enemy loves to tell you where the end is. So does God. As I was sitting with this… I think it had been going on a couple of months. I was sitting with this feeling that «My best work is behind me. My best sermons are behind me. My best songs are behind me». It was an avalanche. I’m going to come to this side and see if anybody has ever felt this way before. They are looking at me like they are on a streak, man. They are on a roll over here. They are winning medals and getting raises and paying no taxes…6 percent body fat, $50 million net worth going on over here. Is there anybody over here who got to a certain place now, and it’s like, «This is Midian. I’m tending sheep. I’m very busy, but is this the end»?
Now, I did not get this idea that I’m going to tell you about from David Goggins. No offense to Brother David Goggins, but his energy gets a little intense for me sometimes. You know, that kind of, like, «You’re a piece of crap; get up and do something about it» energy. That doesn’t really work for me very long. I already have that voice in my head. I don’t need an external one. I didn’t get this piece of advice from some «Chicken Soup for the Soul» book with an inspirational thought. It was almost like the Lord gave me this. I’ve never shared it even with Holly. I looked for the notebook where I wrote it down, and I can’t find it. But something came over me, and I began to write about the next five years of my life as if they had already happened and as if God were with me.
I didn’t write anything… There’s a time to do this. I didn’t write anything about how bad I felt, how down I was, how lonely it was, all of the fears I had, all the stuff I was stressed about, all of the bills I needed to pay, and all of the people depending on me, because I’d done that enough, but I took what felt like the end, and I moved it to the middle. I picked up there, and I wrote down two words: but he. Somebody say, «But he». I wrote those words, and it was almost like, «Moses, Moses».
It was like I saw everything I had been, everything I had been through, everything I was wrestling with, and then that second Moses, «But he…» I began to write. My pen began to move, and I began to write about potential. I began to write, «But he continued to show up and preach, and God helped him and gave him messages that went around the world in order to help people with their struggles». «But he continued to write songs and collaborate with other creative individuals who were strong where he was weak, so he was able to continue to be a part of making music for the people of God to sing and be ministered to by. But he humbled himself and realized that he didn’t have to be good at everything as long as he was in touch with the one who was. But he…»
See, what happened was (I showed you this last week) I made a pivot. In that moment that I made a pivot with my pen, something started to come alive in the Spirit. I began to see that what I was dwelling on as the end… The Lord says, «I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you a hope and a future. After 70 years are completed in Babylon, I will come to you, and after I’ve come to you and delivered you, you will praise me on this mountain». God said to Moses, «After you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain». He is taking what Moses thinks is the end and moving it to the middle, because I’ll tell you something.
It can be the end if you let it be. If you let it end you, it will end you. If you let it make you tap, it will end you. If you let it define you, it will define you. If you let it bury you, it will bury you. But he who began a good work in you… Now I feel my preacher. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. The Bible says that all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. So, if it’s not good, God is not done. He said, «I’ll bring you to an expected end».
So, if his purpose isn’t finished yet for this situation, it is not the end. Move it to the middle. I’m talking about the thing you’ve been crying about. I’m talking about the thing you’ve been gossiping about. I’m talking about the thing that has had you so down you can’t rejoice. I’m talking about the thing that has blurred your vision and fogged your faith. I’m talking about the thing that has beat you into submission, the thing that’s got you tied up in knots. You’ve been treating it like the end, and you need to move it to the middle. So, when you’re telling this story, it is going to be a chapter and a scene, not a destiny. That’s why it’s called Midian. You aren’t meant to live here. You will not die in this wilderness. You will not go down in this state, for there is a burning bush with your name on it. «Moses, Moses».
And you know what makes the bush significant? It’s burning, but it won’t burn up. It’s still burning after all it’s been through. I’m preaching to somebody today, that after all you’ve been through, after every Red Sea he split, after everything he forgave you of, after every breath he poured in your lungs, after every mercy he dropped at your door, you have a reason to praise him! This is just the middle. This is just the middle. This is just the middle. Of course it’s messy. It’s the middle. Of course it’s difficult. It’s the middle. Of course it’s dry. It’s the middle. It’s always different in the middle. But the Lord said for us to take this thing we think is going to be the end of our testimony and move it to the middle.
Let it become… Who is this for? Let it become the part of your story that you say «But he» after. Do I preach about this too much? I feel like every week I’m trying to tell you not to quit in a different way. I feel like every week I’m trying to tell you it’s too soon for you to sit down and settle in Midian when God called you to be a deliverer. Look what all God did through Moses. Oh, this is so personal, and he wants to do it for you. The Bible says he called him by name to lead them out of Egypt.
Look at Acts, chapter 7, verse 36. «He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness». Now, to me, that’s got to be the saddest Scripture I’ve read today. God spent the first 40 years preparing Moses, his basket years where he was preserved. You know, God spent the first part of your life preparing you. It wasn’t easy. It may not have been what you chose, but he floated you to where you needed to be. Then, after Moses' mistake, he spent the next 40 years repairing Moses, humbling Moses, but after that burning bush, Moses was meant to lead the people into the Promised Land. Look at what verse 36 says. «He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness».
Now, here’s the warning: he wasn’t supposed to be in the wilderness with them 40 years. (Put it back up.) At the Red Sea, he performed wonders. The sea split. In the wilderness, he performed miracles for 40 years, but the trip through the wilderness was not meant to be the end; it was meant to be the middle. To get through the wilderness to the Promised Land would have taken the Israelites two weeks tops. How did they switch and make a 40-year habitation out of a 2-week transition? It’s because they treated the middle like it was the end. There are some things in your life that God is doing right now. He’s providing for you. He’s empowering you. He’s enabling you. He’s sustaining you. He’s calling you, and it’s a «Moses, Moses» moment.
If you come forward and look and listen and turn aside and say, «I wonder why this bush isn’t burning up. I wonder why God left me here. I wonder why cancer didn’t kill me. I wonder why depression didn’t have the last word. I wonder why I survived when they didn’t. I wonder why God put me at this place in time. I wonder why God gave me these experiences…» If you move it to the middle, it changes everything. So, I close with one more illustration. Chris, when we were writing the song «Jireh…» I have no idea if you remember this. I would feel sure that you do. You know, the name Jireh comes from one of the other times when Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Isaac, and the Lord said, «Abraham, Abraham. Don’t lay a hand on the boy. I’ve seen that you trust me. I don’t want your son as a sacrifice; I want your trust as worship».
And there was a ram in the bush. When Abraham saw the place where God provided, he called it Jehovah-Jireh. It doesn’t necessarily mean just the Lord provides; it means the Lord sees. He called that place Jehovah-Jireh. The first time we ever wrote with our friends Naomi and Chandler, we sat down and began to write a song that ended up being the song «Jireh». Have you heard it? Do you like it? Yeah. Let me tell you a little thing about that song that I think will cement this message in your mind for everything you need God to provide. When we began to write the chorus, it didn’t sound very good. It said, «I will be content in every circumstance; Jireh, you are enough». You’re like, «That’s how it goes now». Not exactly.
Listen again. This is how it started. Okay? Let me do the verse. I’ll never be more loved than I am right now I wasn’t holding you up So there’s nothing I can do to let you down It doesn’t take a trophy to make you proud I’ll never be more loved than I am right now. Then it went… «I will be content in every circumstance Jireh, you are enough. I will be content…» That’s how it went. «…in every circumstance Jireh, you are enough».
I looked over, and Naomi was yawning. I thought, «This isn’t very good, is it»? Then Chris said, «No, it’s good». I said, «It doesn’t feel like a chorus». He said, «But what if we took 'I will be content in every circumstance, ' and instead of starting the chorus with that line, what if we moved it to the middle»? I said, «What are you talking about? Sing it for me». And he said… «Jireh, you are enough!» Put that first. Right? «Jireh, you are enough». Then sing it again. Jireh, you are enough! And then… «I will be content in every circumstance…» And then make a sandwich.
«Jireh, you are enough!» It sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? When you move it to the middle. When you move it to the middle, you’ll always see Jehovah-Jireh. When you move it to the middle, there will always be provision. When you focus on what God has given you, when you focus on what he has made you to do, when you stop comparing and fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, it will always be enough. Say it again, «Jireh». Jireh, you are enough! Say that again. Jireh, you are enough! Now move that line to the middle. Sing. I will be content in every circumstance…Jireh!