Steven Furtick - God, How Am I Supposed to Do This?
This is an excerpt from: Source Material
There may be a place in your life today where you’re saying to yourself…not out loud, but you’re saying to yourself…"How am I supposed to do that when all I have is this»? «How am I supposed to do that? How am I supposed to raise these kids when I don’t even understand the world they’re living in? How am I supposed to raise a family when I came from a broken family? How am I supposed to move up in my job so I can provide for my future when I don’t even have the basic education that was required to be in the position I’m in now, let alone the one that’s ahead of me? How do I do this? How do I do that when all I have is this»?
Now, fortunately, there is a principle you and I can lean on should we choose to. I want you to take this with you into every situation in your life where you’re saying, «How am I supposed to do that»? «All right, Preacher. You’re telling me to forgive, move forward, be healed, be sanctified, be free, live for Jesus, do these things, be patient, be kind, and be humble. I hear you. How am I supposed to do that when all I have is this? Because everything you’re up here talking about I don’t have much of a template for, and every time I try to do it, my old template inserts itself in the place of my good intentions. So, my template is overwriting my intentions every time you say 'Amen' after one of these sermons. How am I supposed to do that? It sounds good. 'Praise him in the midnight hour.' How am I supposed to do that»?
Here’s the principle. If you’re supposed to do it, you will have God’s support for it. Now, I know it doesn’t feel like that right now, because sometimes when God is beginning to do something in your life, you do not see his support. So, I went all the way back to the beginning of the whole Bible in Genesis 1:1. I figured since we’re talking about the source we should go to the source and see what the source did to create every situation we see. The Bible says in Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1, «In the beginning God…» That’s the source. That’s why I can move forward into the next season of my life: because «In the beginning God…» What did he do? «…created the heavens and the earth». I love this part. It says, «Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters». Stay right there. «The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters».
There was no light yet, but there was still Spirit. There was darkness, no light, but there was still Spirit. There was no form yet. That means it hadn’t taken shape yet, but even before the earth took shape, there was still Spirit. There are some things in your life that have not taken shape yet. There are some things in your life that are formless, empty, dark, and dreary. Just because there’s no light yet doesn’t mean there’s no Spirit yet. Just because there’s no apparent solution yet doesn’t mean God isn’t on the scene yet. The Bible says God hovered over something that seemed empty, but it’s not just that the Spirit was there. Now put up verse 3. Because it was dark, because it was formless, because there was no light, and because there was no shape, the Bible says, «God said…»
If you go all the way back to the very beginning, past the founding fathers of the United States of America, past Lin-Manuel Miranda, past the time you were born, past the time you were addicted, past the time you got a divorce, past the time you got the job, past the time you lost a child in a custody battle… If you go all the way back past that, there are two things that were always there: the Spirit of God and the Word of God. God hovered, and he spoke. Verse 3: «And God said, 'Let there be light, ' and there was light,» because God said it. Everything we see started here with the Spirit and the Word, the Spirit and the spoken Word of God. Now you understand what I mean when I say that if you’re supposed to do it, you will have God’s support for it.
Here are our disciples, sitting in a small room with a big task. «How are we supposed to take the gospel to the ends of the earth? For one thing, we don’t have a car, let alone a plane. How are we supposed to speak their language when we get there»? But as he does so many times in our lives, God had the answer on the way before they even formed the question to ask. Who is this for? God has already dispatched the answer. There’s no light yet, but he’s already on the scene. Here’s where it gets confusing. When we go to our Scripture, at first it looks like maybe God isn’t there. Look at this in Acts, chapter 2. I don’t always know why people shout about stuff in the Bible that they shout about.
When you say, «The day of Pentecost came…» That was a Jewish festival. It was called the Feast of Weeks. It was the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest, so you had to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They would usually see about triple the population in the city, so every street was crowded. Everybody is there. They’re coming from all over the world, those who honor and fear God, and they’re bringing their firstfruits offering to say, «Thank you, Lord, for this harvest. We believe you for the next. Everything we have comes from your hand». While they’re celebrating the harvest, they’re waiting on one. They are waiting for the Holy Spirit to be given so they can receive the harvest of souls that would reach to the ends of the earth. The Bible says, «When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came…»
When you read that in a church, everybody will always shout when you say, «Suddenly,» and they will shout about the sound of a violent wind, but let’s take ourselves out of the fact that this sounds exciting. What is a violent wind? This is called a storm. If you subtract all of the nice… «Oh, the sound. Suddenly the sound of a violent wind. Woo! The sound of a violent wind». That’s not something we usually shout about; that’s something that we usually close the shutters and try to survive. Then look at the next thing that happened. It said, «The violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting». Verse 3: «They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire…» You say, «Tongues of fire,» and everybody will shout. «And tongues of fire». Have you ever put your tongue on a stove? Have you ever even eaten a jalapeño pepper? Why would you shout about that? A fire will burn you.
So, we shout about the storm, and we shout about the fire, but let’s be honest. If a wind is uncontrolled, it can kill you. A wind is a blessing if it’s in the right amount and you have a sail, but a wind can also take you off course. A wind can also create a hurricane. A wind can also knock you on your back. A wind can destroy. So can a fire. A fire can sweep through everything you love. A fire can reduce to rubbish an entire village, an entire city. We’ve seen this happen in our time. So why are we shouting about a storm? Why are we shouting about a fire? I’ll show you why. This is why you came to church. We’re not shouting about what the wind was; we’re shouting about where it came from, because the Bible says it came from heaven.
One thing I know about my life… It’s not what I go through; it’s where it came from that determines the result it will have in my life. I’m trying to say that the Devil is not the source of every storm we go through. I’m trying to say that some fires we walk through were not sent by the Enemy to destroy us; they were sent by the Lord to refine us.
So, now I need to know a question. The storm in your emotions, the storm in your household, the storm you’re going through in your industry, the storm you’re going through as you sort these things out that are happening at this age of your life… Where did it come from? Did it come from the Enemy to destroy you or did it come from the Lord to develop you? Better question: Does it really even matter? If God is the source, by the time the storm has to pass through his hand, the storm that was sent to destroy you… I don’t know why I’m screaming the whole sermon. I’m just passionate about what I say, because I hear the sound. It sounds like a storm, but it came from the Lord, and it will not destroy me; it will only develop me.