Waiting For God To Work It Out | Steven Furtick

When you’re overwhelmed with worry, remember that you’re not alone in this. God is with you, He goes ahead of you, and you can trust Him with your future. This is an excerpt from “God Will Work It In!.” To watch the full message from ‪@elevationchurch‬, click here:    • God Will Work It In! | Pastor Steven …   #faith #peace #hope #stevenfurtick #elevationchurch #anxiety, #purpose, #perspective Chapters: 0:00 – Why You’re Worried 2:17 – I Forgot Who I Was Talking To 5:40 – What’s Eating Through Your Peace 8:14 – You Won’t Have To Do This Alone 11:52 – Facing Something You Didn’t Expect 14:45 – While You’re Waiting For God Scripture References: Philippians 2, verses 12-13

The reason you keep worrying about stuff God
has already worked out is because of the way

you keep thinking. “…not only in my presence, but
now much more in my absence—continue to work out

your salvation with fear and trembling…”
You stop there. Church, that’s a comma.

I feel like I’m a multitasking preacher. I
talk about fitness, English grammar, theology,

parenting, recipes, tomatoes. I work it all in.
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

Now, if you read that, you will be
worried, because you are trying to

work out something without God. What gets
me tripped up every time I get overwhelmed…

And I’m not talking about just having
butterflies or getting nervous. I think

all that is good. But when I get overwhelmed
to the point where it really shuts me down…

You know how there’s that line between when
you’re working on something and it’s wearing

you out and you realize, “Huh. This feels kind
of cyclical because it’s making me sick.” If

that’s where you are in the feeling, read what
comes after the comma. “Work out your salvation

with fear and trembling, for it is God who works
in you.” That’s a very interesting thought,

isn’t it? It is God who works in you. Don’t forget
that while you work it out. Don’t forget that.

Don’t get so good at trying to figure stuff
out on paper that you forget to work stuff

out according to purpose. The Bible said it
is God who works in you to will and to do

according to his good purpose. God starts with
the purpose, not the person, and then he finds

the person who will accomplish that purpose,
and he shapes the person who will accomplish

that purpose. That’s why you can know God is
working on you right now and working in you.

I will never forget sitting down to work
on something one time. I’ll tell you

exactly what it was, because I think it’s a great
illustration. I had the opportunity several years

ago to interview Bishop T.D. Jakes right here
on this stage at Elevation Church, and I was so

honored to do it. He is my preaching hero. He’s
my friend now too, but if someone is your hero,

even if they’re your friend, you still get
really nervous, even if it’s not their fault.

I was so nervous to interview that man,
because I wanted to do a good job for

him. He was promoting a book called
Soar. I sat down for weeks beforehand,

and I would work, but mostly I would
worry. It wasn’t like I wasn’t getting

anything done. By the time I got done being
a complete stress ball for several weeks,

I think I counted 75 note cards of
questions to ask the man about the book.

Everybody would say, “Aren’t you excited to
interview Bishop Jakes?” and I’d be like,

“Yeah.” Excitement and anxiety can kind of feel

the same sometimes. What you call it
depends on what you’re focused about.

When I look back on it, I regret all of
the stress I felt from the pressure that

wasn’t even real. The fact of the matter is
he could have had anybody interview him for

the book. He wanted me to do it. He could
have gone anywhere he wanted. He didn’t go

to Oprah. He came to Furtick. He didn’t come to
Dr. Phil. He came to Dr. Furtick. But I couldn’t

feel that way about it, because I thought,
“What am I going to ask him? He’s so smart.”

The very reason I was stressed was the very reason
I should have relaxed. Not five minutes after we

got on this stage and he sat in his chair and
I sat in mine… I had my whole stack. I said my

first question to him. Twenty minutes later, I
still had 74 questions left, and the interview

was only 90 minutes. I remembered in that
moment, “Oh, it’s Bishop. He’s good at talking.”

“Oh, all this time I’ve been thinking about
this.” Like, “I’ve got to carry it. What am

I going to do if my questions are stupid? And
what if the people look at me funny? What if I

mispronounce a word? What if he doesn’t
sell any books? What if he never wants

to talk to me again? What if I accidentally say
something that wasn’t intended to be offensive,

but I was just trying to be casual
and it came across as disrespectful?”

All of this to interview one of the greatest
talkers in the world. The only thing I had to

do to be successful in the interview was
this. You know, just a reverse nod for

variety and effect, but between those two
nods, he had it covered. I see you stressing

about something in your life today. I don’t
know what it is. I don’t need to. God knows.

I see you playing out the situation over
and over again. You call it preparation,

but it’s not preparation, because it is eating
through your peace. Here you are thinking, “Well,

when I get to that in three weeks, it’s going to
be terrible.” “Oh, when my kids become teenagers…”

They are yet toddlers. You have 12 years to
read books about this crap you’re going to be

dealing with, and by then all of the books will
be saying different stuff than they say today.

I see you looking at a situation in the future
of your life, and you are afraid. I’ll tell you

why you are afraid. You forgot God is going to
be there when you get there. I remembered, “Oh,

Bishop is going to be there. He’s a good
talker.” I wish you would remember with

all of the scenarios you’re playing out in your
mind and all of the ways it could go wrong and

all the stuff you’re scrolling through,
talking about “Is it another world war…?”

Well, what are you going to do about it if it is?
Are you going to go fight in it? Whatever happens,

you’re going to have God. If it’s a prison, he’ll
be your cellmate. You’re going to have God. “Oh,

yeah. I forgot. I’m going to have God in it
with me. That’s why I’m not stressed about

retirement, because I’ve never seen
the righteous forsaken. I was young,

and now I’m old. I’ve never seen the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread.”

“God is going to be in this with me. God
is going to be in the challenge with me.

God is going to be in the uncertainty.
God is going to walk into that doctor’s

office with me. God is going to be on the
other side of this painful breakup with me.

God is going to be with me when I make
my first appointment with a counselor.

God is going to be with me when I show back up
first day to school and I’m 27. God is going

to be with me when I open up my finances
and begin to get it in order and humble

myself. I forgot about God. That’s why I
was shaking. That’s why I was trembling,

but I’m not trembling anymore, because
I’m trusting that when I get there…”

My bracelet fell off, but let me work it in.
There’s some stuff that needs to come off of

you in this season. It happened, so I might as
well work it in. There are some things in your

life you need to stop stressing about at a level
that assumes you’re going to have to do it alone.

I never get stressed about a sermon if I remember,
“Oh, yeah. God is going to be there.” Just like

Bishop is pretty good at talking, God is
pretty good at “Godding.” I’m so tired of

hearing people say, “Life be life-ing.” God
be Godding. (Don’t quote me on that. That’s

so corny.) I think sometimes we take the journey
in our mind as if God is not going to be there.

That was so profound for me when I realized
it. Have you ever been going into a situation

and were so stressed, and then you remembered,
“Oh, yeah. They’re going to be there,” and the

person you thought of…? Now, there are some
times where you’re going into a situation and

remember they are going to be there, and then
you really are reaching for the prescription

pills. But there are other people… Like, I
know for Holly when Amy is going to be there

when she’s preaching or recording, there are
certain things she doesn’t have to worry about.

She’s going over to get ready, and I
can see she’s stressed. She’s like,

“I’m good. Amy is going to be there.” She just
realizes, “There are things I don’t even have

to think about because she’s good at… We’ve been
together so long. She’s going to take care of some

stuff so I can just focus on what I need to do.”
I hear the Lord saying, “I’m going to be there,

even if Paul can’t, even if nobody else does,
even if you’ve never been there before.”

I only needed three note cards
and two nods. Joyce Meyer said,

“Worry is a down payment on a problem you may
never have.” Isn’t that just like the Devil,

charging you for stuff you don’t even need
that you didn’t even order? So, he said, “Work

this thing out.” You don’t need 75 note cards.
Just make sure the mic is on and nod your head.

I think as simple as this sounds sometimes
to just assume God is going to be there,

we should just sit in it for
a minute. What would it change

about the situation you’re afraid of
facing if you knew God was going to be

there? One time when they got so big on cancel
culture, I thought, “What if they cancel me?”

God said, “How many people were you preaching
to when I called you?” The answer was “Five.”

The Lord said, “Well, surely you can find
at least five who will come listen to you

if they cancel you. The whole earth? You can find
five.” The fact is whatever happens in your life,

before it even happens to you, God
already has a way to work it in.

I didn’t make this bracelet fall off. It just
happened. I worked it in. Remember when we

were at Elevation Nights in Oakland?
The reason they laughed when I said,

“Oakland…” They’re not West Coast
prejudiced or anything like that.

When we got to Oakland for Elevation Nights…
This was 2022. I will never forget this night.

Now, when we preach at Elevation Nights,
we’re going into these big arenas,

like basketball arenas and stuff. They’re
always telling me, “This is the NBA team that

plays here.” I don’t care about basketball.
I don’t care about any of that. I just care

about serving him. No, actually I’m
looking at, “What bands came here? Oh,

the Rolling Stones were here. That’s cool to
me. I don’t care who played basketball here.”

But when we were in Oakland… I don’t
know what made me wear that big,

heavy jacket that night. I remember wearing
this big, heavy jacket. I’m up preaching,

and there are a lot of distractions, because
it’s not like a church service where y’all

are so attentive. Even watching
online right now, you’re just…

At Elevation Nights it’s like a concert and
then a sermon. Some of the people who are

there got totally bait-and-switched. They had
no idea they were going to have to sit through

a sermon. They thought it was just music.
So I am a total buzzkill for the whole room.

But in Oakland it was going pretty well.

You know, you have to work around the
distractions. This guy is over here eating popcorn

and chicken fingers. “Does she have a beer while
we’re singing ‘Trust in God’?” You know, just all

kinds of things going through your mind. You have
to learn to work around it. But a couple of times

on these nights, something happens that you can’t
work around, and in Oakland something happened.

I was in the middle of my sermon. I was preaching
about Acts 3:1-10. The message was called

Surprise. I was talking about Peter and John
at the gate called Beautiful. A man showed up,

and he wasn’t expecting to get healed,
and they weren’t expecting to be healers,

but surprise. Right when I’m revving up…
You know, I’ve gotten my background covered.

All of the lights in the whole arena go out.
Not gradually, not dimmed…out. I’m thinking,

“Huh, that’s weird. They’ll come back on
in a minute.” Six minutes and 45 seconds.

I’m not exaggerating. It felt like
six years. All of the lights go out,

and the first thing I think the
whole audience thought was, “Oh,

this is a part of his sermon.” So I tell them
really quickly, “This is not a part of my sermon.”

I’m standing up there. Ten seconds go by. Twenty
seconds go by. I’m a professional, man. I’ve been

doing this since I was 16. I’ve been doing this
since I was in Moncks Corner, South Carolina.

I can do this. I can hold this crowd for a
minute. I can preach through this. But then

it’s 30 seconds. It’s a minute. You kind of run
out of steam to stall. “How about those lights?”

Then it hit me. “You don’t know how long
it’s going to take for them to work this out,

so work it in.” I’m telling you
the truth. With the lights off,

I started preaching about when you’re in
a dark season. I started preaching about

how Peter and John weren’t always at the gate
called Beautiful, but they had once been in a

garden called Gethsemane where the Savior of
the world was facing the darkness of our sin.

What do you do when you’re in
the darkness of the garden of

Gethsemane and the lights are out all
around you and you are uncertain? See,

because I don’t know how long it’s going
to take them to put the lights back on,

so while I’m waiting for them to work it out…
I’m trying to close this message. I really am.

But there is somebody listening to me who’s
waiting for God to work it out, and God is

saying back, “While you’re waiting in this dark
season for me to work it out, for me to show you

the next step, for me to give you the next crumb,
for me to give you the next notice, for me to give

you the next relationship, for me to turn this
thing around, for the report to be positive…”

“While you’re waiting for me to work it out,
work it in.” I hear God saying, “Work it in.”

“For it is God who works in you…” Show them
the video. About five minutes in, the people

did something. The people had their phones out. I
didn’t tell them to. They just did it. Surprise!

Give him a shout of praise. Are you a praiser?
Are you a lifter? Maybe that’s the message

God wanted me to preach. Look at all of
those lights. Look at all that evidence.

Look at all that praise. Hallelujah!
Look at all of that strength. Look at

all of that glory from something
we didn’t see coming. Surprise!

It’s not what I ordered, but it’s what God
ordered. God is sovereign. God ordered my

steps. God is in this with me. Get your light out!
You had that light in your pocket the whole time,

but you didn’t need to work that light out
until the light was absent. The absence became

the opportunity for the illustration, because
while I’m waiting for God to work this out,

I might as well work it in.