Let God Handle It | Steven Furtick

You have an on-time God who knows what you need. So keep moving forward, even if you stumble, even if it’s uncomfortable. He’s got you. This is an excerpt from “This Is What A Miracle Feels Like.” To watch the full message from ‪@elevationchurch‬, click here:    • This Is What A Miracle Feels Like | P…   To subscribe to more content like this click: https://ele.vc/DJwb4R Do The New You is available for purchase wherever you get books. Go to http://dothenewyou.com to get your copy today. #faith #peace #hope #stevenfurtick #elevationchurch #anxiety #freedom #growth Chapters: 0:00 – God’s Got It, Stay Out Of It 2:02 – Wake Up! 4:40 – Here Comes Your Angel 7:03 – God’s Trying To Move You Forward 9:25 – “I Don’t Know What’s Going On” 11:07 – I’m Stumbling Scripture References: Acts 12, verses 7-11

“I don’t know what tomorrow holds,

and I can’t change what yesterday
did, but somehow I was sleeping.”

God told me about one of my kids a couple
of years ago. I was so worried. He said,

“I’ve got them. Stay out of it.” That was hard for
me to hear, but I already did all I could do. If

I could do something else, I’d do something else.
God said, “I’ve got them. Stay out of it.” When he

said that to me, and I slept on it, I woke up to
find he’s really, really good at doing stuff while

I sleep. Santa Claus has nothing on God. You ought
to see what he can bring while you’re sleeping.

He said, “I was sleeping.” I like to imagine
it… Not for dramatic purposes. Not because I’m

trying to be some great storyteller. I just
like to imagine he’s standing at the door.

He has been there banging on the door. “It’s
me. It’s me. Don’t you believe God can do it?”

“No, we’re really confused.”

“I’m confused too. Here we are.
This is what a miracle feels like.”

“I was sleeping, and right about when I
hit my REM cycle…” Verse 7: “Suddenly…” So,

first, Peter said, “I was sleeping. God let
me sleep. He gave me peace. He supernaturally

brought me to bed with the revelation that
he was with me.” “Suddenly an angel of the

Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell.
He struck Peter on the side and woke him up.”

So, Peter said, “Let me tell you what
happened. I was sleeping. Then I was

struck.” Y’all are kind of slow today.
Let me come down there and show you what

a miracle feels like. We all have our
ideas. Right? Okay. You’re reading this,

and you’re thinking, “Okay. Here comes
the angel. This is great for Peter.”

Peter is our guy. An angel shows up in
verse 7. We’re all worried in verse 6.

“He’s probably going to die like James
died. There’s no hope for Peter. Oh,

this is horrible.” Suddenly… Great Bible word.
Suddenly an angel showed up. Here comes the light,

and here comes the angel. All of a sudden… I
like to picture the angel protecting me and

covering me with his wings, but apparently,
this angel had wings he used for whacking.

Sometimes a miracle feels like a slap. Has life
done one of these to you lately? What kind of

angel is this, running around striking people? The
same one who put him to sleep, because God knows

when it’s time for you to get up. Sometimes you
praise him because you were sleeping, but you have

to learn to praise him when he strikes you too.
Not all discomfort is a curse. What kind of angel

has this been in your life lately? (I’m not going
to hit women. I have to draw the line somewhere.)

Wouldn’t they clip me on YouTube if I
ran around hitting…? They’re probably

going to clip it anyway and put it on there.
That’s all right. I’ve been clipped before.

I’ve been struck before. Sometimes God used
a critic. Sometimes God used something that

felt like this. Touch your neighbor
and say, “That’s your wake-up call.”

See, there’s a sleepy-time angel God will send,
and then there’s a wake-up angel God will send.

Some of the things that have been happening
in your life lately… That’s not the Enemy;

that’s an angel. Some of it
is an angel. I used to think,

raising teenagers, “O God, they’re
possessed by the Devil.” Nope.

I read a book by Peterson who wrote The Message
Bible. He’s in heaven now. He said adolescence

is a gift to the middle-aged man to keep us from
stagnating. When we are forced to confront what

we never grew through in our children, it keeps
us from lying down and dying in the state we’re

in. I realized my teenagers weren’t the Devil;
they were my angel, saying, “Wake up, mate.”

I think this would be very good for us to learn
the next time something happens and we don’t

like how it feels. The next time something
happens, because we were all so comforted

that “The angel put me to sleep.” But Peter
says, “I was sleeping when I needed to sleep,

and I was struck when I needed to get
up.” The same God who puts me to sleep…

Just do it for me. High-five three
people and say, “Get up right now.”

This is your angel saying… That person
who gets on your nerves when they walk

into the office on Monday… I want you to see
them with wings. “Here comes my angel trying

to keep me fresh.” How else would you love
your enemies if you didn’t have any? “All

they’re doing is giving me an opportunity
to be obedient. Here it comes.” Jump your

neighbor a little bit. Say, “This is what
a miracle feels like.” “I thought it was

God punishing me. No. He’s not punishing me;
he’s pushing me because he has something…”

This is what it feels like.

Sleeping. “I was sleeping, and I was struck.”
But that’s my second favorite point. Here comes

my favorite point. “I was sleeping, and I was
struck, and I was struck by something that was

meant to help me, not to kill me. I was struck
by something that was meant to move me forward.

I was struck by something that was sent to
notify me that God is active in this situation.

So, thank you, Lord, for the wing that covered
me and let me sleep under the heat of my trial,

but thank you for the same wing that smacked
me and got me up out of that pit and told me,

‘You’re better than this.'” “So, I was sleeping.
I can’t stay long. I’ve got to go. I can’t stay

here at this door forever. I’ve got to go, but
I need you to know how the Lord brought me out.

I was sleeping, and just when I got comfortable
(‘Oh, thank you, Lord. You’re letting me get

a good night’s sleep before I die’),
I was struck, because God was like,

‘I’m not done with you yet.'” Some of you laid
down to die, but you’re going to another place,

another dimension. You haven’t even
matured yet. You haven’t even done

your best work yet. You haven’t even made
your greatest contribution or deposit yet.

The Bible says Peter was sleeping and Peter was
struck. “I was sleeping. I was struck.” “Then

the angel said to him, ‘Put on your clothes
and sandals.'” So I guess Peter would say,

“I was stripped,” but I’m not going to preach
that one. “I had to get out of my pajamas,

because what I was dressed for wasn’t
appropriate for what God was bringing me into.

I was wearing my prison PJs,
so I had to get dressed.”

“‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,’
the angel told him.” He did not give him a GPS

coordinate. He gave him an instruction.
He gave him a path. My favorite thing

about Peter in this passage… He slowed
down to share how the Lord brought him

out. If you go back through the things in
your life that God has brought you out of,

you can learn a lot for where he’s
bringing you through right now.

Peter said, “Before I go to the next
place…” “Before I go to the next week,

before I go through another birthday,
before I go into another season of my life,

before I go into another school year…” Whatever
the case may be. “Before I go into another eGroup

and leave because they were weird…” They are
the thirteenth weird group you’ve been in.

They’re the weird ones every time?
Let’s evaluate this for a minute.

“Follow me,” the angel told him. Peter said, “I
followed him.” “He followed him out of the prison,

but he had no idea that what the angel was
doing was really happening.” He didn’t know

what God was doing until he was all
the way out. “I was sleeping. I was

struck. I got up. The chains fell off. Then
I started following the angel, but honestly,

I didn’t know what was going on. So, I was
sleeping, I was struck, and then I was stumbling.

To be honest with you, I’m only here at
the door right now because I stumbled to

something I didn’t know was even there.
I mean, I was still so sleepy… You have

to understand the angel woke me up quickly, hit
me hard, knocked the breath out of me. I wasn’t

expecting that to be the wake-up call. I was
just settled in. I was just starting to dream.

It was a good dream, and he woke me up and said,
‘Get dressed. We’ve got to go.’ And before I could

even ask where, we were out, and it was dark.
I followed him, but I didn’t know where I was

going. I was stumbling.” I told my oldest son
recently, “Anything you’ve ever seen me do well

as a dad, I did it by accident, because I was
stumbling to figure out how to be your dad.”

Every double-dipped chocolate-covered pretzel
bag you ever saw me walk past and not eat one,

I wanted one. Oh, I wanted one. Anything
I brought into subjection in my life,

I stumbled to surrender it. I stumbled to
this stage this morning. I didn’t get up

on the stage today thinking, “I’m God’s
gift to the world to share a message.”

I stumbled up the steps today, saying, “God, if
somebody needs to be brought out, if somebody

needs a miracle… If you can use anything,
Lord, you can use me, so I will make my way

to the stage.” If it’s stumbling, I’m coming. If
it’s stumbling, I’m stepping. If it’s stumbling,

I’m going higher. “I was stumbling. I followed
the angel. I didn’t even know it was real.”

This is what a miracle feels like. You’re
doing the good stuff, and you don’t know

it. You are sowing in tears so you can reap
in joy. You are stumbling. Can we point out

the fact that the miracle happened and
the light broke through? But the light

came through and Peter had to walk. God said
it’s going to be his light and your legs.

But sometimes, after leg day, you’ll be walking
past some pretzels covered in chocolate and

really want them and really wobble. Peter
said, “I stumbled, but I went straight.”

Verse 11 says finally, when the angel left…
That would be the scary part. The angel left,

and Peter came to himself. He realized everything
that had just happened had really happened.

“God brought me out. I don’t need to have
survivor’s guilt. God brought me out. I don’t

have to live in constant rehearsal of how they
victimized me. God brought me out. I’m going to

heal from this now and move into a new season
of healing others, because God brought me out.