In “What To Do When God Opens A Door,” Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church teaches us to not let old disappointments hold us back from new opportunities.
I think a lot of us miss our turn to be used
by God because of disappointment in our life,
setbacks we’ve experienced.
On the other side of disappointment, often
we can see that our disappointments led us
to our destiny.
Some of the things we thought we wanted were
the things God had to withhold to make room
for the things we ultimately needed.
It is easier to clap about that when you’re
not living through it.
Have you ever noticed how the way we explain
something after the event has transpired is
often much different than how we experienced
it?
We say after we’ve experienced something,
“Well, it all turned out for the good,” but
you weren’t so sure about that while it was
happening.
You weren’t so sure about that during the
divorce, but now after the divorce you can
say, “I didn’t want the divorce, and I’m not
saying the divorce was God’s will, but I can
see how God is even using that now in my life.”
When you’re going through it, it feels like
death, and you can’t even see any life after
this.
You can’t see how the fact that they laid
you off from that job was actually preparing
you for something, teaching you some things,
going to get you some discipline in some areas.
Later on, a door would open up that God would
use to move you into new dimensions, but you
can’t see the destiny in the face of the disappointment.
David is an illustration of how to deal with
disappointment, I believe.
David was more than just a shepherd, more
than just a giant killer.
He was a future king in training.
I know many of you know this, but for the
benefit of those who may not have gotten to
go to vacation Bible school, let me share
a little bit of the context of 1 Samuel 16.
On the day Samuel came to town to replace
Saul…
The Lord was grieved that he made Saul king,
because although Saul had the stature of a
king, he didn’t have the heart of a shepherd.
God, give us shepherds even in our nation,
in political seats of power, who will have
a heart for your people.
Give us pastors and fathers and leaders who
will have a heart for your people.
So God said, “I’m looking for a man after
my own heart.”
Well, when Samuel came to town with his horn
of oil, which was symbolically poured on the
head of the next king, he went to Jesse’s
house, because that’s where God told him to
go.
He said the next king is in Jesse’s house,
but he didn’t tell him which of Jesse’s eight
sons was going to be the king.
Sometimes God will give you enough of the
details to get you in the right area, but
he won’t give you enough specifics where you
don’t need him to show you what to do next.
Sometimes we want God to show us everything
about our lives and our decisions, but if
he did we wouldn’t need him.
So he gives us enough light to know the next
step, but not enough light where we won’t
need him to guide us along the path.
So Samuel the prophet goes to Jesse’s house
and looks at all the sons of Jesse.
Eliab was the oldest one.
One’s name was Shammah.
All these boys were so impressive.
Eliab was very tall.
Saul was tall.
God said, “Not him, and not him, and not him,
and not him, and not him, and not him.”
I love this about God.
He selects what man rejects.
He uses the weak things of the world to confound
the wise.
After they passed over all seven of the select
sons, Samuel says, “Do you have another one?”
When Jesse talks about David, he doesn’t even
have the common courtesy to mention his name.
Do you know what he calls him?
I want to read this to you.
It’s in chapter 16, verse 11.
Jesse said, “Well, there’s the youngest.”
He doesn’t identify him according to his potential,
just his current position.
Life will do this to you: try to label you
according to your educational background,
according to your ethnicity, according to
whether you’re a man or a woman.
Life will try to label you this way.
“Well, there’s the youngest, but he’s tending
the sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send for him; we won’t sit down
until he arrives.”
The one they didn’t even think to bring in
the room was the one God had chosen from the
foundation of the world.
I want to make an announcement.
You can’t dis-appoint what God has appointed.
When God calls your name, when God gets ready
to use you, when God gets ready to do a work
in your life, when God gets ready to raise
you up, when God gets ready to send you forth,
when God gets ready to start up your gift,
when God gets ready to release your purpose…
I love God, because he knew how to find David
even in the field.
He didn’t need David to be in the lineup.
Do you know what?
You don’t have to position yourself in front
of people to be used by God.
You don’t have to convince a committee that
you’re good enough for the grace of God.
How many are grateful that God chooses sovereignly
whom he wills and uses sovereignly whom he
wills?
When God gets ready to use you, there’s no
devil in hell that can stop him.
If it had been up to people, David wouldn’t
have gotten his turn, but when God says, “It’s
your time,” he knows exactly where to find
you.
Don’t stress out about it.
Don’t worry about whether or not people appreciate
you.
Don’t even worry about whether they notice
you.
Don’t even worry about whether they call you
by your correct name.
It doesn’t matter.
You cannot dis-appoint what God has appointed.
If David hadn’t been in the field keeping
sheep, he wouldn’t have been prepared to lead
people.
What he should have, could have, would have
seen as being very insignificant was exactly
the thing he needed to prepare him for his
assignment.
It’s a funny thing, though.
You would expect that after this moment where
David is anointed, appointed, called to be
a king, the next scene we would see would
be that of David and his driver making a trip,
perhaps to Neiman Marcus.
Come on, if God told you you would be the
next king, wouldn’t you want to go try on
some robes and some crowns, size 42 short?
Wouldn’t you want to try on some Versace crowns,
Armani robes?
“I need to get ready for this thing.”
Sometimes we expect that when God announces
a change in our lives it’s going to be activated
immediately.
We get confused when God says, “It’s your
time,” but he makes us wait our turn.
Sometimes God is doing things…
It was on that day that David was announced
to be a king, but it would be many years later
that he would wear the crown.
When you give your life to Christ, in a moment
you’re saved.
In a moment you’re forgiven.
In a moment you’re cleansed.
In a moment you’re redeemed.
All of those things are true of you immediately,
but all of the changes those new realities
are meant to produce in your life happen not
immediately but gradually.
Do you know what I see people do?
I see people become very discouraged in the
process of awaiting the change God initiated,
because we’re a little bit confused.
I remember Elijah was so confused when we
gave the money to build Elevation Ballantyne.
We bought the land back in 2012.
Elijah was 6 years old at the time, and he
gave an offering.
Our whole family was supposed to give, so
I let Elijah give $70 of my money that we
pretended was his, just like all the money
he thinks he has.
After he gave the money, he said, “So Daddy,
we’re having church at Elevation Ballantyne
next Sunday?”
In his mind, “I gave the money…”
It’s four years later now, and here we are
finally.
We bought the land in one season; we built
the building in the next.
Sometimes you walk away from your initial
investment because you don’t see the immediate
development.
Sometimes you give up on your calling too
easily and miss your turn.
David didn’t go try on crowns and practice
his king wave and practice signing kingly
autographs.
David went back to the sheep field to do what
he was doing before, until one day he was
given an assignment by his father.
I don’t know if a lot of people know this
part of the story.
Everybody knows about the slingshot and about
Goliath and how Goliath fell.
I’ll tell you what.
If you ever want to be a preacher, you should
preach about Goliath.
People love to hear sermons about Goliath,
because everybody has something in their life
that’s bigger than them.
Everybody has something in their life that
has been intimidating them.
Everybody has a fear, an anxiety, an addiction.
I could go around the room.
I think I could probably point at people and
look at them long enough and guess what your
Goliath is.
Some of y’all spend too much.
Some of y’all eat too much.
Some of y’all talk too much.
Some of y’all judge too much.
Can I keep going?
I won’t do it, but I could.
Everybody has a Goliath.
We preach about Goliath, and it makes for
good preaching.
“Goliath is going to fall down, and you can
kill the giant.”
I believe that, but can I tell you something
that is fascinating to me that the Lord spoke
to me?
I was studying this text, and the Lord said
to me, “Most of the people you’re talking
to never even get to Goliath.
You’re trying to teach them how to kill an
enemy they’re never even going to meet.”
When he said that to me, I was like, “What
do you mean?”
I went back to the text, and I remembered
this.
I saw this back in college.
In fact, I used to share about it in college,
because I thought it was important to talk
about faithfulness in the small things.
“Now Jesse…”
This is 1 Samuel 17:17.
It says this giant from Gath named Goliath
was confronting and defying the people of
God for 40 days.
Every day he would taunt them.
“Jesse said to his son David…”
Verse 17 is kind of confusing.
Jesse must have forgotten that he was talking
to a future king, because what he asked him
to do was so menial.
He said, “Take this ephah of roasted grain
and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers
and hurry to their camp.”
David could have said, “Who do you think you’re
talking to?
Didn’t you hear what Samuel said about me?
I am a man of potential and purpose.
I don’t have time to run your little errands.
I’m not trying to take bread and cheese to
the same brothers who didn’t even bring me
into the room when Samuel came to choose a
king.”
This is the test to see if David will do the
basic things.
Sometimes we want God to use us to do a big
thing and we won’t even do the basics.
How in the world can God use us to do something
big and we won’t even do something basic?
I love David’s heart, because the story could
have stopped right here if he had said, “I’m
not doing that.
I’m a king.
I’m not doing that.
You’re demeaning to me.
I’m not doing that.”
You know all the ways we disobey God, these
little things he asks us to do.
“Call your sister and tell her you’re sorry.
Reach out to somebody who looks different
than you and listen to them about their struggle.”
It’s funny to me.
Some of us want to kill Goliath, but we don’t
want to tend sheep and we don’t want to make
deliveries.
We want to see big victories, but how in the
world can God use us to kill giants if we
can’t even follow simple instructions?