Why Am I Going Through This? | Steven Furtick

Have you ever survived something? Have you ever lost hope, and just when you lost hope, hope did not abandon you and took hold of you deep inside? I've been preaching

this

all weekend, but I feel like something special is happening right now for someone who finds themselves in an unexpected place, a strange place, a small place, a stuck place. The Bible says that those islanders were so kind to the prisoners, 276 in total, that they lit a bonfire for them. Paul was such a good guy that he decided to help. They're lighting a fire and Paul doesn't want to stand there like me at a Love Week event, looking like a lazy preacher who doesn't know how to do anything.

Paul grabs a piece of wood. Look. He's right there in verse 3: "He gathered up a pile of wood and put it on the fire..." Trying to help. "...a snake came out." Let's go back to everything that happened to Paul. He is imprisoned for preaching the gospel. He is shipwrecked because the sailors are too stupid to follow his advice. He now he has coldness towards Malta. We are talking about Malta. Trapped and stranded, shivering and cold, unsafe, in an unknown place. Just when he thinks he has reached safety, he is struck by a snake. This is almost comical...unless you've been there.

Just when you thought the fight was

going

to end, here comes something else. The serpent comes out of the fire that Paul was simply trying to help them build on an island called Malta where he didn't even plan to go, and the Bible says he stuck to his hand. So

this

is not a quick little attack. This snake bit Paul. Look what the people did, because you have to be careful with people. People will always assign you a reason why you are

going

through what you are going through. "Well, if I were her husband, he would have left me too." People will say things like that.

Not to you. They never tell you. They just think it about you. They believe that the reason bad things happen to you is because of something you did. Well, the islanders are watching this guy with a snake in his hand, who just crawled out of the sea with some seaweed around his ears, and claims to be a preacher and a servant of God. "If you are a servant of God, why doesn't God protect you?" Has the Devil tried to convince you lately that if you really had a God you wouldn't be going through what you're going through?

Then they stepped back and said, "This guy..." "When they saw the snake hanging from his hand..." Which means he was there for a minute. When they saw the snake hanging from his hand, they drew their own conclusions. "He must have done something wrong. He must be a murderer. He must be outside of God's will." "...because although he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live." I love the next verse, because Paul preaches one of the most powerful sermons in the New Testament. See this. When Paul saw them all watching, he knew he had a captive audience.

Verse 5 says that when Paul saw them looking he said... This may not be in his Bible. I'm reading from the "TSV", the "Taylor Swift Version". He said: "The players will play, play, play, play, play." Come on, all of you. Go back with me to 2014 for a minute. "And the haters will hate, hate, hate, hate, hate." Five times. It is a quintuplet in the New Testament. "Heartbreakers are going to break, they're going to break..." "We get the point, Pastor. You don't need to quote the entire chorus and verse." Paul's response... That's the word. See this. He didn't say a word.

He did not try to convince them that God was with him. He didn't feel sorry for himself. He didn't go on Facebook and write a response post. Look what he did. He did what you have to learn to do when you weather the storm and all hell breaks loose on the shore, when they talk about you, when it seems like this is the end, when you've been through it and it keeps coming. The Bible says that Paul got rid of it. He touches seven people and say, "Take it off." Shake him off right now before he gets into his system.

Shake him off right now before he kills you. Take it off right now while they're standing there looking at you. You have to do it right now. Right now you have to get it off your chest. It doesn't take a vote by the island committee to see whether or not they believe God is with you. No. Paul said, "I received a revelation. God already told me that I would go to Rome, so I cannot die on this island. I already know that He will never leave me or forsake me. I already know that I am more than a conqueror!" I know!

If I go to Rome, I can't die in Malta." When the snake fell from Paul's hand and died in the fire, it was no surprise to him. He knew it had to happen. "I had to survive. I had to make it. I had to get through it. God had to prove his power." I feel your presence, Lord, for all who have been wondering "Why?" You've gotten caught up in the "why." You know what I'm talking? You've been too busy trying to find a reason, and God is trying to give you a revelation. Not only you but everyone who looks at you.

God wants everyone to see you shake it off. God wants everyone around you to see that you trust him even if it kills you. That's why the snake had to bite him, because faith doesn't stop them from biting me. Faith does not prevent me from reaching the shore. What I love about this is that after Paul shook off the snake, the people stood back and watched what was going to happen next, because that's what they do. They don't bring you an ice pack or aspirin. They will stand there and watch you. The Bible says they were surprised because they expected it to swell.

You know there are some people who are surprised that you made it and are still happy. They thought when they broke your heart you were going to quit, but look at you in church, worshiping God, serving God, believing in God. Look to you. So they say, "Oh, let's see what happens next." They waited a long time and then when they saw that he didn't swell (or become a walker), they changed their minds. That's why you can't trust people. They changed their minds and said, "He is a god." In one moment he is a murderer. He now he is a god.

One minute "Hosanna." The next minute "Crucify him." That's why your response can't be towards the people. Even when I preach... I love you, but I can't preach for you. I can preach to you, but I can't preach for you, because what I say that you need to hear may make you cross your arms and adopt an attitude. Well, sit back and take it, honey, because if God sent it, I'm going to say it. Now look at this. I want to show you one more thing. Then the snake shakes off. They think he's going to die. He doesn't die.

I think that's a good place to end a sermon, but I want to give you something that might help you. Let me see a show of hands. Is there anyone here who has been to Malta recently? It could be a season. Malta represents that stagnant place. I think these are the kind of generic questions that people ask because we know that 100 percent participation is guaranteed. I mean, who doesn't feel stuck from time to time? That's the point, right? We all must go through Malta. Paul, at this point in history, has to make a decision: misery or mission.

We already read that it was raining and cold. We already read that he was unknown. We already read that the man almost died. Now he has a decision to make, and so do you at this stage of your life. Paul didn't decide to go to Malta, but now he has to decide what to do while he is there. He can sit back and wait to get off this stupid island or he can do in Malta what he did in Jerusalem. Now they think he's a god and they're like, "Hey, this guy's important." Apparently the boss of the island finds out and wants to have dinner with this guy who can survive a snake bite.

Your opportunities in life will be the byproduct of the adversity you experience. They invite him to the official's house on the island because he was able to resist the trial. You keep praying for opportunity, but you don't want to resist adversity. It had to happen. I had to go through something. I had to show perseverance. That is the only way my faith could grow to allow for the opportunity. Look at this in verse 7. "There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius..." (Which is, by the way, a baby name that is available to any of you who are looking for something to name your baby.) son to beat him up.) This guy is important and wants to see the guy who was able to get up after the snake bite and survive the shipwreck. "He welcomed everyone into the house and showed them generous hospitality for three days." I imagine Paul is thinking, "This is nice." But at some point during Paul's stay, he learns that Publius has a problem, and Publius' problem is about to become an opportunity for Paul.

Publio's father is in bed sick with Maltese fever, and he is serious. He has fever and dysentery. When Paul heard about this, he went in to see him. Now, the way I imagine it, and maybe I'm using too much of my imagination, but I imagine they're sitting down to eat, and Paul sees someone come into the room and says, "Who's that?" and Publius says: "He is my dad", and Paul says: "What's wrong with him?" and Publius says, "he is sick and there is nothing we can do about it." I imagine that right here is where Paul started smiling, which seems a little strange, but maybe this is the moment when Paul realizes, "There was a reason I went through the storm.

There was a reason I went through the storm. that the hurricane came. There was a reason why "The ship had to break up. There's a reason we had to run aground in Malta." Paul said, "Can I see it? Can we have a moment?" The Bible says that when Paul came in to see him, he prayed for him. Watch the next part. You're going to love this. Paul came in and prayed for him, and after he prayed... It had to happen. You had to be here in this sermon today. There's something that God wanted to talk to you.

You had to be here with ZZ Top's beard. You had to be there in that section. Paul put his hand on Publio's father's head, and when he put his hand. on his head, the Bible says he was healed, which is a miracle in itself, but what made it even more surprising to me was realizing that the same hand by which the healing came was the same hand that had a snake hanging on it just three days ago. Oh come on, you should start praising God right now. What you went through and it didn't kill you... Paul says, "I can't stop the snake from biting me..." It had to happen.

The other day, Abbey came up to me and said, "Elijah just bit me." I said, "Did you bite him back?" She said, "No, sir." I said, "Go up and tell your brother, 'You can bite me again if you want, but daddy said to tell you that if you bite me, I'll bite you.'" That may not be good parenting, but that's what it is. good preaching. Someone tell the devil: "I bite!" The same hand that bit the snake became the hand from which the healing came. What did you go through that you wish you hadn't, that you should never have gone through?

I came to testify about your life no matter the reason. What matters is your answer. You are in Malta now. Malta is what you make of it. The Bible says that after she laid her hands on that man's head, the word spread throughout the island. "This guy's got something. This guy knows someone." When he put his hand on the father's head, the Bible says that the whole island came, and suddenly, Publius had to turn his house into a church building, and the whole island was healed. It had to happen! The entire island was healed. I feel like I have something with me right now to tell someone.

It's about liberation. As Paul was going through the storm, he said, "We have to run aground on some island." It had to happen. Paul thought he needed Malta, but it turns out Malta needed Paul.