Wind vs. Word (Trusting God's Timing) | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church

I'm going to share a verse and then I'll let you sit down and the verse is actually in Ecclesiastes 11. I've been unintentionally backtracking on this scripture and haven't started a series lately, but I've been unintentionally using these thoughts from Solomon, who has us enrolled in the school of wisdom and has the right to do so because some people called him the wisest man who ever lived. He was like Elon Musk from the Old Testament, but the only difference. between Solomon and Elon Musk is that he wrote his treatise to help us see that if you are successful but you are not satisfied or if you are successful but you have no peace or if you are successful but you are having success, think that it has no real meaning, in the end you will you will remain empty and that is why he helps us with that with some principles from the Word of God and this one that I want to share today is very, very simple from the school of Solomon Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 4 says this whoever looks at the

wind

will not plant whoever looks at the clouds will not reap so I know I told you I was going to preach today but actually this is more like an announcement for a fight okay so we actually came to see a fight today and the The title of this message is called

wind

versus

word

in this corner is the wind and its opponent is the

word

and I believe that this message is for someone today who is in conflict between the wind and the Word of God and I believe that today God is going to speak. to your heart do it Lord in the name of Jesus Amen touch someone say ding ding amen you may be sitting one thing that is interesting to me and the verse really suggests that the same reality is how when your spirit makes the decision to do something your mind You'll find reasons not to do it now, if you decide to do something like go on a diet, your mind will immediately start calculating why it's not a good idea to go on a diet now, some of you are already doing the math, you know, Christmas.

It's just around the corner, it's like months until Christmas but you already have the countdown timer because it's easy to find a reason and really the way our human minds work is sometimes in opposition to our spirit which is divine and that's why that you could find yourself. even with the apostle Paul who once lamented what I want to do. I don't do what I don't want to do. I do it because often your mind contradicts your spirit and it's actually deeper than that because the way this works on a day to day basis. Life is that your heart comes to a verdict and then gives evidence to support the verdict, whether the verdict would be true or not in a court of law, this would be a mistrial, but in our lives this is often simply a standard operating procedure: we come to a conclusion and then once we have come to that conclusion our mind is brilliant, like a $400 an hour lawyer to find evidence to support the conclusion and in so many areas of our lives we find a reason, I mean, you can find a reason and this is what Solomon says if you look for a reason not to sow or if you look for a reason not to reap you will always find one, it is very true because right now I promise you that you can find a reason that your mind can find a reason to complain even though your spirit knows that God has been good to me how many of you in your spirit know that God has been good to you and better than you deserve and yet you could find your reason, No?

I'll give you one you want if you just need a reason to complain. I'll give you a reason right now to complain because some of you it's too cold in the auditorium if you just need a reason to complain. If the songs of praise of the Most High God did not give you enough reasons to praise, let's find something for you to complain about, some of you, these sermons will be too long for you, some of you will be too long. Simply put, some of you don't like a preacher in tight pants and some of you know you can find one if you need one and in fact it's not that hard to find a reason to complain if we want to dig even deeper.

That's it and I don't mean to take a dark turn at the beginning of the sermon because there's a really good atmosphere here and I don't want to ruin it, but if you wanted to, you could find a reason to go into a total depression. If you wanted to think about a certain problem in your life right now, you might become distracted by a problem that is not in this room to the point that you won't hear another word. I say this whole sermon because your mind will focus. evidence for a verdict that you've already decided and that's why when you wake up some mornings like I do and say it's going to be one of those days, you'll find all the reasons why it's one of those days because your heart has come to a verdict . and now you sent your mind on a research quest for support, everyone knows I'm preaching in my introduction.

I'm rested for this message and look, even if you want to try to be tired, you can try to be tired if you want. a reason to be tired you can have a reason to be tired right now. I mean, if you want to find a reason, if you just need a reason, you can find a reason when you need a reason and that's why it's a bad idea, look at this sharp. I turn to sit and look at the weather what I like least about being a

pastor

is when the weather is inclement and because of inclement weather this is what I want to say to the people of the

church

I am about to have group therapy the bad weather means it could mean that it's so beautiful outside that we can't go to

church

, we have to take this time to go out.

I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to people who miss church. Let me look at the camera because you are safe. you guys are here right now inclement weather it's not too cold we don't have to go out in the rain it's not too perfect we're not missing anything outside it's perfect the church weather we actually have a little joke with our staff when it's just too cold to be outside, but it's not too cold that you have to suffer for five seconds before the seat heaters kick in. The Church weather is perfect and it is very difficult to be a

pastor

, especially when they are predicting, you know, torrential weather that may or may not affect our state and what is really difficult and I promise you this is in the text is that Sometimes all the milk and all the bread will be off the shelves of the grocery stores and there will be no snow on the ground, but it was the threat or you could put it that way, it was the forecast that created the fear of something that was never in our future.

Now you went to Sam's and Costco bought all the batteries. and the sun was coming out and it was 77 degrees now one thing I love about our church is that when a real tragedy happens we already have supplies in the Bahamas thanks to your donations we already have supplies on the way to the people When there is an emergency and that's not it The part that I struggle with as a pastor, the difficult part is knowing that so many people see that my dad used to wake up every morning and watch the news and he always thought this was very strange. above, he always cursed at the weatherman and I need to confess everything because this is a very complicated part of my personal psychology.

I didn't want to be a preacher when I was little. I wanted to be a meteorologist. I think it was a form of rebellion because I would stand with my Sesame Street balloon and an antenna that I broke on my television, so at the point of the balloon and I would predict the weather this is like six years old seven years old and I would predict the weather in places in the world that I couldn't pronounce I liked, I like the ability to predict the future, but then my dad was cursing the meteorologist and I was conflicted and what made him so angry at the meteorologist was that he understood that.

Although I respect meteorologists, I remember I could have been one if it had been a little different, just a little different path. I could have been one, but what my dad couldn't stand was watching people go into a frenzy over something that was in a forecast and now my dad is no longer alive, but I just want to tell you that if you're watching this on a TV channel, Heavenly Celestial live stream, I get it now because it's frustrating when you're trying to plan. The church and the people don't come not because it's snowing, not because it's raining, but because you might know how many things the devil has kept you from doing in your life that God called you to do because of what could happen if you did it and To For many of us, the enemy doesn't even have to fight us with real events or circumstances, even the suggestion of a disaster is enough to send some of us into retreat and thus even the thought of what happens if we don't. they like. "you guys" is enough to keep you in the house or just a thought about if you break my heart is enough to keep you from expanding on the relationship or just a thought that you know, many of you are reluctant to get involved in this church because you had a previous bad experience in the church and I understand it because one time you went through a storm, I lived through Hurricane Hugo.

I was 8 years old when Hurricane Hugo hit the trust in Charleston, South Carolina, it terrified me. I didn't want to spend the night. After you've survived a storm, after you've survived bad weather, after you've survived abuse, what people don't tell you is that even after the storm has passed, you're still out of the house for two years when you were a little boy. burns inside you and the saddest thing in the world is to see a Christian who has been liberated by the love of Christ to know that neither the height nor the depth nor anything in all creation nor death nor life nor angels nor demons. neither the present nor the future nor any other power will be able to separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus my Lord what I am trying to say some of us need to fire the devil like our meteorologist that we have been consulting. the wrong source to discover what our future will be like and that is why now we stay at home and remain afraid and remain paranoid and never plant and never harvest.

Solomon said because we look at the wind, what a strange image you really can. You don't see the wind, you can only see its effects and he says when you look at the wind you know it's a good time. I'll give you one. This one seems to look at the wind because he was thinking about that phrase look. the wind and I said: this is not a literal message. I'm not using it to talk about physical storms. I am using it to talk about when the sower is going to plant he wants the wind to work with him and when the wind blows.

Blowing in the opposite direction, all your seeds hit you in the face, but you feel like everything you sow, ever you feel like things are backfiring on you and you're trying to be nice to someone, that's the last one of those I'm doing . I have to preach this twice tomorrow. I need my brain cells, but have you ever been hit by your own seed because that's what he says when the wind blows against you. Some of you have had the wind against you all your lives and you didn't. the right shoes your parents didn't make much money you had to learn to fit in you had to learn to be tough you had to learn to be tough and you learned to survive a storm but the problem with that is The only problem with this is that sometimes the wind It's not even against you, but you still feel like it is because your mind is gathering evidence to support a verdict that's no longer accurate, so you watch the wind and try to figure out what's popular.

It's not popular. I'm going to preach this to our students. They have a rhythm night next Sunday night and I want you to talk about this somehow. Tim is that watching the wind is like trying to determine what will give you influence. and then you let influence override character and looking at the wind is trying to be like oh they like me, they like me, is this what I need to be to be like that, that's looking at the wind, can I give you another one who's looking at the wind? wind? It is necessary to be in a good mood to fulfill your commitments, that is, pay attention to the wind because some of my weather systems are internal and a long time ago I discovered that generally the mood you are in when you make a commitment does not coincide with the The state of mind you have when the time comes to fulfill the commitment and that is why looking at the wind is for those of us who sometimes need to feel it in order to fulfill it and Solomon says the wisest man the richest man the man who said that do things out of vanity is like chasing the wind.

He uses this metaphor a lot in his book Ecclesiastes, the collected teachings that are like proverbs, but are written in such a way that they convince the knowledge of the universe and the uselessness of vanity, he uses this image of the wind because it is an invisible force and he says that if You are always checking and checking how you feel, you will always find a reason to contradict your responsibility, so there will always be a reason, look at this so you can Don't feel like forgiving people, but if you want to be free, you may have to go against your feelings to be able to live in freedom.

What I'm saying is you may have to walk against the wind, you may have to forgive against the wind, especially in marriage I love Holly so much because she decided a long time ago that I was the man for her, she came to the verdict on Furtick beforeto take my name as her own and because she came to the verdict that she loves me and that I am a good man in our marriage she works to gather evidence to support that I am the man for her she could easily do the opposite she could could find 15 reasons well he's only 5 foot 9 he's bigger on screen you know she could find 15 reasons why I'm normally in a bad mood three and a half days out of seven she could find 15 reasons not to feel that way about me but sometimes Commitment means facing resistance with resolution in your heart.

You can find a reason to leave this church in the next three days if you want. In fact, the law of averages says that there is someone in your queue right now that you will get to know. They will give you a reason to leave this church in the next three days because they will disappoint you with their lack of Christian character, but if you move one person in the same line, I bet you there is someone in that line who loves Jesus. someone in that row who is honest there is someone in that row who is sincere but you will never sow well look, I'm going to get what I do, I'm going to get it, I'll tithe, but I'll do it after I get mine because what happens after what what will happen and then this happened, there was the thing and but the economy, but the presidential elections, you see how we do it by consulting the forecast instead of Consulting our faith, he who looks at the wind or observes the wind will never sow and he who looks clouds will never harvest because it always seems like it could rain at any time and you can't harvest when it's wet and Solomon didn't I didn't have a Weather Channel app and Solomon didn't have a Weather Channel.

He is dealing with people who would check conditions before fulfilling their commitments by looking at the wind. How many people have not started what God told them to start because they have been watching? the wind has been waiting for more free time. I'm going to write a book someday, you even keep a diary right now. I'm writing a book someday, when will you write it? I'm going to build a cabin in Maine, that's what I'll do someday, you'll have family land, no, it's an imaginary scenario that prevents you from having a real opportunity. You see it?

To look at the wind is to wish you had a different wife instead of loving the one you have as Christ. Love the church, this is getting good, this message will be better than your beard when I'm done with it, my brother, and that's saying a lot, but you know Peter knew something about watching the wind, wasn't Peter the apostle who was? always wanting to do something impulsive sometimes it worked for him sometimes it worked against him but one thing you have to love about him he didn't wait for the perfect circumstances to say he didn't wait until he had knowledge to give his opinion have you ever lived with someone like that it's terrible and I noticed something about God and I wanted to give you this because they have these sayings in church they say well God is a punctual God, yes he is, he is a punctual God, he is rarely early, but he was never late, ask Lazarus if any time he arrived late.

Lazarus was delayed about four days. The decaying bodily worms were making their way into the eye socket when Jesus got there and Mary and Martha had set their clock. He asked Peter if Jesus was ever late. Ask him. Ask if they were not once sent into a storm because of Jesus' instruction to go to the other side. Now this has been really exciting for me as I've studied it this week because the real faith thing. is: do you trust God's

timing

? You know it well and that was the test for Mary and Martha Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life and she said well you know that I am the resurrection and she said well I know that my brother will rise on the last day he said no, I am the resurrection, it wasn't that she didn't trust what he could do, but you can trust when God is going to do it, you can trust someone's intention, but not their

timing

. and since I already spoke well of Holly in this sermon, let me tell you that I trust her with my life.

I trust that she will be faithful to our wedding vows. I trust her if she cooks for me or if she asks me for a menu. I trust her. She knows what I want to eat more than what I want to eat. She knows me like that. I trust this woman with everything except time when she says it will be thirty minutes, I say three hours because she taught me that her concept of time is different from mine. It's correct. , the other is an illusion and I trust it. I really trust her. I put her in a room full of supermodels, men, men with calendars and I trust her there, but if she said we were leaving in an hour, I would put three of her. alarms because I trust him with everything except time some of us trust that God will take us to heaven one day some of us trust that he died on the cross for our sin we trust him with everything but we don't let him do something right now that we want him to do do it, leave us in the fiery furnace for seconds too long and we will be screaming for God to get me out of this, but God said the real test for a mature Christian is: do you trust me with my time? he meanwhile is where maturity develops and Jesus was always doing things at a bad time he always went to Jerusalem at the time when everyone wanted to kill him that is a bad time to show up when they are looking for you to execute you that is a bad time 5,000 men women and children appear on the other side now this is right after John the Baptist I just want you to know how often God does things in our life at a bad time because some of you are like now in your life like well this is a bad time for me God and I used to have this friend every time he called me on the phone he was so respectful he would say good time or bad time I always wanted to know what before he said anything else and I think the Holy Spirit is telling someone today good bad time or bad time and you are like this a bad time I'm too old to do this now I'm too young to do this now I'm too busy to do this now I used to have a better job I used to have more money it's a bad time but God likes it bless people at a bad time he likes to resurrect people on the fourth day and when Jesus had heard that Herod had cut off the head of John the Baptist, it was a bad time and he wanted to get away from the crowd, so he went to the other side with the disciples and when they got there there was a crowd waiting to get autographs and healing and fish and chips and all that stuff in fact when he did the miracle and fed the 5,000 the first thing the disciples said was it's late, it's a bad thing. time, it's a bad time and and Jesus when he took the bread he blessed he broke it and gave it to them he did the miracle at a bad time now I'm now I'm divorced now I'm a single mother now it's a bad time for me to be believing God it's a bad time I really lost a lot of years it's a bad time for me to do this I think I made the wrong decision I don't even think I should live in Roanoke I don't even think I'm supposed to live in Charlotte I mean it's a bad time it's a bad place that's it what the disciples said they said it's a remote place it's too late so I sent the crowd away and Jesus said no I want to bless them when it's too little and when it's too late because I want to bless you when you think it's a bad time to teach you how to check your faith instead of checking your forecast, you got the weather wrong man, you keep watching the weather and now you live in fear of everything. that could happen and everything that has happened and as long as you watch the weather, as long as you keep that wrong weather, man, this is what God showed me, the weather is to be checked, not watched, when you see, when you sit, when you sit and look all day, it scares you.

Oh, it's all good to plan, it's good to make provisions, but don't look at the weather, if you look at the weather, you will go into your feelings and lose your faith and Now, the wind look, this will work against you to contradict the word that God spoke to you, so this is the point where Jesus, after feeding the 5,000, sends the disciples into a storm and I want to read this to all of you who have been watching the wind. in their life worry about uncertain situations that they cannot control. I'm not talking about those of you who are trying to make a plan to pay off your debt.

That's good. It is not a lack of faith. It is a presence of wisdom. the wind is trying to calculate something you can't control you're worried your son will end up dropping out of school and he's three months old he still doesn't like Baby Einstein enough and you're worried he won't understand it at Harvard you're watching the wind trying to figure out things that they will be in the future now look at this, this is so strange because it says immediately after Jesus blessed all the multitudes and multitudes and at a bad time he made them go. in boat 22 and continue ahead of him to the other side while he said goodbye to the crowd so at some point during his instructions he told them I will meet you on the other side he gave them his word he gave them his word I will see you on the other side He gave his word, touch someone next to you and tell him that he gave you his word, I don't need you to help me preach this, don't look at me with a Church face, tell him that he gave you his word, but the challenge is not to believe that you will see it on the other side.

It's how long it will be until I get there He gave me his word that he would never leave me or forsake me He gave me his word in this corner weighing in unlimited pounds coming from eternity made flesh by the will of the Father to redeem humanity It's the breath live logos Word of God Jesus Christ in the beginning what is the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and all things were made by him and for him because in the beginning he was with God he gave me his word after saying goodbye to them he went up alone He went to the side of a mountain to pray and when evening came he was there alone but the boat was already a considerable distance from the wave-lashed land because the wind was against him and his furious opponent on the storm-tossed sea. the wind and we really came to church today to find out who is going to win the calling that God put on your life or the circumstances that contradicted your faith or your fear the wind versus the word the Challenger Have you ever watched MMA?

Sometimes I like to preach the word and then watch people beat each other to death on Saturday night. Sister saw a recovery method, it's like my own spiritual cryotherapy, but the Challenger and then and then you got the undefeated undisputed heavyweight champion anyway I'm going to go back to the text because it said the wind was against the bow and the ship did not represent disobedience as it did for Jonah who was turning away from God. They were going into their task which led them into a storm which meant they had to keep going against the wind now if you watch the wind you will never get out if they had had a Weather Channel app they would never have gotten it. on the boat sometimes we know too much sometimes we think too much who is this message for if you are a chronic overthinker you are a wind watcher well I could get a flat tire they have been doing a lot of construction I don't know if I should take this job or not so expensive He verse 25 the fourth watch the Romans divided it into four quarters well 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. m. for three-hour vigils every 6:00 p.m. m. to 9:00 p.m. first watch 9:00 p.m. until midnight second watch midnight until 3:00 a.m. third watch and when Jesus appears I mean, this guy is so disrespectful to call him that he was fully God and fully man and he doesn't appear in the first watch of the night second watch third look what I like about the text is that even the term watch It has meaning because if you remember what I just read to you, it said that he went up to the side of a mountain to pray, now the sea was located far below the mountain, which means that while they were passing through the storm, although it did not stop it, he saw them in she I want you to be encouraged today my sister my brother my brother son of God just because the storm is raging doesn't mean God has left the scene and just because he hasn't stopped it doesn't mean he doesn't see it and just because the devil started no It means he won't use it and just because I don't know how long until we get there doesn't mean I doubt his presence in the middle of this, he was watching the whole time, he knew just when he wanted to intervene so they could see him like they'd never seen him before and I think that God is speaking about the situation of someone today on whom His eyes are set.

I believe that he has counted the hairs of your head, I believe that even the bad things that have happened in your life, he kept each tear in a jar and I do not believe that one of them is beyond redemption, now the Bible says that When the last one came night watch, after having traveled four or five miles with his own strength, Jesus went out towards them walking on the lake, when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were at peace, no, first, when they see God. your first responses fear you don't know if it's really him that's the problem I don't know if it's God or I don't know if it's the devil or I don't know if I'm supposed to do this or I don't know if I'm supposed to do that and the challenge is trust God in uncertainty and you have to believe the disciples were wondering if we heard him right, he really said, get on the boat, surely he wouldn't have sent us into a storm like this and now he goes into the mythology thatthe Jewish people would have believed at this point that under the sea was controlled by an evil spirit, so when Jesus comes walking towards them and they cannot fully trace his silhouette because it is still dark and because there is fog and the wind is against them Your first instinct is that it must be a ghost, look, you keep thinking, when God appears in the situation, you will suddenly feel better, but this will blow your mind.

The Bible doesn't say they were afraid at all until Jesus appears. Now you see why I can't follow your feelings sometimes the moment he is closest is the same moment the wind blows the strongest then they were terrified it's a ghost they said and screamed in fear now Jesus instead of rebuking them for their fear answers at his initiative and said remember this is a significant term Yahweh I am the name of God is a is a name that Jesus incarnated in the flesh God is that in spirit but Jesus shows us that in the flesh and when he says have courage it is It is more than just To say it's me, guys, is identifying your presence and connecting it to the eternal God and the eternal word when you speak.

I'm not afraid, Peter, equal parts doubt and curiosity, because he just arrived. participating in the miracle of feeding 5,000 is like I want to participate in this too and I'm tired of being in this boat with John. He gets on my nerves. Doesn't row. You know John was laid back and Peter. If he is you, get me off this boat, tell me to come. I preached this for a long time incorrectly and I have corrected it as I used to say that Peter walked on water, but if you look at verse 29, Jesus said come. and then Peter got off the boat and walked on the water, but really he was walking on the word.

I'm just going to ask you something. This is not a preaching question. Have you ever had to go through something just out of sheer faith? God brought me here, he won't leave me now, that's what it means to walk the word, have you ever had to move towards something in your life that scared the hell out of you and you don't have any experience for it or your nautical knowledge? I didn't prepare you for this incident, but suddenly the sea turned into a wooden floor under your feet with every step. That's what I mean by walking the word.

Have you ever had to take a promise from God's Word and just stick with it? for your dear life a promise for someone you love who is sick a promise of provision when you don't see where it comes from a promise that God is going to fulfill his purpose for your children and even if you don't know what it's like Have you ever had to cling so tightly to something in the fourth watch of the night? That's what I mean by walking in the word and Peter is walking in the word but he's walking against the wind and we also see that Jesus did it.

Don't stop the wind, he gave the word come, he said, that's no more instruction than what you give your golden retriever, come and maybe a golden retriever is smarter than some of us because a golden retriever doesn't question the teacher, but some of us are the first. trace of wind, the first trace of disappointment and I always thought that Peter fell walking towards Jesus because you know he goes out of his ways and most of us go out of his ways and ingrain a habit for a while and go on a new direction by faith and

trusting

God for a time, but somewhere during the process, the Bible says that after Peter walked on the water and approached Jesus, verse 30, he made a critical mistake: he saw the wind, did which one is stronger? word or the wind I mean it depends which one you look at I mean the wind didn't have the strength to knock Peter down the only reason he fell is because he took his eyes off the word and started looking at the wind.

I see that faith is not an imaginary state in which I let myself be carried away by an illusion that nothing will ever go wrong again and then surprise me when bad things happen. Faith is a focus. Faith is the ability to say that I am. putting my eyes on the goodness of God right now and I don't look back and I don't look forward and I don't look around me my mind has already come to the conclusion God is for me God is with me if the wind is against me if the world is against me if all the power of hell nails him to a cross in three days he will rise again because my faith is focused on the Word of God that I am walking towards and I want to prophesy over someone today and declare over your life the wind does not have to stop so that you continue walking towards Jesus and the situation does not have to improve so that you see the glory of God I tell you what I know if everything is worse if everything goes crazy if everything rises up against you God is an army God is a second circle God is an ever present help in the time of trouble and if your life is built on the foundation of his word there is no wind that can roar against you I can shake that off because I am not walking on water and I am not looking at the wind.

I love how the Old Testament prophet Elijah went up on this mountain and there had been a drought in the land for about three and a half years and he heard something, he heard the sound of the abundance of rain, he heard a prophetic indication that God was about to send blessings to the land again, then he did something that seemed strange and that is he put his head in prayer. posture by his knees and sent his servant to go look to see if there was anything in the sky now when I read that passage I thought that at that moment if Elijah had looked at the weather, if he had looked at the surface of his situation or if he had consulted what he felt or what he saw, he would have lost faith and that's why he knew that you can't look at the weather, you can't spend all this time in your life, look man, the reason. that you are stressed could be due to things that are a hypothetical scenario that the enemy suggested to try to throw you off course because he knows that if you walk on this word no wind is strong enough to throw you off balance. a situation right now and it is wind versus word and the one who is going to win is going to be the one you focus on and you cannot afford to be doing this to see if it is okay to serve God look what I can give I can give you 10 reasons right now why you might question whether God exists, we all might, we see horrible things happen all the time.

I could give you 10 reasons, but look, I know he is with me and that's why I. No, I'm not gathering evidence to see if he's with me. I already know that he is with me because how would he have come this far if he wasn't there? How would he have life, breath or grace? I know he is and I just want us at this moment to be very sure that if he has spoken it that there is nothing you can see in your situation or nothing you can see look your eyes are deceptive your ears are deceptive your senses are deceptive when he saw the wind when trusted his senses slipped your faith will always fail when you start to consult your feelings it will always slip we just want to take a moment and do what the disciples did when they returned to the boat very interesting phrase that Matthew puts in the gospel that he says that after that Peter sank and Jesus helped him back up, you know, Jesus says he's so merciful that he doesn't keep him underwater for 15 seconds so he learns his lesson real well, you know that view of God you grew up with. that said he was just looking for an opportunity to punish you and no, he was there to catch you, go, use arms or something, he could do anything and when he asked him why you doubted verse 31, the answer was. the wind hesitated because it lost focus and the focus is on what you choose to look at it doesn't make anything disappear it just redirects your attention to what you need to be thinking about what you need to be looking at what you need I will be considering that when they got into the boat the wind died down , the wind did not subside so the miracle could happen, in fact, the wind was against them to show that God's work was greater than the wind, so let's take a moment. now and clap for the wind to be against me, come on, I'm going to need you to stand up and worship for a moment to get back to the boat and worship him that he is God in this storm by your wounds I am healed with a single touch I am whole, you have spoken that is the word, you have been in a storm, raise your hands for your stripes, you have spoken and I know it is so and in the storm you are peace and you are love earned.

Don't let me go, you have spoken and I know it is so. I want to pray right now with my head bowed and my eyes closed for those of you who have been working against the wind. I understand that the nature of life is that everything We will all face challenges in any 24 hour period, so it depends on when we catch you, but what I mean is that you have been in a season where, as Solomon says, you have been watching the wind instead of remembering the. Word of God and focusing on the things that he has put in your life to help you, you have been thinking about things that did not happen or that could happen and you just have yourself staring into the wind.

I want to pray for you right now, Father. In the name of Jesus, I lift up all you wind watchers because we are meant to be word walker watchers, not wind watchers, and we are to believe in something deeper than what our eyes can see, and so I pray today to that, like this word, that was given to me in my personal time with you has come to them that they received it at the level that they needed it that they received the word that they needed to walk in the next week and maybe they will have to walk on it one time moment at a time one step at a time one moment at a time because I can't see and because I can't feel but I'm walking in the Word of God and so I will survive because he gave me his word and I will make it because he gave me his word and I will because God is not a liar and I will see him on the other side because the god I serve has never failed, come on, let's lift our voices in praise, adoration and thanksgiving. he is God he is lord over every storm come on let's worship him give him worship above the wind give him worship above the war give him worship thank you for watching the Elevation Church YouTube channel don't stop here join the Efam our online extended family and join us live every Sunday, subscribe to this channel so you don't miss a single video or live stream and share it with a friend.

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