Steven Furtick - Handle It
So, I thought we would call on Moses, if we are talking about faith. He certainly deserves to be heard, as to how he did what he did. And I chose a selection in Exodus 4:1-5. And I want to read it to you now. Let's go over and see Moses, on the far side of the desert in Midian The voice of God has summoned him from the crackling of a bush that will not burn but, is on fire. And I think that is a picture of a life that is set on fire by faith; is that it burns up, but it doesn't burn out. And now he's negotiating with God. And he says in Exodus 4:1 "What if they do not believe me or listen to me, and say 'The Lord did not appear to you'? And then the Lord said to him, 'What's that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he answered. The Lord said, 'Throw it down on the ground.' Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake and he ran from it".
Somebody say, "Smart guy". "Then the Lord said to him, 'Reach out your hand, and take it by the tail.' So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 'This,' said the Lord, 'is so that they may believe the Lord, the God of their fathers- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob- has appeared to you.'" I really want to lift verse 4 "The Lord said to him, 'reach out your hand and take it by the tail.' So Moses reached out, took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand". I need your help for one moment, before you take your seat and I need you to announce my message title to your neighbor. So, put your hand on their shoulder get their attention and when you give them my title in a moment, I want you to holler at 'em When you give 'em my title, I don't want you to whisper it, mumble it, suggest it. I want you to command it, okay?
Tell your neighbor, say "Neighbor, I don't know what your going through. I don't know what your dealing with. But, God told me to tell you 'Handle it!'" Find your other neighbor. Say, "Neighbor, other neighbor, you were my second choice Don't be offended, but just know that God wanted me to tell you, Handle it!'" Amen Clap your hands. You may be seated. Thank you, worship team. Don't we have fun together? Don't we have a good time. Amen. Look at this, because if you can have a flash back with me from when Tom Hanks was on that island, alone and he uhh he had to make friends with a volleyball. Now, those of you who are participating in this portion of the sermon are old. And only five of ya'll would remember this reference, but in the movie Castaway, where Tom Hanks had been alone so long that his only companion was a volleyball and he called the volleyball what? Wilson. And they did a good job with that movie that they bonded you enough with the volleyball that you remember it as a character.
You know, you can become so attached to something inanimate that it becomes life-like to you. Exhibit A, right? I remember when I first asked Chris Brown. I was like, "Do you think I should get an iPhone? I don't know, I don't think I would use it very much". Yeah, right. I just didn't know what it was capable of. Moses has a staff in his hand in Exodus 4. And by the time God gets through showing Moses what that staff can do, I wonder, I wonder if he got so attached to the staff that he ever gave it a name. Do you think? Do you think he called it... what do you think he called it? I think he called it, Rod. Even, I feel a connection to my microphone. This particular microphone. When I go preach other places and they give me another mic it takes me like 5 minutes to get it right in my hands, 'cuz this one, I mean, I know this microphone. I know how to handle it. And I like having this microphone I control certain things about it.
So, I like the hand-held microphone. I really like it when I want to preach like I am Drake I can grab it up here. It's not the professional way to hold it. My sound guys hate that, when I do that. They put a special thing on it 'cuz they knew I would do it, so it doesn't make all this feedback. Anyway, it's my mic. See you can tell I have a close relationship because I gave it a name. I call it Mike. That's how close we are. Okay, I'll stop now. But, in Exodus 4, Moses he is getting acquainted with his staff. He is getting to know God and he's getting to know Rod, all in the same scene. And I like it because, I know something Moses doesn't know, about what that thing is capable of. And, when I am watching Moses deal with this staff that will become, in many ways, so much of a part of his life, that I wonder, did he feel like it was a part of him.
I know what this staff is going to do at the Red Sea. I know that when the Egyptians are chasing Moses and the Hebrew people, 2 1/2 million strong, out of Egypt, that Moses is going to stretch that staff over that sea and the right side of the sea is gonna tell the left side of the sea, "I'll see you in a little while. We gotta split up for a minute. I'll meet you back when the Egyptians hit the water, 'cuz were gonna drown them, but we've gotta part for God's people". How many know that God will direct the elements on your behalf, when you're walking in faith? I found that to be true in my life. But, that was the staff that Moses stretched, that was the sea that he stretched it over. He doesn't know this yet, we do.
So, I am really interested, 'cuz I feel like I know the staff, 'cuz I see it so many different times in the scripture. I saw it one time when Pharaoh wouldn't let the people go, and God told Moses, you know, "Take your staff and stretch it out and strike the Nile River". The river in Egypt, "And when you strike that river, it's gonna turn from water to blood and that will compel Pharaoh to give a second thought to keeping you enslaved". And he did that and the water turned to blood That staff. It's the same staff that's in chapter 4. It's the same staff in Chapter 7 when he does, he strikes the Nile it turns to blood. Then he strikes the bloody Nile, and then some frogs start coming out of the Nile and cover the land of Egypt. And, it was that same staff, where he struck the Nile. Same staff that turned into a snake in chapter 4.
Same staff in chapter 7. He struck the Nile turned to blood, struck the Nile again frogs came out. Then he struck the ground, struck the dust then the gnats came out of the dust. So, all of this is happening with Moses with and staff. He doesn't know the staff is capable of all this, we do. And so, I am intrigued to know, how did it start? And I am intrigued to know that it started with a staff. I am intrigued by that. Started with something as simple as a staff. Because, that same staff when the people of God were thirsty one time, and were complaining about it, God told Moses, "I hate when my people complain, but I still love them enough to make sure they don't die".
Aren't you grateful for God's patience with you. Well, he took the staff and he struck a rock with it and the water flowed out of the rock, and the staff had this power that Moses couldn't have known that it had. The potential that he couldn't have known that it had. But, when he used it the right way, it did something. It was cool. And, water came out of the rock, and they all drank from the water in the rock and that staff. And so, I want to learn everything I can about this staff. I almost feel like it's a person to me. 'Cuz I saw Moses fight against the Amalekites, well he didn't fit against them, Joshua fought against them. And Moses had a job, he had to raise the staff. And while Moses was raising the staff, and Aaron and Hur got under his arms because he got tired holding it up. And, when they supported him and he raised his staff, the Israelites were victorious on the battlefield. Often, it's the support system that you don't see that produces the results that you're most concerned with.
So, while he is doing it, and his hands are up the Israelites win, his hands drop, they start losing. But, it was the staff in his hands. It was the staff in his hands. Tell somebody next to you, "There's a staff in your hands". And, what's cool about it is that there are many lessons that we can learn, and we don't even have to be Moses delivering people out of 430 years of slavery to learn them. We can just learn them for our everyday lives. And, the first thing that I think the staff is saying to us in this message today is that, "Everything you need is within reach". I heard a motivational speaker say that once. It rang true with me. That everything you need is within reach. Moses in response to God's calling... I feel the Spirit of God on me today to preach this message, by the way.
So, you ought to be excited about what your gonna receive. He continues the conversation with God after God shows him who he is, with the phrase that I preached a whole series around one time. And, the phrase is,"What if"? Verse 1, Moses answered, "What if". Do you know how many dreams have died beneath the weight of that phrase, "What if"? "What if"? is a phrase that I like to refer to as, fears greatest hit. What if? What if? I mean how many thing in your life did you not do because, "What if"? And how many things in your life did you do that you shouldn't have done because, "What if"? How many nights could you have slept, but "What if"? kept you awake. How many mornings did you wake up anxious because, "What if"? was your alarm clock? What if? Not just "What if"? Moses wants to know, "What if," pay attention to the next word, "What if they..."
I'll say it a third time 'cuz, I want it to come on the screen and I think third times gonna be the charm. "What if," it's in verse 1 "What if they..." "What if," The scripture doesn't come up and I keep preaching anyway. But, it's a good question. "What if"? And it's where many of us wonder and wander our whole lives, "What if they..." "What if they laugh at me"? "What if they don't accept me"? Now on one hand, Moses is in a hypothetical situation because he hasn't even done anything yet, but he is just playing out the possible after effects of his obedience. What if they... But, on the other hand, it's not a hypothetical at all it's historical because, Moses is afraid of the same rejection that he experienced 40 years earlier recurring. For it's 40 years earlier that Moses had killed an Egyptian in defense of his people. And because he did the right thing the wrong way he ended up on the run.
And there is something about when you've tried to do the right thing and put your heart in something, but you did it the wrong way that you don't want to try again. And so, now Moses is asking something that is hypothetical, but it's based out of what is historical and he is projecting his passed into his potential. And it's his limiting factor, but God want's him to know that, that staff in your hand. Now to us, a staff is a shepherding instrument and Moses was using it to tend his father-in-laws sheep. But to Moses the staff represented a whole lot more than his vocation, it represented his mistakes. Because, if he had never killed the Egyptian and ended up a fugitive on the run from Egypt, where he was born into or adopted into royalty, he never would have had the staff in his hand.
So, when God tells him what's in your hand it causes Moses to have to reckon with the mistakes that he has made that have landed him in the position that he is in, because when God speaks to you about your potential he will cause you to confront your past. Touch somebody say, "Handle it"! So he says, "What's that in your hand"? And to Moses it's a staff, but to Moses it's also his past, and to Moses it's also his instrument, the thing that he has to do what he's doing. And so, there is a whole lot happening in this staff. And yet, God says, "What you have is what you need". God wanted to say that to a single mom today, that "What you have is what you need". That he put enough in you to raise that child. He foresaw that you would be in this situation and he compensated for what others didn't give you by putting a resolve and a grit and a determination in you that is more than enough. That everything you need is within reach.
So, leave your list of what you don't have alone today. What is that in your hand? The wisdom that you need is probably in a book that's on your shelf that you haven't read. I was talking to a guy who pastured a church one time that was bigger than mine. I said, "I need some advice". And he said, "I gave you a book". I said, "You mean that book 3 years ago"? He said, "Yeah, that book 3 years ago. Did you read it"? I said, "No, I didn't get around to it". He said, "I knew that you were gonna be at this place 'cuz I've been there, so I gave you what I knew you would need. You missed it". He said, "Call me back when you read the book. At least read a couple chapters and we'll talk. What are we even going to talk about". You know sometimes when you pray and ask God to download information about a decision, "God how should I handle it"? He's like, "Did you even read the book"?
And we have never lived in time where the information, that is in the Word of God, has been more accessible to us. My god, they'll send you alarms, they'll break it down for you, they'll give you a Bible reading in a year plan, Bible reading in the book of Psalms plan, a Bible reading in Southern dialect plan, they'll give you a how to read the Bible with your dog in 32 days, every morning on your walk with your dog, a audio Bible, a Bible in Braille. Touch somebody say, "Grab it". Grab it. You gotta grab it. You gotta go, joy is there, you gotta grab it. Wisdom is there, you gotta grab it. It's there. The information that you need for the transformation of your life is waiting to be seized by those who will open there eyes to what they've been given. Am I preaching okay?
So, everything that you need is in your reach. It was something that he had already in his hand that produced what he needed to move forward into the future and to accomplish God's purpose in the earth. I am moved by that. 'Cuz I get caught up in what I don't have. I know you don't. I didn't say you did, I said I do. I get caught up in what I don't have. But here is the thing the LORD is teaching me: it's less about what you have and it's more about how you handle what you have. I'll prove it to you. Do you have Netflix? Alright, go on Netflix put it on, I think they have this on Netflix: 30 For 30. It's a documentary series from ESPN. Put it on broke. Put it on the one called, Broke. It will show you athletes that made millions of dollars and by the time their careers were over, they were in debt. Because, it's not what you have, it's how you handle what you have.
Say it again, come on with me. It's not what you have, it's how you handle what you have. That's true with money. I've met rich people who are further behind than poor people. I've met poor people who are greedier than rich people. It's not what you have, it's how you handle what you have. That's what God wants to know. How are you handling it. It's not the woman you married, it's how you handle the woman that you married that determines whether you get the marriage that you want.
Now, the selection process is important. You can cook better with good ingredients, but I am saying that, somebody might be able to take your same ingredients and make something delicious. 'Cuz it's not what you have, it's how you handle what you have that determines what you do. I found out that teenagers think they are busy. They do. They'll tell you, "I'm busy". "How ya doin"? "Ah god, I'm busy". Your busy? And there 12 now, their 13 years old. And I will follow up with a question, "Do you have a baby? 'Cuz if you don't have a baby, you don't know busy". Preach with me.
In fact, I want all you busy 13-year-olds your so busy, I want you to find a 25 year old woman in the lobby, one that's got a little car seat that she is trying to carry on the way out the door from church and walk up to her and tell her how busy you are and watch her look back at you and think about the next 5 minutes to show you that it's not how much stress you have, it's how you handle the stress that you have that determines, I am saying, you could do a lot more if you handled it differently. You could accomplish a lot more if you handled it differently. It's all in how you handle it. It's all in how you handle it. It's usually not the things you think are stressing you out that are stress you out, it's the things you are miss-handling in other areas of your life that make you hate your job. Or, it's the things you are miss-handling in your job that make you hate your life at home.
So, now you come home and you take out your frustration from there on them, 'cuz you didn't handle it here now it's showing up over there. Touch your neighbor say, "Handle it". You gotta learn to handle it. Whether it's weights, in a weight room, or whether it's life. See because, you keep asking God to take some of the weight off of your life, but faith doesn't take the weight off of my life, it shows me how to handle it. How many of you have a situation in your life today and you want God to show you how to handle it? Just wave you hand if that's you. Come on, just wave your hand if that's you. Well, see God is good and God is strong. God is great and God is good. And so, God told Moses, "I heard my people crying out and their cry reached me and I have come down to rescue them". That's what he told Moses in Exodus 3. He said, "I've seen my people in cruel oppression. I saw how Pharaoh was treating them. I see what you're going through. I see what it's like. I see that you're trying". And God said, "I came down and I'm gonna handle it. I'm gonna handle this. Imma handle it".
Now, before you get really excited about it, God has his own way of handling things. So, you'll be like asking God to send all the people away so they can get some food and he'll tell you to steal a little boy's lunch and bring it to him. That's how he handles it. You'll be looking at Jericho and you'll see some big walls, and you'll be like, "God we need to knock these down, will you handle it"? And God won't give you a wrecking ball, he'll give you a trumpet. 'Cuz God has his own way of handling it. You'll tell him, "I don't have anything to pay my debts off". And he'll tell you, "What do you have in your house"? And you'll say, "A little bit of oil". And he'll tell you to go to your neighbors and borrow jars And you'll say, "No, that's the problem. I am in debt, I don't need to borrow anything else". And he'll say, "But go to these people and borrow it in the right way And when you borrow it in the right way now your gonna get something that you didn't have".
Cuz God has a strange way of handling things. Or, you'll be praying that he would send the Messiah and you'll be thinking that Thor is gonna come down out of the sky and save the world. And God will show up and speak to a virgin girl and say that I know that eventhough you haven't been active with man yet, and your husband is gonna want to divorce you what's in you is conceived of the Holy Spirit and it's gonna come forth and it's gonna be the salvation of the world, but it's gonna start in a manger. 'Cuz God's gonna handle it, in a strange way. I'm speaking to somebody. You're in a situation right now, and God is handling it and you don't even know it. 'Cuz he is handling it in a cradle. And if the cradle isn't enough proof, he proves in on the cross when he defeats death with the very instrument that symbolizes it's most violent nature. He doesn't defeat death with a tank. He doesn't defeat death with a sword. He defeats death with the cross. Because God has a strange way of handling your situation.
And so, he is handling it and you don't even know he is handling it, because you've never seen it handled like that before. He tells you to turn the other cheek and usually you're the one turning someone's cheek when they offend you. And God said, "No, I got another way to handle it". To handle it. Can you handle it? Can you handle it? And see, what started as the thing that Moses feared, a snake, became the very thing that Moses needed, a staff. Let me work on that. The first time I did ministry was in a church called Santee Circle Community Church. Now, my first church was in the Methodist church in Monk's Corner, where I grew up. Pastor Micky, made me his youth minister and he would put me in this little room in the Woman of the World building This is on the outskirts of Monks Corner, South Carolina On the outskirts of Monk's Corner, South Carolina, in the Woman of the World building. and I was reliving this with some of our team this week, we have an apprenticehip program at the church called 2K2 and it's for all of those who want to... This is actually like a product placement.
Let me read this real quick, Elevation2K2.com Have you ever felt called into ministry, but didn't know what your next steps might be? Join us at 2K2. A twenty-two week, immersive ministry experience designed to propel you into your potential. Join us at Elevation2K2.com. So I was doing a teaching forum I was doing a teaching forum this past week and they said, "You are good at connecting with different types of people. Black people, white people, old people, young people, religious people, not religious people. How do you do that"? I said, "You gotta go back to the Woman of the World building to understand that". In the Woman of the World building, I had these kids, about 15 kids. They would bring in most of them on vans and me and Ann Johnson, and Miss Delilah, that was the lady's name Delilah, Miss Delilah would get the kids over on the vans and many of them came from really low-income part of town and so they would come in. And, white kids, black kids, but most of them only came for food.
And so, they came over and just wanted something to do and that's who I started preaching to. So you think it intimidates me if you sit with your arms crossed. I started with much worse than you. I started in a room full of snakes. I can deal with it. I can handle it. So, I said, "But I had a balance because if I wasn't interesting, a fight would break out". So, I had to like, keep it moving. I mean, if they got bored, they got violent. So, you know, I am over here working on my Bible text. I'd only been reading my Bible for a couple of months so I didn't know a whole lot about the Bible yet. So, I was just making stuff up out of the Bible the best I could. I was 16, ya'll. So, there was one kid in the group called, Matthew Johnson. And he was like, He was 13, but he had been in Bible school all his life. The kid, this Bible nerd. His mom had taken him to every vacation Bible school in the Charleston, Metro area, all his life. He had like nine weeks of Bible school every summer under his belt. Vacation Bible School.
So, If I got something wrong, Matthew would stand up and correct me in the middle of the Wednesday night class. One night, I came in preaching about the woman with the issue of blood. And, I hadn't studied it, but I thought I knew what it meant. And, I said this woman came to Jesus and she was bleeding, her face was just covered in blood somebody must have beat her up. I don't know who got a hold of her, but she is bleeding. Matthew stood up and said, "It was an internal issue of blood, Steven". 13-year-old. But, than on the other end of the spectrum if I was accurate, but not interesting, than those kids didn't care. So, one night a fight broke out in the middle of my teaching and I just walked out of the building, shut the door on that little $25 a week they were paying me to teach that class. And I sat under a tree and I was like, Jonah.
If you ever heard of Jonah in the Bible he sat under a tree and prayed that he might die so he wouldn't have to preach to the Ninevites And I was like, "LORD, I'd rather you kill me than go back in there with these kids. 'Cuz I'm gonna kill them and I'd rather be dead than in prison, so imma sit out here till you show me what to do". After about 10 mintues of this, Ryan, who was like the biggest kid in the group who came in on the van. Ryan came over and Ryan really liked me and Ryan came over to the tree and he said, "Yo Steve, I want you to know something, that as long as you need to stay out here and get yourself together, it's cool. 'Cuz I just had a talk with everybody in this room and I want you to know when you come back in it's handled". I don't know what he said to those kids, I don't even want to know, but when I went back in that room, it was like an Episcopalian Church on a Sunday morning. It was like the Catholic Mass. Those kids were leaning forward in their chair, why? 'Cuz he handled it. I don't even know how, but he handled it.
Have you ever had a situation in your life where you were throwing a pity party and didn't want to go back in and didn't want to try again, and had taken off from Egypt and didn't even want to face your future, 'cuz of the pain of your past, but here comes Jesus, walking up to you on the second road today, on the fourth road, at the Gastan Campus walking up to you on an iPhone screen, wants to let you know, whenever you get ready to come back in and do what I've called you to do come on back in, it's handled. Somebody shout, it's handled! Shout, it's handled! It's handled. God told Moses, "You can go back to Egypt because everybody who wanted to kill you is dead. While you were out here in Egypt, I was dealing with your issues and it is handled".
Touch three people, say "It's handled". It's handled. God wants you to know shame can't keep you at bay anymore 'Cuz what Jesus was doing on that cross when they thought that he was dying he wasn't dying, he was delivering you from the power of sin and death and what was held against me was nailed to his cross and I am standing here today with my hands stretched high, with my head held high, with my shoulders thrown back, boldly approaching the road with confidence, in my time of my need, 'cuz it's handled. It's handled. I feel the spirit of Olivia Paul coming on me. Somebody shout, it's handled. Handled. That's what Ryan said, "It's handled. When you get ready to come back in you need to know, it's handled". When you get ready to go into your future you need to know, it's handled.
Somebody shout, it's handled. It's handled. I love that Bible verse in Philippians 4:13 where Paul is talking about, I know what to do in any situation. If I have a little, if I have a lot I can handle it. Because he said, This is a famous Bible verse, have you heard this before? He said, "Christ can do all things through me". Did I mess it up? Let me try again. "Christ can do", 'cuz he is gonna handle it, right? Christ can do all things through me. God's gonna handle it. Huh? Oh He wants to help you handle it. Here is how God showed me, he said, "I will handle what you can't, but I will not handle what you won't. See, I handle your sin, you can't handle that. I handle your past, you can't handle that". But, he told Moses, let me show you one more thing. Sit down. He told Moses, Somebody shout, Handle. Handle. He told Moses, he said, "Pick it up".
Now, it's not a staff anymore in this moment, it's a snake. So, what does Moses do? He does what you do with your fears, and he runs. Did you see it in the text? It said, what verse was it? Was it three? Where he ran? Was it three? Yeah, and he ran from it. That's the same thing that he did when he killed the man in Egypt. He has learned to run. He has learned to run. And, God won't handle what you run from. So, he runs. Can you all hear me okay? In the back? Oh, I know what I should do. 'Cuz this thing only works in my hand. This is a good sermon for your life, for your marriage, for your soul, for any situation. God tells him to reach for the thing that he has been running from. And as he reaches, watch this, as he reaches, the staff changes back into a staff. As he reaches. We gotta work on this. Ya'll weren't paying attention.
Go to 4:17. Exodus 4:17 I am almost done. I will hasten to a close. When he told him to go, L.J., he said, "But take this staff," Everybody shout. Come on shout the phrase, it's in bolded orange letters for a reason. Take the staff (in your hand) Hit me with 20 real quick. I think it is 20. "So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God (in his hand)". Next verse, when he was confronting Pharaoh he said, "Go out and confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take (in your hand) the staff that was changed into a snake". You seeing a pattern? I'll keep going, next verse, untill you all see it. When they were standing in front of the Red Sea he said, "Raise your staff and stretch out your (hand)". Right, right, it's gotta be in your (hand). It's gotta be in your (hand). Go to the next verse. What's the next verse? Oh, that's when they were going out and he was going out ahead of the people and he said, "Take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile".
Here is the interesing thing and this is what the LORD wanted you to know: his situation was changing, but the same staff that got him through the last one worked in the next one when he had it in his hand. The only time that Moses got in trouble with his staff is when he struck the rock that God told him to speak to and he didn't enter the promise land because he didn't know how to handle what was in his hand. You get into trouble when you try to handle it your way. You get in trouble when you try to resolve it your way. You get in trouble when you try to take the snake by the head. See, that was interesting to me. We just moved out into the country 2 years ago, and everybody was giving me advice, Greg, on being in the country. I think they were worried about me, that I wouldn't know what to do and how to survive in the country. And, they were right.
So, I welcome their advice. And everybody was telling me, "Now you're gonna have snakes for the first time. So, here is what you need to do with the snake". And you know what nobody told me? Nobody told me to handle a snake the way God told Moses to handle a snake. Nobody... Go back to verse 4, he said, "Reach out your (hand) and," what? "Take it by the tail". Nobody told me to take the snake by the tail. 'Cuz that's not the way you handle a snake, naturally. Take it by the... Ya'll look confused. I'm not doing my job, am I? I gotta get this right. He said, "Take it by the (tail)". See the way we try to grab situations in our life is we want to control it. That's not the right way to hold it. He said, "Take it by the (tail)". Take it by the (tail).
Now, to take a snake by the tail and I will remind you, that the snake didn't change back into a staff until it was in Moses' hand. Your issue is not going to change until you handle it. Your pain is not going to become your purpose until you handle it. But, if you handle it your way, you're gonna be depressed about it. But, if you handle God's way, God's work, God's way. God's will, God's way. God's word, God's way. You've done it long enough your way. It's time for you to do it God's way and it's time for you to take it by the tail. God told me to tell you, you feel it don't you? God said that mistakes happen, but when they happen take em by the tail, and trust me to turn your mistake into a miracle. When you take it by the tail, when pain and rejection happen in your life your rejection in one season, can lead to your destiny in the next, when you take it by the tail. I came to say, that what they said about you isn't gonna destroy you, it's only gonna develop you, to make you stronger, to give you a steadfastness, when you take it by the tail.
You know what you're gonna do with that Dr.'s report? Take it by the tail. You know what you're gonna do with that loneliness? Take it by the tail. You know what you're gonna do with everything that's been keeping you up at night, worried wringing your head, this isn't my problem, this isn't my issue, the battle is the LORD's. He'll handle Pharaoh. I got this thing by the tail. I'll trust you LORD. Does anybody trust him in your situation? So, I trust God enough to take it by the tail. And it only changes when you handle it.
As long as you stand there looking at it, it's a snake. As long as you stand there praying about it, it's a snake. You can't pray and make the snake go away. Pray about it, pick it up, and make it work. Come on. Come on. Make it, come on. Make it work in your favor. I'm saying, handle it. I'm saying, there is nothing life can throw at you that you can't handle by the Spirit of God. Somebody shout, I can handle it! Somebody encourage 5 people in your area tell em, you can handle it. You can handle it. You can handle it. Yes, you can! You've gotta handle it. You've gotta handle it. You were made to handle it. You were built to handle it. God's gonna help you handle it. He's gonna show you how to handle it. He's got you in the palm of his hand. He's gonna help you raise those children. He's gonna help you get through this season. He's gonna help you make the decision.
Lift your hands like it's handled. Come on, lift your voice like it's handled. And shout unto God, with a voice of triumph. I gotta tell you this, my time is over. Touch somebody, say, It's handled. Because, the thought just hit me and it scared me and it would haunt me if I didn't say it to you. What if Moses had kept running? He never would have seen what the staff could do. He never would have seen the transformation that would take place. Think about it. It was a decision in a moment What if I would have never picked a mic up and started preaching into cameras to screens? How many people could we not have touched together? And I didn't think I could do it and I was real scared about it. And I didn't know if I could forgive my dad because he really hurt me, right before he died. And I almost ran from it. And I almost didn't go over to his house on Father's Day and stop by for 15 minutes. But, I am so glad that I took it by the tail.
With my hands shaking, and I wanted to run. And still pretty much every week before I preach, there is a part of me that wants to run. I got a friend here today who's a good preacher, really good preacher, great preacher. He told me he was coming to visit, and I almost asked him, "Do you just want to preach"? 'Cuz I think I got a sermon. But, right now it looks like a snake. I told the apprentices the other day, I said, "When I know a sermon is gonna be good on Sunday, is when I am scared of it on a Thursday". That's how it works for me. But, if you, I gotta go, I am out of time. But, I want to show you this. If you stand there and look at it long enough and you stand there and analyze the snake long enough and you get down here and wait for it to change and God, if they say I'm sorry, then I'll forgive em. God if you give me more money, then I'll tithe. God, if you... And your waiting for it to change on the ground, but it's only gonna change when you trust God enough to take it by the tail.
Come on, lift your hands. I want to pray for you. God, give em courage you know their gonna need it. You know Pharaoh has em running. You know Pharaoh is that snake. You know Pharaoh is that thing. You know Pharaoh is that addiction. You know Pharaoh is that insecurity. You know Pharaoh is that taskmaster that tries to convince em that their never enough. But, we came today to say, that the head of the serpent has already been crushed. Hallelujah! We thank you for Jesus. We thank you for his stretched arms. We thank you for his cross. We thank you for his power. And we declare over our lives today, whatever it is that stands against your children in Jesus' name, IT IS HANDLED! Somebody clap your hands. Give him praise.