Philip Anthony Mitchell - Through Trouble (01/25/2026)
If you are visiting with us, we want to welcome you to Victory Church. And if you’re watching or listening right now on podcast, we want to welcome all of you to Victory Church.
Welcome to Week Three
We want to welcome you to week three of our brand new series called «Follow.» And we are talking about the greatest hero the world has ever known—the Lord Jesus Christ. And my prayer is that by the time this series is over—turn me down just a little bit—then our hearts and minds will just stay focused on Jesus.
Then design this series to just shift our attention as a church off of ourselves and back onto Jesus. Also, in our V Kids, our children are learning the same messages that we’re learning here on Sunday. Every sermon that’s being preached in this adult gathering, the same teaching is being shared with our children in their gathering.
And as a church collectively, we are focusing our attention upon Jesus.
Recap of Previous Weeks
In week one, we started the series with a message called «To Follow.» We talked about the call of Jesus upon the lives of people to follow Him. That call comes with no pre-qualifications. It does not say make your life right before you follow. He doesn’t say clean up before you follow. He doesn’t say you have to have a seminary degree before you follow.
He walks up to ordinary men like you and I, women—it just tells us to follow. He taps us in our heart by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and hopefully we have enough common sense to put our faith in Him. He calls ordinary people to follow with no pre-qualifications—takes us just the way we are but loves us too much to leave us the way that we are.
And takes us on a journey of being transformed into His very image and likeness.
Towards Truth
Last week, we preached a message called «Towards Truth.» And I told you these four sermons are going to form a statement. By the end of this series, you will have this statement—you should be paying attention by now—that we’ve been called to follow towards truth, right?
And I said that Jesus, once He saves us—and I’m gonna just put you on a microphone, a platform, give you some know—the first place He leads you to is towards truth. Truth about who? Truth about Himself first. He begins to reveal Himself to you—who He is as the Lord, as a Savior, as a Master, as a Lover.
And then He begins to reveal truth about yourself—because to show you areas of your life that He wants to work on and transform. Transform you into a better man, a better woman, a better disciple. You’re prideful in this area. You’re lacking in this area. Or you’ve been holding yourself in this area.
For some of us, the truth is forgive yourself in this area. He begins to lead us to truth about our own selves. And He will lead us to truth about reality.
Deception in the World
And some of you—I don’t know if this really settled on you last week—but that’s critically important because the world is living in a false reality. And a false reality will eventually give way to eternal separation. It is Satan who has blinded the minds of society to keep us away from the glorious gospel of Jesus.
And Jesus leads us into real reality. And there is a world of the Spirit that hugs the natural world in which Jesus has come to establish a kingdom. And think about all the years some of us lived in false realities—thinking that that was life—until we were saved and our eyes were opened.
False realities. Teachers teaching kids false realities. People in college learning things that are false realities. Parents taught us things that are false realities.
And this is alarming, my brothers and sisters, because I’m telling you—one of the most destructive things to the human soul is deception. It is rampant and pervasive in our culture—from our music to our programs to our television to the big screen. Deception is everywhere.
In our government, deception is like a dark cloud hanging over the nations of the world—darkness. And that darkness remains until the light of the gospel pierces that darkness, brings people out of darkness into the marvelous light.
Are you so thankful for the light?
Through Trouble
But this week, we want to continue the statement. And before I give you this third statement, we’re gonna start this sermon in Mark chapter 4. And launch up—the floor is not gonna be our primary text, but I want to use Mark chapter 4 to set up this message. We’re gonna start in Mark chapter 4. We’re gonna land somewhere else.
Last night, I was doing a teaching with my kids—Malachi and Israel—sitting with me. To my right, my son is 12. My oldest son is 12. My oldest daughter is 11. He was doing a study through Revelation 19, 20, and 21 together.
I was telling them that the most important thing they will ever do is discover God’s will for their lives. It was like—well, you know—my daughter was saying, «Oh, what can I do after I turn 18? Maybe if I get a job at Checkers or Chick-fil-A.» And then, «Why you gotta turn 18 in the scope of God’s will for your life?»
I said, «David discovered God’s will when he was 13. Samuel discovered God’s will when he was a young child.» «Say wipe that away—yet 18? Where you gotta wait till 24?» I said, «Now she’d be partying at night. Lord, show me the will You have for my life.»
We had a Bible study last night about God’s will. He was going through the Word of God, and I was reminding them: stay close to the Word of God. So much deception right now.
You know what—I’m gonna say it—there’s deception in the pulpits right now. Isn’t talking to you. Somebody’s being deceived in a church somewhere in America. There’s deception. That’s why you gotta be careful who you listen to and what you listen to.
And not everybody with a following—who’s really charismatic—I don’t mean that they pretty—true. But be careful.
Mark’s Gospel Background
Mark chapter 4—we’re gonna start here. Mark was not an immediate follower of Jesus Christ. He became a follower later on. He was not part of the twelve. He was a companion of a man named Paul and a man named Peter.
Peter was an eyewitness to the life of Jesus. Paul became an apostle. And Mark was a companion of these two men. His name was John Mark. It was in his house—John Mark—where the disciples gathered in the upper room right before the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost.
And Mark got his teachings—his gospel—he got his gospel, which is the shortest one of the four—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—he got his words from Peter. So what Mark records—everything Peter dictated to him—things Peter remembered about the life of Jesus.
He had conversations with Peter and took those conversations and recorded. Consequently—you know—Peter probably did have a lot to say because Mark is the shortest in his gospel. Mark wastes no time.
He recorded a conversation or a teaching Jesus had with a large number of people. The crowd was so great—another writer tells us, Matthew—that the crowd was so great that Jesus had to get away from the crowd, got in a small boat, pushed off the shore, and sat on a boat and gave this teaching.
I want to read you what Jesus shared with these people as He was sitting on this boat.
The Parable of the Sower
Mark tells us—Mark chapter 4, beginning in verse 1. I’m gonna read to verse 17: Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around Him was so large that He got into a boat and sat in it on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge.
And He taught them many things by parables. In His teaching He said, «Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew, and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.»
Then Jesus said, «Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.»
And when He was alone, the Twelve and the others around Him asked Him about the parable. And He told them, «The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that,» and He quotes from the book of Isaiah, «they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!»
Then Jesus said to them, «Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time—somebody say no root. Somebody say no root. That is called shallow—no teaching, no understanding, no revelation.
But since they have no root, they last only a short time. Watch this next sentence—if we got to finish right here—when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Father, add a blessing now to the preaching of Your word. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
Trouble Is Inevitable
Thank you so much, worship team. Thank You, volunteers. Thank you, everyone. I see so many of you just sitting up attentively, listening to me right now. And I just pray a spirit of revelation fall on your heart and your mind right now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to talk to you seriously this morning. I may not even raise my voice. You know, the longer you live—and I’m 38 years old now at the time of this recording—you know, there are a lot of people who are much younger than me—twenties, teenagers—who are really excited about, you know, life and plans and everything else.
Look at me—but for those of us who are a little bit older, we’ve been alive longer than five minutes. If you’ve lived longer than five minutes, you have this testimony: that no matter how much money you make, no matter how many degrees you amass, no matter what type of house you live in, no matter what career you put together, no matter how beautiful your face is, no matter how many followers you have on Instagram, no matter how many albums or songs you write, no matter how many things you try to do that seem good—those of us who have been alive longer than five minutes have this testimony: trouble will come for you.
Because I know what it is—and some of us who are a little bit older know what it is—to be enjoying a season of sunshine, and then out of nowhere a storm comes up out of the ground, out of the air. Things could be going good for a season—it could be going good for a couple months—and out of nowhere a doctor’s report comes, or a loss of a job, or a loved one calls, or something happens that was unexpected, or something you didn’t plan for.
Because the truth of the matter, my brothers and sisters, is that trouble is inevitable. And the longer you live, the more you will realize that you cannot avoid trouble. Trouble will come for every single person—no matter who they are.
And it does not matter where I live. I could put myself in a gold mausoleum in New York City. I could be the 45th President of the United States—trouble will come for me. And no matter how much I try to bunker myself away from trouble, trouble will find you.
Trouble is inevitable in this life. There is no one who will go through this life and not experience some form of trouble. Can I get an Amen from anybody who’s ever experienced trouble, right?
And if you’ve never experienced trouble—if your world has never been shaken by a storm, if you’ve never been rocked by something you did not expect—and you just keep on living, you’ll just keep on getting up, and you just keep on smiling—you better enjoy that sunshine, because I assure you—as sure as the sun is shining right now—trouble is gonna find you.
Because if you look back over your life, you will find that our seasons are in rhythms of enjoying sunshine, going through storms, and coming back to sunshine—enjoying sunshine, going through storms, and coming back to sunshine. Trouble is inevitable.
Jesus Teaches About Trouble
Okay, now Jesus talks about trouble in this parable. And Jesus was a master teacher. When He first started His ministry, He was preaching plain revelation for people to understand. When people began to reject His teaching, He pronounced a judgment on them by preaching everything in parables.
He did that on purpose—for people who were trampling His message would not take it for granted. That’s why He said they will hear and not understand. They will see and not perceive. Why would Jesus teach for people not to understand? Because you wouldn’t listen to what I had to say when it was plain to you. Now I’m gonna give it to you in parables—as a judgment. Now you figure it out for yourself.
Because God didn’t come to build a nation. Jesus came to build a kingdom. And so what He wanted to do was take eternal truths and heavenly truths and package them in timeless stories—that if we dig into those stories, we find the revelation of the kingdom.
The kingdom must be understood through the teachings of Jesus. And so now He just starts teaching in parables towards the end of His ministry—but with the hope that if you really want to understand what He was saying, you will have to dig.
And notice that the people probably didn’t understand what He was saying. And then privately His disciples came to Him: „Tell us the parable of the sower.“
Okay, now listen—He goes on to talk to them about a farmer who goes out to sow. And the farmer is anyone who casts seed—or anyone who preaches the Word of God. It can be at my job. It could be in the bathroom. It could be in church.
And He talks about these four different types of ground, right? These four different types of ground represent the hearts of men. Everyone in this room is a ground. Everyone watching me on podcast right now is a ground. Everyone listening to me on podcast is a ground. All of our hearts are ground.
And so He says a farmer goes out to sow. So He says every time the Word of God is scattered—every time the Word of God is preached—that’s like seed that falls on all these different grounds. And some ground receives it differently than other types of grounds.
He said one ground—as soon as they hear the Word of God—immediately Satan comes and takes it. That’s like me preaching the gospel to you right now. As soon as I pray „Amen,“ you don’t even get to the lobby—but you already forgot everything that was said. You never even come back to meditate on that word. And automatically the devil comes and takes that word.
And He goes on to talk about these different grounds. Three grounds didn’t receive. One ground hears the Word of God, and it bears fruit, right?
But in that account, there was something very tragic in that account. And me as a pastor—this is one of the most tragic things that I see happen, especially in Christendom.
He talks about a type of ground that receives the word and they run with the word for a time—for a time. Watch—and then when trouble comes or persecution comes, that person abandons or falls away.
If you like, so shoot me—they hit unfollow from Jesus, right?
Hitting Unfollow
Some of you—you’ve done this. When you get fed up with people on your social media feed—you can’t take them anymore—you go through your Instagram: come on, come on, come on—you hit „unfollow,“ right? „I don’t want to hear about this no more—unfollow.“
And He says there’s a type of ground in which people receive the word for a time, and then when trouble comes, they hit unfollow.
This is like the sister who hears the preaching of God’s Word—maybe she walks into our—let’s give her a name—Tawana, right? Tawana—who walks into our—she hears the Word of God. She—she—she—she comes. She gives her life to Christ. And Chi—Chi—she’s saved now, right? She’s saved.
So we think—we don’t know what was going on in her heart. We don’t know what she was saying right there. And all of a sudden—click—she jumps on a team. And now she’s serving on a team. And she’s excited about Jesus. She gets in a small group. And she’s reading her Bible. And she’s excited about Jesus.
And—and—and—she’s loving the Lord. And the sky is blue, and the trees are really green. And she’s doing good for about six or seven months. Man, she’s really excited to watch an article—she’s posting all over her social media, right? „I’m a Proverbs 31 woman.“ And „Jesus is my husband.“ And „He’s my Boaz until my real Boaz comes.“ And every two Scriptures—and every post is Scriptures. It’s all about God.
And now people are watching her like, „Man, what happened to her? She’s changed. She’s a brand new woman. Man, something dope is happening in her life. This is so awesome.“
And then we get word that she lost her job. And then we get word that she got a doctor’s report that she’s sick in her body. Now all of a sudden her social media goes dark. She’s not posting anymore. We can’t find that anymore.
Now the next time we find her—she’s turning up real hardcore. Man, she’s getting twisted every day. She’s getting high every day. She’s not posting about Jesus anymore. Man, we can’t find her in church anymore. She disappears from the team.
Everybody who was following her—inspired for just a moment—man, they’re wondering what happened. All of a sudden now she’s gone. She went back into the world like Demas. And we can’t even get her into the doors of a Christian gathering.
And then we’re scratching our heads: „What happened to sister—?“ This is a tragic reality that happens so often in the body of Christ—that we see people who seem to be on fire for a season, and all of a sudden they hit unfollow.
I said, „Well, how could somebody just unfollow?“ Well, you know—this largely is propagated by three things.
Reasons People Fall Away
Number one: the preaching of false gospels. Because there’s so much preaching: „Come to Jesus for a house. Come to Jesus for a blessing.“ And there’s a lot of people giving out false promises: „Come to Jesus for a safe trip, a good flight—everything that you can get.“ You know how this goes down, right? „Come to Jesus for these blessings.“
And so we have people who come to Jesus with preconceived notions of blessings—with no truth about the promise of tribulation. And so they come to Jesus for the wrong reason. They are loving Him while He’s blessing them. And then when the first sign of trouble comes, they bail, right?
This also happens when people struggle to reconcile following Jesus with hardship. That there are some people—we come to follow Jesus, and we’re loving Jesus, and we thought that if we follow Jesus, life will be perfect. And then when hardship comes, we have trouble in our mind.
And I’m helping some of you right now—because there’s some new believers in this room. You’re enjoying Jesus right now—but a storm is coming. And so some of us—we have trouble reconciling following Jesus with hardship. It’s a dichotomy in our mind that we can’t figure out.
„This—how can someone preach to me a loving God, and then I get a doctor’s report? How does that work? Well, if He doesn’t heal me, I’m not gonna follow. And if He doesn’t do this, I’m not gonna follow. And if He’s not gonna be my genie, I’m not gonna follow.“
And so some of us—we have trouble reconciling Jesus with hardship, right?
Another reason is that we have self-professing followers who are void of perseverance—void of perseverance. That, man, they have strength to shout in the gathering but don’t have strength to endure trouble. And so when trouble comes—sadly—they fall away.
Now this is tragic when it happens in the body of Christ—because to walk away from Jesus is to walk away from eternal destiny—to walk away from eternal life. This is a tragic thing when it happens all the time.
And my brothers and sisters, I want to say to you clearly—let me lay this on the table right now, okay? Let me just put this out there for everybody watching—everyone understand. Let me destroy all these lies, okay?
Jesus—out of His own mouth—said, „In this life you will have trouble.“ Okay? Let me just put this out there. Jesus said, „In this life you will have trouble.“
If you hear any gospel that promises you a life of blessing free from trouble—that is a false teaching. Because Jesus—out of His own mouth—said you will have trouble.
But Jesus was not only the person who said you will have trouble—but Jesus also fully committed Himself to walk with you through trouble. Somebody can say Amen about that—that Jesus fully committed to walk with you through trouble.
The Good Shepherd
Now Jesus on one occasion was talking to a group of Pharisees—religious people who were His biggest enemies. Consequently—I just wanna throw this out there—Jesus' biggest enemies were not sinners. They were all He mad at—Jay-Z? His biggest enemies were not sin and sorrow. His biggest enemies were religious people full of pride who tried to tell Him what He can do and cannot do.
Sometimes the most hateful and destructive people to the kingdom are not the rappers—and it’s not people outside—like His people in the kingdom who are super religious and make it hard for other people to come in.
And sit there and look at me with your face twisted all you want—it’s the truth. We sometimes make it hard for people to come in.
Jesus one time was talking to a group—and He was making a case that He is a loving Shepherd and He cares for His people, right? And He said this in John chapter 10.
Jesus said this in John chapter 10, verse 11: This is what Jesus said—He said, „I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.“
Now He’s talking to a Jewish audience when He says this: „I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.“
Now stop at this passage very carefully. Notice He didn’t say, „I am a shepherd.“ He said, „I am the shepherd.“ „I am the Good Shepherd.“
This „the“ right here is a definitive article—that means no other. This „good“ right here is a definitive article—that means no other. That there is no other shepherd but Me that is good. „I am the Good Shepherd"—definitive article.
Now talking to a Jewish audience—that would have stirred up something in them. They didn’t have the New Testament at that time, but they did have the Old Testament.
And talking to a Jewish audience—if Jesus would have said, «I am the Good Shepherd"—automatically it would have stirred up in them a remembrance of the Old Testament—of the one place where the Scriptures talked about a master Shepherd.
And so in this moment, Jesus was not only making a claim to be the Good Shepherd—but He was also tying Himself to the Word of God. Because what He was—the embodiment of the Word of God.
John said, «In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.» At verse 14: «And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.»
So when Jesus said, «I am the Good Shepherd,» He was tying Himself to the Old Testament Scriptures—tying Himself to the Word of God.
And if we were Jews, immediately something would come up in our mind: «That shepherd—what was He tying Himself to?»
Well, there was a young man named David—the second king of Israel. And Scripture tells us that David recorded one of the most beloved passages of Scripture ever recorded in the Scriptures.
Some theologians believe he wrote this on the same field of grass where a thousand years later angels would announce the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
David is sitting down one day and thinking about how God has been leading his life and loving his life. And as he’s meditating on the goodness of God—how God has led him so faithfully—we not show up—he wrote in his young age.
But he’s sitting down somewhere, and he’s meditating on the goodness of God. I love this—David thinking about the Shepherd that has been leading his life—God Almighty, Yahweh, Jehovah God. He’s meditating on that God.
And he will sit down and write something that’s become so timeless—that’s one of the most famous passages of Scripture in the entire Bible.
He sits down—he takes a pen and he takes a pad—and he records what has been known as Psalm 23.
And from the New King James, David says: «The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.»
Forever. Forever.
The most famous—the most recognized psalm ever recorded. David sat down and wrote that when he thought about how God would lead his life.
And if you study the Scriptures carefully—you throw on your ghetto theology—you know that when Jesus said, «I am the Good Shepherd,» He was tying Himself to the Scriptures.
And so what we have in Psalm 23 is not only a record of how God led David’s life—but we have a prophecy of how Jesus leads His people.
Why? Because Jesus had always existed. He’s not a created being—He always was. «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.»
And so when we hold the Word, we hold Jesus. And so when we read Psalm 23, we’re not only reading the account of how God led David’s life—we’re reading a prophecy about how Jesus leads His people.
Because He always existed—Mary just gave Him a body. He always existed—Mary just gave Him a body, a suit for Him to walk around and touch you and I.
And so when we pick up the Word of God and we come to Psalm 23, we’re not only reading the account of a man who was led by God—we’re reading an account of how Jesus leads His people—even through trouble.
Unpacking Psalm 23
So if we’re gonna unpack this psalm really quick—six verses—can I unpack it for you?
Verse one: «The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.»
What does the psalmist do here? He makes an identification that establishes the roles in the relationship. Not «your Lord"—you’re not Lord. I’m not Lord. He said, «The Lord is my shepherd.»
The word «the"—definitive—the only thing I’m gonna follow. «The Lord» means Master. «The Lord is my shepherd.»
A shepherd was responsible for leading what? Sheep. Sheep are notoriously stupid animals—this is a scientific fact. Sheep are notoriously stupid animals. Watch—they need guidance.
Notice the two things you’re called in the Word of God: you’re called sheep. You’re called a child. You’re never called an adult. So we need to stop smelling ourselves.
The only thing God calls you in the Bible is a sheep—you need guidance—and a child. Stay humble. I don’t care how big your church is, how many degrees you’ve got—you’re a child and you’re a sheep.
«The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.»
So he makes an identification with the Lord—watch—that establishes the roles of the relationship. He establishes God as Master and Leader. He establishes himself as submitted follower.
«The Lord is my shepherd"—my shepherd. He says, «I shall not want.»
So now he establishes all-sufficiency in God—that in the Lord I have everything that I need. And if I don’t have it, I either don’t need it at this time or it’s not necessary for me to fulfill what God is calling me to do.
Never am I promised my wants—but I am promised I will have everything that I need. And if I’m living under a bridge and I have Jesus, I have everything that I need.
Because we think that I need this house, so I need this car, I need this platform—and God will come and touch that to show you He’s all that you need.
So he says, «The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,» right? So he establishes sufficiency in God—that in my Lord I have everything that I need. If I lose everything else—as long as I have my Lord—I am sustained. «I shall not want.»
«He makes me to lie down"—look at this passage carefully—"He makes me to lie down in green pastures.»
A pasture is a place where sheep are fed—where they get nourishment, where they can grow. So pastures are places that Jesus will lead us to where we can grow and be nourished and be fed.
A church might be a pasture. A season might be a pasture. A place might be a pasture. It is a place where Jesus leads us to—where in that place we can be nourished, grow, and fed.
But some of us don’t have the common sense or the discernment to realize we’re standing in a pasture. So in His love, He’ll make you lie down there: «No, you belong at Victory. Stay there. This is a pasture for you. I’m gonna grow you here.»
But «I like that other church.» «No, I’m gonna make you lie down here. This is a pasture.»
But «Does it look like—?» I said lie down—because sometimes as sheep we don’t have enough discernment to realize what’s a pasture.
Our relationship can be a pasture. You could come into a relationship God intends to feed you through that relationship—but we’re so frivolous, we just cast off relationships like they don’t matter—how hard they are to build, how easily we just throw them away. Foolish.
So because He’s loving—watch—and because He knows better than us—sometimes we could be standing in a pasture meant for us to be nourished and fed—we won’t even realize, «I’m in the right place.»
Somebody shout, «I’m in the right place!» Somebody shout, «I’m in the right place!»
But sometimes we don’t know that—so He has to make you lie down there because «I’m gonna feed you and nourish you here.»
«He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.»
These still waters represent times and seasons of peace. In fact, this word «still"—the Hebrew word here «still» means washes—it means rest and security.
That as you follow Jesus, He will absolutely lead you into places of rest and security. There’s so many people—man—you sleep but you don’t get rest. You busy but you don’t have rest. You making money but you don’t have rest.
But Jesus will lead you into places of security and rest. Man, just try this—like sometimes get up early in the morning when it’s quiet, put on some worship music, and just lay down on the floor and start meditating on Him.
And what you feel in that moment—I notice you don’t have to have everything going on right around you to be at still waters—because peace is not the absence of trouble.
Hell could be breaking out around me—but internally I’m standing by still waters. So how is it Pastor Philip is going through all of that—he’s not phased? Because my Lord is leading me by still waters.
Oftentimes we miss those places of safety and security because we’re too busy trying to tell Him where we think we should go.
The next verse says, «He restores my soul.»
The soul—I’m going somewhere with this—if you don’t realize, the soul is the seat of the mind, the will, and the emotions.
Now watch—you come packaged separated from God, but you’re born in sin. So from the time you’re born, your soul is already messed up. Don’t believe that—get around a two-year-old. Get around a three-year-old.
Get around—you know what—my kids—I got two younger kids, Josiah and Abigail. They were sitting in the backseat on the way to church this morning. You know what they were doing? Fighting.
Now we listening to music—I mean we rocking Jesus music, and we in worship—my wife and I are in the glory. And I’m like—out disturbing the glory—"Shut up!» No, I don’t say that to them. Yeah, disturbing the glory.
I was in the presence. We’re in the presence of God, and I hear rising over the presence of God: «Stop! Get off me! Leave me alone! Don’t touch me! Daddy, Josiah—» Father, at a time—and she start talking in tongues, right? Like—I don’t know what you say.
All right—no, I had to teach them to fight. Sin teaches them to fight. How disturbing the glory—I gotta preach to some of y’all disturbing my glory.
Watch—your soul comes to earth damaged because of Adam and Eve’s original sin. Your soul comes to earth damaged. And it doesn’t matter what you do outside of Jesus—you are walking around damaged.
And so when the Lord comes and He says, «Follow Me,» He begins to—one—restore my soul: my mind, my will, and my emotions.
You know—if you faithfully follow Jesus—He will renew your mind. If you faithfully follow Jesus, He will heal your heart. He will heal your soul—your mind, your will, and your emotions.
'Cause you know what—we have emotions that were not given to rule us—that were given to us to manage them. And Jesus will help you manage your crazy emotions.
Before Jesus—man—you cuss somebody out if they cut you off on 75. Philip after Jesus—He’ll say, «No, no, no, no, no, no.» He’ll calm your soul.
The fruit of the Spirit—patience. Patience. I’m from New York—I got road rage. Patience, Philip. Hey—He listen—He will—what—He will restore my soul.
«He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.»
I like Psalm 139: «All your days were already written before one of them came to be.» You know what that means? And I like Ephesians chapter 2—that God has already prepared all good works.
He has already prepared every work you’re supposed to do. The problem is not God, right? The problem is not you trying to do His will. The problem is you just discovering what God has already marked out for you.
Can you imagine if I said to you: God already planned something for where you are right now until the time He comes and gets you—doesn’t matter how old you are—He already has a path for you, right?
And He leads us in paths of righteousness—for His name’s sake.
Then as we follow Jesus—watch—it’s like—I don’t know if you know what—like it’s like—I’m from New York, so we have trains, right? And you know you’re on the train, and the train could be going on a track—and then it’ll switch rails. It’ll switch rails, and it will go onto another track to protect itself from colliding with another train.
That we will be going down one time—not knowing that we’re about to collide with something—and then Jesus—as you’re following—will change our course, right? To avoid that collision and put us on the path that we’re supposed to be.
But this path is the path of purpose—but it’s not for my glory—His glory.
The Valley of Trouble
Now watch—now you need to pay attention at this point. The one who’s following Jesus—watch—watch—at only got a couple more verses, right? I’m 1-3-3—I’m done. Watch—look at this point.
The follower of Jesus needs to trust Him unwaveringly. Watch what’s about to happen next.
At this point in the relationship—He’s restoring my soul. He’s leading me into green pastures. He’s leading me by still waters, right? He’s healing me. He’s doing a great thing in me.
Watch—remember the parable of the sower? I’m lumping on Him, and I’m enjoying Him. Man, Jesus was doing something in me—it’s beautiful. I’m lying down and being fed. I’m skipping on roses and lilies, and I’m loving Jesus.
And right at this point in the relationship—the follower needs to trust Him like they’ve never trusted Him before. Because now the relationship changes.
Because all this time He’s restoring me, healing me—I’m by still waters, I’m enjoying all—I’m following. But now I need to trust Him more than ever before—because of the next verse.
Give me the next verse—verse 4: «Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…»
Stop. «Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.»
Lord, what happened? Everything was going good for a season. Now I find myself in a valley. Lord, what happened?
And it’s at this point people hit unfollow—unfollow. Either—watch this—"I didn’t sign up for this. I signed up for You to be my genie and to make me feel awesome about myself and to give me everything I asked You for. Now You’ve led me to death.»
Because a valley is the base of a mountain. The mount is where you got saved—and now You led me down that mountain. I didn’t realize I was heading towards trouble.
«Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.»
So now David—watch this—acknowledges that following the Lord will not always be green pastures. David acknowledges that following the Lord will not always be by still waters.
Now David—a true follower—acknowledges that even as I follow the Lord, I will find myself in some valleys.
And the valley represents—what? —trouble, hardship, difficulty, persecution, trials, obstacles, setbacks, doctor’s reports, losing the child, lost the business, abandonment, betrayal, divorce—fill in the blank.
But «I was following Jesus—how could that happen to me?» And «I was following Jesus—how could He allow that to happen to me?»
Whatever—what happened? «I was following Jesus, and all of a sudden hell started breaking loose in my life.»
«Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death"—watch these words carefully. I want to pick them out.
He says, «Yea"—so I walk. You know what «I walk» is? Watch—I make a personal—watch—decision. That I’m going through this valley—that—watch—I am not going to hit unfollow. Personal decision.
So—watch—will you follow Him when they say you have cancer? Will you follow Him when you lost your job? Will you follow Him when your friends abandon you?
Because you know—you get saved, and you’re all over Facebook for a while. But when they start persecuting you and abandoning you—and they do drive-by shootings on your social media—are you still going to follow then?
What about when following is going to cost you something that you hold dearly? What about when following Him says, «Give me that relationship—He’s not the one for you.» You’re still gonna follow then?
What if He says, «I want you to give away everything right now. I want you to move to that nation.» Are you still gonna follow then?
What if He says, «I want you to stay at that church. Serve. Give your tithe faithfully—and don’t give the pastor a hard time.» You’re still gonna follow then? I’m just putting a plug for the Bible.
Are you still gonna follow when Jesus disappoints you? «But I’ve been praying for this for how long—and it hasn’t happened.» But when He hurts your feelings—are you still gonna follow when He hurts you?
He said, «Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death—though I walk.» That word «walk» means I’m gonna make a personal decision to follow.
Watch the next word: «through.» You know what that word means? Perseverance. What that rocky ground didn’t have in the parable—perseverance. That no matter what disappoints me, I will not…
He said the valley is trouble. Now watch—a valley—now if you know anything about geography—a valley is what? The space between two mountains.
This is good—the valley is the space between two mountains. And so He will lead you down a mountain into a valley—and the valley is—what? —a gap between two mountains.
How big is that valley? It’s the length of your trouble. It could be a small valley—it could be trouble for a couple weeks. It could be a long valley—it could be trouble for a season.
Like, «I’ve been dealing with this for a couple weeks.» Man, «I’ve been wrestling with this for a couple years.»
It gets foggy in that valley. It rains in that valley. There’s rocks in that valley. There’s snakes in that valley. There’s things trying to kill you in that valley.
I was making my backyard yesterday—I rose up on him. There’s things in that valley—and he was black—I rose up on him right there. Dead.
Listen—there’s all type of—it gets foggy in that valley sometimes when I can’t see clearly. But I have to keep following Jesus.
Why? Because He’s—what? —He will lead me into that valley—for what? But you don’t stay in a valley always—because the valley is the gap between—what? —two mountains.
At some point in time, you will hit the base of another mountain—and He will lead you out of that valley to another season of peace.
Like my sister Mary was in a valley for six years—of celibacy and enjoying singleness—crying out to God. He ain’t answering her prayer. She said, «Lord, I’ll do Your will.»
All of a sudden she hit the base of another mountain called Mark—and now she’s married, right?
So He leads us through the valley—watch—and listen—there’s pain in that valley.
I just want to do this—and you don’t have to tell me if you’re in a valley right now—would you just lift your hands? You’re going through any type of trouble—a valley?
But I want you to see these next words—look at it: «Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death"—watch—that valley could be as close as «I may die from this diagnosis.»
Look what he said—he said «the shadow of death.» Everybody watch—a shadow is not real. A shadow is only a personage of something that stirs up in us fear and anxiety and worry.
Now—so often we could be in valleys and worried and battling anxiety and losing sleep—when the Lord already has you covered down there in that valley.
Why? How do I know He has you covered in the valley? Watch—because there’s no such thing as a shadow without light.
The only way for a shadow to exist—there must be light somewhere. There is no shadow without light.
But because of that, David can say, «I will fear no evil.»
God’s Presence in Trouble
And it’s in the next part we see how Jesus leads us. So we see here how Jesus leads us through trouble.
I want to just show you this—and I’m going to get out of your way.
So we see Jesus says—He says, «Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me,» right?
And so we see that although we may be going through valleys, right—we may be going through trouble—we see that God is even with us in our valleys.
And you know God likes to use trouble. God does not waste experiences. And even your troubles have purposes.
He will use your trouble for your good. Like for example—God will use trouble to test our identity as followers of Jesus. He will use troubles to test our identity.
Notice the person in the parable—when trouble came—they abandoned Jesus. So He will use troubles to test our identities.
He will use troubles to test our faith in Him, right? That your valley serves a purpose.
He will use trouble to test your faith in Him—because we say we have faith, but the only way to test faith is to afflict faith.
Let me say that again—the only way to test faith is to inflict things. You have to touch faith to see if it’s genuine. So God will allow troubles to touch your faith.
In fact, the Bible says if you faint in the day of adversity—your faith is weak.
He will also use valleys to test our commitment to purpose. He will use valleys to test our commitment to purpose.
Watch—how bad do you want what I have for you? I’m almost done. How bad do you want what I have for you?
You’re not just gonna ride into the end zone—no, you’re gonna get tackled. You might fumble—are you gonna pick up the ball?
How bad do you want glory and eternity?
So He’ll use valleys to test your purpose. He’ll use valleys to test our reliance upon Him, right?
Some of us—I know you don’t want to hear this—you depend on your job. You think your job is your source. You think your career is your source. You think your six-figure salary is your source. You think your pastor is your source.
Some of us are so dependent upon people and things—the Lord will come and test that with a trial to show you who you really need to be dependent on.
Sometimes you never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.
Man—He uses trouble to shape our character. Some of us—man—God wants to do something new, so powerful—He wants to use you to touch lives, to impact people—but you add too much stink.
And so He will allow trouble to come in. Trouble like a chisel—it shapes your character.
I say, «Man, God, make me more patient.» Okay—He’s gonna put you in a situation where you’re gonna deal with people that’s gonna make you patient.
You know—"God, make me full of faith.» He don’t just give you that—He’ll put you in a circumstance to grow your faith.
Now I know—I shouldn’t have said that—you’re now gonna be afraid to pray that.
God would use trouble to get your attention. Sometimes the Lord will be trying to talk to you—but you won’t listen.
You know what’s the fastest way to get your attention? To rock you. You know why? Because when things are good, we don’t like to listen to the Lord.
You know how this goes down—He starts blessing, things are going good, and we ignore Him. We stop coming to church. «God saved—was enjoying Jesus—I’m stopped going to church. I’m gonna stop doing what I know to do because I’m well off now.»
He said He’s trying to get your attention—but we won’t listen—so He’ll rock you.
Or we start getting too prideful because of my job or my salary or my title or whatever—and He’ll rock you to humble you.
He uses these things—but I’m good. «Oh, you know—»
And you know—He’ll use trouble to teach us invaluable lessons.
David says, «I will fear no evil because You are with me.»
Listen—so that means in every trouble—and I’m closing—in every valley, the Lord says He is with you. You have His abiding presence in every trouble.
I want to say something to you—every one of you who’s in trouble—let me see your hands again, okay? Listen to me—I’m gonna challenge you: find Jesus in that trouble.
Listen—so how could He be in this? Listen to me—this is real—like we’re just having church. This is real talk, right? Find Jesus in that trouble. Find Him. Search for Him in that trouble.
Why? Because He’s with you. Isn’t that what David said? «You are with me.»
He will never leave you nor forsake you. So even going through—He’s somewhere in there.
He says, «Your rod and Your staff comfort me.»
You know—I want to begin to land the plane with this: «Your rod and Your staff comfort me.»
Listen—so a shepherd would have a rod and a staff—and that was the instruments that they used to guide the sheep, to push the sheep, to protect the sheep.
It was blunt on one end—and when a sheep wouldn’t move, it would jam that sheep, and the sheep would start moving. Or the sheep was going astray—and it had a hook on the other end—they’d throw the hook around the neck and pull the sheep back.
Rod and staff—to guide sheep and to restrain sheep and to lead sheep. That was a shepherd’s.
But what is Jesus' rod and staff right now? You study for yourself—His Word and His Spirit.
Why? Because you’re not following a physical Man who’s here. The Scripture says He’s—what? —seated at the right hand of the Father.
So the Shepherd you and I are following—His rod and staff is called His Word and His Spirit.
And He will use His Word to push you. He will use His Word to protect you. He will use His Word to guide you. He will use His Word to shape you. He will use His Word to convict you.
Listen to me—listen—because to follow Jesus now is to be obedient to His Word and His Spirit, right? That is His rod and His staff.
Is the main point of all of this: Jesus leads us through trouble with His abiding presence, the truth of His Word, and the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus will lead us through every trouble with His abiding presence. There is nothing you and I will ever go through that somewhere in His Word cannot talk to you, comfort you, shape you.
His Word is inspired—authored through 40 different men over a period of 1,500 years, living on three different continents, three different languages.
In His Word we find truth to anchor our souls in times of trouble—in the Psalms and the Proverbs, New Testament principles, Old Testament.
Some of us are going through so much trouble—and we’re looking all through our social media. And all you got to do was open God’s Word—and He will help you. He will comfort you with His Word. He will guide you with His Word. He will stop you from making a stupid decision with His Word. He will protect you from destroying your life with His Word.
His Word is your rod and staff. And His Spirit will say, «No, no, no—don’t go there. Go here.»
Are we sensitive to the Spirit? Are we listening to His Word?
And I don’t even know if I should finish—but if you want the last two verses:
«You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.»
In real ancient—you know—a table was oftentimes set up at banquets. And the oil was a sign of protection for the guests. And when the host would put oil on the guest—it was a sign that the host assumed the responsibility to protect the guests at the banquet.
He said as we follow Jesus—He oils you down. Somebody say, «I’m oily.» And that oil on you was His anointing—His seal on you—that you belong to Him and that He is protecting you.
He’ll bless you in the face of the adversary—in the face of the enemies. He will bless you in the face of those who don’t believe in you.
And I like how: «Surely Your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.»
It’s funny that as we follow Jesus—something follows us.
I follow—and give you this last point—wait—this right: the believer who follows Jesus will be well guided.
Jesus said this in John chapter 10—I’m gonna close with this verse 7: «I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers—but the sheep did not listen to them.»
Listen to them—don’t listen to the lies of the past, the lies of false teachings. Now listen to the lies of the law and bondage.
Jesus said, «I am the gate. Whoever enters through Me will be saved. He will go in and out and find pasture.»
The thief comes only to steal. «I am the Good Shepherd.»
Never leave them nor forsake them—and I will protect them. In Me they have everything that they need. I will lead them to green pastures where they will grow, be nourished. I will lead them beside still waters—even in the middle of trouble.
I will lead them from every valley with My abiding presence, the truth and the comfort of My Word, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
«I am the Good Shepherd. I lay down…»
Jesus, You are Good Shepherd. Lay down Your life for us, the sheep.
Lord, right now—there’s so many people in valleys dealing with trouble—trouble unimaginable. You have people in this room and people listening right now who are weary and tired, broken, hurting. The valley has taken a toll on them.
There are people in this room right now—people listening—who are tempted to hit unfollow.
But Lord, will You reveal Yourself to them in that valley? Will You help them know that You are present with them in that valley?
Would You even give them a revelation right now that You are using that trouble—whether they created it, the devil created it, or You allowed it—for their good and for Your glory?
Will You help us to be faithful followers who don’t just turn at the first sign of trouble? Will You deliver us from holding on to false gospels?
Jesus, will You comfort every sheep in this room who is hurting and who has tripped and fallen—who has bruised themselves down in that valley? Would You massage their pain and wrap Your arms around them?
And Jesus, I pray—as You are the Good Shepherd—if You have laid down Your life for us, the sheep You lead us through trouble—I pray there would be a reciprocation of grace—that we would lay down our lives for You.
Maybe we care about the things You care about. We be grieved about things that grieve You. Yeah, we’d be burdened for the things that burden You.
And may You help us to keep our hand on Your shoulder and our eyes fixed upon You.
Thank You for calling us to Yourself. Thank You for leading us through truth. I thank You that You lead us…
Prayer
Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd. You lay down Your life for us, the sheep.
Lord, right now there are so many people in valleys dealing with unimaginable trouble. You have people in this room and people listening right now who are weary and tired, broken and hurting. The valley has taken a toll on them.
There are people in this room right now—people listening—who are tempted to hit unfollow.
But Lord, will You reveal Yourself to them in that valley? Will You help them know that You are present with them in that valley?
Would You even give them a revelation right now that You are using that trouble—whether they created it, the devil created it, or You allowed it—for their good and for Your glory?
Will You help us to be faithful followers who don’t just turn at the first sign of trouble? Will You deliver us from holding on to false gospels?
Jesus, will You comfort every sheep in this room who is hurting and who has tripped and fallen—who has bruised themselves down in that valley? Would You massage their pain and wrap Your arms around them?
And Jesus, I pray—as You are the Good Shepherd—if You have laid down Your life for us, the sheep You lead through trouble—I pray there would be a reciprocation of grace: that we would lay down our lives for You.
May we care about the things You care about. May we be grieved about things that grieve You. May we be burdened for the things that burden You.
And may You help us to keep our hand on Your shoulder and our eyes fixed upon You.
Thank You for calling us to Yourself. Thank You for leading us through truth. Thank You that You lead us through trouble into triumph.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Lord, right now there are so many people in valleys dealing with unimaginable trouble. You have people in this room and people listening right now who are weary and tired, broken and hurting. The valley has taken a toll on them.
There are people in this room right now—people listening—who are tempted to hit unfollow.
But Lord, will You reveal Yourself to them in that valley? Will You help them know that You are present with them in that valley?
Would You even give them a revelation right now that You are using that trouble—whether they created it, the devil created it, or You allowed it—for their good and for Your glory?
Will You help us to be faithful followers who don’t just turn at the first sign of trouble? Will You deliver us from holding on to false gospels?
Jesus, will You comfort every sheep in this room who is hurting and who has tripped and fallen—who has bruised themselves down in that valley? Would You massage their pain and wrap Your arms around them?
And Jesus, I pray—as You are the Good Shepherd—if You have laid down Your life for us, the sheep You lead through trouble—I pray there would be a reciprocation of grace: that we would lay down our lives for You.
May we care about the things You care about. May we be grieved about things that grieve You. May we be burdened for the things that burden You.
And may You help us to keep our hand on Your shoulder and our eyes fixed upon You.
Thank You for calling us to Yourself. Thank You for leading us through truth. Thank You that You lead us through trouble into triumph.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.