Steven Furtick - What Will You Do Next?
This is an excerpt from: What Comes After
"But God…" Don't tell me you don't know how to fight the Devil this week, and don't tell me you don't have any weapons. You don't need a big one if it's loaded. That is a loaded statement, because that but God… Anything. Loneliness. "I feel alone". I know you do, but God is with me. And if God is with me, he's going to bring everything I need. I can't do it, but God is in me. But God's Spirit… Peter couldn't preach until the Spirit came. It was what came after.
I declare a shift in your life. I declare a shift in your self-image. I declare a shift in your insecurities. I declare a shift in your adversity. I declare a shift in your perspective. You cannot change the past, but God can change your perspective. "You tried to harm me. It came to harm me. I even harmed myself". The word harm… It says, "Harm". Can I change it? I don't want to erase it, but can I change it? I can't erase it. It's up there. Can I change it? Of course you can…by what comes after. I feel like David Blaine up here, y'all. That was magic. How we took something so ugly… What came after? Three letters. Three days. "You killed the author. You killed the composer, but it didn't stop the symphony".
God is the one who brings it all into harmony. Harmony. That's a musical term. Holly has a book club, but I have a songwriting team. Harmony. The author, the composer… They get to write the notes, see. Y'all, I don't play piano. I play guitar pretty good, not as good as Joey. Who does play guitar as good as Joey? But I'll tell you right now I know how to find middle C on this piano. I wanted to show you what Joseph meant when he said, "You meant to harm me, but God used all of it to bring us to this moment". I will not let what happened before regulate what I believe God for going forward. I use that as an illustration, church, just to talk to you about the fact that this note, this single note in isolation… Is it a good note? Anybody who thinks it's a good note, make some noise for middle C. Or is it a bad note? Everybody who thinks it's a bad note, make some noise. "Boo, middle C".
Come on. You know intuitively what I'm trying to teach you. You know intuitively what Miles Davis said. He said, "It is not the note you play that is wrong. It is the next note you play that makes it wrong or right". There's nothing wrong with that note. There's nothing right with that note. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it neither? It's neither until I hear what comes after. Bad note. Same note. Next note. Not a bad note, but it's a dissonant note because the interval is dissonant. There's nothing wrong with this note. Don't start running around all of your pianos in your house and taking out middle C. "Oh, it's a bad note".
This is what we want to do. Something happens in our life. "I've got to get rid of that stress. I've got to get rid of that challenge. I've got to get rid of that thing. This is bad. This is horrible". No, no, no. You don't know yet until you hear… It sounds like Jaws in here right now. God brought us here to talk about your next note, because you can't control so much of what happens. You can't erase what you did. Peter said, "You killed the author, but God…" Do you really think anything you've done is greater than who God is? Do you really think any mistake you've made is greater than who God is? Joseph said, "You meant to harm me, but God who works all things together for his good will take what was meant to harm me and bring it into harmony".
Next note. It's your next note that God wants to speak about. That sounds good. Middle C has been redeemed. All I had to do was put it with F. That interval is called a perfect fourth. English, music theory, therapy… Y'all ought to start paying me. When I put that together… We could do a lot with that. "This is my story…" It's the same note I started with and did this to you, but where I took it next… What is your next note? Or are you going to stay stuck on middle C forever? Now we need a next note. "This is my story…" Within a story. God is the author. The Devil is a liar. He is defeated. He killed the author, but God has raised him. Oh, what's your next note going to be? "This is my story…" The Devil is not the author. You're not the author. God is the author. Don't you want to see what's on the other side of this but? Or are you going to die at the comma? Are you going to die at the gate? Are you going to die in the disappointment?
Yes, people broke your heart. That's what brokenhearted people do. They meant to harm you, but God… What is your next note? God says you get to choose. "Are you going to play the one I wrote for you? Are you going to play the one I destined for you? Are you going to play the one I created you for so that you have a story"? You could be telling a different story this time next year. It's about the next note. Come off that cross. Come out of that grave. Come out of that failure. Repent and turn to the Lord. He brought you here for this moment to tell you he is the author and the finisher, and the next note is yours to sing. "Amazing grace…" See? "…how sweet…" No. No. "Amazing grace…" It's your note. "…how sweet the sound that saved…" Next note. "…a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now…" Next note. "…I'm found, was blind…" Next note. "…but now I see". Come on. Let's keep going. What's your next note? I know mine.
Praise God, praise God, praise God, praise God, Praise God, praise God, praise God… I can't sing it for you. You have to open your mouth and let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise God, praise God, praise God, praise God, Praise God, praise God, praise God. It's the next note. You shall live and not die. God kept you alive for a reason. It's the next note. That's what the Devil is fighting you over: what comes after the comma. It is your next note. What will it be? I know what mine is. I thought about giving up. I thought about quitting. I thought about throwing in the towel. I thought I wouldn't make it. I thought I wasn't worthy. I thought he couldn't forgive me. I thought I couldn't do it. I thought my best was behind me until I found out what my next note needed to be.