Steven Furtick - It's The Motion That Matters
Come on clap those hands if you're thankful. Let's do something real quick. Let's fill the place with praise, with our testimony. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Turn around and tell about three people something God has done for you, just something you're thankful for today. It can be as simple as, "He woke me up". It can be as deep as, "He gave me peace". Put it in the chat. Just about two or three things to be thankful for. It shouldn't be hard. "Breath in my lungs". I have two or three things to be thankful for. "Clothed and in my right mind". I have two or three things to be thankful for. "Goodness and mercy". I have two or three things. "He forgave my past, and he's already in my future". I have two or three things.
If there's anything you want to accomplish during this multitasking testimony service and you are single and they are too, just reach around and say, "I'm thankful they seated us next to one another today. I'm just grateful I get to be in proximity to your anointing". How many are grateful to be in the house of the Lord? Let me see how many of you grew up with the King James Bible. "I was glad when they said unto me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'" It's a beautiful thing when you want to be here. I don't know if that's the case for you or not today, but somebody wanted to be here and couldn't be here, so I think all of us who can be here ought to thank God that he kept us another day. Hey, Doe, it's so good to have you. Congratulations on your marriage. This is kind of funny.
I just thought of this. The last time I saw Doe, she and Josh and I went over in a writing room one afternoon. We wrote that song "New Thing Coming". The next time I heard her name, she was getting married. So, when she said, "I've got a new thing coming…" You meant that thing. "I've got a new thing coming. I mean that thing". Maybe that could be my New Year's sermon. "I mean that thing". Oh, I see so many beautiful LOVE Week tee shirts. I see a Metallica tee shirt. I see a Panthers tee shirt. I see a Whitney tee shirt. Do you even know three Whitney songs? Okay. She's nodding her head vociferously. I believe you then. I personally am so grateful to get to pastor a church where our generosity is legendary in our city.
I know a lot of people will say different things about me and whether my jeans are too tight or too baggy or things like that, and that's fine, but one thing they can never question about this church is your heart for the hurting to help people, and that's awesome. I know a lot of people like to argue about who believes the right thing, and this and that, but when we get out there and show the love of Jesus, it kind of silences all of that and puts it in action. I bring greetings to all of our locations, our eFam around the world. Let's welcome our eFam joining us online. Let us know where you're joining from.
Now I get to serve you the Word of God. I'm excited, and you will be too. I'm only going to read one verse before I seat you this week, so your feet will thank me. I didn't say I'm only going to preach one verse. I'm going to read one, sit you down, and then we'll talk about two times in the Bible that it was illustrated. I think to see an illustration of faith is what we all want, not just to have somebody tell us, "Hey, you should trust God" or "Hey, it's going to be all right". You're like, "How do you know that? You've never been through what I've been through". The Bible gave us all of these case studies. We can always find somebody in the Bible who went through something worse than we're going through, and God did something amazing for them. We hitch our faith to this.
So, that's what we want to do today: hitch our faith to two heroes in the Bible. I'll tell you about that in a moment, but first, let me give you a verse. In 2 Corinthians 5:7 (I'm using the English Standard Version for a little bit more literal translation this week, just for accuracy's sake), Paul says parenthetically, in talking about life and death and the tent of our mortal body and the immortality of the eternity that is in our hearts… He says, parenthetically, eight words that are very, very salient. Listen to this. "…for we walk by faith, not by sight". It's only eight words. I'll say it again. "…for we walk by faith, not by sight".
Now touch your neighbor and give them my title. Say, "Neighbor, it's the motion that matters". We had a special event at the church where pastors were able to come and bring their teams, and there was a breakout session just for church planters, people who were in the first six to eight months of their church. We opened up the microphone for question and answer, which is always risky, but it was a good group. I was feeling anointed, and I was feeling a flow. I said, "Ask me anything". Well, one guy asked a great question. I don't remember where he was from, but I remember he said, "At four months in, what do you think is the most important skill you need at this stage"?
Again, this was several years into our church. I don't remember how many, but he thought I was a professional or something like that. He said, "At this stage, what do you think is the most important skill you need"? I said, "Four months in. Most important skill". I love these opportunities just to see what the Holy Spirit will bring up to help somebody. I try to see who's in front of me and discern what God wants me to say. My first thought was to go technical. "You need good children's ministry and good procedures for accountability, and you need to pray". I thought of all of the spiritual and practical. Then it came to me just like this, and it came out of me like this. I said, "I think the most important skill for this stage is learning to step out in faith, because there are going to be so many things you are going to have to do".
Then I started giving him examples, like when we cleared out our bank account in order to give. One time, we gave the offering away instead of taking the offering. We told people to go be a blessing in their community. So I told him about that. I told him about the egg drop when we dropped all of these Easter eggs out of a helicopter two months into the church and gave away Xboxes and trusted God that nobody would end up on the news fighting over the Xbox. And they didn't. So I said, "You've got to step out in faith".
I just kept listing, like I was going through a highlight reel, all of the times I stepped out in faith. Well, I can't say God stopped me, but something stopped me on the inside. I looked at that guy, and something on the inside of me said, "If you want to keep impressing him, keep going. You have stepped out in faith, and more than you, your wife, your team, and this church have stepped out in faith over and over again. But if you really want to help this guy and not just impress him, I want you to stop right now listing how you stepped out in faith and tell him what the real most important skill is. Tell him how to step out in doubt. You keep telling him what you did and what God did because you did what you did, but he needs to know some of what you felt while you did what you did so God could do what only he could do".
So, I shifted my answer in the middle. I said, "And all of that is wonderful". He didn't even know I didn't plan this pivot, but I didn't. I just stopped right in the middle. I said, "But even more importantly than those times where you're going to feel an amazing sense of courage and confidence that 'Thus saith the Lord…' 'We're taking this mountain. We're taking this city. We're going to serve a hundred thousand hours to our community in LOVE Week.' I want to tell you about some times where I had to have LOVE Week but I felt hateful. I felt hateful because I had some people saying things about me that weren't true. I had to stand up and preach love when I felt hate. So, maybe the most important skill isn't just stepping out in faith but to learn to step out in doubt".
Now, I almost called this sermon that: "Step Out in Doubt". "How to Step Out in Doubt". But I know how religious you are, and you would say unto me, "But James 1:5-7 says, 'Let him who asks ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is a double-minded man, unstable in all of his ways, like a wave tossed to and fro. Let not that man think he should receive anything…'" Why do you only talk in King James when you're arguing with preachers, by the way? "Let not that man think he should receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man".
I love that Scripture. I believe that Scripture, yet I think, a lot of times, when we see an example of great faith, it is just as important for us to realize that wherever there was the demonstration of great faith, it was on the other side of strong doubt. Anybody who stepped out in faith… By the way, that is not a term in the Bible. I mean, it's a concept in the Bible. It just said we walk by faith. I just read it to you. But it doesn't necessarily negate the flip side of faith for you to walk in it. That is what I hope to show you a little bit today, just a skill I want to give you for your life.
I know you're trying to figure out, "What is the most important skill for raising a 2-year-old? What is the most important skill at this stage of my life"? Some of you would even say, "And you don't even know, because I'm 62, and you're not". I would suggest that whether 62 or 16, a 4-month-old church or a 40-year-old church, the most important skill you will build in your life is the ability to step out not only when the feeling of faith makes it convenient but when the conviction of faith makes it necessary even though the convenience is nowhere to be seen.
Now, I am a skeptic. My kids will tell you, when they tell me anything, I always say, "What's your source"? They will tell me the craziest stuff at the dinner table. They will tell me the craziest stuff about politics. They will tell me the craziest thing about my own staff that they heard. They will tell me the craziest thing about what's going on in the larger world of… I don't know. They talk about everything from eyeliner to steroids at my dinner table. "Did you know steroids are good for you"? I'm like, "Where did you see that"?
The other day, Graham said the most outrageous thing. He said, "Dad…" And he said it like a fact, just a flat fact. Boom! And he just dropped it. I said, "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. That's not true". He said, "Yes, it is". I said, "No, it's not". And it wasn't like a disrespectful thing. We were kind of playing. He looked back at me and said, "Yes, it is true". I said, "It can't be true". He said, "Yes, it is. I saw a thing". "Oh! Oh! You saw a thing. Oh, well, now it's definitely true, because you saw a thing". "Son, I know you saw a thing, but before I'm going to believe a thing, you've got to source the thing you saw if you want me to believe it".
I'm going to give you three points at the very beginning of this message. This is not the message; these are just the points that will build the message that will get to the point of the message. Write them down. They all start with the letter B. If you are wavering today, and if you are wondering today if you can make it to the other side, there are three things happening at all times. First, you behold. Secondly, you believe. Thirdly, you behave. We behold. We believe. We behave. We behold. We see a thing. Graham said, "I saw a thing".
We have never lived in a time where you see more stuff. I see a thing, I believe a thing, and I behave a way. I see a thing… I don't even know right now if anything I see… I used to say, "I'll have to see it to believe it". Now I have to see it and verify it. I don't even know if the trees that were in my backyard this morning are AI right now. I don't know. They look pretty real. Put my hand through the tree to see if it's real. "Is this a simulation"? I don't know. I don't know if they really said that. I get these clips. People want to show me stuff all the time. "Look at what this political candidate said".
I Google one time and find out they didn't say any of that. They made the voice sound just like the lips move. I'll just be honest with y'all. It's a weird time to do this, to talk to y'all, because they can show you stuff I said that I didn't say or slice what I do say until it's not what I said. So, people will want to come up to me… "Oh, did you hear what they said? Did you see what they did? Did you hear it? Did you see it"? I've learned to tell my kids, "I don't want to see it unless you can source it".
Now, this is the kind of preaching that I notice nobody shouts about, because we want God to set us free of everything but our gossip, everything but our slander. We want God to give us peace, but we don't want him to meddle with any of the processes that are making us anxious. I am trying to say that sometimes you see a thing… Graham said, "I saw a thing". I'm not doubting that you saw a thing, but for you to just see a thing and believe a thing is immature. For you to just see a thing and believe it is to put too much confidence in your senses. Your senses are not your sensei when it comes to this fight of faith; the Spirit is. There is coming a time in your life where you are going to have to get to the root, in a season of your life, for the challenges you face, for the responsibilities you carry… I have to calm down.
I get excited because I see how it all works now. I realized that some of the things that are a problem in my behavior are a problem in my belief. But before I believed a thing, I had to see a thing. If I behold a thing and believe a thing, I will behave a way. Some of us hate the way we behave, but we will not change what we behold. So, I behold. I saw a thing. I believed a thing. I didn't even check it out to see if it was real. Then I behave a way. So, now I have seen so many things, making me think that person is my enemy because they're of a different political persuasion, and I have beheld enough of that information and data in my phone that now I behave in a way that is completely contrary to the character of Christ who is bigger than either political party, but I can't believe that because I don't behold that.
Do you really believe we walk by faith not by sight? That means faith is not primarily a feeling. That means faith, biblical faith… I'm not talking about manifesting your dream job, dream car, dream house, or dream beach. "I'm going to manifest my island". Well, I don't want to have to staff an island, so I'm not manifesting that. Okay? I can barely keep my bed made in my house. But biblical faith, whose object is Jesus and the finished work he did on the cross and his resurrection from the dead…that kind of faith, faith in Jesus and what he has done.
We walk by faith, the kind Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians, chapter 5. I'm about to show you Moses and Peter, two leaders who both needed to step out in doubt with no feeling of faith. Can you do that? Can I do that? Do I still do it or did I just do it when the church was young and I was 26 with nothing to lose? These are the things that have been challenging me. Faith is not a feeling; it's a behavior. This is the best news I've ever given you. What it means is you can be at an emotional low and a faith high. What it means is all of the people who say, "Well, you shouldn't doubt or think that or ever deal with that or struggle with that if you really knew Jesus…"
It means, from now on, you get to take them to 2 Corinthians 5:7 and say, "My faith is not about what I feel; it is about the way I behave". I do not mean that if you don't behave correctly, you don't have faith. What I mean is it's the motion that matters. Let me show you what I'm talking about. In Exodus, chapter 14, there is a Bible story that I have come to really, really love. It is called the parting of the Red Sea. Of course, that's only what you call it if you fast-forward to the part where it parted. We love the part where it parted. Just a sidenote. Don't you love the part where it parts, the part where God did it?
I told a songwriting room the other day, "Y'all, I don't know if we can put oceans splitting or mountains moving in any more songs. I think we've found every way to say that we can". You know, it's powerful for a reason. Everybody has one of those. Well, this is the part in Exodus, chapter 14, that I think is kind of funny. I'm going to use Exodus 14 and Matthew 14 to remind you today that it's the motion that matters. You did the exact right thing by getting into your car and spending your expensive gas money to get to this church on this day at this location, because it's the motion that matters.
Listen to me. I don't care if y'all fought all the way here and cussed them out in biblical Koine Greek. You did the right thing to drag your cussing tongue into this room so you can have these ears sanctified by the Word of God so you can cut your cussing in half by the time you get back next week. It's the motion that matters. Don't judge where I am if you don't know where I started from. You don't have a frame of reference for how hard this is for me. It's the motion that matters. They've come a long way.
Moses and the children of Israel have been through so much. Unimaginable. A 430-year cry to God that seemed unanswered, but "not now" is not "no". At the appointed time, God sent a deliverer named Moses, who himself was pretty old. He taught the most important skill for this stage of life in old age. Moses said, "I can't speak well, and I can't do it. I killed an Egyptian. How will I go to Pharaoh who's an Egyptian and say, 'Let the people go'? What if they don't believe me? I'm not a motivational speaker".
Moses, the non-motivational speaker, ends up with the most important message of all time because he stepped out in doubt. Prove me otherwise. Quote every Scripture you want at me. One of the greatest leaders God used told God he couldn't do it and then did it. And then did it! Well, he did all he could do. He put some plagues on the people. He even got the Egyptians to give plunder to the Israelites so they would not leave empty-handed. Now with the wealth of an entire nation on their backs, the children of Israel, two million strong, are marching…boldly, the Bible says…out of Egypt. Now here comes the part that I think is kind of funny. I think this happens in our lives.
Verse 10: "When Pharaoh drew near…" Pharaoh is the enemy they just left that they thought they were free from, but they weren't quite yet. But they thought they were. They're in motion, and then all of a sudden, Pharaoh… The Bible gives an exact number. It says 600 chariots and his best fighting men are now chasing them down, because not only have they lost their labor but they've given up their wealth. So Pharaoh drew near. "…the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold…" They saw something. They saw a thing. They saw a thing they thought they had just left. Touch your neighbor and say, "I saw a thing". "I was doing pretty well with my eating plan, but…"
I was trying to make it practical. "I was doing pretty well. I wasn't texting any girls, because I was going to get this season of my life straight, but I…" Okay. Y'all don't like that? David was on the roof one day, and he… So now look at me all hypocritical, holy, and sanctimonious, like you never saw a thing and beheld something and believed something and behaved a way. In order to understand why you're behaving that way, don't you understand why you're believing that way? And to understand why you're believing that way, don't you have to think back to what you beheld that made you believe that? So, I completely understand what comes next. For us to judge the Israelites because…spoiler alert…they get scared… They see Pharaoh and feel fear.
"How could they do that? God turns seas into highways". They didn't know that song! They were living it. I'm living this. I'm walking by it. I'm having to take uncertain steps. I thought God would fix me just right before he made me preach to you, but the truth is sometimes I will preach to you a lesson I have limped to. You can do the same. Now, in this particular instance, it's like you judging an Olympic athlete, thinking to yourself, "I could probably do that". No, you probably couldn't. Do you ever watch a sport and are like, "I think I probably could… No, I probably couldn't do that. Not like that. I could do a version of that, but not exactly that". They lifted up their eyes.
Now, I want you to really get in this text with me today. I told you we put too much confidence in our senses. I know we have to use our senses to keep ourselves from getting our fingers burned on stoves and walking across crowded highways and things like that, but we cannot make decisions with our senses when it comes to this next step of faith in this season of our lives and the way we see ourselves and the way we see the people God has given us to impact. Your senses will get you killed. Here's why. They looked up. "…and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly". Is this a sin? No. It's a feeling. The sin is the decision after the feeling.
God forgives that sin too, but if you really want to be free from it, you have to ask the question, "What did I lift my eyes up and see that is dragging me back into a past I said I would leave behind? What is making me so afraid I keep running back to stuff I know I'm done with? What do I keep seeing that makes me fight off people who love me? What do I keep remembering"? Is the Devil controlling your whole future with an old movie? An old movie. I'm talking 1988 blockbuster, "Be kind, rewind," Karate Kid stuff. The Devil keeps showing you stuff you kicked in 1988, and he doesn't even have to resist you anymore. All he has to do is get you to rewind. I came to find out what you are beholding, because if you keep beholding what they want to feed you…
Yes, I'm talking about everything that's on our news right now. Yes, I'm talking about everybody who's vying for your attention. Your attention is too expensive to keep giving it to things that do not have your best interests at heart. I know what I'm saying. God said this to me. Your attention is too expensive. It's costing you your freedom. That pornography isn't really free. If you could see how expensive it was as it affects your intimacy, you would run from it, not welcome it. But we don't see that part. The Enemy always hides the expense and illuminates the benefits, the feeling of relief. The Israelites, of course, are in a physical moment.
I told you this was funny, and there's probably nothing funny about what I'm saying right now. Here's the funny part. Watch how Moses wants to deal with this in faith and how God tells Moses to deal with it by faith. This will speak directly to that thing you are overthinking in your mind right now. Just for complete honesty, so I'm not up here totally by myself naked, how many of you are dealing with uncertainty right now in an area of your life where you are trying to figure out whether the doubt you have is something you should pay attention to as caution or step forward because God is calling you to have faith? This will help you. I can't tell you exactly right or wrong in this, but I can give you a picture.
Here's the picture. Verse 10: "They cried out to the Lord". That sounds good. That's what you're supposed to do. Right? They're very emotional, and they should be. I'm not minimizing their situation here, but watch how quickly they forget what God just did in delivering them. Watch how quickly fear can cancel out and make you forget how bad it really was where you were in an attempt to go back. "They said to Moses, 'Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: "Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians"? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.'"
Would it? Fear will make you think that. Depression will make you think that. Pressure will make you think that. All three of those things are present, so I get it. Now Moses, the great motivational speaker, is going to give the question and answer at the seminar. "What do we do now"? Moses stands up. He's not a very good speaker, but he's giving it his best right now. "And Moses said to the people, 'Fear not…'" Let me try that again. "Fear not"! Yeah, that's more convincing. "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again".
If y'all don't shout over verse 14, I'm going to get a new church. "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent". Hold on. Be silent. Don't shout, because he's wrong. It sounds good, but he's wrong. I wish it were always that way. Sometimes it is, but in this case it's wrong. There is a body of water called the Red Sea in front of you. You can't cross it. There are chariots from Egypt behind you. You can't outrun them. So, Moses' advice right here… One translation says, "You need only be still". We've all heard before, "Be still and know that he is God".
Sometimes this will be the instruction, but for this moment, for this Moses, for this nation, for this situation, being still will get you killed. Watch God. I love God. "The Lord said to Moses, 'Why do you cry to me?'" "Well, that's not very nice, Jehovah-Jireh. You're supposed to be my provider. I'm crying to you because you're Jehovah-Nissi, my banner. I'm crying to you because you're Jehovah-Shalom, my peace. I'm crying to you because I can't do this. I'm emotional, and I'm afraid".
Moses is old, and the people are angry, and the pace is very slow. Look. If you travel with five kids, allot an extra two hours to get across town. If you travel with two million… This isn't going to happen very fast. The Lord said to Moses, "I know you have a lot on you, and I know it seems impossible, but why do you cry to me"? "Tell the people of Israel to go forward". You are not going to fix this with emotions.
So, Moses, "Mosetta" (I want to preach to all genders and people and all that), whatever it is you're looking at right now, I want you to know something about emotions. They can be helpful guides to get us to a certain place, but sometimes sitting with the emotion endlessly just creates more of what you are asking God to take you out of. The only way to deal with it is to go through it. That's what God told Moses. He said, "You can cry about this all day. We could pray about it. You could study a verse about it. You can quote about it. You can do all of that, but the only way for us to deal with this is for you to tell the people to go forward".
Then there's one more instruction he gives Moses that I thought was significant and kind of silly in the face of the challenge at hand. He said (verse 16), "Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground". "Oh, well, that will totally work". How we read the Bible with these cotton-candy eyes I'll never even know. We have this fake filter we put on all of the stories, like, "Yeah, that's the way it works. Put the staff and let them go. I saw the thing. He did it. I saw a thing. I saw a movie about it. Moses just put up his staff".
There's a difference between reading the thing and doing the thing. I guarantee you all of my scholarly confidence, as low as it may be, that Moses' hand was shaking because he was old and because he was scared, but the fact that his hand was shaking did not stop the sea from splitting. What I'm saying is you can do it with a shaky hand. You can do it with knocking knees. You can do it with a lump in your throat. Oh yeah, Taylor. I can do it with a broken heart. I can praise him with a painful situation. I can make progress in a cloudy condition. Yeah, just like that, give God praise. Some of you today just lifted your hands freely, but some of y'all… Your hands felt heavy.
I keep meeting people who say, "Well, when I really feel like it, then I'll praise God. Sometimes I don't want to fake it and come to church and sing, 'God, you've been so good to me,' because I don't really feel like he has been good to me". But I realized something in the Spirit. Praise is a pushback. Praise is how I tell the Red Sea, "You stand here. You stand there". Praise is how I tell my doubt, "You stand here. You stand there". Even if I stretch my hand shakily, it's the motion that matters. You think you need a better staff? The best staff can't split a sea. Stop thinking you need an external upgrade. All you need is an internal commitment to God.
"I will step out not just when I feel something, not just when something good happens to me, not just when I have a good idea. I'll step out with a bad idea and buff it until it shines". I'm telling you the most important skill is right here. I don't see anywhere in the text (maybe you do; you can go study it and write me an email about it) if their feelings changed. They're still mad at Moses. Moses is certainly mad at them. Everything I do for my kids that they don't thank me for I get mad at. This is a pretty big thing he did for them to get them out.
I think sometimes we stay stuck in resentment, and then we let what's called the root of bitterness keep us anchored to situations we could move through. Everything you feel God knows about. Everything you feel God cares about. Everything you feel God is comfortable in the presence of. But you have to let him move through you by moving through it. If you always surrender to it, you never gain strength or freedom, whatever it is. "But, God, what do you mean"?
Look at the verse. One whole word God gave me here that I think is going to be so powerful for somebody. He said, "If you be still, you get killed". (That wasn't the word. This is the word.) "Why are you telling me about this problem? Tell the people of Israel to go forward". I thought to myself, "Wait a minute. They're on foot. The chariots have wheels. They have children. All of the people chasing them are fighting age". Do you ever feel like there's nothing you can do to catch up now? Like, you are so far behind in your life… "Even if I run as fast as I can, I have to drag all this behind me". The Lord said, "Go forward". Watch this. Not fast, just forward. He said, "It doesn't have to be fast".
I know you're loaded down by a lot of things, and I know you're on foot. I know you didn't get that kind of training, and I know you've lost some years. I know you've wasted away some opportunities. I know you killed a few brain cells. I know you closed a few doors on some people who won't call you back. I know there are going to be some things you're going to have to navigate through. You feel like what's in front of you is too big and what's behind you is too fast, but you don't have to go fast. You just have to go forward. Why? Because after the water parts for you, it's going to close back over your enemies.
You're on foot, and Pharaoh has wheels, so it would seem like there's no way you can outrun him, but there's one thing your enemy didn't count on when he was chasing you with his chariots: wheels don't work in water. If Pharaoh was going to chase you, he should have brought a boat, because what he didn't count on is that when you do… God said, "I'm not looking for you to be fast enough. I'm not looking for you to make up for time you lost. I'll make up the time you lost. I'll redeem the years the cankerworm has eaten. I'll deal with your past. I'll deal with your credit. I'll deal with your boss. I'll deal with the market".
Wheels don't work in water. When you get out here in faith, there's not a thing the Devil can do to drag you back, because wheels don't work in water. I don't have to be fast; I just have to move forward, because your stuck wheel can't catch my slow feet. You will journey with me now over 200 miles and 1,200 years to another sea in Scripture. We're covering a great distance. I understand that. If I may, fast-forward for a moment to one of your favorite Bible stories, because you want to be like this guy so much. Ol' Peter. Ol' fishing, empty-net, foul-mouthed, gospel-preaching Peter. Ol' ear-hacking Peter. Ol' Pentecost Sunday Peter. Ol' Simon Peter. Ol' crazy Peter. Ol' Peter took his boat and let Jesus preach in it and then took his boat and did whatever Jesus told him all around the Sea of Galilee.
Matthew, chapter 14, says Jesus performed a great miracle and fed 5,000 men, women, and children. I told you last week, "Don't let the math distract you". It doesn't matter how many there are. It matters how much he is. "Greater is he that is in…" I have to teach y'all the Bible so you all know this stuff so you can step out in doubt and change it to faith. The step is what makes it faith, not the feeling. The step is what makes it faith, the behavior. You have to switch this thing. You keep beholding, believing, and then behaving, but if we could switch it… If you could believe and behave according to what you believe, you would behold things you don't even know are possible.
Then you'll see a thing. You'll see a thing, and you'll speak a thing. "God says I'm not forsaken". You'll see a thing, you'll feel a thing, and you'll speak a thing. "God says no weapon formed against me will prosper". You'll see a thing, and you'll speak a thing. "It is for his glory, not my self-righteousness that I have been saved. It is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast". You'll see a thing, and you will speak a thing. The Devil will show you things all the time in your mind. Oh yeah. He doesn't even have to do it physically. He showed Jesus all of the kingdoms of this world right in his own mind during the 40-day fast, but Jesus saw another thing.
I want to teach you how to see another thing. Matthew, chapter 14. The Bible says the disciples got into the boat…why? Because Jesus told them to go to the other side. Tell your neighbor, "I want you to see what's on your other side, so you cannot die in this storm". Tell them, "You can cry. You can complain. You can rest, but you can't quit, because it's the motion that matters".
Now Matthew 14. After feeding 5,000 (verse 22), "Immediately [Jesus] made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds". Notice what he didn't give them: an agenda. Notice what he didn't give them: information. Notice what he didn't give them: a timetable. I thought about my dog Bo here. I don't know if y'all know we have a Boston Terrier. It was kind of a big deal in the church, because for years I told the family they were not responsible enough to have a dog. I was right, but I bought them one anyway.
Holly and Abbey, of course, have done wonderfully with Bo. Graham has fulfilled every prophecy I had of his irresponsibility about the dog, because he saw a thing. Bo is an anxiety dog. Not that he helps us with our anxiety. He has so much anxiety, and incrementally, it's getting worse. I'll show you a picture of Bo really quickly. That picture was sent to us while we were away on a trip for Elevation Nights preaching and ministering. One of our wonderful people on the team sent us a picture to show us Bo. We all said to each other, "We can't tell from that picture whether he's freaking out losing his mind or having the time of his life," because they both make the same face.
That's how he looks when he's horrified. That's how he looks when he's happy. So you can't really tell what's going on from that picture. There are two things Bo will be scared of, and both of these fears are acquired. I don't think he had them when we first got him. We got him very little. And please don't send me the emails for how to remedy any of this. He's already under the supervision of a wonderful veterinarian, and Holly is working on all of that. Anytime he sees a suitcase or anytime he hears a storm. So, he's afraid of two things: a suitcase and a storm. The first one, a suitcase… He has seen those before.
Sometimes when he sees one of those we're back 24 hours later. He didn't even have time to miss us. But we've been gone from him two weeks before. I think he likes us, because when the suitcase comes out, he starts following us everywhere. How many of you all, your dog does the same thing? Not because you're leaving but because "I don't know how long it's going to be, because you don't have a way to communicate this to me". Jesus said, "I'll see you on the other side. Here's your suitcase". The disciples are like, "Yeah, but, like, are we going to be there a while? Are you coming tonight? How much time do you need alone? I know you're tired". None of that. "This is not good".
I call it transition with no time stamp. I can't fast-forward to know how this ends or how we get back. Jesus certainly didn't tell them what happened next. Not only did they have a suitcase, but they had a storm. That's the second thing Bo is afraid of. As you know, he doesn't have to see anything or even really hear anything. This worrisome dog, this prayerless dog who does not trust God at all… If I tell you he can smell a storm three weeks before it happens… He'll know, "Thursday, 2:00 p.m., I need to have a panic attack," and he will prep for the panic attack. The dog is losing his mind, and we're working on that.
But I bring it to you as an illustration to say that we all deal with suitcases and storms. We're really not much different than the dog. "I don't know how long I'm going to have to be in this transitional place. I don't know how long they're going to like me. I don't know how long until they decide to leave me like the last person did. I've seen this before, and I'm not okay with it. Not because of the transition but because I don't know the timetable". Imagine now you are not only a disciple in transition (suitcase), but as you are transitioning… Verse 23: "And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them".
Now I have a suitcase and a storm. I would never pull out a suitcase during a storm in front of Bo. I think it might be his last puppy memory. It's happening at the same time in your life. It's a transition and it's trouble. I'm stepping out in doubt, and I have things validating that this may not be the best time. So what do I do? Well, watch this. As they are rowing… Visibility is low, timetable uncertain, their lives in the balance, their future very questionable. You believe the Bible. Right? I want you to see something in the Bible today.
The Bible says, "…the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw [a thing] walking on the sea, they were terrified…" But it's Jesus. But they don't know that. They just see a thing. They don't know the thing they're looking at and the thing they're afraid of is the thing they were praying for. He came out to them, walking on the sea. "They were terrified and said, 'It is a ghost!' and they cried out [like the Israelites] in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.'"
Now I need to ask a question. I am not surprised Jesus can walk on water. He can do whatever he wants with what he spoke into existence. Colossians says all things were created by him, for him, and through him, and not anything that was made was made but that it was made in him, by him, and for him. I am not surprised he can transcend what he spoke. I am not surprised he can suspend the laws of buoyancy. I am not surprised he is on water. Look at verse 25. I'm surprised… "Why are you walking? If they're in trouble, shouldn't you run? Shouldn't you hurry up to get there? Why are you walking"? "Why are you walking, God? Why are you telling me 'Not now' when my brother Lazarus is sick? Why are you walking? Why are you walking, Jesus"? The question is…Why don't you?
That's what matters in this moment. He said, "It is I. Do not be afraid". Next verse. This is the guy you want to be like. Right? "And Peter answered him, 'Lord, if it is you…'" If? Watch him get delivered on an if. "Oh, you've got to step out on what is. Faith is the substance of things hoped for". But I can't see it right now, so I have to step out on doubt. "But he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, tossed and driven…" You're quoting the verse wrong. That's about your confidence in God, not your confidence in you. Peter doesn't question what Jesus can do; he just questions, "Is it you"? That's the thing nobody tells us. "If it's you…"
How many of you are walking on an if right now? Just an if. "If it is you, command me to come to you on the water". Next verse. Jesus talks to Peter like he's Bo. "Come". That's like how you talk to a dog. Sometimes you need to simplify what you do next in your life. Sometimes you are so complicated you can't be saved because you overcomplicate it. Sometimes it is as simple as one four-letter word: "Come". "If it's you, tell me to come". Jesus said, "Well, let me give you 17 proofs that it's me". No, no, no. "Come. I'll show you who I am while you walk toward me". "If you meet me tomorrow morning with your Bible, I'll show you who I am while you walk toward me. If you say you're sorry for what you did and own that thing and move forward in it and set up an appointment to work through the root issue so it doesn't happen again, I'll show you who I am while you walk toward me".
"For we walk by faith, not by sight". He told Peter, "Come". Verse 29: "So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water…" Wouldn't you run? Maybe all he could do in that moment was walk. I don't know how it makes it any safer to walk on water than to run on it. Or maybe there's a lesson that "They who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will walk and not be weary". They will walk. That's what it is. It's walking by faith. It's stepping out on doubt and finding out he's good. You have to do this thing doubting so God can give you faith when your foot hits the next step.
That is how I see you. I do not see you as a horrible person who doesn't really trust God because you're struggling right now to even think he hears your prayers. I don't see you that way. I see you kind of like Peter. Like, "If…" Jesus does not rebuke you for your feelings, because it's the motion that matters. Stop punishing yourself for having the wrong emotions. Keep showing up and see what God does. Keep showing up. Keep saying, "Okay. God, what can I learn from that"? This is the discipline of discipleship. It's the motion that matters. It's not how fast you can get to him. Peter steps out of the boat, and it's not about how fast he gets to Jesus, because he's walking.
You will notice the Bible says in verse 30, "When he saw the wind, he was afraid…" He saw a thing, and when he saw a thing, he lost sight of someone who was greater than the thing he saw. It's the motion that matters. The wind was blowing the whole time. That's not what knocked you down. It was when your eyes shifted to the thing and not the one who is greater than all things. That's what happened. "When he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, 'Lord, save me.' Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'" You're like, "See? He doubted".
Yeah, but he didn't drown, did he? You won't drown stepping out. You'll drown if you have a pity party and plan your funeral in the place of your last disappointment. That's how you drown. But if you move forward, God has something for you. God has someone for you. God has a fresh word for you. God has manna everywhere in your wilderness. God has fruit in Canaan waiting for the right time to come up out of the ground. "Why did you doubt"? See, it's not how fast Peter could get to Jesus. Verse 31: "Jesus immediately reached…" It's not how fast you can get to Jesus; it's how fast he can get to you. It's the motion that matters.
So, let's wage war and push back on anxiety today. It's not how quickly the panic attack comes on you; it's how quickly God can come in the middle of the attack and deliver you from the fowler's snare. It's the motion that matters. It has never hinged on your gift. It has never hinged on your goodness. It has never hinged on your right stepping. It's on his right reaching. This is not the step that counts. It's this. Does God have you in a season right now where he is teaching you to reach for him? "God, I have my doubts". If I could tell you one skill you need to learn in your life, it's to reach for him when you sink like a rock. Reach for him. Don't run from him. You keep getting taught that you can't come to God unless you perfectly have faith.
Tell Peter. He got back into the boat and set an Olympic world record for water walking. I don't care if it was two seconds. He beat John. He beat James. He beat Bartholomew. All they got was a boat ride. Peter got a world record. "You can have bronze. You can have silver. Give me my gold medal, because I stepped out and I slipped, but he reached out and I stood, and I'm here today worshiping him. I've got motion! I got a miracle because I've got motion"! It's the motion that matters. Just about the time Peter sees a thing (the wind), he sees another thing: the hand of Jesus.
I want you to see another thing, and maybe, just maybe, if you can walk by faith, if you can believe, you will behold. I'm trying to say you don't have to see it to believe it; you have to believe it to see it. One prophet said, "I hear the sound of the abundance of rain". The man said, "There's nothing there". Six times he said, "Go back". Why? Because it's the motion that matters. The seventh time, the servant said, "I can see a cloud heavy with rain, and it looks like it's tiny, but it's headed our way". I can see a cloud heavy with rain… Yeah, I see the wind, but I see something else. It looks like revival headed my way… Yeah, I see the bills, but I see something else. I can see a cloud heavy with rain And it looks like freedom… Tell Pharaoh, "It's headed our way"!