Steven Furtick - Fighting Loneliness
This is an excerpt from: He Was The One
Even if I'm stuck in this narrative in my life that "I'm really no one special. I'm really no one, and I have no one," it's a lie. If I believe that I am no one and I have no one, as so many of us do… That's the thing the Devil tries to get you to believe over and over again in different ways. He'll put evidence in front of you and thoughts inside of you to try to convince you that "I am no one; I have no one". Those two things. Write those down, because I want you to be like a detective on the Devil this week so when he says it to you, you're like, "Oh, yeah! That's what the sermon was about".
We all sometimes feel like, "I am no one…nobody compared to that person, no one who really makes a difference. I mean, come on, Pastor Steven. You're preaching about a king in the Bible who restored and rebuilt a city. What does this have to do with me? I'm just trying to get my kid to school one time on time next week. Just one time on time. That would be my Bible verse. 'He was the one who got his kid to school one time on time.'" If he can't tell you that you are no one, he'll tell you you have no one. So, I said to Holly, "That really touched me to know that the Bible said, 'He was the one.'" In fact, in 2 Kings, it goes three times. It says, "He was the one," and it talks about one certain king. "He was the one," and it talks about another certain king. "He was the one," and it talks about another certain king.
At first, you're reading this, going, "Well, this has nothing to do with me because I'm not a king, and I'm not in charge of military resources. They won't even trust me to bring coffee because they know it'll be spilled by the time I get there. I can't even get the coffee order right. I'm not the one like that". But I read it over and over again, and I thought about Graham. I thought about my life. I thought about the things God has called me to do. I thought about the people God has called me to shepherd, and I realized we need to talk about "He was the one" for all of those times in your life where you feel like, "I am no one, and I have no one".
So, what I said to Holly was, "This guy in the Bible…" There were three of them. I said, "They list their accomplishments even though all three of them technically failed at turning the nation around". But it still gives you this little glimpse in there. He didn't get it all right, but he was the one who did something right. I think we need to learn how to… I don't want to say "talk back to the Devil" because it would probably be better to talk to God. But can I say we need to defy the Devil every once in a while? To defy the Devil when he says, "You're no one, because look at how many followers they have. Look at how many friends they have. Look at how far along they are in their career. Look at how much money they have".
You don't know how much money they have. Every bit of what they're wearing on their body might be borrowed. You don't know if they paid for that brand name in cash. So you don't even know. "Oh, I'm no one, and I have no one". The Bible speaks up for this king, Azariah, and it says, "He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah". He rebuilt and he restored. He was the one. He didn't get it all right. He didn't remove the high places where they were worshiping the Canaanite gods. But he was the one who rebuilt and restored. I came to remind somebody today: you are the one. I can see we need to talk about this, because you're slow to warm up to the idea. You've been in that "I'm no one".
You even think that's humble, right? You even think that's godly. "I must decrease that he may increase". It does not increase God for you to shrink back from what he called you to do. He was the one. It's important that we know that, because if you just read about this, it's kind of like, "And his name was Azariah". But I even studied about Azariah, and do you know what I found out? "What"? (I'm playing tennis with myself up here sometimes.) I found out that the king named Azariah, who I thought I had never heard of before, is the same guy called Uzziah who Isaiah mentions in the famous throne room scene in Isaiah, chapter 6.
Now check this out. He was the prophet who prophesied to Azariah, whose name was also Uzziah. Uzziah was his throne name. Azariah was his personal name. There's only one consonant different in Hebrew. So, if we need Vanna White to come out, and we just change one letter, this is the guy who Isaiah the prophet says… Isaiah 6:1: "In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple". "In the year that Uzziah died". That's the same guy. Uzziah. That's the same guy it's talking about. He was the one who died the year Isaiah saw the Lord and had his lips touched with coal.
Now, that connection doesn't seem too significant to you yet, but it will when I'm done. I want you to understand something right quick, right off the bat, right here, right now, and never doubt it again. If you knew what God was doing through you right now and what God was going to do through you, the Devil could never discourage you again. Touch your neighbor and say, "If you knew what God was doing through you…" Put it in the future in case they have a hard time seeing it right now, in case they have a low bank balance right now, in case their kids aren't speaking to them right now, in case their mom isn't speaking to them right now, in case their job sucks right now, in case they're single right now and wishing they weren't single. I mean, there's nothing wrong with being single unless you wish you weren't single.
Look back at them one more time and tell them for me. Just make the announcement. If you knew what God was going to do, the Devil couldn't discourage you, couldn't pay you enough to quit, couldn't defeat you, couldn't depress you. If you knew he was the one… They made him king at age 16. Have you ever been thrust into something you felt like you weren't ready for yet? Have you ever had somebody put something on you that you didn't even want to wear? Have you ever had that moment…? I think every parent has this moment. "Oh, I am the grown-up". This guy is 16 years old, and he has to become a king. He did something so amazing we're talking about it today. He's the one. I'm sure he wondered, just like you and I do, "Why would I be the one"?
I'm sure he felt in the shadow of his father, just like you feel in the shadow of some of your challenges. I'm sure he felt insufficient, yet he was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah. So, I'm thinking to myself, reading this… I'm going, "Elath must be a really big place if the Bible takes time to say that of everything he did, he rebuilt and restored Elath". I pulled out this map in my Bible, y'all. Elath isn't that big. It wasn't its size that made it significant; it was where it was situated. Elath was a port city. Elath was at the northern tip of a gulf. Elath was in the territory of the Edomites. The Edomites had once been a territory of Israel, but they had broken away. Uzziah's father had brought Edom back to a point. Uzziah did something more important. He restored the port city so the trade could happen beyond the borders of Judah.
Now can I preach? Sometimes we have no idea what's really important because we judge significance by size. We judge significance by status. The thing God wants you to know that Uzziah, the artist formerly known as Azariah… The thing God wants you to know about him is he was the one who was remembered for what he rebuilt and for what he restored. What he rebuilt and restored didn't seem very big, but it was very important because it was a port city. If he got the port city working again, the ships could come and go. Imagine the hustle and bustle of commerce, economy, exchange, and trade that could happen when he got the port city back.
There are some things the Enemy will fight you over in your life that don't seem very big on the surface, but he knows it is a port city in your life, and if you get this one right… If you get this one back, if you get this one fixed, if you get this one under control, if you get this one flowing, if you get this one working, if you get this one open, if you get this one rebuilt… See, that's why you can never judge the significance of the season you're in by the size of the opportunity according to your eyes. If you only knew… I will prove it to you. Not from the Bible. I'll prove it from my life. I've never seen Elath. I've never been there, but I have had moments in my life where God was using something I didn't think was important, but it was a port.
When Elijah went to college a few weeks ago, he said, "I've got to get a job". I said, "Probably". He said, "How do I get one"? I said, "There are many different ways". He said, "How did you get one"? I said, "Well, I never really had a real job". I mean, I got all of these scholarships to get to college. I applied for every scholarship. I did work study where you could get some of your tuition paid. I did everything I could. I mean, I worked jobs when I was a kid. Y'all know about my jobs. I cremated animals. I sold fireworks. I cleaned churches. I sold explosives, burned dogs, and cleaned the house of God.
Let me see your résumé. When I got to college, I felt like I was called to preach. Nobody else shared that opinion at college. Back at home, I preached my first sermon when I was 16. I wasn't a king like Uzziah at 16, but I preached my first sermon at Moncks Corner United Methodist Church, and then Pastor Mickey… He was the one who sat on my parents' floor and said, "God's hand is on your son". For my mom and my dad, they were the ones who let me go be a youth minister while I was still a youth. But when I went to college, nobody was asking me to preach. I found a guy on campus. This is what I told Elijah. I said, "One day, if you ever meet him, you need to thank Jay Hardwick". He said, "Who's Jay Hardwick"? I said, "He was the one…"
I haven't talked to him in 15 years. I would text him, but I don't have his number. Maybe he'll see this. Jay (I'm reaching out), you were the one… I came up to you in the cafeteria and said, "I heard you're a preacher," and you said, "Yeah. I mean, I'm trying to be," and I said, "Me too. I want to preach like you preach". You said to me, "Okay. When somebody calls me for an invitation, and I can't go, I'll tell them to get you instead". I said, "I'll eat your crumbs. I'm not picky". Once you've run a crematory, you'll preach anywhere. I said, "That would be awesome". He was the one who told Mason to put me on the summer impact team where I ended up traveling with Holly. He was the one, and he never sent me a bill. He never took a commission.
As far as I know, he never took credit. That dude could go all around the state of wherever he lives now, saying, "Yeah, I gave Furtick his start over there at Elevation". But he didn't really care about that. He was so important in my life, and I never even told my son about him until just the other day. So, the next time the Devil tells you, "You have no one," and he starts hitting you with this loneliness that he hits you with… When he hits you with loneliness, hit him with a list.