Steven Furtick - Make Space for God to Work
This is an excerpt from: Something In Between
I had somebody ask me the other day… I was going to do something that was a big deal, and they said, «Are you looking forward to it or are you dreading it»? I was like, «Are those the only two options? Because I’m not exactly looking forward to it. I’m not exactly dreading it. I’m something in between». It can change from moment to moment. I’m really grateful for this life God has given me and this influence he gave me, and then sometimes that anticipation feels like anxiety, and sometimes my anxiety feels like anticipation. Sometimes the difference between anticipation and anxiety is the way you label it. Some of the things in your life today…
Now I’m going to talk right to where you live. Let’s get away from 2,000 years ago history and bring it right into your current situation. I’m saying I’m anxious. If you look beneath the anxious feeling, there is actually a future you are anticipating. Every time you step forward, you shake a little bit. Every time you reach for the right thing, it feels a little foreign in your hands, because you’ve been reaching for the wrong thing. The Bible says you can be afraid yet filled; you can be empty in your energy and filled with God’s Spirit; you can be empty and not know the solution of how this is going to work out, yet somehow have complete confidence that «He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it».
Somebody say, «I’m yet filled». I like the way that felt when I said it. I’m yet filled. «I don’t have all the money I need to start the business, but I’m yet filled with faith that if God wants me to do it, the supply is on the way». «Now, I don’t know how this is going to exactly turn out yet, but I’m yet filled with a knowledge that the God who was with me before in the previous season would not abandon me between winter and spring». At this point, if you interviewed these Marys they would say, «Our minds are back and forth. We’re grieving». «I’m grieving, but I’ve got good news. I know it’s going to be good in the end, but my grief didn’t go away just because I got good news». This is why you can throw up your hands and worship God even while you’re going through hell. That’s how you reach for him.
Now, let me make sure I’m making this clear, because I get so worked up and start moving too fast. Their grief over the death of Jesus did not disappear to make way for the good news that he was risen. In the text it says a little conjunction. It says, «Afraid yet filled». Yet is a conjunction. Jesus is my conjunction. Jesus is my in-between thing. Jesus is how I can say… You know how people say, «It’s all good»? I can’t say that. I have some habits that are not good. I have some people in my life… (I’m going to skip that one. I’ll come back to that next week.) I have some things I’m dealing with that are not good. So, it’s not all good. «How are you doing»? «It’s all good». We say that all the time. I don’t say that anymore, because it’s not all good, but it’s not all grief either.
You have to remember that when you’re going through a dawning season where it’s not exactly dark and it’s not exactly light. «My marriage isn’t exactly back on track, but it’s not yet falling apart». «I haven’t yet lost my mind, but I’m not really that sane yet either, so don’t test me, because I could pop loose really quick. I’m something in between».
I read a Bible verse I want to give to you from the New Testament in Romans 8:28. Romans 8:28 says, «In all things God works for the good of them who love him and are called according to his purpose». It doesn’t say everything will be all good; it says even when it’s not all good, it’s still all God. That’s what I want you to say about your life today. It’s not all good, but it’s all God. That’s how I made it. I would have despaired if I did not believe I would see the goodness of the Lord, that I would see it. I can’t see it right now. I can’t prove it on a chart. I can’t draw it on a graph, but I’ve got God! And I’ve got grief.
Are you grieving? Ask your neighbor, «Are you grieving or are you good»? Tell them, «I’ve got something in between». See, God is my in-between. God will take whatever happens. If it’s bad, he’ll make it good. If it’s good, he’ll get glory out of it. If it’s bad, he’ll make it good, and they’ll know it was all God. So, if you see me playing Division I NCAA football, you know it was all God. Something must have happened in between. Now watch this. Can I give you more? There is a quote that changed my life attributed to the Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl. He wrote the book Man’s Search for Meaning. It is one of the best-selling books of all time, and I know why from this one quote. Look at what he said. «Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom».
Wait. I should have told you more about him before I read what he said. He was a Holocaust survivor. So, Viktor Frankl didn’t say, «It’s all good». I don’t know anything about his religious belief, but I’ve found this to be true in my life. Sometimes the only thing I have is that space between stimulus… Do you know what I mean by stimulus? Not the checks they gave to everybody over the age of 3 awhile back, but what happens, a stimulus. Like, Bop! You hit my hand, I’m going to slap your face, or… This is where he talks about the space. You slap my hand. In between my slap back is a space. Between stimulus and response… The women were afraid yet (that’s the space) filled. So they ran on the revelation they had, even though they didn’t know what the result would be.
Now, they only have to go about a mile to get to Jerusalem where the disciples are still staying, but there are 80 miles to go to Galilee where Jesus said he would meet them. Keep that in mind. It’s important as we talk about space. Stimulus and response. Let’s talk about God. Let’s talk about Jesus since it’s Easter. The cross was God’s response to your sin. The stimulus was your sin. «All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God». God’s response to your sin could have been wrath. Instead, it was grace.
The distance was fixed between God and me so that I could not come to him. His response? He came to me. The suffering was the stimulus; forgiveness was his response. Are you starting to see what I’m talking about? That space in your life right now is what happened to you and what you will do next. The resurrection speaks to that. If there is a space between the stimulus and the response, and if that space is my power to choose my response, I know one thing about me: I don’t do very good with that space. I had one this week. This guy texted me something crazy. I hadn’t heard from him in eight years, and he just decided to text me something crazy out of the blue.
«Happy Easter. Here’s something stupid». Antagonistic, irritating, ignorant…all of it. Now, what I want to tell you is I prayed for him and sent him some boots, some pink boots for Easter. Nuh-uh. I made the best text, and y’all know I’m pretty good with words. I put every word I’ve ever learned in seminary and in seventh grade in a text. I tried seven different drafts. I typed them all up, and I deleted them. Then I typed another one, and I deleted it. Every one I typed up got better than the last one. By the time I finished texting him back… This is important. By the time I ended up texting him back, I didn’t send it. I’m going to save you a lot of trouble.
Look at your neighbor and say, «You need space before you hit 'send.'» What in the world would we have paid to know that earlier in our lives? Not just on a text but on a response. Thankfully, if you are too weak in your own strength to make the right response, Easter comes to say you have a Savior who emptied the grave, and all power is in his name, and that same power is in you.
What am I trying to say? Your Savior is a space maker. How many need a space-making Savior in your life today? See, the good I want to do I don’t always do. This is why this church is so excited about Jesus, in case you’re a first-time guest: because our Savior is our space maker. We were bound in sin, we were wrapped in our past, we were trapped in our trauma, we were locked in our loneliness, we were down in our despair, and the space maker came to show us that all things are possible.
Now let’s contrast this. Viktor Frankl said there is a space between stimulus and response. The other philosopher, Willie Nelson, said… I’ve got to give you what Willie said. Y’all, I go over to my mom’s every Wednesday night for dinner, and she picks out different… I got her a record player, and I asked her to pick a record every Wednesday. We listen to music and eat, and then we watch Wheel of Fortune. (Pat Sajak, I still want to meet you if you ever watch me preach. That would be a real bucket-list item for me. I love Pat Sajak. I pray for him every time before he goes on.) I came in the other night, and my mom was playing a record by Willie Nelson. It got my attention, and I thought I would use it in my Easter sermon.
Willie says… Well, I gotta get drunk, and I sure do dread it, 'Cause I know just what I’m gonna do; I’ll start to spend my money, callin' everybody, honey, And wind up singin' the blues; I’ll spend my whole paycheck on some old wreck, And, brother, I could name you a few, But I gotta get drunk, and I sure do dread it, 'Cause I know just what I’m gonna do. I researched it, and Willie said that’s the dumbest song he ever wrote. He said, «It’s a good song, but it’s a stupid song». But it was true at the time. «I gotta get drunk». «I’ve gotta go off. Did you hear what they said about me? I’ve gotta go off. I’ve gotta do it. If you disrespect me like that, I’ve gotta do it».
I think this Easter, the space maker wants to change your «gotta» from «I’ve gotta do it» to «I’ve got a God». I don’t gotta do it anymore, because I’ve got a God who made space, who shed blood. If I call on his name, and if I stay in his Word, he can change me from Simon to Peter. He can change beauty out of ashes. He can turn graves into gardens. I’ve got a grave, but I’ve got a God who can turn it into a garden. What I used to have to do I’m not powerless to do anymore, because he got up!