Steven Furtick - God Will Make a Way
This is an excerpt from: Rescue Your Testimony
I want to give you a picture of how God demonstrates his power in your weakness. The children of Israel are headed out of the land they’ve known as the place of their captivity for over 400 years. They’ve been wandering in the wilderness for 40 of those years because of the regrets of their past. I have to be thinking at this point something is going through their heads.
«Just if I’d believed God and gone through the Promised Land… Just if we’d gone through and faced the giants in our faith and believed the minority report of Caleb and Joshua… Just if we had not brought a complaint to Moses in the place of where our faith should have been…» But now God is bringing a new generation led by Joshua into the Promised Land. The Bible says on the way to where they’re going… You’re going somewhere. I don’t know if you feel stuck where you are, you’re going to die where you are, and it’s going to be like it is, but you are transitioning out of this. Before they transition out of the land they’ve been in, the wilderness they’ve wandered in, the «what ifs» they’ve wasted away in… Before they transition out of this, God gives a very strange instruction to Joshua. He says, «Before you completely cross…»
By the way, I think you should commemorate every crossing in your life, every crossing over. Just start celebrating stuff when you cross over. That could be as simple as, «Thank you, God, for a new day. I laid down to sleep and woke up again, and somebody didn’t, so thank you for it, Lord. Thank you for another week. Thank you for bringing me to the Lord’s house another day. Thank you for a new season. Thank you, God, for a new opportunity. Thank you for my next breath. Thank you for my next opportunity». As they are crossing over, God calls Joshua. «I want you to commemorate and demonstrate what I did».
Here’s why. Joshua 4:5: «And Joshua said to them, 'Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God…'» That represents God’s presence. «…into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel…» How many tribes were there? Twelve. How many stones? Twelve. One for every tribe. One for every trial. You ought to get something out of everything you go through that makes you stronger in God. «I’m not going to cry like that and not get stronger from it. I’m not going to suffer like that and not get stronger from it». So, make sure you take something from this. But then verse 6 says very importantly why you’re doing this.
«…that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you? '…» How do you want to answer that question for your kids one day? «This is important because…» He said, «I want you to rescue your testimony. I want you to stop right now and redefine everything you’ve been through. Instead of remembering this as the river that was so hard to cross, I want you to take something out of it that you can commemorate how great God was to bring you through it». So when your children ask, «What was it like to deal with that»? when your children ask, «Tell me about that time,» when your children ask, «Did you ever deal with loneliness, and how did you handle it?» when your children ask, «Did you ever wonder if you were good enough?» when your children ask, «Did you ever feel depressed»?
I want you to have some proof to point through to let them know, «God does miracles, and I have a testimony». «When your children ask, 'What do these stones mean to you? '…» It’s personal to me. I can’t speak for you. I can’t prophesy for you. I can’t praise for you. You can’t praise for me. There are some things I went through that showed me who God was to me. Verse 7 says, «…then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord». «Lord, do you want us to tell them how hard the wilderness was for 40 years for something we didn’t do»? «No. I just want you to tell them, 'When I got to that Jordan, there was a demonstration. We didn’t know how it was going to happen.'»
Watch this. My faith is not in a how; my faith is in a who. So tell them, «The Lord…» Now say, «But God…» Now ask your neighbor, «Was it hard»? Tell them, «It was, but God…» Ask them, «Were you a mess»? Tell them, «I was, but God…» Ask them, «Were you tempted to quit»? Tell them, «I was, but God…» Were you a little nervous about how it was going to turn out back there in 2024? Were you sitting in church one Sunday morning in September? Were you thinking about a football game and lunch, but God had a word for you? Tell them, «I was, but God…» «See, when that man grabbed that microphone and started preaching about the flow of the Jordan being cut off, it reminded me of Calvary. It reminded me of Jesus. It reminded me of the cross. It reminded me of my crossing over. It reminded me of death to life. It reminded me of the blood. It reminded me of broken chains. It reminded me I was…»
I’m going to show you something I never saw before. He said, «I want you to take the stones from what you went through and tell your children what God did, but I want you to take the stones to be a memorial forever». «And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua». Just if I’d do what God told me to do… I don’t have to justify it any other way than God spoke it. Verse 9: «And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests stood…»
Wait a minute. I thought he brought them out of the Jordan and put them in the camp where they stayed when they got through. He did, but there was a second set of stones Joshua set up not where they were going… God said, «I want you to set up something right here. Not when you get through but right here». God told Joshua, «I want you to make a pile of stones in the middle of the Jordan so that when your children ask, 'What was it like when you were crossing the Jordan? ' you’ll have something to point to that you went through so they can understand how powerful God is». So, now you understand what I’m saying. Right? The stones were in the middle of the Jordan.
Now, if the Jordan is at high tide, then the stones can’t be seen. If the Jordan is overflowing, the stones can’t be seen. The only way they’re going to see the stones is if the tide is low. The only way they’re going to see the stones is in a dry season. I’m preaching to somebody who has been in a dry season. I have news for you. God dries up Jordan Rivers and you have some stones. You have some stones at the bottom of what you’ve been through. High-five your neighbor and say, «I’ve got stones». «Don’t think I’m a wimp. Don’t think I’m weak. Don’t think I’m without power. Don’t think I’m without help. Don’t think I don’t have a testimony. I’m going to tell this thing from the other side. I’m going to tell the truth from a higher plane».
So, I came to rescue your testimony, because it isn’t a testimony until it has been tested. Before you get baptized today, I want you to look forward to the low-tide times when the Jordan River gets lower so you can see where you stood when you thought you would die. Get that stone out of there, that thing you suffered, and get that hope out of there, because the proof is in the puddle. Some things you won’t see if it’s not a dry season. That is my hope…stones in dry seasons, strength in weak places. For, you see, at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for us. If he justified me (justification), and if he did that for me (demonstration), then guess what I got back? Anticipation.
So now we have to do something about this. The proof is in the puddles. God didn’t save you because you were on such a high place. «God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners…» He got down in the dirt of my situation. That’s how I know he’s not going to leave me now. He started this thing in the mud. He started this thing in the puddle, and the proof is in the puddles. So, don’t be so freaked out with the hypothetical situations of what’s going to dry up. If it dries up, the stones will still be there. You will still have a testimony. Now take it back. Take back your testimony.
Today wouldn’t be too soon. I need 100 of y’all who weren’t planning on getting baptized today. Get baptized today. Take back your testimony. Declare to the Devil, «I won’t die in this dry season. God brought me to church today to repent, to turn from my sin by his blood. If I’m justified by his blood, shall he not much more save me from his wrath»? So, I really don’t even want to talk about Joshua; I want to talk about Jesus. Jesus who said, «I thirst» is present and stretching in dry places today. And you thought I was going to preach this message about hope in a shallow way? No. I’m talking about a God who is so deeply committed to you.
Now you’re wondering, «But what if it does happen? Well, God will be with me». As hopethetical Holly would say, «Even if it does, we’ll be all right». The last season of your life was designed to show you that. Are you getting that lesson out of it or did you just run through it and say, «Oh, I’m just going to live this way»? Do you remember how the philosopher said, «I think; therefore I am»? Let’s put a twist on that. He was trying to see, «What can I be certain of»? and he realized, «Even the fact that I can doubt means I’m thinking, and even the fact that I’m doubting proves I exist». «I think; therefore I am». Don’t you understand that’s the way it works in your life? You think about all of the things that are going to go wrong; therefore, you are a nervous ball of stress.
«I think; therefore I am». So let’s do this. Say, «I have; therefore I hope». I’m coming to a Jordan right now, and here’s what I’m coming with. Romans 5:1: «Therefore…» What are the stones there for? That’s the question. What is the suffering there for? What are you there for? Why did God keep you alive this long? I see you every week when I preach. You never miss. You probably wouldn’t even know I saw you. I watch you so much I’m a stalker. You ought to get a restraining order on me. It blesses me, and you would never know that. But the proof is in the puddle. It’s the times you don’t see, the times you don’t feel. Coming up to a Jordan River. It looks like it’s overflowing, but God brought that thing down to a puddle for you.
You saw no way to be right with him. You saw no way to put it back together. You saw no way, but the proof is in the puddle, what he already dried up. What are you standing in front of today? When your children ask you, I want you to have a testimony. When they ask, «Did you ever doubt it»? tell them, «Yeah. And there are some things I doubt that are in front of me now, and I want to be honest with you. The truth is I can’t do it, but the Great I Am can». That’s what I’m pointing at. That’s all the proof we need.