Steven Furtick - Don't Block Your Blessing
This is an excerpt from: Unblock It
How many of you have ever had to use the «block» button? Have you ever had to block somebody? Doesn’t it feel good? Doesn’t it feel powerful just to block somebody? This is my feed, and I don’t have to hear what you have to say. Just to block. Just do it one time. Just pretend. Just get that person on your mind blocked. Wouldn’t it be nice if in real life people had a «block» button right there on their forehead? Everybody you worked with. Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a «block» button right there on their mouth? I’m a long way from 2 Corinthians 10.
Now you can say whatever you want, but I won’t see it. I won’t hear it. It’s very convenient for me to not have to be exposed to the comments I don’t want to see. I was thinking about the fact that a lot of people who come to church here have inadvertently blocked the Word of God. I set you up for that, and you didn’t even see it coming. I slid right in. The Word of God is coming to you and the peace of God is coming to you and the power of God is coming to you, and I want to encourage you to unblock it. What happens in our lives is that God speaks to us in all kinds of ways, and some of the things he says to us we like, and some of the things he says to us are encouraging, and some of the things he says to us are uplifting.
So we scroll through that. Even when you come to church, certain things the preacher preaches sound really good. When he tells you you can make it and when he tells you to keep your head up and when he tells you that there’s nothing too hard for God and when he tells you that your setback is a setup for a miracle, it sounds really good. So you scroll through that. «I like that. Ooh, double click that. I like that». Then you come up on something God speaks and it doesn’t feel so… «Yeah. I don’t know if I’m going to double click this particular word». So here’s what you do. You block it.
Now you don’t say you block God. Who’s going to admit that they block God from their heart? The Corinthian church claimed to be opposing Paul. They started blaming Paul. They started saying all kinds of reasons they weren’t going to follow Paul, but it really wasn’t Paul they had a problem with. Through Paul, God was challenging the Corinthian church to a greater faith. He was challenging them to step away from petty Christianity, self-centered, consumer Christianity. As Paul was proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, there was a lot of it that they liked. They liked that forgiveness stuff in their feed. They liked that favor of God that God bestows upon us graciously. They loved that part, but then Paul steps up and challenges them to repent of some attitudes and to incline their hearts in some ways that may be hard, and they block God.
Now here’s the thing. As they’re blocking God, they’re blaming Paul. Did you know you block the blessing of God when you play the blame game in your life, when you start blaming what they did, what they didn’t do? I’m working with one of my children, who shall remain nameless, but this particular oldest child did something so funny the other day, and I told him I was going to use it as an example. He’s almost a teenager, so I won’t get to use him in my sermons much longer, but I can tell you now while he’s 11. Elijah picked up this Frozen cup on the table last night, and he was being silly, because we were having fun, because Holly was gone and we were being boys. I might have been playing the new Bruno Mars album or it might have been Hillsong Worship. I don’t really remember. But I picked up the cup and I was acting like I was drinking it. He picked up the cup and he did it like this and the water went everywhere.
I swear to you that boy sets the cup back down and says, «Why was there water in this cup»? Exactly. Because it’s the cup’s fault, son. It’s not that you took the cup like that. No, it couldn’t possibly be. It’s the cup’s fault. Graham and I were laughing so hard. For the next 15 minutes, we were reenacting it. I got some video clips. «Why was there water in this»? Mad at the cup. Mad at the circumstance. Mad at the trial. Mad at the preacher. Mad at… Oh, it got quiet. Mad at the other Christians.
See, I don’t really care too much if I make you upset. I’m more concerned if I offend God by not challenging you to the level of the standard he called you to. I want to say that the blessing of God has been trying so hard to flow to some of you, but you keep blocking it because you blame others. You even sometimes blame your lack of giftedness for your lack of growth. «Well, I’m just not that smart» or «I’m just not that talented» or «I just don’t pick up on things that quickly». I’ll refer back to the text, because Paul is talking to a group of believers and he says, «Our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged».
Here’s the dynamic: they have to grow together. Let me show you what I mean. I know it doesn’t make any sense yet, but it will in a second, I promise you. I’ve been studying all week. I didn’t just come up here. I promise you it’s going to make sense in a minute. Do you trust me? You’re in good hands. This plane will land safely. I promise you I’m going to get you on the ground safely. Some of you have been blocked. It’s a frustrating thing to be blocked. It’s a terrible thing to be blocked, and here’s why they’re blocked. As the Corinthian church’s faith increases, the church grows. As the church grows, their faith increases. Now Paul wants to preach beyond the church in Corinth. He wants the gospel to go forth even farther, but you have a stubborn church who is satisfied and set in their ways. Now that they have been reached, they no longer want to do any reaching.
Now that they have been blessed, they want to stay right where they are. They don’t want to go beyond. «Why would I want to go beyond? I have everything I need right here». The essence of blessing is that it always looks beyond itself. Ask Abraham. God said, «I’m going to bless you, and you’ll be a blessing». The point of the blessing of God on your life is not just that it would flow to you but that it would flow through you. If we stop here, we get stuck here, but if we look beyond, hope beyond, preach beyond, believe beyond… I believe somebody is breaking out of limitation in this season. But they have to grow together. Touch somebody and say, «They have to grow together».
So Paul says, «As your faith grows, the kingdom grows». Watch this. As the kingdom grows, your faith grows. It’s your faith God is after. God wants to break you out of the box of what you thought was possible. God wants to break you out of the box of what you think is normal. God wants to break you out of the box of what you think is extravagant. God wants to break your limited belief system. That’s what it is. That’s what keeps us stuck. That’s what keeps us blocked. We blame everybody and everything, but it is our own BS that keeps us in the box. Belief system. What did you think that stood for? A bunch of degenerates at Elevation Church. All this time, I thought it was something else blocking me. All this time, I thought it was somebody else blocking me.
What if the only thing blocking you is just a question? You can get mad at me. That’s fine. What if the barrier was your own belief? Your belief that God can do it, your belief that he can use you, your belief that he’s bigger. What if the real barrier is your belief? Paul seems to say that if your faith increases, nothing can stop the gospel. If you have enough faith, if you believe big enough, there is absolutely nothing that can stop the purpose of God, but you have to unblock it. The purpose of God cannot be stopped, but your unbelief can block it from operating in your life. Do you hear this? This is heavy. The plan of God cannot be stopped, but you can block it from being activated in your life because you won’t believe it.
The provision of God cannot be stopped. God is more than enough. He’s Jehovah-Jireh. He’s always a provider. He’s always sufficient. He’s always more than enough, but your unbelief can block it. The power of God cannot be stopped. If you don’t believe me, ask that stone that had an assignment to keep Jesus in that tomb. They thought they had blocked him, but they found out when the Word of God comes forth… Nothing can stop the purpose of God except our unbelief. What the stone couldn’t do your hardened heart can: keep Jesus locked in.
Touch somebody and say, «Unblock it». God has been trying to deliver his word to you. He has been trying to get his purpose through you. He has been trying to get his plan accomplished in your life, but you have to unblock it. Now I understand why Paul was frustrated. He saw all these people who could be reached and a complacent church at Corinth who had already been reached themselves but had now stopped reaching. In his best pastoral tone, Paul says, «I want you to grow up so the gospel can go forth».
I understand Paul’s frustration. I really do. I get frustrated with myself, because I know there’s so much more God could do in me, but I block it. Do you do it? I block God all the time. I’m not saying I’m bigger than God, and I’m not saying he can’t knock me over and do what he wants to do through somebody else, but I block him from doing it through me. I know there are times where God wants to encourage somebody, but I block him from working through me, because I’m too stuck on myself. I hate that feeling. I know there are times where God wants to use me to lift the atmosphere of a room, but I don’t do it, because I come in and let the atmosphere of the room set my internal temperature.
I hate it. I know there are times when I come to church and God gives me an opportunity to praise him, but I’m so self-conscious I won’t lift my hands, because I’m so worried about what other people think about me. If I would just open my mouth and sing «hallelujah» even off-key to the Lord, it would unblock the joy of the Lord. «In his presence is the fullness of…» Come on, UC. Come on, Lake Norman. Come on, Ballantyne. If you would open up your mouth and praise God, the presence of God would flow to you. Unblock it! Praise unblocks the blessing of God in your life. I wonder would you give him praise right now for his faithfulness, for his goodness, for his grace.