Steven Furtick - Cheer Up Check Up (04/27/2018)
It's easy to give advice like "be of good cheer" or see the cup half full when life is good, but much harder to apply it in personal pain or hardship. The preacher confesses this struggle, warns against numbing pain with quick fixes that cause deeper harm, and points to Jesus as the Great Physician who gives true, enduring good cheer rooted in truth—not circumstances—through checking your countenance, circulation, and connection with God.
The Challenge of Practicing What You Preach
I want to confess to you that I am really good at giving this advice, especially on a stage. But taking this advice seems to be a little bit more challenging. No, I'm serious. I give the best advice. I really do. I do. I do. I mean, this is what I do. I give the best advice. I am so good at helping others see that the cup is not half empty. It is really half full. Thereseo. Until, until, until I get a little thirsty. Then that cup doesn't look as full.
It's easy to say the cup is half full when you're standing under a waterfall. But let me get in a desert for a minute. And all of a sudden, I don't see the same. You know, it's easy for me to tell people these little cliches of wisdom. You know, look on the bright side. You still got your health. You don't have your job, but you got your health. Look on the bright side. That's easy for me to say while I'm standing in the sunshine. Well, let me have a cold, dark, dreary day. And let's see if I can find the bright side that I've so aptly pointed others to.
Why It's Hard to Heal Your Own Pain
You haven't noticed this? How easy it is to give a prognosis for somebody else's problem? You know what's harder? Here's what's harder. It's hard to write a prescription for your own pain. It's the most difficult thing in the world to follow the advice that you've given. To do what you know. To put into practice what you're yelling at your kids about. It's the hardest thing in the world. How do you write a prescription for your own pain? How do you analyze your own agony?
And so what we do, we get in so much pain and we either don't feel anything and we want to feel something or we feel so much and we want to feel nothing and so we start just popping pills. Just popping pills. One time when Holly was in high school she had her wisdom teeth taken out and she was allergic to the medicine, the pain medicine so the doctor told her she could just take Motrin. She could take up to three Motrin every three hours. She took a bottle of Motrin in a week but the only thing about it was she didn't have her wisdom teeth so she wasn't eating while she was taking the Motrin.
And so what she did was she felt better for a minute but she created an internal problem and the next time she went back to the doctor she had a bigger problem than wisdom teeth. She had bleeding stomach ulcers. She could have died from that. She was killing herself on the inside to solve a problem that was relatively external in nature.
Quick Fixes That Cause Deeper Harm
I wonder are you doing the same thing spiritually in some areas of your life today. What we do is we want any kind of cheer so anybody or anything that makes me feel better I'll take it. But see, when you're not eating, when you're not nourished spiritually, when you're depressed like the sailors in Acts chapter 27, you can't take that stuff on an empty stomach. So now you're taking something to cure your pain that's really tearing up your insides. And you're creating more problems than you're solving.
Writing a prescription for your own pain. Taking a whole bottle of something just to feel something and never realizing that on the inside, you're bleeding. And so we go for the quick hit. The bad cheer. The kind of cheer that feels good for a moment and brings you crashing down so hard. You despise yourself. So we go for that website. So we go for those images. So we start shopping with money that we don't have on credit cards that we hid from our husband.
If I'm talking about you, just look at the screen and no one will know. It's your business. But I'm just telling you, you are creating a worse problem than you are solving just to feel something. And we call it acute names retail therapy. But when the therapy is causing you to have more issues, is it really therapeutic?
Only Jesus can bring a correct prognosis. Only Jesus can tell us really... See, because he's a good doctor. In fact, the scriptures call him the great physician. Not just a good doctor. How many of you want a good doctor? Okay? That's great. But how many of you, if the one who made you didn't even have to scan you to know what was wrong with you, that would be a good thing. That's what Jesus is. The doctor is in.
Jesus Gives Good Cheer in the Storm
And I was thinking about this thing. You know, what makes a good doctor isn't that he always tells you what you want to hear. Boy, I just love my doctor. He never says anything negative. It's amazing. I mean, I had cancer for months. He didn't even bring it up. He said, you're going to have trouble in this world. It's going to get dark. It's going to... There is a storm on the way. You're going to be scattered sometimes. You're going to wake up some mornings and feel set against yourself. But, be of good cheer. When it comes over you, when the winds and the waves start to rage, you only need to know that I have already overcome what's coming over you.
God, that's pretty preaching. I have already overcome. Be of good cheer. Lift up your head. Open your eyes. Good cheer. Say it out loud. Good cheer. Not that circumstantial stuff. We can buy it and sell it for a dime. Don't need it. The world can offer tips to be happier. Techniques to be happier. But Jesus said, I want to give you some truth so you'll have a good cheer. A good cheer in a bad situation.
Jesus looked at a man one time who was lying paralyzed on a mat. The man couldn't move. Jesus looked at it. Matthew chapter 9, verse 2. He said, Son, be of good cheer. What? It would have been one thing had Jesus said be of good cheer after he healed the man, which he eventually did and the man got up and walked. But he didn't say it once the man was off his mat. He said it while the man was still lying paralyzed. Why? Because I don't want your cheer to be in your situational improvement. I want your cheer to be tethered to truth that even when it's dark, there's something shining on the inside.
Avoid Bad Cheer—Seek the Real Thing
Be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Not that temporary fix that comes from eating too much makes you feel better for a moment and then the moment you're having to unbutton your pants and undo your belt buckle, you're already regretting every Dorito. I don't want that for you. Not that drinking three glasses and four glasses and five glasses and, oh, I can handle it, but you're really just numbing yourself and missing moments that you could enjoy with all of your senses.
Not that complaining stuff where you feel better about yourself for a minute by bringing somebody else down or by talking bad about somebody else. Not that social media stuff where you're checking, do I have 17 likes yet? Not that TV washing over you for four hours a night. Not that starting stuff and not finishing and not that just going off and venting. I want a good cheer. I want courage and comfort that never runs out.
Tell somebody next to you, I want the good stuff. I want that good stuff. I want that stuff that has no expiration date. I want that stuff that works on Friday and Saturday, not just Sunday morning. I want that Monday morning stuff. I want that my boss is a jerk, but I still got a smile. So I want that still standing, going through hell, water in the boat, but joy in my heart. Good cheer. Hey! High five three people telling them we got the good stuff today.
How to Diagnose Your Own Down Days
And so how do you check it? How do you check it? A good physician has to give a proper prognosis. Jesus said, you're going to have trouble. That's the forecasting of the probable cause. He has to give a good diagnosis. Tell me what's caused it. The prognosis is what is it going to do? But then that's only part of it. A good physician, a great physician, would have to give a good prescription.
And God said, the problem with you is you've been going on WebMD spiritually trying to figure out what's wrong with you. And the reason you can't write a prescription for your own pain and you can advise other people so well is because when you're advising them, you have something that you lack once you start hurting. And that's called perspective. Pain causes you to lose your perspective. Pain causes you to OD on stuff that you know better than to touch.
You know what else pain causes you to do? It causes you to treat the wrong areas. I'll never forget. I went to go get a massage one time. I was preaching. I went to go get a massage because I do that. And I went to go get a massage. And the lady was like, I said, my back's hurting. And then she told me, all right, she said, but it's really not your back, it's your neck. I said, right there in my upper back. She said, it's called referral pain. She said, where you feel the pain is not necessarily where the pain originated.
So I can work on that area if you want me to. But if you really want this to feel better, not just while you're on my table, but after you get up off my table, we got to go to the place where the pain is coming from. And you know, there are times in our lives where we're treating and discarding and dealing with symptoms of pain, referral pain, treating the wrong areas, trying to fix stuff that really isn't broken. What's broken is often something within us. What's broken is our heart and it leaks into the issues of our life.
Divine Diagnosis: Check Your Countenance First
And so Jesus said, I want to fix what's really wrong today. But if you go on and you start searching for it, you're going to start thinking that it's worse than it really is or it's better than it really is or it's different than it really is. Only the one who made you can really diagnose you. And so what we need today is a divine diagnosis. And the Lord wants to teach us how to do this.
Now I have three of these. We'll probably only get to one or two, but that's all right. Because I want to teach you how to give yourself the next time that you are down, how to diagnose with God's help and the Spirit of God which can help you do this. Just some quick things to help you answer the question, why am I so down? Like the psalmist prayed that time, why are you downcast though, my soul? I need the diagnosis. I don't want to spend another week depressed and down.
The kid's wondering why is mom never happy? And the kid's wondering why is dad always mad? So I got to check my cheer. How do I do it? All right. Number one. This is very simple but very profound. Trust me. Check your countenance. Countenance. I mean your literal physical facial expression. This is something I've been paying attention to lately. Because everybody has a default demeanor.
Your Face Reflects Your Faith
And we're going to do a little quiz. All right. For those of you that are married or you're sitting next to somebody that's a friend of yours or something like that. Which of these faces, they have all these beautiful faces up here on the screen, these emoticons. Which of these most accurately represents the default demeanor of your significant other? Which one? Which one most accurately represents your default demeanor? I'm just talking about you know like you have a resting heart rate but you also have a resting facial expression.
And just when you're not thinking about it, when you're just not even paying attention, which one is most like you? And I'm afraid church, I'm afraid that mine is that mean mug. And I need to talk about this because I've been working through it and you're cheaper than counseling. But I've been thinking lately, I think I have a hateful face. I do. I mean, sometimes I'll watch myself preach and I'm like, young man, who hurt you? Why are you so frustrated?
I mean, I just, I was, okay, I was shooting a video the other day. This is really what brought it out. There are two things that showed me that this is my default expression. One is that Holly regularly walks up to me and starts rubbing my eyebrows. I'm like, what are you doing? Bringing lavender over, you know, what are you doing? You just look so, I know you're focused, but you look so angry, Mr. Potato Head. You know, swap out your, just trying to like fix my eyes.
The other thing, and I kind of thought, you don't know what you're talking about. I'm happy, I'm a happy person. But then the other day I was doing a video shoot and when I do the video shoot, by the time you see it on TV or wherever it comes on, it always looks, I'm always like, by the time I'm talking to the camera, I'm just like, so friendly. Welcome to the Elevation Experience. We love you, we pray for you.
But then one time I wanted to see the shot and I asked the video team, I said, show me the shot and they showed me some of the footage of me between takes so I could see what the shot looked like. And I thought to myself, I look miserable. And I knew you wouldn't believe me, so I actually had them pull some of the clips. And what you're going to see is, you're going to see one face from me and then when it is action, watch how the countenance changes.
Face Fake the Devil—Smile Through the Storm
Just check it out. I'd love the opportunity to pray with you now. Well, it's almost Easter. But we need to hear from you this week. Well, like I said in the message, when it's time, it's time. And right now, it's time for me to go. Let's be honest, there is not one of us. My, how the time has flown is already the fifth and final week of The Power of Sane. Okay. There are very few preachers who love you enough to show you this kind of stuff. I just want to point that out. That's funny, huh?
All right, now it's your turn. Because we got cameras every week that not only film my preaching, but they film the audience response. Oh, yeah, we're going there. Right now. Now, if you're not at the Blakeney campus, you're good. You're good. Let's ease our way into this, though. Every week for the TV program, some of you watching on TV, hello, what's up? Every week for the TV program, they go in and they edit the show. When they edit the show, they show the crowd response to my message. So when we do it, we pick people to put in the shot. Yes, we screen carefully. Who can we put in the shot that looks engaged, that looks excited, that looks happy?
And so a typical TV edit might look like this. God's word will give you a sense of inner illumination. It says that it will light up the path. Now, it doesn't say that it will always light up the finish line. It says it will light up the path, which means that happiness is not a destination, but happiness is a path that is connected to God's word and convergent with God's word. But, you know, it's crazy. We'll avoid gluten in our diet, but we'll let grumbling get into our heart, which is much more toxic to the ultimate outcome of our life, for everything you do flows from it.
See how cheerful they look, how engaged she looked, how happy they looked, how agreeable. But I told them, put together some outtakes. Show them the people that we didn't show. Put together a little compilation. And some of y'all, when you see this, you're going to feel sorry for the people that come on the screen. Oh, that's mean. They said, no, feel sorry for me that this is what I have to look at while I preach. Roll the thing.
God's word will give you a sense of inner illumination. It says that it will light up the path. Now, it doesn't say that it will always light up the finish line. It says it will light up the path. Which means that happiness is not a destination. But happiness is a path that is connected to God's work and convergent with God's work. But you know, it's crazy. We'll avoid gluten in our diet, but we'll let grumbling get into our heart, which is much more toxic to the ultimate outcome of our life. for everything you do flows from it. Whoa! So just remember, we're watching you. Oh, be careful, little face, how you look. If you're happy and you know it, tell your face.
There's a scripture, y'all. There's a scripture in Jeremiah, in the book of Jeremiah. He's calling, God's calling Jeremiah to be a minister. And he gave him a speech. And I never understood this verse until I became a pastor. He said, Jeremiah 1:8, do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you. Come on, tell the person next to you if you're happy and you know it, tell your face.
Come on, I love talking to myself too. You know, we ought to reflect the joy of the one who put us here. We really ought to... I'm not just talking anymore about how you physically look. I understand some of us, you know, you're saying, I mean, I look angry, but I'm not angry. I'm just focused. I'm just thinking. That's great. That's great. But do you know how many people go through life with a cheerless countenance?
Your Countenance Reflects How You See God
Just like, I remember in middle school, I went to a middle school where there was a lot of fighting. And so what you learn to do when you're a small guy is you look tough. And if you just look crazy enough in your eyes, nobody will mess with you. I learned that. You've got to look like you've got a brick in your backpack or something. Everybody leave you alone. So I just learned to walk through the halls like, like, like, you know. And I think that's where it started. You just, if you go through something early in life that's hard, you go through life with a harsh countenance. Gritting your teeth and... grrrrrr.
Now, I've been trying an experiment lately. I'm like, I wonder if my emotions can be tricked by my face. So lately, I've just been forcing myself to have a better facial expression. in hopes, you know how like in basketball, there's a head fake. You can head fake your opponent. I'm going this way. No, I'm not. I'm going that way. It's a head fake. I'm wondering, can you face fake the devil? I'm wondering, I'm wondering, I'm just trying this.
I've been trying a little while now. Like, I'll just bust out in a spontaneous smile. Just the dumbest, stupidest, looking smile. Just, I'll be in the middle of a situation, you know, frustrated, fed up, and I just start smiling. Just, and you know, your emotions really aren't that smart. I found out you can lead them where you tell them to go. You can just, "hey, I love traffic". This is more time for me to pray. Sometimes you just got to laugh, just laugh, going through hell, just laugh, just force out. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha. Car broke down again. Ha ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha. Just put a different look on your face and send a different signal to your soul.
We're going to get through this. We're not just going to survive that either. We're going to thrive today. I'm a smile about it. And I thought this was just a small thing. I thought, well, this is just a small thing. But you know, in the scripture, countenance is a huge deal to God. I know because I googled it. I googled it. And I found this scripture that they used to read in the Methodist church where I grew up. Every week, the pastor would say, and I didn't pay any attention to it. To me, it was just wah-wah-wah. Wah-wah-wah-wah. But he said it every week.
It's a blessing from the book of Numbers, chapter 6, verse 24 through 26. Listen to this. How beautiful this is. This is the blessing that God gave the priest to give to the people. They would say, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you. You know, if his face is shining upon you, your face is gonna shine back out into the world. That's the truth. Make his face shine upon you. And be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
That sounds like Jesus. I have told you these things that ye might have peace. And when in the world you have tribulation, don't let what's going on around you get on you. And don't let it get in you. But have a different countenance. Have a different look about you. You know, people ought to just be able to see in your eyes whether you're smiling or not. You know, you gotta cry sometimes. Everything is not happy. Everything is not something to smile about. I get that. But if we're... If we are... If we are the sons and daughters of God, our facial expression ought to resemble the expression of our Father.
Check Your Circulation—Let Joy Flow Out
I saw Elijah the other day. He made a face, y'all. An angry face. It looked so much like me. It made me mad how much it looked like me. So I made the face back at him that he made back at me. You know, as children, we will always reflect what we resemble. And we will resemble what we perceive about our parents. And this is... This may be the coolest thing that I've seen in the scripture a long time. Because when it said, may he make his face shine upon you. And lift up his countenance upon you. I realized that the way that you look at life is a direct reflection of the way you think God is looking at you.
The way you look at your life is on your face. It's in your thoughts. Your perspective. You are reflecting your perspective of your Father's perspective of you. You are. So if you think that God is harsh, guess how you're going to look at life? Harsh. If you think God is unforgiving, guess how you're going to look at life? Guess how you're going to look at yourself? Guess how you're going to look at your kids? Guess how you're going to look at your girlfriend? Unforgiving. If you think that God is judgmental, you're going to go through life judgmental. We become what we behold. I said we become what we behold.
My buddy Eric Phillips is in this worship experience. I didn't share this in the other one, but you just made me think of it. I was watching him and his mom one day in their kitchen several years ago. I was looking at them, and they were standing at the counter side by side. They had the exact same look on their face. I mean, I was just studying it. Eyes, nose, mouth, ears. Even their ears were, like, doing the same thing. And then, you know what's weird? What I realized from that? She wasn't even your birth mom. I was like, wait a minute. Because at the time, I was thinking, he looked just like his mom. But wait a minute. Is it possible that you could be around somebody so long?
Have you ever seen husbands and wives? No blood relation. But they've just been looking at each other so long that they have the same look. How is that possible? Because you will become what you continually behold. And I'm going to tell you, you can't spend time seeking the face of God, and it not change your face. You can't spend time having him shine down upon you.
I love what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4. He said that the same God who said, let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts. That's number six. It's just the New Testament version. He said, the God who made light shine out of darkness, who brings joy out of sorrow, who brings beauty from the ashes, that same God who created all of this, who makes the sun to shine upon the just and the unjust. That same God made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.
You know what you need to do this week? Get in God's face. You know what you need to do this week? Get in God's presence. You know what you need to do this week? Quit spending your time taking your cues from negative people and get in the face of a loving God who created you and let his countenance shine upon you and he will lift up your countenance and give you peace. In Jesus name.
Tell somebody next to you, you look happier than when you came in. That's what it'll do to get in the presence of God. It'll turn your frown. Tell somebody, check your countenance. Check your countenance. Do a countenance check on your row. See if anybody doesn't look like they got the joy of the Lord. Come on, if you're saved, look like it. If you're redeemed, look like it. If you're filled, look like it. If you're blessed, look like it. If you got joy and you know you got joy, don't just sit on it, look like it, let it get up in your face.
So we're going to work on that. Check your countenance. And also tell them, tell them, check your circulation. Because that's my second point that also starts with the letter C. You got to check your countenance. And you got to check your circulation. Look at Proverbs 15:13. He said, a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. I love how the Lord designs these series. And if you don't come week after week, you really won't see how God just... He just builds.
Because week one, he told me to tell you, guard your heart above all else. Because everything you do flows from it. That was week one. And this week, he told me to talk about your countenance. I said, God, what does a countenance have to do with a heart? I found Proverbs 15:13. A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance. It flows from it. Everything you do flows from it. Wait, wait. It flows from it. It flows from it. It flows from it.
The world's definition of happiness and joy is based on what flows to you. God's definition of joy has much more to do with what flows from you. I preached, guard your heart. I preached Proverbs 4:23 for years. And I said, be careful what you let into your heart. But he didn't say it's what flows to it. That's part of it. But he said it's what flows from it.
Circulation: Give What You Need to Receive Joy
So, next time you're down, check your circulation. You know, there's no life without circulation. There's no spiritual life without circulation, but there's no physical life without circulation. Did you know that the blood in your body makes a round trip through your entire body every 60 seconds? It goes from your heart down to your toes, to the tips of your fingers, and everywhere it needs to go, even your brain. Someone needs a little more to go up there. We've got to get done. But every time your blood leaves your heart, it's coming back within one minute. Every 60 seconds.
The heart pumps out the blood through your body to do its job to sustain your life. And your heart says to your blood, I'll see you in a minute. And if it doesn't come back in a minute, it's trouble in your body. So now you're wondering why you're depressed. You're wondering why you're discouraged. You're wondering why you're down and you can't get up. You're wondering why you're sorrowful. You're wondering why your countenance has fallen. Could it be you've cut off your own circulation?
Could it be that God is putting a lot into your life, but nothing's flowing back out, and it is cutting you off? Can I tell you something about a dead church? A dead church is not a church that has a certain style of music. No, no, no, no, no. It's not a style. A dead church is not a church that's small or that's in a smaller community. That doesn't mean it's dead. A dead church is a church where there's no new life being born.
So I want to look at that camera and say, if ever at any of our campuses there comes a time at Elevation Church where there aren't people in those baptismal tanks who came into church as sinners, as broken, dirty, low-down, rotten, disreputable sinners. If we ever lose our flow, that's what I'm trying to say. If we ever don't have an influx of people coming in those doors who don't know Christ, who meet Him and find Him and declare Him and are changed by Him, we will die.
You've got to learn to check your circulation. Is it possible that I'm not down because of something that I didn't get, but instead because of something I'm not giving? I mean, that's the most unnatural thing in the world. When you need encouragement, maybe the prescription for your pain is to give it. You don't feel like doing that. That's why you need the good stuff. The good cheer.
I found this Bible verse a long time ago. I thought it was a giving verse. Because it says in Luke 6:38, it says, Give and it will be given to you. Good measure. Press down. Shaken together. Running over. And I think it is a giving verse, you know? You can give and God will give to you. Great. But just before that in the verse, Jesus isn't talking about money. I found out in Luke 6:37. That comes before Luke 6:38. Write that down. Impress your friends. He's not talking about money. He's talking about forgiveness. He says, don't judge, you won't be judged. Don't condemn, you won't be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. What is it? Whatever you give. Whatever you give.
What are you putting into circulation in your life? You put bitterness into circulation, guess what's coming back into your heart? The same bitterness that you gave is coming back. You're drowning in the very thing that you delivered to your system. Somebody knows this. Maybe they lived it. Maybe they did it for a few years and then realized, if I want to change what I'm getting, I've got to change what I'm giving. I've got to let the right stuff flow in my life. I've got to get a new flow. I've got to get a new flow.
I'm sick and tired of blaming people who weren't there for me. I've got to give something different. I've got to get something different circulating. I've got to keep it moving. That's the thing. That's the thing. Somebody here is down today, and you're down because there's no movement. Where there's no movement, there's no blood flow. Where there's no blood flow, there's no life. And now your heart doesn't have what it needs to live spiritually, not because of what you didn't get, but because of what you didn't give.
And if you give, it will come back and God will bring it from an unexpected source. He will bring you that good cheer while life has hung you on a cross. Is it possible that what you need to do is give the thing that you need? Give what you need to get what you want.
Keep It Moving—Circulation Brings Life
Now, I'm going to go over time for just three minutes, 30 seconds. And I'm not going to get to point number three. But let's talk about circulation for three minutes and 22 seconds. Did you know that when you come in church and you make just a decision to come, you create circulation for your week in your spiritual system? I mean, we clap our hands. Why do we do that? Get the blood flowing. Get the blood flowing. I don't even like this song. But I'm going to still clap. Because I need to get the blood flowing.
I want to have more joy. If I want to have more joy, I got to rejoice. So I got to get the blood flowing. But I don't feel joy. But I want joy. And I need joy. So I rejoice. I don't feel joy, but I want joy, and I need joy, so I'll rejoice. I'm not trying to make a song out of it. I'm just making a demonstration that when you do this, when you say amen to the Word of God, when you give, when you yourself have a need, when you lift somebody else's head, when your own countenance is down, it shall come back to you. Good measure! Press down… shake it together, running over!
If you want it to run, you got to move! Come on, let's move a little bit. Let's move a little bit. Let's move a little bit. Let's move a little bit. Come on, let's move it around, Chris Brown! Let's move. We've been cutting off our circulation! No wonder we don't have joy. No wonder it's not overflowing. No wonder I've been pulling the covers up over my head, hitting the snooze button seven times. I need to get it moving. I need some circulation. I need what God put in me to flow from me.
Shake somebody and say, keep it moving. Keep it moving. Keep it moving. Keep it moving. Keep it moving. Keep it moving. When you're down, keep it moving. Broke down on the side of the road, keep it moving. Just keep it moving. Find somebody to encourage. Find somebody in the hospital who can't move. Show up somewhere where you're needed and keep it moving.
And I don't want to quit, but I got to quit. I got to close. There's more people. They're waiting to come in. They'll hate you if you stay. They'll riot in the parking lot. But I did want to tell you my third C, so you wouldn't feel incomplete, is check your connection. Check your connection. Everyone standing. Check your connection. Check your connection. Check your...
There's a gentleman on our worship team who's been playing drums for us in the church. I guess about since we started, within the first year. Is that right? Name is Luke. Show him the picture. That guy's... That guy's full of life. He's full of life. He's fun to watch on the drums. Not any more fun than you, Dom, but he's fun to watch on the drums. But he got hit by a car in November. It's a miracle he's still alive. The dude almost died, but he's a fighter. He's been fighting through it. He had to go in the other day. They've been doing all these surgeries on him. And I wrote the details down. They had to repair his ACL, his MCL, his PCL, and his meniscus. How many of you think there's going to be a little pain associated with that? Yes.
So they gave him a tube with a morphine ball and sent him home with a brace on his knee. Mack Brock, one of our worship leaders, the most handsome one. Mack was saying that for five days he was calling Luke, checking in on Luke. You feeling any better? You feeling any better? You feeling any better? And every time he called, Luke said, no, I feel worse. I feel terrible. I feel awful. This stuff isn't working. They gave me. After five days of excruciating pain, you know what he discovered? That on the tube that was feeding the morphine or was supposed to feed the morphine into his leg, where they had given him the button to press, he was pressing the button, but there was a clamp on the tube. For five days.
He just hitting that button, laying on the button, sitting on the button, praying for the button. But it wasn't the button that was broken. And it wasn't the stuff in the ball that didn't work. I don't have time to develop this thought. I wish I did. But I did want to tell you that it's not that the medicine that's in God isn't good medicine. It's not that it doesn't work. It's not that the button's broken. It's not that he don't want to hear you when you pray. But it might be your connection. You got to check your connection. You got to find out what's clamping me down. What do I need to remove? What ego needs to go? What crumbling needs to go? Do I just need to lift my hands today? Do I just need to connect with my Father today? Do I just need to let go of my burdens right now and let my head be lifted in the presence of God? Come on, lift your hands. Make a connection.