Steven Furtick - It Will Happen (Gateway Conference) (01/28/2026)
In Acts 27, Pastor Steven Furtick examines Paul’s journey to Rome amid a violent storm, showing how God works powerfully in times of trouble and transition. Paul warns against sailing but is ignored; the ship is driven by the storm until all hope is lost. Yet Paul declares faith in God that they will survive, though the ship will be destroyed—urging believers to place hope not in the "boat" (circumstances or plans) but in God alone, trusting that "it will happen" as God promised, even if differently than imagined.
Paul in Trouble and Transition – Acts 27
Okay. Into the word. Pick up in verse 9. The apostle Paul is in trouble, y'all. Nothing really new about that. He's in trouble and he's in transition. Perhaps you can identify with one or the other of those tonight.
If you can't take notes, you'll need them within the next four or five weeks. God does some of his most incredible work in our lives when we are in trouble and in transition. It would be nice if there were another Avenue, but that's the subway we take sometimes into transformation, is trouble and transition.
Paul is going to Rome. He always wanted to preach in Rome, by the way. He had a dream to preach in Rome, and he's about to get to, only he's not going to Rome the way that he planned to go to Rome. He's going to Rome with a couple of hundred prisoners. He's going to Rome like he wanted to, but he's not getting there like he had maybe imagined.
I think that would preach right there, don't you? Sometimes God allows you to see your dream fulfilled, but it feels nothing like what you thought it would feel like when it's being fulfilled. You get what you prayed for. I would say that the dream is free, but then the journey can cost you sometimes more than you imagined it would when you were praying about stuff.
So, Paul is bound now for Rome. He is going to preach the gospel in Rome, but he's headed there in chains.
Warning Ignored – Steering by Senses
It says in verse 9, Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous. Luke, of course, is giving us this account. He's giving an eyewitness account. Perhaps he's on board as Paul's physician, but he's given an account.
He says, It was now after the Day of Atonement. So, Paul warned them. Of course he did. Always got an opinion. Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo and to our own lives also.
But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. I just wrote in my margin, of course he did. Who are you going to listen to, the preacher or the pilot of the ship, about steering the ship? I would look at a nautical map rather than reading a Bible verse 2 if I want to arrive safely.
It says that he followed the advice of the pilot and the owner of the ship rather than listening to Paul.
Now, I wanted to point that little part out there and say that I think Paul here represents for us something more than just one preacher on board or a prisoner on board. He represents, in fact, I think for us the Word of God on board.
I wanted to ask you a question about your ministry as it stands right now because it's just an illustration from the text. I wanted to ask you, are you steering by the Spirit or by your senses? Because all of these men are about to get in a lot of trouble steering by their senses.
It makes sense to listen to the pilot rather than the prisoner who also happens to be a preacher. It makes sense to listen to the guy who owns the ship as to whether or not you want to sail on and brave it against the waves.
But how many of you know that you can get in a lot of trouble in ministry trying to make sense? I think most of us that start out in ministry… I was saved when I was 16. I never wanted to be anything but a preacher from that day forward. I never had a hard time obeying God until I accumulated a reasonable amount of success.
When you don't have anything to put on a spreadsheet, you really have nothing to steer by other than the Spirit. You don't have any data. You don't have any information.
You know a dangerous thing can happen to us as God begins to take us into new waters and begins to answer some prayers and give us a little bit of influence. Everybody in the room has more influence than you think, so I'm not just talking about the size of your church or the size of your ministry, but I'm talking about the downside of experience.
There is a downside of experience, by the way. There is a huge upside to it, but the flipside of experience is you can start steering the ship of your ministry based on what you see, and based on what you smell, and based on what you feel, and based on what you feel like, and based on what mood you're in, and based on what worked last time, and based on what worked over there.
But I wanted to warn somebody that is steering by your senses, and you've stopped steering by the Spirit, and you've got your nautical maps spread out, and now you've gone to taking all of the advice of the owners of the ship.
But when you start being steered by what makes sense, it's just a matter of time before you're walking by sight, not faith.
It's Not Always Supposed to Make Sense
Sometimes it's not supposed to make sense. It doesn't make sense to listen to what Paul, a prisoner, a preacher, thinks about where the ship ought to go. It doesn't make sense sometimes to love somebody who hurt you and to forgive somebody who wronged you.
It didn't make sense for Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and go to the land that God would show him. It would make sense to go to the land that God did show you, but not the land that he will show you. That doesn't make sense. Say it. It doesn't make sense.
It didn't make sense when Elijah was pouring water on the wood when there was a drought after three and a half years, taking the last precious resource and pouring it out to make the miracle harder. It didn't make sense.
It didn't make sense for Saul to put David in representative combat to go against Goliath, the Shepherd boy who brought the cheese pizza to the battle lines to check on his big brothers. It didn't make sense for David to stand there and say, Bring it on, just like the lion and the bear. I have something for you too, big boy. It didn't make sense.
It didn't make sense when Joshua was walking around the walls of Jericho with a marching band, talking about, Don't say anything till the seventh day, but let's just keep walking. Shouldn't we start building a ladder over the wall? No, that's not what God said, and I'm not trying to do what makes sense. I'm trying to do what God said.
Now I'm going to put some good sense in place to help me do what God said, but if it comes down to good sense… That's my first point. It's not always supposed to make sense.
Some of you started out walking in faith, but now you're trying to make sense. You're going to end up missing out on some things God wants to do through you if you start trying to make sense where God has called you to have faith. Say amen for your neighbor. They're kind of convicted they can't muster one up.
Some of the people in the Bible that got in the most trouble got in trouble making sense. It made a lot of sense for the ten spies to come back and say, We shouldn't go in there. Those guys are way bigger. That made sense.
It made sense for Saul to offer the sacrifice because Samuel was running a little behind. That made sense. I wrote some more down. Oh, it made sense for Abraham to sleep with Hagar. Hey. Okay. If you say so, Sarai.
If I look back on some of the pivotal things in our ministry, they didn't make sense. I'm not saying you do stupid things. I'm not saying that you check your brain, blame it on God. I'm just saying that. I don't think I'd be here ministering to you today if I had calculated my way through my ministry thus far.
We see here in this passage some men who are about to get in a lot of trouble trying to make sense, and Paul's on board. He's saying, Listen, there's a higher power than your nautical prowess, and I advise you. But they went on ahead anyway.
Driven Along in the Storm
Look at verse 13. They go on against the advice of God's man, the preacher who was on board. It says in verse 13, When a gentle south wind began to blow, so at first everything looks cool. It takes you a little while to realize that the winds are against you.
They saw their opportunity, so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. And before very long, a wind of hurricane force called the Northeaster swept down from the island, and the ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind.
So we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the Lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. So the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship, just trying stuff now to hold it together, because they were afraid they would run aground.
They were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Cerdus, and they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be, there's the phrase again, driven along.
I feel like there are probably many of us in ministry tonight who are being driven along. You steer by your senses instead of the Spirit, and eventually comes the storm, and before long, you're just driven along.
Still moving, but not driven by the wind of the Spirit. Driven by the wind of circumstance. Still moving, and maybe nobody even knows it yet, because you're still in motion, but you know in your heart, I'm driven along.
Maybe in a New Testament sense, James would say, When you ask of God, you must believe in your heart and not doubt, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is tossed and driven with the wind. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything from the Lord, for he's a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Driven along. Driven along. Just going with stuff.
I think this is a great passage to talk about many things, because the storm here could represent fear. The storm here could represent shame. The storm here could represent opposition from people who don't like you in ministry, who don't want you to be in the position that you're in.
I love preaching from Bible stories, because I think God put a lot of them in the Bible because he wanted me to find myself in them. Not write myself in as the main character, but to find myself in them.
Hearing the story, I can tell you there have been times where I've related to Paul, but there have been a whole lot more times where I've felt more like this boat. Driven along.
From Desperation to Despair
I want to share this with you. Maybe you've seen this before, but I saw it in a way that I thought would encourage you. It gave me some perspective on storms.
It says in verse 18, We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. And on the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands.
And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days. .. Watch this. It's one thing to be driven along and still be fighting. But in verse 20, it goes from desperation to despair. And that's when you're really in trouble.
When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. We lost what we were being guided by. And when we did, we gave up all hope.
And I know you look real cool in your conference outfit. And I know you're totally inspired right now, but I'm talking about how you felt Saturday. I want to speak to every man and woman of God today at this great conference who made the effort to get here.
But truth be told, you were driven here by some forces that have beaten against the deck of your life and your heart and your soul. And you've lost what you were being led by. And you don't really know what's next for you. And you don't really know how this one's going to be resolved.
And I'm screaming because I think maybe my volume can make up for how little time I feel like I have to share with you because I only had this one session. I would take it a little slower if I was going to be here for multiple days. But I don't have time to play around with you because there are some ministers here that God told me, you've crossed over from desperation to despair.
You've already thrown off everything and everybody you could get rid of. And now you've given up hope. This counselor that I meet with occasionally because I have issues, um, he told me the clinical definition of depression is one thing he said, but here's a, here's the real definition.
Depression is when you can't see any possibility that you're ever going to feel any different than you do right now, or that it's ever going to be any different than it is right now. All hope is lost.
Here comes Paul. Here comes the preacher. Remember the one who told him to stay put to begin with? Yeah. Paul, Paul let him wait a little while too. Paul's a trip. I don't know if we would like Paul. We all talk about we want to meet him in heaven. I don't think you do. I think you just want to keep him to your imagination. I don't think he's that likable because watch this.
Verse 21. You should have taken my advice not to sail from Creed. I told you so. Then you would have spared yourselves as damage and loss.
I like the first two words of verse 22. Maybe they won't mean anything to you. If you, maybe you don't have any regrets. Maybe you've never done anything stupid. Maybe you're not in a storm today. Maybe you're on a Caribbean cruise. Maybe you're sailing to Rome to taste cheese and wine. I don't know.
But just in case you've ever been driven along, maybe these two words will mean something to you. He said, but now. But now.
I love this passage because I've always been taught that Jesus will see you through the storm, but they always teach it from the New Testament when Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat and then they got in a storm. It makes sense to me that he'll see me through that kind of storm. I got that. You know, God is faithful. If he sends me to the mission field, he'll provide. And you know, if he sends me into a, if he sends me into a battle, then he'll get me through it and he'll be my Victor. Or if I get in trouble serving him.
But what about when I get in trouble and it's my own fault? I know you got to look confused like that's never happened to you. But hypothetically speaking, what if you made a dumb decision that got you in trouble? What if it isn't just the devil? The devil didn't make this storm. Did you see devil anywhere in the passage?
He said, men, it's your fault. Now, I'm not just speaking to people, and this might be controversial, and they might want to edit this out of the DVD, and I'm fine with that, but this is not just for the people who you're in a storm right now that God sent you into.
This is even for the people sitting in the back of the room so ashamed during worship of something you created that you don't even feel like you can lift your hands. You were down on the ground on your face, not out of reverence, but in shame, because you know I got myself into this storm.
Paul says to you what he said to the sailors, but now. I feel it. I feel it. I feel it strong for somebody who's going through something, and it was your fault. It was your fault. You messed it up. If you had it to do over, you do it differently, but you don't. But now.
I'm going to try it on this side and see if I've got anybody who ever made a mistake, whoever did something that the moment you did it you wish you could have taken it back. But now. How does that sound? But now.
We can't do anything about what happened six years ago, sweetheart, but now. We can't do anything about that job you took that you shouldn't have took, and you went to the thing, and you talked about it, and you… but now.
We can't do anything about how they treated you, and I know they were unfair to you, and I know they didn't hear your side of it, and I know if they don't really know, and I know people were saying stuff about you… but now.
Touch seven people, not me, and tell them, but now. Now, but now, but now, but now, come on, tell them, it will happen. Now, okay, but now,
Keep Up Your Courage – Faith in God
I urge you to keep up your courage. Man, they are great with these scriptures. He said, keep up your courage. I'm going to read you the whole thing. It's so cool. Keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost. Only the ship will be destroyed.
Question. Is this good news? It depends on what part of the sentence you want to focus on. It's a good news. He said, only the ship will be destroyed.
Now, if you go to that part after, only the ship will be destroyed. The ship will be destroyed. Let's let the ship represent whatever you think you can't live without, whatever you think is carrying you, whatever you think is holding you up, whatever you think is going to get you there, whatever you think it is that God was I was going to use.
If your hope is in the boat, that's a death sentence. But if you just back up one word, he said, only the ship will be destroyed. I got good news, fellas. You're going to make it to prison. But about this boat, it's not looking so good for the boat.
Watch this, watch this, watch this. I urge you to keep up your courage. Some of you are in trouble today because all of your courage is tied to your conditions. You've got conditional courage, and you're scared to death, and you're freaking out, and you're losing sleep, and now you're backtracking on stuff.
And it's because your hope is in the boat. There came a time last year where our church had grown really well for seven years, every year, then a year, God's blessing, God's favor. And when the media started reporting on us night after night, week after week, making things up, saying things, there was a part of me that wondered, is this it?
Like, is this it, God? Did we do seven great years, and now is it like the seven fat cows, and here come the seven skinny cows? And see, I kept trying to tell myself, that's not going to happen, that's not going to happen, that's not going to happen, that's not going to happen, that's not going to happen, church can be fine, church can be fine, and the church was fine.
In fact, the church grew by God's grace, and the church is very strong today. Our church is stronger than ever today, but here's what I had to come to, and this is something that my oldest son, Elijah, taught me.
I had to come to the point where I could say to the devil, well, what if? See, I was telling that to my oldest son one day. He was jumping on his bed, and I said, boy, quit jumping on the bed. What if you break the bed? And he said, well, what if? Because he knows. He knows I'm going to buy him another bed. I'm not going to let him sleep on the floor. He knows. He said, well, what if?
I said, I'm going to beat you, and then he quit jumping on the bed. But now the point is a valid one. Well, what if? Because I used to try, when I get a fear like, oh no, something bad is going to happen. Oh no, this might… People might turn against me. Oh no, people might think this. Oh no, people might say that. Oh no, that might do it.
And I used to say, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. But where I really found freedom was when I finally came to the point where God said, well, what if... if you lost your church, would you still serve me? Would you still love me? Would you still follow me?
I said, yeah, Lord. I believe I would. I believe I'm still the same 16-year-old boy who would drive five hours to speak at a lock-in to middle schoolers who smell like rotten Doritos. I believe I still preach. I believe I still have something to say, even if I think I would. I believe I still love you. I'll still serve you.
And it's a wonderful thing about when you take your hope out of the boat. When you take your hope out of the boat and you start saying, God, I love the boat. The boat is awesome. I want to row, row, row the boat all the way. I want a yacht, God. I prefer a yacht. And it's great. If I can sail on a yacht, I'll sail on a yacht. But if I have a doggie pad on my way to the shore, I'm still coming after you.
There's no devil in hell that can stop me from pursuing your purpose. Yeah, I'll swim to the shore. Touch somebody and say, it will happen.
See, because when I announced that title, I heard a lot of, ooh, it will happen. Double portion, it will happen. The growth I'm praying for, it will happen. Restoration in my marriage, it will happen. Cool. I believe all that. I declare all that. Go get it. Go for it. Believe God for it.
But what if it happens? Instead, the other it. The boat breaks apart. Watch this. Because in Paul's passage, it happened. It happened. It happened. Everybody say, it happened.
He said, keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost. Only the ship will be destroyed. Here's why. Verse 23. Last night, an angel of the God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, to whom I belong and whom I serve, to whom I belong and whom I serve.
I love it. I love it. I love it. He stood beside me, and he said... Now, that's cool, but it's even better to say, he lives within me. He lives within me. He stood beside me. He lives within me.
And he said, do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar. God said, I can't let you die in this battle, because you have a bigger one ahead of you.
Y'all stay with me. Verse 25, so keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God. That's it. That's the one. That's the verse. That's what we need. I have faith in God.
My hope is not in this boat. My faith is in God. My eyes are on Jesus. For I have faith in God that it will die in, that it will die in, just as he told me.
Not just like I imagined it, but just like he said. The problem with a lot of us is that we're too in love with the way we want it to happen. I don't mean to challenge you, but is that you? I don't mean to rock your boat.
But if I'm talking to you, you'll know it. You got to get your hope out of the boat. Something about this boat. The boat is good, but the boat is not God.
Nevertheless, verse 26. This is a downer. We must run aground on some island. Come on. It will happen. Not like I thought it would happen, but it will happen.
I'm going to be a little older than I thought I was going to be when it happens, but it will happen. Not everybody I thought was going to be there with me until the end is going to make it with me to the end, but I still have some people, and it will happen.
It's not going to be as easy as I thought it was going to be, and it's going to cost a lot more than I thought I was going to have to pay, but it will happen.
It might not be in the same city I started out in, and it might not be in the same manner or in the same position that I always thought I would fill, but I'm not worried about how it happens. I just have faith that it will.
I'm going to make it. I'm going all the way. He shall perform everything he promised you. Come on, I'm prophesying now. It will happen. It will happen.
You might not get there in style, but you're going to get there. It will happen. You might have to fight a little harder than you ever calculated and do stuff you didn't train for, but it will happen.
They might talk about you, but it'll happen. They might push you to the side, but it'll happen. They might not appreciate you like they should, but it'll happen. It'll happen. It'll happen.
I declare if you keep your faith in God, take your hope out the boat. It will happen.