Filled By Faith! | I Know That Voice | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church

This is the final week of my series I Know That  Voice. Are you clapping because you're ready for   me to be done with it or you've enjoyed it  so much? Come on. Somebody chant, "One more   week! One more week! One more week!" This is  going to be it this week, and I believe the   Lord is going to give us a great grand finale. this week, I want to show you a highlight video  of how he spoke to some people last week. Last   week we had a powerful encounter in the presence  of God in this place, and I was so encouraged as   I saw some of the takeaways. I thought it would  set the tone for what God wants to do. On your   way down to your seat, touch your neighbor  and say, "Death by echo (echo, echo, echo)."   You may be seated. Check out the clip. that sometimes when we're in the cave season it  leads us to isolation, and we anchor on listening   to our own voice instead of God's voice.

destructive patterns that promise you safety but  only make you ashamed, and the shame leads to the   same behavior? What are you doing in this cave? a lot of pressure. Sometimes I will go without   praying, but God always shows up. times you didn't even really pray, but he came,  the times where you thought, "What if I got it   wrong?" but God said, "What if I got it right?" echo. So I've got to stop caving in  on all the voices inside of my head.   Female: We can be so focused on hearing  the echoes back and forth, the voices,   that we can't even hear God speaking to us. had enough, and I (I, I)…" See how it's  filling the cave, see how it's filling   the room, and now I can't hear the whisper. to do is run it back, I could have gotten up  and run out of that church at that moment.   Steven: Run back the time that he fed you. Run  back the time that he led you. Run back the time   that he did come through. Run back the ones who  put their arm around you. You've been replaying   the wrong things, haven't you? You've been  replaying stuff that the Devil can't even bring   up against you because it's nailed to the cross.

resurrection and remember that nothing is dead  until God is done with it. Nothing is over until   God says so. Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  Run it back! He's been good to you. Run it back!   He's more than enough. Run it back! Jehovah-Jireh  always provides. Run it back. You're not alone. All right. Touch 10 people and say, "Run  it back. Run it back. Run it back." Thanks,   y'all. Run it back. Run it back. Run it back. first Scripture we started this series with  in 1 Samuel 16. Please open your Bibles,   and we're going to bring this full circle. I Know  That Voice. One of the things I've most enjoyed   about teaching you this series is that hopefully  we have broadened the way you expect to hear God   in your life. We found out that God can speak  not only to people, but he can speak to storms.   So, if he's not speaking to you right now in your  life in a way you can discern, maybe he's speaking   to your situation, doing things that only he  can do in ways that only he can understand.   We've understood through this series that Jesus  not only speaks to storms, but sometimes he speaks   to stones, the condemnation that is in our lives.  We talked about a woman who was caught in the act   of adultery, and Jesus said, "I don't condemn you.  Go and sin no more." This whole thing started with   a prophet named Samuel. So, 1 Samuel 16. We're  going to do a little 1 Samuel 16 sandwich.  

The first week of the series and the last week  of the series will come from this passage. Not   because I ran out of Bible passages and stories  to talk about God speaking, but as we revisit it   today, I want you to take note. Every time you  hear the Word of God, an opportunity for faith   to be born presents itself to you. Faith comes  by hearing. Hearing comes by the Word of God.   The title of this message today is Filled  by Faith. Say it. Filled by Faith. That's   how I want you going back to school this year,  students: filled by faith. That's how I want   you to deal with these doctor bills you've  got to pay: filled by faith. That's how I   want you approaching this next challenge in your  business: filled by faith. This employee you've   got to go fire this week… I want you filled  by faith. This boss that's about to fire you   this week… Filled by faith. You know there are  both in the room, right? It's a big church.   First Samuel 16:1-13, epic Scripture with an  everyday application. I never want my sermons   to be image-rich and principle-poor, meaning that  I just give you a lot of symbols, abstractions,   but never get to the application. Today, we're  going to talk very plainly about your feelings.   We're only going to talk about it for  a little while, because the main thing   is not your feelings; it's your filling.

'How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have  rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn   with oil and be on your way; I am sending you  to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of   his sons to be king.'" In Bethlehem. This will  not be the last king to be found in Bethlehem,   by the way. I said, keep an eye on Bethlehem.  Unexpected kings come from Bethlehem.   Okay. I'm getting ahead of myself. Verse 2: "But  Samuel said…" How are you going to argue with God?   God told you what to do. Just do it. Aren't you a  prophet? "But Samuel said, 'How can I go? If Saul   hears about it, he will kill me.' The Lord said,  'Take a heifer with you and say, "I have come to   sacrifice to the Lord." Invite Jesse to the  sacrifice, and I will show you what to do.'"   I am claiming that as my verse for the rest of  this year. God said, "I will show you what to   do." Somebody pray it. "God, show me what to do.  Show me what to do about this diet. Show me what   to do about this debt. Show me what to do about  this dysfunction. Show me what to do about this   disease. Show me what to do about this divorce.  Show me what to do." That's a great verse.   God said, "I'll show you what to do, but  you've got to go to Bethlehem to see it." See,   God can't show you if you don't show up.

to anoint for me the one I indicate.' Samuel did  what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem,   the elders of the town trembled when they  met him. They asked, 'Do you come in peace?'   Samuel replied, 'Yes, in peace; I have come to  sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves   and come to the sacrifice with me.' Then he  consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited   them to the sacrifice. When they arrived,  Samuel saw Eliab and thought, 'Surely the   Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord.'" Don't believe everything you see, don't believe  everything you hear, and don't believe everything   you think, because he saw the tall son and  he thought (because he reminded him of Saul,   who was the former king), "This is the one." his appearance or his height, for I have  rejected him. The Lord does not look at   the things people look at. People look at the  outward appearance…'" Ain't that the truth? Boy,   could I tell you how many times I've  preached, and somebody came up to me,   and I thought they were going to compliment my  sermon, and they were like, "I just wanted to   tell you this past Sunday, I loved your  shoes. Where did you get those boots?"   I'm like, "My shoes? Shoes? You're talking about  shoes? I'm trying to teach you the eternal truth   of God." But I usually just say, "Thank you,"  because it is nice to hear you like my shoes.  

But one thing you've got to be very careful about  is surface interpretations, because the Lord does   not look at the things people look at. but the Lord looks at the heart." If you lose  weight, people will say, "Hey, congratulations.   You look like you're losing weight." But if  you forgive somebody, nobody can see that,   so they don't know to compliment you. "Hey,  you lost resentment. You lost bitterness."   "Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass  in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, 'The Lord   has not chosen this one either.' Jesse then had  Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, 'Nor has the   Lord chosen this one.' Jesse had seven of his sons  pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, 'The   Lord has not chosen these.'" None of them. "So he  asked Jesse, 'Are these all the sons you have?'"   Now watch this. "'There is still the  youngest,' Jesse answered." "Well,   where is he?" "He's tending sheep." He's in  the field tending sheep. He's not even in the   house. He's in the field tending sheep. "Samuel  said, 'Send for him; we will not sit down until   he arrives.' So he sent for him and had him  brought in. He was glowing with health and   had a fine appearance and handsome features."

Did you know you were in the Bible? "Then the  Lord said, 'Rise and anoint him…'" The one who   wasn't even in the house, the one who was in the  field. "…this is the one." This is the last verse   I want to read. "So Samuel took the horn of oil  and anointed him in the presence of his brothers,   and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord  came powerfully upon David." It filled him   from that day on. "Samuel then went to Ramah." Now, we've got two main characters. (By  the way, put that in the comments too,   please, if you're watching online: Filled by  Faith.) Two main characters in the text if   you don't count God. There's Samuel,  the prophet, the priest, the judge.   Samuel, a prophet and a priest and a judge,  wearing so many different hats he can't even   find his head some days, dealing with the  disappointment of a failed king named Saul   that he didn't even want Israel to have in the  first place, and he's not a little boy anymore.   He's not that same little Samuel whose mom Hannah  would bring him a robe every year at the temple   under Eli, where he first learned to hear the  voice of God. He's grizzled now. He's gray now.  

Right alongside Samuel, who is gray, we've got  David, who is green. He hasn't done anything yet.   He's a complete rookie. He's a noob. He doesn't  know anything about this king business. What   amazes me about the passage, reading it through  another time and going through a second pass,   was to realize that Samuel was gray, David  was green, but God was greater than both.   Meaning, Samuel wasn't too old to be used by God;  David wasn't too young to be used by God. One is   gray, one is green, but God is great. I like that.  So, how many gray saints do we have in the room   today? You consider yourself kind of gray. God can  fill you even in this season of your life. God can   make the rest of your life the best of your life.  I'm prophesying now. God can redeem the years that   the cankerworm has eaten. God can redeem it.

green right now? I'll tell you how you  can know that. If you can do back squats   and not feel it the next day, you're green.  Raise your hand if you're green right now.   If you don't have to calculate anything when  you see stairs, you're green right now. Raise   your hand if you're green right now. If you don't  have to do any math on getting down those stairs   and thinking about getting back up… If you don't  have to figure any of that out…you just do it and   don't even know that you did it…raise your hand. by God. God will use a student in this room this  year to turn Ardrey Kell upside down for the glory   of God, get three of your kids off drugs. Hey,  there's somebody in this room who is anointed to   deliver your friends off of drugs by the power  of the Spirit of God on the inside of you.   Watch what the Bible said. It said the Spirit of  the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day,   and he was green. Yet Samuel, who is mourning what  was, receives a fresh filling in his gray years,   just like David does in his green years, because  God is greater than gray. God is greater than   green. God is greater than tired. God is greater  than dumb. Hey, watch this. God is greater than   your former days. Your latter will be greater  than your past. Somebody say, "Filled by faith."   You've got to look into your future and start  speaking that "God is not done with me."  

You've got to realize that every breath you  draw is a down deposit that God is making on   the destiny he still has for your life. This  is not in my notes, so who am I saying this   for? You've been saying, "I'm too old. I'm  too young. It's too gone. Saul is gone."   I want you to also notice something.  As Samuel is filling his horn with oil,   he is feeling all kinds of things as he does. This  is why I wanted to use the passage again today:   so we can talk about how it's not the feelings  that matter; it's the filling that matters. I   know I kind of have a little Southern accent, so  when I say, "Fill it," you might think I'm saying,   "Feel it." Like, you know, when Southern people  say "'Bowl' water." You ever heard that?   Holly used to say… My brother-in-law Jody is  here. She used to say he would always talk   about "bowling" water. She's like, "Bowling  water? You're using it incorrectly. You put   water in a bowl." But he wasn't saying  bowl; he was saying boil, but he said it   like bowl. "We bowl water. Bowl peanuts."  If you don't know about "bowled" peanuts,   I want to have a membership class after church  and talk with you. We're going to teach that in   the college, because this is the South now.

in translation, but when I say, "Fill  it," you might hear "Feel it." One time,   I was talking to a very successful media  personality who has achieved amazing things.   You know exactly who I'm talking about. We  were visiting the place where he grew up.   I said, "How does this feel coming back  here?" He said, "It makes me kind of grateful,   and it also makes me kind of guilty." I said, "I  understand grateful, but why guilty?" He said,   "I feel guilty because I realize all God has done  for me, but I'm not as grateful as I should be   about it. I don't appreciate it enough." that I want to say to you today. I said, "I  don't think you're ungrateful; I think you're   anxious. I think what you're carrying in this  season of your life is something you've never   managed or maintained before, and you feel  guilty because you think you're ungrateful.   I think you're really just anxious because you  feel the pressure to maintain what God gave you."   He said, "Wow. You really helped me right  there." I said, "That's what I do. That's   the only thing I know how to do is say  words. That is my only skill in life,   so I'm glad it helped." One time, I was talking  to a big sports (what are they called?) athlete.   (I just told on myself a little bit right there.)  I was talking to a professional athlete, and he   had just won the highest honor in his sport.

we're on the post-game interview. Tell me, how  did it feel when you won that? It was amazing. I   saw it on TV and everything. How did it feel? I'm  so happy for you. I'm so proud." He said, "Worst   night of my life." Do you remember? He said,  "Worst night of my life." He said, "We got back   to the hotel room. Our families were fighting.  Everybody started acting crazy." I thought,   "Isn't that crazy? The moment we saw as your  highlight, you were going through heartbreak."   So, here's what I'm trying to say by giving you  an example from sports, an example from media,   an example from Samuel. You can fill it even  when you don't feel it, and (let me take it   a step further) when God fulfills his promise  to you, it may not feel like you think it will.   God may do everything he promised in your life  and you not even notice that he did it because   it does not feel like you think it will.

feel used. You ever seen a tube of toothpaste that  you used? What does it look like? That's what it   feels like when God squeezes what he put inside  of you. A full tube of toothpaste is pretty,   but once God starts squeezing your  life to release the oil he put inside   of you for the purpose he has called you to… somebody who has been like, "Why does it feel  like this in my life?" Now, you think it feels   like this because you're forsaken. You are not  forsaken; you are filled with the Spirit of God.   When you are filled with the Spirit of God,  you will almost certainly feel other things   at the same time. Enter Samuel. He's filling the  horn with oil, but he's feeling disappointed.   He's filling the horn with oil, and he's going  forward, but he is feeling a sense of regret.   He is filling the horn with oil because God is  speaking to him. I want to show you something.   Okay, this is so cool to me. He's gray now. So,  go back to 1 Samuel 3. When Samuel first heard   the voice of God, when he first learned to hear  God, the Lord spoke to him. I'm going to show   you in 1 Samuel 3 what he said in verse 4.

just a little boy. He's green, not gray. "Samuel  answered, 'Here I am.'" And then (verse 5) he ran   to Eli, who was his supervisor in the temple,  who was an old washed-up priest who didn't   even care about the people. The lamp in the  temple had almost gone out. He runs to Eli,   whose light is fading, and says, "Here I am; you  called me." But Eli said, "I didn't call you.   Go back and lie down." So he went and lay down. "This is the Lord calling me," and he said,  "Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening." That's   when he was green. He had to learn who was talking  to him. Go to 1 Samuel 16:1. "The Lord said to   Samuel, 'How long will you mourn for Saul, since  I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your   horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you  to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his   sons to be king.'" Samuel knows who's talking now,  but watch what he said. Verse 2: "How?" Because I   know who's talking to me, but I don't know how.

when you know God is speaking to you about  something, but you don't know how? "I don't   know how to balance all of this. I don't know  how to manage this. I don't know how to deal   with it. I don't know how to put it behind  me exactly, because the moment I think I've   put it behind me, it sucks me back in. it rears its head. I don't know how." So,  God speaks, and Samuel knows who, but he   doesn't know how. Am I preaching to anybody? "I  know God is speaking to me about some things. I   know God is working on me about some things.  I know God is dealing with me. I know who. I   know that voice, but I don't know how. 'Hallelujah,' and I hear God speak, and I say,  'How-lelujah?' because I know that's God telling   me to move on. I know that's God telling me to  be pure. I know that's God telling me to switch   how I deal with this. I know that's God telling  me not to depend on this anymore. I know that's   God telling me to let this go. I just don't know  how. I know who. I sense that it's God, but I   don't know how to balance doing this and that.

hats. I don't know how." And besides  being confused and anxious and fearful,   Samuel is grieving. "How long will you mourn  over what I have rejected?" But look at verse 4.   He did what the Lord said, even not knowing how  God was going to do what he promised. He went.   He decided, "I've got to go even not knowing.  I've got to go even unsure. I've got to go even   though I'm turned inside out. I've got to go even  though I'm grieving." So, I have taught you week   after week in this series that you can be anxious  and excited. That's called "anxcited." I make up   words while you're doing your real job during the  week. Okay? This is what I do. I'm anxcited. You   can be anxious and excited, and the one you lean  into the most determines where your life leads.   Somebody say, "I'm excited about this giant.  I'm excited about this challenge. I'm excited   about this school year. I'm excited about this  battle. I'm excited about this. I'm anxcited,   but I'm choosing the 'cited' over the  'anx,' because I've got to lean into the   Lord's voice in this season of my life."

"thankxhausted." It's when God is doing amazing  things in your life and you're too tired to go to   the party. It's when you just won the championship  and all you want to do is go to bed. It's when you   can no sooner make it down the mountain than  Jezebel sends a death threat. Now you've got   to go fight another battle. "How are you feeling?"  "I'm thankful. I'm exhausted. I'm thankxhausted."   We need another word for what Samuel is in this  passage, because he's grieving, but he's going.   What do you call it when you're  grieving and you're going? Oh,   maybe we could say it's called growing. I  didn't make that one up, but I guarantee you   that's what's happening in your life right now.  Because every time you step forward in faith,   when you don't feel it in your situation… Somebody  shout, "I'm growing." Notify your neighbor. Say,   "I'm growing. I'm growing. I'm growing."

be over it to move forward, because I'm too grown  to let my emotions tell me what I can and can't   do. I'm too grown to let a broken heart become a  barricade in my life. I'm too grown to let a boy   who broke up with me convince me my life is over.  I'm only 16. I'm green, baby, and God is great."   I'm going even though I'm grieving because  I'm growing. Touch your neighbor and say,   "I think you're growing. I think you're growing."  Put it in the chat. Say, "I think I'm growing."   "I think I'm growing, because I don't know  exactly what God is doing, but I came to   church anyway, and that's how I know I'm growing. but I'm growing now. When I was a toddler, I  used to have a tantrum and lay down and die, but   I'm growing now. Even when I feel angry, I don't  have to give in to the anger." Okay. I'm growing.   That's what it's called when you feel fear and  choose faith anyway. Somebody say, "I'm growing."   But growth doesn't feel like growth,  so now you're discouraged. "I'm not   growing in my faith." You most certainly  are. The reason I know you're growing  

is because you don't know it. That's  why you've got to go visit your aunt   and your uncle every once in a while when  you're a kid. "My, you've gotten so big."   But you were developing in the dark. to me…even the fact that you are asking God  what he wants you to do means you're growing,   because there was a time you didn't care what God  wanted you to do. You cared what your hormones   wanted you to do. I'm going to go back over here  and get in this Bible before I get in trouble.   So, the Lord says you're growing. You're  growing. Even though you don't know how…   Remember that parable about the man who planted  the seed, and he didn't know how it grew,   but it grew and it grew and it grew?  I have so much to share with you, man,   about everything you are feeling while you are  fulfilling your responsibility. You have a horn,   and God wants you to fill it with oil.

advice while we're out here. Nobody can fill your  horn for you. You know how they say, "Don't toot   your own horn"? "Don't brag on yourself." Have you  ever heard that before? That's a Southern saying,   I guess. All kinds of Southern stuff in this  sermon today…bowling water and tooting horns   and all this stuff. No, don't toot your own  horn, but you've got to fill your own horn.   There's something interesting about the oil,  Graham. Maybe some of our young preachers   would like to learn this, because the anointing  oil… That sounds so amazing. "Oh, I want to be   anointed. I want to be anointed." Even if you're  not a minister, you want to be anointed. Right?   "I want to be set apart by God, and I want to be  empowered by God for his specific purpose that he   has given me to accomplish in the earth, even  if it's just to raise my children. That's not   a small thing. I want to be anointed for that.  Even if it's just to carry out my assignment,   even if it's just to build this company,  even if it's just to create what I'm   supposed to create and put it forth into  the world, I want to be anointed for that."   And you are anointed. You can be anointed and  annoyed. It's called "andnointed." All right.   I'll stop. That's the last one. I promise it's the  last week of the series. I promise. Isn't it true   that the anointing oil…? What's in Samuel's horn  is just like what's in his heart. It's mixed.   If you ever study about the oil that made the  anointing oil, it had several main ingredients.  

One of those ingredients was cinnamon. That's a  sweet fragrance. It's a celebration fragrance.   You would expect it at a wedding. One of the  ingredients was myrrh, and myrrh is a burial   spice. Isn't it amazing that the same oil  that comprised the symbol of the anointing   had the ingredients for a wedding and a death? lives? Is God trying to show you that it's  going to be mixed? It's going to be mixed.   The biggest moments in your life where you  hold the trophy…it's going to be mixed. The   biggest moments of your life where God is  fulfilling your every dream…it's going to   be mixed. The moments when God finally gives you  wisdom, you're going to feel too old to have the   energy to do anything with it, but you've got  to go anyway, because it's going to be mixed.   When God gives you the energy to do something,  you're not going to feel like you have the wisdom   to do it, but you've got to go anyway. It's  going to be mixed. One person in your family   is going to be doing good, and another one  is going to be doing bad, and it's going to   be mixed. You can't wait to smile for the  picture until everybody is doing good.   You've got to put that plastic smile on  and smile in that picture and go back home   and praise God for your jacked-up family and  praise God for the one that's doing good and   pray for the one that's doing bad and keep  it moving. Keep it moving. Keep it moving.   Keep it moving. That's what God told Samuel.

know your heart is broken, but keep it moving. I  know you don't see seven steps ahead. You've only   got to take one at a time. Keep it moving. I know  some oil is spilling out of your horn right now,   but keep it moving. I know you've got some myrrh  in your life, but keep it moving." So, the message   of faith is this: I'm moving even though it's  mixed. I'm moving even though it's mixed.   My life is mixed right now. I'm happy  right now. I'm heavy right now. It's mixed,   but I'm moving. (I feel God on this message.) It's  mixed, but I'm moving. There are some people who   like me. There are some people who hate me. It's  mixed, but I'm moving. Because if God chose me,   there's not anything anybody on either side  can do to stop what he put inside of me.   I've got some blessings. I've got some  burdens. It's mixed, but I'm moving. I've   got some things I'm ashamed of. I've got some  things I'm pretty proud of. It's mixed, and I'm   moving. "The steps of a good man are ordered  by the Lord." Every time you don't feel it,   but you fill it anyway, your faith grows. "I'm  growing. I'm growing. I'm growing. I'm growing."   "I'm pushing back against the cave. I'm pushing  back against the threat, and I'm growing." This  

is your last day to have an empty horn. This is  your last day to have an empty horn. Drop by drop,   we're going to fill you back up. Notice, Samuel  didn't even know who he was filling it for. Have   you ever had to pour something out and  you don't even know what it's for?   "I don't even know why I took this job. I don't  even know why I'm in Charlotte." I'll tell you   why you're in Charlotte. It ain't so you can look  at my shoes; it's so God can give you this sure   word and speak to you and get you up out of your  situation. Tell your neighbor, "Fill your horn.   Fill your horn. Fill your horn." Your horn,  your horn, the thing God gave you. Your horn,   the instrument of your calling. Fill it. What we don't realize about Samuel, as  great as he was and as gray as he was,   and what we don't understand about David,  as great as he was and as green as he was,   is that when Saul vacated his rightful place as  king by his disobedience, it left an empty seat.   I don't know if they can make the camera where  they show it or not. I sure would love that,   because I really need this demonstration to get my  message home. Normally, when I get up to preach,  

they fill this seat with someone else and  slide everyone down so we don't have an   empty seat on the front row. Today, I told them I  was going to be preaching about Filled by Faith.   I said, "So, when I get up to preach, leave the  seat empty, because it represents something to   everyone in this church today." This is the thing  Saul was grieving: the empty seat. It wasn't even   that Saul was a good king, but he filled a seat.  Even when God removes something in your life   that you don't like, it leaves a hole, let alone  something you love, let alone someone you love.   Do you know how many people listening to me  preach today are grieving the empty seat?   It is not the empty throne of a king. Maybe  it's a person you loved very dearly who was   taken away too soon. Maybe they weren't  even taken away. Maybe it represents a   person who chose to walk away.

were supposed to be in your life or not. All I  know is I got this seat. I wanted to leave it   empty on purpose because I wanted to talk about  grieving the empty seat. It may not represent a   person at all. It may represent provision in  your life. It may be the fact that there's   something you need God to do for you, and you are  not saying, "Hallelujah"; you are saying, "How?"   "I'm in church, but I am still very frustrated,  waiting for God to show me about this empty seat.   I need help, and I don't know who to call." Do you  know how many people are saying, "I'm going to get   in therapy when I figure out who to call"? Y'all,  I felt the same way, and one day I just had to ask   a friend, "Who did you see?" and go see them. I  said, "If I don't like them, I can fire them."   You can't fire your kids. You can fire a  therapist. "Let me just do one session."   But I could have sat all the next decade  of my life knowing that I needed help and   telling myself a story. How long do you want  to sit there? You know, my dad is probably the   greatest source of my sermon illustrations  these days, because now he's in heaven and   I can say whatever I want about him.

stories from my side of the story. I waited  a long time to do that. I miss him dearly,   but I honor him in every message as I tell these  stories about him. There's one I've told over and   over again. I said, "I can't share that story  in church. Yeah, I've told it so many times,"   but I think it really reflects what I'm trying  to say about the full horn and the empty seat,   about the times when you don't feel  it, but you choose to fill it anyway.   There was a time in my dad's life that we  weren't speaking. There was a time in his   life where I thought he would die and we would not  be reconciled. There was a time in his life when   he was so violent and disruptive I didn't know how  to make the relationship right. See, I knew what I   wanted God to do: reconcile the relationship.  I didn't know how. Ain't that a place to be?   Samuel has been doing this for decades,  and he still doesn't know how. So God says,   "Fill it. Fill it. Fill it." After not speaking  to my dad… Remember, he's dying with ALS. I know   he has a short window of time. He won't reconcile  with my mom. He won't reconcile with me. I keep   paying for people to come take care of him. He  fires people I'm paying. "How am I supposed to   help you when you fire the help I send?"

too. He had a lot of pain in his body too. He  was doing the best he could, and I'm doing the   best I can. "How are we going to do this?"  One Father's Day, around about 2011 or 2012,   I was driving home with my family from vacation,  and I thought of an idea. I would be passing   nearby Moncks Corner where my dad was living  by himself by his own choice at that point.   We couldn't speak on the phone, because every  time we would try to speak on the phone, it would   erupt. Every time we'd try to speak on the phone,  somebody would hang up on somebody. Driving down   the road that day, it was as if the Lord said  to me, "How long are you going to keep playing   chicken with this? You don't know how long he has  left. How long? How long?" I said, "Lord, how…?"   Well, I got an idea. I don't know if this was the  Lord. Usually, you don't when you're doing it.   You'll be asking all kinds of crazy  questions, like, "What if I got it   wrong?" But this seemed harmless enough,  so I asked Holly would she drive. She said,   "Sure." I said, "I need to do something." I was  too embarrassed to tell her what I was doing,   but I pulled out whatever I could find to write  with and write on, and I began to make a list.   I decided I'd make a list (at the time, I was  31 or 32 years old) of a memory from every year   that I had been alive, that he had been my dad,  and I would drive by his house and drop it off.   Even though we couldn't talk, maybe I could hand  him a list. I want to tell you that picking up my  

pen to start that list, as mad as I was at him, as  confused as I was, the pen weighed 3,000 pounds.   "Uh! Uh! Uh! Uh!" Like I'm carving into my  flesh to try to think of anything good.   Because when you're really mad at somebody… I  mean, when you're really good and mad at somebody,   and the Lord is saying, "Forgive," and you're  going, "How?" But I wrote one word to start the   list, and it took me 20 minutes. I thought,  "This is going to take a long time, Lord."   But the first word, when I started to  fill it even though I didn't feel it…   I wrote down one word. I wrote bunt (B-U-N-T),  as in baseball, bunting, because when I was 10,   he coached my team the Pirates, and we  sucked. We were so bad he didn't allow   us to swing the bat the entire season. He  made us bunt every single at-bat. I don't   know if that's good parenting or child abuse.

Child Protective Services, but he made us bunt,  so I wrote bunt. Then bunt made me remember punk,   as in punk rock, as in when he took me to  a punk rock show in Ladson, South Carolina,   and there were only three people there:  me, him, and one other person who I think   was with the band, and it was so bad in the  room. I wrote, "Punk rock show in Ladson."   Then I wrote, "Let the wild hog eat." That's  an inside joke. I'll tell you about it later.   That's when we went to that independent  fundamentalist church, and that preacher   was up there preaching. That little boy on the  front row stood up and yelled, "Let the wild hog   eat!" And I looked at my dad like, "Did he just  talk about a hog? Who's the hog? Are you the hog?   Where's the…?" When we got to the door, I had my  list. I filled it, but I still didn't feel it.   I knocked on the door, and he answered the  door, and I said, "Here!" That's all I had.   That's all I had, because I'm forgiving  him, but I'm frustrated. But God doesn't   judge you based on what you feel. You can fill  it even when you don't feel it. I said, "Here!   Here's a list. It's got bunting and baseball and  guitars and punk rock and hogs and everything."   He said, "Will you come in for a minute?"  I said, "Maybe five minutes." I made it 10,  

and I had to leave, but it started something. It  started something that never would have started   if I had waited until I felt it to fill it. You  keep waiting for a feeling, but God is waiting for   a filling, see. God is just asking you, "Do what  I told you to do. Do the next thing that you can   discern. Move through the fog the best you can." when you don't feel it, faith is born. I want  to tell you something about the empty seat in   your life, whether it's relational, whether  it's a resource, whether it's provisional,   whether it's a person, whether it's a purpose.  Some of you are saying, "In this season of my   life, I don't know what I'm supposed to be  doing. I'm not doing what I used to do."   Yes, this message is for empty nesters. It's  for the grays. Yes, this message is for the   middle school students. It's for the greens.  It's a message about God who is greater than   any empty seat, because I came to declare in  the name of the Lord: God will fill this seat.   God will fill this. God knows what he's doing.  God knows what he's planned. God knows what he's   purposed. God knows who to bring into your life.

God knows who to delay. God knows how to do it.  So, when you fill your horn, God fills this.   This is not your job; this is. This is. This  is. I was by that man's bedside when he died,   reading him a Charles Spurgeon sermon called  "The Peaceful Sleep of the Beloved," and my mom   was caring for him. Even though I didn't feel  it, God filled it. I didn't know how he would,   but he did it. The most amazing thing to me  about God is that he had chosen someone to fill   Saul's seat who wasn't even in the house.

would be a good king passed by Samuel,  Samuel said, "Is that all you've got?"   "Well," he said, "there's still one, but he's not  in the house; he's in the field." Put my title   back up again. I want to talk to somebody today  who's in the (zoom out, please) field by faith.   You think, "God has forgotten me; that's why  I'm not in the house. God has forgotten me;   that's why they didn't call. God has forgotten  me; that's why they forsook me." No.   God will find you in the field. I said,  God will find you in… Because he's a seat   filler, see. Because he's sovereign, see. Because  he knows what he's doing in your life. You keep   filling this. You keep filling this. Whether  you feel it or not, you keep bringing your   butt back to this church and put that butt  in this seat, and God will fill this seat.   You keep showing up in his presence. I speak  to the spirit of insecurity in your life,  

the one that makes you think there's something  wrong with you. Look what Samuel said about   David. Look what Samuel said about the one his  dad didn't even think was worth bringing in.   It's in verse 11. He said, "Send for him;  we will not sit down until he arrives."   God said, "I'm saving your seat. I'm saving your  seat. I'm saving your seat. I know what I'm doing,   and I'm saving your seat." All you've got to  do is keep slinging your sling. All you've   got to do is keep trusting your God. All  you've got to do is fill your horn with   oil and move. Move! Move though it costs you!  Move though he slay you! Move though peril all   around you! Move and worship him.

worship him. Fill your horn with oil. He hears  the prayers you've prayed. He knows the needs   you cannot name. He does not lack. He does  not slumber, and neither does he sleep.   He sits down and inhabits the praises  of his people. With your hands lifted,   ask your Father, "Fill me. Fill me.  Fill me to obey you when I feel it;   fill me to obey you when my emotions say don't.  Fill me to obey you when I get a goose bump;   fill me to obey it when I'm grumpy.  Fill me." Say it again: "Fill me."   Jesus didn't say, "Feel me, and I'll make  you fishers of men"; he said, "Follow me,   and I'll make you fishers of men." That's all  you've got to do, baby. That's all you've got   to do, dude. Quit stressing about stuff  that God has already selected and quit   grieving about things that God has rejected.  This is the word of the Lord for you today.

Hey, thank you for watching the Elevation Church  [music] YouTube. I want you to subscribe. That   way you can know when we go live and  post new content. Make sure to leave   me a comment. Let me know what spoke to you  today, where you're [music] watching from,   and what we can pray for you about. And if  you'd like to support the ministry financially,   you can click the give button now [music] and  help us continue reaching people around the   world for Jesus Christ. Thanks  again. I'll see you next time.