WEBVTT - The Lord Will Lighten Your Load | Pastor Steven Furtick 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:05.800 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.320 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:11.040 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.440 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:19.920 Enjoy the message. 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:36.520 Who love that. I feel like we might fly away 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:40.680 today if we really get a hold of that, really 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:41.959 starts singing about that. 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:50.199 Whoop high five. Your neighbors say, he's that good, and 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:54.320 there's so you don't even. 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:55.520 Know what I'm praising him for. 0:00:56.960 --> 0:00:58.720 If you did, you'd praise him with me. 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.040 If you did, you'd get up here higher. 0:01:03.480 --> 0:01:05.480 If you did, you might start jumping. 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:08.560 You might start leaping. 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.760 It's all right. Get that cardio in. 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:16.840 Get that gratitude is. 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:19.520 Say my friend, this. 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:32.400 Path, I like it. 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:41.759 Get up, get my brazing you you know you leave 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:44.679 me the word you good. 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:56.960 Let everything. 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:06.040 That half pressed, Let everything everything that's out of. 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:08.520 Breast from jumping. 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:14.200 Chump a little more and thrice blow. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.959 Come on the river walking, know you want to go in? 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:20.239 Come on, I'm town. 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:26.440 I need fifty jumpers and Blakeney, I need somebody in 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:28.160 your living room. 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:30.359 Get your calf bustles from. 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:35.880 Work out and get up on your feet and kid God, 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:42.680 this said right. 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:44.080 Here last seven. 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:57.399 Oh God, come on, clap those hands like you love Jesus. 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:53.760 I'm going right to my message. The spirit of the 0:03:53.760 --> 0:04:00.160 Lord is in this place. I'm going right to my message. 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:06.760 The spirit of the Lord is in this place. Shain's 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:08.880 gonna break today because the spirit of the Lord is 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:14.120 in this place. The annoying thing destroys the yoke. The 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:19.440 spirit of the Lord is in this place. I'm so 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:21.520 glad I listened to the Lord last night. He told 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:23.240 me to get a little extra sleep cause y'all were 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:24.200 gonna be ready today. 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:26.599 And I'm so glad I did. 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:31.280 I was imbedd at eight twenty pm getting ready for y'all, 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:40.320 and that's an hour earlier than my normal bedtime. And 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:46.360 now I'm stalling to catch my breath from jumping. Tell 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:52.520 your neighbor, I'm glad you're breathing. Tell him, I'm glad 0:04:52.520 --> 0:05:01.239 you brushed your teeth. We have a good time in church. 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:02.840 I said. 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:12.240 We have a good time in church doesn't mean we're 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:14.159 not going through rough patches in our lives. But we 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:18.920 have a good time in Church, welcome you here today. 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:21.520 All of our guests, all of our all of our 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:22.799 church family, welcome today. 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:24.160 So glad you're here. 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:32.240 Accidentally started preaching a sermon series a few weeks ago, 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.080 and I've been talking to you about when God calls 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:39.200 your name. I was trying to figure out what to 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:41.240 call the series, and finally, in my fourth week, the 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:42.880 Lord told me what to call it. 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:53.000 It's called called That's what's called Tell your neighbor. I'm 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:56.800 called called a lot of different things by a lot 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:01.240 of different people. I'm sure did you enjoy last week. 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:06.200 When I was talking about Martha Martha, and how many 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.440 of you felt seen when I was showing Holly be 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:14.599 pulled apart by the demands of life. How many of 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.000 you preached the message back to yourself a little bit 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:19.479 throughout the week when you felt yourself pulled here and 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:24.200 pulled there, and just reminded yourself that being present in 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:27.640 the moment that God has given you is always the priority. 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:32.480 Presence is the priority, even when your plan changes, even 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:36.839 when your problems are overwhelming. And let's see, we've done Moses, Moses, 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:41.000 we did Simon, Simon. These are the ones I've preached 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:44.640 so far, different people in the Bible that God called 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:50.120 their name, not once, but twice, just right there together, Moses, Moses, Simon, Simon, 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:56.080 Martha Martha. Today is Jacob Jacob Genesis chapter forty five. 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:00.719 And as many sermons as I've heard, or that you've 0:07:00.720 --> 0:07:04.240 heard me preach on Jacob JJ, I've never preached from 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:09.200 this passage Genesis chapter forty five, first twenty five, and 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:11.160 then we'll go all the way to chapter forty six, 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:14.160 verse five. And you say that's a lot of scripture, Well, 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:16.200 I'm making up for all the Bible reading days you 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:22.000 skip this week, doing you a favor. Now, hear the 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:23.600 word of the Lord. The Lord has a word for 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.440 you today. I've been paying back and forth waiting for 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.040 you to get here. I'm so thankful for the way 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:32.840 that he speaks. Now, a little bit of background. The 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:36.280 children of Jacob have gone to Egypt, and they found 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.120 out not only is their food in Egypt while there's 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:42.200 a famine in Canaan, where they live, but that their 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:46.080 brother Joseph, who they betrayed years earlier, is in command. 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:48.640 And he has promised them if you will come back 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.880 and bring our father Jacob, I'll take care of you 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:56.160 everything that you did to me is not going to 0:07:56.200 --> 0:08:00.160 be held against you. I have moved past it, and 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.120 I'll take care of you. So with this message they 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:07.160 arrived to Jacob, who, remember, twenty two years earlier, was 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:09.920 told that his son was dead, or led to believe 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.640 that his son was dead, when in fact it wasn't true. 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:15.640 He'd been pushed in a pit, but he wasn't dead. 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.560 He was sold into slavery, but he wasn't dead. He 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.800 was falsely accused years later and went to prison, but 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:23.679 he wasn't dead. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:26.400 And tell your neighbor somehow I'm still here. Just tell 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:27.560 him somehow I'm still here. 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:34.840 That's why I'm praising him. Now we pick up the 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:39.600 narrative in Genesis forty five, verse twenty five. So they 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:42.920 the brothers of Jacob, or the brothers of Joseph, rather 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:46.679 the sons of Jacob. So they went up out of 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.120 Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:55.680 father Jacob, and they told him Joseph is still alive, 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:58.880 and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:07.000 And his heart became numb. Isn't that unexpected? 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:11.440 He gets the greatest news that he could ever hope 0:09:11.480 --> 0:09:16.280 to receive, and instead of his heart being happy, his 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:17.800 heart goes numb. 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.839 Now after his heart goes numb. 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.079 The writer gives us a little bit of an explanation 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:27.360 as to why he was unable to receive this good report. 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:31.760 It said, for he did not believe them. But when 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.840 they told him all the words of Joseph which he 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:37.520 had said to them, and when he saw the wagons 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.720 that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:47.480 their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, it is enough, Joseph, 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:52.559 my son is still alive. I will go and see 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:56.880 him before I die. Now, Chapter forty six, verse one. 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.920 So Israel took his journey with all that he had 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.600 and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the Lord, 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:05.400 the god of his father Isaac. 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:08.640 And God spoke to Israel and visions of the night, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:13.559 and said Jacob, Jacob, Jacob, Jacob. 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:19.480 And he said, here am I. That's presence, Here am I. 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:22.360 And then he said, I am God, the God of 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.720 your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.720 for there I will make you into a great nation. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:31.959 I myself will go down with you to Egypt. 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.000 And I will also bring you up again, and Joseph's 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:40.920 hand shall close your eyes. The one you said goodbye 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.800 to is going to be the one who says goodbye 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:45.960 to you in your dying breath. 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:48.520 And the final verse I want to read to you 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:49.360 before we preach. 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:55.960 Then Jacob set out from Beersheba. The sons of Israel 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:59.360 carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:04.439 in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:05.959 The prophetic word. 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:08.240 That I've been assigned to preach to you today may 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.240 come across on the surface as very simple, but it 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.600 is really the deepest belief that you could ever hold, 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:14.640 And it is this. 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:26.920 The Lord will lighten your load. The Lord will lighten load. 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:30.000 I know you had a lot on your mind even 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:34.440 coming in today, but the Lord will lighten your load. 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:37.679 I know sometimes people take advantage of you because you're 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:42.240 available to them, but the Lord will lighten your load. 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:44.600 I know you've done some bad things in. 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:46.720 Your life and you feel kind of guilty about them. 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:50.040 But the Lord will lighten your load. 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:52.600 I know you're trying to make a plan right now, 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.559 and stuff keeps moving, and stuff keeps shifting, and people 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:57.240 keep moving and people keep shifting. 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:01.000 But the Lord will lighten load. 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:02.800 I know you're stubborn and you don't like to ask 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.800 for a lot of help, but the Lord will lighten 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:07.079 your load. 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:09.080 I know your shoulders are tense. 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.640 You really need a massage today, but I'm gonna give 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:13.120 you a message today instead. 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:16.600 The Lord will lighten your load. 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:20.480 Turn around and tell twelve people, the Lord will lighten 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:20.960 your low. 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.360 Put it in the chat. The Lord will. 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:26.440 Lighten your load. Put it right there in the chat. 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:31.079 The Lord will lighten your load, and you may be seated. 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:39.040 You can rest for the rest of the message. 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:41.880 The Lord will lighten your load. 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:48.640 Now, I have a love hate relationship with simple sayings. 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:50.400 Like that the Lord will lighten your load. 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:53.520 On one hand, I think that the highest degree of 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:56.240 clarity in communication is simplicity. 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.040 So really, for me, the art. 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.439 Of studying the scripture sure is to simplify the scripture, 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.280 to find one message in the scripture that we can 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:09.080 all take, whether we're twelve, or whether we're eighty two, 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:12.760 or whether, like Jacob here in this passage, we are 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:16.520 one hundred and thirty years old. Did you know Jacob 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.360 was one hundred and thirty years old when the Lord 0:13:19.400 --> 0:13:22.160 told him, get up and go to a place three 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:25.280 hundred miles away, a place you've never been in, a 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.600 place that you will not recognize, a place that you 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.600 will not fit into, a place that you will be 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:34.199 tempted to reject. But I'm sending you to Egypt because 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:36.360 there's a famine where you are, and you have to move. 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:41.719 And Jacob is one hundred and thirty years old. As 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:45.000 we step into this moment of Jacob's life, I gave 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:47.760 a little bit of this away. I intended to save 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.040 it so I could tell the story and keep. 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:50.679 You in suspense. 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.760 But he is really on the verge of one of 0:13:55.760 --> 0:14:00.200 the greatest moments that he has ever experienced. In just 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.720 a few weeks, he will be reunited with his son, 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:08.280 the son that he mourned for twenty two years. But 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:11.000 you can't exactly call it a happy moment for Jacob either, 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:14.320 can you, Because as we saw in the scripture that 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:18.240 I read, sometimes you get good news, but you can't 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:23.320 take it in because of what you've been through. Sometimes 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:27.200 you can't receive truth because the truth has to work 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:32.960 its way through the trauma. Sometimes you can hear something 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:37.800 that actually is factual, but your frustration or your pain 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:41.880 or your failure will take you into a moment where 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:46.280 even though you hear the truth, even though you hear 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.840 the word, and even though it's something that you desire 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:58.000 to believe, unbelief does not unwind automatically through a process 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:02.160 of coming before the Lord and spending time with the 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.760 Lord and putting yourself in environments like this. Go ahead 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:06.360 and give yourself a hand for coming to church today. 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:10.520 By the way, I learned to look at it different. 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.720 I used to think I don't have time to go 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:16.800 to church if I was busy. Now I've learned that 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:19.040 when I'm really busy, I don't have time to not 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:25.640 come to church because I need to be in a 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:29.520 place where my heart is not numb. I need to 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.000 be in a place where I can be known by 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:36.840 God and accepted by Him. And so you wouldn't exactly 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:41.520 call this moment in Jacob's life happy, would you, Because 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.840 he's lost two decades plus two years with his son, 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.880 and he's kind of suspicious that his boys were the 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:52.400 ones who were up to it, and he's right. But 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:54.560 at the same time, there is a hope for him 0:15:55.080 --> 0:16:00.440 that maybe, just maybe I'm going to see Joseph. I'm 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.560 going to see Joseph. This is better than going to Disneyland, y'all. 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.880 I'm going to see Joseph. I've been told that Joseph 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.520 has secured a spot for me in Goshen, and I'm 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.320 gonna live off the fat of the land as the 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.760 father of Joseph, who has risen through all adversities like 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:17.720 a fruitful vine. 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:19.600 He climbed over every wall. 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.800 They shot their arrows at him, but Joseph's hand remained steady. 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:27.920 I'm going to see Joseph, at least, he hopes. But 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:33.000 here is the lesson from Jacob's response to the news 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:37.640 that Joseph may be alive. When you've been really hurt, 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:43.360 it is hard to keep hoping. When you have been 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.760 really hurt, it is hard. 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:46.520 To keep hoping. 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:50.160 And I promise you'all won't to press you the whole message, 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:52.080 But I just don't want to bring you in like 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:57.000 this is some glorious reunion and reconciliation, because if we 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:00.160 oversimplify and we make it a cliche, the Lord will 0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.360 lighten your load. Then what happens when three hours from 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:06.760 now you get some bad news, or what happens when 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:08.639 you get to work tomorrow and your boss did not 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:10.680 get my sermon titled that the Lord wanted to lighten 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:15.560 your load, Then you get the memo the man of 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.520 God said the Lord would lighten my load. Well, they 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:21.119 are not the Lord, and they may put more on you. 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:22.760 Isn't that a dumb cliche? By the way, when we 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:25.440 say the Lord will never put more on you than 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.239 you can bear, Bible doesn't say that. 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:28.840 Read the Bible. 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:31.040 Stop quoting what you heard from your grandma without checking 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:31.960 it against the Bible. 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:35.119 She was approximating what she heard one time. 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.040 But the Bible says that no temptation has overtaken you, 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:39.200 and God will give you a way of escape. It 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:40.600 doesn't say that God won't put more on you than 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:42.560 you can bear. Chemo certainly will put more on you than. 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:42.880 You can bear. 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:49.560 So you won't get confused and think you're him. That's 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:53.600 actually God's job security to call you to do things 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.160 that you can't do without Him, so you won't get 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:57.800 there and be without Him and think you can do it. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.639 I need the Lord in my life. 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:03.440 I need the Lord, and I have every six days 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:05.679 reminder when I come preach to you. And do you 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:08.800 know that my favorite thing to do that does not 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.320 involve my family is to be up. 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.399 Here and share the word of the Lord with you. 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:14.000 It really is. 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:17.399 But if you were to ask me two hours before 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:21.560 I get up here, are you excited to preach? I 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:23.879 would have a difficult time. If you hook me up 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.960 to a lie detector. Just say in a straight yes, 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:32.239 because I am excited. But and please don't tell all 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.159 the Pharisees that want to qute a scripture verse at 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:38.600 me when they hear this. I'm also anxious. I know 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:41.600 the Bible says don't be anxious, but that was Paul. 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:46.600 He's farther along than I am. I'm anxious. I'm anxious. 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.000 Will I say it right? I'm anxious? Will you hear 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.800 it right? I'm anxious? Will I leave the best part out? 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.400 I'm anxious? Will I say something that is not exactly 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:56.720 correct and maybe lead you astray? Even when I preach 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:58.400 about this kind of message. Let me tell what makes 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:01.760 me anxious. I'm scared that you will hear that Jacob 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.639 went to Egypt and use it as an excuse to 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:05.800 run away from something. 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:07.480 Hard in your life. 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:11.359 Because people will even take a phrase that you preach 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:14.439 on with a good intention, like the Lord said to Jacob, 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:17.080 don't be afraid to go to Egypt, and they will 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.600 somehow translate that into the Lord saying, quit your accounting 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.720 job even though you have four mouths to feed, and 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.240 open a coffee shop because you like coffee. But maybe 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.040 what the Lord is really saying is drink more coffee 0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:32.000 and keep accounting because you've got a whole family to 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:35.840 feed and those kids need to go to college. So 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:39.640 I'm worried about all of that. I'm worried about will 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:41.920 it be boring. I'm worried about will I say too much, 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.840 say too little? I'm just being honest. So I came 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:46.560 up with a way to explain it, and I thought 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:48.919 it might help you. Now, this is a trademark word, 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:52.760 and this word belongs to me, but you can borrow 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:55.919 it for the situations in your life where you feel 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:00.000 excited but you also feel anxious. 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:06.560 From now on, we call that anxcited. You got anything in. 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:09.000 Your life that you feel that way about today? So 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:10.760 if you if you ever asked me before I preach, 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:14.399 how do you feel, I'm gonna tell you I'm excited, 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:19.520 and you'll say, Pastor Steven, anxcited ain't a word, and 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:23.080 I'll say may it may not be a word, but 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:26.600 it is a reality. The fact is, if I focus 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:31.040 on getting it wrong, I'm gonna feel completely paralyzed. If 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:35.320 I focus on pleasing people, I'm gonna feel completely paralyzed. 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:38.600 If I focus on not leaving anything out, I'm going 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:40.440 to stand up here like I'm performing for you. 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:41.440 But the Saint Vegas. 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.040 If I focus on feeding you what God gave me 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:49.199 for what you're going through in your life, I'm excited. 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:51.959 So I want you to understand that both options are 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:56.439 always available. I can be anxious, I can be excited. 0:20:56.880 --> 0:21:00.160 I'm like Jacob. Sometimes I can't really name how how 0:21:00.160 --> 0:21:03.160 I feel. I can't really name the season I'm in. 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:05.800 On one hand, I'm really happy to be in front 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:08.879 of you, I'm really I'm really thrilled with the prospect 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:10.960 of being a vessel for God to use it. On 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:14.440 the other hand, I'm terrified, and don't look at me judgmental, 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:16.280 because you don't like to give speeches or hear your 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:21.320 own voice either. So I'm excited, I'm anxious. I'm excited. 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:23.439 I don't know how to spell that, but I certainly 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:24.640 know what it feels. 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.919 Like I'm excited, and I believe there's somebody in the 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.359 room today that feels that way about this season of 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:38.800 your life. I'm excited. Tell your neighbor, I'm excited. I'm 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.200 kind of shaky in it, but I'm I'm, I'm, I'm 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:43.280 I'm kind of looking. 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:43.760 Forward to it. 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:47.760 I'm kind of relieved that things are changing, and I'm 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:50.119 kind of terrified that things will never be the same. 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:53.199 I'm kind of I'm kind of feeling a sense of 0:21:53.240 --> 0:21:56.400 adventure in my life because I got fired, and I'm 0:21:56.440 --> 0:22:01.199 also watching my bank account and is running the wrong 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:06.280 way from abundance. It's moving in the wrong direction. So 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:09.480 I'm kind of excited to have free time, but I'm 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:12.120 kind of not excited. I'm a little anxious about having 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:15.760 less money because now I'm stretched and I'm stretching towards 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:18.760 something that i didn't expect, and in this season of 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:22.960 my life, I'm excited. Somebody asked me recently, what do 0:22:23.000 --> 0:22:25.080 you and Holly feel about being empty nester soon? 0:22:25.560 --> 0:22:26.320 I said, soon? 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:28.879 Abby as fourteen, why are you trying to run her 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:32.520 out the house? Just started wearing makeup? Give me a 0:22:32.520 --> 0:22:37.480 few more years. I'm excited about my kids growing up. 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:41.760 I'm excited about releasing them into the world. I'm excited 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:44.200 about being in Charlotte. Some of you just moved here 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:46.639 in the last month. Some of you moved here to 0:22:46.640 --> 0:22:48.080 be a part of this church. How do you feel 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:56.320 about it. I'm excited. That's an excited praise. That's I'm clapping. 0:22:56.440 --> 0:23:00.440 Sometimes I'm crying. Sometimes i miss my in. 0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:03.000 Austin, and I'm looking forward to meeting new ones here. 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:06.760 I'm just trying to tell you that sometimes the cliches 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:10.800 that we use oversimplify the depth of the human experience, 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:17.480 and to remind you that you will always be both 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:26.040 anxious and excited. Both look like shaking hands. Anxious and excited. 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:30.640 Both feel like sweaty palms. Anxious and excited. Both put 0:23:30.680 --> 0:23:34.359 butterflies in your stomach. But whether those butterflies are a 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:35.880 burden or a blessing. 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:39.159 Depends on which one you lean into. 0:23:41.240 --> 0:23:47.320 The news reaches Jacob Joseph is on the throne in Egypt. 0:23:47.320 --> 0:23:50.240 He is the prime minister of the most powerful nation 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:52.760 on earth, and he has sent us with an instruction 0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:56.080 to bring you back. And he said, we don't even 0:23:56.119 --> 0:23:58.840 have to worry about bringing our own stuff with us, 0:23:59.480 --> 0:24:03.840 because when we get there, He's got us. I don't 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:05.800 know who this is a word for, but when you 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:12.040 get there, God's got you. Don't overbird in the process 0:24:12.200 --> 0:24:16.240 by overplanning your steps. I said, don't overbird in the 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:18.600 process by overplanning your steps. 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:21.520 When you get there, He's got you. 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:25.080 And the process of God speaking to Jacob is a 0:24:25.160 --> 0:24:30.720 very complicated process because he's already changed his name to Israel. 0:24:31.560 --> 0:24:34.280 In fact, if you read the account in Genesis chapter 0:24:34.359 --> 0:24:38.480 forty six, you are forgiven. If you are a little confused, 0:24:38.560 --> 0:24:42.760 let's read it together again and see why it's confusing. Remember, 0:24:43.400 --> 0:24:46.920 Israel is Jacob's new name. It's not only the nation 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:49.800 that he fathered, but it is the name he was given. 0:24:50.280 --> 0:24:54.040 It's the name of his strength. Jacob, on the other hand, 0:24:54.480 --> 0:24:57.479 is the name of his weakness. It speaks of his 0:24:57.600 --> 0:25:00.960 tendency to deceive and pipulate. 0:25:01.000 --> 0:25:02.960 And chase and compare. 0:25:03.880 --> 0:25:07.080