How Do We Shine? | Holly Furtick

Before you get to that video, I just want to share some exciting news. Elevation Nights is happening next month and we could not be more excited. We're visiting so many new cities like Austin, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Denver, St. Louis, Fort Wayne, Toronto. And I'll let you in on a little secret. We're also adding more dates this fall. So Miami, Tampa, Knoxville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Lubbock, Dallas, and Houston. If you're near any of these cities next month or in the fall, I hope that you'll join us. Elevation worship is going to be there. I'm going to be there. And of course our favorite pastor, Pastor Stephen, is going to be preaching every night. It's going to be amazing. We're going to sing all of your favorite songs. This is one of my absolute favorite nights. So head over to elevationnights. Com to get your tickets and I'll see you there. Because the world does not need another opinion, but the world desperately needs some better examples. Paul says, do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. As you hold firmly to the word of life. Crooked means bent in the wrong direction. But the way to redirect someone is not to shout. It's to shine. See, I am a talkative person, but not only am I a talkative person, I'm also a really loud talker. Again, this kind of comes in handy in this sort of setting, but in day to day life it can be really annoying. I don't know why I'm a loud talker. Maybe it's because I'm a middle child and I wanted to be heard in my family. Maybe it's because I actually do have a sister who's hearing impaired and maybe my whole family talks loud. I don't know. I don't know why and I don't even realize it. Sometimes I have an out of body experience where I'm like, oh God, I'm yelling at this person and they're standing right in front of me. The thing that I'm learning though is that my life speaks louder than my voice ever can. When Paul says, you will shine like stars in the sky, he's referring to a prophecy from the book of Daniel. Somebody sent me this card this summer and they wrote this Bible verse on it and I liked it because we do talk about shining like stars and Mrs. Betterhalf as well. And so I put it up on my desk and I was Sitting at my desk, working. And I looked up and I read this verse. I wanna read it to you. It's in Daniel, chapter 12, verse 3. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars, forever and ever. Daniel was amongst a people who did not worship God. And it was the life that he lived that impacted an entire nation. Remember, he's the one that knelt to pray every day, even though the king had made an order prohibiting prayer. It was his actions that made an impact, not his words. Have you ever watched a friend go through something? Maybe a divorce or an illness? Or maybe watch them try to navigate a difficult situation with their child? We all experience difficult situations that we didn't expect that come up along the way. But have you ever watched someone just absolutely shine under the hardest circumstances? One of my friends, she had one of the most horrific years last year. I mean, we joke about 2020, but she lost her job. She had to move across the country, away from her home, where she had lived for almost 40 years, and try to rebuild her life. And then about a month after moving, she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. And every time we talked, she was just. She was real. She would tell me how she was scared. She was obviously alone in the way that she felt. She was physically alone because her family was so far away. But somehow she would just always bring the conversation back to all the ways that God was working. And one day, through tears, she said, holly, I know that God has this. I know that I'm gonna get through it. Everywhere I go, I see glimpses of him. God spoke to me today through the lady who checks me out at cvs. And I just know I'm gonna make it to the other side of this. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold fast to the word of life. How do you shine? How do we do this? Well, one, you refuse to dwell on the negative, and you let go of the need to be right. And then you hold firm to the word of life. What is God speaking to you in this season? Maybe you have no idea. You're like, I don't know. Okay, well, go back. Think. What was the last thing that God spoke to you? Maybe he whispered very softly to you about your attitude at work. Maybe it was something that had to do with doing things for others without having to be noticed. Maybe it was about focusing on all the things that you have to be grateful for in a season where things just really aren't turning out the way that you thought. Maybe like Daniel, he just called you to spend time praying every day. And sometimes what we miss is that the best way to impact the people around you is to make a change in yourself, in life. The most difficult lesson of all for me has been to understand that at the end of the day, the only person that I can really change is me. But it's not fun to change me. It's easier to try and change others and hope that when others change, my life will improve. Right? But when I place my focus on all the things that everyone else needs to change, what happens is I become someone I don't wanna be. I become a nagging and manipulative woman. And then sometimes I give up on the nagging and the manipulation and I just become stubborn and withdrawn. And then I wonder why I'm never really making any progress in my relationships or in my personal life. Because when I blame others actions for my problem, I can never experience real change in my life. I love to tell this story about Graham and Abby. Years ago, I asked them to go pack their lunches. It was the school night, and in our house, pack your lunch means grab a juice box and a lunchbox and get some prepackaged snacks and then bring it to me and I'll put your sandwich in it, okay? So no little beautiful little bento boxes or anything like that. So on this particular night, I said, grandma Abby, go fix your lunch. And I hear Graham yelling at Abby, abby, pack your lunch, Abby. Mom said, pack your lunch, Abby. You need to do what mom said. I mean, it just went on and on. And the kids have like the most incredible amount of patience and over and over again while I got tired of it. And I said, graham, come here. Come into the kitchen. And he comes in empty handed. I said, buddy, where's your lunch? And he goes, oh, I forgot. Graham was so busy picking a fight with his sister and telling her what she needed to do that he neglected to pack his own lunch. And what I want to tell you today is pack your own lunch. You determine to be kind no matter how you're treated. You be the first one to apologize. Even if you were only 10% wrong, which you probably weren't 10% wrong. But you be the first one to say I'm sorry. What does it matter? You determine that I'm gonna bow out of a conversation if it gets ugly somehow, I'm gonna get out of there. I'm not gonna go there talking about other people. You be generous with your time and your money. Expecting nothing in return. Because God has a work that he wants to do in you. And if you stay hyper focused on others and how they need to change and what they need to do, you might end up complaining that you don't have any lunch. You're gonna be hungry. Sometimes the greatest impact that you will have on the people of your life will not be with the words that you say. It will be with the life that you live.