When God Shuts the Door | Holly Furtick

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. So can we just collectively all decide to stop shouting at each other and just start shining brighter? I'm not saying that we can't be a voice for the voiceless. I'm not saying that we don't speak. I'm just pointing out first John 3:18. I learned this verse when I was a little girl. There was a song. I'm not gonna sing the song, but it says this. Let us not love with words or speech, but with actions. And in truth, I told you that last week's sermon was in my top three Stephen Furtick sermons of all times. And if you missed it, it's called Just the Two of Us. You have to go back and watch it. But he preached about the Shunammite woman, so I'm hoping that most of you heard it, because the Shunammite woman, she was the epitome of knowing how to keep her mouth shut and go to the one who could fix her son. There was only one person who could fix him. So you remember the child died, and she placed him on the bed, the Prophet's bed, that was in her home. And she set out to find Elisha. And she did not waste time with arguing with her husband about how he should have brought the boy to her sooner, and this was his fault. She did not knock on her neighbor's door and request prayer. When Elisha's servant came out to her and he asked her if everything was all right, she did not complain to him. She said, I'm fine. Everything's fine. And she kept going where she knew she needed to be. But when she reached the Prophet, the verse says that she actually knelt down, and it says she took hold of his feet and she poured out her soul to him. You have to let go of what you cannot fix, and you hold firm to what you know. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. She knew that she had to get to the one who had spoken life to her. Beautiful. He said, you're gonna have a son. And that was the promise that she was clinging to. He said, I was gonna have a son. So he did this. So he's the only one that can fix it. She was quiet when it came to speaking to others. But when she got in the presence of the Prophet, she poured out her soul to him, and she refused to leave his presence because when you go to the source, you're never alone in your problem, no matter how lonely you feel. So she stuck with them. And as they journeyed back to her home, she stayed close. And when they got back to her house, the prophet went into the room with her child and shut the door. I like to think about how she thought she was gonna go in with him, and he shut the door. And when my husband said that sometimes you have to stand outside the door while God goes in with your problems, I knew that that was a picture that I would never forget. Because I don't know about you, but I've had a few times in my life. I've had enough times in my life where I've had to stand outside the door and let God handle my situation. And she stood there. She was quiet, and she was alone. Because sometimes the things that you go through, they're just. They're too personal to share in the moment. And so she just stood there while the prophet was behind the door with her child. I keep wondering, like, what could have possibly been going through her mind? Because as a woman, it's like, I can fix this. I need to fix this. But she couldn't fix it. She said to stand outside the door and wait and hold firm to the promise that God had given her. Because the thing that enables us to shine bright in the darkness, it's not only what we don't say, because that's a start, but it's what we cling to. You can cling to the promise that he will never leave you or forsake. You can cling to the promise that the same Holy Spirit that lives inside of you, that he lives inside of the people that you love, and he's working on them just like he's working on you, he's working on them. You can believe that if he speaks to you, he can speak to them. Without your mouth, he can speak to them, and you can cling to that promise. I have a friend whose son is just doing everything that he wants to do right now. And she is clinging to the promise that God has given about her son. You can cling to the promise that he sees every tear that you cry, and he hears every prayer that you pray, because he does. So you cling to that. You cling to the promise that you serve a God who really does turn everything for good. He does. He's done it before. He'll do it again. He really does turn graves into gardens. And the grave part is not fun, but the garden part, you look back and could only have been God. Cling to that. And when you cling to that, your life will shine so bright that people can't help but see God glorified in your life. Hey, thanks for watching. I hope that that encouraged you. Today we're make sure that you subscribe so that you don't miss out on other videos like this. And I'll see you back here next time.