The Mentor You Didn’t Ask For | Pastor Steven Furtick | Elevation Church

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I want to go back to Corinth this week.   Last week, we were talking about  A Troubled Mind and an Open Door,   that greatest opposition comes in the moments   of greatest opportunity. I believe  God gave somebody discernment   last week about a door you're standing in front  of and a devil you're fighting to get through it. Well, this week, I want to journey farther into   the book of 2 Corinthians.  Second Corinthians, chapter 12.   I'm really excited. I'm gripping onto the pulpit  just trying to calm down. Oh man. This is so good.   I already heard it. The Holy Spirit preached  it to me, and I promise you it's good. I might   mess it up trying to preach it to you, but  the way God gave it to me… Breathtaking. So, we're going back to Corinth. This is a very  culturally compromised church, a confused church,   but we're going to Corinth one more time.   The apostle Paul is getting  personal with these believers.   I believe he has a personal word to speak to us  today…not Paul, but God. Second Corinthians 12:6. Paul says, "Even if I should choose to boast, I  would not be a fool, because I would be speaking   the truth." He's quite confident, this  apostle. He's like, "I could back it up.   If I told you everything God has done for me, it  wouldn't be boasting. It would just be facts."   Wow. "But I refrain, so no one will think more  of me than is warranted by what I do or say,   or because of these  surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming  conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh,   a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times  I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.   But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for  you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'   Therefore I will boast all the more gladly  about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power   may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I  delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,   in persecutions, in difficulties. For  when I am weak, then I am strong." I want to preach about verse 7: "Therefore,  in order to keep me from becoming conceited,   I was given a thorn in my flesh, a  messenger of Satan, to torment me."   We're going to call this message  The Mentor You Didn't Ask For. Holy Spirit, administer your  Word. In Jesus' name, amen. I had a little argument with some family members  recently. Not necessarily an argument. It wasn't   contentious. It just was… I probably stayed in my  position too strongly, now that I look back on it.   We were talking about people who  had influenced our lives for Christ,   and somebody said the word mentor. I don't  even know if that's a buzzword anymore. It was a big buzzword when I was starting  Elevation Church: mentor. "Who's your mentor?   You need a mentor in the ministry." It's  still obviously a corporate American term.   Culturally, I don't know so much anymore. It has  been replaced by influencers. I don't know if we   talk in the language of mentor.  But I made a statement to my family   who attend our Greenville Campus, Holly's  sister and her husband and dad and mom. I said, "I don't believe in mentors anymore."   Everybody said, "Now that's extreme." And  it probably was. Looking back, it probably   was extreme, but you have to understand I've  had some weird experiences with weird people,   so I'm probably coming from that  standpoint of the idea of a mentor.   If it was Paul, I could get it, because Paul  was a master builder. He called himself that. Now do you see why God had to give him a thorn  to keep him humble? He called himself a master   builder. But everybody is not Mr. Miyagi,  and in certain moments of my life, I've been,   I guess, a little bit resistant to people who have  a lot of expertise without much experience. It   seems to be the day we're living in. There  is no shortage of unsolicited opinions. Even one time, when the church was first getting  going… We needed a building to meet, and I went   to meet with a guy. I can remember the room. I  don't remember his name. I remember the room,   and I remember something so weird  that happened. This is probably why   I don't really like the term mentor that much.  I was talking about "We need some resources,   and can we use your building to meet when  you're not using it?" and things like that. The guy took it a little too far. He said, "Son,  you're here asking me for a building and a little   bit of money for your budget, but it seems  like to me what you really need is a daddy."   Then he goes… Larry Brey is my  witness. He goes, "I'll be your daddy."   So, you'll understand   that the idea of a mentor is a little complicated  for me, not just because of that one experience. I think early in my life I did want  somebody. I wanted God to give me somebody   who… Kind of like you can do…   I see this video game Graham plays called  2K. He builds a player. It's called MyPlayer.   He goes in and gives the player everything, not  only cosmetically, but the skills and abilities. I kind of always wanted God to give me someone who  would give me the right amount of lateral movement   and the right tattoos on my left arm and the right  height and the right speed and the right dunking.   I kind of wanted ministry to be like MyPlayer on  2K, where somebody could supercharge me with the   answers and stuff. One time Holly… Y'all, Holly  has this ability to say stuff in a sentence   that will stick with you. I was complaining that I didn't really have… I  had a great dad, a great mom. I had great people   in my life who helped me along the way. I could  stand up here for a year and list them, but I was   looking for that one person who would put their  arm around me and say, "Now this is how you do it   in regard to preaching and leadership, and this  is when you should build the building, and this is   when you should launch this part of the ministry.  This is how you hire the right staff." Basically,   somebody to shepherd me through a mistake-free  ministry and life and marriage…a one-stop shop. Holly said to me, "You know…" In the middle  of my discouragement, this is what she said   to comfort me: "You know, God is never  going to give you what you're asking for.   He's going to give you a  lot of people to guide you,   but he is not going to let your guides  become your god." She said that. That sweet little Holly Furtick, "Thank you  for your service hours, outreach…" She talked   to the man of God that way in my face. "God  is never going to give you…" Book club Holly,   bird lover Holly, french fry-loving Holly  said that to me. Can you believe it?   She was right. God wasn't going  to give me what I was asking for. One reason is that God cannot give you  a mentor for where you are who will   limit you from where he is ultimately leading  you to be. If God would have sent me in that   season of my life one person I would pattern my  life after totally… She said something important.   "He's going to give you a lot of guides, but he  wants to be your God." He gave you a unique gift,   and only he knows… (She didn't say all this. I'm  preaching off what she said to me 15 years ago.) God is not going to give you a MyPlayer career  mode for your ministry. God is not going to   give you one person to model after, because if  you modeled after them completely and entirely   you would be them, and he already has them, so  he could kill you. If God gave you one person,   the person you compare yourself to and think,  "Oh, if I could just be like them, and if I   could have what they have and do what they do…" If  God gave you them, it would make you unnecessary. She was trying to get me to see that in  life I will have many guides but only one   God…only one God who knows me. What I love about  God, the more I experience his will and his plan   for my little life, is he's the  only one who can match the courses   to the calling. When you go to college, if  you go to college, if you stay in college,   you'll have to declare a major  eventually. The classes you take… You can take any classes you want  to. You can show up when you want   to. Nobody is going to make you do  anything. You can have a 0.7 GPA   (Eric Phillips) if you want to. You can party  and flunk out and come to North Greenville and   follow me there and ask me to help you get your  life together if you want to (Eric Phillips),   but you can't declare a major and  then pick the… I think a lot of us   want to pick an outcome we want in our lives,  but then we want to customize the courses. Because we live in that age. We think mentorship  is like a menu, like you're a Cheesecake Factory   where the menu is thicker than the Bible.   Have you been to Cheesecake Factory?  The menu is thicker than the Septuagint.   That's kind of how we want to do… That's kind of  how the Corinthian church wanted to do with Paul. I'm so furious at this church, because they  had the best pastor, the master pastor…Paul.   How can they be fighting with each  other and divided within each other   when Paul is their pastor? How can they  have such a master mentor like Paul   and be so petty? How can they have a  master mentor like Paul and be so immature? Now he's writing them a letter, not as an  adviser, not as a critic, but as a father,   to say to them, "I see some things in your  life." This is one reason I don't like   the concept of a mentor either, because usually,  if we ask somebody to be our mentor, we mean,   "Will you be my mentor until I don't agree  with you anymore? Then I'll get another one." (Lord, you told me this message  was going to be hard to preach,   but you didn't tell me it was going to be  this hard to preach to them. Help me out.) We do this all the time. Here's how I  typically do it in my life. It's like   I want to select certain things I want  God to bring into my life to teach me   lessons, but not only do I want to select the  lesson…I want to select the outcome of the lesson. Paul is having none of it. He's saying, "You  cannot customize Christ." What Paul went through   to be who he was… It cost him greatly. In chapter  11 of 2 Corinthians, he mentions a shipwreck.   He mentions a stoning. He mentions many storms.  He mentions betrayals. He mentions opponents…all   of that…in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11. Paul, who  paid the price to be an apostle of Jesus Christ…   He mentions all of the things that  made him such a master pastor. Now he's writing to a church that is in rebellion,  and he's reminding them of his résumé. He says,   "I could brag even more, but I'm not going to.  I just want you to judge me based on my results   and see if I'm somebody worth listening to,  but before you judge me based on my results,   let me remind you a little bit more of  what qualifies me to be in this position." We live in a day with a lot of  advice and not much authority.   Everybody has an advice column, but  very few people have true authority.   Paul is not writing advice in the Scripture.  Sometimes we read the Bible like it's   quotes on Pinterest. "My grace is  sufficient for you." Well, that's true,   but before Paul said that sentence in that  quote, he puts it in a context that's a little   more interesting. That's what I want to speak  to you a little bit about today: that context. Paul mentions he had a revelation of  God. He actually talks about himself   in the third person at one point. He  says, "I know a man who was caught up   to the third heaven," but he's talking about  himself. This is Paul. No wonder Paul needed   something to keep him grounded, because  there was so much glory on his life. No wonder Paul needed something in his flesh,  because he had so much revelation in his spirit.   But I'm getting ahead of myself. Paul said, "I  saw amazing things, and I could tell you even   more about it, but I'm not going to. I don't want  to boast about it." Instead, he opens a window,   and he shows the wound he calls a thorn  and the weakness most people would hide. I think we need more mentors like Paul, more  people who will show us not only the great power   but the problems they have to  overcome to operate in that power.   I don't ever want my kids to see me not struggle.  You say, "Well, don't you want to set a good   example?" I want to set an example of overcoming  struggle, not avoiding it. Paul is like that. We need this message now more than ever. I really  think this is a timely word from God, because   now everybody wants to share their opinion  whether or not it's even solicited. We live   in a day of 12-year-old life coaches. I used  to read a guy's books early on until I realized   he had started six churches and all of them  imploded. He was a church-planting consultant. Oh, but you don't have to pay for a consultant  these days. Just go to the comments section   of any Facebook post, and you will find  consultants in the comments. Speaking of Holly,   about a year ago, she showed me a comment. I  asked her to send it to me, because this is just   unbelievable, y'all, what people will offer in the  way of expert opinion that you did not solicit. She put a picture of her and me on Instagram,  and somebody said, "Y'all are so cute" and "Aw"   and hearts and pandas with hearts and all  of the things we put to feign emotion.   Somebody said, "Hi, Holly.  Not sure if you noticed,   but just wanted to say your skin looks so  great. It's glowing and super clear. Thought   you should know. Ha! Do share if you've recently  changed something in your skin care. [Red heart]" Three comments later… Are y'all ready for this?  "I feel like you look way better without eyeliner.   All the makeup for so many years  is making your skin saggy."   I might give y'all her username so y'all can  look her up and talk to her after church. How   many of y'all would enjoy that? Yeah. Y'all aren't  saved. Y'all are not mature enough to handle it.   I got permission to share this.  Holly said I could share it. The lady said, "Botox can help with the wrinkles."   Listen to this. "You're still beautiful. Thanks."  I wish I could show y'all her profile picture,   because she has crazy eyes. This woman's  eyes are crazy, and she misspelled you're.   She's a makeup consultant, y'all. She's an  amateur Mary Kay in the comments section,   but she needs a spelling teacher  for the fifth-grade words.   (Sorry. Sanctify me, Lord.) "You're so beautiful.  I just don't think you need so much makeup.   It's ruining your skin." In the  words of my kids, "Who asked?" The unsolicited opinions of people  about how you should raise your kids,   about how you should relate to  your husband, about what age   you should be married by, and if you're  married, about what age y'all really   should start thinking about having kids.  I mean, you're not getting any younger. Paul is not a consultant in the comments to the  church at Corinth who's trolling them with some   little slivers of truth that are quoted out  of context and telling them the great advice   and plan he has for their life independent of  God's will. He's an apostle by the will of God,   speaking to people he has a relationship with. This is not some generic advice from  an inspirational speaker who wants   to sell you something for $299.99  on an infomercial or an e-course.   This is not an influencer on Instagram who  needs you to follow them in order for them   to get a "swipe up" commission  from a store. This is Paul. He does something dangerous, because they respect  him, but they're starting to question him, because   there are "super-apostles" who have infiltrated  the church, and they started to inundate God's   people with opinions. "You know, you really  don't have to follow Christ like that. You should   mix a little Judaism and a  little bit of Christianity." So, now there are so many mixed opinions  Paul has to set the record straight and say,   "I could lay down my authority if I needed to.  I don't want to do it like that. I would rather   speak to you out of the love from my heart. But  in order that you don't just think I'm putting   my authority on you to tell you what I want you  to do, I want to talk to you about my adversity."   That really touched me, because  it's difficult to find somebody   who will break it down for you  to the level that Paul does. It's not difficult to find  somebody who will complain to you.   It's not difficult to find somebody  who will tell you what they would do.   It's not difficult at all to find a parent whose  kids are out of the house…their kids are lawyers   and doctors now…who will tell you what you should  do, and your kid is 7. That's very easy to do. Paul, in the middle of his struggle, to  walk in the authority of an apostle and   what God has called him to do, he  shows appropriate vulnerability.   "I could go on and on about going to the third  heaven. I could go on and on about what I endured.   I'm choosing not to do that. Instead,  I want to tell you about my thorn." The thorn. It's a metaphor,  y'all. It's even like a cliché.   This is the verse we get it from. "A thorn in  my side." Right? It's a metaphor. Most of the   things we deal with… When we sing about them in  church, we have to put them in a metaphor form,   because if we mentioned what we really  struggle with, it would scare people   and they would judge us. At  least we think they would. It would probably surprise you. The person  with their hands lifted higher than you this   morning probably has more thorns than you, but  that's not the point of this message. Paul said,   "I want to tell you about my thorn." Now,  since I've studied this text all week,   I've learned a lot about different interpretations  of what Paul's thorn was historically. Some people say that poor Paul had epileptic  seizures. There's nothing funny about that,   but the reason they trace it is because  when he was blinded and knocked off his   horse on the road to Damascus where  he was going to persecute Christians,   that he never quite recovered,  and that was his thorn.   Other people would say there was something  wrong with Paul's eyesight. When he wrote to the   church at Galatia, he talked about how large his  letters were because he wrote with his own pen. He even mentions the Galatians would be  willing to give their own eyes to him   if necessary. Some scholars say it was  from the blinding on the road to Damascus,   that his eyesight never fully recovered. Other  people don't associate it with blindness or   seizures at all or a medical condition.  Luther and Calvin identified it with a   spiritual temptation Paul faced. There is a  little bit of support for this scripturally,   because in 2 Corinthians 11, he mentions  "I inwardly burn." Not just persecution. Some people think Paul's thorn was the  opponents who were saying about Paul   "He's not real" and "He's not valid" and "You  can't believe him" and "His letters are good, but   he doesn't speak so well." It was those opponents  who were coming against him. So, Paul does what   we do when we have something in our life we can't  mention. He gives it a metaphor. It's a metaphor. No matter how many different scholars  and how many different theologians   trace the Greek and the precedents and  all of the different things it could be,   there seems to be a lot of confusion about  what Paul's thorn was. But this is the thing   I was excited to tell you. I studied all week,  and I found out, y'all, what Paul's thorn was.   From this pulpit, I am going to announce to  you today… You don't look like you believe me. For the first time… Come on. There have  been thousands of years of preachers,   but today, I am going to definitively tell  you what Paul's thorn was in 2 Corinthians,   chapter 12. Now, before we get there, let's talk  a little bit about the metaphor. First of all,   a thorn is a small thing. We sing  about a God who can do big things,   but when Paul went to talk about what God  had taught him that meant the most to him   in his life, he did not talk about a big  thing. He talked about a small thing. He said, "Three times…" The  King James says, "Thrice."   I just wanted to put that in there. "Thrice I  asked God to take it away." Three times. This   does not mean three times Paul prayed, "Take  it away. Take it away. Take it away. Okay, God.   I guess I have to live with it." Which brings me  to an important point. If you have a thorn in your   life that you're dealing with that nobody knows  about and you need God to take it away, ask him. Don't say God's "No" for him.   I was taught this in negotiating. I was taught  this in dating. Don't say somebody's "No" for   them. "Well, they wouldn't want to go out to eat  with me." Well, you know what? You're not out to   eat with them now, and if you ask them and they  say "No," you still won't be out to eat with them,   so it would be the same result if you risked  a rejection and put yourself out there. Get some practice, and then you can analyze  the process by which you might have failed   at the endeavor of getting a date. Apply it  to your next opportunity, and maybe one day   you'll name your kid Steven after you get married  because I told you "Don't ever let somebody else…"   Don't let anybody else say God's "No" for him. Ask  God. "Did you ask him?" "Yeah, I prayed about it." You did? I thought you were just worrying  about it. Did you ask him to do it?   I don't mean, you know, throw  it on top like a sprinkle   after you tried everything else.  "I know you probably won't…" No,   no, no. Paul doesn't throw on words.  He said, "I pleaded with God."   I don't think it even means he asked  God three times. I think it means he   launched three separate campaigns to  try to get God to change his situation,   and after every campaign to get God to  change it failed, then he accepted it. But   at least ask. If you need God to  heal somebody… Of course. "Well,   if it's God's will, he'll heal  them." Okay. Great. Ask him. "I know God probably won't do that for me,  because I'm probably not going to…" Ask   him. He's a big boy. Let him say his own  "No." He doesn't need you to protect him…   God doesn't need you to be his assistant.  "Oh, you can't ask him that right now.   He's very busy to care about your little  problem." Ask him for yourself. Maybe he   likes you more than you think he does.  Maybe he'll say "Yes" and surprise you. I ask God sometimes… I'm like, "Okay.  I don't have much time to study today,   but, God, would you give me my message quickly?"   Sometimes he doesn't, but sometimes he does, so  now I ask him every time. If he says "No" and I   have to study all week, I was going to have to  study all week anyway. It never hurts to ask.   Ask him! I used to rebuke Holly. "You can't pray  for a good parking space." She said, "Why not?" I said, "Good question." Ask him. I have  some things I'm asking God for that are   so stupid I would never tell you about  them. You would laugh me out of the room.   But I'm not asking you, am I? That's why I didn't  ask you. I don't ask people who don't have the   authority to give me what I'm asking for. Some  stuff I have to ask God. I have to ask God. I   need to see your supervisor, somebody with the  authority to get it done. I don't need advice.   I need authority. I need somebody who has  the keys to walk me through this door.   You're asking people questions  who don't even have the keys. My family has launched three separate  campaigns against me to get a dog,   and I can mark each phase of the campaign.  It's really Graham, but he has enlisted   everybody in the family. The only one who's  standing with me in solidarity is Elijah,   my firstborn son, flesh of my flesh and  bone of my bones. We don't want a dog! So, the first phase, he wrote a song.  "Daddy, can I get a dog…uh, uh? Daddy,   can I get a…uh, uh, uh." He took  the piano lessons I paid for   and perverted it against me to ask me for a  pet that I parentally have already prohibited.   Then he started phase two. That went  on for months. Phase two. Signs all   over the house and text messages with  pictures of rescue dogs all day long. The saddest Sarah McLachlan-eyed dogs you've ever  seen in your life just flooding my text messages.   This is what Paul meant in the text  where he said, "A messenger of Satan…"   No, no, no. That's not in the Greek, but…  The third phase they're currently doing,   because he finally realized,  "Mom, you're the only one." Now all of hell and all of Holly and everybody  in my house except Elijah, my true son   in the faith, my Timothy, is against me. Not  just three prayers that they said…three seasons.   When you seek God about  something for a whole season…   Whatever Paul's thorn was… I'm going  to tell you what it was in a minute.   I have not forgotten to tell you what it  was. I'm going to tell you what it was. All of the commentators have something  different to say, but I found out what it was. I   studied all week and found out what it was. I  asked God to show me quickly. He didn't show   me quickly, so I kept studying, and I found out  what it was. But before we get to what it was,   let's talk about what it represents. Do you  think maybe Paul didn't mention it by name   because he did not want to limit the application  to the people he was sharing it with? A metaphor gives you more room than an issue  does. If Paul said exactly what he struggled with,   you'd go, "Well, I don't struggle with  that. I'm better than Paul." Or if it was   something that was less than what  you struggle with, you'd go, "Huh.   Well, if he calls that a struggle, there's no  hope for me." I used to talk to a guy, and he'd   be like, "I've been really struggling lately. I've  had to cut my prayer time to two hours a day." The way that would make you feel… He was a pastor,  and he would say that to the church. The guy   sitting out there who has to do a real job and  can't just sit around reading about Bartholomew   and Thomas and Alphaeus and all of these Bible  names all week is sitting there feeling like crap,   comparing himself. "Oh, that's your thorn?   I was going to show you mine, but I'm going to  put this thorn right back here where it was." That's why the power of a metaphor… I  don't mean to make this English class,   but I keep coming back to the power of a metaphor.  We have one new song we've been singing in the   church. (We're going to record it on October 6.)  I like the song because it gives you examples.   It says, "I'm calling on the God of  Jacob. I'm calling on the God of Moses.   I'm calling on the God of  David." That's my favorite one. It says, "I'm calling on the God of David  who made a shepherd boy courageous." This   is my favorite line: "I may not face  Goliath, but I have my own giants."   The reason it says it like that… I wrote that with  a few friends, and the reason we chose to say it   like that is because if it addressed a specific  issue, that would be too awkward and limited. So we just say, "I may not face Goliath…" That's  the name of a particular enemy David faced.   "…but I have my own giants."  So, when you sing that line,   no matter how dirty, dark, stinky, rotten, filthy,  corrupted, perverted, or subversive your giant is,   you can sing it with a big old smile on your  face. Otherwise, it would be too awkward. Right? "I'm calling on the God of David  who made a shepherd boy courageous.   I may not face Goliath…" You can't be too specific  here. You have to have a metaphor. "I may not   face Goliath, but I'm a functional alcoholic."  It doesn't even rhyme. Let's at least get it to   rhyme. "I may not face Goliath, but I can't  stick to a diet." Do y'all like that one? You can't say, "I may not face Goliath, but my kid  is a compulsive liar." You can't sing about them   while they're sitting next to you. The funny thing  is two people sitting next to each other, singing   about the other one they came to church with, and  the other one didn't know "You're my Goliath." Look straight ahead right now. "You didn't  even know you're the one I'm singing about.   You're the one I'm crying about.   I can't tell you 'You're my thorn.'"   "Oh, that's mean, Pastor Steven." But it  begs a question, doesn't it? Why would a God   who has enough power to take down a giant with  a rock leave something as small as a thorn?   Why would a God who said you could have  mustard seed faith and move something as   big as a mountain…? Why would that God  leave something as small as a thorn   in the life of someone as important as Paul? It begs a better question. Why would God allow  you, season after season, to sing about Goliaths,   to sing about mountains, to pray about them,  to ask about them, to strategize… "Maybe it'll   be different this time." Paul said, "I asked  three times now. I launched three separate   campaigns that I waged with heaven to see if  God would take this away so I could be more   effective for him. This was something I wanted,  and it was something I thought God would want." We don't get to know if it was physical or if  it was mental or if the great apostle struggled   with depression. See, we probably couldn't handle  that. Then we wouldn't listen to him if he said,   "Rejoice in the Lord always," because we'd  be like, "Oh, you're a hypocrite. Paul,   you're cancelled. You can't struggle with that and  preach to me." We like to cut people out when they   don't live up to our exact standards. "But all  have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." All. Paul, y'all, all. Thorns all up in the seat  next to you. Don't get too close to her. You might   get stuck. She has thorns. I want to say something  else before I tell you what Paul's thorn was,   because you're not going to believe it when  you see it. I want to make sure you understand   that life will give you an ample supply  of thorns. You don't have to ask for one.   "Okay, Lord. All right, Lord.  I hear the preacher today.   He's saying we have to suffer. Persecution.  Bring it on, Lord. I'm ready, God." I was in   a prayer service one time, and somebody started  praying, "God, I just pray for a trial by fire." I backed up so quickly. "Hold up, y'all.  I got a phone call." I didn't come back.   I don't even want to be in the prayer circle  with somebody dumb enough to pray that.   When I'm with somebody and they  start praying for patience…   It's all in the text. He said in verse 7,   "I was given a thorn. I didn't ask for it." I'm  preaching to people who are fighting something   they didn't ask for. All of these categories  Paul lists would make a good starting place   for us to evaluate our lives and see  what that thing where we need God is. He mentions hardships. He mentions  insults. He mentions persecutions.   He mentions difficulties. He mentions all  of these things…weaknesses. He mentions them   categorically and metaphorically,  but this is not a shopping list.   Life will give you enough of those.  You don't have to go looking for them.   Insults. Life will give you plenty of those. You  don't have to infer them when they're not there.   "Do you see how she looked at me?" "No. I don't even think she was looking at you." "Yes, she did. She was looking at me." "Did you hear how they said that? They said  that about me. They were talking about me." Insults. Life will give you enough. You'll  get insulted for real. Somebody will be on   your comments looking for you to have a Botox,  a Mary Kay consultant, a ninja in the comments   trying to take you down. You won't have to go  looking for a hardship. It'll give you enough. That's why, for me (this is just me and my house),   social media is really dangerous. I'm not  saying it's bad, because right now while   I'm preaching they're posting on an account  about my sermon on the thing, but for me,   because life gives me enough thorns… I have  enough insecurity. I deal with enough in my head. I mean, I have enough movies to  make me miserable the rest of my   life…regrets, things I replay, self-doubt, even  self-loathing. "Hold on now, Pastor Steven. You   are a preacher. You should have worked  through these issues." Paul had a thorn.   You have a thorn. If you keep looking at me this  fake, I'm going to interview your family members,   and I'm going to find out your thorn, and I'm  going to put you on blast in the pulpit next week. What got me about it was that social  media can be like a thorn store.   As if you don't have enough already to  feel worried about or to compare yourself…   If it's not hard enough to be a teenager with the  fear of missing out, you can go and find proof   you're missing out of all of the people who didn't  invite you and watch the things they're doing. For me, I don't go on Facebook because it would  make me too angry. I may not face Goliath,   but I already have a really bad temper. "I may  not face Goliath, but I have anger issues." Right?   So I don't need all that. I don't need more  thorns. I don't need to borrow your thorns.   I don't need to be swimming in  the sewage of other people's anger   when I already have enough anger of my own. For me, Instagram is like "thorn hub." "O God,   he's preaching a real sermon today. He's saying  real things today." To me, I'm not looking for   insults, hardships, persecutions, weaknesses.  I already have enough of those. I need a word   from God. I need an encouraging voice. I need  an image I can aspire to that looks like Christ.   He said, "A thorn was given to me." And he says  a strange phrase. He says, "It was a messenger of   Satan." The word in Greek for messenger is  aggelos. What does that sound like? Angel. The same word that is used for  messenger… Y'all don't believe me.   He said, "Because of these surpassingly  great revelations. Therefore,   in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was  given a thorn, a messenger of Satan…" Aggelos. The   same word as angel. An angel, a messenger. It's  the same word. There's no difference in the word. "An angel of Satan to torment me." An  angel of Satan? I don't want that kind.   I don't. I never prayed for Satan to give  me anything in my life. Paul didn't like   it either. He said the first time he got hit  with that thing he said, "Return to sender,"   and he did it three times. Sometimes that  works and God helps you through it. "I'm   not going to struggle with that anymore."  That's awesome. You can testify and help others. "But in this case," Paul said, "I  had to see that it was given to me   even though the Enemy delivered it."   He said it came from an angel. An  angel of Satan gave me a gift from God?   That's why I think this week when  it comes to the thorns in your life,   even if it's a person who gets on your nerves…  Raise your hand if there's one in your life.   This week tell them, "You're such an angel."   If they go to church here, don't say  that, because they'll know the Greek,   but if they don't go to church here, they won't  have a clue what you're talking about. Say,   "Man, you're just like an angel to me."  What the angel brought me is a thorn. I started to get confused because he said it  was an angel. Did you know your teenagers,   parents, are angels? Teenagers, did  you know your parents are angels?   I can't wait. All week, people walking  around their house being like, "What's up,   angel?" All of the angels saluting each other  that God is using to keep us dependent on him.   "You gave me a gift of  realizing how much I need God."   Oh yeah. You're going to see angels  everywhere this week. He said, "It's a   messenger from Satan." He said, "I don't have to  like the delivery service to open the package."   "It was an angel, a messenger of Satan, in  order to keep me from getting so conceited." God knows what you're prone to. God knew Paul  was prone to pride. So, God matches your thorn,   your course, to your calling. The reason I  can't pick my own mentor in life is I don't   know what I need, because I don't even know  who I really am yet. I certainly don't know   who I'm going to be when God gets done with  me. God is so good that he knows how to match   your thorn from his throne. He said, "It was sent,   a messenger of Satan, to torment me." To torment  me. You've been tormented by it. It torments you. When there's a weakness and  you can't get stronger in it,   it torments you. "I should be farther  along, and I did it again." It torments you.   "Other people can do that easily, but it's not  easy for me." It torments you. Torment…mentor.   Torment…mentor. Paul's thorn was his mentor.   I told you I'd tell you what Paul's  thorn was, and I did. It was his mentor. It was the thing God gave him to teach him grace.   I actually don't have to interview  anybody to find out what your thorn is.   I already know. It's your mentor.  It's the mentor you didn't ask for.   It's the thing that showed up in your life…  See, you've been trained in a lot of things.   Some of you have a master's degree.  Some of you know how to run a business. Some of you know how to make straight A's.  Some of you know how to impress others. Some   of you know how to dress. Some of you know how  to talk really good, and you can flatter people   and say things to get out of the situation. But  there are some things that can only be learned   in "Thorn University."   There are some things God can only teach you,  not through advice but through adversity. Paul was not a rookie, and Paul was not a newb,  and Paul was not an unsolicited "Dear Abby" advice   columnist. Paul was an apostle of Jesus  Christ, and he didn't even want to be. Paul   never even applied to be an apostle. He was  just riding on his donkey through Damascus,   and God knocked him off his donkey and said,  "New boss. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." They had to lead him by the hand. "You have  a new mentor now, Paul." This is difficult,   because Paul studied under Gamaliel.  Gamaliel was a father of the Sanhedrin,   not just a member. Gamaliel was the grandson  of Hillel. Gamaliel was so powerful they said   the glory of the Torah died when Gamaliel  died, but he was steeped only in Judaism. When Gamaliel mentored Paul, he could teach  him so much. He could teach him about the Law.   He could teach him about the oral  tradition. Paul sat at his feet.   He defends himself in Acts 22:3. He said,  "I grew up in Jerusalem, and I sat at the   feet of Gamaliel. He was my mentor. But one  day, as I was going to persecute the church   and wipe out those who were members of the Way,  I got knocked down by something bigger than me. I got blinded by a light I didn't even ask for.   Gamaliel could teach me about grammar,  but he couldn't teach me about grace.   It took a thorn to show me that. I didn't  ask for it, and, God, if you want to take it,   it's still on the table. You can have it  back anytime. But the torment stops here. I will not be tormented by  this thorn one more day.   If you're not going to take this thorn away,  then, God, you will need to give me the grace."   So, when Paul preaches and talks about  the thorn, I want you to realize that   is the thing God wouldn't take away, but he  says in verse 7 something very interesting. He says, "Therefore, in order to keep me from  becoming conceited, I was given a thorn."   I just read that a bunch, and I eventually  began to see "Therefore…therefore…therefore,   in order to keep me from becoming  conceited, I was given a thorn." It   came through an instrument of Satan,  but God used it as a vessel of grace. Isn't that what he did with Paul? Paul, who was  a tool used by the Enemy to torment the church,   and when God transformed him, he became a vessel  for the gospel. If God can do that through Paul…   Now he said, "I'm going to do it for Paul," and  if you can receive it, he's going to do it for   you. "Therefore, I was given a thorn. God didn't  take it away. He showed me what it was there for."   So, ask God for this. Ask God for therefore. "I'm  celebrating today because God gave me a therefore.   I'm not celebrating that the thorn is gone;  I'm celebrating that God gave me a therefore." He said, "Therefore, all the more gladly,  for Christ's sake, I will boast in the things   that make me appear broken. Therefore, I will  glory not in the thorn but in the grace that   God released for it." Don't glory in the thorn.  Don't walk around just worshiping your weakness.   He said, "I'm celebrating  because I have a grace for it."   I've walked with hundreds of people  through seasons of unimaginable struggle,   and what they all seem to have in  common when you talk to them, if they   go on living, is that God gave them a  grace that was proportional to the problem. If they live through it, they live long enough  to talk about not just what they went through   but what God taught them.   They stop talking about the thorn so much. Even  if it was a really big thing, in comparison to   the glory of the grace God gives them, they  start making it look like a small thing.   So, I wonder who you are today, and I wonder what  your thorn is, but I don't really need to know,   because God already showed me. That  thorn is the mentor you didn't ask for.   It's the thing that's going to teach you.   One old preacher said, "The thorn  is what takes you to the throne." Paul said, "I know me, and God knows  me. I would have gotten out ahead of   myself if God didn't give me this."  So, take your thorn to the throne   and ask God. "I didn't ask you for this thorn,  but I'm asking you now. I need a grace for this   season. I need a grace for this insult.  God, you told me to turn the other cheek. I'm out of cheeks. I only have so many. I'm going   to need some grace. Three seasons  I've petitioned you. Still no dog.   So, if you won't give me a  breakthrough, give me a therefore.   Reveal something here in my life  I couldn't see anywhere else."   I'm not telling you to thank God  for your thorn. I'm not there yet. Some people can do that. I'm not that  good of a Christian. I'm not Paul,   and most of y'all aren't either.   So, if we can't thank him for the thorn, which is  understandable, let's thank him for the therefore.   "Therefore, I will boast all the more  gladly about what God gave me through it."   It's a pivotal moment when you don't allow  the Enemy to torment you anymore with it. He doesn't want you to see this, because he  wants to keep you weak where you won't worship.   Paul said, "Therefore, I  boast all the more. I glory   in what the thorn brought me to. I don't glory in  the thorn. I don't like the thorn. I tried to send   it back. I didn't order the thorn. But regardless  of how it came, right now I need grace." Everybody under the sound of my voice,   this is not your chance to slip  out of the room early. Stand up.   In this moment, I wonder, would you  receive what you really need from God?   I wonder, can you be humble enough  to lift your hands like you need him   and not clench your fists like you've got this?   That's the posture of power  right there. That's it. Lord, we thank you for the therefore, and we  thank you for the Holy Spirit, our divine mentor.   We thank you that you're teaching  us about your grace in this season. There is a supernatural grace that  comes upon you in seasons like this.   There is a supernatural grace  that comes upon the saints. There is a grace for your thorn. One day, if  we can not be so proud and arrogant to deny it,   if we can not be so bitter about the fact that  it happened, maybe we'll get to talk about what   God taught us, like Paul did. Maybe one day  we can say, "When I'm weak, then I'm strong."   Maybe we can let God in. Maybe  he's bigger than our thorn.   Maybe his grace is sufficient for you too. Spirit of the living God,  fall fresh. Anoint us with oil   for the thorns in our flesh and the pressure  we face and the temptation we're under   and the weakness we know all too well. We need your oil.   I lift up every thorn to you today. We ask you  to take it away, and we'll probably keep asking,   but while we're working through it,   we thank you for the therefore. It's there  for a reason. We'll see what it is in time. I want to tell you one more thing while you pray.  Satan was the messenger, but he wasn't the master.   While you pray, consider that. Consider this: in God's hands, Paul,   who tortured and tormented the church,  became a mentor for the gospel.   That's what's going to happen in your  life. The sufferings of this present time   are not worth comparing with the  glory that will be revealed in you. So, God, I thank you for a release of your glory.  I thank you for these things that drew us closer   to you, God. We wouldn't have prayed. We would  have been proud. We would have thought it was   our strength, our might, our armor, our sling,  our sword. It wasn't. In this moment of weakness,   we declare we are strong. We are blessed. We are  filled. We are overcomers. We are conquerors. We are more than conquerors. Let the weak say,   "I am strong." Let the poor say,  "I am rich." We thank you for it.   In Jesus' name, we offer you this praise.  And the whole church said, "Amen."
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Channel: Elevation Church
Views: 336,570
Rating: 4.915833 out of 5
Keywords: elevation church, steven furtick, the mentor you didn’t ask for, mentor, thorn in my flesh, elevation church sermons, pastor steven furtick, steven furtick sermons, 2021 sermons, preaching, preacher, mentoring, weakness, speak into you, advice and authority, advice, authority, unsolicated advice, paul’s thorn, giants, tormenting mentor, adversity, vessel of grace, grace proportional to the problem, struggle, strength, insecurities, grace, sermons about mentoring, sermons about grace
Id: Px6DEPDM6bc
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 63min 11sec (3791 seconds)
Published: Sun Sep 26 2021
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