A (0:00)

This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. Hey, this is Steven Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you, hope it builds your faith, hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. I want you to stay standing while I read this scripture. And I promise you after that, it's your prerogative as to whether or not you want to sit down or stand up for the whole time I preach. But I'd like you to stand while I read this. Just give your attention to Philippians 4, 10, 19. This message ministered on the subject of needs and the needs in our life in a powerful way when I preached it last night. I'm expecting that it'll even go to a higher level today because God has been speaking to me throughout the night and even this morning about how to share this with you, and I believe that it's going to be effective in your life. Now, I want to put a scripture from the New Testament up alongside a scripture in the Old Testament. In that space between, I believe there's something God wants to reveal to you today. Philippians 4:10. The apostle Paul, writing from house arrest in Rome, says, I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I'm not saying this because I'm in need, because for I have learned. It's a process. I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. We know that this is true of Paul, and it's not just a Christian cliche because he's writing it while he's in the middle of a trial. Yet this letter, which was written to the Philippian Church, was the first church he established in Europe, is called by many the happiest book in the Bible. It is proof that your surroundings don't have to dominate your spirit. Your spirit, do you know what I'm saying, is proof that my state of affairs doesn't have to determine my state of mind. Paul is talking about that very thing, and he's not only saying it, but he's living it as he writes it. He says, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed, whether hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving. Except you only. For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts. Touch somebody, say I'm good. What I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus. Baby name. Anybody. Anybody pregnant looking for something to name your kid Epaphroditus. Throwing it out there for suggestion. Name that kid Epaphroditis. None of the kids in kindergarten will be raising their hand when the teacher calls that name. Except yours. You can call him Pappy for short, because it's kind of hard to spell. Epaphroditus. He said, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice pleasing to God and my God will meet all your needs. This is one of the coolest verses in the Bible. This is one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. My God will meet all your needs. We're going to work on this today. According to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Say it louder. Amen. Look at Joshua, chapter 5, verse 12. Just one verse. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land. There was no longer any manna for the Israelites. But that year they ate the produce of Canaan. That year they ate the produce of Canaan. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the lamb. I want to preach to you today from this title, this subject. He took the manna off the menu. Come on, somebody. He took the manna off the menu. And he did it for a reason. Father, illuminate your word. Drive it deep in our hearts to a place where we couldn't get it out without acting on it if we wanted to. In Jesus name, everybody shout Amen one more time. You may be seated in the presence of God. Took the man off the menu. Keith took the man off the menu. Steven Webb. He took the manna off the menu. Art Turkhurst. It was like chicken nuggets coming off the menu at Chick Fil a. What's he doing? Do you know this phrase? Supply side economics? Have you heard this phrase? I'm not trying to brag, but I was a Business administration minor in college. I minored in business administration so if you ever want my expert advice on any of your business plans, I'll be available to advise you. I do have a minor in business administration. They taught me an economics class about supply side economics. Very controversial theory, macroeconomic theory. I could read you a technical definition, but let me make it a little simpler than that because I'm not an economist and that's not my goal here today. Really, a theory that tries to explain the phenomena based on explanations. It's been called trickle down policy or Reaganomics. It's controversial to say the least, but the single idea behind the pillars of supply side economics is that the production or the supply of the goods and the services is most important in determining economic growth. In other words, by investing in capital and breaking the barriers, whether through tax cuts or other measures, the more goods are available to more consumers at a cheaper rate, the better off an economy will be. Again, this is a controversial economic theory and I'm not here to espouse it or to contradict it, but I bring it up as a sort of analogy for the kind of spirituality that Paul is a proponent of. Philippians chapter 4, where he states that I have needs, but I'm not needy. I have needs, but I'm not needy. In the book of Philippians, you get perhaps the most personal glimpse of Paul. It seems that this letter is not marred with some of the corrective measures, say when Paul is addressing the Corinthian Church. There's so much he has to straighten out with them. He's not able to really let his guard down. There are certain people you can't share certain components of yourself with because you can't trust them in that way. The Philippian Church, after once again supporting Paul in a practical way, have warmed the affection of his heart so that he writes them in a way that we really get to see. The apostle share, I believe some of the secrets that he won't share with anybody else to the way he has lived his life that have enabled him to be so faithful. I think you hear it even in his language. He said, I'm going to tell you the secret. Did you hear him say, I've learned the secret of being content. You don't tell secrets to anyone who's not your friend. These people, by renewing their concern for Paul in a difficult time and in his life, have earned his trust to the point where he said, I'm going to let you in on something. I'm not only going to let you in on how I do it, but I'm going to Let you in a little bit on the need side. I'm going to tell you a little bit of what it's been like to be me. He's not afraid with this group of people to express his needs, to make his needs known. He makes his needs known, he says to the church at Philippi, who he has been estranged from through circumstances, he would like to be with them in person, but since he can't, he just says, you know, it meant a lot that you sent something to help me out. It meant a lot. You can almost hear him saying, I needed that. I needed that. I realized recently that the number one thing people say about Twitter, Instagram, different social media posts that we try to put out to inspire people, they'll just put needed that. You never know what somebody is going through in their life. It can just hit them at a certain time where they're like, I was just thinking about that. I was just praying about that. I was just wondering how that was going to work out. It's like, wow. The only thing they can say is needed that, Needed that. Paul seems to take a supply side view of spirituality. That is, he seems less focused on the needs, though they're great than the supply because it's greater. Talk to me, somebody. You have to decide, are you going to live your life from the need side or the supply side? This is faith's greatest question. Do I see my needs through my supply or am I always missing my supply because all I see is my needs? God wants to invite you over today to the supply side of spirituality when you pray. He says, I'm hearing you talk so much about your needs. I don't mind hearing about your needs. But if you would devote at least as much time to, to acknowledging my supply as you do to listing your needs, I could release my supply through the portal of your faith and your praise. We seem to operate from this philosophy that God's greatest goal is to put us in a place of no need, that God wants to get us to the place where we don't have any needs. But he's not going to do it. He's not going to do it because if you didn't have any needs in your life, it would be just a matter of time before you thought you didn't need him. Talk back to me. You know, you would get so prideful, people wouldn't even be able to be around you. You'd be so cocky, you'd be so judgmental. You would solve everybody's problems. So the need that you're Asking God to eliminate in your life is the very space he wants to show his supply. Once you see it that way, once you see it from the supply side, everybody shout, crossover. This puts you in a state of contentment. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. I know what it is to be in need, Paul says, and I know what it is to have plenty. I used to think Paul was describing two different seasons of his life, and perhaps he is. He's saying, I've had times when I was up, I've had times when I was down. I've had times when I had to pay a lot of taxes. I've had times when I couldn't pay the rent. I've had times where I had so many people to call back that I didn't know who to start with. I've had times where I was so lonely, I wondered, had everybody forgotten about me? This is the essence of. Of the emotional core of Philippians 4. You miss this if you just hit 13 and 19. I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength. Like Paul was about to bench press 305 before he said that, talking about how strong he was. But it is against the backdrop of his great struggle that he declares the supply and the strength of God, so that by the time he gets to 19, he says, I've been in need, I've been flat level. I've been abandoned, I've been betrayed, been forgotten about. I've been depressed, I've been accused, I've been broke, I've been sick. But my God is still Jehovah Jireh. He'll still supply. I told you we were going to have some good church today. I figure if you're going to make the effort to come, I'm not going to shortchange you. High five. Three people. Tell them, God is my supplier. God is my supplier. God is my supplier. He's my need meter. He's my waymaker. He's my stream in the desert. He's my rock in a dry and weary land. He is my water, my God. But I had some needs. Now I had some needs. And I have learned how to meet those needs. Needs in an appropriate way. That's what marriage is, by the way. It's a combination of needs between two people from different planets. Now, if you understand that context for marriage, your expectations will be set. They write books about this. It's called his needs, her needs. Buy the book, put it on Amazon, in the Amazon thing, on your iPhone. Download it while I'm preaching his needs, her needs. Five Love languages. All these ways to say you could actually be trying to meet somebody's needs but meeting them in a way they can't receive because you don't know what they really need. You can wreck a whole marriage trying to meet needs that you have in another person. You can ruin a whole friendship projecting your needs on another person and trying to give them what you would want. Understanding the needs of your wife is critical. Understanding the needs of your husband. I can talk to you about that on another series sometime when the we'll make sure none of the e kids get in here and we'll talk about his needs. It won't take me long. It'll be the shortest sermon at Elevation Church. You'll be out in time for breakfast. Watch this. Needs. I need you to turn to the person next to you and tell them something you're not going to want to tell them, especially if you're married to them, because it sounds like an insult. But you need to tell them because it's something you need to understand. Tell your neighbor you can't meet my needs. You can't, you can't, you can't. Another problem people make going into relationships is expecting that you're going to meet my needs, expecting that you are going to be Y' all just got married. Caroline and Cena. I'm not saying you can't be a conduit in meeting her needs. I'm not saying you can't be her superman in some ways. I'm not saying there aren't some of her needs, but she has some needs that if she doesn't learn how to let God meet those needs. Caroline works in my office. One of the things about having people who are in your life on a day to day basis is you can fall into the trap of expecting one person to meet all of your needs. Then you violate the nature of the relationship because you're trying to get somebody to deliver something to your doorstep they're not authorized to carry. Quite honestly, as your pastor, there are certain needs I will be able to meet for you that she can't meet. I'm going to tell you the flip side of that, which is much more important. There are certain needs I am never going to meet of yours. I'm not even going to think about them. This is a gross illustration. Everybody shout needs. And learning who God has put in your life to meet certain needs and learning how God sends what you need in your life. See, people will say all the time, God is all I Need. And God is shaking his head in heaven saying, no, I'm not. No I'm not. I have all that you need. But the only way I can get you what you need is to distribute it through the people I put in your life. So when you isolate yourself and call it spirituality. That's why I worry about people who don't come to church. I don't need to come to church. I just have my own relationship with God. That's fine. But the church is the trucks and the funnels and the tracks through which God gets his supply to your life. So before you cut yourself off from church, church, you better realize God is the need meter, but the church is the distribution system through which God meets needs in the world. My God will meet all your needs. Paul is hurt. You can hear him hurt if you listen for it. If you just go, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. If you just go, my God will meet all your needs. If you don't read all that other stuff I read, you'll miss the essence of Paul. Speaking of God's supply from a place of great need, he said, no other church helped me but you, a man who gave his life for the gospel. And in his time of need, he says, you are the only one there. You can hear him fighting self pity if you listen for it. You can hear him processing through all of the other lists of churches, the places where he served for free. And he was bivocational because he didn't want to burden them. But when he got in trouble and when he was appealing to Caesar, under house arrest and no longer able to function in the same ways, he's wondering where are all the people I invested in at the time where I need dividends. That's a painful thing. He said, but you, you were there for me. They sent him a little money. They sent Epaphroditus along with a little money to meet his needs. Paul said, I appreciate that that's going to be a big help. My trial is very expensive. I'm mounting a legal defense and I don't know how long this is going to drag on. So this will come in very usefully. But it's not even the money that meant the most to me. What meant the most to me is that you shared in my troubles. Sometimes people don't want your solutions. They just want solidarity with someone who can be there for them. Paul said, I appreciate the money you sent me. I'm going to use it. But. But what really mattered to me was that you were there for me. I'll tell you, there is something about people who are there for you in your time of need that you will never, ever forget them. I can tell you to a person who came to my dad's funeral that I didn't expect to see there. When I saw him, I was like, you didn't have to come. But inside, I was thinking, I'm sure glad you did. The people who canceled vacations to be there, I'll never forget them. I'll never forget Buck sitting at my mom's house and my dad's house for four days. I don't think he left. He was chained like a junkyard dog to the front porch for four days while my dad died, while hospice was in and out. I'll never forget that. Never forget the team who was there in the early days of the church. I appreciate everybody who has come since then, but the people who were there when we needed it the most. Let me tell you a secret. If you really want to invest in relationships, buy low, buy low. When you invest in the stock market, they teach you, don't always try to invest in something that's way up here. The time you want to buy in is when it's low, because then when it shoots up, you'll have a good stake in it. Relationships are a lot like that. If you will be the kind of person who says, I'm going to be there with you, what did Oprah say? I always like to quote Oprah once a month. What did Oprah say? Anybody will ride with you in the limousine. What I need is somebody to ride with me when the limousine breaks down and we have to take the bus. I'm looking for some bus friends. I'm looking for some people who will be by my side when I don't have anything to give. I'm looking for some people who are in it. Paul says, I appreciate that you couldn't be here with me. So you did what you could. You've got to value. I know this is a practical teaching, but I want to get it across to you. Because God has really been speaking to me. You have to value what people can give you and not resent what they can't. You can't hold people hostage to the needs you have that they can't meet. So he says, I appreciate what you're doing for me. I appreciate it, and I appreciate you sending Pappy over. But we need to talk about Pappy. Pappy was kind of sickly. The heart of my message is really derived from a scripture. I Didn't get to read you over in two. 25. Go to the screen. He said, I think now it's necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus. He's my brother. He's my co worker. He's my fellow soldier. I bet you do appreciate him. He traveled 800 miles. If Paul was imprisoned where we think he was, over 800 miles to bring the gift to him. I bet you do appreciate him. This guy came a long way to help me. You sent me a messenger, not only with money, but you sent me a messenger with encouragement. You sent him to take care of my. Say it again. My needs. You sent Epaphroditus to take care of my needs. But I have to send him back for he longs for you all. He's homesick and he's distressed because you heard that he was ill. He's in trouble and he needs you. That really touched me because I thought, here's Paul awaiting what would eventually be a verdict of death. His very life is in the balance. Yet he has developed enough spiritually where he still has the presence of mind to consider the needs of the church. He started above his own. That touched me because in that I realized that the secret Paul spoke of to being content, the secret to saying God can meet all my needs is that even when I have a great need, my focus is on yours. What a perspective that Paul would say. Epaphroditus misses you. I know you miss him. Here I am, in need. I know you sent him to take care of me and he did. And it was helpful. I got what I needed from Epaphroditus, but now I'm sending him back. See, Paul understood something about the provision of God. And this is where Joshua comes in. Centuries earlier. Now, this is centuries earlier. This is in the Old Testament. Joshua is leading the people of God into Canaan. Canaan is the land God promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Canaan is the land God was leading the Israelites toward through Moses. Moses brought them out of Egypt. Joshua took them Transjordan, across the Jordan into the land. And the day they're on the border, the Bible says something interesting happened. God served an appetizer. God brought some edamame out to the table. God brought some chips and salsa. What do you like? What do you like? God brought some hot bread from Canaan. God brought a fruit tray from Canaan. And he said, eat this. In Joshua 5:12 after, the men were standing on the border of their promise. I need you to get this. This is so Powerful. This is where some of you are. And you've been asking questions, and you've been feeling needy, and you've been wondering why certain sources of supply have been cut off in your life. The Bible says that the day they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan, the manna stopped. The manna stopped. Well, now, Pastor Steven, I know what manna is, but why don't you just tell me what you think it is so I can make sure we're on the same page. Everybody shout, what? Is it? What it is? No, that's what manna means. That's what it means. The Israelites come out of Egypt. Can I take you through a history lesson real quick? They come out of Egypt. That's where they were slaves. And they come into the wilderness. That's where they were survivors. You do understand that when you were a slave to sin, there were certain pleasures you enjoyed. There were certain ways you got your needs met. Come on, talk to me. Now, don't start looking at me like that. I will get so direct, I will make you and your mom blush that you brought to church with you. The best thing to do is nod at me. There are certain ways you got your needs met. But when they left Egypt, they started missing the types of meals they got in Egypt. They didn't miss the whips of their slave masters. They didn't miss the labor of brick making with not enough mortar. In fact, they had cried out to God to get them out of the land. But watch what happened when they got out in Exodus 16:3. Because freedom is an acquired taste, they said, Moses, it would have been better if only we had died by the Lord's hand in Egypt, because there we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted. You brought us out in this desert, starved to death. See, here's what happens. Here's what happens. He let them out and they got to a new place. But they were addicted to the means. So when they got here and they felt hungry, they missed the place they used to eat from. Their assumption was God must have brought us here to. To die. I have this restaurant I like to take Holly to. It's a very nice restaurant, very proper, and I like to take her there as much as I can. There was a time we couldn't go there. We couldn't afford to go there, but now we can go there. So I like to go there. And I like to not even look at some of the prices sometimes just order whatever you want just to do it. Just because I Like her just because she's my girlfriend, just because I'm trying to impress her. Just act like it's the prom. Just act like this is my one shot to make her like me. So we'll go in and order, and they have this squash soup that I like. This squash soup. I never thought I would like squash soup. But you haven't tasted it. This squash soup. This is a different kind of squash soup. And it has bacon in it. You had me at bacon. It's a squash soup with the bacon in it. I like it. I went to order it the other day and I said, I'll have the squash soup. Because we go in there quite a bit, as I was saying, and the people know me in there, and I tip well and everything, so I get good service and I'm kind of important around there. So I walk in, I said, I'll have the squash soup. And he shook his head and said, oh, Pastor, it's off the menu. He said, that's a seasonal item. That's a seasonal item. There are some things in your life that God provided, and now they're not there anymore. You've been walking around worried because you think now you're going to starve. But God said, no, no, no. It's just the new season. Guess what new season means? New supplies. My God. You have to know some things about God's provision. I'm going to hasten to a close, but I have to give you a quick outline. God's provision is seasonal. Everybody say seasonal. Write these down real quick. So the next time you're leaving Egypt and you feel those hunger pangs and you wish you were back over here, and you feel like, oh, I don't know what God is doing, and I'm trying to do his will, but I'm gravitating back over here. You can say, no, devil. The provision of God is to give me what I need in this season. The day they left, the menu changed. For 40 years in the wilderness, God promised his provision to the Israelites. He did it in a supernatural way. He rained down manna from the heavens. And they saw it, they said, what is it? Manna. That's what the word manna means. What is it? That's what some of y' all said about your husband. When God brought him into your life. It took you a minute to realize, oh, this is my husband. I think Holly kind of felt that about me, the first guy. No, I think she did. I was kind of a punk rock guy. And the way I dressed and Everything. I had this whole style she wasn't really into. I think the first time she met me, she said, what is? Took me a while to show her what it is. 40 years. They got so used to it, at one point they started yelling at Moses. They were like, man, all we ever get is this manna. Do you know you can become so accustomed to blessing in a prolonged season that you begin to complain about the very thing you prayed for? They wanted something different than manna. Manna falling down. Oh, it was sweet too. The Bible says it was sweet. This was not a gluten free food item from heaven's culinary cuisine. They ate it for 40 years. Now watch this. They crossed the Jordan. Joshua circumcises the people who haven't been circumcised yet. So it's kind of bad timing for anything to change. They're still recovering from the circumcision, getting ready to fight the battle of Jericho. The Bible says that when the manna would come, it would just fall. And all they had to do to get it was gather it. Millions of pounds of manna every day. All they had to do to get it was to gather it. All they had to do was walk out of their tents, their buckets, bring in their manna, and then mama cooks up the manna. Maybe she boils it, maybe she broils it, maybe she bakes it, maybe she fries it, maybe she roasts it, maybe she gets creative. Maybe they eat some manna sushi. Maybe you can eat it raw. But they had eaten manna for 40 years. One day Jimmy comes out of his tent to gather his manna because that's his job. Men have jobs around the houses. Sometimes Jimmy gets up to gather the manna and he's walking kind of slow because of what just happened that I told you about. He's walking out the tent. I was trying to make the Bible come alive for you. So he's walking out the tent, still rubbing his eyes. He looks for his manna and it's not there. Have you ever showed up to a place where there has been provision so long that you took it for granted and it's not there? Sometimes it takes somebody even dying in our life before we appreciate what they brought. Sometimes it takes losing a job to appreciate employment. They come out of the tent and Jimmy is looking for his manna. Now he went from what is it? To where is it? Come on. Jimmy goes over to Johnny's tent. He comes over to Johnny, he says, hey, Johnny, the angel got mixed up. I think he Dropped off my manna and yours, too at your door today. Johnny said, no, Jimmy, I was just about to come over to your place and ask you, can I have some of your manna? Because I didn't get any either. Now, can you imagine the fear if this is the only way? God has fed you for 40 years. God has been dropping stuff out of the sky for 40 years, and all you had to do was gather it. In many ways. God will allow seasons of your life where your faith is the weakest to be the most miraculous. I remember Ron Spivey chased my car down when I was going back to college one semester. Ron loved the Lord and he loved me. He chased after my car. I remember chasing after my car. He said, steve, Steve, Steve. Call me Steve. Nobody calls me Steve that knows me, but he knew me. Call me Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve. He just dropped the N off my name like his wheel of fortune or something. Like he didn't want to buy an N. But it's Steve, Steve. He goes, here, man. God loves you. And threw a $100 bill at me in my window, got me to roll down my window, threw the $100 bill and ran the other way. Do you know how long it has been since somebody threw a $100? But see, now I'm the thrower. I'm not a college student anymore. I don't need that anymore. I don't need that anymore. There was a season when Holly and I were starting the church and it was growing that every restaurant we went in, somebody paid for our meal. In Charlotte, how many restaurants in a row? I think one time we counted seven. It got so predictable. We almost stopped bringing our wallet and our purse into the restaurant. It was awesome. You know, it has been a couple years, But see, I don't take that like a sign that God doesn't love me. I take it as a sign. Now it's time for me to look around the restaurant and see whose meal I can find. Come on, somebody. Are you a kneader or a need meter? Need meter? Touch somebody and say, I'm a need meter. I'm blessed to be a blessing. I'm made in the image of God. I give encouragement. I give blessing. I'm looking for somebody to help. I'm in a new season. Some of you have been stuck in a survival season where you've always had your hand out, needing somebody to encourage you or serve you. God says, in this season, the manna is off the menu. This is your season to learn how to sow and your season to learn how to water. You will starve in your new season if you don't learn how to access your new supply. If you keep longing for Egypt and keep looking for manna and don't learn how to farm in Canaan, you're going to starve to death if you keep waiting for those old friends to call. You see, God has to cut you off from some things. God has to cut you off from some things. The manna stopped the assumption could be. Well, I guess God has left us. But Joshua said no. That means we're on the border of Canaan. This is a fertile land. So we need to learn how to work this new ground. Can I stay right here for a minute? Can I stay right here? How many of you will give me seven minutes to finish this? I'm going to stay right here. It's a new season. It's a new strategy. It's a new season. It's a new supply. It's a new season. It's the same source. But God knows how to feed you. What you need for every season you're in. I'm going to say that again. God knows how to feed you, what you need for every season you're in. So if you went outside of your tent and the manna wasn't there, it doesn't mean God left you. It just means the way he's going to feed you has changed full storms. You're in a new season. Come on, shout about it. Somebody. Come on. Black people, teach my white people how to have church. Teach them how to shout. Teach them how to praise God. Teach them how to respond to say, God, I'm not starving. I'm in a new season. And whatever I don't have, I don't need it in this season. It's a new season. Not that you're not blessed anymore. It's just that it's not going to fall down out of the sky anymore. That year, they ate the produce of Canaan. Paul said, I used to get my supply from circumstances. But I have learned the secret in any season when I cross over and the supply I'm used to isn't there, God is leading me to what's next. It's a new season. God's provision is seasonal. It's. It's unusual. Everybody shout. What is it? God hides his provision for your secret needs in unexpected places. Ask Naaman, who had leprosy. Are y' all bored? You may be praying for wisdom and walking right past the source of the wisdom. There may be a little boy who has your five loaves and two fish and you don't even recognize him because he doesn't seem important to you. Naaman had leprosy and it was a little servant girl from Israel that told him to go to Elisha. If he had ignored that girl, his hidden needs would have remained unmet because he didn't know how to look for God's supply and in unusual places. Elijah, go to the brook at the Cherith ravine. There I have ordered the ravens to feed you. You're not going to get it in this season from the places you expect. God said, I'm going to bless you in this season in unusual ways, in unexpected ways, through people you used to discount. I'm going to give you wisdom, I'm going to give you supply. But stop walking by your supply because it looks like a seed. God stores his provision in unusual places. I can't understand why men don't listen to their wives. If anybody is going to help you avoid disaster, wouldn't it be the one who has invested their life in your success? I thought a women's conference shout might break out right there. Some of you women are missing your husband because you're looking for a body type. God might give you a good man that doesn't have a six pack. Hello. His supply is going to be. It's going to be seasonal, it's going to be unusual, and it's going to be proportional. God is going to give you what you need for this season. Whatever manna they gathered that they didn't eat that day, it went to waste. It spoiled, they couldn't eat it. Why give us this day our daily bread. Give me this day my daily bread. Do you know why some of you have ulcers? Because you're trying to fight tomorrow's battles with today's strength. God said, I'm going to give you what you need. I'm going to supply all your needs according to my riches. But I'm going to measure it out according to your need. And I know what you really need. I have learned in my life not to ask God too much for an opportunity because I might get more persistent than I am ready. If I get more persistent than I am ready, I'll have weight on me that I was not built to carry. In this season, I learned how to worship God for what he gave me and for what he withheld from me. Because he will bless me in a way that is proportional to my purpose. Am I teaching good? Is this getting down deep in you? Come on. I want to feed you today. God is going to feed you. He's going to feed you in a way that's proportional and in a way that's personal. God's provision is personal. That means you don't have to envy me. I don't have to envy you. God is going to supply all of my needs. Needs. My needs. God give me what I need to do what you called me to do. I don't have to envy anybody else's gift. I don't have to envy anybody else's family. I don't have to envy anybody else's background. I don't have to envy anybody else's skill set. God is a personal God. He has numbered the hairs on my head. He fashioned me in my mother's womb. He created me for a purpose. He set the exact time I was supposed to be born for the exact purpose. How many are glad? He's a personal God. He's up close and personal. He numbered the hairs on my head. He knows what I need. Elisha asked the woman in 2 Kings 4 said, what do you need? She said, they're coming to take my sons away and I don't have anything to pay. She said, I don't have anything to give them. Elisha asked, what is in your house? That means God's provision is local. That means God's provision for your life is within your grasp. He didn't cut off the manna until they were close to Canaan. God's provision awaits your next step of faith. Please receive this word. I'm not preaching this just to be entertaining. I'm not preaching this to be your hype man. I'm trying to get you to see that often we overlook what is right in front of us in praying about what's ahead of us. God help me see the supply you've put in my life through new eyes. Maybe it's not that I need God to give me something I don't have. Maybe it's that I need to learn how to use what he has already given. You have it. You have it in your house. You have it in your heart. You have it in your grasp. It's provision. What is it and what is it? It's local. I want to review the whole sermon now. I'm closing. Stand up. Stand up and I'll close. Stay sitting there. I'll preach another 35 minutes. I'll preach through the Panthers game. I'll preach through the Super Bowl. I'll preach through the playoffs. God's provision is seasonal. I have what I need. If I have what I need for now and I use it, it will lead me into what's next. The day they reached the border of Canaan, the manna stopped. It was a sign that you're in a new season. It's unusual. God, teach me how to not walk past the fountains of blessing you placed in my life this week. Help me to look for your provision in unusual places. Help me not to get so caught up in praying for one thing that I miss the real thing you were trying to do. Help me fix my eyes. It's proportional and it's personal and it's local. And it's yours. I said it's yours. I'm not even going to shout. I'm going to let you shout. It's yours. Shout if you want to shout. It's yours. Somebody shout. It's mine. Come on, somebody shout. It's mine. And my God shall he shall what he shall what he shall what? And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches. Somebody give him a praise. Somebody give him a great praise. Somebody give him a highest praise. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you that that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.orgpodcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us evationchurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.