I'm Confused About My Calling

Summary

Elevation with Steven Furtick

Episode: “I'm Confused About My Calling”

Date: September 26, 2025
Host: Pastor Steven Furtick

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Overview

This episode kicks off a new series titled “Maybe God,” exploring the uncertainty and mystery around the concept of calling. Pastor Steven Furtick addresses the confusion many believers face as they try to discern God's purpose for their lives. Using the story of Samuel’s call from 1 Samuel 3, Furtick examines popular cultural misconceptions about “finding your calling” and shares practical wisdom about discerning God’s voice, the role of relationships and contacts in spiritual growth, and the difference between activity and genuine relationship with God.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Mystery of God vs. Cultural Certainty

• [02:06] Furtick introduces the series, observing that Christianity is rooted in mystery (“we worship a God who can best be explained as mystery”), while our culture craves certainty.
• This tension leads to confusion about hearing God’s voice and understanding one’s purpose.

2. The Narrative of Samuel’s Call

• [04:54] Reads 1 Samuel 3:1-10, noting “the word of the Lord was rare” and “the lamp of God had not yet gone out. There’s still time.”

  “If you're still breathing, there's still time.” — Co-Pastor, [04:50]

• Furtick relates this to the idea that God can call us at any stage, despite past mistakes or lost time.

3. Redefining “Calling”

• [07:45] Discusses the modern weariness with “finding your calling,” noting the pressure to discover a grand, unique purpose can be unrelatable and even paralyzing for many:

  “You’re trying to pay bills... I’m doing good to find my keys in the morning, and you want to talk about finding your calling.” — Steven Furtick, [08:26]

• He critiques the self-help-infused, ambition-driven view of calling that can lead to discontent.

4. The Rarity of God’s Word and Cultural Neglect

• [11:03] Links Samuel’s era with our own information-saturated but truth-starved age.

  “Would you agree with me that we are drowning in information, drowning in opinion, drowning in agenda... but starving for truth?” — Steven Furtick, [11:45]

• The problem is not access to God’s word but our attitude toward it:

  “When the Word of God becomes common to us, we will have access to the Word of God, but it will not have impact on our life.” — Steven Furtick, [13:19]

5. The Role of Relationships and Guidance (“The Contact”)

• [20:41] The story of Samuel and Eli illustrates that God’s voice is often mediated through people, even imperfect ones.
• Furtick emphasizes the need for older, wiser voices in our lives:

  “I'm really seeing the value in people who may not have the physical vision they used to have, but they can discern spiritual things.” — Steven Furtick, [21:15]

• The voices (contacts) we surround ourselves with influence our ability to discern God’s voice:

  “Whoever you put around you the most will start to affect the voice inside of you.” — Steven Furtick, [22:24]

6. Confusion as Part of the Process

• [18:03] Even Samuel, a great prophet, didn’t recognize God’s voice immediately.

  “Even this great prophet didn’t get it right the first time. I want to set you free today from the feeling that you have to find your calling.” — Steven Furtick, [18:20]

• The calling finds us as we serve faithfully where we are:

  “If I will serve the purpose of the season I’m in... my calling will find me.” — Steven Furtick, [19:23]

7. Wrestling with Multiple Callings and Conflicts

• [39:00] Furtick shares personally about the evolving nature of his callings—preacher, husband, father:

  “Sometimes they needed different techniques. What if I walked home and said, ‘Holly, give him a shout of praise?’ It’s different callings.” — Steven Furtick, [39:23]

• Life’s complexity often comes from the tension of overlapping responsibilities, not from lack of purpose.

8. The Critical Practice: Availability

• The core response is to present oneself as available—“Here I am”—rather than demand clarity or certainty.

  “The only thing God has ever wanted from you was all of you.” — Steven Furtick, [43:06] “When he said, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,’ it created access not only for God's word to come to him, but for God's word to come through him.” — Steven Furtick, [40:33]

9. God’s Consistent, Patient Call

• [29:20] Encourages listeners with the patience of God:

  “How many are glad that God has called, waiting? That God will call you again? Ask Jonah.” — Steven Furtick, [29:20]

• Failure and confusion do not disqualify believers; God repeats his call.

10. God Seeks Relationship Above All

• [45:30] The will of God is not primarily about tasks, schools, jobs, or achievements:

  “We've made the will of God a resource. It's not a resource. It's a relationship.” — Steven Furtick, [45:43]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the difference between God’s will and God’s presence:

  “God does not want you to depend on his will. He wants you to depend on him. There's a difference.” — Co-Pastor, [33:40]

• On spiritual mentorship:

  “Eli wasn't even a perfect priest...yet God was in the process of moving him out. Even in that transition...God deals with Samuel, but he does it through Eli.” — Steven Furtick, [21:04]

• On the accessibility of calling:

  “You don't have to find your calling... If I will serve the purpose of the season I'm in... my calling will find me.” — Steven Furtick, [19:23]

• On the “gray and blue” iPhone analogy:

  “Our relationship with God is all gray to where he is speaking... But the breakthrough is in the blue. It's not just when God speaks, it's when you get in your place.” — Co-Pastor & Steven Furtick, [37:11]

• On managing competing callings:

  “I felt like I didn’t just have different hats, I had different heads. This is the conflict of calling. But the answer is always availability, presence, access.” — Steven Furtick, [40:47]

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Timestamps & Important Segments

• [02:06] — Series intro and framing the mystery/certainty tension
• [04:54] — Scripture reading & “there’s still time” encouragement
• [11:25] — Cultural critique: Drowning in information, starving for truth
• [13:19] — Access vs. attitude toward God’s Word
• [18:03] — Samuel’s confusion and “finding your calling” debunked
• [19:23] — “My calling will find me” key insight
• [20:41] — The importance of contacts and mentorship (Eli/Samuel)
• [26:22] — Choosing relationships that strengthen your calling
• [29:20] — God’s persistence: “God will call you again”
• [34:06] — Ritual vs. relational knowing of God
• [37:11] — “Breakthrough is in the blue” metaphor
• [39:22] — Multiple callings and their tensions
• [43:13] — “Here I am” — the posture of availability
• [45:30] — God’s will as relationship, not just resource or certainty

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Conclusion & Call to Action

Pastor Furtick concludes by praying that listeners make themselves available (“Here I am”), emphasizing that God’s voice most often comes not as a grand epiphany but in ordinary moments—through relationships, repetition, conflict, and stillness. The real breakthrough isn’t just in clarity or certainty, but in confident, humble presence with God—trusting that as you are faithful in each season, your calling will find you.

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“God wants to get us to the place where we are not running around all the time talking about what we’re going to do one day...The only thing God has ever wanted from you was all of you.” — Steven Furtick, [41:30] & [43:06]

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Transcript

[Steven Furtick]

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[Steven Furtick]

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. There is a passage of scripture that has always fascinated me and I knew it was the one to start this series series with because most of my sermon ideas come from a text. Usually a text in the Bible. But this whole series came to me through a text on My phone. Somebody texted me, but I didn't have their number in my contacts, but they had texted me before, and their name was in the text. Steve Jobs is so smart, even from beyond the grave. He made a suggestion on my iPhone and he said, maybe. Then it said it could be this person. When I saw it on my phone, I realized that would make an amazing way to spend several weeks in the Word of God, talking about those times where we don't know if it's God or not. We're trying to lead our families, some of us. Or we're trying to get our education, or we're trying to decide about jobs or dates, or trying to decide about moving to a new house or new apartment or. Or just trying to figure out what it is we were put here on Earth for. But the series is called maybe God. Maybe God. We worship a God who can be best explained as mystery, and yet we live in a culture that worships certainty. I want to talk about that for several weeks with you, and I'm so glad you're here. Touch somebody and say, he's so happy you're here. That preacher is happy you're here. That's true. I'm so glad you're here. What I need you to do right now is give your attention just to this text in 1 Samuel, chapter 3, where we will encounter a young man who's encountering God. I pray that we will encounter God in the process today. 1st Samuel 3. 1. The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days, the word of the Lord was rare. There were not many visions. One night, Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out. There's still time. There's still time. I know you might have gotten off track in your life, but there's still time. I know there might be some things out of order in your house, but there's still time. I know you might have wasted some years chasing your own ways, but God brought you here because there's still time. God left you here because there's still time.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

If you're still breathing, there's still time.

[Steven Furtick]

I have a friend named Perry Noble. His favorite quote is, if you're not dead, God is not done. I just believe that. So the light had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God, which symbolized the presence of God, was. Then the Lord called Samuel, and Samuel answered, here I am. He ran To Eli and said, here I am. You called me. But Eli said, I didn't call. Go back to sleep, man. Wake me up in the middle of the night. I didn't call you. Go back and lie down. So he went and lay down again. The Lord called Samuel. Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here I am. This is really strange, right? Because you expect when God calls, it will sound so deep, so baritone Samuel. Apparently it sounded. It sounded so much like what he was used to being around that he ran to the place where he normally went. He was like, here I am. You called me, my son. Eli said, I did not call. Go back and lie down. Don't you need an Ambien, A weighted blanket, some milk, a cookie? Now, Samuel did not yet know the Lord. The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. A third time, the Lord called Samuel. Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here I am. You called me. I know you're messing with me. Then Eli realized the Lord was calling the boy. Eli told Samuel, go and lie down. If he calls you, say, speak, Lord, for your servant. The title of this message is something I have heard people say to me of all ages, of all ethnicities, of all economic status positions. I want you to look at the screen for the title of my message. It goes like this. I'm confused about my calling. I love God, I love my family, and I want to make a difference. But look at somebody next to you and say, you look confused. Tell them I am. I'm confused about my calling. Lord, have your way. Speak your word. We're listening. In Jesus name, Amen. Now be seated. You are forgiven if when I say calling, you roll your eyes a little bit. It is one of these terms that is so popular in culture, it almost means nothing anymore. It can be frustrating the older you get when people talk about lofty ideals like finding your calling. You need to find your calling. Well, for most of us, that's way outside of the realm of our everyday life. We're trying to pay bills. It's like, you need to find your calling. And you're like, well, I'm doing good to find my keys in the morning, and you want to talk about finding your calling. As much as I understand that, I also understand that there's a reason the majority of questions that I have been asked as a pastor in these 13 years, going on 14 years, the reason for it is that there is something inside of you that wants to find the thing you were made to do. You will never be satisfied with anything else. No matter how much sex you have, money you make, friends you meet, no matter how big the house is you build, no matter how many cars you park in the driveway, there will always be something unsatisfied in you until you find that thing we call a calling. And yet, so much damage has been done in popular culture by the concept of calling that it actually makes us discontent with our lives. Because rather than understand the real nature of a calling, we have a concept of a calling. Often we spend our lives wishing we were doing something that that God did not tell us to do. So to break this first sermon down today, and there will be several in this series, I'm praying that you come to all of them. I'm praying if you can't come to all of them, you'll watch them all because they're all online for free. I can't figure out a reason in the world why you couldn't spend 40 minutes with me on YouTube each week. Even if you have to do it while you're walking the dog, even if.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

You have to do it while you're falling asleep.

[Steven Furtick]

I'll put you to sleep, I don't mind. Whatever I can get. I'll help you run on the treadmill. Just whatever you have to do to get these messages. The Bible says in verse one that in those days, while Samuel, the 12 year old who was apprenticing in the tabernacle because his mother Hannah, prayed that she could have a son and she had trouble conceiving, when she finally had the son, she dedicated him to the Lord.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

She dropped him off at age 4.

[Steven Furtick]

And only saw him once a year. And she put him under Eli, who wasn't doing a very good job. And he was letting his sons run.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Around in the tabernacle and have sex.

[Steven Furtick]

With women at the entrance to the tabernacle, he knew about it, but he wouldn't do anything about it.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

He was letting his sons beat people.

[Steven Furtick]

Up who had brought their sacrifice to the temple. They brought their sacrifice to God, but the priests took it for themselves. Hophni and Phinehas, Eli's sons, would send their messenger out to the tent and say, hey, Hophni said, you have to give him the fat portion. And the people who came would be.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Like, well, that's for the Lord.

[Steven Furtick]

They can get the portion after it burns off. That's the priest portion.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

But they had gotten confused about what.

[Steven Furtick]

It meant to honor God. They had started honoring themselves and their opinions and their desires. They started treating God as common. The Bible says Something interesting in verse one, it says, in those days with all of that going on, the word of the Lord was rare.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Because they.

[Steven Furtick]

Treated the Lord as common. The Word of the Lord was rare because we live in a day where it is so easy to get information but so difficult to get truth.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

I figured this verse would apply to us.

[Steven Furtick]

Would you agree with me that we are drowning in information, drowning in opinion.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Drowning in agenda, drowning in projections, but starving for truth?

[Steven Furtick]

You know I'm right about it.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

It's such a crazy time. You don't know who to trust anymore. You don't know if it's real, you don't know if it's fake. You don't know if it's inflated. You don't know if it's a statistic. Let me give you a statistic. 83% of statistics are made up. That's a statistic. I made it up. It's a time where truth is is hard to find. It doesn't mean there wasn't access to the Bible. God knows we have access to the Word of God. You could pull out your phone right now and a British person will read you the Bible on the Bible app.

[Steven Furtick]

That made me think of something really funny. One time Graham asked me, do British people find American accents soothing? Probably not. But here's the thing about it.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

It's not access to the Word of God. It's our attitude to the Word of God. It's our attitude. It's why some people can come into church and look narcoleptic in church. It's why some people can come into church and leave during the invitation. Because God forbid, it takes you seven.

[Steven Furtick]

Minutes to get to Cracker Barrel.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

It's why some people can click around to different sermons and be like, ah, yeah, I don't know, furtick's not on.

[Steven Furtick]

I'm going to go over here to.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

This one and that one and this one. See, when the Word of God becomes.

[Steven Furtick]

Common to us, we will have access.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

To the Word of God, but it will not have impact on our life.

[Steven Furtick]

The first thing I wanted to mention is the culture. The culture in Eli's time was a culture of neglect. A culture where the value of who God was and what he said was negotiable. Therefore there was an absence of that special presence of God. The Word of the Lord was rare because the Lord of the Word had become common. I just want to say to you today that many of our cultural concepts of calling are really just self help, individualistic, ambition oriented delusions dressed up in Christian cliches.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Because you got a trophy when you.

[Steven Furtick]

Were seven does not mean you get to play Major League Baseball.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

The culture of our day is kind.

[Steven Furtick]

Of like instead of worshiping God, we.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Worship our idea of God's will.

[Steven Furtick]

And rather than being in relationship with God, we want God to be a resource who is more like Siri than.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

He is like a savior. I don't know if you'll come back next week, the way I'm starting this.

[Steven Furtick]

Sermon, but we need to get something.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Straight right off the bat that until I treasure the voice of God, value.

[Steven Furtick]

The voice of God, hearken to the.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Voice of God, make time for the voice of God, consecrate myself. I can't get it by skimming. I can't get it by just running around to this person and that person.

[Steven Furtick]

It is the revealed will of God that we're after. It is the revealed will of God. Now, when I was in my 20s, I did all this teaching and preaching, and now that I'm Wiser, I turn 40 next year. Y' all better start working on my gift now because it's a big one. It's kind of cringy for me to look back on the way I spoke about calling in my 20s. That probably left people feeling, at the very least, confused, at worst, frustrated and maybe even full of resentment. The way it happened in my life is different for all of us. Here's Samuel, who is receiving a revelation of God. In my life, I never heard anything audible that God said to me. The Lord never said, Furdick, Steve, will God call you by your last name or your first name? I don't know. But he never said preach to me out loud. There were desires. There were opportunities. I noticed some effectiveness. It's the weirdest thing. When I first got up to pray for Pastor Mickey, who asked me to pray at a Lions Club meeting, I noticed that people seemed to be blessed as I prayed and they connected. It took Pastor Mickey to explain to me that that was the hand of God on my life. I didn't know that if he hadn't been there to guide me, I would have maybe thought I was just a charismatic speaker. But he helped me to see that there was something supernatural involved. I was 16 years old. I had someone who had been around long enough to see some things to tell me it was special. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known it. Now, here's what I did with that knowledge. I preached in my 20s that just like God called me to preach, God has called each Christian to do something. Do you agree with that. But here's the part I think was incomplete. While I'd be up there saying to people, you need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. You need to find your calling. See, it gets annoying after a while. It's like, I'm just trying to.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

I need a job. I don't know about a calling. I just need a raise right now.

[Steven Furtick]

It makes it sound as if it's something that you can just get and know yet. Did you notice in the passage that even Samuel, who was the link between the period of the Judges and the monarchy of Israel a thousand years before Jesus, even Samuel, who none of his words fell to the ground, even Samuel, didn't get it right the first time. I don't know why, but that encourages me, just reading this little story, to know that there's someone, God used to do something great and he called him and he chose him. But even this great prophet didn't get it right the first time. I want to set you free today from the feeling that you have to find your calling. That's a cultural concept, it's not a biblical one. You don't have to find your calling. In fact, if the text is correct, if Samuel is an illustration, then I don't have to find my calling. Because if I will serve the purpose.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Of the season, I'm in in my life right now.

[Steven Furtick]

Watch this.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Get ready to shout.

[Steven Furtick]

My calling will find me.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Isn't that good news? Christian soldiers, aren't you glad to know that when Samuel heard a voice and he didn't even know whose voice it was, here's the thing about it. I want to talk about the culture, and then I want to talk about the contact. When he first heard the voice, it sounded like something he had heard before. Have you ever noticed it's hard to know the difference between when you're speaking to you and when God is speaking to you. Watch out for the Christians who are running around so sure it's God speaking to them. Those are the weird ones. Those are the crazy ones. I mean, I'm serious. You have to watch out for them. They're here at elevation, just like they're at every church. They'll find you in the bathroom and they'll say, I have a word from the Lord for you. And they don't even know you. It's weird because it's the bathroom. Can I wash my hands? If God spoke to you, he'll do it in the lobby. Let me finish using the bathroom. I'm serious, y'. All. Because I'm a preacher and people always think I want to be spiritual. People will stop me in the bathroom sometimes at a restaurant and give me a word from the Lord. But if it was really the Lord, he would have told you. It's weird to talk to people in the bathroom and wait until a man gets outside because there is such a thing as germs, and God doesn't cancel out germs. I don't want your prophetic word while I'm trying to. But because it gets weird, we still.

[Steven Furtick]

Have to realize that the only way that the will of God or the word of God or the voice of God can be recognized. That's what the Bible said. That Eli, who was old, who couldn't see physically. I've been on this thing lately that we really need people in our life who are older than us, who have been along the journey, and to respect the price they paid and to not just think that because they don't go on SoundCloud or because they don't have a lot of Instagram followers, that they have nothing to teach us. I'm really seeing the value in people who may not have the physical vision they used to have, but they can discern spiritual things. Eli wasn't even a perfect priest. In fact, God was in the process of moving him out of the way, even in that transition, because the whole passage is about transition. It's Samuel transitioning from a boy to a man, from boys to men. I was just thinking it's hard to say goodbye. But when Eli is transitioning out and when Samuel is transitioning up and he's ultimately stepping into the thing God created him for. God deals with Samuel, but he does it through Eli. Whatever God is going to speak in your life, contact is going to come in the context of relationships. I chose the word contact to describe it because whoever you put around you the most will start to affect the voice inside of you that speaks to you. Have you ever noticed that God's voice sometimes in your life sounds like your wife? Sometimes for me, it sounds like my kids. Sometimes in my life. I've noticed that if I am not selective about my contacts, I will start hearing. I don't mean out loud voices. I don't want you to send me off after I preach today or anything like that. I mean, the voice in my mind. A lot of times when I was going through a counseling session to try to understand myself better, the one thing the therapist would keep saying is, whose voice is that? You know these things you say to yourself? You go, like, I'm so stupid. And you never get anything right. Well, of course you screwed it up. You screw everything up. You know all that she keeps saying, whose voice is that? Whose voice is that? I didn't know if she was just trying to get me to say it.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Was my dad, my mom.

[Steven Furtick]

Like the point of all therapy.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

My diapers were too tight. I admit it.

[Steven Furtick]

But what I realized is that most of us who are not clinically insane don't actually hear voices. We process thoughts. We say the voice of God. How does the voice of God come into your life? Through thoughts. Through thoughts. That's why Samuel was confused. Because he heard something. So he went where he knew to go. I want to point out something about this. He did the right thing. He ran. I noticed the Bible said when he heard his name called Samuel, first of all, it didn't sound strange to him. It sounded like what he was used to. He ran because that's what he did. Because he had the right passion. But he ran to the wrong person. Some of you right now have the right passion, but you're running to the wrong person or the wrong place.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

This is not only true in the.

[Steven Furtick]

Case of Samuel, it was true of Moses. God called him to deliver his people from the Egyptians.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Moses had the right passion, but where he messed up.

[Steven Furtick]

Listen to this. You see, when he killed the Egyptian.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

It was the right passion, but it was misplaced.

[Steven Furtick]

He tried to do it his way.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

He didn't get it right the first time. Some of the things you've gotten wrong in your life, some of the mistakes you've made, it was God stirring you up. But it was Eli you ran to. You ran to the thing God was trying to remove out of your life. Because that's what you were used to. You ran to the thing you were familiar with. Because it's all your mind could understand. So God gave you a gift. But you used that gift for you for a little while. Until you found out, unless I offer the gift back to the giver, it's going to come back empty. But God brought you here today to let you know that was my voice calling you. That was me who gave you that talent. That was me who made you good at that. That was me that opened the door for you. That was me who gave you that responsibility. That was Me who gave you health, that was me who gave you strength, that was me who gave you that connection. It was him the whole time. It was the Lord who called Samuel, but it was Eli that Samuel ran to. What are you running to?

[Steven Furtick]

If you're running to something that is not your purpose, you'll feel it in several ways. But one of the things I want to mention is I'm trying to surround myself in this stage of my life with people who bring out the God in me.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

That's just me. I don't mean I'm going to be mean to people who don't know the Lord, or I'm going to go and.

[Steven Furtick]

Live in a monastery or something like that.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

But.

[Steven Furtick]

There are some texts that I don't return in this stage of my.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Life because I feel like I'm in a season where I'm trying to do important things and my calling is valuable. So my contacts are very important because.

[Steven Furtick]

Certain stuff is contagious.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

I know there are certain people. When I get around them, I feel something rise in me that lets me know I can overcome. And I need them around me. I need them to rub off on me. I need them to speak into my life. I need them to encourage me. I don't need people who are laying back on the last thing God did in this season of my life. I need people to push me forward. Yes, I do. I have to be careful reading the comments on my Instagram in this season because whatever I make contact with, I catch and see. I need the word of the Lord. I need vision. I need hope. I need purpose. I need security.

[Steven Furtick]

He runs to Eli, but Eli tells him it's God you need to speak to. The right contacts in your life will always point you back to the only one who has real power. Thank you, God for this word. I feel your spirit on this one. This is going to help you. The concept of calling that most of us have is that you're going to go on a 40 day fast in the Holy Land and God is going to speak to you when you walk where Jesus walked in the Sea of Galilee. But the Lord is not going to speak to you on the Sea of Galilee from a voice on the water. He's going to speak to you. I know you don't want to hear it because it's sexy to think that someday there's going to be a voice that speaks from heaven. It's not going to be like that. It's going to sound like Eli. It's going to sound like Eli. It is through Eli that God calls Samuel Eli. This isn't Billy Graham. This is the dude who blew it. This is how bad he blew it. Watch what ultimately happens when Samuel laughed three times. Three times. How many times do I have to tell you? One time, Holly, she loses her temper with our kids. A lot. Y' all pray for her. Just kidding. She's a very patient mom. But one time, she was so mad at Elijah, he was only about 4. She said, how many times do I.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Have to tell you?

[Steven Furtick]

He got this real fear look in his eyes.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

He goes three times.

[Steven Furtick]

Look at verse eight again.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

A third time.

[Steven Furtick]

How many are glad that God has called, waiting.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

That God will call you again?

[Steven Furtick]

Ask Jonah.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Jonah wasn't even a talented preacher. He didn't have funny stories. He didn't have good charisma. He didn't even like people. But God used him. Because when God calls you, he will call back. You know how there are some people when you call them, you have to call them, so you're secretly hoping you get their voicemail because you really don't want to talk to them anyway. Some of you think God is like that. Like he really wants someone else and he's really glad he doesn't have to deal with you. But God wants you. God wants you. God chose you. God put the genetics in you, the DNA in you, the passion in you. The opportunity is for you. What God has for you, it is for you. That's why you don't have to be jealous, insecure, bitter, resentful. That's why you don't have to get back. That's why you don't have to take revenge. Because what God has for you is you. For. For you. Y' all awake? Somebody shout, here I am.

[Steven Furtick]

That was really the answer. Because it's not only the culture that confuses us in our calling. It's not only our contacts sometimes, but it's the conflict of calling. The conflict of calling is great on an internal and an external level. What Samuel did next, what a beautiful little story to show us that God repeats things. That's one way I know he's speaking. Have you ever noticed this? When God is trying to get your attention? It's kind of like when you're shopping for a certain car and you start seeing them everywhere. When God wants to get a message across to you, he'll put you in the market for it. You never even looked at anybody else's beats, but now you're like, what's that one? How's that one different than that one? And this One and the other one because I'm in the market for God. When you get in the market for God, you start noticing that he has been speaking all along. Just like there was. There was confirmation. I didn't have time to put this word in the sermon. It starts with the letter C, so it could be a bonus point. Confirmation. God will speak something over here, over here, over here. And you'll start noticing it. You'll start noticing little things. Then you'll hear it in the sermon, and then you'll hear it in a movie. And then you hear it in a song. And then you'll see it on somebody's the back of their window. And then you hear it through your husband. And then you hear it through and you just see it. And you'll start seeing it. And you'll start hearing it. Then you have to discern which is to separate. That's what Eli did. He discerned. The Hebrew word is bean. He discerned. He separated. He made a distinction. He had a discernment to know. This is the Lord calling the boy. So he said, when it happens again. And this is the word of the Lord for you. When it happens again. When it happens again. If it happens again, just say, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. I want to show you something that the Lord just showed me. His greatest revelation happened in rest. Eli didn't say, oh, that may be God. You better run out and catch him before he leaves. Boy, if God spoke to you, you'd better chase him down. No. If it was God speaking, he'll come back. All you have to do is be in position for it.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

That's all you have to do. You don't have to find it. It will find you. Trust me. God is not playing hide and seek in the tabernacle.

[Steven Furtick]

God is not running around the tent. Ha ha ha. If I hide behind this table of.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Showbread, Samuel will never find me back here. Samuel won't. God is not hiding behind the laver.

[Steven Furtick]

He's not hiding. Even though God is always moving, he's never hiding.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

That's what the tabernacle was. It was a portable structure, and they set it up in the wilderness because they never knew when God was going to say stop and when God was going to stay. Go. Why? Because God does not want you to depend on his will. He wants you to depend on him. There's a difference.

[Steven Furtick]

One is God.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Just show me what to do. That way I won't need you. The other one is God.

[Steven Furtick]

I want you wherever you lead me.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Wherever you Take me whatever it means, whatever it costs, and whatever it looks like.

[Steven Furtick]

But here's the conflict. Because Samuel goes in and he lays.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Down.

[Steven Furtick]

The Bible, says he didn't know the Lord yet. He knew how to bake the bread in the tabernacle. That was his job. He knew how to open the doors so people could come worship. He knew how to follow Eli around and get me this and get me that. But there's a big difference between the rituals of religion and a relationship with God. If you're going through the motions, like singing songs, not really thinking about the words, just kind of singing them, or just kind of hearing little forgettable things, I say in my sermon that you won't even remember what it was about 15 minutes after I'm done. It's possible that you don't know the Lord yet. I don't mean you're not a Christian. Not necessarily. I don't mean you don't believe in God. I don't mean that necessarily. But to know him is to know his voice. When you know him like that, you can hear things that are hard to hear. But you can know that even when he says things that are hard for you to hear, he says them from a spirit of love, grace, purpose. One of my friends is a real over texter. I can't keep up with him. I love him, but my thumbs hurt. I can't do it. I don't voice text because it's annoying, because it corrects the wrong words the wrong way and you can get in trouble that way and say something you didn't mean to say, end up firing somebody you meant to hire. But it changes. It doesn't know because your voice. Anyway, one time he texted me. He said, how come our conversation is all gray? On iPhone, when they text you, it's gray. When you text back, it's blue. When he said that, I wondered if sometimes my relationship with God is all gray to where he is speaking and he is prompting and he is provoking. But God can speak, speak, speak. Three times he did it. God didn't say anything different the third time, except this. When he said, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. And he lay down in his place. I have to hit that real quick. I know we're running out of time, but it says, Samuel went and lay down in his place. Samuel went and lay down in his place. You will realize God's purpose when you get in your place, touch somebody next to you and say, get in your place.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

If God is dropping off the mail.

[Steven Furtick]

But you're not Home. You won't get it. You'll think he didn't send it, and you'll think he didn't speak. But I learned something with my friend. It was not just the conflict of the calling.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

It was the color. It was all gray. But the breakthrough is in the blue. It's not just when God speaks. It's when you get in your place.

[Steven Furtick]

And say, God, here I am, the.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Real me, the honest me, the open me, the ready me, the humble me, the broken down me, the me that is ready to do your will. Because I've done my will. And I saw how that worked out. And I'm ready to do your will. That's what Isaiah said. He said, I'm an unclean man with unclean lips. But if you'll take that coal and touch my lips, I'll speak for you. Because holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. So here I am. I'll go. Moses stood in a bush. He turned aside, took off his shoes and said, God, I'm slow of speech. I'm not eloquent. And you saw the things I did that put me in this predicament. But if it's you calling, here I am. Somebody shout, here I am. Jeremiah said, I'm too young for this. And your people are stubborn and you know they're not going to listen. But if it's you calling me, here I am. Somebody shout, here I am. The reason I'm confused about my calling is because I don't just have one. This is what I didn't know in my 20s, because I felt like God called me to preach. Have you ever felt like God called you to do something? Put you somewhere? Maybe it wasn't something big, spectacular. Maybe you're not going to do a halftime show at the super bowl with it. But God called you to do something.

[Steven Furtick]

I just saw your Patriots gear. Made me think of the Super Bowl. God bless you, man. Congratulations on that. I hope you're happy. Now, how many is it going to take for you guys to shut up about it?

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

But there's a blessing in it. There's a blessing in it, even if it's a small thing and you say, okay, God called me to do this. But then what happens is, look, I was called to preach. So I start preaching. I start going around preaching. I'm preaching everywhere, preaching everywhere.

[Steven Furtick]

They asked me to come preach.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

I'm preaching at the Lock In. I preached one time. It was so late at the night.

[Steven Furtick]

It was 3:00am I had this sermon illustration where I would take a mirror.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

And I'd break the mirror and I'd preach Genesis 1:26, about the image of God. Holly can tell you we knew where the mirrors were in every Walmart in the state of South Carolina. Because every time we get to a new little town to preach to 15 kids, I'd go in and get a.

[Steven Furtick]

Mirror, and then I'd break it with a hammer.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

And I'd say, this is what sin does to you.

[Steven Furtick]

Put the condemnation on the young people.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Just put it on them hard. Breaking mirrors. One boy went to the emergency room because the glass flew up and hit him in the eye. I had to call his parents and tell them not to sue me. I'm a man of God and I have a ministry. If you sue me, God is going to curse you. But I didn't say that. But I was running around preaching. But then I married Holly, and I realized I'm called to be her husband, too. Come on. It's the conflict of calling. It's complicated. You can make it sound simple. Find your calling. Which one? Then I was called to be a preacher and a husband. Sometimes they needed different techniques. What if I walked home and said, holly, give him a shout of praise? It's different callings. Touch three people, it's just us. Then by the time I'm getting these callings, how many of you have at least two callings in your life? At least two things that you're responsible.

[Steven Furtick]

For, and they're in conflict sometimes.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Here she comes pregnant, four years into marriage. Here she turns up pregnant. Now I'm called to be a parent.

[Steven Furtick]

Do you ever feel like you're not just putting on different hats, but you actually have different heads? I read that in that Sitzer book. The will of God is a way of life. He said, I felt like I didn't just have different hats, I had different heads. This is the conflict of calling. But the answer is always availability, presence, access. When he said, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. It created access not only for God's word to come to him, but for God's word to come through him. What God said was difficult. He said, I'm transitioning. Not only am I transitioning you from an apprentice to a priest, from a priest to a prophet, but I'm transitioning Eli and his sons out of the earth so that my purpose can be fulfilled. I'm transitioning. You're going to have to go through a difficult transition right now. But by the time we get to 1 Samuel 4, verse 1, the Bible says, Samuel's word came to all Israel. I was curious why it didn't say God's word through Samuel, but by this point in 1 Samuel 4, Samuel said, here I am. Speak, Lord. We have now gone from the word of the Lord was rare to the word of Samuel came to all Israel because he had gotten to a point where he heard God's voice on the level that when he spoke, what he spoke came directly from the throne of God. God wants to get us to the place where we are not running around all the time talking about what we're going to do one day. Some of you are using the concept of a calling is a crutch to not fully embrace the season of life you're in. And that is not the will of God for you.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

You may be called to be a.

[Steven Furtick]

Mom one day, but if you're not.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

A mom right now, can you say.

[Steven Furtick]

Here I am to this season?

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

You may be called to own your.

[Steven Furtick]

Own business one day, but can I.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Just say that in the meantime, the only thing God has ever wanted from.

[Steven Furtick]

You was all of you.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

The only thing God has ever asked.

[Steven Furtick]

Of you is here I am.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

It's what Jeremiah said. It's what Moses said. It's what Isaiah said.

[Steven Furtick]

It's what Samuel said. When he made himself available, the word of God became abundant. I want you to stand to your feet because God has been speaking your whole life. He has been speaking through hard things. He has been speaking through painful things. He has been speaking through pleasure, passion. He has been speaking through rejection. He has been speaking through restlessness. It wasn't that God wasn't speaking. It's that the people had lost their ability to listen. So God said to Samuel, before you can speak for me, I need you to learn. This is what God wants to fine tune in our lives over the next few weeks. This is what God wants to do in your heart over the next few weeks. Honestly, some of you are still running to Eli when it's really God. Some of you are running, trying to find something out there when God is trying to speak to you in your place. That's what got me this time because I didn't preach that last night. But when I was speaking to you, God was speaking to me. I try to listen. He said, tell them, stay in your place. Samuel didn't wake up that morning looking for a calling. Maybe that's the problem with us. Maybe it's that we've made this thing about calling and what God has for my life more. What if what God has called you to, first and foremost is himself? Wouldn't that set you free? That the will of God is not which job? The will of God is not which school you put your kids in. My God. I was talking to Buck the other day. One thing I love about Moncks Corner better than Charlotte. There were two schools you could go to. There was just two. It was the public one and the one. Everybody who smoked weed at the public one got sent to the Christian school. Listen to me. We've made the will of God a resource. It's not a resource. It's a relationship.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

It's a relationship.

[Steven Furtick]

I want us to go through this next several weeks not looking for clarity, certainty, but confidence to know that if I will make myself available to this calling, in this moment, he'll speak. He will speak. The question is, will you respond? What I've learned to do now is not necessarily say, this is God or this isn't God. I have this new thing. It may be God. I don't know. The only way for me to find out, the only way I can experience the breakthrough is in the blue. So speak, Lord, I'm listening. Say that to your life. Say that to your pain. Say that to what you think was your mistake. You know what your mistake may be God. I'm going to show you that next week. That's my sermon next week. I am going to show you next week how your mistakes are miracles in disguise.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

The presence of the Lord is in this place.

[Steven Furtick]

Would you lift your hands? God is here.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Father, I thank you for the word.

[Steven Furtick]

That came forth today. We receive it. I receive it. Quit sitting there with your lips just.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

Puckered up, just stressed out.

[Steven Furtick]

Open your mouth and say, I receive it. Lord, everything you're doing in my life, everything you're calling me to be, all the things you're doing that aren't really.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

About me, Lord, I don't want to be self centered and just self consumed.

[Steven Furtick]

I thank you that the wind of your spirit is blowing.

[Co-Pastor or Assistant Speaker]

So I set my sails on this new series. God, I'm not asking you just to speak to me. I'm asking you to open my eyes to see you and my ears to hear you. Open the eyes of my heart. Open my understanding. Open my will to your will and.

[Steven Furtick]

Your will be done in my life. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your purpose. Thank you for your provision. Lift your hands, high as you can say, speak, Lord. Say it out loud. Speak, Lord, I'm listening. I'm going to listen to my life this week. I'm going to listen to the still, small voice this week. Too much noise, too much noise. The Word of the Lord is rare when the Lord of the Word becomes common I'm going to look for you this week. I'm going to find you. I'm going to seek you. Seek and you will find. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. It's because of you 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 LevationChurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.

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[Steven Furtick]

This is an I Heart podcast.