Not As Long As My Song!

Summary

Elevation with Steven Furtick

Episode: Not As Long As My Song!
Release Date: August 10, 2025

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Introduction and Context

In this episode of Elevation Church's weekly podcast, Pastor Steven Furtick delves deep into the emotional and spiritual struggles that believers face, using Psalm 13 as the foundational text. The episode, titled "Not As Long As My Song!," explores the tension between human endurance and divine faithfulness, offering practical insights on overcoming personal limits through faith and praise.

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Opening Remarks and Worship [00:34 – 03:27]

Pastor Furtick opens the podcast with a heartfelt welcome, setting the tone for an inspiring and faith-building message. Accompanied by worship from Holly Furtick, the congregation engages in praises that transition smoothly into the sermon.

• Stephen Furtick [01:03]: “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.”

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Exposition of Psalm 13 [03:27 – 22:12]

Pastor Furtick introduces Psalm 13, highlighting its nature as a lament that transitions into a declaration of trust in God's unfailing love. He emphasizes the human experience of wrestling with doubts and fears, even amidst strong faith.

• Stephen Furtick [05:30]: “God is so good and so faithful. I have one for you today. The Lord has been speaking to me. Do you mind if I pray before I read the scripture?”

He reads Psalm 13 and underscores the psalmist’s raw emotions:

• Stephen Furtick [06:18]: “How long, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”
• Holly Furtick [02:29]: “Bless the Lord at and his praise.”

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Personal Story: Elijah’s Surgery [03:17 – 15:38]

Pastor Furtick shares a poignant personal story about his son Elijah’s challenging medical journey. This narrative illustrates the theme of hitting human limits and the struggle to maintain faith during prolonged hardship.

• Stephen Furtick [10:45]: “But Elijah said, not as long as my song. Father. Make it plain and powerful and personal.”

Holly adds a light-hearted moment about Elijah helping with sermon clips, reinforcing the theme of ongoing support and resilience.

• Holly Furtick [15:38]: “He's actually working for me now, clipping my sermons for TikTok.”

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Themes: Limits, Levels, and Loops [22:12 – 44:06]

Pastor Furtick introduces the concept of Limits, Levels, and Loops, using analogies from wrestling to explain spiritual battles. He contrasts external struggles (lions and bears) with internal battles (wrestling with thoughts and emotions).

• Stephen Furtick [30:36]: “Limits and levels and loops. Amen. Limits and levels and loops. Amen.”

He discusses the importance of changing levels when human will reaches its limit, advocating for transitioning from fighting external enemies to addressing internal struggles through faith.

• Stephen Furtick [26:50]: “When you hit your limit, change your level.”

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Changing the Battle Level: From External to Internal [44:06 – 45:36]

The discussion deepens into the spiritual warfare within the mind. Pastor Furtick explains that unlike external battles, internal struggles require a different approach—shifting from physical confrontation to spiritual trust and praise.

• Holly Furtick [43:56]: “The level of your battle tells you something about the level that God is calling you to.”

He connects Psalm 13 to David’s historic battles, highlighting that even the most brilliant minds experience profound struggles, suggesting that such battles often precede great purposes.

• Stephen Furtick [45:36]: “Isn't it amazing that the mind that created something so magnificent as the temple experienced so much misery?”

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Breaking the Negative Loop with Praise [44:06 – 60:03]

Pastor Furtick introduces the concept of loops—repetitive thought patterns that can trap individuals in despair. He encourages listeners to create positive loops through continuous praise, which can outlast and outshine their struggles.

• Stephen Furtick [54:24]: “He has been good to me. Watch me when you have hit your limit.”

He shares the creation of the song "Been So Good," illustrating how looping praise statements can reinforce faith and disrupt negative cycles.

• Stephen Furtick [55:20]: “Living in this week. Not how hard it's been, but you have been so good to me.”

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Insights and Conclusions [60:03 – End]

Pastor Furtick wraps up by reiterating the episode’s central message: "Not As Long As My Song!" He emphasizes that while struggles may persist, the act of continuous praise provides strength and shifts focus from despair to divine faithfulness.

• Stephen Furtick [58:16]: “You sing. I don't know how long it's going to last, but sing it again. Not as long.”

He challenges listeners to adopt a mindset where their worship and praise extend beyond their immediate troubles, creating a resilient loop of faith.

• Holly Furtick [54:34]: “I'm going to outsing this doubt. I'm going to out sing this issue with my prodigal child. I'm going to out praise it.”

The episode concludes with a powerful call to action: to outlast personal struggles with unwavering praise and trust in God's enduring love.

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Notable Quotes

• Stephen Furtick [06:18]: “How long, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”

• Holly Furtick [16:09]: “Have a minute to move. Before I start preaching, let's welcome our global efam online all around the world.”

• Stephen Furtick [30:36]: “Limits and levels and loops. Amen.”

• Holly Furtick [43:56]: “The level of your battle tells you something about the level that God is calling you to.”

• Holly Furtick [54:34]: “I'm going to outsing this doubt. I'm going to out sing this issue with my prodigal child. I'm going to out praise it.”

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Conclusion

In "Not As Long As My Song!," Pastor Steven Furtick masterfully intertwines personal anecdotes, scripture, and practical advice to address the universal human experience of struggle and doubt. By emphasizing the power of continuous praise and shifting battle levels from external to internal, he offers listeners a transformative approach to overcoming personal limits. This episode serves as a beacon of hope, reminding believers that their songs of faith can outlast their darkest moments.

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Additional Resources

To further explore the teachings of Elevation Church and Pastor Steven Furtick, visit Elevation Church.org or download the Elevation App. To support the ministry, consider contributing here.

Transcript

[Stephen Furtick]

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[Stephen Furtick]

Details hey, this is Stephen 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.

[David]

What a friend you have been so good to me. Oh God, I can't believe how you love me and what a friend you have been so good to me God, I can't believe how you love me and what a friend you have is.

[Stephen Furtick]

Praise the Lord. God is good all the time. God is good all the time in the valley he's good. Say amen on the mountain he's good. Say amen in the morning he's good in the evening he's good I will.

[Holly Furtick]

Bless the Lord at and his praise.

[Stephen Furtick]

Shall be in my mouth.

[Holly Furtick]

Oh magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together.

[Stephen Furtick]

Today I want to move right into our sermon. I want to move right into the word of God. Grab your Bible, open your heart, stand up on your feet and get ready to receive from the Lord. Tell your neighbor I'm ready. Tell them you need to get ready too. I can't sit next to a lazy neighbor today. Come on.

[Holly Furtick]

If your neighbor looks hateful, you still.

[Stephen Furtick]

Have a minute to move. Before I start preaching, let's welcome our.

[Holly Furtick]

Global efam online all around the world.

[Stephen Furtick]

All right.

[Holly Furtick]

I know you only got one hand because you're holding your Bible, but clap a little better than that. Come on. Welcome our efam.

[Stephen Furtick]

God is so good and so faithful. I have one for you today. The Lord has been speaking to me. Do you mind if I pray before I read the scripture? I don't really care if you mind or not. I'm going to pray before I read the scripture. Lord, I enjoyed so much as you showed me this message. It helped me administer to me. It gave me medicine, it helped my mindset. It really gave me something to hang on to in my own life this week and something to encourage those I love with Now I'm standing before thousands of people I love with your love. I don't know them personally, most of them, but you know each of them intimately. I pray that you would help me in these moments we have together that are so precious and so rare. Just, undistracted, unencumbered moments. In your presence, our hearts have been tilled by the truths we've sang through the praise we've lifted to your wonderful name. Now we're ready to receive a word from you. Help me to show them what you showed me. I believe if that happens, they'll be helped. I believe if that happens, they'll be set free. I believe if that happens, stronghold will break in this place. Not just one stronghold, but stronghold after stronghold after stronghold be broken by your word. I thank you in advance for testimonies I will receive from this word that you will release through me today in Jesus name. Psalm 13 is our passage for today. We're in part four of a series called that's what I Thought. We're trying to take some of these patterns that are in our lives that are paralyzing us, the patterns that keep causing us needless pain. And to replace those patterns with God's promises and God's processes for our thinking. So far we've looked at this from several different angles, but today's will be the most practical one so far. The Psalmist in Psalm 13 has a prayer to lift to God. And it starts like, how long, Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts, and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord, my God, give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death. My enemy will say, I have overcome him.

[David]

And.

[Stephen Furtick]

And my foes will rejoice when I fall, but I trust in your unfailing love. You see how that just lifted this psalm is a lament. It's a cry for help. It's filled with anguish. It's in the tone of sorrow. But there is a lift within the lament. There is a lift within your lament. Today when you cry to God, he won't just leave you. Crying for weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes with the morning. But I trust in your unfailing love. My heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord's praise, for he has been good to me. Go ahead and clap your hands for the Word of God. I want to give you my title in a special way today. I need you to turn to your neighbor one more time. You don't have to talk to him again after this. If you don't want to, start by asking them a question. It's going to set up my subject for today. Tell your neighbor first things first. Just tell them, I know you've been going through some trouble. Look at them and say, I can tell. Now look back at them and ask, how long do you think it's going to last? Are you ready? Now look back at them and answer that question they just asked you. Look them right in their eyes and tell them, not as long as my song. That's what I want to preach to you about today. Not as long as my song. Father. Make it plain and powerful and personal. In Jesus name I give you praise.

[Holly Furtick]

Amen. You may be seated. Give three hugs before you sit down.

[Stephen Furtick]

And then be seated. God is good all the time. God is good. Four times in the psalm, the psalmist asked the question that every parent has heard on a road trip. How long? We had a pretty rainy week of weather in Charlotte, North Carolina. Holly looked at me Friday and said, am I ever going to see the sun again? How long, Lord? It doesn't take long. Does doesn't take long for us to get gloomy. It doesn't take long for us to buy into a narrative that's very negative. At least for me, it doesn't take long. I have discovered that even the strongest faith only can hold on so long through certain situations. I have discovered that the human will has its limits even when you're in the will of God. Now, I know I'm starting early, but that would have been worth writing down had you had your notebook ready, had I given you a moment to get situated. Every human will has its limits, even when you're in the will of God. Even when you're doing what God called you to do. There is a place you hit a wall today. I want to talk from the subject how long, Lord, But I want to talk about 3L's that I think will help you. I'm going to give them to you up front and we'll review them at the end. You've heard of lions and tigers and bears? This is modeled after that. But it's not exactly that. I want to talk about limits and levels and loops. Limits and levels and loops. Put those in the chat, please, if you're watching online or the comments. Limits and levels and loops. Oh, my. Amen. Limits and levels and loops. Amen. You say oh my. I say amen. My mind went to a personal experience we had this summer, which I mentioned briefly. But my oldest son, Elijah, spent the very first weeks after he graduated college in the hospital. The first part of it was planned because he had an issue with his spine that we'd been monitoring with the neurosurgeon for five years. Upon the neurosurgeon's advice, we decided he needed to have the surgery. The surgery was not going to be easy. No surgery is minor. No surgery is minor. This surgery wasn't even billed as minor. So we were expecting a pretty rough recovery. I'm not saying Elijah is not tough, but after his surgery, it was amazing to me how good he kept his attitude because part of the surgery where they operated on him. I'm about to say stuff. I don't really know what it means, but I heard a doctor say it and I'm regurgitating it to you. It somehow affected his nausea. For the first four days after his surgery, he was just throwing up. He couldn't eat anything. But he didn't complain much. It was amazing that he didn't complain much because I've lived with this kid 20 years and I'm like, who are you? From whence cometh this strength and power and self control and positive mental attitude? You've been watching David Goggins and reading the Bible or something like that. You're not complaining, you're just thugging it out. He did that for several days. I tried to keep him company in those days and just any way I could think of to spend time with him since he couldn't really eat. We watched entire seasons of Better Call Saul. I mean, the Chosen. Right about the time when it looked like his body was bouncing back, his fever went up. Holly is our family doctor, so she knew, I think it has become infected. She took him to the ER and it had become infected at the site of the surgery. While we thought we might be able to get him on antibiotics, when he developed. How do you say it, Holly? Bacterial meningitis, they came to get him and said, we're going to have to do the whole surgery over again. That was the moment where his positive mental attitude left the building. I got it because I thought, remember the series? I was getting better and I thought this was almost over. I set a clock for myself that I am not going to complain on this clock, but that clock has run out. Even the strongest human will has a limit. Even the strongest resolve has a limit when your win has no end in sight. After the surgery, not only was it worse the second time, but he stayed in the hospital that time for the better part of a week. Went home, they put a PICC line in him to give him his antibiotics. And then what they were putting in his body to keep him from becoming infected and to get the infection out of his body was making him nauseous again. So now I can't eat again. When I can't eat, I am not very happy about anything. Don't tell me to praise the Lord. I praised the lord for the first week, but I wasn't planning on the second week or to have these tubes for 30 days in my arms. I know there are people who are going through a lot worse than that, and your condition is a lot more serious than what I'm describing. But perhaps we can agree together that even the strongest human will has a limit. It seems like the person who wrote Psalm 13 has hit his limit. He doesn't start the beginning of the Psalm with praise, thanks or glory be or hallowed. He says, how long? Not hallelujah, but Halongaluyah. It's a different kind of prayer. I'm choosing these psalms throughout our series to show you that you can come to God honestly and sincerely with your problems, but not focus on your problems and not remain in the same place you came when you brought your problems to God. By the way, Elijah is doing so well. He's doing so incredibly well.

[Holly Furtick]

He's actually working for me now, clipping my sermons for TikTok. That's right. He's on the front row today. They gave him today off.

[Stephen Furtick]

But he said, if you get preaching too good, I might have to run to the back and clip you real quick. Now, the interesting thing about the psalmist's complaint, that ends in praise, but that starts with complaint.

[Holly Furtick]

He says, how long will you forget me, Lord? How long are you Going to hide from me?

[Stephen Furtick]

I can't find you, man.

[Holly Furtick]

It's like you keep telling me God to do something, but then I do what I thought you told me to do and I'm not sure if that's.

[Stephen Furtick]

What you told me to do because I don't feel you.

[Holly Furtick]

I moved because I thought I was moving in obedience to the will of God for my life.

[Stephen Furtick]

But even when you're in the will of God, the strongest human will can only hold on so long when you get in that place of how long? How long? I think I should say it like can only be strong for so long. You can only feel forgotten for so long. You can only feel taken for granted for so long. You can only do for others so long and say, well, I'm doing it for the Lord, I'm doing it for the Lord, I'm doing it for the Lord, I'm doing it for the Lord. Thank you would be nice, but I'm not doing it for thank you, I'm doing it for the Lord. Then you explode on us because even.

[Holly Furtick]

The nicest, most people, polite, most servant hearted person can only serve strong for so long. Before you start wondering, how long till they reciprocate for me?

[Stephen Furtick]

Don't say Amen.

[Holly Furtick]

They'll know you're agitated with them and you're about to explode any minute and they need to duck. How long will you forget me? How long will you hide from me? He actually says something I know we've all felt in here. How long will my enemy triumph over me? In other words, how long till I get a win? I don't feel like I'm winning anywhere.

[Stephen Furtick]

Maybe you felt that way as a husband this week.

[Holly Furtick]

If I'm winning as a provider, I'm not winning as a parent. I'm paying for stuff, but I don't have time to play with my kids because if I play with my kids I can't pay for the stuff and they don't want to play with nothing. But if I'm going to pay for it, I have to work for it. And if I'm working for it, I can't be with them. I can't win anywhere.

[David]

How long.

[Stephen Furtick]

So I can retire?

[Holly Furtick]

How long Lord? I'm making light of it. Although there is nothing light about the feeling. Just to bring us into the thought. How long will you forget me, Lord? How long will you hide from me? How long will it be till I feel you? How long will it be till you confirm for me that this is the right thing to do? How long Lord, till I get this thing out of my arm? How long until I can eat again, smile again, breathe deeply again, and not feel that shallow, crippling anxiety I've been managing for three months and I can't tell anybody, but how long do you expect me to smile at them while I'm stressed inside of myself? How long is my enemy going to win? And I know you're mighty, and I know you're great, and I know you're awesome, and I know you're wonderful, but when are you going to do something about what my enemy is doing to me? Do you see how they're talking about me? Do you see how they're taking advantage of me? Do you see how they're walking all over me? How long until you rise up and defend me, Lord? How long? But the one that felt so personal.

[Stephen Furtick]

To me, and perhaps it will feel personal to you as well, was the one sandwiched right in the middle of all of that, where he said in verse two I don't know if you've ever had an experience where you thought the Lord wrote a special verse in your Bible because he had been following you around and the Lord just took a verse that wasn't there before and put it in there for you. I felt that way when I read Psalm 13:2. How long must I wrestle with my thoughts? I totally get that question. How long will I wrestle with my thoughts? You know, whoever wrote this psalm, he must not be very tough. If he was tough, he would just buck up, buckaroo. He would just get over it. When life gave him lemons, he would just make some lemonade. He must not be very strong in the Lord, this man. Look in your Bible, abbey, not verse 1, but right before verse 1, and you will see above Psalm 13 the attribution of who wrote this psalm. Although it does not mention what the situation was that inspired the psalm, it gives us the name of the person who wrote the psalm, and he's a man named David. I take back everything I just said a minute ago about he must be a wimp. He must not be very strong. I would never say that about David, and I definitely wouldn't say it to his face. Even if I thought David was an emotional basket case, I wouldn't say it to David because if David could find a rock, I might comment it in the YouTube section about David. I wouldn't say it to his face. Internet courage. That's what some people have comment courage. David had strong courage and strong faith, which is why we are surprised to hear him Talking this way, most scholars tell us that David wrote this at the time of his life, that he was no longer a kid, but not yet a king. Those transitional moments in life. In his specific instance, the king who was king was trying to kill him because he was threatened by him. It is highly likely that David wrote Psalm 13 in this transitional moment of needing to trust God. But I'm stuck on the fact that it was David, because when he says, how long must I wrestle with my thoughts? It occurs to me that David was really good at wrestling. I'll take you to the moment that David's name became famous. This is the one who put David on the map. You've heard it, you know it, you love it. It involves an uncircumcised Philistine named Goliath.

[Holly Furtick]

He hails from Philistia, 9 foot 3 inches tall, weighing in at 320 pounds, carrying a bronze sword, spear, a javelin, and a shield that's bigger than David. Here comes Goliath, and for forty days.

[Stephen Furtick]

He taunts the nation of Israel. 1 Samuel 17. David shows up one day with cheese and bread, disguised as a doordasher, but coming in as a deliverer. Do you hear what I just said?

[David]

Did you hear what I just said?

[Holly Furtick]

He's disguised like doordash, but he's carrying Deliverance. He hears the giant taunting the people of God and says, how long has he been talking to y' all like this? How long are you going to let him keep talking trash when you have the truth? Well, see, David, he's a big giant, and you're a little boy. And the king that was threatened by David, that didn't even really know his name yet, says to David, you can't fight against him. He's too big for you. Now, I just want to remind you of David's resume pick up in 1 Samuel 17:34. But David said to Saul, that's the.

[Stephen Furtick]

Kid talking to the king.

[Holly Furtick]

Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, I struck it, and I rescued the sheep from its mouth. Check this phrase. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck and killed it. You see what I'm saying? He didn't just kill the lion from a distance or say a prayer over it. And God gave it a tumor and it died. He said, I grabbed it up close and I wrestled with a lion and tore the sheep out of his mouth. That's David. That's what he did. When Saul heard what he was capable of doing with the mane of a lion, he sent him to the battle line to fight Goliath, and with one smooth stone had five ready, but only needed one smooth stone, knocked the giant down, cut off his head. And the Bible says, with a sling and not a sword in his hand, he triumphed over the giant in verse 50. But the moment I realized David was.

[Stephen Furtick]

Very good at dealing with a lion that turned on him is the moment.

[Holly Furtick]

I realized that this time in Psalm.

[Stephen Furtick]

13, he is not dealing with a lion. He is not dealing with. With a bear.

[Holly Furtick]

The problem in Psalm 13 is that.

[Stephen Furtick]

David knows what to do with an external threat. I can rip it apart.

[Holly Furtick]

Give me a challenge, I'll figure it out. If there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it.

[Stephen Furtick]

That's a psalm. Also, if there's a lion in front.

[Holly Furtick]

Of me, I know what to do with the lion. I have a reliable strategy for a lion. I can beat a bear. But this time, David says, I am wrestling with my thoughts. I'm not wrestling with a lion this time.

[Stephen Furtick]

I'm wrestling with my mind.

[Holly Furtick]

How long can I wrestle with something that isn't coming from the outside? I can deal with that. Not with a to do list. I can deal with that. Not with a challenge I'm facing that I can plan for in an appointment or something, I can prep for with my knowledge and my intellect and my skill. I've been able to do that on several levels throughout the years. But now I'm dealing with something, and it's not a bear.

[Stephen Furtick]

It's my brain.

[Holly Furtick]

It's not a lion, it's my mind. So it begs the question, what do.

[Stephen Furtick]

I do when the enemy moves the.

[Holly Furtick]

Fight to the inside, where I can't.

[Stephen Furtick]

Leave it at the office, where I.

[Holly Furtick]

Can'T leave it in a location, where.

[Stephen Furtick]

I can't leave it for a nine to five. He hits his limit and he says, how long? I could deal with this until they had to operate again. I could deal with it. I was saying to the Lord the other week, I said, I thought I was through with this.

[Holly Furtick]

Have you ever felt that way about something?

[Stephen Furtick]

I thought I was through with this because you already praised the Lord for all your progress publicly at your egroup.

[Holly Furtick]

You don't really know how to go.

[Stephen Furtick]

Back and tell the egroup that I got bad news, it got infected, and I have to do it again because the first time they prayed me through it, but this time they might judge me because of it. Y' all getting quiet. Preacher is preaching Truth. This is Holy Ghost Truth right now. I am on your case right now.

[David]

How long?

[Stephen Furtick]

I could deal with it if you just give me a dumbbell. I can curl a dumbbell. But when I am a dumbbell, when I'm dealing with stuff that's happening on.

[Holly Furtick]

The inside, do you remember last week we talked about Paul saying I put.

[Stephen Furtick]

The ways of childhood behind me?

[Holly Furtick]

That's wonderful.

[Stephen Furtick]

You can put certain ways of childhood behind you. I sold all my wrestling figures, all my Lex Luger and Sting and Ultimate.

[Holly Furtick]

Warrior and Hulk Hogan.

[Stephen Furtick]

I sold them all.

[Holly Furtick]

I wish I hadn't. They're worth a lot more money now. But I put all that behind me.

[Stephen Furtick]

But I still wrestle with the ways of childhood. So it begs the question, what do you do when you hit your limit? I'm speaking to somebody today and you feel like, I have hit my limit. I'm a pretty strong person, but I've hit my limit.

[Holly Furtick]

I can carry a lot, but I.

[Stephen Furtick]

Have hit my limit.

[Holly Furtick]

I have dealt with this and I have coped with this, and I have managed this, and I have managed not to make everybody else crazy around me.

[Stephen Furtick]

But I'm going crazy. I have hit my limit. How long will you forget me? How long will you hide? God, I can go a little while without feeling your presence, but I haven't felt you in months.

[Holly Furtick]

God, I can go a little while.

[Stephen Furtick]

Without confirmation and just stay obedient to.

[Holly Furtick]

The last thing I heard. But I need a side. How long? I can't believe I'm going through this again. I thought I was through with this. I thought I was done with this. Why am I more tempted than ever? Why am I more angry than ever? Why am I having bitterness flashbacks now? I thought I forgave them. I thought they cut it out of me. I thought they fixed it and I went back and they put me back in the icu.

[David]

How long am I going to be here?

[Holly Furtick]

I can only pretend to be strong so long. I can't wear this uniform home and wear it to work and pretend to be strong. So David opens up to the Lord. He realizes that when you have hit your limit, you can't kill this with your hands. You can't kill this with your biceps. And you can't kill this with your rational thinking. You can't kill this with your college degree. You can't kill this with your willpower. You can't kill this with your focus, determination. You can't kill this with your vitamins. You can't kill this with your collagen and your health routine and your cold plunge and I'll keep doing the stuff I'm supposed to to do. But it's not fixing the real problem I have. David realized that when you hit your limit, it's a sign you need to change your level. So whoever I'm preaching to, when you hit your limit, change your level. When you hit your limit. When you feel that in the course of a 24 hour period, in the course of your college career, in the course of you trying to raise your own family, in the course of you feeling your way through the forest of your emotions and your feelings of forsakenness, when you hit your limit, change your level.

[Stephen Furtick]

Limits and levels and loops.

[Holly Furtick]

Oh my lions and tigers and bears. Oh my. Wrestling with my thoughts of depression.

[Stephen Furtick]

Wrestling with my thoughts of insecurity.

[Holly Furtick]

Wrestling with my old ways of handling situations. Wrestling with things that were passed down to me or exemplified. Wrestling with my sin nature which is crucified with Christ but keeps trying to have a resurrection. Wrestling with the things I thought drowned in the red sea. But why are they swimming after me when I am wrestling with something I can tear apart with my hands? That's one thing. But sometimes the Bible says in Ephesians 6, 11, 12, you have to put on the whole armor of God. For the King James says in verse 12, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood. This is not a lion you're wrestling with. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. This is not a bear. This time I'm wrestling with my thoughts. I'm wrestling with some secrets. I'm wrestling with some shame. I'm wrestling with some strong temptation. I'm wrestling with some. Not me. I'm wrestling with some. Why me? I'm wrestling with some. What about me? Well, I am not wrestling anymore with flesh and blood, but I am wrestling against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. See, I understand something about wrestling. Not because I watched Hulk Hogan, but because I have a son who is a wrestler. Not wwf, but the kind of wrestling where they put you on a mat for six minutes and. And you have to outscore or pin the other person. Now, in wrestling I have a little experience because I was a state champion in the eighth grade in a freestyle tournament where there were no other entries in my weight class category. But Graham is pretty good. I took him to see the national championship where all the greatest college wrestlers were wrestling. Carl Perry was sitting next to me, who was a former national champion. I said, tell me what to watch. When they wrestle, I don't really know what to watch. I understand wrestling, but not at your level. I said, what do you look for at your level? He said, at this level, all of the guys who are out there know how to change levels. I said, I know what that means, but pretend like I didn't and explain it to me so I could explain it to somebody else who doesn't know what it means. He said, well, when you stay too still too long, you become predictable. But what you have to do at this level, you have to change levels so quick that I can't tell if you're about to pop me on my head or pop me on my head to set me up, to grab my ankle. The devil will come at you so many different ways and have you standing still so long talking about, how long am I going to feel like this? And how long is it going to be like this? How long are they going to forget about me? How long? Long until they recognize me. But if you have hit a wall called how long today? And you have hit your limit and you don't see a way to win this fight, the spirit of God said, change levels.

[David]

If you've been down too long, stand.

[Holly Furtick]

Up and praise the Lord. Wake up the lion inside of your lungs.

[David]

You've been sitting there 34 minutes thinking about my sermon. But change levels for 10 seconds. Jump up on your feet, stick your chest out, and tell the devil, I'm saved. Say it. I'm saved. Change levels. For we wrestle not against low things. We wrestle against high things. And if I'm wrestling against the high thing, I know a higher thing that.

[Holly Furtick]

Can bring me down.

[David]

I cast down strongholds. I cast down depression. I cast down fear. I cast down panic. I cast down shame. I cast down suicide. I cast it in the land that is above every name. Help me live his name. High five.

[Holly Furtick]

Thirteen.

[David]

People say, I'm changing levels. I'm changing levels. I'm changing sh. Oh, oh, there he goes. Oh, oh, there he goes. There he goes. There she goes. I can't predict her. When I think I got her down, she gets back up. When I think she's getting proud, she starts to pray. I'm changing.

[Holly Furtick]

David said, I don't know how long.

[Stephen Furtick]

This is going to last. I don't know how long I'm going to be hurting like this. I don't know how long I'm going to have to push through this without any evidence that God is working.

[Holly Furtick]

I don't know how long.

[Stephen Furtick]

But I'll tell you one thing. Not as long as my song. I talked about lions and I talked about bears, and I talked about limits and I talked about levels. But I want to talk about loops, because when you get to verse five, David has disrupted his own despair and prayer for deliverance. Y' all are sitting down like you're not in a hurry to get out of here and go back to whatever hell you've been fighting.

[Holly Furtick]

There's nothing waiting at home but a.

[Stephen Furtick]

Lion and a bear for you, huh? You might as well go ahead and get this Bible lesson. But what happens so many times in an experience like this that we won't admit is we get the lesson and we leave and we don't get in the loop. David said something so powerful in verse four. He says, if you don't do something soon, God, I'm going to fail, and my foes will rejoice when I fall. I told the Lord that I would share this with you if the atmosphere felt open to it, and so I will. There was a season of my ministry where Holly and I were so paralyzed by the nature of public ministry, public criticism in the age of AI, when people can make up things you said and make it sound like you say.

[Holly Furtick]

It and make it look like you were standing there with Oscar the Grouch.

[Stephen Furtick]

If they want to, it's no longer.

[Holly Furtick]

To Photoshop you into anything.

[Stephen Furtick]

There was a time where I was so consumed with the fear that something in ministry would cause me to fail or that my best had been behind me and it was only going to get worse from here. If you're struggling with that in your own way, the fear of failure or.

[Holly Furtick]

The fear of looking like a fool.

[Stephen Furtick]

Listen to what the Lord gave me. It really parallels the thought process of David. Not to compare myself to to David, but I do relate to the resistance and the wrestling he felt. I thought for many years that the wrestling meant something was wrong with me.

[Holly Furtick]

I thought that the fact that I.

[Stephen Furtick]

Wrestle with this means I am this. I thought the wrestling meant that something was wrong with me. I need to slow down before I show you what I want to show you. In verse four, he says, my foes will rejoice when I fall. Do you see that? There was a loop in my mind that went on for months and months and months. It's going to end in failure. I couldn't pinpoint why. I did see other things that were happening to other people all around me, and I thought, oh, man.

[Holly Furtick]

How long.

[Stephen Furtick]

Can I keep preaching and writing songs and doing ministry? I don't want to do it in the flesh. I don't want to do it in the spirit, but sometimes you get tired. Sometimes you get tired, too, and you wonder, is this going to end in failure? So one day, the Lord gave me a thought. It busted me out of the prison I was in. That came from the loop of thinking I had entertained. What if it ends in failures? Can it end in failures? Can it end in failures? The way he gave it to me was something I could latch onto. And I give it to you exactly as he gave it to me. And I wrote it down. He said, I want you to start confessing this over your life. And I did it out loud every day for a year. It may end in failure, but I will not live in fear. I've struggled to hold to that, and I've struggled to live it out. But he gave it to me. It was one line. He. He gave me one line to deal with the lie. The lie I was in the loop, was that if something fails, I'm a failure. But when I realized he loved me before I started a church, he loved me when y' all got here. He'll love me if you leave. He'll love me if I preach good. He'll love me if I stand up here and stammer and stutter. He knows what I'm trying to say. He'll even take his spirit and interpret, and you'll tell me, pastor, that was awesome when you said this. And I won't even have said that. And you'll have heard that because God wanted to get it to you.

[Holly Furtick]

So even if it fails, it may.

[Stephen Furtick]

End in failure, but I will not live in fear.

[Holly Furtick]

That has done more for me than all of my resistance. You try to wrestle at a certain level, you're like, oh, no. Well, I'm going to say study, and.

[Stephen Furtick]

I'm going to take my creatine, and I'm going to do.

[Holly Furtick]

But even that has its limits.

[Stephen Furtick]

So I changed the level. David can't figure out how to battle his thoughts because this is not something he is fighting that is turning on him on the outside. His own mind is turning on him. What do you do when your mind turns on you? Why did David's mind attack him so viciously? Is it possible that the minds that are under the most vicious attack are also carrying the most brilliant potential? Think about what David went on to do. David went on to become not only a king, but he became the designer of the temple. That was the house of God for which he gave the plans to his son Solomon. When he Gave him the plans for the temple. He said something very interesting in 1 Chronicles 28. He gave them the plans. Portico building, storerooms, upper parts, interims, place of atonement.

[Holly Furtick]

So he had all that mapped out.

[Stephen Furtick]

Verse 12. And he gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the Lord and all the surrounding rooms. Treasuries, temple of God, treasuries of the dedicated things. It goes on to list in the most specific detail everything God put into David's mind. Now we understand why in Psalm 13 he was wrestling with his thoughts. Because that mind was under attack by the enemy. Because it was the place that would conceive something awesome for God. That mind from which the temple would come, where the people would worship, that mind, that beautiful, brilliant mind. It wasn't a broken mind. It was a brilliant mind.

[Holly Furtick]

The level of your battle tells you.

[Stephen Furtick]

Something about the level that God is.

[Holly Furtick]

Calling you to build, the level of your battle. See, when you have an overactive imagination.

[Stephen Furtick]

You can build a temple.

[Holly Furtick]

But if you have an overactive imagination, you can also call Bathsheba to come.

[Stephen Furtick]

And sleep with you, even though she's.

[Holly Furtick]

Not your wife, and make a plan for her husband to get killed on.

[Stephen Furtick]

The front lines of battle.

[Holly Furtick]

That is why it's important in this season of your life that you win the battle for your mind. Because there is something God. God wants to bring forth from your mind. I'm trying to say that the place of the blueprint is always the place of the battle. I'll say it again. When God is going to give you a blueprint. Some of you are creating generational change. Some of you are doing it different than your family ever did. Some of you are setting a new direction, a new course for everybody with your last name or maiden name in the future. The reason the battle has been so fierce in your mind, there is so much material in your mind. There is so much potential in your mind. David's mind would go on to lead armies. His mind was capable of navigating through the most arid terrain he could find, water in places. The troops who were chasing him would not even dare to follow him into that mind. Of course it was under attack. Of course it was a battle that was the place of a blueprint. Of course you're struggling. Of course you're dealing with issues. There's nothing wrong with you. You're just a real one. You are resisting the enemy. You are wrestling not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness.

[Stephen Furtick]

Isn't it Amazing that the mind that created something so magnificent as the temple experienced so much misery. Doesn't it give you hope to know that the misery you've been going through is just a clue to the magnificence?

[Holly Furtick]

Let me say it like the Bible says it. For our light and momentary afflictions are achieving for us a far exceeding weight of glory. It will outweigh everything you've been through. When you see what God builds, I'll prove to it to you right now. Psalm 13 is written by David about a situation. We don't even know what it was and whatever situation he was going through when he wrote it. The situation is over. But we're still preaching about what he wrote. I said the situation only lasted so long, but the song was longer than the situation. Because I'm standing up in front of you thousands of years after he wrestled, and I'm reading what he wrote because he went through what he went through. I came to tell you that what you are going to see on the other side of this will make what you're going through feel like a short time. A little while. Just a little while. Just a little while. It all starts with verse five. I'm wrestling how long I'm forgotten, how long I'm forsaken. How long you're hiding. How long I'm losing. How long Verse five comes out of nowhere. But I trust. I trust. But do you know how we love to shout in church about but God?

[Stephen Furtick]

Sometimes it's not but God you're waiting on, it's but I. Sometimes when you're asking God how long, he's asking you the same question I.

[Holly Furtick]

See on that Sunday? But the Lord wanted you to know. I've been wondering the same thing. I've been wondering how long are you.

[David]

Going to let the devil just tell.

[Holly Furtick]

You anything he wants to tell you.

[David]

Unchallenged before you rebuke him and plead the blood of Jesus for everything concerning your life? How long?

[Holly Furtick]

I love it. I'm happy. Don't think I'm mad. I'm not mad at you. I'm happy for you. Because God said he's about to butt in. God said you're wrestling with some stuff that's unclean, unfamiliar, unmanageable, overwhelming. But I trust in your unfailing love. My heart rejoices in your salvation. Put me in F, verse 6. I will sing the Lord's praise for.

[Stephen Furtick]

He has been good to me. Watch me when you have hit your limit. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for there is the kingdom of Heaven Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after ashes they be filled when you have hit your limit. Come to the waters all you who are thirsty and buy come buy bread and milk without what without price. You can get it from for free if you come on your knees. He said you need a new loop. You've been in the how long until it gets better loop. How long until it changes loop. How long am I going to be like this loop? How long are they going to ignore me loop. I want to get you in a new loop of how good God has.

[Holly Furtick]

Already.

[Stephen Furtick]

Ben Something just shifted in David in verse 5. I can tell he realized I can't fight this like a lion. I can't fight this like a bear. I can't fight this like my previous fights. I have to fight this by getting in a new loop. Like when I killed the lion and when I killed the bear. I started thinking to myself how great my God was, not how big my giant was. But I trust when he said but when God butted in he ends his song not singing about the struggle, but singing about the goodness of for he has been good to me. Sometimes you get this message and sometimes you watch these videos and sometimes you listen to this podcast and you get the lesson, but you don't get in the loop. You don't get in the loop. You think worship is over because you have to get out to your car and you think you've got to get to your car because you've got to get to your lunch. And you have to get to your lunch because you have to get back.

[Holly Furtick]

Home and take your nap.

[Stephen Furtick]

And you have to take your nap so you can still wake up tired and go into another week talking about God.

[Holly Furtick]

How long?

[Stephen Furtick]

How long? David said, I don't know. But not as long as my song because I'm going to out sing my struggle. Hear me if you can. I am going to outraise this problem. Let me go deeper. I am going to out trust this trouble. It's a sign that I can't fight it in my own flesh. I wrestle not against flesh and blood. I'm wrestling against a high thing but I have a higher thing so I will sing and praise for he has everybody say he has been good to me. Then you might even get convinced. You might say he has been so good to me. January of 2023 we were having a recording and we got together to write some songs. Before the recording recording, me and Brandon and Chandler wrote a song one night called Been so Good. The chorus just said you have Been so good to me. God, I can't believe how you love me, what a friend you have been. And you see what happened, how you just started singing it again and you almost can't stop singing it? That's because we wrote it to be a loop. Here's what that means. The first line of that chorus which we ripped off from Psalm 13:6, which we got from David, who felt like God had left him, but he sang a song that lasted longer than his trouble. This trouble is not going to last as long as my song.

[Holly Furtick]

If the devil thinks he's going to outlast me, he has another thing. Me and the devil are having a staring contest right now. And I'm looking unto Jesus and I'm taking my eyes off the wind and the waves. I don't know how long this storm is going to last, but somebody shout, not as long as my song.

[Stephen Furtick]

So is it possible that God doesn't always deliver us from it, but he calls us to decide in it? David said, but I trust in your unfailing love. I'll sing if the trouble lasts seven days. I'm going to sing eight. I will sing if this illness lasts three months, I'll sing three months and 14 hours. Because I'm going to out sing this struggle.

[Holly Furtick]

I'm going to outsing this doubt. I'm going to out sing this issue with my prodigal child. I'm going to out praise it, you understand?

[Stephen Furtick]

Because I'm changing levels. The way it works is the first line of the chorus leads into the last line of the chorus. I'll show you how you love me, what a friend you have been. First line. You can't stop singing, can you? You can't stop praising, can you? Because you got in the loop.

[Holly Furtick]

See, that's the loop I want you.

[Stephen Furtick]

Living in this week. Not how hard it's been, but you have been so good to me.

[Holly Furtick]

God, I can't believe. Stop singing.

[Stephen Furtick]

Just a second. I have to tell you something. When we sang the song at the recording, it literally went 18 minutes in the room and the church had never heard it before. You don't believe me. I took a screenshot of the voice memo of the front of house mix from the night we recorded. Look at the timestamp on this. I don't know if you can see it. 18 minutes and 47 seconds of a.

[Holly Furtick]

Song the church had never sang. Why?

[Stephen Furtick]

Because it took a line and made it a loop. That's what needs to happen in your heart. So you just start thanking him. Be careful the devil will attack your thankfulness. He will attack your gratitude. Because if he can keep you down here fighting, he can keep you down here losing and gasping for breath and feeling sorry for yourself. If I start thanking him for the new day, I might start thinking I'm going to make it till tomorrow.

[Holly Furtick]

If I start thanking him that I'm going to make it till tomorrow, I might start thinking he has a hope and a future for me. If I start thanking him that he has a hope and a future for me, I might get some friends and make a plan to move my life forward. If I start thanking him for the new people he brought in my life, I might start thinking that I don't.

[David]

Have to do this by myself. If I start thanking him that I'm not in this by myself, I might start praising him at the midnight hour. Hey Paul. Hey Silas. How long you gonna be in this prison? How long is your sentence? Silas said I don't know but not as long as my song. I got a song at midnight I got a song through the ages oh God, it can be believe lift your hands, trust in God what a friend you have been so good to me God I can't believe how you love me what a friend you have been.

[Stephen Furtick]

You sing. I don't know how long it's going to last, but sing it again. Not as long. Get that stuck in your head for a minute. See what happens. Say it again. And when the doctor's report doesn't look good and when you don't think you have what it takes to move on, keep singing. If the storm keeps raging, keep singing. When you start thinking and you start.

[Holly Furtick]

Thinking, don't be surprised if the enemies you see today, you will see them no more.

[David]

Because.

[Holly Furtick]

When I praise, when I praise. Come on, Ben. I need to sing it one more time.

[David]

When peace like a river attendeth my way when sorrows like sea billows roll I got a song I gotta praise Keep singing, keep singing, keep singing.

[Stephen Furtick]

Through.

[David]

The fire, through the storm.

[Stephen Furtick]

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 evationchurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.

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[Stephen Furtick]

This is an iHeart podcast.