Podcast Summary: "Reverse Your Worry"

Podcast: Elevation with Steven Furtick
Host: Steven Furtick (with Co-Pastor or Worship Leader participating)
Episode Date: November 28, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Pastor Steven Furtick explores Jesus’s teachings from Matthew 6 on anxiety, worry, and priorities. The central theme is how to “reverse your worry”—to break out of the cycle of anxiety by adopting God-centered priorities. By reflecting on the natural world and shifting from earthly concerns to spiritual trust, Steven challenges listeners to exchange spinning, circular worry for steady, purposeful worship.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Shallow Values and Empty Victories

• Main Idea: Many succeed at "winning" but at things that don't truly matter.
• Furtick recalls a church member appreciating last week's lesson:

  "Shallow values produce empty victories." (03:47)

• The encouragement is to align personal values with God's values instead of societal or surface-level success.

2. Jesus' Command: Do Not Worry

• Text in Focus: Matthew 6:25—34
• Furtick reads and reflects on Jesus’ words:

  "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink... Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes?" (05:32)

• He highlights the phrase “And yet”—even in perceived lack, God provides:

  “And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (06:17)

• Crowd engagement:

  “Tell somebody next to you, say, ‘I’m better than a bird.’ I might not be better than you, but I’m better than a bird.” (06:33)

3. The Spin Cycle of Worry

• Worry is not about healthy concern but a pointless, circular trap:

  “Worry is circular... you keep ending up right where you started.” (14:22, 16:16)

• Demonstrates the “spin cycle” physically, emphasizing how worry leads to exhaustion, not progress:

  "Lots of motion... but now I can’t see straight." (16:56) “Imagine how it feels for me actually doing it. Well, this is what it feels like when you’re spinning.” (17:02)

• Worry often starts with an innocent thought, then spirals:

  "It's how you spin it that determines how you see it." (17:36)

4. Learning from Nature: Birds and Flowers

• Jesus encourages looking to birds and flowers—not for naiveté, but for perspective:

  “Do you want me to be like a bird, Lord? No, I want you to observe the birds.” (15:02)

• The birds’ advantage:

  “Maybe what they know you don’t is because they live where you don’t. At a higher altitude.” (15:11)

• Flowers don’t “spin” or labor; God clothes them:

  "Notice how they do not labor or... the birds don’t store away, the flowers don’t spin. Yet look how God does that." (19:36)

5. Reverse Your Worry: Worship as the Antidote

• Core Principle:

  “Worship is worry in reverse.” (21:48)

• The act of worship starts with God, not the problem.

  “Instead of starting your meditation with your situation, start with your source." (21:55)

• Furtick’s call to action:

  “Find seven people. Tell them, stop spinning. It’s not working.... Why are you worried? I would understand it if it was working.” (22:31)

6. Redefining Priorities—Seek First the Kingdom

• Jesus’s guidance:

  “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (30:04)

• Furtick connects priorities and peace:

  "The only way to live in God’s peace is to have God’s priorities." (30:38)

• Illustrates with contrast: People go to great lengths to retrieve their forgotten phones, but neglect their peace:

  “But I noticed people will leave their peace just anywhere... we would put more importance on a possession and we’ll go back and get it.” (32:46)

7. The Second Circle: Seeing with God’s Perspective

• Cites 2 Kings 6—Elisha opens his servant’s eyes to see the angel armies surrounding their enemies:

  "Not that God takes your enemies away, but that he enables you to see beyond them." (25:13) "Whatever is surrounding you, God is already surrounding it." (26:31)

• Message: Your situation may look overwhelming, but God’s provision is greater if you start with God.

8. Call to Reflection and Prayer

• Furtick asks listeners to admit if they’re “world class worriers,” then reframes:

  "If you are a world class worrier, you have the potential to become a world class worshipper. Because worship is worry in reverse." (37:45)

• Closing blessing:

  "When you start with God, you end with God. The situation you’re facing today is not necessarily going to lift or remove, but the second circle is what God is already doing." (38:33)

• Prayer for peace, focus, and priorities; to “reverse instead of starting with what's wrong, start with who [God] is.” (39:31)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|--------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:47 | Steven Furtick | "Shallow values produce empty victories." | | 06:17 | Steven Furtick | “And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” | | 14:22 | Steven Furtick | "Worry is circular... you keep ending up right where you started." | | 16:56 | Steven Furtick | "Lots of motion... but now I can’t see straight." | | 15:02 | Steven Furtick | “Do you want me to be like a bird, Lord? No, I want you to observe the birds.” | | 21:48 | Co-Pastor/WorshipL | “Worship is worry in reverse.” | | 25:13 | Steven Furtick | “Not that God takes your enemies away, but that he enables you to see beyond them.” | | 32:46 | Steven Furtick | “But I noticed people will leave their peace just anywhere... we'll go back and get it [phone].”| | 37:45 | Steven Furtick | “If you are a world class worrier, you have the potential to become a world class worshipper.” |

Key Timestamps

• [02:14] — Introduction, overview of Matthew 6 teachings
• [06:17] — Exploring “And yet” and God’s care for the birds
• [14:22] — The “spin cycle” analogy for worry
• [19:36] — Reflection on birds and flowers and what we can learn
• [21:48] — ‘Worship is worry in reverse’; shifting focus to God
• [25:13] — Story of Elisha; seeing God’s provision beyond problems
• [30:04] — “Seek first the kingdom” and the link between priorities and peace
• [32:46] — The phone vs. your peace analogy
• [37:45] — From “world class worrier” to “world class worshipper”

Tone & Style

The episode is energetic, relatable, and conversational—mixing humor (“I’m better than a bird”), real-life examples, and biblical teaching. Steven Furtick’s style is motivational, direct, and practical, often using repetition and physical analogies to reinforce his points. The co-pastor or worship leader interjects for emphasis and encouragement.

Practical Takeaways

• Identify the Source: Start each day with God, not with anxieties or news.
• Observe Creation: Take lessons from birds and flowers about trust and provision.
• Pause the Cycle: Recognize the difference between wise concern and pointless worry-spin.
• Prioritize Well: Peace comes from God-ordered priorities, not from having no problems.
• Worship as an Antidote: Turn worry into worship by shifting your focus to God’s character and promises.

In summary:
"Reverse Your Worry" urges listeners to recognize and interrupt the circular nature of worry, learn from the simplicity of nature, and reorder life’s priorities around God’s kingdom. Worship—centering on God rather than anxiety—is both the reversal of worry and the key to sustained peace.