Reverse Your Worry

Summary

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

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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.

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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)

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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.” |

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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”

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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.

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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.

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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.

Transcript

[Steven Furtick]

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[Steven Furtick]

Hey this is Steven Furtick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

This is our podcast.

[Steven Furtick]

I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. I'm going to continue this series from Matthew Chapter six. I don't know if I'll preach it all from the Sermon on the Mount, but it's a very good place to start. A very good place to start. What's that from? Let's start at the beginning. A very good place to start. What is that from? Okay, Sound of Music. That was unintentional. I don't like Sound of Music anyway. We're going to look at Matthew 6, which I do like. These profound, powerful words from Jesus. Last week's message was intended to help you evaluate your values. I was thinking that a lot of times, if we play the game, and even if we play the game well, but we win at things that are not true to our values, eventually we will get good at winning. But what are we winning at? What have we won? In order to try to avoid all of this, this empty sense of chasing after victories that are not meaningful, we're getting into God's definition of success, God's idea of what is worth winning at. We're looking at this together. It was cool to me. When I was in the airport Monday, I got the opportunity to meet one of our new church members. He said, I've been coming for a little while. Been going to church all my life. I've been learning a lot. It's been helpful. I said, what did you learn yesterday? I said, I put him on a pop quiz. He said, oh, yeah, that was good. Yesterday when you said, shallow values produce empty victories, I was like, whoa, you got it exactly right. Usually people, when they quote back your sermon to you, they mess it all up and they don't make it rhyme, and they switch the words all around. It makes you mad. But he got it just right. Then he started preaching other parts. He said, I went home and I told my wife and my kids, I love y', all, but leave me alone the rest of the day. He's a successful person in his field. His name is Steven. I knew he was a great man of God from that fact. He said, I'm really just dealing with emptiness. In that emptiness, I realize it's a lot of times because my values are shallow. So I've been listening. I've been spending just since you preached. He said, I've been thinking about my values, not what I think they should be, not what I want them to be, but what are my values, and then aligning those values with God's values. So let's continue the process. Let's go right to Matthew 6:25, a very relevant scripture today that I want us to look at together. Matthew 6:25 Jesus speaking therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body or about what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns. And yet I love that somebody say, and yet I don't deserve the grace of God. And yet I don't have the educational background. And yet nobody in my family ever broke this barrier. And yet I made some mistakes in my life. And yet I just like little stuff like that. When I'm reading the Bible, y' all do what you want to do. I'm going to stop for those little phrases and point them out to you. And yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 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. I'm worth more than a bird. I know that much. Are you not much more valuable than they? We're going to come back to that. Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? No. But you can take some off or you can wish you were dead because it would be more peaceful than being in this living hell called your mind sometimes. So he asks a question. Notice how it starts with a command and then it turns to a question. He said, do not worry. Now he says, and why do you worry? Why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his Gucci was dressed like one of these.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today, tomorrow stone and the fire will he not much more clothe you, O.

[Steven Furtick]

You of little faith.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

So do not worry.

[Steven Furtick]

Stop telling me that. The worst thing you can tell somebody when they are worrying is what Worry. Unless you know something they don't. I was watching a football game the other day, but it was recorded because I missed it. But the person who was watching it with me checked the score and we were cheering for the same team. So while I was watching the game, I was also watching them. When it got a little scary, I just watched them.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

But when they didn't look scared, I didn't get scared. So when Jesus says don't worry, I figure he has already seen how this thing turns out. Come on, it's early to have church. But if you are grateful that the one who knows the end from the beginning, has already prophesied to this current moment and declared that God is faithful.

[Steven Furtick]

Come on, give him a shout of praise. Don't worry saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Yeah, yeah, Hallelujah is right. That's the only thing you can say when you think about this. This is good. This preaches itself. I don't need to make a comment. I could just this over and over again for 50 minutes. We go home, do not worry saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things. These are shallow values. This is what the world worries about. Do you want to worry about something? Worry about something worth worrying about. Worry about teen suicide rates. You just have to worry. Worry about that. Worry about racism. You want to worry about something, worry about that. You want to worry about something? Worry about this crazy cycle of fear we're all living in. If you want to worry about something, don't worry about this. For the pagans, run after all these things. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. And all these things. Things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has trouble enough of its own. The word God gave me to give to you today is reverse your worry. Reverse your worry. We're going to get this thing turned around before lunchtime today. Reverse your worry. Came in thinking one way, going to go home thinking another. Reverse your worry. Turn to somebody and say it's time to turn it around. So why do you worry? That's the question. The command is do not worry. Then the question is, let's see it again. Why do you worry? At this point, if it was anybody other than Jesus asking the question, I would say sit down and let me tell you. Oh, I have a list. Do you want to know why I worry? Well, where do you want me to start? First of all, let's start with October in the stock market. If you want to talk about worry. You want to talk about the first week in November? You want to talk about if you want to know why I worry? I got a 13 year old, an.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

11 year old and a 7 year.

[Steven Furtick]

Old and they have the Internet. That's why I worry, Jesus, because something.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Tells me they are not yet of.

[Steven Furtick]

The emotional and mental health and capacity to have all of the information in the history of humanity in their pocket. I'm worried about what they're going to access. There's no Bible verse about how much time to give your child on Instagram.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

If it is, I didn't find it.

[Steven Furtick]

Somebody send me the scripture this week.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

That's why I'm worried.

[Steven Furtick]

I'm worried. Why do you worry? Put the verse up again. Why do you worry? I think that's important that we stop and think about the reasons we worry, the reason we worry and be really honest about it. Because what I worry about more than anything is not worrying what's happening to me, but it's whether or not what's within me is enough to handle.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

It's whether what's in me is strong.

[Steven Furtick]

Enough to handle what happens to me. That's why I worry. I worry because as a pastor, I am concerned that maybe the way I communicate would be more for consumption and that people would come and hear the.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Word or tune in online and hear the Word and then just click off. But it seems like more and more people are just coming to church for what? To get out of it?

[Steven Furtick]

Or just, I like that preacher or.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

I like that song. But that's a really shallow reason to come to church. I worry that if people come from surface motivations, they're going to get surface results in their life. If people come from selfish motives, then.

[Steven Furtick]

They'Re going to get empty results. Why do you worry? Let's talk about it. Just me and you. Now it's just us. Why do you worry? What do you worry about more than anything else? What's the thing that had you up at 3:30 this morning and your mind started spinning? Because this is what happens. Your mind starts spinning. Some of us get up to use the bathroom and then we never quite make it back to a rested state because our bladders and our brains are both under demon possession.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

And so both.

[Steven Furtick]

Of them are too full. So we wake up in the middle of the night and here we are. This is how it happens for me. My mind just starts spinning the way it is constructed in the original language. I've studied this passage quite a bit. I've come back to it several times in preaching is that it says, do not worry. That's the command.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Or take no thought.

[Steven Furtick]

That's literal.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Take no thought.

[Steven Furtick]

He's saying a thought that presents itself to you can start you spinning in a direction if you take it, but.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

It can't start you spinning if you.

[Steven Furtick]

Don'T hold onto it.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

I preached a whole message one time.

[Steven Furtick]

Called.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Hold that thought. You get a hold of a thought and you let it take you somewhere.

[Steven Furtick]

But where you take that thought, eventually you Find out.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

It takes you somewhere. For me, a lot of times I end up in this spin cycle.

[Steven Furtick]

Do you know what I'm talking about? Talk to me.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

This spin cycle of stress. I've noticed this about worry.

[Steven Furtick]

Worry is circular.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Worry is going round and round. It's not being concerned about something.

[Steven Furtick]

That's not what Jesus means by don't worry.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

This isn't Jesus.

[Steven Furtick]

Bob Marley moment. I was reading it. Look at the birds.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

It almost sounds like Jesus is telling.

[Steven Furtick]

Me not to pay my bills. Just look at the birds.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Look at the birds and the flowers. Isn't he beautiful?

[Steven Furtick]

Isn't God good?

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Isn't he just the best? Don't you just love Jesus and his muchness? It's not what he's saying.

[Steven Furtick]

Do you want me to be like a bird Lord? No.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

I want you to observe the birds.

[Steven Furtick]

I want you to consider what they know that you don't.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Maybe what they know you don't is.

[Steven Furtick]

Because they live where you don't. At a higher altitude.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Observe the birds. If I could title this message something other than reverse your worry, I'd call it look up. Because in order to consider the birds, you have to stop looking all around you to make sense of your life. As long as you look around you, you spin around and around and around and around. But when you break the cycle and consider that there is a God above you who has gone through before you, who lives within you, who is always for you, and that you are spoken for and known and named and called and chosen and set apart.

[Steven Furtick]

Let me see your life at a different level. Can I preach a little bit? I've been doing this a lot. It's funny that. I just finished a whole series about anxiety called Triggered. Here we are back in the this. Same idea. Still spinning. Worry is like this. It's around and around and around. But notice one thing about all my spinning, other than the fact that some of y' all are getting dizzy just watching me do this. Imagine how it feels to actually do it. Imagine how it feels for me actually doing it. Well, this is what it feels like when you're spinning. Lots of motion. But I keep ending up right where I started. I'm right back here, only now I can't see straight.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

That's what it's like to toss and turn over stuff you can't control. After you've spent all night spinning, all.

[Steven Furtick]

Day spinning in your head.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

You know, it starts with the most innocent thought. The devil has been at this a long time, sweetie. He's not going to give you A bad thought. He's going to try to give you an innocent thought and get you to.

[Steven Furtick]

Take it in the wrong direction.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

A scenario that on the surface doesn't seem that bad.

[Steven Furtick]

But.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

But it's the way you spin it. It's like Fox News and cnn. It's one story they're telling, but it's spinning different ways. It's how you spin it that determines how you see it. I am preaching Matthew chapter six like it's my last time today. Because when you get in that spin cycle, it's just around and around and around and around. It doesn't make any difference. I'm not getting anywhere. I'm not working on it. I'm not making progress anywhere. The devil gets me so dizzy that now by the time I'm facing my real life challenges, I don't have the equilibrium to apply the effort in the direction that would create a result. Because I'm so dizzy I can't find my balance. And now I don't know who to trust. I don't know what to do.

[Steven Furtick]

Whoa, hang on. I need a minute. I've been spinning, by the way. That's why it takes you a few minutes when you get to church, to get your heart in the right place, for the caffeine to kick in and for you to stop spinning. Jesus said, look up at the birds and then look out the flowers. Do you want me to look up or do you want me to look down? I want you to look both. Notice something the flowers don't do. That your mind has been doing lately. He said, when you look at the flowers, notice how they do not labor or. Give me the verse, please. 28. They do not labor or yet your father. They don't spin, they don't sow, the.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Birds don't store away, the flowers don't spin. Yet look how God does that. On that level. If he made you in his image, what makes you think you have to spin out in these cycles, these tormenting cycles, these confusing cycles where you start thinking, oh my God, my kid needs braces. It's the littlest things, isn't it? It's the littlest things that get you spinning. Your kid's only 2 years old, but my kid is going to need braces.

[Steven Furtick]

Because the first tooth grew in kind of crooked.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

And now you're looking at one crook tooth and your two year old has one little crooked tooth growing in. Oh my God, they're going to need braces. And braces with inflation is going to cost $473,000. And I won't have any money to send them in college, so they're only going to have to resort to gang violence. And then my child is going to wind up in prison. I'm going to visit my child. Now you're in prison. Your kid is two.

[Steven Furtick]

And your kid is still two.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

You didn't keep them out of prison, and they're still going to need braces. So you've been going around and around and around in circles, but God said, today is your day to stop spinning. If your mind has been doing this, I came to preach to you. And the presence of the Lord is in this place, and your Father knows what you need. So stop spinning. Stop worrying about what God is already working on and just worship him. Come on. Take 15 seconds. I know you can't do it all the time, but you're in the right place today. Let's give him praise and honor and glory that our needs are met, for his name is great. That's all worship is.

[Steven Furtick]

You know.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Worship is worry in reverse. See, worry is when I start with my situation, and then I spin round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round. But God said, stop spinning. Instead of starting your meditation with your situation, start with your source. When you know who your Father is, it sends you spinning in a different direction. Come on. I know who he is. I know what he has done, and I know what he's going to do.

[Steven Furtick]

Stop spinning. Find seven people. Tell them, stop spinning. It's not working. Round and round in circles like the Israelites for 43 years. Why are you worried? I would understand it if it was working. I wrote a country song one time. Well, not a whole song, just a chorus. Okay, well, that's never happened before. Yeah, I know. Amber Ler. Father, bless them in the name of Jesus. It's like that. Worry is like that. It's like the. Sometimes it's going off, but you can't do anything about it. Sometimes it's like that. Think about the day we live in, where we're constantly being hit with breaking news. Breaking news. Trump had lunch.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Breaking news. So it's almost impossible for us to.

[Steven Furtick]

Have priorities because we're being fed so much fear. When your Father feeds you, it builds your faith. When you start with who God is, when you start with that. When you start with your source, you end up where you started. If you start with God, you end with God. If you start with fear, you end with fear. If you start with shortage, you end with shortage. If you start with Your situation. You'll be like Elisha's servant in 2 Kings 6. This is a great Old Testament story to illustrate what I'm talking about, because the servant woke up one day and found that the camp was surrounded with the Arameans, who were the enemies. And he woke Elisha up. He's like, o my Lord, what shall we do? That's exactly what the Bible says. And that's exactly what you've been saying, oh, my Lord, I'm surrounded. And now this preacher is talking about birds, lilies, petunias and chrysanthemums. Here I am trying to pay bills and.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

And my mom has Alzheimer's, and this.

[Steven Furtick]

Dude is up here talking about birds. Well, Elisha could have prayed that God would destroy the enemies that were surrounding the camp, but he didn't. He prayed something more powerful. What he said is what I'm praying for us in this game changer series. Because this is the game changer. Not that God takes your enemies away, but that he enables you to see beyond them.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Not that he takes your problems away.

[Steven Furtick]

Way, but that he enables your faith to see beyond them. Now, the first circle is the enemy's, and they were real. But Elisha prayed, lord, open his eyes that he may see. That he may see what? That there are more with us than with them.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

The first circle says, I'm overwhelmed.

[Steven Furtick]

The first circle says, I'm outnumbered. The first circle says, there's nothing I can do. On the surface, this is the truth. But the second circle, when the servant opened his eyes, he saw what had been there all along. There was a host of angel armies surrounding the first circle, and what was on the outside was greater than what was on the inside.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Whatever is surrounding you, God is already surrounding it. So much of our peace is dependent.

[Steven Furtick]

On whether we can perceive the second circle. When you live in the first circle.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

It'S always never enough. If you start with not enough, you end with not enough. If you start with El Shaddai, who is more than enough, you end with more than enough. So reverse your worry. My father knows what I need. I have needs. But I don't start with the need, because if I start with the need, I'm going to end with the need. But if I start with a God who knows what I need, I will end with a God who knows what I need. He is alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

[Steven Furtick]

Reverse your worry. Jesus says, look at the birds, look at the flowers. You are more valuable than them. And yet your Father cares for the Lesser will He not much more take care of you? If God is doing this level of detail, don't you think he has already determined your expected end? If he can do that, surely he can do this. If he did that, he can do this.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

There are some things in my life God did, and if he did that.

[Steven Furtick]

He can do this. This is the second circle, and this is where we have to live. But in order to do it, we'll have to reverse it. Because when we start with shortage, we end with shortage. Time, energy, money, any of it. Jesus says, here's the game changer. One of the most famous verses in scripture, by the way. But now that you've got it in context, I hope it comes alive for you in a new way. He said, if God cares for the lesser, he will take care of the greater. If he takes care of the little, he'll take care of the lot. You're the lot. You're valuable to Him. But you seek first the kingdom and his righteousness. Not your own, not your own ideas and appearances. What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Isn't it funny that we're still posting today, 2,000 years later, about the same stuff Jesus said not to worry about in Palestine? What we ate and what we wore is so circular. We're still worried about the same things. How am I going to make it? How am I going to pay it? How am I going to this and that and the other? My income taxes now went up in a bracket. God blessed me, but now I got more taxes or I'm waiting on God to bless me. And what shall we eat? That's survival. What shall we wear? That's status. We go around in these circles over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. But if I start with the kingdom, God will give me the things.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Seek first his kingdom.

[Steven Furtick]

Give him the scripture verse. I want you to see this. More than see it, I want you to believe it. If you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, all these things, peace will be given to you as well. See, you protect what you prize. Your peace ought to be important to you. But the only way to live in God's peace is to have God's priorities. In my life, every time I have had a lack of peace, it was because something was wrong with my priorities. The reason I can prove that now is because it wasn't the presence of problems that created the absence of peace. Sometimes in the midst of my greatest problems, I had the greatest peace.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

That makes no sense.

[Steven Furtick]

I understand. But it's true nonetheless. In some of the seasons of my greatest problems, I experienced my deepest peace. I think that's because sometimes problems help us to clarify priorities.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

If my priorities. If I don't seek first the kingdom and I'm seeking the things, I will run after all the same things the pagans run after. And it will be like I don't.

[Steven Furtick]

Even have a God in my real life. Thanks, Mom. Somebody give me your phone. Somebody with an iPhone. What is it now? Another way for Apple to get my money by changing the way I charge this stupid device. You're a note taker. Oh, thank God for this guy. Will you send me these when the sermon is over? My notes are terrible. I don't even look at them. They're horrible. Your notes are good.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Oh.

[Steven Furtick]

I'm going to ask you something. If you left your phone at church, would you come back and get it? How about if you left your phone an hour away, would you drive an hour to get it? 2 hours? 3 hours? This phone is important. I'm starting to wonder what you have on this phone. What kind of business transactions. You trust me a lot. Hand me this phone, you come back and get it. But I noticed people will leave their peace just anywhere. And we would run back.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

I see some of you while I'm preaching.

[Steven Furtick]

You can't even sit through a 50 minute message without reaching for your phone.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

You breaking out rashes coming all up on you.

[Steven Furtick]

You can't check your phone. The phone is buzzing. But you'll leave your peace just anywhere. We would put more importance on a possession and we'll go back and get it.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Oh, I lost my phone. I left my phone.

[Steven Furtick]

Like you're not wearing pants out the house or something like that. But you won't even apologize to get your peace back and seek the kingdom. Come get this phone. You have a snap coming through. That's from AA Steph. I don't know who she is. I hope she's cute.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Somebody shout, I want my peace back. The only way for that to happen.

[Steven Furtick]

Is for you to get your priorities straight. Friends and family. This is why I teach tithing. A wave of silence visited the church. When I put God first and I prioritize his purpose in my life. Don't you see that in any area of my life, when I start with God, I end with God. Look, it's not some Old Testament principle. It is a principle that when you trust God, you invest your treasure in.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

The one you trust. So when I say God, this Portion is set aside for you. Guess what? I start my resources spinning in the.

[Steven Furtick]

Direction of God's kingdom, and then I.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Can trust him to take care of my needs. That's why we bring the offering at.

[Steven Furtick]

The end of the year.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

It's about trust. It's about training my heart to trust God. Aren't you sick of spinning like this? Just like the world spins? I mean, really, really, people of God, if we're going to worry like the world worries, how are we going to win the world?

[Steven Furtick]

We worry. Just like.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

I think the distinguishing mark.

[Steven Furtick]

Of the people of God in the.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Day we live in is a supernatural peace that will become so attractive to.

[Steven Furtick]

People in the world that we won't.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Even have to preach to them. They will see our peace and they will want to meet the author of the giver of peace, the Prince of peace, whose name is Jesus.

[Steven Furtick]

In this season, I've been asking God to start me spinning in the right direction. Even the way I start my day, I need to start my day spinning in the right direction. I really don't need to read the news within the first 30 minutes that I'm awake. By the way, there are certain people I don't need to talk to for the first hour I'm at work because they might start me spinning. Tell somebody, stop spinning and learn what the flower learned if I stay planted. Learn what the bird learned if I stay above it, then my God will supply all my needs. Let's give him praise for it today. Come on.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Give him a good praise like you think he deserves, Matthews. Give him the praise you think he's worthy of. How I proved him. Oh, jesus. Jesus, precious jesus. Oh, for grace.

[Steven Furtick]

Now listen. How many of you would say, everyone standing now, no one leaving, please. How many would say, I am a world class worrier like I am an Olympic level worrier? Those of you here, if you could stand. I'm about to pray for people. Thank you. Wave at me if you're a world class worrier. Like they need to write a front page Sports Illustrated about good news. If you are a world class worrier, you have the potential to become a world class worshiper. Because worship is worry in reverse.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

Come on, spin around one good time. If you know God's got this, I'm not looking at tomorrow worried about it. I will be confident in this, that I will see the goodness of the Lord. Come on, take a good spin.

[Steven Furtick]

If you can stay, please stay. I want to pray a blessing over you. 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. I just thought it'd be good to join our faith together today. I really want to treasure these moments, to minister. And that's why I've been asking, hey, if you don't have to leave, if nothing is like going to burn your house or anything like that while we're in here, please stay with us. Because sometimes you hear the word but you don't seal it. You just let the devil take it. Just take it. You just let him take your word and snatch it. And snatch it, but snatch it back. This is a moment for you to take your peace back.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

This is a moment for you to.

[Steven Furtick]

Take your focus back. I want to pray for that. But peace only comes through correct priorities. It's not a feeling, it's a sense of ordering your life. Jesus said if you build your life on the right foundation, you can withstand any storm. I just feel today that as I've been ministering, the spirit of the Lord has been translating my feeble attempts to get this message preached, but putting it in the exact frame where you need to see what God is doing in your life. I want to ask you today if you have been spinning around trying to solve things in your own strength, and you want to still your heart in the presence of God, one thing I love to do is lift my hands to my Father in heaven. Would you do that right now and close your eyes? Oh, you of little faith. When you have a Father who knows how to feed you, you don't have to run to the world for scraps. You have a Father who knows what you need. You can trust your deepest desires are being met in each moment. Greater than the breath that we breathe, greater than the song we sing. The grace of God is in this moment. Holy Spirit, I thank you for this ministry that has gone forth today. I ask that you would now enable it to become active in our lives that not only would we be hearers of the Word, but doers also. And that this week you would show us how to reverse instead of starting with what's wrong, what's missing, what's not, what's gone. We would start with who you are and that the peace of God that transcends all understanding would guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. 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.

[Co-Pastor or Worship Leader]

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[Steven Furtick]

This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.