When The Battle Chooses You

Summary

Podcast Summary: Elevation with Steven Furtick

Episode: When The Battle Chooses You
Date: April 17, 2026
Host: Pastor Steven Furtick
Podcast: Elevation Church, iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

In this compelling episode, Pastor Steven Furtick explores the theme: "What do you do when your battle chooses you?" Drawing inspiration from 2 Chronicles 20, the story of King Jehoshaphat, and the song "I'm Gonna See a Victory," Furtick unpacks what it means to face struggles and challenges that are unexpected, overwhelming, or simply not of your own making. Through personal anecdotes, scriptural analysis, and practical life wisdom, he guides listeners to recognize battles that are "too big" and invites them to give those battles back to God through focus, worship, and surrender.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Scripture Foundation & Context

• Scripture Read: 2 Chronicles 20:17
  "You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you,

Transcript

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[Steven Furtick]

I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. I would like to share with You a verse of Scripture that I pray will go off like a bomb, like the promise that it is. When I read it, a certain number of you. I don't know how many, and I don't know where you are, but a certain number of you are going to know that this one is for you. When I read the verse, I'm not saying it's for everybody, but if it's for you and how you can know if it's for you, if you're currently facing a battle that is bigger than you, then this verse is for you. Today, when I read this verse, it's not for everybody. It's for those who are facing a battle that is bigger than you. The scripture is found in 2 Chronicles, chapter 20. In just a moment, I'll read it. I want to give everybody who wants to turn to it a chance to do that. Rachel. When Rachel is ready, I'll read it. Because she knows the Bible so good, so she hasn't found it by now. I know somebody else is over in galatians looking for two chronicles. You got it. 2017. Listen to this. Are you ready? I don't think you are. This is the word of the Lord. Really? I'm going to minister off of the song we just sang. We were singing I'm going to see a Victory. We were singing Romans 8:28, Genesis 50, 20. One of the major themes of Scripture, how God takes what the enemy meant for evil and he flips the intention of the enemy and actually uses it to produce a purpose through your life. I'm going to minister off of that today. That song went so well with my sermon, it's almost like we planned it. It's almost like I texted LJ Wednesday and told him to do that song before I preached. 2nd Chronicles 20:17. The Word of the Lord. You will not have to fight this battle. Six of y' all.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

All right?

[Steven Furtick]

If you want that to be your word, shout when I read it.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

You will not have to fight this battle. Come on, punch somebody.

[Steven Furtick]

Say, not this one, not this one. You will not have to fight this battle. You will not have to fight this battle. Tell them. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions. Stand firm and see. Stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you. O Judah in Jerusalem. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Don't believe that devil when he tells you there's nothing you can do about it.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Go out to face them tomorrow and

[Steven Furtick]

the Lord will be with you. Let's give God a shout of Praise for his prophecy. You may be seated in the presence of God. I should mention that yesterday marked 17 years since I made the best decision of my life in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, at the old Santee Canal State park, where I said my vows to the Hollyanna Boitnot of my dreams. Sweating through my SNK suit two sizes too big, standing out in the 104 degree low country heat. Eric Phillips was a groomsman sweating. And six ministers stood on the rostrum to share seven different songs we sang. It was quite an occasion. We made a big deal about it and everybody had to endure it. It was a big day. I sang a song to Holly on my Taylor acoustic guitar that I could barely afford that I had written for the occasion. I'm going to write her another song. She doesn't know it yet, but I've already got the chorus and I'm working on it before we get to the 20th anniversary and I'm going to have it ready. It's a good song. It's kind of got a Tom Petty vibe with a little bit of Ed Sheeran. I'm praying that it will help me to unlock the doors of love that I need unlocked in moments of my life where I want affection, attention and intimacy with my wife. So y' all pray for me about that as well. Already got the chorus. Just praying about the verse. So now I think I'm qualified to give marriage advice. 17 years. I have something to say. I'm not ready to do the parenting book yet, but the marriage thing, really, I feel unqualified to give marriage advice because I feel like our marriage is strong mostly because of who I chose. That's the honest truth. I'm not pandering now. I'm telling you the truth. I think selection is so important. I don't mean that God can't take a relationship that starts rocky and turn it into something that is really, really beautiful. Of course he makes beauty out of ashes. That's what he does. But I think I get sometimes credit for things about our marriage that are really just a product of the character of the person I married. One person told me, who has a very psychologically based knowledge, that the healthiest part of me chose Holly. I didn't even know what that meant when they said it, but it sounded true. So I'm saying it to you. When I chose her, I chose a union with her strengths, but I also chose to cover her weaknesses as her husband. And then she chose to cover my weaknesses. I definitely got the good end of it. I promise you that. But the thing about marriage is sometimes it's more helpful to look at an example than it is to listen to advice. Even Jesus loved the church like he wants a husband to love their wife. So it's more of an example than an explanation. People will give you marriage advice or life advice or parenting advice, but they'll give it to you based on ideal situations. The problem with that is when someone is advising you, but they don't know the exact nature of your challenges. They might give you a strategy that worked for them, but it might not work for you. Because every relationship, every challenge, every battle is not created equal. I remember asking so many different couples before our wedding what advice they would give. Mostly you get the same old cliches, the same old tired cliches about never go to bed angry, which I want to say is a horrible, horrible thing to try. Because the best thing to do sometimes is get some rest and come at it fresh in the morning before you say something you regret with your sleep deprived, delirious self, with your filter off. And now you're tired saying stuff you would never say if it wasn't 3am but so go to your corner and come out tomorrow morning. See, I'm saying some of this advice sounds good. Like choose your battles. That's one advice you always get. Choose your battles. Don't fight over everything. Which is great advice. You have to decide in any relationship. This is not a marriage seminar, by the way. I'm just using it for an opening illustration. But you have to decide. Is this really worth waging a war over? Is it really worth if Holly still, after 17 years, doesn't know how to correctly load the silverware in the dishwasher and she thinks it's still okay to put the part of the fork you put in your mouth facing up so that your hand touches the part that's going in your mouth when you get it out the next day? If she really still thinks that makes sense after 17 years, is it really worth fighting about? No, I'm bigger than that. I'm not a petty man. I let it go. So they'll tell you, choose your battles. Let your kids play the music too loud every once in a while. Don't always choose your battles. Don't get tripped up over tiny things. Choose your battles. The question I want to ask today, and I guess you could use it as a title for the message as well, from 2 Chronicles 20, is it's wise to choose your battles when you can. But what do you do when your Battle chooses you. What do you do when something shows up on your doorstep and it's not from Amazon prime and you didn't order it?

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

What do you do when the devil

[Steven Furtick]

drops something off for you to deal with that you did not directly cause? Choose or definitely anticipate. Like Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20, who

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

is told one morning in verse 1, might I add, in a time of

[Steven Furtick]

spiritual renewal for Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel in a time of great momentum spiritually.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

One day, just when everything is going

[Steven Furtick]

good, you know how.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Just when you get something figured out and just when you get in your groove and just when you get in your rhythm and. And here comes some news. The Bible says after this, the Moabites and Ammonites and even some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat.

[Steven Furtick]

Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, I'm not telling them. You tell them. You tell him. We'll all tell him. Let's all tell them together. A vast army is coming against you from Edom from the other side of the sea. This means they're sneaking up from behind. They're going around the Dead Sea and then coming back up to attack the people of God on a little known route because they can't use the normal trade route. So they're sneaking up from behind and they're 25 miles out. That means Jehoshaphat doesn't have time to develop a strategy.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

He doesn't have time to.

[Steven Furtick]

To build the armed forces, to mount a defense.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

He doesn't have time to rethink the

[Steven Furtick]

occasions that led up to this event.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

It's coming and it's coming now. Have you ever got that phone call, that text message?

[Steven Furtick]

That moment in time where something is

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

sneaking up on you and it's only a day's march away? That means I have to deal with it tomorrow. I don't have time to read a book. I don't have time to watch a TED Talk. I don't have time to get my nutrition in my sleep. I. This one caught me off guard. This one slapped me upside the head. This one left my ear ringing. This one I can't even believe is happening. This one, I'm not even really sure if it's real yet. This one I don't have time to call 12 people about. This one, I don't have time to get everybody's opinion. This one, I don't have time to get everybody's advice. So watch what Jehoshaphat did. He said, I don't have time for all that. So I have to go to God. There's something about a surprise attack that will drive you into the presence of God. There's something about the one you didn't see coming that will make you run to the place you should have run to all along.

[Steven Furtick]

I'm getting ahead of myself. But it said they were coming and they were already in Ein Gedi. So the response of the king is urgent. It says in verse three. He was alarmed, but yet he resolved. I really like that. I really like that. He had a determination to seek the Lord even in the face of an unexpected attack. He had made up his mind who he would go to before he even knew what would come against him. Of course, he didn't always respond this way. Nobody does.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Come on. Nobody does.

[Steven Furtick]

Oh, man. This is so difficult to get across to hypocritical Christians who always want to act like they always sought the Lord and prayed about everything. Like you always prayed in tongues. Like you always lifted your hands, like you always prostrated yourself before the holiness of His Majesty, the great Jehovah who fights your battles. No, Jehoshaphat hooked up with Ahab and almost got himself killed two chapters ago because it seemed like the right strategy when they wanted to attack a strategic city. The wicked King Ahab. And you might recognize his name from the prophetic account of Elijah. That's the one Elijah went to. And he was like, hey, it's not going to rain until I say so. The heavens are going to be like a voice activated shower system, and until I say so, it's not going to rain. That was Ahab. He said that to. So Jehoshaphat got with that same king and went out to do what seemed smart. And they almost got killed. In fact, Ahab did get killed. The prophet Micaiah tried to tell him that these false BAAL prophets, what they're telling you is what you want to hear, but it's not what you need to hear. If you go into that battle, you're going to get yourself hurt. He did, and he barely made it out because he fought the wrong battle.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Have you ever barely made it out

[Steven Furtick]

because you fought a battle you weren't supposed to fight? One time my father in law were driving. It was actually on the day of my wedding 17 years ago, we passed a couple who on the side of the road were fighting physically. But the interesting thing about it was the man was in a headlock and the woman seemed to have the situation firmly in control.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

I didn't see that until when I pulled the car over, I was going

[Steven Furtick]

to get out and help because I thought the man was beating up on the woman. But when I saw that the woman was taking care of the man, I figured just praise God for his sovereignty, that he knows what's best. Apparently this woman doesn't need my help.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

So I just drove off. But my father in law said, why did you stop?

[Steven Furtick]

I said I was going to get out and help. He said, no, no, no. Never get in a fight between a man and his woman because you'll step

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

in to help them.

[Steven Furtick]

And then if you step into their

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

fight and it's not your fight, but you get in the middle of it, they'll turn around and both start fighting you. It's good life advice. Don't try to take on a fight

[Steven Furtick]

that's not your fight.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

You might find out when you take on a fight that's not your fight,

[Steven Furtick]

you might find out that the surest way for you to get yourself in

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

trouble is for you to take on a battle that doesn't belong to you. This is why Christians don't always need to share their opinion on every subject

[Steven Furtick]

that is presented as a cultural issue. You have to choose your battles and to know God.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

This is what Jehoshaphat wanted to know. Is this my battle? Is, is this my fight? Is this something I need to be involved in? Is this something I'm called to do? You'd be shocked how many people through the years have tried to get me to be more political from my pulpit, but that's not my fight. I vote. I'm involved. I lead thousands of people to make a difference in our community. I built something that represents and reflects unity to a broken, fragmented world. And we do it together every six days and through the week.

[Steven Furtick]

But you have to be very careful that you don't expend all of your

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

energy fighting battles that are not yours, and then you don't have any energy

[Steven Furtick]

left for the battles that are yours.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Now you've gotten so tired leaving comments on Facebook posts with people you don't know in Idaho that you don't have any strength to engage with the people who live in your own house. I'm not trying to run the White House. I'm trying to run my house. And I have my hands full. I have three people in my house who are dependents.

[Steven Furtick]

You got to know when you're wearing yourself out swinging at stuff that's not even yours to fight. I'm bad about this. Sometimes it's as if I don't have enough drama for my own self. So I start trying to control other people. You know how you can tell if you're fighting the wrong battles? If you are trying to control others, you're fighting the wrong battle. You can't control others past a certain point. You can only manipulate short term behavioral results. But you can't change somebody's heart. That's why even the New Testament says as much as it is possible with you live at peace with all men. There comes a point where the peace of another person is not your responsibility. Your peace is your responsibility. There comes a point where you have to say, that's not my battle. I've done all I can do, but that's not my battle. In fact, let me give you a great little line to use. The next time somebody tries to draw you into some gossip or draw you into some drama, they'll usually say, what

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

do you think about so and so? Have you heard about so and so? What do you think about?

[Steven Furtick]

People ask me this all the time about another ministry.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

What do you think about so and so?

[Steven Furtick]

I learned this from an older minister. They taught me what to say, what

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

do you think about?

[Steven Furtick]

And here's what you say back. I don't.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

It will work for a variety of situations.

[Steven Furtick]

It can work for a situation you're

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

ignorant about and you only read headlines.

[Steven Furtick]

So you really don't have anything to say because we can't trust the information we're given.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

It can work about Donald Trump, it

[Steven Furtick]

can work about Kanye west.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

It can work about somebody else that drops their kid off at school next to you and they're having trouble in their marriage. What do you think about so and so?

[Steven Furtick]

I don't.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

My heart is a full time drama factory. I do not need to borrow drama from anybody else's personal life. I have my own drama. Byod, bring your own drama. I have enough. You brought your own drama to church without judging somebody else from what you think about them from 10 seconds of their life compared to the entirety of it. I don't have time for it. Jehoshaphat didn't run around looking at what

[Steven Furtick]

other people were doing.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

He went to seek the Lord. He went to inquire of the Lord. This is not just some glib prayer.

[Steven Furtick]

This is not just getting some feeling

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

and going with it and calling it God. This isn't just slapping a scripture verse on something you wanted to do anyway so you can blame it on God when it doesn't work out. This is really seeking the Lord. In fact, the Bible says he was shaken, but he wasn't.

[Steven Furtick]

Maybe I should say it this way. He was shocked, but he wasn't shook. Whoa. Didn't see this coming. Ammon, Moab and the Edomites. That's three of them. I could fight one, but there are three of them. It's bigger than me, and it's coming up from behind me. Do you have something bigger than you that came up from behind you? Jehoshaphat's prayer is interesting because he's praying about Ammon, Moab and the Edomites from Mount Seir. But we have three different enemies. We got the world, the flesh, and the devil. That's from one John. That's your enemy. The world, the flesh, and the devil. That's the values that oppose your purpose. The world, the flesh. That's the patterns that oppose your purpose. And the devil. That is the principality that opposes your purpose. I could fight one, but how do I fight the devil when I'm fighting my own flesh? How do I fight the world when actually there's a part of me that wants to do it like the world? I could fight one, but I can't fight them all, and they're bigger than me, and it's coming up from behind.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

How do I raise kids in a culture where the information of the history

[Steven Furtick]

of the universe is in their pocket?

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

How do I have a sex talk

[Steven Furtick]

with kids when they don't have to

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

go to a gas station to see pornography? They can do it right beside their Bible lap.

[Steven Furtick]

The nature of the battle determines the nature of the strategy.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

When you don't understand the nature of

[Steven Furtick]

the battle, you will not understand the nuance of the strategy.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

So you will fight the battle not understanding the dynamics of the battle. And you will lose the battle because you will wrestle with on the wrong level. Can I preach a little bit today? It's for 50 people. You are facing something that snuck up from behind. You didn't see this coming, and it's bigger than you. I don't know which one to fight next.

[Steven Furtick]

When you understand the nature of the battle, you can understand the nature of the strategy. That's why I have to ask God. Jehoshaphat resolved to seek the Lord. That means he involved the priests, the Levites, and they got together and he got surrounded by the right people.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

He's not going to Ahab this time.

[Steven Furtick]

He's not asking all his friends what they think about it.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

This time.

[Steven Furtick]

He's not looking for celebrity culture to influence his decisions. This time he's going to the right place, but he doesn't have a plan. I want you to see his prayer because it will help you if you're facing a battle that is bigger than you and it snuck up from behind you every day this week, I want you to open your Bible to 2 Chronicles 23 and following, read what Jehoshaphat prayed and then pray it.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Verse 5 says out loud.

[Steven Furtick]

I want you to pray this every day this week. If you're fighting a battle that is bigger than you and it snuck up

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

from behind you, get in God's face

[Steven Furtick]

this week for a few minutes every day and pray this prayer.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of

[Steven Furtick]

the Lord in the front of the new courtyard. This is Solomon's temple.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

This is the one they dedicated to God. This is the one where God promised to pour out his presence for any problem you face. He starts reminding God of what God said. O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? I love this man because he has already shifted his focus from what is coming against him to the one who reigns above him. O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand and no one can withstand you. O our God. Did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel? Remind God of what he has already

[Steven Furtick]

done when you're not sure what he's doing right now.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Not so he can remember, but so you can. Come on, you need to remember. This is not your first rodeo, cowboy. This is not the first time time you cry. This is not the first time you were short of breath. This is not the first time you didn't see a way clear. This is not the first time you were hurt. This is not the first time your heart was broken. This is not the first time you didn't have enough money. This is not the first diagnosis that came up from behind. Did you not do it before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham, your friend? Watch this. He said you gave it forever. Since you gave it forever, it can't stop now since you promised to fulfill your purpose. No enemy from Ammon, no enemy from Moab, no enemy from Mount Seir, no Edomite can take it away.

[Steven Furtick]

When he says it on one hand he's praising God, but it almost sounds like he's blaming God. Notice the tome. It shifts in verse 8. They have lived in it and have built in it a sanctuary for your name. Saying, if calamity comes upon us, whether the sword or judgment or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your name and will cry out to you in our distress. And you will hear us and save us. But now, God, Great God, Respectfully King, sir, the righteous one. But now, here are men from Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir whose territory you

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

would not allow Israel to invade when

[Steven Furtick]

they came from Egypt. Uh oh. Jehoshaphat said, this is not my fault.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Now, last time when I hooked up

[Steven Furtick]

with Ahab, that's on me. But this one, this one, we're doing

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

the best we can.

[Steven Furtick]

This one, we're praying in the temple.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

This one, we were acting according to the wisdom we had for the situation we were in. This one, nobody really knew how to do it. This one, we couldn't have prevented by obedience.

[Steven Furtick]

This one is different. You're going through something right now that's a little different. Sure, you have sin and you have things you need to repent of, and I do, too. If you dare look at me with an angelic face when I say that, I promise I will prophesy and God will show me something about your life you do not want on these imag screens, I'll do it. But this one, this battle, this coalition, is three enemies. They joined up to fight me. The whole reason they're even here is because when Moses led the people out of Egypt, you told him he couldn't

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

drive them out because they were the relatives of Esau. That's who the Edomites were. They were the descendants of Esau. Esau was the son of Isaac.

[Steven Furtick]

He wasn't his favorite son, but he

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

was still his son. He gave away his birthright, but he was still his son. Isaac was the son of Abraham. Abraham was God's friend. God did not let the Israelites drive out somebody that belonged to his friend. When you have a friend who knows how to fight, it will make you confident. When you have a friend who knows how to fight. I remember this kid we used to pick on in fourth grade called Eric Pye. But then Eric Pye made friends with Harry Walker. Eric Pye couldn't fight, but Harry Walker could. Harry Walker was 17 with chest hair in the fourth grade. Harry Walker had a prison record. In the fourth grade, Harry Walker said, you pick on him, you pick on me. Look at somebody confident and say, you fight me, you got to fight my friend. This is a bold message. This is to know it might be bigger than me, but it's not bigger Than God.

[Steven Furtick]

I'm going to calm down.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

You wouldn't let us drive them out. We would have done it, but you wouldn't let us.

[Steven Furtick]

This is not our. What do you have to do when you fight a battle that's not your fault. Sometimes you fight against things that are in your genetics, but you still have to figure out what to do about that battle. When it's that deep, it's that strong, sometimes you fight against things that other people did. If you go into shame and you're like, well, I take responsibility for my part, that's good. But it's tricky because before long, shame will drive you out of the presence of God, which is what you need when you're in a situation, even if you created it. So it's tricky because you can find yourself in a battle and you can say, well, I can't expect God's help in this situation because it was created by my hand. But Jehoshaphat is transcending all of that with his prayer. And he says, o Lord, our God, we belong to you. We are your possession. When we came into this land so many years ago, you would not let us drive out these enemies. They're bigger than us and they came up from behind us. We're not to blame for this battle. And yet here it is

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

now.

[Steven Furtick]

Verse 11. O Lord our God, see how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. Now let me put this in here. I'm just going with the spirit today. I haven't opened my notes. I have it in my heart. I'm preaching spirit to spirit today for whoever needs to receive it. God gave me this word before I gave you this word for the battles I face that are bigger than me. He said, see how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us. Now, if it's God who gave it, then it's God to protect it. That's about possession. It's not about how much power you have. It's about possession. If you are God's possession and you are stewarding something he gave you to possess, then it's not a matter of how much power you have that determines what happens next in this battle. When it's God's possession, it's God's problem. I don't want to cry telling you this. If it hits your heart that if it's God's possession, it's God's problem, then you realize you are his treasure, you are his possession.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

You are his daughter. You are his son. You are his friend. And your friend knows how to fight. It gives you the confidence, O our God.

[Steven Furtick]

Will you not judge them?

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

For we have no power to face

[Steven Furtick]

this vast army that is attacking us. It's bigger than us.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

It came up from behind us. We can't do it.

[Steven Furtick]

We do not know what to do.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

If you're there right now, raise your right hand. I do not know know what to do. I don't know how to fight. I don't know how to fix it. I can't control what comes against me. But our eyes are upon you. God says if you will change the focus, he will win the fight if you will change the focus and stop looking at how big it is, but start praising him for how great he is. Help is on the way. 13. All the men of Judah with their wives and children and little ones stood there before the Lord. Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jahazael, son of Zechariah, the son of Benaniah, the son of Jael, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and a descendant of Asaph as he stood in the assembly. Why did you read all those names, Pastor Steven? Why didn't you skip over that? That's not important to the story. It absolutely is. Because every name that was represented represented a generation. God was faithful in. It meant that every single time God got ready to pass his purpose to another generation, he didn't drop it. And he won't drop it now. And it won't stop with you. And you won't lose the battle.

[Steven Furtick]

Unless you lose your focus. It's not about your power. It's about your position. Can I show you? You have, like, 10 more minutes. I'm so thankful that that prophet stood up and said what he said, because, you know, everybody was starting to get ready to fight, and you know if they had fought, they would have lost. Isn't that the craziest thing? It's ironic. If they had fought, they would have lost. When you don't understand the nature of the battle you're in, you use the wrong strategy. Some of us are losing because we are fighting on the wrong level. To unpack it, I could use Ephesians 6:12. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but that's what we fight against, flesh and blood. We fight every battle physically, we fight people.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

We even fight people that are trying

[Steven Furtick]

to help us because we're insecure.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

We fight the battle to protect our

[Steven Furtick]

ego and to protect our pride.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Then we lose the battle in our spirit. Because we were more concerned about protecting

[Steven Furtick]

our pride than we were about receiving

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

God's power and his help and his provision in our lives.

[Steven Furtick]

I was talking to somebody this week and they were saying all kinds of crazy stuff to me. And the Lord said, not this one. Don't fight this one. Learn the 20%. He's saying, that's true. Keep your mouth shut. Save your energy for the real battle. Sometimes I see a comment on Instagram about my preaching or my shoes or something like that, and the Lord says, not this one. Because if you convince a fool, all you have for a friend is a fool.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Not this one.

[Steven Furtick]

I watched the movie about Jackie Robinson, 42, and there was a scene in the movie where the owner was telling him, we're going to put you in the system and hopefully get you to Brooklyn to play professional baseball. But there's one problem. What are you going to do when they're screaming racist threats in your face? What are you going to do when they attack you at every stop? What are you going to do when they push you to the breaking point? He jumped up in the depiction in the movie. I don't know if this happened in real life, but I like to think it did. He said, what do you want a player who doesn't have the guts to fight? He looked back at him and said,

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

no, I want a player who has

[Steven Furtick]

the guts not to fight back. Here's the message. Sometimes it takes more faith not to fight back.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Sometimes it takes more faith to just let God be God and be great in your situation. Because if you manipulate it, you're going to mess it up. If you start plucking tares, you're going to pull up wheat. Sometimes it takes more faith to let God sort it out.

[Steven Furtick]

The prophet said, you have to understand

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

the nature of the battle to understand the strategy. This is why we don't fight much in our marriage. After 17 years, it's not because we don't disagree, but we understand.

[Steven Furtick]

It's not me against her, it's me

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

and her against it. If we thought it was me against her, we would fight each other. But we have to line up on the same side of this problem or we're going to lose this battle. One time when we were first, maybe a year and a half married, there came across our desk a bill for $3,000.

[Steven Furtick]

And I didn't have $3,000.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Not just laying around.

[Steven Furtick]

I didn't have it.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

So I did what I do when I'm afraid.

[Steven Furtick]

I got angry. Did you hear me when I'm afraid. I get angry because the anger is

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

a camouflage for the fear, which makes me feel vulnerable.

[Steven Furtick]

So I have to get angry because

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

that makes me look strong. Because on the inside, I feel weak. I was yelling at Holly about the bill. It was only 70% her fault. In the middle of yelling, I saw her countenance change. I'm not saying this excuses me yelling.

[Steven Furtick]

I should have been more grown up.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

But she realized in that moment, he's not fighting me. He's not mad at me. He's scared about this. If I can help him fight his fear, we can fix this together. But if you wrestle at the wrong level, you'll wear yourself out fighting it where it shows up. But where it shows up is not where it started. So if you have somebody and they have an addiction, you can't counsel them to win against addiction with willpower. It's not a matter of willpower, it's a matter of worship. Something in their life has started meeting the needs only God alone can meet. If you don't show them that God can meet those same needs that alcohol can, that God can meet those same needs that pornography can, that God can meet those same needs as overspending, overeating can. If you don't fix the worship problem, you can't win it with willpower. Am I right about it? So you have to fight with a focus. Touch. Three people say focus. Fight with a focus.

[Steven Furtick]

The prophet said, this is not even about you, so don't be afraid. If it's too big for you, don't be afraid. This is what the Lord says to you. You got it on the screen. Verse 15. Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged. Don't back down. Don't get in your own head and try to figure it out. You can't figure this one out. If you fight it, you're going to lose it. If you try to meet the righteous requirements of the law in your own strength. And don't let the power of Christ flow through you and the Holy Spirit direct you. You are going to keep losing the battles because you are wrestling on the

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

level of what you can see. But it is not against flesh and blood. It's spiritual.

[Steven Furtick]

He said, don't be afraid for this vast army. Vast army is the phrase they used when they were just saying it's too big for you. I know it's too big for you, but the battle is not yours, it's God's. When I say this, I want you to receive it like if it was just for you. If it's too big, it doesn't belong to you. If it's too big, you have to give it back to God. We say the battle is the Lord's, but we stress like it's ours. We say the battle is the Lord's, but we worry like it's ours.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Now we've wasted all of our strength

[Steven Furtick]

worrying when we could have been worshiping.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

The battle is not yours. Give it back.

[Steven Furtick]

Quit doing God's job for him. God wants his battle back.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

God wants his battle back. It's too big for you. It came up from behind you. You can't do it. Give it back.

[Steven Furtick]

You can't fight it.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Give it back. You can't figure it out. God, give it back. How do you give it back? That's a focus that's looking beyond what's coming against you and looking toward what is within you. To know that greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. And God wants his battle back. The battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow, I want you to march down against them.

[Steven Furtick]

I want you to march down against an enemy. You're not even going to have to fight. I want you to get in position

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

not so that you can fight, not so that you can struggle, but so

[Steven Furtick]

you can see the deliverance the Lord

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

will bring about to Israel this day. God is fighting for Judah. God is fighting for worshipers. God is fighting for praisers. God is fighting for his people. God is fighting for you. You're his friend. You get his help. You get his strength. You get his miracles. You get his wisdom. You get his provision. You get his angels. If you worship,

[Steven Furtick]

you wage the war of worship. It's too big for me.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

What do you do when the battle chooses you? You worship your way through it.

[Steven Furtick]

Now, that sounds good, but it feels stupid. Here they come. Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

They were all big in their own right and they're all fighting together. So how are you going to fight them? What are we going to do? Jehoshaphat?

[Steven Furtick]

What are we going to do about this situation? What are we going to do about it? The prophet said, you will not have to fight this battle, but you're going to experience the victory not by fighting, but by focusing.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

If they would have fought, they would

[Steven Furtick]

have lost, but because they focused on the goodness of God. Do you know what they did? I love this scripture. I think this scripture is a beautiful illustration and picture of the weapons of our warfare that pull down strongholds in our lives. It says, Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all the people

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in

[Steven Furtick]

worship before the Lord. Then some Levites. Some Levites, the one who administered the Levitical law, the priestly law from the Kohathites and Korahites, stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Why?

[Steven Furtick]

Because early in the morning, they left for the desert of Tekoa.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and

[Steven Furtick]

said, listen to me, Judah. Judah means praise. And people of Jerusalem, have faith in the Lord your God, and you will be upheld.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

It's fight or flight time. It's fight or flight.

[Steven Furtick]

But when you can't win the fight

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

and you can't run from it. Watch this.

[Steven Furtick]

This is amazing. They didn't have to fight it, but they did have to face it.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

God wants to give you the faith

[Steven Furtick]

to face it and to trust him to fight it. Do you have the faith not to

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

fight it in your flesh, but to die? Deal with it in your spirit? Jesus told Peter, put your sword away. Sometimes it takes more faith not to fight. Sometimes it takes more faith just to go to the cross and get over your pride and get over yourself and let him fight your battles.

[Steven Furtick]

But what they did next is remarkable, especially considering the enemies were standing right in their face. The scripture says after consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord. Singing is a strange strategy to fight three nations all at once. But sometimes the battle is so big, you know, I can't fight this. I always thought this scripture meant that when you're in trouble, you should sing. But some people can't carry a tune, and they don't like music. Now I realize that the passage isn't about music. It's about focus. I want you to look past your enemy. I want you to sing. It says that Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness. Let's focus on him. Let's focus on what's right about God rather than what's wrong with our life. If you will focus on that. If you will look past what's standing in front of you that's bigger than you and look to the God who is bigger than it and praise him for the splendor of his holiness. As they went out at the head of the army saying, give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

Give thanks to the Lord. I wonder, are there any praisers from the tribe of Judah who are willing to use gratitude as a strategy for the battle I'm in and magnify the Lord. In the middle of the battle,

[Steven Furtick]

As they began to sing in praise, the Lord set ambushes against their enemies and they were defeated by the angel armies of God.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

God is going to fight what you can see by sending what you can't see. I declare an ambush against insecurity, an ambush against addiction, an ambush against depression, an ambush against the darkness in your life.

[Steven Furtick]

Watch this and I'm going to pray for you. The men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the men of Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. The enemy started eliminating the enemy. That's what happens when you let God fight your battles.

[Steven Furtick (Alternate Voice or Emphasis)]

He's going to use everything that came against you. He's going to use everything the enemy meant for evil. He's going to use a cross to create a space for a resurrection. For the glory of the Lord is in this place. Give him a shout of praise.

[Steven 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 for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it with your friends. You can click the share button, take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us LevationChurch. Thanks again for listening. God bless you.

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