God Knows What You Need Pastor Steven Furtick

When we come to Christ, there's often an expectation, unrealistic expectation,

that he's going to take away our needs.

And he doesn't.

In fact, if you are a Christian, you still have

the same needs now that you did before you met Jesus.

The same needs, but they are now met in a

different way. In other words, you still have the same

need for approval. But now, instead of trying to get

it from another human who doesn't even fully like themselves,

you are getting it from the all-sufficient, all-knowing, all-seeing, ever-present,

ever-living God who gives you breath. And who intricately knit

you together in your mother's womb. So it's not that

I don't have needs. It's not that I don't have wants.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

That doesn't mean I never want anything, never need anything.

It doesn't mean my appetite went away. It just means

I go to a different buffet now. Amen.

That means I eat off a different menu now.

And sometimes we are so focused on people's behaviors that

we can't discern the needs that drive the behaviors. And

a lot of Christian teaching and preaching is focused on

condemning behaviors without understanding the need. There is no need

that you are currently meeting in your life that is

an evil need or a bad need. And many of

us who have various addictions need to hear this exact point.

And maybe you can even leave after I say this

because this may be the whole reason God brought you here.

You're not meeting the wrong need. You're just meeting it

with the wrong means. This applies to overspending, overeating, overtalking, overbragging,

and yes, I hear you Facebook, oversharing. It applies to

every sexual addiction. There's a certain shame that comes with

sexual addiction, but there shouldn't be because all the addiction

is is a valid need trying to express itself. It's

a need for connection, which is.

Very good and very God. It is not good for

man to be alone.

But loneliness, if left untreated, becomes lust.

That's all lust is.

Is the need for connection being met through something that

has no ability to satisfy the need that it is

trying to meet.

So it becomes more and more and more and more

and more.

And Paul says, my God shall supply all your needs

or meet all of your needs, not according to your resources,

but according to his.

And I'm glad about it.

I'm glad that the only one who has what I

need happens to be the only one who knows what

I need.

How many are glad about that?

Let's give God five seconds of praise for knowing what

we need and for being what we need. The Lord

is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear? The Lord is.

The strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Listen, Blakeney.

When the wicked, even my enemies, came upon me, even

they stumbled and fell. He prepares a table for me

in the presence of my enemy. No, he doesn't take

the need away. He becomes what I need. He meets

my need. Some of us are waiting for God to

remove the need, but if he removed the need.

He would.

Remove the means by which he meets the need to

remind you that he is what I need. He not

only gives it, he is it. Let's back up a

little bit and let's talk about your need meter.

You know, spell it different. If we spell it like this.

Not that meters, but the other one. Need meter meter. Like,

how needy are you? Like, what's your meter read? If

we could read the meter on your need today, if

it was right there on your forehead when you came

in the house of God, what would we see if

we could read your meter? What if we could read

your joy meter today? Not your happy meter. Happy meter

might be just caffeine. Starbucks can make you happy. And

And yet there's this joy, this contentment, it's described in

the scripture. Oh, don't let people smile confuse you, because

some people's bone structure is.

Just arranged in their face. They look like they're smiling, okay?

Some people just have, you know, resting blessed face. And

they just look happy, but it's covering up a lot

of stuff.

Don't worry about that.

I'm saying like, The thing that we can't see, if

we could see it, if you had a piece meter

on your forehead today and we could see your piece meter,

would it be like, or would it be like the

gas gauge of a 16 year old who fills up

$ 5 at a time, you know, filling up $ 5 at

a time, a click at a time, a like at

a time, a comment at a time, because here's what

I've learned.

About this.

When joy is low, usually it's because entitlement is high.

That's why the most joyful book in the Bible, according

to many, was written in a prison cell, because Paul

has come to the point where he says, I don't

need it.

I don't need it. He really means it. It's not like,

The one preacher who got up, you know, I don't

preach for the praise of men.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

He's really he's he's really found a place.

He's really found a place of freedom from what he

thinks he deserves. And once he set free from what

he thinks he deserves and what he expected it to be.

Oh, that's good. That's good.

God just gave me that for this particular worship experience.

I didn't say it any other time. Once he's set

free from what he expected, he can receive what he needs.

And sometimes what blocks.

Us from receiving what we need is what we expected

we would get. And when it doesn't show up like

we expected, we can't receive what we need. Can I

move a little deeper into this teaching?

You good? Okay.

Find Acts chapter 16. If you can find it in

Acts 16 · chapter mention

your Bible or if you want to look it up

on your phone. I always have a backup plan on

the screen for you, just in case. In case it

was hectic getting out of the house.

It'll come up on the screen.

And so God does something unusual in Acts 16 as

Paul is taking the gospel out. And you have to

understand that Paul isn't writing the principles in Philippians in

a vacuum. He's writing them in the context of Historical

relationship with people in a church and he loved them

and he's right and saying thanks Got the gift gonna

use it don't need it What i'm excited about is

how god is going to use your gift to bless

you That's what he's saying And it goes all the

way back to how he met them to begin with

And how many would say that some people in your

life right now don't understand you properly because they don't

know your background And they expect you to be farther

along in certain areas, but you're like, if you only

knew how good I'm doing to even be as far

along as I am.

I mean, I still cuss, but I used to beat people.

And why I think we really do, Philippians... 419 a

disservice is because we strip it of its context. So

I thought we needed to look at this real quick

to understand the stuff we shout over. My God will

meet all your needs according to his glorious riches.

And I'm sad, but that verse sounds great. So I'm

going to shout over top of my sadness. It's because

we don't understand the means. We don't understand the means.

So let's go back several years earlier.

Paul is is trying to get somewhere, verse 7, when

they came to the border of Mycenae.

He's got Timothy with him.

And they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of

Jesus would not allow them to.

Wouldn't allow them to what? Wouldn't allow them to preach

about Jesus. Jesus stopped his own PR campaign.

That's very, very, very unusual. Very difficult for me to

get my mind around until I get to the the

next verses. Sometimes you do not understand at all what

God is doing in the moment. Graham is so funny.

We were coming to church today, and a lot of

our staff kids went to camp last week. We had

a staff advance last week, and I was sharing with

the staff all week, and it was just a family

event and family affair. Graham got to play Joseph in

a skit in a small group at camp So he

had the story of Joseph, the Old Testament Joseph, on

his mind.

And they sent me a.

Video of him down on the ground when Potiphar's wife

is accusing Joseph. uh potiphar's wife is called hot of

her and um she was accused she was accusing him

of of trying to make advances and graham was on

the ground saying no i didn't do it but grandma

asked me something he said do you think when the

bible says god was with joseph you think joseph felt

that way at the time i don't know it doesn't

say how he felt it states the fact after the

fact But you can't really know what God is doing

until he's done it. And you don't really know what

you need until you get what you want and find

out it isn't even what you thought it was. So

Paul wants to go to Asia, blocked. Paul wants to

go to Mycenae, blocked. And he does something that you

got to learn to do when you don't know what

to do. Instead of going home, he goes into the

place of active waiting. It means, God, I'm not just

waiting for you to do something. I'm waiting on you.

Like we used to not call them servers.

It was waiters. I'm waiting on you. God, what would

you like me to do in this season?

So I'm praying for a new job, but I'm being

nice at this one.

Y'all don't want to help me preach.

I'm praying for my kids' behavior to improve, but I'm

not going to exemplify the exact behavior that I'm trying

to correct by going off on them and demonstrating anger

while I'm trying to correct anger.

I'm actively waiting. And this place is called Troas.

Bible says that since they couldn't get into Mycenae, they

went down to Troas. This is a place of transition.

It's a port city. Asia Minor one side.

Europe on the other. Where are we going? What's God doing?

I don't know, but I'm not going home. I don't know,

but I'm not giving up. I don't know, but I'm

not losing sight. I don't know, but I'm not going

to go into despair.

I don't know. I don't know.

I mean, I thought it was God and I thought

it was this and I moved to Charlotte or I

moved to Raleigh or I moved to Winston and I

had this idea and I had this plan, but God's

purpose is greater than my plan.

So I am in the place.

I'm positioned to hear God's voice and God speaks to

Paul in that place.

God speaks to Paul.

I believe he's going to speak to somebody here today too.

During the night, verse nine, not in the daytime when

everything is pretty and you can see what you're doing

during the night. This is a theme in scripture. Some

of the greatest stuff God will show you will be

when you can't see with your eyes and when you

can't feel with your emotions and you can't understand with

your mind. During the night, Paul had a vision of

a man A man of Macedonia, this big region in Europe,

with people who were not yet reached by the gospel.

There were a lot of Jewish people in Macedonia, but

not many believers yet, and certainly no church. And now

I understand why God told Paul no. Because God knew

the real need. The plans of a man are in

his heart. But his steps are ordered by the Lord.

God has a purpose and you have a plan. And

sometimes he has to do away with one to get

to the other. I'm preaching right to your heart today.

Trying to get you to see this vision that Paul saw.

It was a man of Macedonia. A what of Macedonia?

A man of Macedonia standing.

And begging him.

Come over to Macedonia and help us.

Paul was looking for an opportunity. God showed him a need.

Could it be possible that you've been asking.

God for an opportunity and God is showing it to

you in the form of your greatest need? Would you

be willing to receive that maybe the way God is

speaking to you in this season is.

Not by what you feel And not by what you think.

And not even by what you want.

When you try to figure out your life and how

others should act and how it needs to be. Have

you got to the place like Paul where you say,

I don't know what I really need. I need you

to lead me, God. Somebody say, lead me, Lord. I

don't want to lean on my own understanding. I need

God to lead me. I don't need to lean on

what I think I need because I'll think I need

one thing when I really need another. That's how I

gained weight when we got married. I thought I needed

an Oreo and I really needed exercise.

Sometimes we think we need food.

We really need a nap.

Sometimes we think we need another person.

What we really need to do is pray and ask

God to get.

Our minds right. Sometimes we think we.

Need people to treat us different when what we really

need is to see people Not as trees for us

to pick the fruit from But for soil for us

to sow in and God speaks to Paul and says you.

Want an opportunity here it is.

And it's in the form of a need God is

trying to lead you through your need and my God

I will meet all your needs.

How? With a need. God is God. He meets needs

with needs.

He's better than Christian mingle.

God is a matchmaker. He's better than farmers only and

Christian farmers only and God is.

In the business of meeting needs with needs. Has your

joy been low lately? Has your focus been off?

Maybe God is going to show you

a need that you can meet so that you can

see what you had all along.

That you have not been using. Hey, thanks for watching.

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