God is calling you to stop surviving and start thriving today. This is an excerpt from “It’s Mine To Manage.” To watch the full message from @elevationchurch, click here: 
• Are you managing your miracle? | Game… #faith #peace #hope #stevenfurtick #elevationchurch Chapters: 0:00 – It’s Different In The Middle 2:17 – Why Joy Stops Flowing & Faith Stops Growing 4:21 – When Your Perspective Begins To Shift 7:02 – You’ve Stopped Telling The Story 9:37 – How You Forget What God Has Done 11:42 – It’s Yours To Manage
it’s different when you’re in the middle
of it huh it’s it’s different when
you’re raising your kids believing that
they’re receiving the values that you’re
trying to impart to them because when
you are teaching your kids
responsibility they do not thank you and
recognize you for being a voice of
wisdom and an encouraging force of good
in their lives it’s different when
you’re in the middle of it and see the
reason that we can sometimes look at the
biblical miracle and experience them and
celebrate them is because we know how
they end but it’s it’s different when
you’re in the middle of it it’s it’s
different when you’re in the middle of
it when you’re having to stand in the
middle of something and say no God I I
know that you’re faithful and I know
that you’re good but I don’t feel that
you’re faithful and I don’t feel that
you’re good right now that’s called a
sacrifice of praise that’s where you
have to dig somewhere deeper than your
feelings or your knowledge or your
certainty or your
circumstance or your bank
account God show me how to manage the
middle I have a hard time with that I
don’t have a hard time being excited
about the
beginning and I I don’t have a hard time
celebrating the end but this
middle teach me how to manage the middle
oh o um one of my best friends pastors a
big church and they had three years
where they didn’t grow in fact they they
went
backward I said what was the problem in
those three years when you didn’t grow
he said middle
management we got so
large the organization got so big that
there was a lair of people in the middle
who started to block the values that
were a part of the organization in the
early days and it was middle management
it wasn’t the people that were executing
the job it wasn’t the the the vision had
changed it was what happened in the
middle that almost cost us the momentum
of what God was doing I wonder is that
how it happens in our
lives I wonder if sometimes the reason
that Joy stops flowing the reason that
Faith stops growing the reason that
sometimes we lose our sense of
perspective Ive about who God is is it’s
not the end it’s not the beginning it’s
middle management we don’t know how to
manage the middle we don’t know how to
deal with Monday so we Shout good on
Sunday but I need a sermon I need an MMA
sermon I need some Monday morning
application I need something to help me
manage this middle because I’m not
fighting the devil on Sunday morning I’m
fighting him on Tuesday at
3:37
so the key to this Joshua says take 12
Stones 12 Stones January February March
April May June July August September
October November December 12 months 12
Stones 12 tribes 12 disciples 12
everybody say 12 take 12 pile them up
and in the future when your children ask
you what’s up with these
stones or like my kids ask me what’s up
with these set tapes I still got
some when your children ask you tell
them what the Lord did tell
them tell
them take them to show them the stones
and tell them we didn’t know if we were
going to make it
through but God did something only he
could do and we made it somebody shout I
made it made it tell the the person next
to you you have no idea what I’ve been
through look at him right in the eye and
say and God brought me over God brought
me
over and look at him one more time and
say how about you how about you ask them
have you been through
anything imagine this imagine this they
come through the Jordan let’s play the
story out for a moment they come through
the Jordan God brings him through
they set up the stones God does a great
miracle they go on to fight battles but
they set up the stones to remember what
God did in that moment it’s very
beautiful and then they go forward into
the land and they they fight they fight
many battles and God gives them many
victories but every once in a while
maybe they come back with their kids and
they show them the stones because they
left the stones in gilgal and then they
moved on to conquer
Canaan and you know how it is when when
somebody is reflecting on something and
they get
nostalgic and maybe maybe the parents
start telling the
children we didn’t know if we were going
to make it Joshua uh was our new
leader and we had never we’ never been
this way
before and he told us he told us that if
the priest would stand in the middle the
waters would stand at attention until
the people passed through
so we hurried through as fast as we
could we ran through the Bible says in
Joshua 4: 211 they hurried through they
didn’t have a whole lot of faith just
enough to get through
it they weren’t they weren’t dancing
through the middle they were running
through the middle let me tell you
something when you got the double
chasing you sometimes all you can do is
get through it you don’t look flashy
you’re not shooting you’re not flossing
you’re not doing nothing but running for
your life so they got through
it but they said God got us through it
it was amazing amazing because we didn’t
know it was amazing and the Ark was
there and it represented the presence of
God oh I wish you could have been there
son it was just so amazing and and we
didn’t know if we were going to be able
to do it but we did God did it God it
wasn’t us God did it okay and they and
they say that and then so so maybe a few
years go
by maybe they go back to the place again
and they look at the stones but you know
maybe maybe the stones are they’re still
there they haven’t gone anywhere but the
story starts to get lost a little bit
and maybe a few years later they they’re
telling their children they’re like oh
yeah it’s pretty cool I mean we got
through it I mean God did it but we we
were the ones who had to walk cuz you
know like God didn’t God didn’t carry us
through but but we got through it and
then a few more years pass and maybe
they’re telling their kids again making
another trip and they’re tell them yeah
those stones they’re they’re cool Joshua
made us get them out the middle of the
Jordan it was it was weird we were ready
ready to move on but Joshua let me tell
you how I know that the story stopped
being told because when you get to the
end of Joshua’s life you read in Judges
chapter 2:1 just this verse just this
verse I want to show you and I want you
to think about the space between when
Joshua led the people through the
Jordan and when the next Generation
arose it says it after that whole
generation Joshua’s generation had been
gathered to their
ancestors another generation grew up who
knew neither the Lord nor what he had
done for
Israel Joshua’s generation set up the
stones the Next Generation didn’t even
know the story what
happened somewhere along the way between
Joshua chap 4 and Judges chapter 2 they
sto stopped telling the
story something changed about the story
somewhere in that space and God if I’m
just preaching this for one person help
me to do it now because they have been
telling themselves the wrong story and
now their faith is feeling feeble and
now their worship has been weakened and
they are in a cycle of dependence on
false gods because they stopped telling
the story the St story of Salvation is
this I was lost and dead in my sin I had
no hope in myself I could not save
myself I could not help myself I could
not lift myself I would not have made it
if he had not reached down and with a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm he
died for me he came into my life he
intersected me at the point of my sin
and while I was still a sinner Christ
died for me why are you screaming cuz
I’ve got a story that didn’t start with
me it started with the mercy of
[Applause]
[Music]
God and the enemy doesn’t want you to
tell this story see he wants he wants
you to lose your
testimony they kept the stones the
stones are still there to this day but
they sto telling the
story you know you can have all of of
the the the monuments of
religion but lose your
relationship with
God you can have all the stones in the
world you can come to church you can you
can still live a a a a life that’s
between the lies but if the truth were
told today some of us have stopped
telling the story We we’ve lost our Our
Testimony you have a testimony there are
things that God has done for you that
only he could do and nobody else can
tell it for you and nobody else can tell
it like
[Applause]
you it can happen it it can happen in
your own heart it can happen in a
generation it can happen within a
lifetime it can happen with within 3
years you can actually have God do
something amazing for you and have the
stones to prove it some of you are
sitting next to the woman that you asked
God to give
you but now you want out of your
marriage the problem isn’t your marriage
it’s your
management I’ll go back here
cuz I’m not scared to say this stuff we
need to manage our Miracles God has been
good to us God has been more than enough
he is a provider he is Jehovah Gyra he
did bring you through he did bless you
he did make a way he is more than enough
he is elai he is a great king he is a
good
[Applause]
father touch somebody say manage your
Miracle Man your Miracle it’s God’s to
give but it’s yours to
[Applause]
[Music]
manage I told Elijah if you crack the
screen I’m not replacing it it’s yours
to
[Music]
manage if you crack the screen or if you
here’s here’s what happens to me let me
tell you something sit sit down let’s
talk
I sometimes
I I sto telling myself the
testimony because to me sometimes it
seems it seems small right you know
something happened between when they
crossed the Jordan I don’t know exactly
what it is I think there’s evidence to
support this
hypothesis they fought a lot of battles
between Joshua 4 and judges
2 and I wonder if the battle
became bigger in their minds than the
blessings and I wonder if they started
telling themselves the stories that
centered around their struggles rather
than God’s Sovereign hand that saw them
through the
struggles I wonder if they got in
survival mode to the point that they
stopped telling the story hey thanks for
stopping by my YouTube channel I hope
you were blessed today if you were share
this with somebody like And subscribe
and leave me a comment let me know where
you’re watching from what we can pray
for you about hope to see you back here
again really
[Music]
soon