Touré Roberts - Create Your Way Out

The theme of today is «Create Your Way Out.» Do me a favor: just turn to your neighbor and say, «You have to create your way out sometimes.» Go ahead—come on, Denver! You have to create your way out sometimes. So, we’re going to look at Genesis chapter 1, and it reads like this: «In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light, ' and there was light. God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness.»

Now I want you to jump over to Deuteronomy 8:18, where you will find these words: «And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power.» Do me a favor and just turn to your neighbor and say, «Power.» It is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is to this day. Go ahead, and just do me a favor: before you sit down, just high-five somebody and say, «I’m in the right place.» Just do it!

We’re about to get into this. I’m thinking about progress and how God uses creativity. One of the most frustrating places to be in life is standing somewhere, in one spot, sensing you need to get to the other side but not knowing how to get there. It is frustrating. It’s similar to that story in creation, where God is getting ready to create the heavens and the earth, but then, all of a sudden, the earth is void. The earth has fought, and it doesn’t have any form. Have you ever been in a place in your life where you just feel stuck? You’re trying to get somewhere, feel like you’re out of options—you just can’t, can’t you? It’s just dark!

I know that where I’m at is not where I’m supposed to be. I know that God has promised me something different and beyond. He’s promised me progress, but I have absolutely no idea how to get there. Has anyone ever been there before? If you’re not careful, it can be discouraging. There’s this gap, this space, this distance between what is and what needs to be. You can feel like, perhaps even like the earth sometimes—you can feel void, you can feel empty. I believe it’s one of the most frustrating experiences in life: having a need that you can’t see provision for. Have you been there before? You see the need, but you don’t see provision. You see where you are, and you know where you want to be, but you don’t see your way across the bridge.

So, there’s this gap, this space, this distance, and it’s frustrating, because in that moment, what we feel is lack. We feel emptiness; we feel like something’s missing. We feel there is something that needs to happen, but we don’t feel we have what it takes to make it happen. I want to have a real conversation in here today. Have you ever been in a place where where you are is not where you want to be and you can’t see your way forward? It is frustrating, and you think, «God, how are you going to get me from here to there?»

Let me tell you right now: that’s normal. It’s normal. And yet, we see in Genesis God not being intimidated by the sense that the earth was void and without form. What we see is a greater force emerging and creating substance where once there was nothing. In other words, this thing—there’s a force. What is that force? It’s creativity.

So just put yourself in that situation: you’re trying to create something, you’re trying to get somewhere, but it’s dark. But all of a sudden, something emerges! I love God; I want to be like God. I want to be like God because, let’s just keep it 100, I would be panicking a little bit. I’m trying to create this thing; I feel called to create this thing, but I have nothing—there’s nothing there! But there’s nothing that suggests God is freaking out over the fact that where He is going, the roadmap, the bridge, is not there. There’s nothing to suggest that He’s intimidated.

Instead, He just begins to create. He starts speaking and saying, «Let there be light!» Now, all of a sudden, the gap between where He was and what He was trying to get to is shortened by this powerful thing called creativity. And I don’t think it’s just a God thing. I think that if we take a closer look at Deuteronomy 8:18, we have that same power. I believe with all of my heart that God has given you the ability to create! Let’s look at that.