Get Ready for the Rewrite

This message was delivered by DeVon Franklin from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral. It was aired during the Hour of Power program on Hong Kong's ATV World Channel on 18 March 2012.

Thank you. Good morning. How does it feel to be in the house of the Lord this morning? Oh, come on now, you can do better than that. You can do better than that. Amen, amen. It is always a blessing to be in the house of the Lord because, I don’t know about you, but when I look back over the scenes of my life, I can acknowledge that, if it had not been for His grace and mercy, I wouldn’t be here today. How many can identify that? Is that is your testimony this morning? Amen. Amen.

Let us have a word of prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank You so much for Your goodness to us. Where would we be without You? We are so thankful we never have to know. Allow us, dear Lord, to understand how great You are in our lives. Let us submit to Your plan, even when we don’t understand it. Guide us in every way. Let us know Your love is ever with us. In the name of Jesus, we do pray. Amen.

I would like to read our scripture reading this morning, and we’re going to start in Jeremiah chapter 18:1-6. In this morning’s message, I want to talk about how to “Get Ready for the Rewrite.” Amen? Turn to your neighbor and say, “Get ready for the rewrite.”

In Hollywood - which is where I work, that’s my day job - this right here, what I hold in front of you, is a script. Every great movie that happens, and even sometimes the bad ones, and all the movies that you see, start with a script. But it is impossible for a movie to make it to the screen unless the script is re-written. When I look at your life and when God looks at your life, I want you to know it is impossible for you to get to the next level of your life unless you let God get behind the keyboard and start rewriting some scenes in your situation.

I want to draw your attention to Jeremiah 18, verses 1-6, and I’ll be reading from The Message Bible. It says this: “God told Jeremiah ‘Up on your feet! Go to the potter’s house. When you get there, I’m going to tell you what I have to say.’ So, Jeremiah says, ‘I went down to the potter’s house and, sure enough, the potter was there. And he was working away at his wheel.’” Whenever the potter was working with the clay, and it turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you work with clay, the potter would simply start over with the same clay to make another pot.

Verse 5: “Then God’s message came to me,” Jeremiah says. “God says this: ‘Can’t I do just as the potter does? People of Israel, watch the potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you.’” Now if this was a modern day parable and story, I believe God would have told Jeremiah, “Go to the house of a Hollywood screenwriter and see the way that he is working on that script; that’s the way I am going to work on you.”

I don’t know about you, but I know that sometimes in my life, even recently, it feels like everything around me is changing. There’s a lot of anxiety, there’s a lot of frustration. Things that I used to count on seem to no longer be a sure thing. Can anybody relate to that? Literally, it feels like the things that I used to know, I now begin to question. Those things that used to be secure now seem to be insecure. When I look for peace, there seems to be nothing but frustration, anxiety, and depression. I ask the Lord, “Where are You? Why are things so difficult? I thought that being a Christian, going after Your Word was supposed to put me on easy street, but it literally seems like I’m living a nightmare on Elm Street.” Can anybody relate to that? When you think you’re supposed to be walking on smooth water, everything seems like it’s out of whack. I say, “God, what are You doing? Why are things so difficult?”

And He draws my attention to Jeremiah, and He says, “You are like clay, you are like this script, and in order for Me to get you to your next level, there are some things that I have to rewrite.”

But I say God, “Why do You have to rewrite my script? Isn’t everything perfect already?” I’m here to tell you that most movies that you see go through at least ten to fifteen different rewrites.

Turn to your neighbor and say, “That’s a lot of work!”

I want you to know that God is rewriting your script. Why? Because sin is powerful. Some sins have gotten into our lives that have corrupted what He originally made perfect. See, many of us have come through situations that have left us depressed. There are situations we’re facing right now that we feel are going to destroy us. But God cautions us that, when we start writing our own scripts, we only see destruction. If we would let Him do the rewrite, the scenes we think are going to kill us are the scenes He wants to use for our victory. God says, “Just let Me start rewriting your scenes today.”

In our limited capacity, we, as the main characters in our scripts, can only see what is happening in the scenes we’re in. God has already written what He wants to have happen in our lives. But the devil is powerful, amen? And so the devil will use circumstances and situations to get us out of faith.

The devil wants you to think that you’re less powerful than you are. He wants you to believe that you are a failure. He wants you to believe that all the dreams you have can no longer happen because you have messed up and you’ve missed it. This is why God must do the rewrite because you are still victorious; you have not messed up so badly that God can’t still use you. Your dreams are still good. Your vision is still good. But, will you let God rewrite you today?

So many times, we get comfortable and complacent. I’ll be honest. As a studio executive, my job is to help get movies made. And there’s nothing I want more than to read a script and say the script is ready for production. But it’s very frustrating when I look at a script and I have to admit that there is still work to be done. I know that many of you, just like me, when you look in the mirror, you have to acknowledge that there is still work yet to be done.

When we acknowledge that we’re not all that we could be, we sometimes get frustrated with ourselves. Why do we keep tripping over the same sin over and over again? Why can’t we just get it together? But what God is trying to write in your script is patience and love. He’s saying, “Don’t look at yourself and what you see in the mirror. I need you to see yourself the way that I see you. You are a hero. You are victorious. You are a champion. Don’t let the devil use his keyboard to write into your script failure. No, no, no, no, no. I made you perfect. Yes, I might have to do a rewrite.”

Look at the clay. The potter did not throw out the clay. When something got corrupted, he used the same clay, he broke it down, and he built it back up again. There is nothing wrong with you. We all have to go through the purification process. We all have to be rewritten. So thank God that He thinks enough of you and me that He will spend the time and be patient with us until we can get it right. Don’t be frustrated with yourself because you’re not where you want to be. God has you right where He wants you, and if you would just submit to Him, He will perfect the scene that He is doing in your life. Amen.

One of the things that also happen in our lives has to do with the characters that populate our scripts. Sometimes, because of who we are and what happens as a result, invest ourselves in characters that don’t belong in our scenes. There are people occupying places in our scenes that do not belong, so God has to do a re-write to bring certain characters in and move certain characters out. You cannot be so caught up in your scene that you don’t allow God to bring in the right people at the right time. Some characters you’re holding on to right now, you may have to let go. You may have to cry over it, to be depressed over it, but let them go because God has the right characters at the right time that He’s waiting to write into your scene. However, because you are holding on to that less-than character, God says, “I have to wait. I have to wait until you let go and let Me write the person into your life script that needs to be added. Are you going to let God write the right characters into your life today?”

What I find very interesting is that, so many times when we look at this process of being rewritten, we don’t want to submit. We don’t want to give it up. We don’t want to let God do His work. But I’m here to tell you that a script cannot move forward to production unless you submit to the process. No matter how much I want to get this movie made, if I do not address the notes, it doesn’t get done.

What are notes? When we read a script, we’ll identify the areas that don’t work. Then we’ll write a set of notes that help to diagnose the problem in the script, and then we’ll give instructions on how to make the script better.

God is giving you notes on your life, telling you things about your character, telling you things about your vision, telling you things about how you think, telling you things about your emotions. He’s giving you notes, but you don’t want to address them. Because you don’t, you get mad at Him and say, “God, why am I not going to the next level? Why am I not being produced? Why am I not getting into production?”

And God says, “I gave you the notes. Why won’t you address them?” If you want to go to the next level in life, you must submit to God’s plan and address the notes that He has. It is a process.

Don’t get frustrated and angry with yourself. It’s okay. We were born in sin and shaped in iniquity, so what does that mean? We’re going to make some mistakes. But commit to God’s process.

You think the movies in Hollywood are automatically big blockbuster successes? No, no, no, no, no. God will write a hit out of your life if you let Him. The world has not yet seen how big of a hit can be written through your life. Hollywood can’t make hits the way Jesus makes hits, amen? But you must commit to the process, and you must do all that He’s called you to do.

I’ll never forget as a child growing up, God had to do a few rewrites in my life. Early on, I thought that I wanted to be a running back for the Dallas Cowboys. And during my first scrimmage in high school, freshman year, I got hurt. I got knocked unconscious on my back. During the middle of the day, I was seeing stars. Amen? What God was telling me was, “No son, I don’t have football or the NFL in your script. I actually have Hollywood.”

In going to Hollywood, my initial thought was, “Oh well, I’m going to go to Hollywood and I’m going to make movies. I don’t want to minister. I want to make movies and that’s what You’re calling me to do, God. I’ll never forget a revival that was going on in my hometown, I went just to support it; I was not there to do anything or any sort of ministry. As I was watching the young people preaching on fire for God, and one of those young people was my younger brother, God says to me, “Why aren’t you using the gift that I gave you?”

So many times you or I get caught into one vision for our life and we don’t let God’s vision be a part of what we’re trying to do. I need you to know that God created us. He has a plan for us. And it is far bigger than anything we think. Don’t just get so caught up in what you want to do with your life, that you don’t let God expand the vision for what He wants to do with your life.

As I sat there in that moment at the revival, He asked me, “Why are you not using the gift I gave you?” If I had denied the opportunity and the possibility for ministry to come into my script, I could not stand here today. But I am thankful that I don’t worry about what it looks like.

Many times, people will say, “Well, DeVon, you work in Hollywood. Why are you so vocal about being a Christian? Aren’t you afraid of losing your job?”

I say, “A job? A job is temporary.” God can write a job in my scene and write a job out. But what I don’t want to lose is my relationship with Him because that is what I need to make it from scene to scene to scene. Amen. Amen.

He might take away the industry you’re in right now, but that doesn’t make Him less God. He might take it away so that He can show you who He really is. Don’t allow your script to be dependent and so dependent on where you work that if He decides He wants to do something differently with you, you lose hope. “Wait a minute, God, in my script I was supposed to be at this company till retirement. In my script, Lord, I didn’t get laid off. In my script, I didn’t lose my job.”

But God says, “I made you. I have the manual on you. I’m trying to direct your life. I know the beginning from the end. I know how I’m going to use this company that you think is trying to take you out. I’m going to use this situation to get you where you’ve always dreamed. Will you trust Me? Will you believe in Me? Will you have faith in Me to know better for you than you know for yourself?”

Let us not get so caught up in the scenes of our lives that we don’t let God, the master screenwriter, write a masterpiece out of each of our stories. So many times, we think that God is slow in doing His work, amen? We think, “Lord, what are You doing? On my timetable, I’m supposed to have been where I need to be by now.”

At the beginning of the year, we were getting a project ready to go into production. It was a re-make of this old musical called “Sparkle.” And we had a ticking clock. We had to make a decision really soon, but we didn’t have a script. So we wrote a first draft of the script and submitted it to the chairman of Sony, who said, “Not good enough.” We were frustrated. What are we going to do? Are we going to make the deadline? But the script wasn’t good enough, so we had a choice. Do we do the work? Or do we sit there and complain? The longer we complain, the longer it takes because the work still needs to be done.

I’m here to tell you that there’s work that needs to be done in your life. You need to stop complaining. You need to stop being angry. You need to stop being bitter. Let God do His work. You will be surprised. You think it’s taking a long time, but when you are actually obedient, God will move it quickly.

We did the rewrite on the script. Within a month’s time, we got the script green-lit. A few months ago, we finished the movie, and in a few weeks, we’ll be seeing the movie on the big screen. It is the fastest green-lit process I have ever seen.

When you let God do the work in your life, the thing you think is taking a long time, will go with God-speed if you would just trust Him. Why won’t you trust Him more today?

I’ll leave you with this: In Hollywood, before we produce any script, we sometimes will spend millions of dollars on the rewrite because we need the script to be just right. I’m so thankful, today, that when God knew that we were going to need work in our lives, He paid for every rewrite with the blood of His Son Jesus. It was an expensive price to pay, but He loved us so much, He didn’t want us to see Satan defeat us by sin. He didn’t want to see the devil get the best of us every single day, so He allowed the blood of Jesus to pay for every rewrite that we would ever need.

You may not see it now, and you may not believe it, but I am here to tell you that the next script God writes in your life will be better than the last, amen? And the next script that you let Him perfect in your life, will actually prepare you to go where He has called you to go, to be who He has called you to be. And don’t think God is rewriting your script just so that you can say, “Oh, look what He did for me.” No, He’s rewriting your script because there are other lives that will be touched by the script that He has perfected in you. Let Him do the rewrite. Let Him get you ready for production. Let Him get you ready for your next level. I promise you that when you do, you will ask yourself, “Why did I let it take this long?”

This morning, I want to call anyone right now to come down to the front to pray. If you’ve been struggling with depression, if you’ve been struggling with anger, come. Come if you’ve been asking God, “Why are You doing this, Lord?” Come if you want to say, “Lord, I’m sorry. I want to commit to Your rewrite.” I’m asking you to come up today.

I’m asking you to get this prayer in your spirit so that you will know that everything you are dealing with isn’t punitive. It’s because He loves you. If He didn’t love you, He wouldn’t work with you. Think of the potter and the clay. He works with the clay in order to get it into the right shape so it can be used the way it was supposed to be used. He’s not trying to rewrite you because He’s mad at you. He’s trying to rewrite you because He loves you.

Whoever needs to be rewritten today, I’m asking you to come up for this prayer. I am praying that God is going to rewrite your script. That He’ll do it in such a way that the scenes, the dialogue, and the characters are going to be used in such a way that the world will not know what type of production this is. They will only see that it was done by the Master. Come on up and get this prayer this morning. God wants to write out depression and write in peace in your life. He wants to write out all of the frustration you feel and put hope in your life. He wants to rewrite faith back into your story. Will you let Him this morning? Will you let Him bring back joy into your scene? Will you let Him bring back glory into your circumstance? Will you let Him put the smile back on your face? I pray that anyone, even if you’re in the balcony, that you don’t miss it. Hallelujah.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You so much, dear Lord. Where would we be without You? Lord, we have come, today, to submit our lives to You. Every time we try to write a scene, we mess it up. We’re too focused on our failures. We’re too focused on how bad we are or not good enough, dear Lord. But You don’t see us that way. Help us to see us the way You see us, dear Lord. Help us to realize that we’re valuable, that we have what it takes to make it.

Lord, help us to submit to Your rewrite. Take out the pain, take out the jealousy, take out the rage, take out the anger, take out the frustration, take out the depression, Lord. We ask You to write in peace, write in perseverance, dear Lord. Write back in our faith, dear God, because we need You. And we are yearning, dear Lord, for Your love. We cry out and we say, Lord, thank You because there were a few scenes in the past where You could have taken us out but You didn’t. You saved us. Thank You for saving us, dear heavenly Father, and thank You for preparing us for the work we have yet to do.

Lord, we’re going to edit out all of the hurt, the anger, the depression, the doubt, the denial; we’re going to leave it here at the altar and we’re going to pick back up, dear God, our faith. We’re going to pick back up our relationship with You. We’re going to pick back up Your love. We’re going to march forward in the production knowing, dear heavenly Father, that You’re with us every single scene.

We love You, we appreciate You, we thank You, and we receive Your blessings this morning. In the name of Jesus, we all say, amen, amen.