Latest / A Better Tomorrow / God Gave You The Dream Joel Osteen

Transcript

God Gave You The Dream Joel Osteen · A Better Tomorrow

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's easy to believe when things are going our way.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: We're getting good breaks, our health is improving, our child
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: is turning around. When you can see it, it doesn't
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: take much faith. The test comes when you can't see
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: any sign of what you're believing for. You're working hard,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: but doors aren't opening. You're praying, but the medical report
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: isn't improving. You're doing the right thing, but your marriage
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: isn't getting better. You know God put the promise in
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: your heart. You know He gave you the dream, but
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: there's no sign that it's happening. If you just saw
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: a little improvement, if you just felt a little better,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: at least you would know that what you were doing
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: was helping you. But many times before a promise comes
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: to pass, you have to go through a season of
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: silence where you're not seeing anything changing. You'll be tempted
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: to think, is what I'm doing even working? Is my believing,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: my praying, my giving even making a difference? This is
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: when many people get discouraged and give up on what
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: they're believing for. But just because you don't see anything
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: happening doesn't mean God is not working. Behind the scenes,
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: things are changing that you can't see. God does much
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: of his work in secret. You can't see him lining
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: up the people you need. You can't see him arranging
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: good breaks for you. You can't see him sending the
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: angel with your promise, putting the healing, the promotion, the
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: vindication on your schedule. All you can see is, Joel,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: I'm praying and nothing's happening. I'm doing my best, but
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: nothing's improving. You're in a season of silence. The question is,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: are you going to get discouraged and quit believing because
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: you're not seeing? Or are you going to dig your
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: heels in and say, God, I may not see anything happening,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: but I'm not moved by what I see. I'm moved
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: by what I know. And I know what you promised
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: me is on the way. If you'll stay in faith,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: at some point, you're going to see what God was
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: doing behind the scenes. Suddenly, things are going to shift
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: in your favor. What happened? You saw what God was
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: up to all those months. Even years, you didn't think
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: anything was happening. Behind the scenes, things were coming together.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: And sometimes it hasn't happened yet because another person involved
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: is not ready. God is working on someone else who's
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: a part of your story. Or when that obstacle wasn't changing,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: you didn't realize it, but God was using the obstacle
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: to change you. You were growing, getting stronger, developing patience.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: If he would have removed it sooner, you wouldn't be
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: prepared for where he's taking you. But the scripture says,
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: don't get weary in well-doing for in due season, you
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: will reap if you faint not. It doesn't say you
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: may reap. There's a good chance you'll reap. God says,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: if you won't get tired of doing the right thing,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: if you won't let what you see talk you out
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: of what you know, then your due season is coming.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: You will reap if you don't faint. But God wouldn't
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: have told us to not get weary in well-doing if
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: he didn't know it would be easy to get tired
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: of doing what's right. It's easy to get worn down,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: think it's never going to work out. My marriage is
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: never going to make it. My business is never going
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: to grow. No, get your fire back. Your due season
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: is closer than you think. In the scripture, it compares
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: the life of a believer to an eagle. When a
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: mother eagle is going to have a baby eaglet, she
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: lays an egg. For 35 days, she has to sit
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: on the egg to keep it warm. She never feels
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: the baby eaglet kick. The egg never grows any larger.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: There's no sign that what's on the inside of the
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: egg is alive. The mother eagle could think, if it
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: was alive, at least it would move a little bit.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: At least I would hear something. But day after day,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: the mother eagle sits, unmoved by what she doesn't feel,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: unmoved by what's not changing. On the 35th day, after
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: no signs of life, suddenly the little eagle starts pecking
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: out of the shell. Before long, it hatches healthy and whole.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: But think about the faith it takes for that mother
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: eagle to sit on an egg that seems dead. Unlike
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: a person, when a lady is going to have a baby,
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: we have all these signs. Their stomach gets bigger. Their
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: feet may swell. Their back may hurt. They may get meaner.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: I mean, they may have morning sickness. Their womb begins
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: to grow. Over time, it's obvious. You can see the
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: baby is developing. When Victoria was pregnant with Jonathan, we
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: were driving down the road and I turned on some music.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Just like clockwork, he started kicking in the womb like
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: he was keeping beat to the music. You could see
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: a leg coming out here, an elbow coming out there.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: we had no doubt that he was coming. Those last
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: six months, we never once thought, I wonder if he's
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: in there. I wonder if he's alive. We didn't have
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: to wonder. We could see it. If God brought promises
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: to pass like a person giving birth, it would be
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: no problem to stay in faith. It would be easy
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: to thank him that it was on the way. But
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: most of the time, it won't be like a person.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: It will be like an eagle. You're going to have
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: to believe something is happening when you can't see any
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: sign of it. You're going to have to sit on
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: that promise, believing, expecting, praying, thanking when you're not getting
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: any kicks, when you're not seeing any growth. When the
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: egg is not moving, you don't hear any sounds. Deep down,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: you have to know something is happening that you can't see.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: After a couple of weeks, the mother eagle could think,
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: I'm wasting my time. By now, something should be happening.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: I don't see any sign that what's in this egg
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: is alive. But there's something in her DNA. Something put
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: in her by the creator that says, I don't have
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: to see a sign. I don't have to feel a kick.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: I know my baby is alive. I know my due
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: season is coming. I know on the 35th day, this
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: baby eaglet is going to hatch. You may have promises
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: that you've been standing on for a long time. Dreams
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: God has put in your heart. Every circumstance says it's
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: never going to happen. What you're believing for is dead.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: It would have kicked by now. You would have seen
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: some improvement, some growth. No, don't believe those lies. Keep
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: sitting on that egg. Keep thanking God that it's coming.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Keep talking like it's on the way. Keep expecting things
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: to change in your favor. our attitude should be. What
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: God promised me may look dead, but I know like
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: that eagle, what he put in my spirit is still alive.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: It doesn't have to kick. I'm not moved by what
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: I feel. I'm not moved by how long it's taking,
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: by what's not working out. I know what God started
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: in my life, he's going to finish. What am I saying?
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Quit being discouraged because you haven't felt a kick. Nothing
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: is wrong. That doesn't mean it's not going to happen.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: You have to trust the process. While you're waiting, things
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: are growing. Things are developing. God is bringing it together.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: He works in secret. You may not see any improvement.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: You may not see what God is up to. If
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: the mother eagle could peck a little hole in the
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: shell and see her baby... It would be so much
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: easier to believe. I saw him. He's in there. Now
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: I can sit on this egg with confidence. The problem
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: is the eaglet wouldn't survive. Some things have to develop
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: in the dark, in secret. If you could see the
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: promise coming, if God showed us what he was up to, yes,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: it wouldn't be as difficult to believe, but that wouldn't
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: take any faith. You have to believe when there's no
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: sign on the outside that what's on the inside is
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: still alive. The promise God put in you, that egg,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: so to speak, is not going to move, not going
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: to grow, not going to kick. You may not see
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: any signs of life until the 35th day, until your
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: due season when suddenly that baby eaglet is going to hatch.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: But there's something God has put in your DNA where
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: you can believe when every circumstance says it's not going
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: to happen. The odds may be against you today. Your
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: dream seems impossible. The medical report's not improving. You've struggled
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: with the addiction for years. Looks like the promise is dead.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: You're tempted to walk away from the nest, forget about
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: the egg, hasn't seen any signs of life. Well, God
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: is saying, go back and sit on it. It is
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: still alive. Don't let the circumstances fool you. Just because
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: you don't see anything happening on the outside doesn't mean
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: something is not happening on the inside. Well, Joel, I've
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: never felt my baby kick. It's not going to kick
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: in the egg. God births things like an eagle, not
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: like a person. We have to walk by faith and
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: not by sight. The Israelites were traveling through the desert,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: headed toward the promised land when they came to the
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: city of Jericho. This was the last city that stood
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: between them and the city of Canaan, the land God
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: promised them. Jericho was surrounded by a huge stone wall.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: It was so thick that chariots could ride on top
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: of it. God told Joshua to have the Israelites march
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: around the walls for seven days without saying a word.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: These two million people went out and once a day
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: started walking around the wall. First day, nothing happened. Second day, nothing.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: It was hot. Dusty. They were already tired, worn out
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: from traveling through the desert. Went around the fourth day, nothing.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: The fifth time, nothing. I can imagine they started to
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: get discouraged, thinking, what are we doing out here? We
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: look like fools. Nothing is even happening. It wouldn't have
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: been so difficult to believe if while they were walking around,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: they saw a little crack in the wall start to form.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Maybe the fourth time around, some of the rocks up
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: top broke apart. The next time around, the foundation began
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: to loosen up. If they would have just seen a
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: sign that things were improving, something to encourage them, a
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: little crack here and there, but nothing was changing. They
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: were sitting on that egg, doing what God asked them
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: to do, walking around the city, not complaining, They were
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: doing their part. Why wasn't God doing his part? God
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: works in secret. In that egg, you can't see the
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: eaglet developing. The Israelites didn't like it. They were uncomfortable.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: But here's the key. They kept doing the right thing.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: They didn't get weary in well-doing. On the seventh day,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: the seventh time around, still no sign of the wall weakening.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Still looked just as strong, sturdy, like it did before
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: they started. But when they completed that seventh lap, suddenly
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the walls came tumbling down. They came into their due season,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: their 35th day. But too often, we'll stay in faith
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: if we see the wall cracking. We'll believe if our
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: boss starts treating us better, if our health starts improving,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: we're waiting for the baby to kick. God, give me
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: a sign. Show me something that you're going to turn
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: this around. What I'm saying is you may not get
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: a sign. That's when you have to dig down deep
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: and say, am I going to get up off this egg?
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: Am I going to let what I'm not seeing convince
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: me what I'm believing for is dead? It's too late.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: The obstacle's too big. Or am I going to do
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: like the Israelites and keep marching even though there is
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: no sign? Keep thanking God even though it's not improving.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: Keep expecting even though the baby is not kicking. You
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: keep doing the right thing and your 35th day is coming.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: What you thought was dead, you didn't see any signs
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: of life, suddenly that baby eaglet is going to burst
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: forth