Joel Osteen - Your Super Bloom Season
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I want to talk to you today about Your Super Bloom Season. There was a story on the news about all the rain in parts of California last winter. Places that normally have a dozen inches a year, had that much in just a few days. Month after month there was all this record-breaking rainfall, was causing all kinds damage, mudslides, flash flooding, people having to evacuate. They would get through one big storm, then couple of weeks later another one, even bigger. But when spring time rolled around, something unusual happened. All across the fields and mountainsides where it was normally grass and weeds, there were flowers blossoming everywhere. It was the most beautiful colorful sight, looked like a postcard. They call it a super bloom. Because of the record-breaking rainfall, seeds that had been dormant for years begin to blossom.
We were driving and pulled over to look. The whole mountain side was filled with bright-yellow flowers, purples and pinks, like something you've never seen. It was so distinct, they could see it on satellite images from space. All the rain caused trouble, hardship, but without that excessive rain, there would have never been a super bloom. It's the same principle in life: we all have rain, difficulties, sometimes there's a downpour, it's one thing after another, trouble at work, go through a loss, a child is off course, dealing with a health issue. Thoughts would tell you, "This is the way it's always going to be. You'll always struggle, and always have heartache, always be lonely". No, all that rain is a sign that a super bloom is coming. You're about to blossom. You're going to see favor, opportunities, relationships that you could have never seen without the rain.
We don't like the rain, it's uncomfortable, they walked away, a contract fell through, but the rain is necessary. There are seeds in you that will only open up by going through excessive rain. The rain seems like a setback, but really it's setting you up for greater levels. On the other side of that difficulty is favor that you've never seen. There maybe reigning in your life now, you're doing your best to stay faithful, but nothing's getting better. You're tempted to get discouraged, except that it will never work out. Well, get ready, there's a super bloom in your future. You're going to come out of that lack into abundance, into overflow, into supernatural provision. You're going to see God doing what only he can do. Or maybe that sickness, it looks permanent, but things are about to turn in your favor. You're going to come out into good health, into energy, into vitality. You going to come that loneliness into great relationships, happy, fulfilled. Or out of that depression, out of anxiety into joy, peace, and victory.
Don't let the rain fool you. That's not how your story ends. There may be flooding now, there's heartache, disappointment, loss, it's not letting up. Have the right perspective, "Father, thank you that this rain is leading to a super bloom. That I'm about to flourish, that I'm about to blossom, that my best days are still in front of me".
This report talked about how in the super bloom all these flower seeds that had been lying dormant in the ground for years, they were healthy, full of life, had beautiful flowers in them, they just needed the excessive water to get deep down in the earth, so they could germinate and come to life. There are seeds in all of us that are lying dormant. Promises that we were standing on, believing to come to pass, but it's been so long, things haven't worked out, we went through a disappointment. Now we don't think it could happen. We may have given up, but that seed is still alive. Researchers have found seeds that were 2500 years old in an Egyptian tomb. They planted the seeds, and they came to life. They blossomed hundreds of years later.
Prayers are seeds that we've sown. We prayed and asked God for our dreams, and ask him to turn situations around. When it hasn't happen on our timetable, often we quit believing. We think it's not meant to be, but those seeds are still alive. There are prayers that your parents and grandparents prayed, they believed, they were faithful, but they never saw them come to pass. Those seeds are still in your family line. God put the vision in them, they could see it, but it was for the next generation.
My father talked about how one day he was going to get the summit for Lakewood. That's what this place was originally called. He had it in his spirit, but he never saw it happen. 25 years later, long after he was gone, we acquired the Compaq Center. How did it happen? Through excessive rain, through lawsuits, through opposition, through trouble. But on the other side of that difficulty was a super bloom, a seed that had been dormant came to life. You're sitting in a super bloom. You're sitting in the favor of God. You're sitting in a building that was birthed out of opposition. At times it looked impossible. The opponents were bigger, they were stronger, but the rain is not how your story ends. The rain is waking up the seeds of greatness, seeds of abundance, seeds of opportunity. The enemy sent the rain to harm you, but it's going to backfire. God's going to use it to promote you, to cause you to blossom, to go further than you've dreamed, to open doors bigger than you've imagined, to entrust you with resources, influence, favor that your family has never seen.
But only way to have a super bloom is to have excessive rain: things you don't understand, people that did you wrong, the house didn't go through, you have this medical problem. You'll be tempted to complain, discourage, give up on that dream. Well, that rain is not working against you, it's setting you up for your super bloom. It's waking up the seeds that were lying dormant. It's going to bring to life opportunity, breakthroughs, healing, abundance. You're going to step into houses that you didn't build, vineyards that you didn't plant. That's those generational blessings, blessings that your loved ones prayed for, but they never saw. You're going to bloom in ways that you've never imagined.
The medical report said you wouldn't get well, but now look at you, you're healthy and whole. Look like you'd always struggle, then one good break, one contract, one opportunity and you have overflow, abundance. Or you thought it was too late to accomplish your dream, to write the book, to start the business, to build a house, then things started falling into place. New doors open, the right people showed up, supernatural provision. What happened? You came in to a super bloom. The rain stopped, and the seeds came to life. You blossomed, you saw levels that you would have never seen without the excessive rain.
One expert talked about how in order to have a super bloom, the conditions had to be just right. What's interesting is California had been in one of the top three droughts in their history. People had to conserve water, not run their sprinklers, was inconvenient, a hardship, but during the drought something unusual was happening: most of the weeds and grass that normally filled the mountain sides had died off. That made room for these flower seeds that were buried deeper underground to receive the water and come to life. Had there been a drought, but just excessive rain, these flower seeds wouldn't have germinated. The perfect conditions for the super bloom was a dry season, followed by excessive rain.
God was showing us a pattern: many times before our super bloom there's a dry season, a drought, nothing good's happening, no favor, no promotion, things are slow. It's tempting to quit believing, "God, where are you? Why isn't this changing"? Well, God hasn't forgotten about you, the drought is all a part of his plan. It's making room the new things he's about to do. Stay faithful in the dry seasons. Without the drought, you can't have a super bloom. Without delays, things that are taking longer than you thought, you won't see the fullness of what God has in store. But you would think the perfect conditions for a super bloom was good weather, and sunshine, the right amount of rain, little fertilizer. It's just the opposite. To have a super bloom you have to have a drought, followed by excessive rain.
A drought is bad enough, this is slow, "I feel stuck in my career, nothing's changing in my health, my child's still off course". If the drought doesn't discourage us, then here comes the excessive rain, trouble at work, a pandemic, a friend turned on you, you lost a loved one, "Man, when it rains it pours". But when you understand how God works, that the dry season, the excessive rain that's all leading you to a super bloom. That's how those seeds of increase, seeds of abundance, seeds of new levels are going to take root. The drought is not permanent, the excessive rain may feel like it's going to flood you, like you're going to go under, but God has you in the palm of his hand. He said you'll go through the floods, and not be drowned. You'll go through the dry seasons, and not be harmed. May seem odd, but that's a perfect condition for a super bloom. The dry season, the excessive rain, it's not setting you back, it's setting you up to flourish, to blossom, to see greater favor. Greater joy. Greater resources, greater influence.
Now, the key is: what kind of attitude do we have in the dry seasons, when it's slow, we're not seeing any progress? Or in the excessive rain? You go through one struggle, and something else hits. It's easy to complain, get bitter, "God, is not fair". Now, you have to dig your heels in and say, "God, I trust you. I know you wouldn't have allowed this, if it wasn't working for me. Yes, I'm in a drought, yes I have these challenges, but I believe a super bloom is coming, that I will blossom my family, blossom in my health, blossom in my relationships".
This is what happened with Joseph. God put a dream in his heart that he would be in leadership, and that he would do great things. That seed was planted, but it didn't come to pass without opposition. You can't reach your full potential without delays, setbacks, people that turn on you. The apostle Paul said (1 Corinthians 6:9), "A wide door of opportunity is open, and there are many adversaries". Would be much easier if God gave us the dream, and then just brought it to pass, made everything easy. But we would never grow, we would never develop our spiritual muscles, and we'd never learn to really trust him. In the difficult times is where you show God what you're made of. That's where you prove that you can handle the blessing, handle the favor, that you're not going to let the disappointments, the bad breaks, the people that come against you convince you to live bitter and give up on your dreams.
Joseph's brother were jealous of him, and they threw him into a pit. And they eventually sold him as a slave. His whole world was turned upside down. He went from having this exciting dream, being his father's favorite child, to living in a foreign land, against his will, didn't speak the language, betrayed by his brothers. But Joseph didn't get bitter. He didn't say, "God, is not fair. You said I was going to do great things". He understood that God was still in control, that the setback his final destination, that what God promised would still come to pass. He was in charge of Potiphar's house. He was an Egyptian army officer. He was being his best, excelling, taking care of things, when Potiphar's wife lied about him. She falsely accused Joseph, and he was put in prison. Another bad break.
He was in Egypt for 13 years, a dry season. I'm sure thoughts whispered, "It's never going to happen now, Joseph. Come on, God's forgotten about you. Look at how long it's been". Joseph went through a drought, he went through excessive rain, trouble, betrayal, rejection, lonely nights, but those two things are the perfect conditions for a super bloom. Deep down he knew that God was up to something.
One morning the Pharaoh had a dream that he didn't understand. The butler told the Pharaoh that Joseph could interpret dreams. The scripture (Genesis 41:14) says, "They sent word for Joseph to come quickly to the palace". Joseph woke up that morning in prison, thinking it was another ordinary day, but suddenly he was headed to the palace. You may be in a dry season, but God can quickly turn things around. Thoughts will tell you, "Take years to get out of this mess, years to get out of debt, years to get healthy again, years to meet the right person". No, one touch of God's favor, one good brake, one phone call, one divine connection, and suddenly things change.
Well Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh's dream, he was so impressed, he made Joseph the prime minister, second in command of all of Egypt. He went from a slave to one of the most powerful people of that day. Notice how it happened: Joseph had the dream, that seed was in him, then he went through a dry season, a long drought. Then the excessive rain came, trouble, betrayal. It was unfair, but he just kept being faithful. He didn't understand it, but he kept doing the right thing. Then he came into a super bloom, favor that he had never imagined, influence, honor, resources.
We all go through these dry seasons where it's taken longer than we thought. It feels like God has forgotten about us, but that dry season is all a part of his process. What you can't see is he's working behind the scenes, weeding out things that would stop your harvest, moving the wrong people out, clearing away any debris, weeds, any hindrance. It's getting you prepared for what's coming. The rain, the opposition, the bad break, it wasn't fair, feels like it's setting you back, but really it's setting you up. That rain is going deep down on the seeds that God planted in your heart. It's watering the dreams, the goals, the prayers, the desires.
Yes, it's uncomfortable, but the truth is: the conditions are just right for a super bloom, something unusual, uncommon. It's going to happen quickly. You didn't see it coming, there was no sign of it, then Pharaoh calls, the medical report improves, your child gets that scholarship, your business takes off, you meet the person of your dreams. You may be in a dry season now, and things aren't changing, you're dealing with loneliness, a problem at work, struggling in your finances. You could easily live sour, and give up on your dreams, think nothing good is in your future. No, God is saying: a super bloom is coming. Seeds that you thought were dead are coming back to life. Prayers that your loved one prayed are going to be answered through you. You're about to blossom, you're about to flourish, see new growth, new relationships, greater influence, greater favor.
Now, keep doing the right thing when it's hard. Like Joseph, keep being good to people that are not good to you, keep praising in the dry seasons, keep thanking God even when there's excessive rain. He sees your faithfulness, he's not just going to bring you out. We'd be grateful if we just got through it, but he's going to make the enemy pay, he's going to bring out better, increased, promoted, stronger, healthier, happier, at a new level of your destiny. Get this down in your spirit: a super bloom season, dreams coming to pass, opportunities finding you, good breaks chasing you down, the right people knocking at your door. God's going to you to shine, gonna cause you to stand out from the background to the foreground, from not enough to more than enough, from lonely to fulfill, from "Let me make it through this year" to "Who would have ever thought I'd be this blessed, this happy, this fulfilled".
See, excessive rain is a sign that excessive blessings are coming. A super dry season is a sign that supernatural favor is on the way. Don't let the rain fool you. Don't let the heartache, the loss, the delays convince you that you've seen your best days. God wouldn't have allowed it if he wasn't going to use it for your good. Not just cause you to bloom, but how about super bloom? That's out of the ordinary, that's abundant, that's overflow. That's something that causes people to stop, to notice.
"How did you get well, when the medical report said you were done"? Just tell them, "I came into a super bloom. God did what medicine couldn't do". "How'd you get out of debt? How can you live in that neighborhood, I saw how you grew up"? "Yes, the odds were against me, but I had a super bloom, above and beyond favor. The open windows of heaven. Blessings that I could not contain". Or "How can your children be doing such great things? They used to be off course, running with the wrong crowd"? Yes, but we saw bloom, the goodness of God lifting them out of that pit, putting their feet on a rock, putting a new song in their heart.
I don't believe you'd be hearing this if you weren't on the verge of a super bloom. You are close to seeing God do something you've never seen, catapult you to a new level. Opportunity bigger than you've imagined, resources that you never dreamed you would handle, negative situations that look permanent suddenly turning around. "Well, Joel, this sounds good, but I don't see how it can happen for me, I haven't had a good break in 27 years". Well, you're way overdue. That dry season is one of the conditions. Don't count yourself out, God has already counted you in. He's already scheduled your super bloom. "I'd like to believe, but I'm having all kinds of trouble. Man, if it's not one thing, it's another. When it rains it pours". That's one of the conditions. You're in perfect position for God to show out in your life.
The scripture says God has ordered our steps. How do you know God has not ordered you to be there, so he can get you in position to do something you've never seen? Not just bring you out, but bring you into a super bloom, catapult your ahead, bring dreams to pass that you've given up on. Why don't you be a believer, and not a doubter? Doubters are a dime a dozen, it's easy to say, "This is not for me". God is looking for people who will dare say, "Yes, I'm in a dry season, yes I have excessive rain, but I know this is not how my story ends. A super bloom is coming. God, show out in my life, surprise me with your favor".
You look back at all the bad breaks in Joseph's life, and you realize they had to happen. Was all a part of God's plan to get him into leadership in a foreign country. His brothers had to be jealous, they had to throw him into a pit, he had to go through that dry season, the lonely nights. He had to have all the rain, Potiphar's wife had to falsely accuse him, he had to be put in prison. It was all leading him to his purpose. What am I saying? Don't fight everything you don't like. Don't live bitter over the people that did you wrong, the door that closed, the company that push you out. May not have been fair, yes it was painful, but God wouldn't have allowed it if it was going to stop your purpose.
There are things that we're not going to understand all along the way. You have to trust that God knows what he's doing, that he's working out his plan for your life. His plan is bigger, his plan is greater, but there are levels can't reach without going through a dry season, or without opposition, and things that are unfair, that's all leading you to a super bloom, to greatness, to promotion, to influence, things better than you've imagined.
And I'm not saying to accept the trouble, accept the sickness, and live in mediocrity. I'm saying: stay in peace. Live from a place of rest. You can't make everyone like you, you can't make everything go your way, that's going to frustrate you. And some of the things that we're trying to pray away is the hand of God. Joseph could've prayed, "God, change my brothers, cause them to not be jealous, cause them to like me", he would have missed his destiny. They had to be jealous, they had to throw him into the pit to get him to Egypt. He could've prayed, "God, don't let them believe this lady that's lying about me. God, vindicate me". She had to lie, she had to falsely accuse him, so he could get in prison to meet the butler and interpret his dream, so the butler could tell Pharaoh about Joseph.
The dry season, the trouble was all a part of God's plan. The scripture says nothing can snatch you out of God's hands. The longer I live, the more peaceful I am, the more joyful I am. The truth is: the more opposition I have, the more rain comes, as God promotes you, there's bigger adversaries. But I stay in peace, knowing that it's leading to a super bloom. God's plans for you are for good. The scripture says you will live a flourishing life, but on the way to the good there's going to be some bad, some trouble, some delays, things we don't understand. You'll save yourself a lot of heartache if you learn to trust him in the trouble, to stay in peace in the dry seasons, to not be frustrated by the jealous people, the betrayals, the situations that are not fair. All those things are leading you to favor, to influence, to resources that you would have never seen without them happening.
After Joseph became the prime minister, his brothers came to the palace looking for food. And of course, they were shocked when they realized it was Joseph. He said to them in Genesis 50:20, "What you meant for harm, God intended for good". He was saying, "You mean it to stop me, but God was using you like a pawn to get me in position, so I could see my dream come to pass". If Joseph were here today, he would tell you: stay in peace. Don't fight the trouble. Don't get discouraged in the dry seasons. God knows what he doing. When it's your time, all the forces of darkness cannot stop what God has ordained for you: the promotion, the vindication, the honor, the breakthroughs.
You may be in a dry season, but that's not where you're staying. You may have trouble all around, excessive rain, that's not the end of the story. Those are the perfect conditions for a super bloom. God setting you up to do something you've never seen. Now, instead of complaining about the rain, being discouraged over the dry season, try a different approach, "God, I trust you. I know this rain is for a purpose. I know this dry season is leading me to a super bloom. Lord, I thank you that the best part of my life is still in front of me". If you do this, I believe and declare: like Joseph, you're going to see some suddenlies. God suddenly open doors, suddenly promotes you, suddenly turn things around. You're about to blossom, to go to new levels, to accomplish dreams bigger than you thought, to reach the fullness of your destiny, in Jesus name. And if you receive it, can you say amen today? Amen.