Joel Osteen - Peace With The Plan (08/26/2024)
Life often frustrates us when our own plans fall apart, but true peace comes from surrendering to God’s higher plan, as Isaiah reminds us His ways are better; like Jesus in Gethsemane and Abraham with Isaac, we must release our will to embrace His, trusting He’ll turn our question marks into exclamation points.
Why Our Plans Cause So Much Frustration
I want to talk to you today about peace with the plan. What causes a lot of frustration is when our plans do not work out. We thought by this time we would be further in our career, we would have met someone by now, we still would not be dealing with this trouble at work.
It is easy to get discouraged because things have not turned out the way we planned, but the scripture (Isaiah 55:8-9) says, «God’s ways are not our ways»; they are higher and better than our ways. If you are going to stay in peace, you have to let go of what you had in mind.
Stop Putting God in a Box
As long as you are set on it happening one way—here is how it is going to work out, and this door has to open, and this person has to come, and «I have got to be there by this age”—you have God in a box, telling Him what to do, how to do it, when to do it.
The problem is: that is your plan, but it is not His plan. His plan is better; His plan is more rewarding and more fulfilling. But here is the key: you are not always going to understand His plan; it may not make sense.
God Doesn’t Take Straight Lines
God does not take you in a straight line to your destiny; there will be twists, turns, and detours. Times where it looks like you are at a dead end, obstacles too big. Times where you feel like you are going the wrong way.
This is when you have to trust: „God, this is not what I had in mind; it does not make sense to me, but I know You are in control.“
When God Seems to Let You Down
I talked to a man that was upset with God. He was new to the faith, and he was in this problem, and he had his plan, his idea, his strategies. He had prayed and believed, and he was very passionate, but it had not worked out the way he wanted; it did not happen on his timetable.
He said, „Joel, God did not come through for me; He let me down.“ If you are only going to be happy if God does what you want, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment. It is not our plan; it is God’s plan. It is not what we want; it is what He wants.
God’s Way Is Always the Best Way
The beauty is: God’s way is the best way. If He followed our plan, always did what we had in mind, we would not see the fullness of our destiny. The scripture says that nothing can stop His plan. Things may stop our plan, but what He has purposed will come to pass.
You have to be still and know that He is God. Not living upset: „Man, why is this taking so long? I cannot believe that I am still here.“ No, turn it around: „God, I am at peace with Your plan. I know You are ordering my steps. You will get me to where I am supposed to be when I am supposed to be there.“
Surrendering What You Had in Mind
See, we sing that hymn „I surrender all.“ All to Jesus I surrender. One of the hardest things to surrender is what you had in mind, surrender how you think it is going to happen.
If you do not understand this, like that man, you get upset: „God, where were You? I thought we would have a baby by now; I thought I would have my degree; I thought I would be over this illness.“ This can save you a lot of frustration. Put how you thought it was going to happen on the altar; release what you had in mind.
Freedom in Trusting God’s Timing
There is a freedom when you realize: God is ordering your steps; He has laid out every day of your life. He said His plans for you are for good. You do not have to figure everything out, come up with all the strategies. No, trust His plan.
Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane
Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, facing His greatest challenge, about to be crucified. He was under so much pressure that He sweat great drops of blood. He knew His Father could deliver Him—I mean, He had raised the dead, calmed the storm, healed the lepers.
He fell to His knees and said (Luke 22:42), „Father, if You are willing, take this cup from me.“ He was saying in effect, „This is not what I want; this is not fair; I am uncomfortable.“ If He had stopped there, He could have missed His purpose. He went on to say, „But not my will; let Your will be done.“ He was saying, „God, I will release what I had in mind. I trust Your plan.“
Surrender When It Doesn’t Make Sense
There will be these times that you do not understand; things have come against you. You know God could have delivered you, could have turned it around, but it is not changing. This is when you have to surrender your will, surrender how you thought it would happen.
God has not delivered you yet because He has something better coming. That difficulty is a part of His plan. You have to go through it to get to the greater things He has in store.
Through the Fire to Abundance
The Psalmist said, „They went through the fire, through the flood to great abundance.“ We do not like the fires, the challenges, the people that do us wrong, but on the other side of that difficulty is a new level of your destiny.
Jesus had to go through the garden, through the betrayal, through the rejection, but now He is seated at the right hand of the Father.
Gethsemane Leads to Resurrection
When we are in the garden, dealing with things we do not understand, it is a test: are we going to get frustrated, „God, why did this happen, ” lose our passion, quit believing?
Try a different approach: release what you had in mind. Maybe Gethsemane is leading you to a resurrection. Maybe the betrayal was necessary to take your throne. Maybe the delay is a part of God’s plan, taking you somewhere that you never dreamed.
God’s Ways Aren’t Always Our Ways
Let go of how you thought it would happen. It may not be by your strategy, your timing—God’s ways are not our ways. We do not know what He is about to do. He does not always tell us in advance. That is why we have to walk by faith and not by sight.
The Three Hebrew Teenagers’ Bold Faith
Think about the three Hebrew teenagers; they would not bow down to the king’s golden idol. He was so angry; he said, „I am going to give you one more chance. If you do not bow, I am going to have you thrown into a fiery furnace.“
These teenagers never planned on facing this kind of challenge; they planned on going to school, being leaders, getting married, raising children. Now, unless they compromise, they are going to be killed.
Nothing Can Stop God’s Plan
They understood this principle: that nothing can stop God’s plan for your life. People cannot stop it, bad breaks cannot stop it, betrayals, delays, injustice.
They said to the king, „We are not going to bow down, for we know our God will deliver us.“ They had great faith, but their next statement is the key: „But even if He does not, we are still not going to bow.“
Trusting God Even in the Furnace
They were saying, „We trust His plan. Our life is in His hands.“ They could have been complaining, „God, this is not fair; we were doing the right thing; why did this happen?“ They surrendered their will to God’s will.
The king had their hands and feet bound with cords and threw them into the fire. Sometimes God’s plan will take you into a furnace.
You Might Be Right Where You’re Supposed to Be
Just because you are in something that feels over your head—you are outnumbered, the opposition is stronger—that does not mean you are not where you are supposed to be. God is still in control. He would not have allowed the difficulty if it was not a part of your purpose.
God Doesn’t Always Deliver FROM the Fire
A lot of times we think, „God, get me out of this fire and I will give You praise. God, move this co-worker that gets on my nerves, then I will trust You.“
God’s plan does not always deliver you from the fire; sometimes He will take you through the fire. If you are set on it happening one way—“God, You have to change this person, turn this problem around, make my business grow”—that is telling God to fit into your plan: „Do it my way.“
Let Go of Your Limited Vision
God has ways you have never thought of. That is not only limiting what He can do, but it will cause you to be frustrated because things are not going according to your plan.
Why do you not let go of what you had in mind? Why do you not release how you thought everything would happen?
The Man Hanging on the Cliff
I heard about a man out hiking through the mountains. He was on this high cliff overlooking a huge canyon, and somehow he lost his footing and slipped. He was in this free-fall headed toward the ground.
The last moment he reached out, miraculously grabbed a small branch growing out of the side of the rocks. As he hung there, holding on for dear life, dangling hundreds of feet in the air, he cried out, „God, please save me!“
We Want God to Do It Our Way
A voice boomed out of the heavens: „Son, let go and I will catch you.“ There was a long pause; the man said, „Is there anyone else up there?“
We want God to do it our way. We do not want to let go of what we have in mind; we do not want to surrender our will. We have not figured it out. We have our strategy, how it is going to happen, when it is going to happen.
Don’t Get Stuck in Your Own Strategy
And yes, it is good to have plans, good to have a vision for your life, but do not get so set in your ways that if things do not turn out the way you thought—you had a detour, you got thrown into the fire, it has taken longer than expected—that you think God has forgotten about you; it is never going to happen.
God has you right where you are supposed to be.
God’s Dream Is Bigger Than Yours
The reason it is not turning out the way you thought is because what God has in mind is much better than what you have in mind. His dream for your life is much greater than your dream.
But the way it is going to happen probably will not be the way you thought. God will open doors you never imagined would open. Sometimes He will take you backwards so He can thrust you forward.
Giants Are There to Reveal You
You will go through the fire so He can show out in your life. The giants are not there to kill you; they are there to reveal you, to show people who you are, to establish you, give you credibility and influence.
None of us plan on having a Goliath; we do not plan on being thrown into a furnace. If you are set on how you think it is going to happen, you will get sour.
Fireproof: Coming Out Without the Smell of Smoke
These teenagers did not plan on facing death at an early age; they had all kinds of dreams and goals, but they surrendered their will to God’s will.
God did not keep them out of the fire; He did something greater—He made them fireproof, where the fire could not harm them. The king looked in the window: „Did we not throw three men in bound? I see four men loosed, and one looks like the Son of God.“ They came out without the smell of smoke.
Your Struggle Can Change Lives
Nothing can stop what God has purposed for you. Quit complaining because you got thrown into the fire, that what you had in mind did not work out. It may not have, but what God has in mind will work out.
He is in the fire with you. You may not realize it, but you two are fireproof; nothing can snatch you out of God’s hands.
The Fire Wasn’t Just About Them
When the teenagers came out, the scripture says, „The king made a new decree that from now on they were all going to worship the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.“
Sometimes what you go through is not just about you; it is about what God wants to do through you. God wants to make you an example of His goodness. When you go through the fire and come out without the smell of smoke, you are a bright light that gets people’s attention.
The Compaq Center Lawsuit Surprise
When we acquired this place, the former Compaq Center, the day after the city council voted for us to have it, a company filed a federal lawsuit to try to keep us from moving in. They said we violated the deed restrictions.
They were the largest taxpayer in Texas, a huge real estate company, owned all the buildings around here. That is not what I had in mind; we had just celebrated the victory; I had announced to the congregation we are going to renovate it and move in—now that was all put on hold.
Surrendering My Own Will
Our attorneys told us it could be tied up in the courts for up to 10 years. That did not make sense to me; I was tempted to be disappointed and worried.
I had to do what I am asking you to do: I surrendered my will to His will. I believed that it was all a part of His plan, and even though I did not understand it, somehow, someway it was working for our good.
Come Back to a Place of Peace
Otherwise we live fighting everything: upset over the door that closed, discouraged that it has taken so long, frustrated over a child that is not changing.
Come back to a place of peace. Your plan may not have worked out, but you can trust His plan. You may be in a Gethsemane, a hard place, but when you say like Jesus, „Not my will, but let Your will be done, ” that is when angels go to work; that is when supernatural things will happen.
Question Marks Become Exclamation Points
We all have these times where we can question what is happening: „God, You gave us the Compaq Center; why did You let that company file a lawsuit?“
David could have said, „God, You had Samuel come anoint me to be the next king; he chose me in front of all my brothers—why is King Saul chasing me through the desert? I have done nothing but good to him; why is he so jealous; now I am having to live in hiding?“ That did not make sense, but it was a part of God’s plan.
Trust When You Don’t Understand
David would have never taken the throne had he not passed the test of trusting when he did not understand, surrendering his will to God’s will.
Moses could have said, „God, You delivered us from slavery; You caused the Pharaoh to let us go, but now he has changed his mind. We are at a dead end at the Red Sea; we have no way out.“
God Straightens Out the Question Marks
We have these questions; we do not understand the plan: „Why did this happen?“ Think about in punctuation there is a question mark, and there is an exclamation point. An exclamation point is simply a question mark straightened out.
God knows how to take the question marks in your life and turn them into exclamation points. He will take things you do not understand now—does not make sense—but if you will trust Him, if you will do the right thing when it is hard, if you will keep praising when you could be complaining, God will straighten out the question marks.
One Day You’ll See It Clearly
„We see in part now, ” the scripture (1 Corinthians 13:12) says, „as though looking through a glass dimly, but one day you will see in full.“
One day you will see the exclamation point; you will see what God was up to. You will come out without the smell of smoke. What you had a question about, now you are shouting about.
Thanking God for What You Didn’t Understand
What you did not understand, now you are thanking God that it happened. What you lost sleep over, now you realize it was all a part of His plan, that all things were working for your good.
Now, if you want God to turn your question marks into exclamation points, you have to trust Him when you do not understand.
The Lawsuit Turned Into a Blessing
I did not understand that company filing a lawsuit, but a year and a half later they not only dropped the case, but they leased us 9,000 covered parking spaces; we did not have to build a garage.
Those teenagers did not like the furnace, but now the whole city was worshiping Jehovah. They had influence and favor they would have never seen without the struggle.
Don’t Complain About the Furnaces
Do not complain about the furnaces, the Goliaths, the Red Seas, the lawsuits. God is up to something. He would not have allowed it unless He had a purpose.
It is very powerful when you can be at peace with His plan. You do not understand it; it was not fair, but you release what you had in mind; you surrender your will knowing that God has something better.
Abraham’s Heartbreaking Test
Genesis 15: Abraham was very disappointed. God had blessed him with a great life, given him many cattle and livestock, but he said in verse 2, „God, what good are all Your blessings when I do not have a son? I do not have any children, no heir to leave what You have given me and continue my legacy. I am going to have to leave it to my servants.“
God said in verse 4, „No, Abraham, your servant will not be your heir; I am going to give you a son that will inherit everything.“
The Promise That Seemed Impossible
He told Abraham to look up into the night sky—as many stars as he could see, that is how many descendants he would have, too many to count.
Abraham was so excited; he had this promise. He went home, told his wife Sarah, „We are going to have a baby.“ The problem was, they were both way too old to have children. Logically speaking, it was impossible.
Isaac Arrives—Then the Real Test
They waited year after year; nothing happened. Every circumstance said it was too late, but at 90 years old—this was 20 years after they received the promise—Sarah gave birth to a son; they named him Isaac.
You can imagine how thrilled they were, what that son meant to them. He was what they had dreamed about for so long; now the promise was fulfilled; they were so grateful.
God Asks for the Impossible
If the story stopped there, it would be a happy ending. God is good; let us move on. But God’s plan is going to include some twists, some turns, things we do not understand.
When Isaac was a young boy, God told Abraham to take his son on top of Mount Moriah and sacrifice him. I can hear Abraham: „God, what do You mean?! You gave me this son! This is what You promised—my heir, my legacy, everything I have dreamed of. And now You want me to put him on this altar?“
Laying Down Your Isaac
That was a test. Would Abraham give God the thing that meant the most to him? Would he lay down what he had in mind, even though it did not make sense?
On the way to our destiny we are all going to have some Isaacs to lay down—these tests where God is saying, „Will you trust Me when it does not make sense? Will you put on the altar how you thought your life would turn out?“
Abraham’s Unwavering Obedience
Abraham did not miss a beat. He got up early the next morning, took Isaac; they headed up the mountain. It is a three-day journey.
They got close to the top; Isaac said, „Dad, we have the wood, we have the fire, but where is the sacrifice?“ Abraham said, „Do not worry, Isaac; the Lord will provide.“ He was saying, „God, I trust You. It does not make sense, but I am surrendering my will to Your will.“
The Ram Was Already on the Way
At one point Isaac realized that he was the sacrifice. He was not a little toddler; the scripture says he carried the wood on his shoulders. He was a young man; he could have resisted, fought his dad.
But even he submitted to his father’s will. He did not understand it either, but he was saying, „God, we trust You.“
When Abraham lifted his arm, an angel shouted, „Do not harm the boy. Lay down the knife.“ Abraham looked over, and there was a ram caught by his horns in the brush. He took that ram and sacrificed it.
Provision Comes When You Obey
While Abraham was coming up one side of the mountain, being obedient, trusting God’s plan, the ram was coming up the other side. Abraham could not see it, but the provision was already en route.
Like Abraham, many of you have laid things on the altar. You did not understand it, but you said, „God, I trust You.“
Your Rams Are Coming Up the Mountain
You had to lay your child that is off course on the altar, a dream that did not work out. You have been taking that treatment and things have not improved—you know God gave you the promise, but you put it on the altar.
Because you have been obedient, you have trusted when it did not make sense, God has some rams coming up the mountain for you: healing, provision, restoration.
God Gives Back More Than You Give
Abraham put what meant the most to him on the altar. When he did, God gave it back to him. It was through Isaac that all the nation of Israel came to pass.
God took that question mark—what did not make sense to Abraham—and turned it into an exclamation point: descendants like the stars in the sky.
Lisa’s Story: From Barren to Twins
My sister Lisa and her husband Kevin wanted to have children. They were not able to conceive, and Lisa took all the fertility treatments, had a couple surgeries; none of that helped.
Doctors finally said, „I am sorry, Lisa; you are not going to be able to have children.“ She was devastated; she told how she had been consumed with having a baby—it is all she thought about; that was the main focus of her prayer: „God, You promised me a baby; please let me conceive.“
Putting the Dream on the Altar
But anything you have to have in order to be happy, the enemy can use against you. I am not saying to give up on a dream, but do not let it consume you to where you do not enjoy where God has you now.
Lisa realized she had to do like Abraham and put the baby on the altar. She said, „God, I am not going to ask You about this baby again. You already know what I want; You know this is my dream; I am not going to let it frustrate me anymore. I trust Your plan for my life.“
God’s Surprise Blessing
A few months later she received a phone call from a friend of ours that runs an organization that helps girls in need. It was a teenager about to give birth to twins.
Lisa had never mentioned anything to our friend. What is interesting is my brother-in-law Kevin is a twin; it was always his dream to have twins. Well, they were able to adopt those babies at birth; they raised them—today they are beautiful young ladies.
Question Mark to Exclamation Point!
God took that question mark—“Why can I not have children?”—He turned it into an exclamation point! Lisa said, „I had two babies, and I never had to get pregnant.“
This all happened when she let go of what she had in mind. She had been trying to force it: „God, do it this way.“ She had to put it on the altar, the thing that meant the most to her. When she did, like with Abraham, God gave it back to her.
Hold Loosely to How It Happens
And sometimes we can get so consumed with what we want, it is like it becomes an idol. It is a good thing, but we are out of balance. We cannot be happy without it.
Turn it over to God: pray, believe, then rest. Know that God is working; know that His plans for you are for good, that nothing can stop what He has purposed for your life, that at the right time it will come to pass.
Peace Comes From Trusting His Plan
But the reason some people are frustrated is not because God is not going to give you an Isaac, not because He is not going to do what He promised, but it is not going to happen the way you think, when you think, with whom you think.
You have to be at peace with His plan. God has not forgotten about you; He sees the lonely nights; He sees the closed doors, the hurts, the delays. You cannot see it now, but it is all working for your good.
Your Promise—and the Ram—Are on the Way
Isaac is not only on the way—the promise—but the ram is coming up the mountain: the healing, the provision, the spouse.
God is ordering your steps; He is fighting your battles. He has not brought you this far to leave you.
Trust Him when you do not understand. Hold tightly to your dreams, but hold loosely to how it is going to happen.
If you will do this, I believe and declare: God is about to turn your question marks into exclamation points! Things you did not see coming—the right people, restoration, promotion, new levels of your destiny—in Jesus’ name.
And if you receive it, can you say amen?