Joel Osteen - When God Moves Fast
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I want to talk to you today about «When God Moves Fast». We all have things we’re believing for, dreams to come to pass, and problems to turn around. We’re doing our best and trying to do the right thing, but we don’t see anything improving. The scripture says it’s through faith and patience that we receive the promise. Sometimes God takes us little by little.
The promise will happen over time through a process where our character is developed, and we learn to trust Him. But that’s not the only way God works. He has these moments of favor when He will do things fast: a sudden turnaround, a speedy recovery, a quick work. You didn’t do anything spectacular. You were just going along, being faithful, when God stepped in and hit fast forward. He accelerated what you were believing for. You thought it would take years to pay your house off, but with one contract or one phone call, it happened in a fraction of the time. Or it looked like a long road to recovery in your health or a long road to overcome that addiction, but suddenly things changed in your favor. You defied the odds. That wasn’t luck; that was the God who moves fast, speeding up what should have taken years.
See, the same God that will take you little by little at times will also accelerate things in a way you can’t explain. It doesn’t make sense, but suddenly He thrusts you ahead. All the circumstances may say it’s going to take a long time to get out of that legal problem, for your child to get back on course, or to meet the right person. What you can’t see is that God has already lined up these moments where He will do a quick work. Suddenly, you meet the right person, suddenly the problem resolves, or suddenly your child comes back home.
When you’re in a waiting season and don’t see anything improving, it’s easy to get discouraged and feel like God has forgotten about you. You must stay in faith; your time is coming. God sees you doing the right thing when it’s hard. He sees you being your best even though you’ve been overlooked. He hears you thanking Him even though you feel stuck. You are showing God that you trust Him. We all go through these waiting seasons, but here’s the good news: those seasons are not permanent. There is a harvest season coming—a time when God will make things happen fast, a sudden shift you couldn’t make happen. It’s the hand of God speeding things up, moving you into your purpose.
The right attitude is: «God, I’m going to trust you in the waiting seasons when you’re taking me little by little. But, Lord, I believe you have these acceleration moments—times when you’ll do a quick work, a sudden breakthrough that thrusts me into my destiny.» This is what happened with Elijah. The Israelites got off course and started worshiping other gods. The king of Israel, Ahab, married a woman from Phoenicia; they worshiped the god Baal, believing Baal controlled the weather, rain, clouds, and the sun.
God sent Elisha to King Ahab in chapter 17. He said, «As the Lord God of Israel lives, there will be no rain and no dew on the ground for years.» Since they had forsaken Jehovah, there would be a drought. Of course, water was essential in that area for their crops and their animals—that’s how they survived. God told Elijah not to go back home but to go to the brook Cherith and live there. It’s significant that Elijah was in a drought caused by other people’s poor choices. He had to leave his home and hide by the brook because someone else did wrong. Sometimes, other people’s actions cause us trouble. We’re in a drought because they wouldn’t do right.
Look at how good God is: He told Elijah to go to the brook and that He would command the ravens to feed him there. Even though there was no food or provision, every morning these ravens brought food in their beaks and dropped it off to him. This was delivery before DoorDash! This was God taking care of His people. I always thought the ravens were the food; that the birds brought like quail in the desert. Well, Elijah would eat the ravens, but this was different. The ravens weren’t the meal; they brought food to him. When you honor God, He will take care of you.
Other people may have put you at a disadvantage; they made choices that caused you trouble and heartache, and now you’re in a drought. Don’t worry; God will have the ravens find you. He’ll provide in a supernatural way. You keep doing the right thing. Keep honoring Him when others are compromising, taking the easy way out, or worshiping other gods. They’re not going to stop your destiny. People are not your source; God is your source. He controls the universe. If He has to have birds bring you food, so to speak—unusual provision, uncommon opportunity—He knows how to take care of you.
When Elijah declared this drought, he didn’t have time to prepare for it. He couldn’t run down to Costco to stock up his shelves. This was a surprise to him, an unexpected storm. When you face things that you didn’t see coming, stay at peace. God has you covered. He’s going to send ravens your way. He’s going to have the provision come to you. David said, «I was young, and now I’m old, and I’ve never once seen the righteous forsaken.» When you honor God, you are connected to a supply line that will never run dry. The economy is not your source; your company or your boss, sure, we’re grateful for employment, but they’re not your source. Your 401(k), your stocks—no, God is your source. He makes streams in the desert. He brought a coin out of a fish for Peter. He brought water out of a rock and manna in the desert. He knows how to take care of you.
And this drought went on not for a month, not for a year, but for three and a half years. You never read where Elijah complained, «God, why did this happen?» He wanted to be out ministering, performing miracles, but he was hiding by the brook. Eventually, he moved to a widow’s house where she took care of him. He’s in a waiting season, a holding pattern. He’s not seeing the promise; he’s just being sustained. What you do in the waiting seasons will determine whether you get stuck there or see God step in and accelerate things.
Sitting in that drought, with no sign of things changing, Elijah said in verse 41, «I hear the sound of an abundance of rain.» He heard something in his spirit that contradicted what he saw with his eyes. All the circumstances said there’s no rain; you’re in a drought; everything is dead. But faith is believing what you’re hearing and not what you’re seeing. God will speak things to your heart, but there’s no sign of it. All the circumstances say you’re not going to get well, but inside you hear, «I am restoring health back to you.» Your business may be slow; you don’t see how you can get ahead, but inside you hear, «You will lend and not borrow.» It looks like your child’s never going to get back on course, but that still, small voice says, «As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.» Now the key is: don’t let what you see talk you out of what you’ve heard. You have to believe what God promised you and not what the circumstances are telling you.
Elijah went on top of Mount Carmel and began to thank God for the rain that was coming—thanking Him for something that he couldn’t see. He asked his assistant to go to the other side of the mountain to look and see if there were any signs of rain. He came back, saying, «No, Elijah, there’s not a cloud of rain in the sky; it’s perfectly clear.»
Elijah didn’t say, «Man, I must’ve heard God wrong; I don’t think this drought will ever end.» He kept believing; he kept praying. He told the assistant to go check again. He went out and came back with the same negative report six times—nothing. Elijah could have let the facts talk him out of it. No sign of rain—he had been this way a long time—but he had the assistant go check again. On the seventh time, he said, «This time, Elijah, I saw a little cloud in the sky, just about the size of a man’s hand.» That was all Elijah needed: a little sign, a little breakthrough. He told King Ahab, «You better get in your chariot and get down this mountain as fast as you can; there’s about to be an abundance of rain.»
Verse 45 of the Message translation says, «Things happen fast.» The sky grew black with clouds, and there was a mighty rainstorm. It wasn’t like these clouds rolled in over a few days, where the weather got a little overcast and more cloudy over time—this was a big storm. No, things happened fast. These clouds didn’t drift in; they formed overhead. One moment it was sunny, bright, and blue, and the next moment there was an abundance of rain.
You may have situations where, just like Elijah, all the circumstances say you’re not going to get well; you’re just like you were a year ago. You’re not going to get out of debt or break the addiction. Nothing has changed—you still have that child breaking your heart and are still no closer to your dream. Can I encourage you? Things are going to happen fast! You can’t see it coming; there’s no sign of it happening. That doesn’t mean God is not going to do it. He’s going to accelerate the process. He doesn’t have to wait for clouds to darken the sky the traditional way; it’s going to be supernatural.
Something you can’t explain, a sudden breakthrough, a quick work. In 2003, the Houston City Council voted for Lakewood to have this facility, the former compact city. It was more than we could imagine—a dream come true. But while we were still celebrating, the company that owns all the property around this building filed a federal lawsuit to try to keep us from moving in. They said we violated the deed restrictions. Our attorneys told us that it could be a life-threatening accident, tied up in the courts for up to ten years, and that there was no guarantee we would win. The longer they waited, the worse it was for us. There was no reason for them to try to work it out. We had a building that we couldn’t do anything with. I had already announced to the church that we were going to move in. People had given funds, and I’d wake up in the night thinking, «Joel, you’re going to look like a fool. What if you don’t win the lawsuit? What if that building sits there for years?»
We tried to reach out to the other side, but they didn’t want to talk. A month went by, two months, three months—no word. We had this promise in our spirit. We heard abundance of rain, but we didn’t see any clouds, no sign of things improving. These are tests. Are you going to give up because the clouds haven’t formed? Will you let the negative reports talk you out of it? There will always be people who try to discourage you and tell you how it’s not going to work out. It’s too big; it’s too late; the report is too bad; you’re not qualified. Tune all that out. Don’t let them talk you out of what God put in your heart. They didn’t hear what you heard. Don’t expect them to understand.
You have to walk by faith and not by what you see. Let what you heard in your spirit overrule what you see with your eyes. Just because there are no clouds in the sky doesn’t mean God is not working. Just because your assistant came in, or your cousin, or your friend, the expert, said it’s not going to happen; it’s still sunny and blue. «You’ll never get the building, never get well, never meet the right person.» They’re telling you what they see, but what they can’t see is what God is about to do. What God has coming is not going to be natural; it’s not going to make sense. It’s not something you can put on paper, calculate, or plan. God is supernatural. He can bring rain without clouds, healing without medicine, abundance without training.
One day, I received a call from our attorneys saying that the other side wanted to meet. He said it was probably a distraction just to bring confusion and we shouldn’t talk with them. But something down in my spirit said to do it. I knew we were supposed to meet. The CEO of the company walked in and came right up to me. He said, «Joel, I watch you on television every week, and my son-in-law is a youth pastor.» I wasn’t expecting that. I thought he was going to say, «We don’t want you here; we’re going to fight you every step of the way.» But God is working behind the scenes, lining up the people you need, the breaks you need, the favor you need. What He has purposed for your life, no person can stop. No company, no lawsuit, no sickness, no addiction—God has the final say.
We sat down and met that day, and about four hours later, he told his attorneys to drop the lawsuit and let them have the building. Not only that, they leased us 9,000 covered parking spaces. It looked like it was going to be tied up for years, but things happened fast. God accelerated the process. You don’t know what God is up to in your life. Problems that look like they’ll take years to resolve and dreams that seem like they’ll take a lifetime—they’re about to shift.
Now get ready: acceleration is coming! God is going to speed things up—a sudden shift, a breakthrough, a healing, a turnaround that you couldn’t plan. You couldn’t explain it. It’s the God who moves fast. And yes, I realize there are waiting seasons and times when God takes us little by little, and we don’t see anything improving. But that’s not how your story ends. God has already lined up these acceleration moments where He’ll do in a fraction of the time what should have taken years. If you’re in one of those waiting seasons, my challenge is: wait in faith, waiting, knowing that God controls time, that He can do things fast. You’re not alone falling behind: One touch of God’s favor will put you 50 years down the road.
When you know this, there’s an expectancy. You’re thanking Him for what’s coming, and you’re believing that something good is going to happen. That’s what causes God to go to work. But the enemy would love for us to miss these acceleration moments because we talk ourselves out of it and let other people discourage us. If Elijah had listened to his assistant and let that negativity take root, he wouldn’t have seen the abundance. If he had allowed his own thoughts to discourage him and reason it out, saying, «Man, there are no clouds; this drought’s never going to end,» we wouldn’t be talking about it. God works where there’s faith.
Like Elijah, many of you have been faithful in the drought, doing the right thing when nothing’s improving, thanking God when you don’t see any sign of it. You are on the verge of acceleration. God is about to speed up what should have taken years: promotion you weren’t qualified for, your business being thrust to a new level, your health suddenly turning around. You can’t explain it; it’s divine acceleration. This is what Isaiah said in Chapter 60: «The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation.»
This is talking about increase, abundance, and God exceeding our expectations. But it doesn’t say this will happen over a lifetime or through normal growth and ordinary promotions. It goes on to say, «When it’s your time, I will do this quickly.» God is saying, «I have these moments that I’ve ordained for you, where I’m going to quickly make things happen.» You can’t reach the fullness of your destiny with just ordinary breaks, gradual promotion, or usual increases. So God says, «At the right time, if you just keep being faithful, you’re going to come into these seasons of acceleration.»
Moments when, like Elijah, you look up and say, «Wow, that happened fast!» There were just no clouds in the sky. My assistant told me six times now to know there’s an abundance of rain. From drought to a downpour in a moment’s time. It looked like this building would be tied up for ten years, but in four hours, it was resolved. What you’re facing—your health, your family, your finances—may look like it will always limit you, but you don’t know what God is up to. You can’t see what He’s planning behind the scenes. Stay in faith during the drought seasons, those times of waiting when He’s taking you little by little. Isaiah said, «When your time comes, God will do it quickly; the least of you will become a thousand.» That’s acceleration. That’s God speeding up things to thrust you into your purpose.
I spoke to a lady whose husband and she had three children. When she gave birth to her fourth child, a beautiful baby girl, they noticed early on that she wasn’t developing like the other children. She barely talked other than an occasional «Mommy,» and she never said a word. Friends and family were concerned; they told these parents she might be special needs and needed to have her tested. But this mother didn’t want to hear that. Her other children were high achievers excelling in school, and she kept putting it off. Finally, the time came to start preschool. At four and a half years old, she was tested and had the speaking ability of a 12-month-old baby.
The parents were devastated. The mother explained how she was paralyzed with fear. They were in a drought month after month, year after year, and now it was confirmed by the experts: not just slower than normal but a serious problem. These parents could have fallen apart, asking, «God, why did this happen?» Instead, all through the day, they kept thanking God that He was working. They kept thanking Him that their little girl would be able to speak. They kept praise music playing throughout their house. They never missed a service on television. When you’re in a drought, it’s important what you’re feeding yourself. You don’t need to hear all the negativity and the naysayers, how it’s not going to work out. You need to feed your faith, feed yourself hope, and meditate on what God says about your situations. When you believe, all things are possible.
This little girl was enrolled in special education for speech that new school year, and August went by—nothing happened; she couldn’t say a word. September was no better, and October and November were the same. Like Elijah, they were praying and believing, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky—no sign of things improving. They just kept thanking God He was working. In April of the next year, she suddenly began to talk. It wasn’t gradual; it wasn’t little by little. All at once, she started speaking like she had been doing it for years. The teachers were baffled. They told the parents she didn’t need speech intervention any longer. My friend Hokelani is here in the front row. She just finished her sophomore year. She’s excelling in school.
Beautiful Hokelani—that’s so awesome! Let me tell you, friends, God can do things fast. He has these acceleration moments. What should have taken years will happen in a fraction of the time. When you’re not seeing anything happen, no clouds in the sky, that’s when you have to dig down deep and say, «God, I am not moved by what I see. I believe what I’ve heard in my soul: the abundance of rain, healing for my child, freedom from this addiction, this baby I’m dreaming about.» When you keep believing and thanking God despite how long it’s taking, that’s when God can step in with these acceleration moments, where you go from a drought to a downpour. Like Elijah, things will happen fast.
This is what Joseph did. He was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, even though he had done nothing wrong. He found himself in a foreign land and held against his will, falsely accused, and put in prison. It was one bad break after another. He was in a drought, a long waiting season. He could have been bitter, but he just kept trusting God, believing that He was still in control. One night, the Pharaoh, the leader of the nation, had a dream that he didn’t understand. They said, «There’s a prisoner named Joseph who can interpret dreams.»
The scripture says that Joseph was brought quickly to the palace. One moment he’s in prison on another ordinary day, going about his business; in the next moment, he’s standing before Pharaoh. He interpreted the dream, and Pharaoh was so impressed, he made Joseph the prime minister, second in command only to him. If you had told Joseph, while sitting in prison after all the unfair things—people betraying him and lying about him—that tomorrow he would be the prime minister, that not only would he be out of this prison dressed in a royal robe, but that he would have the Pharaoh’s ring representing the authority to do whatever he pleased, Joseph would have probably said, «You’ve lost your mind; that’s not possible.» But God can make things happen fast.
Joseph didn’t have to go through a trial and be vindicated by a jury. He didn’t have to run for office or have people elect him. God knows how to accelerate your dreams and speed things up. What should have taken years, He can do in a fraction of the time. You don’t know what God is about to do for you. Like Joseph, you’ve been faithful; you kept a good attitude in the waiting seasons when God was taking you little by little. You didn’t see much progress; you didn’t complain. You didn’t give up on your dream; you passed the test.
Now God has some of these acceleration moments for you. Don’t believe those lies that you’re stuck. You are not! It’s not going to take you a whole lifetime to get out of debt, get well, or meet the right person! No! God is going to do things fast. You can’t explain it. It wasn’t your skill, your intellect, or your hard work; it was the goodness of God. Like Isaiah said, taking you from one to a thousand, the smallest to a mighty nation. How is this going to happen? God said, «When it’s your time, I’m going to do it quickly—from a drought to a downpour!» And there weren’t any clouds!
Don’t worry if you don’t see any sign; just keep believing what you heard in your spirit: freedom, abundance, children serving God. I believe and declare it’s going to happen fast! God is about to surprise you with sudden breakthroughs, speedy recovery, and acceleration that catapults you into your destiny! In Jesus' name, and if you receive it, can you say «Amen» today?