Joel Osteen - When God Moves Fast

Joel Osteen shares that while God often works gradually through faith and patience, He also has moments of divine acceleration where He moves fast, bringing sudden breakthroughs and quick turnarounds, as illustrated by Elijah’s drought ending abruptly, Joseph’s rapid rise from prison to prime minister, Lakewood’s swift resolution of a lawsuit, and a child’s miraculous speech development. Stay faithful in waiting seasons, believing for God’s speedy favor to thrust you ahead.

God Doesn’t Always Work Slowly

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 God Has Sudden Accelerations

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.

God Can Thrust You Ahead Overnight

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.

Your Waiting Season Isn’t Permanent

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.

Trust God in the Drought

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.»

Elijah’s Unexpected Drought

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 Elijah 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.

God Provides Even in Others' Mess

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.

Ravens: God’s Supernatural Delivery

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. 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.

God Controls Your Supply Line

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.

Unexpected Storms? God Has You Covered

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.

Elijah Heard Rain in the Drought

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. 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.

Faith Hears What Eyes Can’t See

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.

Don’t Let Facts Override Faith

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.»

Believe the Promise, Not the Problem

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.

From Tiny Cloud to Mighty Storm

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.

Things Happened Fast!

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.

God Doesn’t Need Time to Work

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.

Supernatural Speed Is Coming

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.

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.

Lakewood’s Lawsuit: Tied Up to Resolved

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 Compaq Center. It was more than we could imagine—a dream come true.

From Years of Delay to Hours of Favor

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 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.

God Lines Up the Unexpected

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?»

One Meeting Changed Everything

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.

One day, I received a call from our attorneys saying that the other side wanted to meet. 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.

Acceleration Is Coming Your Way

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.

Wait in Faith for God’s Quick Work

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 Does It Quickly in His Time

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.

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.

From Drought to Downpour Overnight

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.

This is what Isaiah said in Chapter 60: «The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation.» God is saying, «I have these moments that I’ve ordained for you, where I’m going to quickly make things happen.»

A Child’s Speech: Sudden Miracle

Moments when, like Elijah, you look up and say, «Wow, that happened fast!» 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.

Years of Waiting, Then Sudden Speech

But this mother didn’t want to hear that. 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. These parents could have fallen apart, but instead, all through the day, they kept thanking God that He was working. In April of the next year, she suddenly began to talk.

Joseph: Prison to Palace in a Day

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. God can do things fast. He has these acceleration moments.

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.

One Night Changed His Destiny

It was one bad break after another. He was in a drought, a long waiting season. One night, the Pharaoh, the leader of the nation, had a dream that he didn’t understand.

The scripture says that Joseph was brought quickly to the palace. One moment he’s in prison on another ordinary day; in the next moment, he’s standing before Pharaoh.

God Speeds Up What Seems Impossible

He interpreted the dream, and Pharaoh was so impressed, he made Joseph the prime minister, second in command only to 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.

Your Acceleration Moment Is Near

Like Joseph, you’ve been faithful; you kept a good attitude in the waiting seasons when God was taking you little by little. 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.

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?