Joel Osteen - A Never Doubt Mindset
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I want to talk to you today about a Never-Doubt Mindset. We all face situations where we don’t see a way out, how we can get well, how we can accomplish a dream, or how our family can be restored. All the facts say it’s not going to happen. That’s when thoughts of doubt and discouragement arise. If we’re not careful, we’ll live worried and give up on what we’re believing for. But Paul said in Ephesians 3, never doubt God’s might to work in you and accomplish infinitely more than your greatest request. God didn’t say never doubt how you feel or never doubt because of a medical report; never doubt the financial struggle.
We’re human, and doubt comes to us all. These times when we think, this doesn’t seem possible, we’re looking at it through our own ability, but God said, never doubt what I can do. Never doubt my mighty power. Never doubt God can open doors you can’t open. Never doubt God can heal you despite the diagnosis. Never doubt God can bring the right people and divine connections into your life. Maybe your child is off course and running with the wrong crowd, and you could live stressed and can’t sleep at night. God is saying, never doubt I can turn him around. Never doubt I can bring him into his purpose. What causes us to get discouraged is when we look at circumstances only through our ability. It seems too big, too much, too late; that’s okay. You’re not doing life by yourself.
There is a force for you greater than any force trying to stop you, and at times you’ll feel a disadvantage. What you’re up against is bigger and stronger; you don’t have the connections, the courage, or the finances. On your own, you’re stuck, but never doubt God’s mighty power. He stopped the sun for Joshua. He parted the Red Sea for Moses. He brought three teenagers out of a fiery furnace without the smell of smoke. He opened prison doors for Paul and Silas. He raised Lazarus back to life. He took Gideon from afraid and insecure to a mighty hero who delivered the Israelites. He healed my mother of terminal cancer. He gave us a basketball arena to have church in.
The scripture says, is there anything too hard for the Lord? You may have situations that seem impossible and beyond your control, and I’m not saying you won’t feel doubt. I’m saying never doubt God’s mighty power. Never doubt what the Creator of the universe can do. That setback, that impossibility, is a setup for Him to show up in your life. The way you conquer doubt is to switch your focus from what you can do to what God can do. When my father passed and I stepped up to pastor the church, I felt inadequate and overwhelmed. I didn’t have the training or the experience. My dad had this big personality, strong and powerful, while I was more quiet and reserved, and all these thoughts bombarded my mind. Joy, you’re not enough. You don’t have what it takes. You’re going to look like a fool.
The truth is, I had doubt in my ability, doubts about whether I was strong enough, and doubts about whether the church would make it. Would people continue to come? But what kept me going? The reason I didn’t give in to my doubts was because I never doubted what God could do. I know He is all-powerful, that nothing can stand against Him, and that when we are weak, His power shows up the greatest. I kept reminding myself, you’re the God who chose me before I could choose You. You’re the God who knew me before I was formed in my mother’s womb, the God who goes before me and makes crooked places straight, the God who fights my battles, the God who has crowned me with Your favor. You’re not doing life on your own.
Quit focusing on just your ability, your talent, your background, or your resources; that’s going to cause you to doubt and get discouraged. To reach your destiny, you’re going to face things that are over your head, where you’re outnumbered and don’t have the experience or the funds. This legal situation should sink you, and it seems too late to accomplish your dreams. This is when many people quit believing, live worried, and try a different approach. God, I may have a lot of good reasons to doubt, but I am never going to doubt Your mighty power. I know You’re still on the throne. I know You still part the Red Seas. You still bring dead things back to life. You still heal the sick. You still multiply the loaves and fish. You still take those who are afraid and make them into mighty heroes.
Anyone can get discouraged. Anyone can talk themselves out of their dreams. I’m asking you to be a never-doubt person. Never doubt what God can do. Never doubt His mighty power to turn things around. Never doubt His favor to open doors you couldn’t open. Never doubt His restoration to give you beauty for ashes, to pay you back for the wrongs, to turn your mourning into dancing. Yes, because when we go through difficult things and things that are not fair, those never lies start playing. You’ll be happy again, and you’ll never meet anyone new. This loss, this breakup, how you were raised, man, it put you at a disadvantage. Don’t believe those lies. God knows everything you’ve been through: every hurt, every injustice, every lonely night. He said in Isaiah that He will pay you back double for the unfair things that have happened.
Instead of dwelling on the never lies, come over to the never-doubt mindset. Yes, some bad breaks, but I know this is not how my story ends. God, I believe Your mighty power is at work, that You’re a God of justice, that You won’t just bring me out but You’ll bring me out better than I was before. This is what David did. He was out in the shepherd’s fields, a teenager taking care of his father’s sheep. He was the youngest of eight sons, and his brothers were in the army in prestigious positions. He was stuck in the fields, lonely, at a disadvantage. One day, his father asked him to take lunch to the brothers. They were in another city, and that’s when he heard Goliath taunting the Israelites, making fun of God’s people. All the Israeli soldiers ran and hid; they were so afraid. Of course, Goliath was a giant; he stood over nine feet tall.
But something rose up in David, some kind of fire on the inside. He said, «Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?» He went and told Saul that he wanted to fight Goliath. Saul said, «David, you’re just a boy. You’re too small, too young; you don’t have the experience or the training.» Don’t let people talk you out of what God put in your heart. There will always be a Saul, always somebody telling you what you can’t do. You’re not enough; you can’t get well; your business is not going to make it. Do yourself a favor: tune all that out. They don’t control your destiny. They didn’t breathe life into you. They didn’t call you, equip you, or anoint you. God did.
David went out to face this giant. Goliath was almost twice his size. Goliath had a full set of armor, a shield that weighed 125 pounds. He was their most skilled warrior, the champion of the Philistine army. Here was David, a shepherd with no training, no armor, no shield. All he had was a slingshot and a few stones. How could he have this boldness, this faith, when all the circumstances were against him? Opposition much bigger, people telling him not to do it. He gives us his secret. He said, «Goliath, you come against me with a sword and a shield, but I come against you in the name of the Lord God of Israel.» He was saying, in effect, «Yes, I doubt my size. Yes, I doubt my equipment. Yes, I doubt my training. But I will never doubt the mighty power of my God. I may be half your size, but I know the God in me is more powerful than anything you can do. I may only have a slingshot, but I know this slingshot with the favor of God is more powerful than your weapons.»
David wasn’t discouraged because of his lack of resources, lack of ability, or lack of size. He knew God was fighting for him, that he had a secret weapon—something that King Saul couldn’t see. David’s father left him out in the fields; he didn’t recognize it. Goliath couldn’t see it either. When Goliath first saw David, he laughed and said, «Am I a dog that you’d come at me with a stick?» David put a stone in his sling, slung that rock, hit Goliath in the forehead, and knocked him unconscious. David had less equipment, less training, but he never doubted God’s mighty power. Don’t doubt what God is working in you—not just what you’re hoping for, but to do infinitely beyond your wildest dreams.
On the way to your destiny, there are going to be some giants. You can’t become who you were created to be without opposition. With the giant, thoughts of doubt will come: «This sickness is too big. Your business is not going to make it. That family issue will never resolve.» You’re right where David was, looking at a giant twice your size. You can do like the other men in the army—run, hide, get talked out of it—or you can deal with doubt a different way. Like David, not denying the giant, not psyching yourself up by saying, «I don’t feel fear. I don’t really have this problem.» It’s okay to be honest. «God, I have doubts about what I can do. This giant looks way over my head. I know in the natural, I don’t have a chance, but God, I will never doubt your mighty power. I know you’re fighting my battles. You’re breathing on the slingshot. You’re going to show yourself strong in my life.»
See, when I say «I never doubt» mindset, I don’t mean you’re not going to have doubts about your ability and thoughts telling you it’s never going to work. Those thoughts come to us all. You have to have this knowing, this trust, that even though I may doubt my ability, God, I will never doubt what you can do. I received an email from a young woman. She was born with spina bifida, and at two years old, she had to have surgery to untether her spinal cord. Her parents were told she’d never be able to walk, run, or do any kind of physical activity. They had all these good reasons to doubt: doubt that she could live a normal life, and doubt that she could go to school, doubt that she’d ever get married. They were facing a giant.
Medically speaking, she would be in a wheelchair and always limited. These parents had been coming to Lakewood for many years and understood that what’s impossible with men is possible with God. They never tried to deny the facts or the medical report, but they didn’t let the doubts stay. They didn’t dwell on their lack of ability or what the report said. Their attitude was, «Even though we don’t see a way, God, we know you can make a way. We may doubt what we can do, but we will never doubt your mighty power. You can do what medicine can’t do. You can heal our daughter.»
Sometimes, we’re not seeing breakthroughs, and our giant is not falling because we’re only looking at our ability. We don’t have the resources. We can’t get well medically speaking. Relatives are always going to be off course. We’re looking at it in the natural, but God is supernatural. He’s going to do things in your life that go beyond reasoning, things that are out of the ordinary and uncommon. You couldn’t plan it. You couldn’t put it on paper. It’s going to defy the odds. Every day, her mother would exercise her little legs, and the whole time, thanking God for her healing and speaking faith over her. At 11 months old, much to the doctor’s surprise, she started walking. They couldn’t explain it. She went on to join the children’s choir here at Lakewood, and she loved to sing and dance.
But at the age of ten, she had a problem with her spinal cord and had to have emergency surgery, and when she woke, she was paralyzed from the neck down. The doctor told her, unfortunately, she would never be able to walk again. They did everything they could, medically speaking, but they came to the end of their ability. Of course, at ten years old, she had these doubts that doctors can’t do anything more, and she couldn’t move. She could’ve stayed there, bitter, defeated, discouraged, but she said, «God, you did it for me once. I know you can do it for me again.» She told the doctor, «I walked in here on my own, and I will walk out of here on my own.» Every circumstance said she was paralyzed. Her life was limited, but on the inside, she could hear God whispering, «You will walk again.»
There will always be two voices competing for your attention: the voice of doubt and the voice of faith. Often, the doubting voices are the loudest. They bombard your mind with thoughts like, «You’ll never get well,» «You can’t break this addiction,» and «Your family will never be restored.» You may wake up in the middle of the night, and those thoughts still come, but if you get quiet, there’s another voice, a still small voice. It’s God speaking to you. He’s saying, «I’m fighting this battle. This too shall pass. You will recover. Healing is coming. Freedom is coming. Abundance is coming.» Now, you must choose whether to let the voice of doubt play worry, to dwell on all the negative, «not going to happen» thoughts, or will you do what Paul said and say, «No, I will never doubt what God can do in my life. I will never doubt His mighty power, which is greater than anything I’m facing.»
That’s what allows God to do more than you can ask or think. The tension is that we may doubt our ability; we may have negative thoughts because of a medical report or financial situation. That’s okay. The key is to never doubt what God can do. If you take the emphasis off your ability, what you have, and what you can control, and put that emphasis on what God can do, that’s how you stay in faith. That’s what causes God to show out in your life. When she told the doctors she was going to walk out of that room after being told she was permanently paralyzed, she said she felt her toes begin to move. That was the start of a miracle. Little by little, she got better and better. Her therapist told her that out of all her patients with spina bifida, she was the only one who could walk without a brace.
My friend Elena went on to graduate from college. She received her master’s degree last weekend. I dedicated her baby girl with her husband and family. Wow! I tried to hold back my tears, but I couldn’t. That’s what happens when you never doubt God’s mighty power. Sure, we may doubt what we can do, but we’re not on our own. The Most High God is working in your life. He created the universe, and He has you in the palm of His hand. Hallelujah! You may be in a situation like my friend Elena, where the odds are against you and you don’t see a way out. You could easily let all the doubt fill your mind, talk you out of your healing, and convince you that you’re limited.
You have to remember who’s on your side: the God who caused Elena to walk when she was supposed to be paralyzed, the God who changed the city council member’s mind and we got the compact center, the God who turned David, a shepherd boy, into a king, the God who brought water out of a rock, the God who gave Sarah a baby at 90 years old. God took Joseph from the pit to the palace. How about the God who made Elijah invisible to the enemy? The God who gave Isaac a hundred times more than he planted in a famine? The God who multiplied those five loaves and two fish! Who are we talking about? That’s our God. That’s our King. Never doubt. Never doubt His mighty power. See, when you live from a place of faith, that’s when giants fall. That’s when supernatural healing comes. That’s when doors open that you can’t open. That’s when God will do infinitely more than you can imagine.
A few years ago, we were headed to one of our Nights of Hope in another city. We left a hotel and were on our way to the venue, which started at 7:30. We had plenty of time, but the freeway was backed up—traffic was so bad. It was supposed to take minutes, but we’d already been driving for an hour and it didn’t look like we would make it in time. Our assistant called the venue and explained what was happening. They said, «Don’t worry, we’ll send the police to come get you.» Two police officers met us on the freeway. One officer got into our car to drive. He pulled onto the shoulder and began passing everyone. People were staring at us, honking, as if to say, «What are you doing? Get back in line!» He paid no attention and just kept going.
Once the traffic cleared, he didn’t drive the speed limit; he drove sixty-five, seventy. We passed other police officers who waved when they saw the officer in our car. When we got downtown, he didn’t wait for the light to turn green. If it was clear, he ran the red light. Other officers on the corner had no problem with it; they just waved. Here’s the point: the reason we could break the law was that the law was riding with us. Without that officer, we’d probably have gotten pulled over and could have received a ticket. But because the law was in our car, we could exceed the speed limit; we weren’t bound by normal limitations.
In the natural, it may be impossible for you to get well. The laws of medical science—like with Elena and my mother—say there’s no way. The good news is that someone is riding with you who supersedes those laws. God can do what medicine cannot do. He made your body; He can bring healing when there’s no explanation and when it doesn’t make sense. If you only focus on the natural, the logical, your abilities, and what the experts say, you’re going to live limited because there will be giants you can’t overcome by yourself and dreams you can’t accomplish. Doubt will come, and discouragement will cause you to swing back. You have to remind yourself who’s riding with you. You’re not in that car, so to speak, by yourself.
Jesus took the wheel; the Most High God is ordering your steps. The reason you can break the law is that the law is riding with you. The God who controls the universe is not limited to the laws of nature, the laws of science, the laws of finance, or the laws of the economy. He makes dreams in the desert. He caused oil to never run out for three and a half years for a widow, providing supernatural support. He sent ravens to feed Elijah by the brook during a famine. We look at our finances, what we make; we run the numbers. If I get this increase and save this much, maybe I’ll get a bonus— that’s all good. But what God will do is not natural or ordinary; it’s not something you can calculate. He’s not limited by your job, your boss, your talent, or the family you come from; He supersedes those things. One touch of His favor will put you into overflow, abundance, and more than enough. When you’re tempted to doubt, remember who’s in your car.
This is where Moses missed it. He was in the desert leading the Israelites. God had brought them out of slavery, and they were headed toward the promised land. But the people got tired of eating manna each day, or something like bread that formed on the ground, and they came to Moses complaining, «We don’t want this food anymore. We want some meat like we used to have in Egypt.» Moses was frustrated. He went to God and told Him what they were saying. God said, «Alright, Moses, I’m going to give you meat, not for a day, not for a week, but for a month; you will have all the meat you could ever want.» Moses said, «God, there are 600,000 men out here plus the women and children. If we butchered all of our flocks and all of our cattle, we wouldn’t have that much meat.»
Moses was only looking at it through his ability, only in what they had. He told God all the reasons it couldn’t happen—too many people, just not possible. When he finally finished, God asked him a simple question. He said, «Moses, when did I become weak?» He was saying, «Did you forget I spoke worlds into existence? I created the universe. Do you think somehow I’ve lost my power? That I’m all of a sudden at a disadvantage?» God shifted the wind, and millions of quail flew from the ocean out into the desert. There were so many quail. They gathered them up all day, all night, and the next day.
The scripture says every family gathered no less than 50 bushels. It was Costco-sized, not just one dinner. They got quail in bulk. What’s significant is quail don’t normally fly that far from the water, way out in the desert, but God shifted the wind, and against the odds, all these quail came into their camp. You don’t know what God is about to shift for you. We look in the natural. «Amen, not me, Joel. I’m stuck in my career. This sickness is permanent. I’ll never meet anyone.» We’re saying there can’t be quail out in the desert. That’s not possible. Why don’t you tune out all the doubt and get in agreement with God? «God, I believe you have some shifts coming my way—sudden turnarounds, healing, good breaks, abundance, things I can’t explain.»
Never doubt God’s mighty power. You may doubt your ability, your strength, your resources, but never doubt what God can do. Now, you may be in a situation today like Moses, and you don’t see how it can work out. The facts say it’s not going to happen. It’s too late, too hard. God is asking you what He asked Moses: «When did I become weak?» You will never face a giant that God can’t bring down, never an obstacle that He can’t help you overcome, never a dream that He can’t bring to pass. Instead of telling Him all the reasons it can’t happen, why don’t you do like David? Look at that obstacle and say, «I come against you not just in my might, not just my ability. I come in the name of the Lord God of Israel.»
I know who’s driving my car—a God who supersedes natural laws. You wouldn’t be hearing this if God weren’t up to something. This is an important time. You have to let faith rise up. You’re on the verge of seeing something you’ve never seen. Yes. But the enemy’s going to work overtime to try to talk you out of it. «Oh man, the giant’s too big. You can’t feed people in the desert.» God is saying, «Never doubt my power to accomplish infinitely more than you could ever imagine.» If you’ll shake off this doubt mindset, I believe and declare you’re about to see giants come down—like a wave of supernatural healing, like Moses, a shift, provision, breakthroughs, abundance, and new levels of your destiny in Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can you say amen today? Amen.