Joel Osteen - Power For Your Purpose (01/18/2026)
God gives supernatural power in key destiny moments to fulfill your purpose, just like with Samson—when a lion attacked him unexpectedly, the Spirit took control, giving him strength to tear it apart bare-handed, showing nothing can stop what God has ordained, even bad breaks, mistakes, or private struggles.
Supernatural Power for Your Purpose
I want to talk to you today about "Power For Your Purpose". We all face situations that seem too big for us. A dream that looks impossible, bad medical reports, a child that's off course. It's easy to get discouraged and feel overwhelmed. But God knew every difficulty you would face. He wouldn't have allowed it if it was going to stop your purpose.
He has these destiny moments where His power will come on you in a greater way to fulfill what He's called you to do. This is not ordinary—not something you can work up with willpower or determination. This is supernatural power, supernatural favor that causes you to do what you couldn't do and overcome what should have stopped you.
You're not at a disadvantage. The odds may be against you. It feels over your head, but you have a secret weapon. The Spirit of God will empower you to defeat giants, to break addictions, to accomplish dreams. Now quit focusing on what you don't have, how the problem's too big, it's never going to resolve. No, your time is coming.
Your destiny moments are already on the schedule where you're going to feel a power, a strength, an ability that you've never felt to step into the purpose that God has ordained for you. We see this in the life of Samson. An angel appeared to his mother, said that she was going to have a baby, that he would deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. There was a divine calling on his life, something God ordained for him to do.
The Unexpected Lion Attack and God's Power
As he got older, he saw this young woman that he really liked. He told his parents that he wanted to marry her. In those days, the parents arranged the wedding, but they weren't for it because she was a Philistine. One day, while he was out walking toward her city, a lion came out of the woods and attacked Samson. One version says it took him by surprise. Suddenly he's in this crisis. This should be the end of Samson. A bad break, wrong place, wrong time, attacked by a lion.
But what God has purposed for your life cannot be stopped by bad breaks, by unexpected troubles, by obstacles you didn't see coming. Verse 6 says, at that moment, the Spirit of God powerfully took control of Samson and he ripped the lion apart with his bare hands. All of a sudden, he had this supernatural strength, strength he had never felt before. It wasn't like he decided to be brave, decided to have courage. No, the Spirit of God took control of him. He didn't have a choice. He was just minding his own business.
But what God has purposed for your life, He will empower you to do. You may face some unexpected challenges, things you didn't see coming—your health, your finances, with the child, like that lion, it suddenly attacks. All the facts say, you're done. It's too much, too big. But like with Samson, the Spirit of God is going to come on you in a powerful way. It's going to take control and help you do what you couldn't do by yourself.
The Scripture says, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God will raise up a barrier. You're not fighting on your own. You're not at the mercy of fate and people, a sickness. You have a defender, a protector. He's going before you. He's ordering your steps. He's planned your days. He knows where the lions are hiding. He knows where the bad breaks, the unexpected trouble is. It was a surprise to Samson, but it wasn't a surprise to God.
Private Battles Lead to Public Victories
You don't have to worry about what might happen. Now, Joel, what if I get laid off? Or what if the medical report's not good? What if this relationship doesn't make it? God knows everything that's going to happen. He already has solutions to problems you haven't even had. He's already lined up your destiny moments where His Spirit rises up in you in a powerful way and you defeat the giant. You tear the lion apart. You break the addiction.
See, God didn't send an angel to defeat the lion. He didn't send another person, an army, a game warden. That would all have been fine. But you don't have to rely on other people. The Spirit of God lives in you. You are powerful. You are equipped. You are anointed. It's significant that this lion came out of nowhere and attacked Samson. This is symbolic. The scripture says the enemy goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
The good news is he can't devour everyone. You are God's property. When you made Jesus the Lord of your life, the lion may attack. It seems bigger, stronger. He thinks you're easy game. But what he doesn't realize is you belong to the Most High God. You're not doing life on your own. When the enemy attacks, God doesn't sit back and watch what happens. He sends His Spirit to rise up in you.
There's not a lion you face that you can't tear apart. Not a problem you can't overcome. Not an addiction, a bad break that can keep you from your purpose. That lion attacking Samson was not only an unexpected attack, but it happened in private. No one was around. No one saw the attack. No one saw what he struggled with. This could have happened like with David when he defeated Goliath. The whole army was watching and cheering.
But God was showing us what you struggle with in private, He's going to help you defeat. Those habits that you're not proud of. You tried to get free. You tried to stay disciplined, but you keep falling back. This is your year for victory. This is your year for freedom. God has seen you doing everything you can. He's seen your effort, but now He's about to step in and give you His power to break free.
Defeating that lion was the first time Samson ever saw God's Spirit come on him with that kind of power. The principle is you have to win your private battles before you can be trusted with public victories. If you don't deal with things, just keep putting it off, that's going to keep you stuck. You are hearing this because God is about to have His power rise up in you in a greater way to defeat that lion, to defeat that bad habit.
Destiny Moments Despite Mistakes and Failures
Well, Joel, I tried before. I couldn't do it. This is a new day. God is doing a new thing. You couldn't do it before. Neither could Samson. He couldn't defeat a lion. He was a teenager. He'd never had that kind of strength, but it says the Spirit of God took control of him. As believers, we all have God's Spirit on the inside, but there will be these destiny moments where His Spirit will take control of you.
You'll have a power you never had to break things that you could never break. What's significant is Samson's power—this supernatural ability on his life was not just about him. It was about delivering the Israelites. He was part of a bigger plan to free God's people. He wasn't just fighting for himself. He was fighting for his family and for all of Israel.
The Israelites had been oppressed so long. They said to Samson, don't bother the Philistines, don't you know they rule over us? They had this limited mindset. We're victims. This is the way we've always been. Joel, my family has always struggled, always been depressed, always been addicted. God has raised you up to break those barriers, to set new standards.
He wouldn't have let you face that lion if it was going to stop you. And even when Samson made mistakes and got off course, the power kept coming on him because God's purpose for your life will override bad breaks, people that do you wrong, even failures and habits that should stop you. God used Samson despite his flaws and weaknesses, despite the opposition being much stronger.
Like Samson, there's a destiny for you to fulfill. An angel may not have announced your birth, but God chose you before you were formed in your mother's womb. He handpicked you. He's given you an assignment, something to accomplish. Not to just go through life struggling, defeated, worried. There's a calling on your life. It's not just about you. You're a piece to the puzzle. You're a strategic part in the plan of God.
Breaking Chains and Overcoming Opposition
That's why the enemy comes against you and that's why you're going to have these times like Samson where the Spirit of God comes on you powerfully. You can't explain it. You have an unexpected challenge and you discover favor and ability that you've never had. That surprise attack, that lion catches you off guard. But the real surprise is what happens to the lion. You rise up in power with favor. You defeat what should have defeated you.
Samson's parents made the arrangements to marry the Philistine girl. Samson decided to have a bachelor party. 30 young men were there. He said to them, I'm going to tell you a riddle. If you'll figure it out, I'll give you 30 nice expensive robes. And if you can't figure it out, you have to give me 30 robes. Well, they tried and tried, but couldn't figure it out. So they began to pressure his fiancée. They'd been friends for years.
They said, if you don't find this out, we're going to go broke buying all these robes. All this pressure. She kept asking Samson, please tell me, please. Day after day after day. After seven days of nagging, a man can only take so much. Samson finally gave in and told her the answer. She went and told the men. They came to Samson so happy, so relieved, and told him what the riddle meant.
Samson said to them in verse 18, if you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you wouldn't have found the answer to my riddle. Now, if you're referring to your fiancée as a heifer, you are going to need God's power. Now Samson owed these 30 nice robes. The scripture says the Spirit of the Lord powerfully took control of Samson. He went to a neighboring city, killed 30 men, and took their robes.
This wasn't about Samson doing right, making good choices. He had a supernatural calling, but he was unfocused, undisciplined. Despite his failures, despite his shortcomings, God's Spirit came on him to fulfill his purpose. You would think God would say, fine, Samson, I'll find someone else. But what God has purposed for your life will come to pass. Your mistakes didn't stop it.
You may not be where you should be in life. You got off course, distracted, playing games. The good news is God is not finished with you. What He's assigned for you is still on the schedule. I don't know, Joel. I think I stopped my destiny. I blew it. I'm too far off course. Can I tell you, you're not that powerful. You can't cancel what God has planned. You may delay it. You may make it more difficult, but what God has purposed will come to fulfillment.
From Bound to Breakthrough
Samson called the wedding off, didn't marry the girl. Later, he changed his mind, went back, but the lady had married someone else. He was so upset. He caught 300 foxes, set their tails on fire. They ran through the fields and burned all the grain. When the Philistines found out who did it, they were furious. Samson was hiding in a cave. The Philistines came with full force.
The Israelites were asked what they were doing there. They said, we're here to capture Samson. If you don't give him to us, we're going to attack your city. So 3,000 men from Israel went to the cave and told Samson they were going to give him to the Philistines so they wouldn't be harmed. Samson agreed. Verse 13 says, they tied Samson up with two new ropes and took him to the Philistines.
When they saw Samson, they were so excited, celebrating. We finally got him. Here, Samson is bound, outnumbered, surrounded by a huge army. Most of it is his own fault. He didn't make good choices, looks like he's done. But the scripture says, the Spirit of God powerfully took control of Samson and he snapped the ropes as if they were strings.
All these times when he should have been captured, defeated, injured from the lion, stuck because of mistakes. But look at how the purpose of God prevails. The Spirit of the Lord kept coming on him powerfully to overcome what should have stopped him, to break chains that should have held him back. Like Samson, you may be struggling with things that have you bound. Addictions, destructive habits, wrong mindsets.
It's been that way a long time. You tried, but you couldn't break it. The enemy may have tied you up, or you may have tied yourself up. Samson's own people bound him, but being bound is not how your story ends. You can't do it on your own, but the Spirit of God is going to come powerfully on you to break addictions, break chains of depression, chains of sickness, chains of struggle and lack.
Our God is a chain breaker, a yoke destroyer, a burden lifter. He's going to take control in a sense where you're going to feel a strength that you've never felt to break what you couldn't break. Maybe it was someone else that put some chains on you. They tied you up and how you were raised put you at a disadvantage. What you saw modeled growing up, addictions, bad habits, wasn't really your choice. You just kind of fell into it.
God knew what you would face. He knew the things that wouldn't be fair. Times where at no fault of your own, you'd get tied up. Those thoughts whisper, and this is the way you're always going to be. You know, what God did for Samson, He's about to do for you. Get ready to snap some chains. What should be permanent is going to feel like a piece of thread to you. When the Most High empowers you, it's not natural. It's supernatural.
Samson broke those chains. He picked up the jawbone of a donkey and killed a thousand Philistines. God is showing us even when you're surrounded by enemies, even when things have you bound, where it looks impossible, there's a force coming that you can't explain. A power that overcomes any opposition, a favor to defeat what should have defeated you. It's the Spirit of God empowering you to fulfill your purpose.
You Don't Need What You Think You Need
When Samson was attacked by that lion, he tore it apart. One verse says, though he had nothing in his hands. Sometimes we don't feel like we have what we need. Joel, I'd believe this if I had more talent or better personality, more connections. If I was more disciplined, then I could accomplish my dreams. But when God called you, He knew everything you didn't have.
He knew who would leave you out, the doors that would close, the family you would come from. None of that is going to stop who you were created to be. God chose a young man named Saul as the first king of Israel. It didn't seem like a logical choice. Saul came from the smallest tribe, the least significant family. When Samuel came to announce Saul and present him to the people, Saul was hiding in a storeroom. He wouldn't come out.
He was afraid and intimidated, thinking of everything he was not, how he didn't have what it takes. But God doesn't make mistakes. He didn't choose Saul and then think, oh man, I didn't know he's weak. I didn't know he'd be afraid or insecure. Or with Samson, I didn't know he would play around, make poor choices. I didn't know his own people would tie him up. No, God knew everything about you.
He's the one who created you. He sees potential in you that you can't see. He knows the greatness, that there's a mighty hero, a barrier breaker. He's already lined up your destiny moments where His Spirit will rise up powerfully in you to do what you couldn't do. Samuel finally got Saul to come out and he was standing there afraid, intimidated. Samuel looked him in the eyes and said in verse six, Saul, the Spirit of the Lord will come on you with power and you will be changed into a different person.
Sometimes the reason we don't think we can accomplish a dream or overcome an obstacle is we can't see what God is about to do. It's natural to have doubts. Joel, how could it happen? There's a Goliath, a lion. It's too big. Those are normal thoughts. But when God's Spirit comes on you powerfully, you'll be changed into a different person.
This is not something that you have to make happen, strive, or just dare to believe. God, this obstacle looks too big and I feel bound by these chains. I'm hiding when I should be shining, but God, I believe Your Spirit is coming. Something I've never seen. Supernatural strength, healing, doors opening, chains breaking, turning me into a different person.
What does that mean? From afraid to confident, from sick to healthy, addicted to free, from struggling to abundance. How about from defeat into total victory? My father went to be with the Lord on a Saturday in 1999. That was unexpected. He had a heart attack and suddenly passed. For the first couple of days, I was kind of in a fog. I couldn't believe my father was gone. My best friend outside of Victoria.
And I had worked 17 years behind the scenes doing the television production. And I never wanted to get up in front of people. I'm more quiet and reserved. And my father tried to get me up to help pastor the church, but I really didn't feel qualified. I mean, daddy was strong and had this big personality. I thought that's not me. I didn't get any of that.
But four days after he passed that next Wednesday, we had the memorial service. And I was standing on the stage with Victoria and my siblings and their spouses. And my mom was up at the podium speaking. When she finished, she turned around and looked at us and said, does anyone want to say anything? Normally, I would be the last one. I would do my best to get out of it.
But for some reason, I started walking to the podium. In my mind, I was thinking, Joel, what are you doing? Are you crazy? All this doubt in my mind, but in my spirit, I could feel something rising up. It was like something taking control of me. I felt this boldness, this confidence to step up and say something. I don't know what I said. I hope it was good, but I was just in awe that I got up there.
I'd never ministered in those 17 years. But that day, it was like I was turned into a different person. All of a sudden, I had the desire to pastor the church. I didn't dread it. I wanted to do it. I had this knowing that I'd been raised up for this. And I didn't know if I'd be any good. I didn't know if people would come, listen to me. I thought, we're about to find out. If they don't, I'll go work for Whataburger.
But who would have ever thought that we'd be here today? I never dreamed that in my future was the Compaq Center where I used to watch the Rockets play. Then I would have books, media, Sirius radio. You don't know what God has planned for you. All we can see is right here, but God knows what He's put in you. You're Compaq Centers. The Goliaths you'll defeat. The lions you'll tear apart. The dreams you'll accomplish that will catapult your family ahead.
God's Mercy: One More Time
How's this going to happen? When you feel limited, when the obstacle looks too big, when you're hiding instead of shining, here's how. The Spirit of the Most High. The God who created you. The God who planned your days. The God who has ordered your steps. The God who numbers your hair. The God who fights your battles. The God who makes your crooked places straight.
The God who lines up the people you need. The God who comes into the fire with you. The God who causes you to stand out, His Spirit is going to come on powerfully to accomplish what He's already purposed for your life. Not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit of the living God. The life of Samson is both inspiring and a little sad. He started with this supernatural birth, had all this potential, but he played around with his destiny.
He compromised and gave in to temptation. He ended up captured. They gouged his eyes out. He was grinding at a mill. Well, the Philistines had this big party and someone suggested to bring Samson out so they could make fun of him. Samson asked the young man that was leading him to place his hands on the pillars of the building where he was chained. And while they were all laughing and mocking, the scripture says, the Spirit of God came on Samson one more time.
He pushed the pillars over. Building came crashing down. He defeated more enemies in his death than he did his whole life. Look at the mercy of God. When we make mistakes, we get off course. God doesn't say, all right, you're done. No, God has a one more time for you. It's not too late. You haven't missed your chance. You wouldn't be hearing this if God wasn't about to do something new in your life.
One thing about Samson is all the pictures I've seen, the renditions when I was growing up in Sunday school, was this huge man, big muscles, looked like a bodybuilder. You could tell he was strong and a force to be reckoned with. But the scripture never describes his physical size. It says that Saul was tall. David was handsome. Goliath was huge.
But when the Philistines were trying to trick Samson, they asked Delilah to find out where his strength comes from. If he was big and impressive, it'd be obvious. We know where it comes from, his biceps, his legs. He's a beast, man. The truth is, Samson looked ordinary, like a normal person. The message is, you don't have to look powerful to be powerful. Your strength doesn't come from what you have. It comes from what God has. Not natural, but supernatural.
Like Samson, you may face some unexpected challenges. That lion surprises you. Don't worry. It's not a surprise to God. Just like that difficulty suddenly came, His power will suddenly come on you to overcome. Now, let's win the private battles. Let's deal with what's holding us back. Don't be like the Israelites. Oh, man, it's always going to rule over us. No, this is your time to rule.
Those obstacles are not permanent. You're about to feel supernatural power to break chains. That dream that looks impossible, you're outnumbered. Like God did for Saul, like He did for me, you're about to be changed into a different person. Get ready for favor. Get ready for breakthroughs. I believe and declare this is your year to rise higher, to set new standards.
You will break barriers that have held you back, defeat giants, accomplish dreams, and see new levels of your destiny. In Jesus' name, if you receive it, can you say amen?