Joel Osteen — A Shift Is Coming
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I want to talk to you today about how you're coming into a shift. One touch of God's favor can put you 50 years down the road. You can be at a lower position at the office and you're going along, being your best, honoring God, and suddenly things change.
One good break, one idea, one person that likes you, you look up and find yourself at the top. You didn't see it coming. Things just fell into place. That's God shifting things in your favor. God can cause opportunity to find you. He has unexpected blessings to where suddenly you meet the right person. Suddenly your health improves. Suddenly you're able to pay your house off. What happened? You came into a shift. God breathed in your direction. What used to be a struggle is not a struggle anymore. What should have taken years happened in a fraction of the time.
Now, you may feel like you're stuck today. You could never accomplish a dream, never overcome a problem. It's been too long. You've missed too many opportunities. God is saying, "No. Get ready. I'm about to shift things. Doors are going to open for you that have not opened in the past. The people who were against you are going to suddenly change their mind and be for you.
That problem that's dogged you for years, looked like it would never change, is going to suddenly turn around". This is the year of the shift. Because you've honored God, he's going to put you in a position that you could have never attained on your own. It's not just your education, not just your talent, or the family you come from. It's the hand of God shifting you to a new level of your destiny and I'm not just trying to make you feel good today. I'm prophesying a shift is coming, a shift in your health, a shift in your finances, a shift in a relationship.
It may not look like it in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He's about to breathe in your direction in a new way. The enemies you've seen in the past, you will see no more. The addictions, bad habits that are holding you back are being broken, and God's favor is being released in a new way. It's going to propel you forward.
What should have taken you 40 years to accomplish, God is going to do in a split second. The shift is acceleration. The shift is going beyond where you could go on your own. The shift is overcoming what a medical report says is impossible. The shift is seeing that wayward child change his mind and get back on the right course. The shift is having your best year when the circumstances say you should have a down year.
The shift is seeing Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord, our provider, not only provide but do exceedingly, abundantly, above, and beyond. Now, our attitude should be, "God, I'm ready. I'm taking the limits off of you. I'm enlarging my vision. I may not see a way, but I know you have a way. I declare I'm coming into a shift".
Now, those doors that were closed in the past, you need to go check again. Things have shifted. The dream you had to start a new business, to go back to college, to take that missions trip, it may not have happened the first time, but that's okay. It's prepared you for this time. Don't give up on it. It's a new day. Things have shifted. Pursue it again.
When God breathes in your direction, people change their mind. Closed doors suddenly open. The noes turn into yeses, the, "Not now," into, "It's your time".
I know a man that had been out of a work for over 3 years. He's in construction management, and for 25 years, he had a very good position at a successful company. But a few years ago, when the economy went down and building tapered off, his company didn't have any business and had to let him go.
He went to interview after interview, month after month, no success. He ended up taking a much lower level position in a small city and had to travel a couple of hours every day to work. It's taken a toll on his health, and his marriage, his savings. Looked like it would never change. But about 6 months ago, his former boss called and said, "Hey, are you ready to go back to work"? That company landed the largest contract in their history.
He not only got his job back, but all of his benefits were restored. He used to have to travel around the country. Now, he gets to stay at home, plus, they increased his salary significantly. He said, "This is exceedingly, abundantly, above, and beyond". What happened? He came into a shift. Suddenly things changed in his favor. One phone call, one contract, one good break, he went from barely getting by to having more than enough.
Now, you need to get ready. These shifts are the israelites had been in slavery for many years, mistreated by their captors. They were forced to work long hours, not given the proper rest or food, and when they didn't meet their quotas, they were beaten with rods. It was very unfair. But one day, through a series of events, God supernaturally brought them out, and as they were leaving, the scripture says caused them to have favor with their enemies.
Notice God caused them to have favor. The same people that had oppressed them for years, the same ones that had pushed them down and mistreated them suddenly changed their mind. They said, in effect, "We've decided that we like you now. We want to be good to you". On their way out, they gave the israelites their gold, what happened? The israelites came into a shift. God changed their enemy's mind.
Proverbs says that God we may not be able to change people's mind, but God can. He controls the whole universe. Now, you may have people in your life like this, people that don't like you, boss that's hard to get along with, a family member that's disrespectful, and it's easy to get discouraged and think, "This is always going to be this way. They're always going to be against me". No, stay in faith. God has a shift coming. God knows how to cause them to like you. God can cause them to see you in a new light.
They may have been against you year after year, but when God shifts things, they'll go out of their way to be good to you. Instead of hindering you, they'll help you. Bottom line, God will not allow any person to keep you from your destiny. They may be bigger, stronger, more powerful, but God knows how to shift things around and get you to I have a friend that never really liked his supervisor. Nobody at the company did.
This supervisor was very hard to get along with, condescending. He had been a source of frustration year after year. The supervisor was a young man, looked like he could be at the company 20, 30 years, and my friend has a good attitude, but deep down, he thought, "This is going to be a pain to put up with this guy". But one morning, he got to work and everything seemed like normal, but the management called a staff meeting and told how this supervisor's wife got transferred to another state and was no longer with the company. Half the staff fell on their knees and began to thank God. What happened? A divine shift. Suddenly God changed things.
Now, quit worrying about the people that are trying to hold you back. God knows how to move the wrong people out of your life and bring the right people in, and even if God doesn't move them, says in psalms, "You can run through a troop and leap over a wall". God can cause you to go over them or around them or even through them, but God is going to get you to where you're supposed to be.