Joel Osteen — A Surge Is Coming
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I want to talk to you today about "A surge is coming". Watching the news reports about the recent hurricanes, even more than the high winds, the experts talked about the storm surge. They were very concerned about how the water was going to come rushing out of its banks in flood areas that interesting is before the storm surge, the water is pulled back.
It doesn't just start from where it was and then go forward. The winds, the pressure from the storm causes the water to they showed a picture in Florida of hundreds of yards of dry ground where there was normally ocean. Looked very strange. You could see the lifeguard stands, the docks, but the water was missing. You could think, "The experts the water didn't surge, it didn't increase, it decreased". They predicted, the water came rushing back with incredible force, going where it had never gone.
In the same way, God has a storm surge, but it's a good thing. When you go through a storm, you feel like you're being pulled back. You know what God promised, that he would use it for your you know what's been predicted, but in the storm, you're going the wrong way. You're being decreased. It's not like what he said, but what you can't see is a surge is coming. A surge of favor, a surge of strength, a surge of healing. If you will stay in faith, God will always follow up the storm with a surge.
The enemy doesn't have the difficulty is not going to leave you pulled back, it's not going to leave you less than, it's going to surge you that opposition is not going to keep you from your destiny, it's going to propel you into a new level of your destiny.
Now, don't complain about the storm. Without the storm, you couldn't see the surge. You wouldn't see the new level, the promotion, the new house. The storm is setting you up to go where you have not a big storm, that means a big surge is coming. The stronger the winds, the stronger the opposition, the stronger the surge. The more you get pulled back, the more you're going to be shot forward. The more people try to push you down, the higher the key is stay in faith when you're being pulled back.
Keep a good attitude when you're doing the right thing, but the wrong thing is happening. Every voice will tell you, "It's never going to improve. You're stuck. Just accept it, you'll never get well. You'll never meet the right person". The circumstances may look permanent. Don't be fooled, a surge is something is happening that you can't see.
The winds that are trying to stop you, the forces that are so strongly against you, all you can see is how it's pushing you back, how it's limiting you, how it's what you can't see is those same winds, the same opposition is creating the conditions for a surge. What was meant for harm, God is turning for good.
It's just a matter of time before you see a surge of as much as you were pulled back, it's going to propel you that much more ahead. You're not going to just come out to where you were, that wouldn't be a surge, that would be normal. The water returned, no big God always makes the enemy pay for bringing the trouble. Same.
God's idea of restoring is to bring you out increased, promoted, healthier, better relationships, and you may be you feel like you're being pulled back. This is not the time to get discouraged, "I don't understand it, why did this happen"? No, the right attitude is, "Father, thank you that a surge is on the way. Thank you that you're propelling me to a new level".
That's what happened to us at Lakewood. My father was the pastor here for 40 years. In 1999, he had a heart attack and was suddenly taken away. We were in a storm, we didn't see it coming. My father had never raised church. I felt like I was supposed to do it, but I'd only ministered one time. I was nervous and afraid, but all the critics said that Lakewood would never make it without my father.
The newspaper wrote an article about all these large churches where there was a strong leader like my dad that either left or died, and they talked about how all those churches failed. One article said, "The worst thing that could happen is for one of the sons to take over". I thought, "They must've known my brother Paul". But all the circumstances said we were stuck, we had been pulled back, decreased.
But when you stay in faith, the storm will always be followed with a surge. We thought if we could just maintain what our parents had built, we would be doing good. But God doesn't bring you out the same. The winds that were meant to stop us, to push us back, God shifted the winds, and instead they propelled us forward.
The surge brought us to the compaq center. The surge increased the the same winds that were meant to stop you will be the winds God uses to propel you. The enemy meant it for harm, but God shifted the winds. The pulling back is temporary. The decrease is a sign you're about to go where you've never been. The enemy wouldn't be fighting you so hard if he didn't know there wasn't something amazing you may be in a storm, stay encouraged, the surge is coming.
The scripture says, "God is a very present help in trouble," and we know that God is always with us, but this infers in times of difficulty, God is very present, and you will never see the fullness of who God is if you're in it's in the darkness God is most present, in the difficulties, in the storms. You may not see what he's doing, it may not feel like he's there. This is what faith is all about.
You have to say, "God, I don't understand it. I feel like I'm being pulled back, but God, I know you're right here with me. I believe you're fighting my battles. I believe you're bigger than this sickness. I believe a surge of your goodness is coming my way".