Joel Osteen — God's Destiny For Your Life Will Come To Pass
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I want to talk to you tonight bout how "God's destiny for your life will come to pass". We don't realize how much God is in control. Every aspect of our life, down to the smallest details, God lined up the right people to come across your path. He arranged the right breaks to be in your future. He already has solutions to every problem that you will ever face.
Orchestrating it all, and the scripture says, "The Lord of hosts has purposed, who will annul it"? This is saying, "God has a purpose for your life". He's already planned out your days. "Who will annul it"? God is saying, "Who can stop my plan? Who is more powerful than me? I created the whole universe. I flung these stars into space. Now, who can make a mistake so big that I can't forgive it? Who can have a problem so large that I can't solve it? Who can have a dream so great that I can't bring it to pass"?
Friends, God's plan cannot be stopped by a bad break, by a sickness, by somebody walking out on you. All the forces of darkness cannot keep you from your destiny. But sometimes we think because we have made mistakes to be in life, surely, we must have stopped God's plan. I say this respectfully, you're not that powerful. You may have made mistakes, but it wasn't a surprise to God. He already has the mercy. Why don't you shake off the nothing that you've done or haven't done has canceled your destiny.
Had a lady write me a few years ago. She had been in an automobile accident where she had and for months after the surgery, her husband had stayed home to help take care of her, and she felt badly that he had missed so much work, and she finally convinced him that she was okay to stay alone by herself. He reluctantly agreed to go back to work, and one day, she was so depressed that she decided to end her life. There was a gun rack over in the corner. Her husband was a big hunter. She couldn't walk over there by herself. She was going to crawl. But when she got out of the chair, she lost her balance, knocked over the end table, and fell flat on her back. She couldn't move.
The remote control for the television hit the floor and the batteries came out. When it did, it changed the channel on the television, and it just so happened to flip to a station where I was ministering. Her first thought was, "Oh great, I'm dying. Now I've got to listen to this TV preacher to add to my misery. That day, I was talking about how God can turn any situation around, how he can take your darkest hour and turn it into your brightest hour. She began to feel a peace like she'd never felt before. She said, "I couldn't move my body. I couldn't open my eyes, but I could feel tears of joy running down my cheeks".
That moment was a turning point. Today, several years later, she's happy, healthy, whole, on the way to fulfilling her destiny. What am I saying? You are not powerful enough to stop God's plan. All of your days have already been recorded. They've been numbered by the creator of the universe. If it's not your time to go, you're not going to go. God has the final say.
There was an article in the this police officer was attacked by a man high on drugs, and this man stabbed the officer in the head. The 3 1/2-inch knife blade went straight into his brain. He was rushed to the hospital. His family was told that he was most likely brain dead, he would never be able to walk or to talk. The neurosurgeon had all the x-rays done, and when they came back, he was amazed. The knife blade missed the part of the brain that controls motor skills by less than a millimeter. It missed the part of the brain that controls speech by less than a millimeter. It missed the main nerve that gives sensation by less than a millimeter. It missed the main artery that supplies blood to the brain by less than a millimeter.
The surgeon said, "It is unbelievable. The only way I can describe it is he was less than a millimeter away from death in every direction. A fraction this way, he'd be dead. A fraction this way, totally incapacitated".
Friends, nothing can snatch you out of God's hand. An accident cannot stop God's plan. A crazy person cannot stop God's plan. God is in complete control of your life, and right now, God is working behind the scenes, arranging things in your favor. He's making a way where you don't see a way. You don't have to live worried, stressed out, trying to force everything to happen. All you've got to do is keep God first place. Honor him with your life, and you will come in to these destiny moments where you see God supernaturally protecting you.
You know if it had not been for his angels, you wouldn't be alive. Destiny moments, where you're at the right place, you meet the right person that leads to a promotion. That wasn't a coincidence. That was the favor of God moving you towards your divine destiny. Or maybe in your health, like my mother, you were told that you're never going to get better. To the doctor and they say, "We don't understand it. It's starting to turn around". That's not a lucky break. That's almighty God saying, "I've got a destiny for you to fulfill. My plan will come to pass".
Now, you may not see how this can happen, but that's okay. God has a thousand ways to do it that you've never thought of. Just like God can direct that knife blade to be so precise that it's a fraction away from everything that matters, down to the smallest details. He can make things happen that you could never make happen on your own. He is for you. He is on your side, and what he has purposed for your life will come to pass.
My father was ordained as a baptist minister. But back in the 1950s, he felt like what God had put into his heart was bigger than any one denomination. He took a step of faith and he left the baptist church where he was pastoring, and he started his own independent church. But he didn't have the courage to take the name "Baptist" off. He called it Lakewood baptist church, and every time he thought about dropping the word "Baptist," he would get cold feet and he wouldn't do it. That's all he'd ever known his whole life.
The sign in front of the church was made up of three separate boards stacked on top of each other: "Lakewood," the top board, separate, the middle board, "Baptist," and the bottom board, "Church". One day, a big storm came through and the wind blew the name "Baptist" off. My father took that as a sign from God. From that day forward, we've been known as Lakewood church.
What am I saying? Even when you don't have the courage to do what you know you're supposed to do, God won't leave you there and say, "Too bad, you should have more faith". No, God will push you in to your divine destiny. God knows how to get you to where you're supposed to be.
I like what my friend Joyce Meyer says. She told someone, "I've been walking with God for 20 years". She heard the Holy Spirit say on the inside, "Excuse me? You've been walking with me for 2 years. I've been dragging you the other 18". But God is so good, so loving, so forgiving. He'll still get us to our destiny. We don't have to live down on ourselves because we don't think we have enough faith. We don't have to go around stressed out because it's not happening on our timetable.
We can stay in peace, knowing that our God, the creator of the universe, is in complete control. God knew when we wouldn't have the faith. He knew when we'd need a push, and just like with my father, he's already got your destiny moments lined up where you will see you'll connect to the right person. A problem you've had for years suddenly turns around. An opportunity of a lifetime suddenly is in front of you. Those are destiny moments that God already has in your future.
I read about a young lady that was going to meet her fiance's parents for the first time, and they were known to be very picky and not easily impressed, and she was kind of nervous about it, and as she was leaving the house, she knocked over a coca-cola, and it spilled on the floor, and it splashed up on her shoes, on her pant legs, and she was standing in the middle of it. She got some napkins and cleaned it up. She went on her way, fiance's parents' home, she met them and they were very nice.
The whole time, their little dog that they'd had for many years was at this young lady's feet, following her all through the house, would not leave her side. When she stopped, the little dog stopped. Where she sat, the dog sat right at her feet. For 2 hours, this dog was her best friend. As she was leaving, the mother said, "We've had a lot of guests in our home, but our little dog has never taken to anyone like she's taken to you. She usually barks and is at a distance, but there must be something really special about you". What she didn't realize is that little dog liked the smell of coca-cola on her shoes.
Friends, God works in mysterious ways. He knows how to get people to like you. He knows what it's them over to your side. Why don't you trust him? Why don't you believe that in your future are these destiny moments? You may not be able to make it happen, but God knows how to make it happen. If God has to use coca-cola to have a dog follow you around, he will. If God has to use the wind to blow the name off of your sign to get you into the fullness of his destiny, he will. If God has to cause the remote control to get stuck on just the right station, he will.
He's God, he's in complete control. But sometimes we get all worked up, trying to make things happen, and we're discouraged because somebody won't be our friend, and we're working overtime, trying to convince them to like us. No, if somebody doesn't like you, don't take it personally. Doesn't mean that they're a bad person. They're just not a part of your destiny. If you'll keep moving forward, you will come in to the people God has ordained for you. God has divine connections in your future, people that will celebrate you, people that will want to be your friend, people that will even go out of their way.
There was a lady driving to work one morning, and she got pulled over by a police officer for not coming to a complete stop at the stop sign. The officer asked if there was any reason she was in such a hurry. She said, "No, officer, I'm just going to work. I teach 3rd grade at the elementary school around the corner". He wrote her a ticket, and she drove off, she was mad at herself. She didn't have the extra money. Now it was going to make her budget tight.
But a couple of minutes later, she got pulled over again by the same officer. He came up to the window and said, "Give me the ticket back". He took it and tore it into pieces. He said, "When I was in 3rd grade, I was mean to my teacher. I want to be nice to you to try to make up for it".
God has it all lined up, big ways, sparing your lie from that knife blade, small ways, causing you to find a police officer that's remorseful. God's in complete control, and I want you to have this confidence that you're not just randomly going through life, hoping everything works out. No, God is strategically orchestrating your steps. You are not here by accident. You didn't just happen to show up in the year 2012. God handpicked you. You've been chosen by the creator of the universe, and God not only ordained for you to be here, but he has a specific plan for your life, something for you to accomplish.
You haven't made too many mistakes. You haven't missed too many opportunities. If you will keep moving forward, you will come in to your destiny moments, where you see God's hand of favor. That's him bringing about his purpose if you're going to live in victory, you got to get this down on the inside. Really, all through the day, in the back of our mind, this should be playing: "I'm a person of destiny. God breathed his life into me. His favor surrounds me like a shield. No weapon formed what God started in my life, he will finish. I will become everything he's created me to be".
I met a young man a few years back. He came from a very dysfunctional family, and he was extremely troubled by it all. They were into drugs, and all he had seen growing up was anger, and people stabbing each other in the back, and addictions. His parents never encouraged him. They did just the opposite. They were always belittling him, telling him how he was never going to amount to anything.
He made an interesting statement. He said, "Joel, it doesn't seem fair that I was born into this family. It's almost like they have cursed my future". No, how you were raised doesn't have to stop your destiny. People may have done you wrong. You may have heard things growing up that you should have never heard, but know this. Before anyone could put a curse on you, God put a blessing on you. The good news is, the blessing it doesn't matter what people have said about you. It matters what God said about you.
When God created you, he stepped back and said, "That was good, another masterpiece". Take this in the right way. You didn't come from your parents. You came through your parents. He is the giver of all life, and just because you were raised in a negative environment, or maybe you're around people now that are just stuck in mediocrity, you don't have to stay there. That is not who you are.
Shake off every negative comment people have spoken over you and reprogram your thinking: "I am not who people say I am. I am who God says I am. I am valuable. I am talented. I am a masterpiece. I am blessed, and I cannot be cursed".
One time in the old testament, the king of Moab sent word to Balaam to come to their city so he would curse the people of Israel. They said, "Balaam, we know what you ask God to do, he will do, and if you will come curse these people for us, we'll pay you a lot of money," and Balaam said, "Well, stay overnight and let me pray about it. But I will only say what the Lord instructs me to say," and Balaam prayed about it, and the Lord said, "Balaam, there's no use you going with them. What I have blessed no man can curse".
Notice, when God puts the blessing on you, doesn't matter what people say, doesn't matter how somebody treats you. All that matters is almighty God has blessed you, and everything else is of no effect. They begged him and begged him to come, and Balaam finally went. He told the king, "Here's what the Lord says, 'they will succeed and become a great nation, and have descendants too numerous to count".
The king said, "Balaam, what are you doing? I brought you here to curse them, but instead, you're blessing them". He said it again, "I cannot curse what God has already blessed".
Get that down in your spirit. When God created you, he breathed his blessing into you. You have the DNA of almighty God. Royal blood is flowing through your veins. You are wearing God's crown of favor. Like this king, when people try to do you wrong, or maybe you go through some disappointments, is easy to let that cloud your future. But have a new perspective. What God has blessed, no person can curse.
Maybe somebody's talking about you. Your attitude should be, "No big deal, they are powerless to stop the blessing on my life". "Well, you got some bad breaks. You got laid off". "Yes, that's true, but I'm not worried about it. I know the blessing always overrides the curse". "Well, you came from a rough family. You had a rough background". "That's all right, where I am is not where I'm staying. I know the blessing of God will get me to where I'm supposed to be".
Here's what I've learned. The enemy doesn't fight you for where you are. He fights you for where you're going. Sometimes like this young man, we think, "Why am I facing this opposition? Why was I born into this family"? It's because of what's in your future.
When I first started ministering 12 years ago, I was not only dealing with the loss of my father, but I was learning how to minister. I'd never done this before, and at one point, it seemed like everything people were talking, and I didn't know if I could do this, and I thought, "Why do I feel this resistance? Why is this such a struggle"? Later, I realized the enemy wasn't fighting me for where I was. He was fighting me for where I was going. He didn't want me to be standing with you here tonight. He didn't want the compaq center to become Lakewood Church. He didn't want our message of hope and faith and victory to go around the world.
You may be facing difficulties, and you think, "Well, Joel, if I'm going to fulfill my destiny, why are these circumstances, why are these people coming against me"? Here's why, it's because God has something amazing in your future. There are new levels of your destiny. You have not touched the surface of what God has in store. You are going to see Ephesians 3:20: "Exceedingly abundantly above and beyond".
Now, get your passion back. No obstacle's too much for you. No difficulty is too great. You and God are a majority, and, "If God be for you, who dare be against you"? Think about with Moses. His destiny was to deliver the people of Israel from slavery. God had something big in his future. Yet, when he was born, the king ordered all the male babies 2 years old and under to be killed. It looked like God made a mistake, looked like it wasn't going to happen. No, God was still in control. God had it all figured out.
Moses' mother put him in a little basket and sent him down the Nile River, and it just so happened, pharaoh's daughter went out to take a bath. She heard the cries coming from the basket, a destiny moment. God positioned pharaoh's daughter to be at the right place at the right time. Ten minutes later, and Moses would have floated on by.
See, God's plan for your life is down to the very second. God is not a vague God. He's a precise God, a detailed God, an exact God. Every step of your life has been strategically orchestrated. God has already attack that will come against you. He already knows every setback, and the good news is, he's already planned your comebacks. Pharaoh's daughter took Moses in.
She said "I need somebody to nurse the baby". An assistant said, "I know just who to get". She went and got Moses' mother. His life was not only spared, but Moses grew up in the palace with his own mother. He went on to fulfill his destiny, and what God has purposed for your life will come to pass.
I met a young lady that grew up in Rwanda. She and her family are strong believers, she came home from college for easter break. There were two main tribes in Rwanda, and they had gotten along peacefully for many, many years. They considered themselves all rwandans. But one day, the president of the nation was killed, and these rebels, all from one tribe started killing people a genocide.
They went on a rampage, going from town to town, ruthlessly slaughtering men, women, children, anyone from the opposing tribe. Some of the people that were doing the killing she had grown up with, she had played with, even had them in her home. It was unthinkable. Her parents snuck from the opposing tribe, and she and six other girls hid in this small bathroom week after week, never making a sound, never talking, never coughing, never whispering.
The bathroom was 3 feet by 4 feet with a toilet in the center, 7 people in there. Again and again, the rebels would knock on the pastor's home, calling her by name, specifically asking for her. The pastor would say, no she's not in here. One time, they came in and searched the house. They had their hand on the doorknob of the bathroom where they were hiding, but just before they turned it, they got distracted and walked away.
For 91 days, she stayed in this bathroom, never left once. She went in weighing 120 pounds. She came out weighing 70 pounds. During those 3 months, her parents, her relatives, and nearly 1 million rwandans were killed in this senseless genocide, very sad.
But here's my point tonight. If it's not your time to go, all the forces of darkness cannot stop you. What God has purposed for your life will come to pass. God is bigger than any enemy, bigger than any injustice, bigger than any sickness.
The scripture says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God will raise up a barrier". God knows how to protect you, and just as God can make blind eyes see, God can make seeing eyes blind. God can shield you from the enemy.
Now, quit worrying about your future. Quit trying to figure it all out. God has you in the palm of his hand. Come back to that place of peace. There is a hedge of protection around you that the enemy cannot cross, and what is meant for your harm, God said he would use to your advantage.
Today, this beautiful young lady works for the United Nations. She goes around the world telling her story, letting people know that when you believe, all things are possible.
When you don't see a way, God can make a way. When it looks like it's over, God said in Hebrews: "I will not, I will not, I will not fail you in any way". Three times God said he knew we would all face situations that look impossible, times when the medical report says, "No way," the financial situation says, "You're never going to make it". In the natural, you could never accomplish your own dreams.
Let this sink down into your spirit. God is saying, "I will not fail you. I will not let you go under. My purpose for your life will come to pass. I will connect you to the right people. I will take care of your children. I will turn the financial situation around. I will give you another chance. I love you too much to let my challenge is, stir your faith up.
Shake off every disappointment. Shake off every negative comment people made. Shake off the self-pity and put on a new attitude. Get up every morning and say, "Father, thank you that your destiny will come to pass. Thank you that I will leave my mark on this generation". Always remember this, before anyone God put a blessing on you, and if you will have this attitude of faith, honor God with your life, you're going to come in to your destiny moments. That favor is going to thrust you to new levels, and I believe and declare over each one of you that you will see God's purpose come to pass in your life. You will overcome every obstacle, defeat every enemy, and become everything God's created you to be.