Joel Osteen — God's Got This
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I want to talk to you today about "God's Got This". We all have things that come against us, wondering how it's going to work out. What if the medical report isn't good? What if my finances don't get better? What if my child doesn't get accepted in that school? We try to figure it out. We've done our best, but we don't see anything changing.
If we're not careful, we'll live worried, discouraged, not expecting it to get better. But there is a simple phrase you have to keep down in your spirit: God's got this. He's on the throne. He sees what's happening. He already has the solution. You don't have to figure it out. There may not be a logical answer.
In the natural, you don't see a way. That's okay. We serve a supernatural God. He has ways to do it we've never thought of. Instead of trying to force it to happen, living uptight, you have to let go and let God. When you turn it over to him and say, "God, I know you've got this. I know you're in control," not only will you feel the heaviness, the weight lift off of you, but God will make things happen that you couldn't make happen.
Some of the things that are frustrating you now, causing you to lose sleep, that would all change if you would have this new perspective that Sometimes we're trying to play God. We're trying to make our boss promote us, make ourselves get well, and make the contract go through. But as long as we're trying to force it, living frustrated, worried, then God steps back.
But when you take your hands you've got this. "I'm not going to worry about my finances. I'm not going to live uptight because of the medical report. I'm not going to be frustrated because I haven't met the right person. God, I trust your timing, and I trust your ways. My life is in your hands".
God never promised that we wouldn't have difficulties, but he did promise he would give us strength for every battle. He would take what was meant for harm and use to our advantage. You may have a good reason to worry about something in your health, your finances, a dream. You've done everything you can. It doesn't look like it's going to work out. Stay in faith. God is saying, "I've got this. I'm working behind the scenes. I'm in the process of turning it around. It's just a matter of time before you see things change in your favor". Now live out of a place of peace, a place of trust. It may not happen the way you thought, but God's ways are better than our ways. God knows what's best for you.
In the Scripture, a young man named Daniel worked for King Darius. The king loved Daniel. Daniel was so good at what he did, the king was going to put Daniel in charge of his whole empire. But when the other leaders heard this, they were jealous, and they came up with a plan to get rid of Daniel.
When you excel, when your gifts come out in great ways, don't be surprised if people get jealous. Everyone is not going to celebrate you. Some people will try to find fault and hold you back. The good news is people don't determine your destiny. God does. Keep being your best and let God fight your battles. Don't get distracted trying to prove to them who you are. God will be your vindicator. God will take care of your enemies.
These people that were against Daniel tried to manipulate the king. They said, "King, you're so great. We've written a decree that can pray to anyone except you. If they do, they'll be thrown into a lions' den". They did this because they knew Daniel prayed to Jehovah. They convinced the king to sign this decree, but that didn't change Daniel. Three times a day, just like normal, he knelt down on his knees, opened his windows, and prayed to the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. They ran back and told the king, "This guy Daniel, one of the captives from the tribe of Judah, is defying your order".
The king was upset with himself. He knew they had manipulated him, but he couldn't go back on his word, so he had Daniel sent to the lions' den. What's interesting is, that whole night, the king fasted for Daniel, and when you're in difficult situations, God has people praying for you that you don't know anything about. This king was supposed to be his enemy, but he was actually believing for Daniel safety.
When they arrested Daniel and took him to the lions' den, he wasn't afraid, worried, panicked. He understood this principle. A little earlier, Daniel had seen his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the Hebrew teenagers, get thrown into a fiery furnace and come out without the smell of smoke. Daniel's attitude was, "God's got this. I'm in the palm of his hand. Nothing could snatch me away. If it's not my time to go, I'm not going to go". He stayed in peace.
What you're facing may be bigger, stronger, more powerful. But when you refuse to worry, when you refuse to live stressed out, instead you stay in peace, thanking God that he's fighting your battles, knowing that he's in control, you are showing God by your actions that you're trusting him.
One evening, the authorities threw Daniel into the lions' den. They expected him to be eaten in a few minutes. These were hungry lions. That's the way it always happened, but God supernaturally closed the mouths of the lions. For some reason, they thought, "I'm not hungry tonight. I don't feel like eating". One said, "Yeah, I'm full, too. I've got indigestion. I'm going to bed".
God made Daniel unappetizing to those lions. I can imagine when these lions looked at Daniel, they were confused, thinking, "We should eat this man. We like a good steak dinner, but something is different tonight. We don't have our normal appetite". God knows how to make you unappetizing to the enemy. What should normally take you out, what should normally defeat you, for some reason, it can't harm you, it can't take your health.
There is a bloodline God has put around you and your family. God controls the universe. He controls the lions. He controls the enemies. You're not at the mercy of random events, people wanting to do you wrong, bad breaks. God has a hedge of protection around you. Nothing can happen without his permission. That's why we don't have to live worried, uptight. We're in a controlled environment.
When the Hebrew teenagers were about to be thrown into the fiery furnace because they wouldn't bow down to the king's golden idol, they said, "We know our God will deliver us. But even if he doesn't, we're still not going to bow down". They weren't panicked. They weren't upset, bitter. They knew they were in a controlled environment. They were saying like Paul, "If we live, we're going to give God praise. If we don't live, we're going to go to heaven and still give God praise". They stayed in faith, knowing that God has the final say.
Yes, at some point, we're all going to die, but I've made up my mind I'm going to die in faith. I'm going to die believing, expecting, trusting, praising, smiling, with a good attitude, knowing that God is in complete control. Nothing can snatch you out of his hands. The number of your days he will fulfill. In life and in death, we have to know God's got this.
Daniel wasn't uptight, on edge, thinking, "I've made it this far, but any moment these lions could turn on me". Animals can sense when you're afraid. They know when you're scared of them. But when you're calm, you have your shoulders back, you're confident, they know you're the authority. We go hiking in the mountain sometime. They tell you, "If you see a bear don't take off running. Don't panic. Don't lose your poise. Be still. Be calm. Carry yourself with a quiet confidence".
In the same way, when you face enemies in life, the enemy of sickness, the enemy of addiction, the enemy of debt, those enemies can sense when you're afraid of them. They'll take more ground. That's why the Scripture says, "Give no place to the enemy". But when they see you standing strong, thanking God when you could be complaining, being good to people when you could be bitter, at peace when you could be panicked, you are sending a message to those enemies that says loud and clear, "You have no power over me. You cannot stop me. My God is in control, and if he be for me, who dare be against me"?
I can imagine Daniel, instead of worrying, he found a nice, soft piece of grass, laid down, fell asleep. Early the next morning, the king came running out to the lions' den to see what happened. The Scripture says he called out in anguish, "Daniel, servant of the living God, was the God you constantly worship able to save you"? Notice how he addressed Daniel. Daniel was in there because he was worshiping a different God, yet the king called him "Daniel, son of the living God".
Even the king knew something was different about Daniel. When he saw Daniel come walking toward him, unharmed, passing the lions, the king couldn't believe it. He was overjoyed. Verse 23 says, "Not a scratch was found on Daniel, because he trusted in his God".
Amazing things happen when you stay in faith and trust God. God not only protected Daniel, but the king ordered the men that conspired against Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the same lion's den, but they didn't have the same outcome. Before they hit the ground, the hungry lions tore them apart. The king issued a new decree. It said, "From now on, everyone in my kingdom should worship the God of Daniel. He rescues his people. He's the living God".
But here is the key: God doesn't deliver us from every difficulty. Most of the time, he takes us through the difficulty. Daniel's faith didn't keep him out of the lions' den, but his faith did make him lion-proof. That's what brought him out of the lions' den. But if Daniel, if those teenagers had been worried, panicked, negative, maybe there would have been a different outcome. Maybe we wouldn't be talking about them today.
I'm asking you to quit worrying about what you're facing. Quit losing sleep over that child that's not doing right. Quit being upset because somebody did you wrong, your dream hasn't come to pass yet. Can I tell you, God's got this? Like he did for Daniel, he's going to make a way where you don't see a way. Like he did for the Hebrew teenagers, God's going to protect you, favor you, get you to where you're supposed to be.
David said, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil". God is not just with you on the mountaintops, he's with you in the valleys. When you're going through things, he knows what you're up against. The Scripture says God is concerned about what concerns you. A sparrow doesn't fall to the ground without God knowing about it. How much more is God concerned about what's happening in your life? Trust him. Live from a place of peace.
This is a decision we have to make on a daily basis, because every day there is something to worry about. There is some reason to get upset. All through the day keep this phrase close to your heart: "God's got this. He's concerned about me. He's working in my life. He's bigger than my enemies. He's lining up the right people. He's arranging things in my favor". That attitude of faith is what allows God to do amazing things.
Four years ago, when our son Jonathan was going off to college for his freshman year, as parents, we were concerned about how it was all going to work out. Would he meet the right people? Would he get the right classes? Because we travel a lot, our children were homeschooled, so he wasn't going to college with a bunch of friends, and he'd never been in a large classroom setting.
This particular college has 40,000 students. Could have been overwhelming, but Victoria really wanted him to meet somebody right at the start so he could have a friend or two. She was up at the parents' She met this lady. Found out that her son was in the communications department like Jonathan, and she seemed like a nice lady, like great people, so Victoria texted Jonathan. He was in the students' orientation. It said, "Try to find a guy named Charlie. I just met his mother. I think you'll like him".
Well, Jonathan read the text and thought, "There are several thousand people in communications, hundreds in this room alone, how could I ever find him"? The next session, Jonathan walked in and sat down in a random chair. The room was packed full of students. At one point, the instructor told them to take a minute and meet somebody. Jonathan naturally turned to the guy sitting right next to him.
Out of the corner of his eye, on a notebook, he could see a small name written at the bottom. It said "Charlie". He looked at him and said "I think my mother texted me about you. Are you Charlie"? He looked puzzled, and he said, "Yes, that means you must be Jonathan. My mother texted me about you". Out of thousands of students, it just so happened they were sitting next to each other. You know what God was saying to us as parents? "I've got this. I'm in control. I'm going to watch after your children". Jonathan and Charlie became they sat by each other at school one last time as they graduated together. Charlie told Jonathan, "Let's finish like we started, side by side".
Are you worrying about your children, stressed out over your job, discouraged because of a disappointment, thinking it's not going to work out? Come back to that place of peace. God's got this. He's directing your steps. He's bringing the right people across your path and your children's path. He has beauty for the ashes. Right now, he's working behind the scenes in your life. Dare to trust him. Dare to believe. When we worry, we tie the hands of Almighty God.
We all face situations that are bigger than us: a bad medical report, you lost a major client, trouble in a relationship. It's easy to think of all the reasons why it's not going to work out. That's when you have to dig your heels in and switch over into faith. "No, God, I know you've got this. Thank you for protecting my children. Thank you for fighting my battles. Thank you for healing my body".
When you're tempted to worry, turn it around and thank God that he's working. Daniel could have said, "God, I was doing the right thing. I was being my best. Why did this happen to me"? But sometimes, God will allow difficult situations just to prove to you that he's God. He could have kept Daniel out of the lions' den. He could have stopped the Hebrew teenagers from going into the fiery furnaces, but God allows these things to not only show you but to show When David defeated Goliath, a giant twice his size, it wasn't just so David could be promoted, so David could be honored. That victory was a sign to the Philistines, a sign to all of their enemies, even a sign to the Israelites that God was in control, and his hand of favor and blessing was on them.
Some of the battles God allows in your life are not just about you. It's to make a statement to the people around you. Nothing speaks any louder than when people see the favor on your life, when they see you overcoming obstacles that should have held you back, defeating giants that were bigger, accomplishing dreams where you didn't have the expertise.
Like the king with Daniel, they will know you serve the truth and the living God. Not only that, when God brings us through the lions' dens and through the fiery furnaces, those victories are like fuel to feed your faith when you face other challenges. You'll know, "If God did it for me back then, he'll do it for me again".
Don't get discouraged when you face things you don't understand, obstacles that are bigger than you. That's simply an opportunity for God to show you who he is. It's one thing to believe that God has power, believe that he can do the impossible. That's good, but God wants you to do more than just believe. He wants you to experience his power. He's going to show you his greatness, show you his favor.
David had all kinds of things come against him. Not just giants, armies, his own family. He had plenty of reasons to live worried, afraid, bitter, but he said in Psalm 27, "The Lord is my light and my The Lord protects me from danger; why should I be afraid? When people come against me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will know no fear. Even if they attack, I will remain confident".
David lived with this attitude, "God's got this. I'm not going to be worried. I'm not going to live upset. I know he's bigger than any obstacle that I'm facing". He said a little later, "When trouble comes, God will hide me. He will place me out of reach, high on a rock".
You may have enemies coming against you, but you have an advantage. God has placed you out of reach. They can't defeat you. They can't keep you from your destiny. Now do like David. Remain confident. Keep your peace. It may feel like you're surrounded by an army. The truth is, you are surrounded by God's favor. The forces that are for you are greater than the forces that are against you. David said, "Even if they attack, I won't get upset".
Sickness may have attacked you, addictions may have attacked, debt may have attacked. That's a test. Are you going to get worried, live in fear, "What if it doesn't work out? Did you see the medical report"? "There are 40,000 students. What if he doesn't meet the right people"? Stay in peace. Remain Confident. God's done it for you in the past. He's going to do it for you again in the future. "I am confident I will see the goodness of God". After all he had been through, you would think he'd be negative, worried, "God, where were you"? He was just the opposite, "I know I'll see God's goodness". In other words, "I know God's got this".
I talked to a lady recently. She had been through a divorce, and she was carrying all the hurt and pain. She never dreamed her life would turn out like it had, and she was confused, discouraged, wondering why it had happened. One day, while driving in her car, she felt God say to her, "I still have a good plan for your life. Let go of the old. I've got this".
At that moment, she made the decision to stop worrying, to stop beating down on herself. She let it go. All of the sudden, she told how this heavy weight lifted off of her. She got her joy back, her passion back. Now new doors are starting to open, new relationships, new opportunities. She's starting to see the beauty for ashes. It all happened when she changed her perspective.
Is something weighing you down today? Are you worried about a situation, frustrated by what didn't work out, or maybe down on yourself because you're not where you thought you would be? God is saying to you what he said to her, "I've got this. It's not a surprise to me. I have new beginnings. I have healing. I have breakthroughs. I'm asking you to change your perspective. Switch over into faith".
That situation at work that you're worried about, God's got it. That medical report that's keeping you up at night, living stressed is not making it any better. Be still and know that he is God. He has you in the palm of his hand. He's got this. Yes, you may have enemies coming against you, but like Daniel, God has placed you out of reach. He's made you lion-proof.
Now all through the day, when you're tempted to worry, keep this phrase playing in your If you'll do this, I believe and declare you're going to see God's goodness in new ways. You're going to come out of the lions' dens, rise higher, accomplish dreams, and become everything God's created you to be. In Jesus' name.