Joel Osteen - Your Set Time For Favor
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God has ordained specific set times in our lives to show extraordinary favor and blessing, just as He did with the Israelite feasts. Drawing from Psalm 102:13, where the psalmist declares that the set time to favor Zion has come, we are encouraged to recognize and step into these divinely appointed moments of breakthrough, healing, and acceleration.
God’s Appointed Times of Favor
I want to talk to you today about «Your Set Time for Favor». In the Old Testament, the Israelites had several different feasts that they had to observe each year. Feasts like Passover and the Feast of Pentecost were at set times based on the cycle of the moon and certain other criteria. The times had been ordained by God and couldn’t be changed. These were special times that God had set aside to bless His people.
He had already established when to show them favor. And just like with them, there are set times God has already ordained to show out in your life. We can all look back and see these times where we got a break that we didn’t deserve. Things fell into place. Maybe your career took off after years of being routine and average. You came into a season of growth, a season of increase, a season of blessing. What was that? A set time of favor.
I talked to a man recently. For eight years he had had back pain. He hurt it playing football in college. He had had surgery, gone through treatment, rehab, taken pain pills—nothing seemed to help. He had decided he would have to live with that pain the rest of his life. But about six months ago, out of the blue, things started getting better and better.
He said, «Joel, I don’t know what happened. The doctors can’t explain it. But today I’m totally free from this pain.» Like the Israelites, he came into one of his set times. In Psalms it talks about how God’s favor surrounds us like a shield. It doesn’t come and go. Favor is always with us. But there are set times where God’s favor will show out.
Moments When God Accelerates Your Dreams
Set times where God will thrust you from the background to the foreground. Set times where God will accelerate your dreams, make things happen faster than you thought. Set times, like my friend, when you will get well even though the report says it is not going to happen. When a problem will unexpectedly turn around even though it looked impossible.
You need to get ready. I believe you have come into one of your set times of favor. Maybe you have been struggling. Everything has been uphill. You are going to see an anointing of ease. God is going before you. He is going to cause things to fall into place. At work you have been doing your best, working hard, but not getting the credit you deserve. People playing politics—don’t worry.
In this set time God is going to promote you. He is going to push you up. He is going to set you on high. Or perhaps you have been through some relationships that did not work out, and now you think you will always be lonely. Now, in this set time, God is bringing a divine connection—somebody better than you have imagined. They are already ordained to come across your path.
And you may not see how this is going to happen. Your mind will tell you you will never get well, never meet the right person, never accomplish your dream. Do not believe those lies. The Creator of the universe has already established your set times. His power is greater than any force that is trying to come against you.
Getting in Agreement with God
Now do your part. Get in agreement with God. «Lord, I believe this is my set time for favor. The medical report may not look good, but I believe it is my set time to get well. My dream looks like it is going to take years, but Lord, I want to thank You that it is my set time for acceleration.»
Now you may have tried things in the past, but it did not work out. The business was not successful, the loan did not go through, the diet did not work. Now you are thinking, «I just threw that one in.» You need to try it again. This is a new season. A man in the lobby told me the other day how he had a dream to start his own business and he got it going. Everything was fine. He was so excited.
But he hit a series of setbacks. Unfortunately, it did not make it. He thought he was done, that it would never happen. No, it just was not the right time. Do not give up on what God promised you. Do not let that dream die stillborn. It may not have happened in the past, but you have come into a set time. God has favor waiting for you, ideas waiting for you, the right people waiting for you. Try it again.
The Scripture says a good man falls seven times, but the Lord raises him back up. The loan did not go through, you did not qualify for that new house—try again. You are in a set time of favor. You tried to lose the weight, tried to get back in shape—it did not work out. Try it again.
God is breathing in your life in a new way. He is giving you ability, determination, strength to do what you could not do before. All through the day, especially in the tough times: «Lord, I want to thank You that it is my set time for favor. Thank You that You are helping me do what I could not do on my own.»
The Turning Point in Psalm 102
Psalm 102—this man was having an incredibly difficult time. He began to pray. He went into great detail to list all of his troubles. He said, «God, I am sick. I am down to skin and bones. I cannot sleep at night. I have lost all of my income. I am lonely. My friends have left me. My enemies all day long taunt me. Now I am just sitting among the ashes.»
For eleven verses he goes on and on telling how miserable his life is, how he feels overwhelmed by his trouble. Just reading it can make you feel depressed. Just when you think he is about to give up, just ready to throw in the towel, he said in verse twelve: «But You, O Lord, are still on the throne. For You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for the time to favor her—yes, the set time—has come.»
Zion is the church. You can put your name in place of Zion: «For You will arise and have mercy on me, for the time to favor me—yes, the set time—has come.» You will arise and have mercy on those people at Lakewood, for the time to favor them—yes, the set time—has come.
In the midst of his sad song, in the midst of listing all of his difficulties, deep down he knew there was a set time of favor in his future. At that point the Israelites had been through seventy years of hardships, all kinds of struggling. God said, «Do not worry. Things are about to change. You have come into your set time of favor.»
The Scripture says God will arise and have mercy. In this set time God will step in against your enemies. You will not have to fight those battles. The Most High will arise, and when He arises, enemies will be scattered. When He arises, sicknesses will be defeated. Addictions will be broken. Lack, struggle, poverty will come to an end.
God Clearing the Path Ahead
He is going before you, clearing the path, pushing back the forces of darkness, making a way where you could not go before. In this set time the enemies you have seen in the past you will see no more. The addictions, bad habits, things you have not been able to overcome—this is a new day. God is arising. It is your set time for freedom, set time for wholeness.
Those obstacles in your career—you cannot seem to get the break you need, cannot get over the hump—things are about to change. God is fighting your battles, causing you to stand out, bringing you from obscurity to notoriety. This is a set time for God to thrust you where you could not go on your own.
I am challenging you: Do not talk yourself out of it. You may feel like you are in verses one through eleven right now, like that man. You can come up with good reasons why you will not get well, why you will not be successful. «Joel, I have got a lot of powerful people coming against me,» or «I have this medical condition that looks permanent,» or «I do not have the experience, the resources, the connections to really be successful.»
That may all be true. But do not stop in verse eleven. Come on down to twelve and thirteen. Dare to say, «But You, O Lord, are still on the throne. You have set this time to favor me.» What God lifts up, no person can push down. What God breathes life into, sickness cannot take away. What God blesses, all the forces of darkness cannot curse.
When God Arises, the Enemy Trembles
Our attitude should be: «Yes, this obstacle looks big—this sickness, this legal situation—but I know a secret. God is on the throne, and He has set this time for me to overcome. This is my set time to break through. This is my set time to live in victory.»
It says God will arise. Let me tell you, when God gets up, the enemy trembles. In your set time God is not going to sit idly by. And yes, we all have seasons of testing and trials where we have to stand strong, prove to God that we will be faithful. But in this set time of favor, that is when God gets up and says, «Okay, that is enough. Let me go to work.»
He will put a stop to what is trying to stop you. He said the trap the enemy set for you, they will fall in themselves. He said no weapon formed against you will ever prosper. Do not be intimidated. You are not weak, you are not lacking—the Most High God has risen on your behalf. He has got your back. He has got you covered.
He is saying it is your set time for favor, your set time for healing, your set time for acceleration. Now you have to let this seed take root on the inside. It is easy to think, «Well, that was a good message today. I enjoyed that,» and two hours later you do not really remember it. It is not going to be effective like that.
All through the week you need to have this expectancy: «Lord, thank You that it is my set time for favor, that You are giving me power to do what I could not do before. Lord, thank You that You are causing me to stand out, drawing the right people to me, that Your blessings and favor are overtaking me.»
The Moment Designated Is Here
«Well, Joel, I believe maybe one day that will happen for me.» No, I am asking you to come over into the now. Today is your set time for favor—not in three months, not six years from now. God said the time to favor you has come. The Amplified version says the moment designated is here. There are moments God has already designated to show out in your life. I believe this is one of your moments.
You are living in a favor season, a growing season, an acceleration season. You are going to have a new confidence to do things that you could not do before. You are going to see your gifts and talents come out in a greater way. God is going to give you more influence, more notoriety, a bigger platform. His face is going to shine down on you and cause you to stand out.
Family members that have been off course—it seems like they will always make poor choices—those forces are being broken. Things are about to change. They are going to start making good choices that honor God. People are going to think, «How in the world did they turn around so quickly?» Here is how: You came into a set time of favor, a moment already designated by the Creator of the universe.
Think about a set time. Sometimes at night you will set your alarm for the morning. You program your clock—say, I want to get up at six thirty—and you set the hour, set the minute. That is the set time. Or maybe you are cooking something that takes an hour and a half. You set the timer on the oven for ninety minutes.
You are waiting and waiting, but when the alarm goes off, you do not keep waiting. The set time has come. You change your position. You change your posture. You take the food out—it is done. You wake up—the morning has arrived.
Hearing the Alarm of Favor
I believe God is saying to us the alarm is going off. The set time has come. Change your position. Change your attitude from «I do not think it is ever going to happen» to «Lord, thank You that it is here. Thank You that my set time for favor has arrived.» Start expecting God’s goodness.
See, life can get so routine that we are not really releasing our faith. We have been lulled into thinking, «Oh, it is never going to happen for me. It has been so long. I will never get well. I will never meet the right person.» No, every morning when you wake up, just imagine the alarm is going off. God is saying it is the set time.
Our attitude should be: «This is my day for favor. This is my day for increase. This is my day for divine connections.» Not «maybe one day it is going to happen.» No, «I know today is my day.» By faith I can hear the alarm going off. It is favor time. It is healing time. It is acceleration time. It is blessing time. Some of you know what Miller time is—I am talking about breakthrough time, victory time, abundance time.
I have seen this set time of favor in my own life. That is why it is easy for me to encourage you. I should not be where I am. I did not train to do this. I was not planning on being a minister. Never thought I could get up in front of people. When my father went to be with the Lord and I did step up to pastor the church, we never dreamed it would grow.
We thought if we could maintain what my parents had built, that would be a win. This is the sovereignty of God. I came into a set time of favor that the Creator of the universe had ordained for me before I was formed in my mother’s womb. God had already set aside: «That is the time I am going to show out in Joel’s life.»
I could not have made it happen. I could not have orchestrated this facility, the influence, the growth in my own strength. It was the hand of God taking me where I could not go on my own. God set the time for us to have this building. He set the time for me to meet Victoria. He set the time for my mother to be healed from terminal cancer.
Stories of Sudden Breakthrough
In the same way, God has already designated these moments of favor for you. He has already set the times. You are living in one of those right now—a set time of acceleration, a set time of greater influence, a set time where God wants to show out in your life.
But for this to happen, down in your spirit you have to hear the alarm going off. Through your eyes of faith you have to see God arising, fighting your battles, moving obstacles out of your path, preparing the way for you to step into a new level of your destiny.
I talked to a young lady that moved here from another state. She tried to get her business started in the Northeast, but things did not work out. She felt like she was supposed to take a step of faith and move down here. For thirteen hours driving to Texas she listened to my messages on SiriusXM. Said she never turned it off at all.
She heard that message I spoke at the first of the year about how God can accelerate your dreams and He can make things happen faster than you thought. Something came alive on the inside. She thought, «Yes, that is for me.» She started her new position. She works in sales, and realistically she knew it would take a while to build a clientele and really get things going.
But she said this first month here she has sold more than she sold in the whole year back at home. She was so excited. She said, «Joel, there are still six days left in this month. I am going to sell even more.» What happened? She came into her set time of favor, her set time of acceleration.
But I wonder what would have happened if she had thought, «I am never going to see favor. I am never going to see acceleration. It is going to be rough getting started in a new city.» That would have limited her destiny. God works where there is faith.
You may not see how it can happen in the natural. That is okay. He is a supernatural God. You do not have to figure it all out. All you have to do is believe. Take the limits off of God. Dare to do like she did and say, «God, just like You promised in Psalm 102 that it was the set time to favor Zion—God, I know I am Zion. I am the church. So I believe it is my set time for favor, set time for acceleration, set time to go to a new level.»
A mother called the other day and told how she has an adult child that is physically challenged. This child recently had a stroke and needed constant care. This mother is a widow and could not afford to quit her job. There was a well-respected facility not far from where she lived that took care of disabled people.
But when she inquired, she was told that there was a ten-year waiting list to get in. She did not know what she was going to do. This mother was not raised in church. She did not have any kind of spiritual background. But through watching us on television she had come to know the Lord.
She heard me talking about acceleration. In her own simple way, with a childlike faith, she said, «God, they said it is going to take ten years to get my child in. But Lord, I believe that You can make it happen sooner.» Three weeks later the facility called back and said, «We have had an opening come up unexpectedly. We would love to have your child.»
What could have taken ten years, God did in a fraction of the time—a set time of favor, a moment God had already designated. The common denominator with both of these ladies is they released their faith. They had an expectancy.
A Dramatic Family Healing
My father had a sister named Marian. For years she struggled with a condition that caused her to have violent convulsions and terrible headaches. It was so bad that it was crippling her life. At one point she started having these hallucinations. Her mind became unclear.
She had been in the hospital for a long time, and they finally sent her home. She could not recognize people. She could not feed herself. She had to have twenty-four-hour care. My father lived in a different city. He traveled a lot and did not realize how sick Marian was.
One day his mother called and told him about Marian’s condition. He was scheduled to go out of town the next morning, but while he was praying he heard God say to him—not out loud, but this distinct phrase right down in here—"The hour of Marian’s deliverance has come.»
He heard what we read in Psalm 102: the set time for Marian’s healing is here. Instead of taking his planned trip that morning, he drove from Houston to Dallas where Marian lived. When he went in her room, it was dark. The shades were pulled—very depressing. Marian did not recognize him. Her hair was matted, her eyes glazed over.
Something rose up in my father—not just a boldness, but a holy anger. Like the Scripture says, in this set time God will not sit idly by. He will rise up against your enemies. My father could feel that power rising up through him. He went over to Marian’s bed, and after he prayed for her, he said forcefully, «Marian, I want you to get up out of this bed.»
All of a sudden Marian sat straight up. She had not walked in months, but that moment she got out of the bed and was able to walk through the house. Her mind cleared up. She was able to talk to my father. That day she went to the table and fed herself. She no longer needed her medicine, no longer needed the twenty-four-hour care—totally healed. A moment of favor.
My father asked her later, «Marian, why did you get out of bed so suddenly?» She said, «Because I heard God tell me to get out.» He got a laugh and said, «No, Marian, it was me. I said it.» She said, «No, John, I heard the voice of God telling me to get out of bed.»
He said, «Marian, I was standing right there. I am telling you, I am the one that said it.» She said, «Listen here, John, I know what I heard. And I heard the Creator of the universe, the Most High God, telling me to get out of bed. And when I heard that, every chain was broken off of me. Every fiber of my being came back to life.»
Friends, when it is your set time, all the forces of darkness cannot hold you back. Our God is more powerful than any sickness, any addiction, any depression, any person, any hater. Every chain will be broken. Every stronghold will come down. Every limitation will be loosed. The Creator of the universe will make you come alive. He will push you into your destiny.
I believe right now God is rising up against your enemies. He is rising up against that sickness, that legal problem, that spirit of lack and struggle. Those forces are being broken. Your destiny is being released.
Becoming an Example of God’s Goodness
Psalm 102 goes on to say in this set time of favor, people all around you are going to notice what God has done. He is going to show out in your life in such a way that you will be an example of His goodness—so blessed, so healthy, so strong, so generous, so talented. People all around you will see the hand of God is upon your life.
But sometimes when we have been waiting a long time—waiting for the miracle, waiting for the healing, waiting for a dream to come to pass—it is easy to get into a wait mode where we are not expecting anything. God is saying the wait is over. The alarm is going off. Victory is here. Healing is here. Favor is here. The moment designated has come.
And you may not see it yet, but here is the whole key: You have to walk by faith and not by sight. All through the week: «Lord, I thank You that it is my set time for favor. Thank You that You are pushing back the forces of darkness. Thank You that You are accelerating my dreams coming to pass.»
«Well, Joel, I tried this, but my business did not work out. I did not break the addiction. The loan did not go through.» I am asking you to try it again. This is a new day. In this set time of favor God is not going to sit idly by this time. He is going to arise and fight your battles. This time He said He will get off the throne and do what you could not do.
He is breathing in your direction in a new way. Right now it is your time to possess the land. If you will do this, I believe and declare God is going to show out in your life in a new way. You are going to see new levels of influence, notoriety, a bigger platform. Like my father’s sister, healing from what looks permanent. Like those two ladies, you are going to accomplish more in a fraction of the time.
You are going to see acceleration where God thrusts you into a new level of your destiny. In Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can you say amen today?