Joel Osteen - Don't Settle for Less
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Joel Osteen urges believers not to settle for a watered-down, «good enough» version of God’s promises but to keep believing for the full Isaac-like blessing, using Abraham and Sarah’s story of settling for Ishmael before receiving the promised son, and warning that discouragement and delays often cause people to lower expectations and miss their destiny.
Refuse to Settle for Less
I want to talk to you today about «Don’t settle for less.» All of us have dreams that we are believing for, promises that God has spoken to us. At one time we were excited about them, but too often when it’s taken longer than we thought, because our health hasn’t improved, we didn’t get the promotion, our child isn’t making good decisions, we get discouraged and quit believing for the fullness of what’s in our heart.
It’s easy to water down what God promised us: «I don’t like this job, but at least I’m employed; it’s good enough. I was believing for a nice house, but I guess this apartment will do. I was hoping to get well, but I’ve learned to live with this sickness; I guess I’m at least okay.» No, okay is not who you were created to be. Good enough is not what God promised you.
The enemy can’t stop God’s plan for your life, but he’ll do his best to convince you to settle along the way. If you’re going to become all you were created to be, you have to keep a fire in your spirit. There has to be a holy determination, a resolve that says, «I refuse to settle for less than what God promised me.»
You have to make up your mind: you’re not going to be talked out of it, you’re not going to water it down, you’re not going to let good enough be good enough. It may have taken longer than you thought; it may be more difficult. The good news is it’s not too late. You haven’t missed your chance. What God promised you is still on the way—not a watered-down version, not a partial healing, not a make-do promotion, not a good-enough marriage. Know exactly what God promised you. What you were excited about before the delays, before the bad breaks, is still in store.
God doesn’t abort a dream. He doesn’t get talked out of what He’s promised. He doesn’t water down what He’s spoken to us. Now, maybe the reason you’re not seeing this favor is you’ve settled. You’ve accepted that your dream’s not going to happen: you’ll never get well, you’ll never get out of debt. As long as you think that way, it will limit your life.
I’m asking you to pull up your stakes, pack up your belongings: mediocrity is not your home, good enough is not your destiny, getting by is not where you belong. You may be there now, but that is not your permanent location. Don’t settle for an okay marriage, okay job, okay health, okay life. Yes, we should be content, but you shouldn’t be satisfied with less than what you know God put in your heart.
Don’t Move the Goalposts
But sometimes instead of stirring our faith up and believing for the best, we move the goalposts back to justify what we’re seeing: «I can’t seem to break this addiction, but if I can learn to manage it, that’s good enough. I’ll never reach my dreams, but hey, I’m doing as good as my coworker; that’s not too bad.»
No, instead of justifying it, moving that goalpost to fit what you think is going to happen, why don’t you leave the goal there and say, «God, I don’t see how this can work out. I don’t see how I can get well, how my family will be restored, how I can reach my dreams. But God, I know You wouldn’t have promised it if You weren’t going to bring it to pass. I know You have a way where I don’t see a way. So I’m not going to settle here. I’m going to keep believing, I’m going to keep dreaming, I’m going to keep stretching my faith.» That’s what allows God to do great things.
In Genesis 15, God told Abraham he was going to have a son. The problem was Abraham was 75 years old, his wife Sarah was 65. They’d never had children; she had been barren all these years. Now she had gone through the change of life—it was impossible in the natural.
Year after year went by with no sign of a baby. Every thought told them it’s been too long; you’re wasting your time; you’re both way too old; it’s never going to happen. Finally Sarah said to Abraham to sleep with her maid; that way they could have a baby. She thought that’s the only way it would happen. It was so impossible; she watered down the promise. She reduced it to what she thought would happen.
Many times we do like Sarah: when God speaks something to us, instead of coming up to His level, believing for the unusual, the uncommon, the extraordinary, we bring it down to our level.
When I got word that the Compaq Center was coming available and the Rockets were going to move out of this building, something came alive on the inside. I knew it was supposed to be ours. But even though I was excited in my spirit, my mind said, «There’s no way we’ll get the building: it’s too expensive; the city will never let our church have it.» I was tempted to water it down. Voices whispered, «Joel, come back to your senses. Don’t get your hopes up; it’s never going to happen.»
Take the Limits Off God
It’s easy to get talked out of the great things God has in store. And there will be times God speaks things to your spirit that don’t make sense to your mind: «Sarah, you can’t have a baby at 80. Joel, you’ll never get the basketball arena. Dodie, you’ll never beat terminal cancer; just accept it.»
You may not see how, but God does. He’s not asking you to figure it out; He’s asking you to believe. Why don’t you take the limits off of Him?
You wouldn’t be hearing this if He wasn’t about to do something unusual, uncommon, something that you didn’t see coming. You can’t explain it; it didn’t make sense. People will scratch their heads thinking, «How did you beat the sickness? I saw the medical report. How did your business take off so fast? You didn’t have the connections.» No, but you have the favor of God. You have His blessing on your life. What He’s promised you will come to pass—not a watered-down version, not a get-by version, not a good-enough version. Get ready for the fullness of what God said.
The mistake Sarah made is she reduced what God promised to what she thought could happen. God doesn’t need our help to make sure He doesn’t look bad. He flung stars into space; He spoke worlds into existence. He’s not at a loss at how to turn your situation around.
Don’t reduce it to what makes sense to you. Don’t let what you don’t have talk you out of what God does have. Get in agreement with Him: «God, this seems impossible to me, but I know You can do the impossible. I’m looking at it in the natural, but I know You’re a supernatural God. You can take me where I can’t go on my own.»
The Fourth Man Shows Up
When the three Hebrew teenagers were about to be thrown into a fiery furnace because they wouldn’t bow down to the king’s golden idol, the guards tied their hands and feet with cords. They were thrown into the furnace bound. They should have instantly been killed.
But in a little while the king came to check on them. He said, «Didn’t we throw three men in bound? I see four men loosed, and one looks like the Son of God.»
You may feel like your hands are tied. You’ve done your best, but it seems like you’ve reached your limits. The good news is God’s hands are not tied. He’s not limited by what’s limiting us. And I believe today some cords are being broken, some chains are coming off. What’s restricted you in the past has lost its grip.
That addiction that’s held you back, the sickness, the financial difficulties, the trouble at work—this is a new day. The fourth man in the fire has shown up. Like these Hebrew teenagers, you’re going to come out not bound, but loosed: free, healed, promoted, vindicated, with that dream you’re believing for.
Ishmael vs. Isaac
Abraham slept with Sarah’s maid, and they had a son that they named Ishmael. They loved Ishmael; they were happy to have him, but he was not the promised child. Ishmael represents a spirit of good enough: «This is not what I was believing for, but it’s close; it’s good enough.»
You don’t have to settle. God is not going to give you a substitute blessing. He has the real thing coming. You may have some good-enough areas in your life, but don’t stop there. Don’t let that spirit of good enough cause you to be satisfied. You have to keep stretching, keep believing for the fullness of what God promised.
Twenty-five years after God told Abraham he was going to have a son, Ishmael was now 13 years old. God came to him again and said in Genesis 17, «Abraham, Sarah is going to bear you a child.» When Abraham heard this, the Scripture says he fell down laughing, saying, «God, I’m a hundred years old now; Sarah is ninety. How could she possibly have a baby at that age?»
He went on to say, «May Ishmael enjoy my inheritance.» He was saying, «God, I’m okay with good enough. I’m okay with the substitute blessing.» God said, «Abraham, I am not a God that gives good-enough blessings. You may be satisfied with a look-alike, with a make-do, but not Me. I love Ishmael, but I didn’t say your maid was going to have a son. I said Sarah was going to have a son.»
But even though Abraham settled for Ishmael, God said in effect, «I don’t settle. I don’t get talked out of what I promised you.» What God has spoken over you will come to pass—not partially, not in an indirect way. God is going to surprise you. Get ready: Isaac is coming.
At ninety years old, against all odds, Sarah gave birth to a son. They named him Isaac. God has some of these «Who would have ever thought» blessings coming your way.
Don’t Settle in Disappointment
Are you settling for Ishmaels, for good enough? Are you watering down what God promised? Isaac represents something that you’ve never seen—the greatness of God’s favor.
A friend of mine works in commercial real estate. She had a large piece of property on the market for one of her clients for more than 20 years. Over the years she kept raising the price. People told her it would never sell for that amount. A few months ago she sold the property for the full asking price.
God knows how to bring Isaac. He said in Deuteronomy, «I will make you a thousand times more than you are.» Your job is not your source; God is your source.
Sometimes the reason we settle is life hasn’t turned out the way we thought. We’ve gone through disappointments. This is what happened to Abraham’s father, Terah. Years later God told him to leave and move to Canaan, the Promised Land. But when they came to the city of Haran—the same name as the son he lost—instead of passing through, Terah settled in the city of Haran.
If you’re going to reach your destiny, you have to say, «Yes, I’ve been hurt, but I’m not settling here. I’ve been through disappointments, but I’m not settling in self-pity.»
What if my father would have settled in poverty? What if my mother would have settled in despair when diagnosed with terminal cancer? Amazing things await you if you just don’t settle. You may have gone through disappointments, but get your fire back. God did not bring you this far to leave you. Your greatest days are still in front of you.
Next Door to Your Promised Land
The Israelites were next door to the Promised Land. God told them He would give them the victory, but when they saw how big the people were, they became too discouraged to believe. Instead of going in, they settled in the desert.
I believe many of you are next door to your Promised Land. You’re on the verge of seeing a new level of blessing and favor. The question is: are you going to settle there?
«Not settling» may mean going back to school, developing your business plan, joining a support group, putting more effort into your marriage, or being proactive to get back in shape.
Where will you be in 10 years if you do settle? You will miss who you were created to be. What’s in front of you is way too important to settle.
Our attitude should be, «I’m not going to settle next door to my Promised Land. I am going in. I’m going to become all I was created to be.»
If you’ll do this, I believe and declare: Isaac is coming—something more than you’ve imagined, new levels in your career, freedom from that addiction, breakthroughs in your finances, healing, wholeness, abundance, the fullness of your destiny, in Jesus' name.