Joel Osteen - The Guardian of Your Soul (04/01/2020)
In this sermon, Joel Osteen reassures believers that amid global turmoil and threats like the virus, God is the Guardian of their soul, actively protecting, shielding, and rescuing them from harm, as seen in Psalm 91, the Israelites' distinction during the plagues, David’s escapes, and modern analogies. He urges living in peace and faith, declaring God’s promises to activate this protection, knowing nothing can ultimately touch those under His care.
God as the Guardian of Your Soul
I want to talk to you today about «The Guardian of Your Soul.» When we look at all this going on in the world, it is easy to live worried and afraid. We watch the news and see conflict between nations, natural disasters, sicknesses, accidents—if that is not enough, now we are dealing with this virus. We think, «What if I get sick? What if my business does not make it? What if my child has an accident?» All these concerns are valid. If you were on your own, you would have a good reason to live worried, but the Scripture says (1 Peter 2:25), «You have turned to your shepherd, the guardian of your soul.» You are not in this by yourself; you have a protector, a defender, a deliverer. The Most High God is the guardian of your soul.
When He breathed life into you, He did not just put you on the earth and say, «Good luck; you are on your own.» He said, «I am going to guard you; I am going to push back forces of darkness; I am going to hide you from enemies; I am going to shield you from trouble.» Psalm 91:3 says, «God will rescue you from every trap and protect you from the fatal plague.» You do not have to be afraid of this virus; God has a shield around you. He knows how to keep harm away. And if it does come, He knows how to heal you; He knows how to restore what was taken. He will rescue you from every trap. The enemy does not have the final say; nothing can snatch you out of God’s hands.
And because you have turned to your shepherd, He has protected you from things you know nothing about. He kept that car from hitting you; He pushed back that sickness; He thwarted plans of the enemy, moved people out of the way that would have been a bad influence. He has been guarding your soul since you were born. If you knew all the things He has already kept you from, you would not worry about what you are facing now. You would stay in peace, knowing that God has you covered; you are in the palm of His hand. You are not at the mercy of fate, bad luck, dreaded disease—you have a guardian, a protector, a God who promised He will rescue you from every trap.
Protection from Childhood
When my father was a little toddler, barely able to walk, he lived on a farm with his family. And one night he wandered away from everyone and fell into a fire. He could have easily been killed, but it just so happened someone came walking by and pulled him out. Another 15 seconds and he would have lost his life. That should have stopped his destiny, but there is a guardian of your soul; there is a God watching over you that will rescue you from trouble; He will stop the plan of the enemy.
Psalm 121:7-8 says, «Your guardian God is right by your side to protect you. He guards you when you leave, and He guards you when you return. He guards you now, and He will guard you always.» You cannot go anywhere without your guardian God. That is why we can live from a place of peace, a place of faith, even though there is turmoil all around us, people worried, panic—stay in peace; it is not a surprise to God. He did not say we would not have trouble, we would not have to face these things, but He did promise He will rescue you from the trouble; He will keep the fatal plague from taking you out. You do not have to live worried about your future, afraid of what could happen—God has a hedge of protection around you, a bloodline that the enemy cannot cross.
The Distinction in the Plagues
When the Israelites had been in slavery for many years, God told Moses He was going to bring them out. The way God did it was to send plagues on the Pharaoh and his people that were oppressing them. What is interesting is the Israelites lived next door, but none of the plagues affected them. God sent swarms of locusts; they ate up all the Pharaoh’s crops, destroyed their food supply, but right next door the Israelites' crops were fine. I could imagine some of the locusts started to fly toward the Israelites' land, but when they got close, just like an electric fence, they suddenly turned around and left them alone. This happened with plague after plague, and God said in Exodus 8:22, «I will make a distinction between My people and Pharaoh’s people.»
At one point all of Pharaoh’s livestock, all of his cattle suddenly died, but right next door the Israelites' livestock was perfectly fine—that is because God put a shield around His people. Even though the plague was all around them, He kept it from harming them. Like with the Israelites, because you belong to God, because you honor Him, He has put a distinction on you. What will defeat others will not be able to defeat you. When business is going down, you are going to go up. When others are struggling, you are going to be soaring.
That is why David said (Psalm 91:7), «A thousand may fall at my side and 10,000 at my right hand, but it will not come near me.» David understood this principle that what happened to others was not going to happen to him; God put a distinction on him. And I do not mean this arrogantly, like we are glad somebody else has difficulty and not us—I am talking about living from a place of faith, knowing that you have an advantage: God has a shield around you. Psalm 91:3-7 in the Message translation says, «God protects you from deadly hazards. Even though others succumb all around you, you will stand untouched. You will watch it all from a distance. Because God is your refuge, evil cannot get close to you; harm cannot get through the door.» You may have some things come to the door, but it is not going to get in. You are going to come out untouched; you are going to watch it all from a distance.
You Can’t Touch This
You remember the rapper MC Hammer; he had a popular song called «You Can’t Touch This.» You need to see yourself that way: when sickness comes, instead of accepting it, thinking «I knew this would happen,» you need to announce to the enemy: you cannot touch this; I am God’s property; my body is a temple of the Most High; I will live and not die. When lack and struggle come, saying you will never get ahead, just announce: you cannot touch this; the favor of God is on my life; I will prosper even in a desert. When your children are not making good decisions, they are getting off course—instead of being depressed, thinking «What did I do wrong"—you need to remind the enemy: you cannot touch this; as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord; my children will be mighty in the land. You need to see yourself as untouchable to the enemy.
And yes, we all have difficulties; I am not saying that you will not have to face sickness, opposition, betrayals—they may come, but they do not have to stay; you do not have to answer the door. Do not open it up; say, «I knew you would show up; come on in; let me get you a cup of coffee.» No, when it knocks, say, «No, thanks; you are not welcome here.» Do not accept it; do not learn to live with it. Quit calling it «my sickness, my anxiety, my dysfunction, my addiction"—it is not yours; none of it belongs to you; it is on foreign territory. Your body is a temple of the Most High God. Sickness does not belong in your temple; depression does not belong in your temple; fear, addictions, lack do not belong there. Stand firm and keep that door closed. Yes, things may come; I am not asking you to deny the facts, act like you do not have a sickness, but you do not have to accept it in your mind; do not let it become permanent, thinking it is always going to be that way—see it as temporary: this too shall pass.
Rain on the Just and Unjust
I have several friends that have contracted the coronavirus; they fought the good fight of faith; now they have come through it. When you face a sickness, a bad break, loss—that does not mean you do not have this distinction; you must not have enough faith—not at all. The Scripture says (Matthew 5:45), «Rain falls on the just and the unjust.» There are times when difficulties come; we are praying, believing, but it did not work out our way—when it rains, do not get discouraged; do not give up on your dreams. God knows what He is doing. If you will keep the right attitude, that rain is not going to hinder you; it is going to cause you to blossom. The enemy may have meant it for your harm; the reason God allowed it is so He can bring you out better than you were before.
Psalm 91 starts off by saying, «If you dwell in the secret place of the Most High, you will abide under the shadow of the Almighty.» The next verse says, «I will say of the Lord, You are my refuge, my fortress, and my God.» It is significant that the Psalmist did not just say, «I am going to stay in the secret place, and that will keep me protected.» He said, «I will say of the Lord.» What you are saying is going to make a difference, whether you see God’s protection and favor like you should.
Declaring God’s Protection
«When, Joel, I will probably get this virus; I always have bad breaks; I do not think my business is going to make it; my children are never going to do what is right"—you need to zip that up; you are opening the door to difficulties. If you are going to activate this protection, you cannot go around talking defeat; you have to do like the Psalmist and start saying of the Lord: «Lord, thank You that You are my protector. Thank You that You are shielding me from every plague, rescuing me from every trap. Thank You that I am going to come out of this untouched.» The way you are going to see the distinction is by declaring you are protected and thanking God that there is a hedge around you.
David had all kinds of opposition; he had people trying to kill him, armies coming against him; his own son tried to dethrone him. He could have lived afraid, complaining, «God, You anointed me; why am I having all these difficulties?» Now listen to how David talked (Psalm 27:1-5): «The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord protects me from danger; why should I be afraid? When enemies come against me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army surrounds me, I will remain confident. For in the time of trouble God will hide me; He will place me out of reach high on a rock.» David knew how to activate this shield. You have to thank God for it; you cannot go around worried, in panic, and expect to see this hedge of protection.
David Hidden from Saul
In 1 Samuel 23, David was living on the run from King Saul. He had been good to Saul; he was his armor bearer, served him faithfully, but Saul was jealous of David. He could see the favor on his life; he could not handle the thought of someone getting more attention than him. So even though David had done nothing wrong, Saul was trying to kill him. He was so obsessed with it that he chased David again and again through the desert. Saul had the most skilled warriors; he had people that were specialists in tracking people. Here David was a shepherd; he did not have any special training like Saul’s men—surely they could find David; surely they could capture him. Verse 14 says, «Saul hunted David day after day, but God did not let him be found.»
God knows how to hide you from the enemy; He knows how to hide you from trouble; He can hide you from the virus; He will place you out of reach from the opposition. Saul was so frustrated; he went back home. Later some of David’s men turned on him; they contacted Saul’s people and gave them David’s location and all the details of where he was hiding. Saul was thrilled; he said, «Finally someone has had mercy on me, will help me get rid of this man that is trying to take my throne.» David was not trying to take Saul’s place; Saul had disobeyed and not done what God told him to do, and now he was trying to take it out on David.
When you are doing the right thing, people are coming against you, trying to push you out—do not worry; that is not your battle. There is a guardian of your soul; you have a protector, a defender. You do not have to fight; stay on that high road, and God will keep you out of reach; He will hide you when you need to be hidden. He is not going to let that adversity stop your purpose. Do not live upset, afraid, trying to pay people back—let God be your defender; He knows how to take care of the opposition.
God’s Unexpected Rescue
Saul told these men to go back and spy on David, study his movements, find out when he eats, when he sleeps, where he gets food. Saul was so determined to catch David; he had them go overboard and do this extensive surveillance. David did not know some of his men had betrayed him; he thought he was in a great hiding place, but he looked up and saw Saul quickly closing in. This time he was caught; there was no way he could escape—Saul was right on the other side of the mountain with all of his army, just a matter of hours before David would be captured. I could imagine David saying, «God, I did not see this coming; I never dreamed my own men would turn on me, but God, I believe You will rescue me from every trap. I know even when trouble surrounds me, You will bring me safely through.» When he could have been panicked, giving up, he kept thanking God for His protection and thanking Him that He would make a way where he did not see a way.
Right when Saul was about to give the command to make that final push, a man came riding a horse as fast as he could; he had an urgent message for King Saul. He handed it to him; it said, «Hurry home; the Philistines are attacking our city.» Saul called off the chase, told his men to turn around and go full speed back home. God has ways to protect you that you have never thought of. He knows how to distract your enemies. He controls the universe. You do not have to figure out how it is going to happen; all you have to do is believe: «Lord, thank You that You are my protector. Thank You that You are my defender. Thank You that You are my way maker.» When you realize the Most High God is guarding you, then you can say with David, «I will fear no evil"—not going to fear this virus, not going to fear this opposition, not going to fear my future. You can stay in peace, knowing that the God who created the universe is the guardian of your soul.
Don’t Panic in the Last Days
Jesus said in Matthew 24:6-7, «In the last days there will be terrible epidemics, earthquakes, famines. But do not panic or give in to your fears.» An epidemic is a worldwide virus, like we are facing today—it did not surprise God. He did not bring you this far to leave you. Now choose to live from a place of faith, not a place of fear. When you are in peace, that is a position of power. When you know God is in control, you are going to be strong; you are going to feel a force sustaining you. But when you are upset, afraid, that is going to drain your energy, drain your motivation; your immune system is not going to be as effective as it should be.
And there is a lot of negativity in the world: people are worried, afraid, panic—I know the threat is real, but do not let that get in you. A ship does not sink because of water around it—it can be in a huge ocean surrounded by hundreds of miles of water on every side. Water around it is not a problem, but if that ship lets what is on the outside get on the inside, then it is a problem. You cannot watch the news all day and stay afloat. If you constantly take in negative, you are going to sink, so to speak. Now, I like to watch the news; it is important to stay informed, but after 15 minutes I know what I need. If you leave that television on all day, it is going to take us six weeks to get you out of that pit. Tune it out and tune in to what God says about you; do not let what is on the outside get on the inside.
Think on Good Things
The Scripture says (Philippians 4:8), «Think on things that are pure, things that are wholesome, things that are of a good report.» Find something to watch that is uplifting, something inspiring; think on things that will build your faith. This is not the time to call negative family members and talk about all the doom and gloom and how bad it is—that is poisoning your spirit. You are feeding your inner person by what you are taking in. If you are only feeding it the negative, it is going to pull you down. One of the best things you can feed yourself is what God says about you: «Lord, thank You that my latter days will be better than my former days. Thank You that what You started in my life You will finish. Thank You that You are the guardian of my soul.»
A Vivid Dream of Protection
When I first started ministering back in 1999, it was all very new to me. I had been behind the scenes for 17 years; I was suddenly thrust in front of a lot of people. I never dreamed the ministry would grow and people would begin to watch all over the world. Well, with the growth in notoriety came opposition and people that were not for us. On top of that, I had the pressure of trying to learn how to minister; I was not sure if I was good at it. At one point it felt overwhelming; it seemed like there was opposition from every side. I was not sure how things were going to work out.
One night I had a dream; it was so vivid; I can remember it like it was yesterday: I was running through this field as fast as I could; there were planes flying overhead very low, dropping bombs all around me. It was like right out of a war movie, and I could see the bombs falling so close. When they did, I would brace and just wait for the shrapnel to hit me. The bomb would not be 15 feet away; the explosion was deafening. When it hit, I knew it was the end; I was waiting to die, but every time somehow the shrapnel would miss me. This happened four or five times in this dream. I was amazed that I was still alive.
I ended up running to this little house; I was hiding in this room, very afraid. These soldiers came passing by, and I could hear them running, and I was hoping they would not check the house, praying that they would keep going. Then my worst nightmare came true; they burst in there looking for me; they had their guns drawn. I was standing right in front of them. I thought, «This is it. They found me. It is the end.» They looked right at me, then turned around and walked out. It was like I was invisible.
When I woke up, I heard God saying down in here, «Joel, things may be exploding all around you, but I have you in the palm of My hand. You trust in Me, and no weapon formed against you will ever prosper.» Now when things come against me, I tend to be worried, afraid—I just remind myself, «God is the guardian of my soul.» He has a hedge of protection around you, a bloodline that the enemy cannot cross. You may feel like bombs are exploding around you—things that should stop your business, damage your family, harm your health—do not worry; it is not going to be what it looks like. Those bombs are not going to take you out. It may be loud; it seems like you are done, but what you cannot see is the guardian of your soul is shielding you; He is going to rescue you from every trap. God knows how to make you invisible to the enemy. The same God that made blind eyes see can make seeing eyes blind; He has all kinds of ways to protect you.
Elisha and the Blinded Army
That is what happened in 2 Kings chapter 6—the Syrian army came and surrounded Elisha’s house. They were upset because God kept telling Elisha what the Syrians were going to do. What they discussed in secret, God revealed to Elisha; that way the Israelites always stayed one step ahead of them. When the Syrian king found out it was the prophet Elisha, he was furious; he sent this huge army to go capture him. When Elisha saw them coming, he said in verse 18, «Lord, please make them blind.» Elisha went out, said, «I heard you are looking for Elisha? He is not here; you are in the wrong city. Follow me, and I will take you to him.» They did not know it was Elisha; he led this huge army right to the middle of the Israelites' camp. Then he prayed, «Lord, open their eyes and let them see.» When they realized where they were and how they had been captured, they nearly passed out.
God has ways to protect you that you have never thought of. He can make you invisible to that virus, invisible to that person that is trying to stop you, invisible to the opposition. You do not have to figure it out; all you have to do is stay in the secret place, stay close to God, keep thanking Him that He is protecting you, that He is defending you, that He is the guardian of your soul.
The Moses Sole Fish
I read about a small fish called a Moses sole. It is a little flounder that is found in the Red Sea. Also in those waters are large sharks. These sharks typically like to eat this kind of fish, but in the early 70s a group of researchers noticed something fascinating about this little fish. All the other fish in this same category, the same size and weight, would be eaten by the sharks, but they discovered the sharks were not eating this particular Moses sole. It is because it has a very unique defense system: when it is in any kind of danger, it naturally secretes poisonous toxins out of its glands. These toxins literally cause the shark’s jaws to freeze. It showed a picture of this little fish swimming right in the middle of this shark’s mouth; this shark had obviously come in for the kill—all he had to do was bite down, and there was dinner. The only problem was he could not do it. God put something in this little fish to protect it. As long as the shark was close, his jaws were frozen.
Like this small fish, God has put something on you that will keep the enemy from defeating you. What you are up against may seem bigger, stronger, more powerful—do not worry; it cannot touch you. God has a hedge of protection around you. And the way you release these toxins that cause the shark’s jaws to freeze, so to speak, is by thanking God. Every time you say, «Lord, thank You that You are my shield. Thank You that You are my defender. Thank You that You are the guardian of my soul,» toxins are released that paralyze the enemy. Now do not go around verbalizing your fears: «Joel, I am worried about this virus. I am afraid my child is going to get off course. My business is going to go downhill.» Negative talk is like bait; it attracts the enemy; it will make things worse. The way you activate God’s protection is with faith-filled words.
Think about this little fish: when he is in the shark’s mouth, his blood pressure does not go up; he does not go call 9-1-1; he does not get depressed and think this is the end—he just goes about his business. He knows there is something special about him that God ordained from the foundation of the world, that he would be protected from those enemies. So he just rests in who God made him to be. If you can get this down in your spirit—that the Most High God is the guardian of your soul; He has put something on you that makes you untouchable to the enemy—you do not have to go through life worried, afraid, wondering how it is going to work out. Live from a place of peace, a place of faith, knowing that your guardian God is watching over you. If you will do this, I believe and declare: what God promised—He will rescue you from every trap, protect you from every plague, make you invisible to the enemy. Because God is your refuge, evil cannot get close to you; harm cannot get through the door. You are untouchable, in Jesus' name.