Joel Osteen — It's Your Due Season
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I want to talk to you today about it's your due season. We all have things that we're believing for, dreams that we want to accomplish, problems we're hoping will turn around. Maybe it's to see our family restored, to lose some weight, to break an addiction, to start our own business. But sometimes as it goes on month after month, even year after year. We don't see anything changing. It's easy to get discouraged and think, "It's never going to happen. This is as good as it gets. I'll just learn to live with it".
While it is good to be content where we are we shouldn't lose our expectancy. Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean that it's not going to happen. There will always be forces trying to convince us to settle where we are. On a regular basis you have to stir your faith up. God hasn't brought you this far to leave you. What he started in your life he is going to finish. You may not see how it's going to work out but God has a way. When you believe, the Creator of the universe goes to work.
Paul said here in Galatians 6, "Don't get tired of doing what's right for in due season you will reap if you don't give up". What I sense in my spirit is that we are entering in to a due season year, a year where God is going to show out in your life. Promises you've been standing on, dreams you've been praying about, in this due season year God is going to cause things to fall into place. He is going to make things happen that you couldn't make happen on your own. Problems you've been believing to turn around, in due season, things are going to change in your favor.
You may have had that addiction for 20 years. You've tried your best again and again to break it with no success. The good news is this is your due season. This is your year to be free. Or maybe you've struggled in your finances. You can't seem to get ahead. You take one step forward, two steps backwards. Let this phrase sink down into your spirit: due season is here. Promotion is coming. Good breaks are coming. Lack is not your destiny. Constantly struggling, barely getting by, is not the end of your story.
Keep believing. Keep expecting. Keep honoring God. Abundance is headed your way. In this due season year your cup is going to run over. See, sometimes you need these words of faith and victory spoken over your life. Words have creative power. If you'll let them take root in your spirit they can help ignite your dreams, ignite your faith, ignite the potential on the inside. Your mind may try to talk you out of it. You can't figure out how it's going to happen. That's okay. That's not your job. Your job is to believe. Your job is to say, "Yes, God. This is for me today. I believe that it's my due season year".
A lot of people these days struggle with depression. It's like a dark cloud follows them around. They haven't been able to shake it in the past. It looks like that's the way it's always going to be. But the difference is you've come in to a due season. God is about to lift you out of that pit, set your feet upon a rock and put a new song in your heart. In due season, chains are broken. Depression cannot stay. Sadness has to go. You're going to feel a new sense of joy, a new happiness, a new passion for your life.
I was talking to a young lady last week. She had gone through a breakup in a relationship about three years ago. She was very discouraged, very lonely, didn't think she would ever meet the right person. I told her what I'm telling you. In this due season year divine connections are coming your way. God is going to bring somebody into your life better than you ever imagined. Now you've got to get in agreement with God. All through the day, "Lord, thank you that 2018 is my due season year. Lord, I believe this is my year to get healthy and whole. This is my year to meet the people of my dreams. This is my year to go further in my career, to step into a new level of my destiny".
My brother Paul has a son named Matthew - my nephew. At the age of twelve Matt started struggling with depression. He lost all interest in school. He wouldn't engage socially with the other students or hardly even his own family. It seemed like the more Paul and Jennifer prayed the worse Matt became. The depression eventually got so bad that he had to drop out of school. Here, Matt is so smart, so talented, but it didn't look like he would fulfill his destiny. The scripture says, "If you don't get tired of doing what's right you will reap".
Paul didn't see anything changing but he kept praying. He kept believing. "God, you said as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. You said the seed of the righteous will be mighty in the land. You said your plans for Matt are for good and not evil". Year after year went by. No sign of anything improving. But one day, unexpectedly, out of the blue, it was like those chains of depression were broken off of Matt. He got his joy back. He got his passion back. He had a whole new outlook on life. He went back and finished high school. He went to college and got his bachelor's degree. He went on to law school and got his law degree.
Today, Matt is an attorney working with us here on staff at Lakewood, in the ministry. Right here on the front row. That's Matt and his beautiful wife, Mandy. What happened? Matt came in to a due season. It didn't look like it would ever get better but suddenly, unexpectedly, out of the ordinary, things turned in his favor.
You may be facing a situation like my brother Paul that you've been praying about for a long time. It doesn't look like it will ever change. You could easily get discouraged and just accept it and think, "Hey, Joel. I'm never going to get well". Or, "My child is never going to straighten up". "My business is not going to make it". No, you need to get ready. You're coming in to a due season.
Like with Matt, unexpectedly, out of the ordinary, suddenly, things are going to change in your favor. That business that's slow. It doesn't look like it's going to make it. God knows how to bring you customers, new clients, cause you to stand out. God can give you ideas, creativity, wisdom. He is called Jehovah Jireh: the Lord our provider. One touch of his favor can put you 50 years down the road. Now keep believing. Keep expecting. Don't get tired of doing what's right. In other words, don't start complaining about what's not working out, how it's never going to resolve.
If Paul would have gone around saying, "I don't think Matt is ever going to straighten up. I think that depression is going to get the best of him," Matt probably wouldn't be where he is today. Stay in faith. When you're tempted to get discouraged turn it around. "Lord, I want to thank you this is my due season year. This is my year to see increase. This is my year to conceive that baby that we've been dreaming about. This is my year to get free from that chronic pain, to see breakthroughs in my life".
This is what a lady did in the scripture. She had been sick for twelve years with a bleeding disorder. She had been to the best doctors of her day. She tried different treatments, different medicines, nothing seemed to work. She could have thought, "This is my lot in life. I've been told by the experts I'll never get well. I'll have to learn to live with it". No, deep down this lady knew she was supposed to be healthy and whole, that she was a victor and not a victim.
One day a friend told her that Jesus was passing through her town. When she heard that something rose up on the inside and said, "This is your time. This is your moment. It's your due season". She heard what I'm telling you today. Even though she was weak from losing blood, even though every thought told her that she was wasting her time, she started making her way through the crowd trying to get to Jesus, moving people out of the way, saying, "Excuse me. I need to get through. Pardon me. I don't mean to be rude but I'm on a mission. It's my due season".
The scripture says, "She kept saying to herself, 'if I can touch him I know I will be healed.'" She didn't just say it once. She said it again and again, "Healing is coming. Restoration is coming. Favor is coming". She was filled with expectancy, believing that something good was about to happen. As Jesus passed by...
You know the story. She reached out and barely touched the edge of his robe. Instantly she was made whole. Jesus stopped and said to his disciples, "Who just touched me"? They said, "Jesus, what do you mean? It's packed. Everybody is touching you". He said, "No, somebody touched me with such faith, with such expectancy, that they drew the miracle working power right out of me". About that time Jesus saw this woman. She was afraid, nervous, thought she had done something wrong. Jesus smiled and said, "Daughter, your faith has made you whole. You are free from this disease".
What am I saying? When we live with expectancy it gets God's attention. When we go through the day saying, "Lord, I believe this is my due season year. This is my year to accomplish dreams, to break free from this depression. This is my year to meet the right people. This is my year to get healthy and whole". We're doing exactly what this lady did. Your faith can cause God to stop in his tracks. What I find interesting is Jesus didn't heal everyone around him that day. There were other sick people in the crowd, other people that had needs, but he passed on by. The difference was this lady released her faith. It started in her thinking. All through the day we should have this expectancy.
You have to keep talking to yourself the right way. In other words, if you're facing an illness you can't afford to go around saying, "I don't think I'll ever get better, Joel. I've had it so long. I think this is going to be the end of me". No, start talking to yourself like this lady. "This is my year to get well. God is restoring health back unto me. The number of my days he will fulfill". If you're struggling in your finances, not, "I'll never have enough. I'll never get ahead". No, "This is my year to come into overflow, to be debt free, to lend and not borrow. Blessings are chasing me down. Favor surrounds me like a shield. Whatever I touch prospers and succeeds".
If you're lonely, not any of this, "I'll never meet the right person. I'm too old. I don't have a good personality. I'm not that attractive". Zip that up. "This is my year for divine connections. God is directing my steps, bringing the right people across my path". Or maybe you've been through a disappointment last year. You had a setback and you could easily come into the new year with a "Poor old me" mentality, thinking, "Oh, just my luck. I always get these bad breaks". No, turn it around. This is your year to see beauty for ashes. What was meant for your harm God is going to use to your advantage. The best part of your life is right up in front of you.
You may have had a setback, but really, it was a setup for God to do something better. Zechariah said, "If you will be a prisoner of hope God will pay you back twice for what you lost". This is your year to see double. This is your year for vindication, for restoration, for new beginnings. Now get your mind going in the right direction. Start talking to yourself the right way. This is one reason that we don't see God's best. Our mind is in neutral, like the other people that were around Jesus that day that didn't get healed. We're not thinking anything bad but we're not releasing our faith. There is no expectancy. Faith is what causes God to work.
I've found you can be at the right place at the right time but because you are in the wrong frame of mind you'll miss God's best. This lady was at the right place at the right time. Jesus was passing by. But unlike the other people she was in the right frame of mind, expecting things to change, expecting healing, expecting a breakthrough. She saw it come to pass.
Today, you are at the right place. You are at the right time. God destined you to be hearing this. Two out of three are already good but number three is the deal breaker. Are you in the right frame of mind? Do you believe this is your due season year? Do you believe it's your year for favor, for increase, for restoration? For new beginnings? Jesus is passing by right now, so to speak. He is not moved by our needs. There are plenty of needs. He is concerned about our needs but he is moved by our faith.
It's easy to think, "Well, Joel. The medical report says I'm not going to get well". "My business is never going to make it". "This legal situation is never going to resolve". No, shake off the doubt. Shake off the negativity. You're at the right place. You're at the right time. Now all you've got to do is get in the right frame of mind. Do like this lady. "Lord, I want to thank you this is my due season year. This is my year to step into leadership, to finish school, to break the addiction, to come into overflow, to meet the person of my dreams".
If you'll keep saying it to yourself, thanking God in advance, you'd better get ready. God is going to show out in your life. He is going to take you where you could not go on your own. Opening doors that no man can shut. Connecting you to the right people. He is going to restore what you thought was over and done. It's going to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, out of the ordinary, to where you look up and say, "Wow! I didn't see that coming".
Most of the time when we hear that phrase, "I didn't see that coming," it's about the negative. It's about a bad break. "I lost my main client, Joel. I didn't see that coming". "I got a bad medical report. I didn't see that coming". Or, "My friend walked out on me, left me for somebody else. I didn't see that coming". But in this due season year God is going to turn it around. "I just got a promotion. Didn't see that coming". "My child made straight A's in school. Didn't see that coming". "Moved into a beautiful new house. Didn't see that coming". "My health turned around. I feel better than ever. Didn't see that coming".
You remember that old country song that said, "Let's give them something to talk about"? This year God is going to give you something to talk about. He is going to make you an example of his goodness. That lady that was healed after twelve years of being sick. I'm sure everywhere she went, "Let me tell you what the Lord has done for me". She had something to talk about. You hear me telling all the time about how God healed my mother from terminal cancer. What happened? God gave us something to talk about. When my father went to be with the Lord, God helped me to step up and pastor the church. He has taken us places that we've never dreamed. God was giving us something to talk about. God bringing my nephew matt out of depression. What was that? God giving us something else to talk about.
Every one of you can look back in your life and see a time where God made a way when you didn't see a way. He put you at the right place. You met that person and fell in love. He protected your child from that accident. He gave you the promotion even though you weren't the most qualified. He turned that problem around. He has given you something to talk about. But can I tell you, you haven't seen anything yet. What God has in this due season year is going to be bigger, better, more rewarding than anything you've seen in the past.
I know this man that lives in another city. He would come to Houston several times a year for treatment at MD Anderson, our cancer hospital. He had an incurable disease. This had been going on for about six years. The only way he could continue living was to keep taking these treatments. He had a good attitude about it. I would see him in the lobbies. He would say, "Joel, I'm just blessed to be here today". The last time he came in town, his doctor - one of the leading cancer specialists - said, "In all of my years of practice I've never seen this happen but this disease that you have that's supposed to be incurable, for some reason, it's slowly starting to fade away. You don't need to take these treatments anymore".
This man was so excited. He had already planned on taking that treatment for the rest of his life. He didn't see that coming. God gave him something to talk about. You need to get ready. In this due season year you're going to look up like him and say, "Wow! I paid my house off. Didn't see that coming". "Broke the addiction. Didn't see that coming". Or, "My family member that used to party all the time and be so wild, now he's coming to church with me, making good decisions, fulfilling his destiny. Sure didn't see that coming".
The scripture says, "When you honor God with your life, when you keep him first place, his blessings will chase you down and overtake you". We've all had negative things overtake us. Life happens. But don't get stuck expecting the negative. This year God is going to turn the table. Good breaks chasing you down. Favor, healing, opportunity, come chasing after you. One definition of the word "Overtake" is, "To catch by surprise". When it says, "God's blessings will overtake you," you could say, "God is going to surprise you". Suddenly. Unexpectedly. Out of the ordinary. A good break. A healing. A promotion. A divine connection.
I was at a book signing in New York city one time. This young couple came up to the table very excited. They told how I was at that same bookstore a couple of years earlier. They had never met before but it just so happened they were standing in line next to each other. They met that day. They became friends and started dating. A year and a half later they got married. They came up and said, "Joel, today we are celebrating our one year wedding anniversary".
They were simply going to a book signing to get a book signed and it was like God said, "Surprise! Let me put the person of your dreams right in line next to you". There were over a thousand people in line that day. They could have been 50 people apart and they would have never met but God knows how to connect you to the right people. He knows how to get you to your destiny. You have no idea what God has in store for you. He has some surprises that if he showed you right now it would boggle your mind.
In this due season year things that you've been praying about are going to suddenly fall into place. The right people show up. The right opportunities. Out of the ordinary. Unexpectedly. God is going to give you something to talk about.
David said it this way. Psalm 27. "Where would I be if I had not believed I would see the goodness of God"? I wonder how many blessings we're missing out on. How much favor, increase we're not seeing simply because we're not expecting it, we're not releasing our faith. David was saying in effect, "If I had not believed maybe I wouldn't have defeated Goliath. Maybe I wouldn't have taken the throne of Israel. Maybe I wouldn't have recovered my family, my possessions, when my city of Ziklag was burned down. Where would I be if I had not believed"?
The scripture talks about how God has blessings stored up for those that love the Lord. There are blessings that have your name on them right now that are stored up. There is promotion stored up for you, healing stored up. That baby you've been dreaming about, it's stored up. God has already destined it to be yours. But if you never believe, if you think, "Joel, this is not going to happen for me. I never get any good breaks," or "God would never bless me. I've made too many mistakes". "I could never pay my house off. Are you kidding? That's out of the question". That kind of thinking will keep you from God's best.
Why don't you try a different approach and say, "God, I believe you want to be good to me. I believe you have surprises in my future. I believe this is my due season year". When you live with this expectancy God can give you something to talk about. You'll look up and say like David, "Where would I be if I had not believed to see the goodness of God"?
Some friends of mine were moving to another state to start a church. They flew into town to try to find a house. They had done all of their research. They knew where they wanted to live and what kind of house they liked. There was this one particular builder that they were very fond of. They went to see some of his model homes. The salesman came out and said, "You're welcome to look but don't get your hopes up. There's a year and a half wait for any of our houses". So many people were moving into that city.
Well, they didn't have a year and a half to wait. They were about to leave and at the last minute the husband said, "Well, why don't we look at some of these models just to check them out"? They went up and down the street and looked at about twelve different homes. Just as they were pulling out the salesman came running over to them and asked them which house model they liked the best. They told the particular one. He was holding in his hand a contract that had just fallen through. He showed this couple. It was the exact model they were looking for.
He said, "There are over 200 people in line in front of you. I'm supposed to call the next one on the list but something told me to come out here and offer this house to you". They said, "We appreciate that but we'd only like it if it was on a cul-de-sac overlooking the city". He said, "Get in the car". He took them to the house. It was on a quiet cul-de-sac with a beautiful view of the city. They signed the contract and moved in a few weeks later. That was one of those blessings God had stored up for them. They left that day saying, "Wow! We didn't see that coming".
You need to get ready. In this due season year God has some surprises in store for you. Some of those blessings that he's had stored up he's about to release. It's going to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, out of the ordinary. Friends, you're at the right place. You're at the right time. I'm asking you to get in the right frame of mind. All through the day, like the lady that touched Jesus, "Lord, I want to thank you that this is my due season year". Keep expecting. Keep believing. Keep honoring God. If you do that, I believe and declare, 2018 God is going to amaze you with his goodness. You're going to see dreams come to pass, promises fulfilled, relationships restored, favor, health, increase, a new level of your destiny. In Jesus' name.