TD Jakes - When God Is Up To Something
Put me in the place that you want me to be, because God has a place for you where the blessings will flow. Often the blessing is only in that place. If you forsake that place, he said don't leave where I put you, because once I put you in a place, I put your provision in the place. So like Hagar, who ran away from Sarai, God said the only reason you're in a desert, and your baby is crying and about to die, is because you left the place of my provision. Good God, I put you here. Stay right here. The enemy is trying to woo you this way and that way. Stay right here. When I move, you move. When I move. Somebody say when. When God moves, I move. I'm not going to move till God moves, when God moves. I've never built a house, I stayed in a tent. I stay ready for change. I stay ready for transition.
Now, this makes a lot of people uncomfortable 'cause you don't like change, but change is inevitable. Change is inevitable. This whole text is nothin' but change. The whole thing is relative to change. Now, there are three patriarchal characters from which God will establish himself in the earth. Generally, when one sets out to build, the first thing to be considered is the bill. When one sets out to build, the first thing to be considered is the bill. Nobody gets ready to build a house without asking how much it costs. To walk with God is expensive. If you are going to build, there will always be a bill. You don't start building and then ask about the bill, unless you're stupid. I have to have an out clause, because some people do that. Let me say it in Bible terms. No man goeth to build without counting up the costs.
So there is a correlation between building and billing. What am I trying to say? It's gonna cost you somethin.' It's always gonna cost you something. You shout about the harvest, but you ignore the seed. You shout about increase, but you don't understand that in order to increase, you got to decrease. You shout about being exalted, but you resist being humble, and because you refused to be humble, God resisteth the proud. God won't take you up 'cause you already acting up. Excuse me for being generational, but back in our day we called it uppity. She acting all uppity. See, we act all uppity. We act up because we want to impress people, but if you really want to go up, humble yourself. And the more you humble yourself, the more God will exalt you. The more God exalts you, you gotta be careful. With success you gotta be successful, 'cause success will make you drunk. Success will go to your head and make you start talkin' silly to people.
Them same people you meet on your way up, you're gonna meet them... Now you understand here that Isaac is experiencing a blessing because he sowed a seed in that land. The Bible is careful to say in that land. Now, the land that they gave him, because Isaac is a Hebrew, the land that the Philistia gave him wasn't particularly good lad, and he's kind of leasing the land, he doesn't own it, but God blesses him in something that he doesn't own. All around him the people have the best land. He has the weakest soil and the greatest harvest. Whenever the soil is weak and the harvest is abundant, that's showing you that God is with you, because wherever God is, he'll take less and do more with it. Do y'all hear what I'm talkin' about? I'm talkin' about your daddy. You oughtta be cheering your daddy on. I'm talkin' about your daddy.
I preached a few weeks ago "You Have Permission". You remember that? How many of y'all remember "You Have Permission"? Today we are looking at "You Have Provision," because it's not enough to have permission if you don't have provision. I give you permission to go to France, but if I don't give you provision and you don't have provision, permission gets you excited, but it doesn't get you to France. You're gonna have to have some provision with your permission, but don't worry about it, God's got it covered. God's got it covered. God's got it covered. God's got it covered. God's got it covered. God's got it covered. God's got it covered. God's got it covered. Whatever you have permission for, God's got provision for. Permission and provision will always hold hands. They hang out together. They run around together. When God gives you permission, he will always provide the provision.
Now, this time he has provided it in Gerar, so he says go to Gerar, don't go to Egypt. Stay right in Gerar, because I had put your provision there. They give him some raggedy soil, and in spite of his raggedy soil, he has an increased harvest. There are some people in this room that have had great harvest out of bad soil. No, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. There are some people in this room that don't look like where they came from. I'm gonna break it down. I'm gonna break it down till you get it. There are some people who came against all odds. By all rights, you shouldn't even be where you are right now. If people went back and saw where you came from, it would absolutely blow their mind. You didn't come from good soil. You didn't come from good stock. You didn't come from a good neighborhood. You didn't come from a collegiate environment. You didn't come from the best situation.
Some of you all started out with the most atrocious situations, but because God was with you, oh, let me remind you how to praise the Lord. Now that you have harvested in spite of where you came from, don't you get here and started acting all funny, like you got here by yourself, when in fact you the first one in your family to be a doctor. You're the first one in your family to have a degree. You the first one in your family to break through all the barriers and all the obstacles. You're the only one out of your class not locked up in jail, not locked up in prison. You could've lost your mind. You could've had a nervous breakdown. You've been through enough stuff that you ought to be in a mental institution, chewing on a piece of cotton, and yet God's got you out here functioning, and moving, and going around, and you're worried about a car. You ought to be shouting about your mind. You ought to be shouting about your head. You ought to be shouting about your leg. You ought to be shouting about your peace. You ought to be shouting right where you are.
God has a blessing for you. Does God have the provision to go with the permission? Does God have the provision to go with the permission? The question is absolutely, yes, and yet that remains a question. Are you willing to dig for it? Are you willing to move for it? Are you willing to sweat for it? You know God has it, but just because God has it doesn't mean it's gonna fall within your convenience. There's still going to be something required of you in order to get what God has for you.
Look at your neighbor and say, "I know he's got it for me". I may not have it right now, but I know he's got it for me. I may not look like it right now, but I know he's got it for me. I may not even know where it is yet, but I know he's got it for me. I know he's gonna bless me. I know he's gonna bless me. I know, 'cause he swore, he swore he was gonna bless me. He gave me an oath. He gave me a promise. I know he's gonna bless me. I don't know who I'm talking to today, but I'm talking to somebody in this room. You got a covenant with God. You've got a covenant with God. God blessed you in bad soil. You came from a bad background. You were born on the wrong side of the tracks. The odds were against you from the beginning. They didn't even like you in school, and look at God. Look what the Lord has done. Look where God has brought you from.
Let's take 30 seconds and just praise him for progress. Yeah, yeah, praise him for progress. Praise him for progress. Praise him for progress. Praise him for progress. Praise him for breaking the rules. Praise him for turning it around. Praise him for opening doors. Praise him for making ways out of no ways. I can't hear y'all. Somebody type it on the line. Somebody write it in the chat. Somebody speak a word. I came from bad soil. I came from a disrupted family. I came out of a dysfunctional house, and still I rise. And still I rise. And still I rise. And still I rise. See, you spend so much time talking about what you don't have, you need to stop and start praising him for what you do have. I'm gonna give you 30 seconds to let hell know what you got.
Today I want to focus on Isaac, because Isaac is generally not really talked about a whole lot. He's not really talked about a whole lot. But Isaac as a grown man is standing in the middle of a famine, flourishing. Isaac's name means laughter, and the Lord told me to tell you he's going to make you laugh. I don't think you heard me. He's gonna make you laugh. He's not just gonna make your mama laugh, he made Sarah laugh, he's gonna make you laugh. He's going to make you laugh. He's gonna make you laugh, because God's gonna take the little you sow and he's going to give you such increase out of it that people are not even going to understand how you got the blessing that you got. God said he's going to make you laugh. Ain't no laugh like the laugh you have when you're by yourself, and nobody else is around, and you think of somethin' and burst out.
Is there anybody in here that has been in the house by yourself, and just burst out and started laughing? The other day I just start, I thought about something and I just started laughing. I thought if anybody comes in here, they're gonna think I'm crazy. Wasn't nothing on TV, wasn't nothing on the radio, but when I thought of the goodness of Jesus and all that he had done for me, I didn't shout, I didn't dance, I just started laughing. I want every grateful person in this room to just take a moment and just start thanking God. Isaac is laughter. The miracle baby of Abraham and Sarai, of Abram and Sarai. He is absolute laughter. He is joy complete. He is accomplishment, and yet he is complicated. I say he's complicated for this reason.
There is no question that Isaac is a good man. He's already proven that while his father was living in the fact that he was grown when Abraham walked him up to the altar. He was not a little, bitty boy. He was not a little, bitty boy, 'cause little, bitty boys couldn't carry the wood. He is old enough to resist the will of his father, but has become obedient to the will of his father because Isaac is a type of Christ, and Isaac has become obedient, even if it means death. So, Isaac lays down on the altar like Jesus laid down on the cross and became obedient unto death, knowing that his father had raised his hand to smite him with the knife. Isaiah says Jesus was smitten of God.
Do you hear what I'm saying to you? Do you hear what I'm saying to you? Isaac is that obedient. Josephus the historian says that somebody asked Isaac, why did he become so obedient? He said, "It would have been better that I not be born than for me to be born and not do the will of my father". So, there's no question that Isaac is a good man, but the complication is he is also a selfish, narcissistic liar. Oh, I lost you. I lost you because you think there are good people and there are bad people, and as long as you can categorize people, you feel comfortable. But the problem is you can be a good man and still do bad things. You can be a good man and still be flawed. Let all the married people say amen. You're scared to say Amen 'cause he's sittin' there.
You can be good over here and be bad over there. And Isaac is complicated, because in spite of the fact that he is totally devoted to his father, and submitted himself even unto death, when it comes down to being in Gerar, he lies about his wife to keep himself from being killed. He told Abimelech, "The reason I lied is that had I told you she was my wife, you might kill me to get her," which also means she was fine. You know a woman is fine when you're scared to admit. I don't mean cute, I don't mean nice looking, Isaac said he will kill me for her. Bear in mind he is Philistinian, they have a different code of ethics. He's the king, the king gets what he wants. Isaac said, "She's my sister".
The weird thing is people say that he did exactly what his father did, but Isaac's lie is an unmitigated lie. When Abram said that Sarai was his sister, he wasn't really lying, because she was his sister and his wife, half-sister, so it was a half lie. Isaac's was our whole lie. Rebecca was at best his cousin. He completely lied. That's fine, but it's a lie. He endangered the woman he should've protected. He insulted God with his lie, because God had promised to be with him in Gerar, and God had promised him that his seed would be blessed. So, if you believed God, why should you lie? Like most lies, his deception was rooted in terror and fear, and fear has torment. Most people lie because they are scared.
Oh, I hit somebody. At least ten people went completely quiet, and their eyes are shifting, like, "He talkin' about me". Whatever you are scared about, you will lie about. So the next time somebody lies to you, ask them, "What are you scared of"? It's probably you. It's probably you. You oughta see the way the men looking at me, like, "Shut up". Women lie, too. Women lie better than us. Oh, y'all ain't gonna... c'mon, sister. Come on, come on, sister, be real. Come on, be real. In the midst of this complicated person, there are things that I admire about Isaac. He has tenacity. He has tenacity. I'm gonna show you in a minute. He has an even-keeled temperament, and he even has a favor that cannot be ignored, even though he has flaws.
You want to put people in boxes, because boxes make you comfortable. He's nice, she's nasty, she's hateful, she's my sister-friend. That's why you keep getting hurt, because you expect people to stay in your box. In reality, everybody in here is complicated. I ain't scared of none of y'all. I'll withstand every one of you. I'm 65 years old, I ain't scared of nobody, nobody. You complicated, you complicated. You wasn't complicated when you was dating, but now you married, you know you complicated. Your wife know you complicated. Your husband know you're complicated. You look all good on the outside, but everybody in here is complicated.
Now, if you can love your complicated self, how come you can't love my complicated self? You wanna put me over in a box, and now you are hurt 'cause I didn't live up to bein' somethin' that you wasn't. Oh, y'all gonna have to cut this out the tape, 'cause they can't handle this. If my church can't handle it, I know the world can't handle it. I hope there's somebody streaming that's saying amen to what I'm saying. The truth of the matter, even good people have flaws. God leaps over top of his flaws and blesses him anyway, right after the lie. Isaac lied and he still got there. It was wrong, I'm not minimizing it. It was wrong, it was evil, selfish, it was narcissistic, but it was also over. Pronounce benediction on your inconsistencies. You're gonna need your focus. You don't have time to be fighting with yourself. God is bringing you to a place of increase. God is up to something. Everything that didn't work was too small.
Open your mouth wide. Everything that didn't work was too small. Everything that didn't work was too small. Everything that didn't work was too small. Everything that didn't open was too small. When you get to the large place, it's gonna open wide open, and God just told me to tell you, I'm up to something. I'm up to somethin.' Don't be distracted by the Philistines. Don't be distracted by Abimelech. Don't be distracted by your haters. God told me to tell you, I'm up to something. I got a plan for your life. I set the end from the beginning. I've already set it into motion. I've already set it into motion. You're right on course for your blessing. Continue right down the path. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life. God is getting ready to blow your mind.