WEBVTT - Strategically Ordered Steps | Joel Osteen 0:00:01.160 --> 0:00:03.840 Hope you're having a great summer. Know that we're praying 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:06.960 for you, and we know God has awesome things in store. 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.880 So great having you with us. Enjoyed the message today. Well, 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:13.680 God bless you. It's always a joy to come into 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:16.560 your homes. And if you're ever in our area, please 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:19.000 stop by and be a part of one of our services. 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:21.560 I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:24.440 Thanks so much for tuning in, and thank you again 0:00:24.480 --> 0:00:27.680 for coming out today. I like to start with something funny, 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:31.360 and I heard about this elderly minister. He was dying. 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:34.720 He sent for two of his members, an our s 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:38.280 agent and a lawyer to come to his house. When 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:40.840 they arrived, he motioned for both of them to sit 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:44.040 on each side of the bed. They were very moved 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:46.959 to be with the minister in his final moments. At 0:00:46.960 --> 0:00:50.239 one point, the lawyer said, very sincerely, sir, why did 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.559 you choose both of us? The minister mustered up some 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:57.279 strength and said, Jesus died between two sinners. That's how 0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:01.400 I want to go up. Your Bible, say it like 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.160 you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:06.679 it says, I am, I have what it says I have. 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:09.760 I can do what it says I can do. Today, 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:12.680 I will be taught the word of God. I'll boldly 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.640 confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:20.560 will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:25.880 I want to talk to you today about strategically ordered steps. 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:31.640 God is not a random God. He's not vague approximant. 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:37.200 Maybe I'll do this, maybe I'll do that. God is precise, exact. 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:40.920 He's already laid out the plan for your life down 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:45.440 to the smallest details. And just as God will strategically 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:50.400 bring good breaks, promotion the right people, God will also 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:56.960 use adversities, disappointments, closed doors to move us toward our destiny. 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.960 At the time, we may not understand it. This couldn't 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:04.320 be God. I lost my biggest client, I'm in a 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:08.000 legal battle, my friend turned on me. No, God wouldn't 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:10.840 have allowed it unless he had a purpose for it. 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.920 God doesn't just randomly say, let me give them some heartache, 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:18.360 a bad break, let this person reject them. No. God 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:22.280 is strategic. He may not have sent it, but if 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:26.079 he allowed it, he can use it to your advantage. 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:29.680 God sees the big picture for our life. He knows 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:32.240 what we're going to need in a month, in a year, 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.800 and in twenty years. In the scripture, Samson wanted to 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:40.320 marry a young lady from another tribe. His parents didn't 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:43.360 want him to do it. God had instructed them to 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.799 not get involved with foreigners, to stay with their own clan. 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:52.239 But the scripture says his parents didn't realize the Lord 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:57.360 was at work in this, creating an opportunity to disrupt 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:02.160 the Philistines, who ruled Israel at that time. This is 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:06.880 a situation doesn't necessarily fit into our theology. God told 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:10.200 them not to marry foreigners, Yet God was the one 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.919 that led Sampson to do it. God knew years down 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.600 the road he needed an insider in the Philistines camp 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:21.400 to carry out his plan. Here's my point, We're not 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:26.680 always going to understand why something happens. True faith is 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:31.840 trusting God when it doesn't make sense, believing that he's strategic, 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.840 that he knows what he's doing. It may be uncomfortable, 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:39.600 we don't understand it, but deep down we have to 0:03:39.760 --> 0:03:43.600 know that if God allowed it, that somehow it's going 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:48.560 to further us ultimately toward our divine destiny. Proverbs twenty 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:52.320 puts it this way. Since the Lord is directing our steps, 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:57.080 don't try to figure out everything that happens along the way. 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.960 Why did my business go down? Why did my child 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.960 i'll get into trouble? Why did my relationship not work out? 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.080 You may never know why, but you can come back 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.480 to this core truth that God knows what he's doing. 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:14.160 His plan for your life is good, and even in opposition, 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:20.839 like with Samson, God is creating opportunity somewhere down the road. 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.719 It's not going to work against you. It's going to 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:27.560 work for you. And if you don't understand this principle, 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:32.080 you'll live frustrated because there are times in God's divine 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:35.760 plan where it will look like you're going the wrong direction. 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:40.320 Your back is facing your goal. You know you're supposed 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.880 to be going this way, but you're headed just the opposite. 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.320 This is what faith is all about. Will you trust 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:49.960 him when it seems like you're going the wrong way. 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:53.400 Will you keep a good attitude when you're praying for 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:58.200 increase but seeing decrease? Will you stay in faith when 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:02.560 you were the most qualified but you got passed over? Friends, 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.920 God knows what he's doing. He would have never allowed 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.880 that if it was going to keep you from your destiny. 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:13.080 He's too strategic to just randomly put that into the 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.719 plan for your life. It may not seem good, but 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.880 if you'll keep moving forward, one day you will see 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.200 what God was up to. I've seen in my own life. 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:27.719 God doesn't always take us the most logical way. We 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:30.440 think we'll go from A to B to C. That 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:34.440 makes sense, that's logical. But God's ways are not our ways. 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:37.240 He may take it from A to B all the 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:40.320 way up to R and then back to C, then 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:43.600 to M, then to F. If you could see the 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.760 plan God has for your life on a map, it 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:50.240 would not be in a straight line. Imagine a bunch 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:53.760 of stepping stones. They would start off straight towards your goal. 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:58.000 Then there's a turn and another turn. Now you're headed 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.640 back to where you started. Direction doesn't make sense. Then 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:04.080 there's a U turn, goes back up a little higher 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.599 than it dips down, on and on. At some point, 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:11.800 you could be on a stepping stone God ordained for you. 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:16.360 He strategically placed it before the foundation of time. But 0:06:16.440 --> 0:06:20.200 the stone you're on is facing the opposite direction of 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.599 your goal. It's easy to think, Joel, this is not 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.000 God's plan. I'm going the wrong way. Why do these 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:31.039 things keep happening to me? Stay in faith. God's plan 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:35.960 is not straight. There are curves, detours, u turns, shortcuts. 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:40.760 God knows what he's doing. He's strategically directing your steps. 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:43.840 It may be uncomfortable, but God's the one that put 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.520 the stepping stone there. It's all a part of his plan. 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:49.279 And we all want to go to a higher level. 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.560 We all want to see more of God's favor. But 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:56.360 sometimes you have to come off the mountain that you're 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:59.880 on and go down into the valley, not to stay, 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:02.479 not to live, but so you can go up to 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:07.440 a higher mountain. God has something better, something bigger. You 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:11.080 haven't seen, heard, or imagined what God has in store. 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:16.200 But too often we think God, I'm going backwards. You 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:20.560 said higher, and I'm going lower. You said rain, I'm 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:24.720 seeing drought. Now, don't get discouraged. God is simply bringing 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.160 you down that one mountain so you can go up 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:31.520 to a higher mountain. He is strategically positioning you to 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:34.440 see more of His goodness. And if you will stay 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:37.600 in faith, one day you will look back and say 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:40.640 it was good that I got pushed out of that job, 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:43.240 or I would have been stuck in a limited environment. 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:46.600 It was good that person left me, or I would 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:49.200 have never met the love of my life. It was 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.400 good I went through the difficulty. Not only made me stronger, 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.400 not only developed a greater confidence in God. But in 0:07:56.440 --> 0:08:01.040 the opposition, God was creating opportunity. He was putting me 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:05.640 in position for something bigger, something better, something greater. We 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:09.280 see this principle in the life of Joseph. God knew 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:11.320 there was going to be a famine in the land. 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:16.800 The Israelites couldn't survive without food from the Egyptians. So 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:20.360 years earlier, God put a dream in the heart of 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.960 a young man named Joseph that he would rule a nation. 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:28.280 As a teenager, he had the promise from God. His 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.280 goal was in front of him. He started out great. 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.640 He was his father's favorite child, wearing his coat of 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:38.719 many colors, headed toward his destiny. But his brothers were 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.560 very jealous of him. They threw him into a pit 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:47.240 and eventually sold him into slavery. I'm sure Joseph thought, God, 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:50.600 where are you? You said I would lead a nation, 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:55.360 but now I'm a slave. This doesn't make sense. The 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:59.360 truth is he was in God's perfect will. He was 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:03.319 just on one of those stones facing the opposite direction. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:08.520 Here's the key. Those stones are temporary. That's not where 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:12.480 you're permanently headed. Don't stay focused on where you are. 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:18.160 If you isolate one stone, one bad break, one disappointment, 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:22.760 one dry season, you'll get bitter sour. That stone is 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:26.360 simply one step in the plan God has for your life. 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:29.800 It is not the final peace. God says his plans 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:33.439 for you are for good and not evil. The end 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:37.800 of your path is victory, dreams fulfilled. Promise is coming 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:41.720 to pass. Now. Don't judge your future by one negative 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:46.600 stepping stone. Joseph kept being his best, kept honoring God 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.959 even though things weren't going his way. He ended up 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:53.800 second in command of all of Egypt. The dream came 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:58.120 to pass. Here's how strategic God is. There was a 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:03.520 great famine in the land. Jacob, Joseph's father, thought that 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:08.040 Joseph was dead, hadn't seen him in many years. Jacob 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.720 told his other sons to go to Egypt and see 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:15.040 if there's any way they could possibly buy food. They 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.840 were about to starve to death. God used the famine 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.200 to send them to Egypt. They would have never gone 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:26.800 that way without the adversity. In the same way, God 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:33.000 will use dry seasons, disappointments, closed doors to reposition us, 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:34.800 to get us to where He wants us to be. 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:39.560 God knows what's best for us. The brothers showed up 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.720 at the palace, and there was Joseph in charge of 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:47.880 the food supply running the whole nation. Some twenty years earlier, 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:53.800 God strategically orchestrated Joseph to be inside a foreign country, 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.600 not only so his dream could come to pass, but 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:00.280 so that God's people could flourish in a time I'm 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:05.000 a famine. That's how precise God is. He's looking years 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.880 down the road. We can see a little way, but 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.720 God knows what you're gonna need thirty years from now. 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:14.960 The good news is God is lining up people today 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:19.960 that years later will be instrumental in you fulfilling your destiny. 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:26.320 Nothing randomly happens. If Joseph's brothers hadn't rejected him, he 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.600 would have never made it to the throne. Now, quit 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:33.360 losing sleep over people that don't accept you, people that 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:37.320 try to make you look small, disrespect you, dismiss you. 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:41.200 Listen if they weren't in your life, you couldn't make 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:46.120 it to your throne. God ordain them not to hold 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.200 you back, but to move you forward. They may think 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:53.000 they're pushing you down. Really they're pushing you up. You 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.120 may be on one of those stepping stones facing the 0:11:56.160 --> 0:12:00.439 wrong direction. It may set you back for a season, 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:04.600 but don't worry. A u turn is coming. At some 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.640 point You're going to step past the stone of being 0:12:07.679 --> 0:12:11.559 rejected in light about You'll pass step past the stone 0:12:11.600 --> 0:12:15.719 of a bad break, a disappointment, a closed door, and 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:20.920 like Joseph, you will step into promotion, into abundance, into 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:26.040 new levels, into the fullness of your destiny. Now my challenge, 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:29.720 don't get stuck on one of those negative stepping stones. 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:32.880 People say, well, Joel, if God's so good, why did 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:35.680 I have the bad break in the first place? Why 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:38.360 did my child get off course? Why am I still 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:43.439 struggling at work? This, that adversity, that difficulty, is simply 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:48.360 a test. God strategically placed you there. He would have 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:51.959 never allowed it if you couldn't handle it. It may 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.320 be a big challenge, but it is no match for you. 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.160 You are a child of the most high God. You 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:02.120 have been armed with strength for every battle. You have 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:07.520 the most powerful force in the universe breathing in your direction. Now, 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:11.160 don't complain about the difficulty. Dig your heels in. Have 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:14.679 the attitude. I am in it to win it. I 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:16.960 am not going to let what somebody said about me. 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:22.600 This rejection, this breakup, this closed door, this disappointment, this 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:26.080 sickness caused me to get sour. I know it's a 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:30.160 part of God's plan. He strategically placed me here. When 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.800 it's all said and done, it's not going to work 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:36.040 against me. It's going to work for me. You have 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.920 that kind of attitude, you better get ready like Joseph. 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.080 You're not going to stay in the pit in defeat, 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:47.440 in depression, in lack. You're headed to the throne. You're 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:51.760 headed to victory. You're headed to the fullness of your destiny. Listen, 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:56.200 people can't stop it. Bad breaks can't stop it. Disappointments 0:13:56.280 --> 0:14:00.000 can't stop it. All the forces of darkness cannot stop 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:05.440 what God has strategically ordained for your life. Think about 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:09.280 some of the stepping stones in Joseph's life. He had 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.000 the promise, the dream that he would rule a nation. 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:15.920 A stone in the right direction, then he was thrown 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.720 into a pit. A stone the opposite way, still part 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.680 of God's plan. Potterphar's wife lied about him, They put 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.920 him in prison. Two stones go in the wrong direction. 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.000 In prison, a friend, another inmate. When he got out 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:35.320 forgot all about Joseph. Another stone the wrong way. Joseph 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:38.640 could have thought, this is a pattern, this is my destiny. 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:44.840 These stones are going the wrong way. Thirteen years, disappointments, betrayals, injustice. 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:49.600 Surely he missed God's plan. Now God is directing our steps, 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:53.040 not just when things are going our way, not just 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.200 when the door's open. We're promoted, people are good to us, 0:14:56.720 --> 0:15:00.800 but even when the doors close, people are good to us. 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:04.160 The report wasn't good. Those stones going in the wrong 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:09.400 direction are still the hand of God. My question is 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.960 will you trust them even when you don't understand it. 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:16.560 Will you keep a good attitude, knowing that it's going 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:20.960 to turn to your advantage, Just like with Joseph, you 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.520 will come into your u turn. The same God that 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:28.480 orchestrated him being betrayed, light about thrown into a pit, 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:35.840 orchestrated him being promoted, vindicated, taking the throne, fulfilling his dream. 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:40.880 Listen don't be discouraged by what you're going through. Your 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:45.600 time is coming. Where you are is not where you're staying. 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:49.040 You may be in the valley, God allowed you to 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.880 go there, not to stay, but so you could come 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:54.920 up to a higher mountain. God has new levels in 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:59.840 store for you. In Genesis chapter fifteen, God told the 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:03.720 Israelites that he was taking them into a foreign land. 0:16:04.240 --> 0:16:08.240 They would be mistreated and suffer hardships. He was saying, 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:12.160 there will be negative stepping stones going in the wrong direction. 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:15.720 You'll be tempted to think it'll never work out. But 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:20.120 God gave them the promise. You'll go through difficulties, but 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:25.720 afterwards you will come out with great abundance. Friends, there 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:31.720 will always be and afterwards. Every person goes through unfair situations, 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.960 uncomfortable times. We don't like it, but it's a part 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:39.160 of God's plan. If you'll keep passing the test, doing 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:43.120 the right thing when the wrong thing is happening, afterwards 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:49.120 you will come out promoted, increased, stronger, healthier, happier, blessed 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:54.400 with great abundance. Now, don't get discouraged by the problem. 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.360 It's all a part of the process that God uses 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:01.480 to bring about the promise. God is not just going 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:03.880 to bring you out, He's going to bring you out better. 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:08.439 He's directing your steps. He's still in control of your life. 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.639 Nothing that's happened to you is a surprise to God. 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:16.359 He allowed that difficulty not to defeat you, but to 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:20.440 promote you. God is saying to us what he said 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:25.080 to the Israelites. If you will keep moving forward after 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:30.440 the hardship, after the breakup, after the disappointment, there will 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:37.040 be great joy, great opportunities, great health, great relationships, great 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:41.480 abundance come in your way. A few years after Victoria 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:45.440 and I were married, we received an unexpected tax bill 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:48.840 in the mail. Person we hired to do our tax 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:52.520 returns lived in another state. He was unfamiliar with a 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.520 certain tax law in Texas. Now we owed thousands of dollars. 0:17:57.080 --> 0:17:59.760 We were a young couple saving up for a down 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:02.160 pay for a home, and this was going to take 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:05.920 all of our funds. To make matters worse, more than 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:10.000 half of what we owed was because of penalties. I thought, God, 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.840 this is not fair. I hired a professional. He made 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:16.720 a mess. Now I'm having to pay for his mistakes. 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:20.199 And this all happened around Christmas of that year, and 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:23.239 we did our best to have a joyful spirit, but 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:26.000 in the back of our minds we could always feel 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:29.719 the weight of this problem. We ended up finding a 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.359 man to help us get it straightened out. He was 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:35.760 a tax attorney. For a couple of weeks, he was 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:39.280 at our house every night going over documents, filling out 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:43.159 new forms. We would eat together, run errands together. We 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:47.560 ended up becoming good friends. Ten years later, I was 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:51.280 working here at the church at Lakewood in the television ministry. 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:54.960 My parents were the pastor. After one service, a man 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:59.440 came up said, Joel, my cousin has a construction permit 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:04.720 for the last full power commercial television station in Houston. 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:06.800 He would like you to be a part of it. 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.359 A TV station in a major market like Houston is 0:19:10.400 --> 0:19:14.320 extremely valuable. I was young. I didn't know anything about 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:18.240 negotiating a contract for a television station. Then I thought, 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:22.040 I'll call my attorney friend, the one I met during 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:25.679 the tax issue. Three months later we had a contract, 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:28.959 We put the station on the air. My father went 0:19:29.000 --> 0:19:31.280 to be with the lord. I became the pastor. Four 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:35.000 years later, we acquired this place, the former Compact Center 0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:38.360 was going to cost about one hundred million dollars to renovate. 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:42.399 We decided to sell the station. We sold it for 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:46.880 a huge profit. Those funds were instrumental in us being 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:51.040 able to renovate this facility. But it all started with 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:55.480 that tax issue. What I thought was a setback was 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:58.240 really a set up for God to do something greater. 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:04.600 For a season, I was going the opposite direction. But 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:07.240 if I had not had that problem, I would have 0:20:07.359 --> 0:20:11.000 never met the tax attorney. Without my attorney friend, I 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.479 would have never pursued the television station. Without the station, 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:17.360 we may not have had the funds to move into 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:23.640 this facility. That difficulty was strategically orchestrated by God. At 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:26.399 the time, I didn't understand it, thought, God, this is 0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:29.480 ruining our Christmas. This is not right. I could hear 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:33.800 God whispering, Joel trusts me. I know what I'm doing. 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.040 It may be uncomfortable, you may not like it, but 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:41.360 it's ultimately going to work to your advantage. The longer 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:46.919 I live, the more I realize everything is working for 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.240 our good. We don't like the disappointments. We don't like 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:52.880 when a friend betrays us. We don't like a closed door. 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:55.880 But if it didn't happen, you wouldn't make it into 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:59.640 the fullness of your destiny. I know a gentleman. He's 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:02.080 in his it's late seventies, and he was in his 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:06.440 bedroom on a ladder taking a heavy mirror off the wall. 0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:08.800 He got the mirror off, but when he did, he 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.520 lost his balance and began to fall backwards. He threw 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:16.400 the mirror over. When he fell, he hit the dresser 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:19.360 and he broke a bunch of his ribs. They took 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:22.560 him to the hospital. The doctor just so happened to 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:26.480 notice the main artery in his neck was ninety eight 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:29.920 percent blocked. Any moment he could have a major stroke, 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:34.439 probably not survived. The cardiologist told him, you're a walking 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.480 time bomb. We've got to do a procedure right now. 0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:41.040 They did the procedure and everything went well. My point 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:45.400 is if he had not had the fall, without that difficulty, 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:50.000 he wouldn't have known that he was in great danger. See, 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:55.160 every setback is not the enemy. We don't like the disappointments, 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:59.880 the uncomfortable times. But when you realize God is strategically 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:04.680 directing your steps. Nothing can happen without God's permission, then 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:09.000 you will not be frustrating. Friends, the enemy is not 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:11.600 in control of your life. God is in control of 0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:15.840 your life. And yes there are forces of darkness that 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:19.560 come against us. But like with Job, Satan had to 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:24.800 ask permission to even test Job. If that disappointment, that 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:27.639 bad break was going to serve no purpose, God would 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:31.520 have never allowed it. Quit fighting everything that doesn't go 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:35.320 your way. God has you in the palm of his hand. 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:39.760 Nothing can snatch you away. You may not like what 0:22:39.840 --> 0:22:44.359 you've gone through, but every difficulty has deposited something on 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:47.800 the inside. You wouldn't be who you are today or 0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:52.680 where you are today without the difficult times. In that opposition, 0:22:53.080 --> 0:22:58.720 God was creating opportunity. He was developing you, repositioning you, 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:04.359 getting you prepared for greater abundance. A while back, Victoria 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:07.680 lost a ring that her mother had given her. It 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:10.160 was a diamond band that had been in the family 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:14.720 for several generations, and sometimes when we would travel, Victoria 0:23:14.760 --> 0:23:18.320 would hide the ring different places in the house. So 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:22.879 for months and months we searched everywhere. We looked in 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:27.679 every drawer, every cabinet, every pocket. I took out every 0:23:27.800 --> 0:23:30.800 seat cushion, looked in the seat, in the couch, under 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:33.639 the couch, under the bed. That ring was nowhere to 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:37.359 be found. At one point, Victoria's mom noticed that she 0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:40.960 hadn't been wearing the ring and asked about it. Victoria said, oh, Mom, 0:23:41.160 --> 0:23:45.400 I've got it put away in a real safe place. Oh, yes, 0:23:45.520 --> 0:23:49.960 so safe. We can't even find it. About three years later, 0:23:50.400 --> 0:23:54.440 we were driving home late one night from Victoria, Texas. 0:23:54.880 --> 0:23:58.760 Was after midnight. I was very tired, ready to get home. 0:23:59.320 --> 0:24:02.439 Victor saying, Joy, you better slow down. You're going to 0:24:02.440 --> 0:24:04.840 get a ticket. I said, I am not going to 0:24:04.880 --> 0:24:07.600 get a ticket. I was just barely going over seventy 0:24:08.040 --> 0:24:10.680 The speed limit was sixty five. I was out in 0:24:10.720 --> 0:24:13.240 the middle of the country, the middle of the night. 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:16.879 There wasn't a car on the road. All of a sudden, 0:24:16.880 --> 0:24:18.720 look in my rear view mirror and here's these red 0:24:18.800 --> 0:24:21.359 light flashes. I looked at Victoria and said, you made 0:24:21.400 --> 0:24:27.040 me get this ticket. She called it into existence. The 0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:29.840 officer came up and I handed him my driver's license. 0:24:30.240 --> 0:24:32.440 He said, I need to see your proof of insurance. 0:24:33.040 --> 0:24:36.800 Victoria opened the glove compartment and started looking. We could 0:24:36.880 --> 0:24:41.639 find every document except our current insurance. She finally pulled 0:24:41.720 --> 0:24:45.560 everything out of the glove compartment started digging around back 0:24:45.560 --> 0:24:48.040 in there, and you got the officer standing right there, 0:24:48.160 --> 0:24:50.639 very nerve wracking. The middle of the night. You couldn't 0:24:50.640 --> 0:24:54.359 see anything. She was maneuvering her hand back and forth, 0:24:54.359 --> 0:24:57.919 and one point she felt something sharp way down in 0:24:58.000 --> 0:25:01.520 a crack. What is this? She struggled and struggled, finally 0:25:01.520 --> 0:25:03.760 got it out. It was the ring she had been 0:25:03.760 --> 0:25:05.560 looking for for three and a half years. 0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:06.720 Now. 0:25:06.760 --> 0:25:10.919 I still don't understand why God used my pain to 0:25:11.000 --> 0:25:16.959 find her ring. That doesn't make sense. Victoria was so 0:25:17.119 --> 0:25:21.480 excited she forgot all about the insurance card. She was 0:25:21.560 --> 0:25:24.760 over there rejoicinging, here I was about to go to jail. 0:25:27.160 --> 0:25:30.359 She ended up finding the current insurance card that we 0:25:30.400 --> 0:25:33.600 needed on the very top of the stack. It was 0:25:33.680 --> 0:25:36.320 one of the first things she looked at. It was 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:40.359 almost like God caused her to overlook it. I handed 0:25:40.359 --> 0:25:43.120