WEBVTT - Making Miracles Out Of Mistakes | Joel Osteen 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:03.160 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:06.360 our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.040 enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:11.880 share it with a friend, reappreciate you, and pray for 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:15.000 God's very best in your life. Well, God bless you. 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:18.080 Thanks for letting us come into your homes, and if 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:20.759 you're ever in our area, please stop buy be a 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.440 part of one of our services. These are the finest 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.360 people in all of Houston, Texas right here at Lakewood. 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:28.280 We'd love to have you. But thanks so much for 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.319 tuning in. I like to start with something funny, and 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:35.400 I heard about this elderly minister. He was close to death. 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:39.040 He sent word for two of his members, an ours 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:43.199 agent and a lawyer to come to his house. Upon arrival, 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:45.680 he motioned for them to sit on each side of 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:48.560 the bed. The men were very moved that they could 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.080 be with the minister in his final moments. One point, 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:55.840 the lawyer asked, very sincerely, sir, why did you choose 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:59.320 both of us? The minister mustered up some strength and said, 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.639 Jesus died between two sinners. That's the way I want 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:06.399 to go say it. Like you mean it. This is 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:09.320 my Bible. I am what it says I am. I 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:11.679 have what it says I have. I can do what 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.360 it says I can do. Today I will be taught 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:18.360 the word of God. I boldly confess. My mind is alert, 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:21.560 my heart is receptive. I will never be the same. 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:26.440 In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want to talk 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:31.040 to you today about miracles out of mistakes. We've all 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.920 made wrong choices and done things that we knew were 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.800 not the best. It's one thing when other people do 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:40.319 us wrong. We had a bad break, it wasn't our fault. 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.680 We can have faith that God will restore. He'll pay 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.440 us back. But when we bring the trouble on ourselves, 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.000 when we blow it, it's easy to live in regrets, 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:53.880 thinking that God's not going to help us. We made 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.400 the mess. But here's the beauty. God knew you would 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:01.120 mess up before he called you. He knew we would 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:05.400 get off course at times given to temptation. He didn't 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:09.840 baste his plan for your life on you making perfect decisions. 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.440 God has a plan even for your mistakes. What you 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.399 think is a failure, you blew it. Nothing good could 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.720 come out of that, God has a way of making 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:24.760 miracles out of mistakes. He can take what should have 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:29.240 left you lonely disappointed, what should have limited your career, 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.079 instead of setting you back. God knows how to turn 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:36.160 it around and set you up, to move you towards 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:39.679 your destiny. But too often, when we make mistakes, we 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:44.120 go around down on ourselves, guilty, not expecting anything good. 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:48.519 Voices tell us too bad, Just live with the consequences. 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:52.560 It's all downhill from here. But be encouraged. God is 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:56.440 full of mercy. He doesn't turn his back when we 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:00.360 make mistakes. He doesn't say I'm done with you, forget 0:03:00.400 --> 0:03:04.240 it right. Just the opposite. He comes running to us. 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:07.799 He'll not only help you clean up the mess you made, 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:11.200 he'll take it one step further and make miracles out 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:15.280 of those mistakes. Paul said it this way, All things 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.839 work together for good when you love the Lord. All 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:22.480 things means, even our mistakes, the times we blew it God, 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:25.240 of course, God knows how to work it for our good. 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:29.880 You may be in a complicated situation, a problem that 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:33.480 seems like it'll never work out. There are other people involved, 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:39.360 different personalities, legal circumstances. It seems too complex. But God 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.120 hasn't all figured out. He can see things you can't see. 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.640 His ways are better than our ways. You may have 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:50.480 brought the trouble on yourself. God is saying, I'm going 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:55.880 to correct those complications. I'm going to resolve complex issues. 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:58.720 I'm going to make things work out that you could 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:01.920 have never made work on your own. That's what he 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.480 did for Abraham. In the scripture, God gave him the 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.160 promise that he and his wife Sarah were going to 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:11.560 have a baby. Year after year went by and nothing happened. 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:15.960 They decided to try to help God out. Sarah told 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:20.920 Abraham to sleep with her maid Hagar. He did, and 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:24.720 they had a baby boy that they named Ishmael. They 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:29.240 were so excited, thanking God for the promise, but Ishmael 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:34.640 wasn't the promised child. No disrespect to him. Ishmael was 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:39.679 a mistake. He was born out of Abraham and Sarah's impatience. 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:43.480 They got in a hurry, took matters into their own hands, 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:47.719 and had this baby. Now there was strife and division 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.920 in their home. Sarah was upset with Abraham, saying, what 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.440 in the world were you thinking sleeping with my maid? 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:56.599 He said, what do you mean, you're the one who 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:58.800 told me to do it. She said, you shouldn't have 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:02.839 listened to me. You should have known. Every time Sarah 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:07.680 saw Hagar, she became more and more upset. Finally she 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:12.239 gave Abraham the ultimatum, either that lady and her son leaves, 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:14.960 or I'm leaving. I'm not staying in the house with 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:20.279 that woman. Abraham was in a complicated situation. Two women 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:23.320 mad at him. He's trying to please both of them. 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:29.080 He needed divine intervention. He was at a crossroads. He 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:33.400 has to send his son away out into the desert. 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:37.200 Looked like that would be the end of Ishmael. The 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:42.120 problem was he loved Ishmael, that was his son. He 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:46.800 was conflicted, thinking, I love Sarah and I love Ishmael. 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.360 How did I get myself into this mess? God could 0:05:50.400 --> 0:05:53.200 have said, Abraham, you'd have listened to me, You wouldn't 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:56.760 have this mess, should have waited, should have been more patient. 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:02.480 Was your own fault? Instead, God said, in effect, yes, Abraham, 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:07.919 it's complicated. Yes it's dysfunctional. Their strife and division. But 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:11.000 I wouldn't have let you get in this mess if 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.480 I didn't know how to bring you out of this mess. 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.960 God told Abraham, I'm going to bring out of your 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:22.880 son Ishmael a great nation. I'm going to multiply his 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:28.919 descendants and make him extremely fruitful. Even though Ishmael was 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.920 considered a mistake born out of what the scripture calls 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.000 works of the flesh, trying to make it happen on 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:39.880 our own, God in his mercy said, I'm going to 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:43.640 take that mistake and make a miracle. I'm going to 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:47.880 bring something significant out of him, Abraham, in spite of 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:52.400 your failures, in spite of how you blew it. Like Abraham, 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:56.560 we all have some Ishmaels. Times we blew it, tried 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.320 to make it happen on our own. God involved in 0:06:59.400 --> 0:07:02.200 things we should and have. Now it's a mess. The 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:07.520 accuser constantly whispers, God's not gonna bless you. You knew better. 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.680 Just sit on the sidelines of life. Don't believe those lies. 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:16.560 God has mercy for every mistake. God loves to make 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:20.440 the enemy pay for bringing that trouble. If you'll stay 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:23.520 in faith, God will not only bring you through it, 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.800 He'll take the mess you made, clean it up, and 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.679 bring you out better. Abraham had a son named Isaac. 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:34.400 Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob had a son 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:40.600 named Joseph. Abraham was Joseph's great great grandfather. You remember 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:44.520 as a teenager, Joseph's brothers were jealous of him and 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:47.440 threw him into a pit. They were going to leave 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:51.080 him there to die, but the scripture says, a caravan 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:56.720 of Ishmaelites came passing by. These were the descendants of Ishmael, 0:07:57.240 --> 0:08:01.560 part of the great nation that God promised Abraham. When 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:06.160 Joseph's brothers saw the Ishmaelites, they changed their mind and 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:09.840 decided to sell Joseph to them. If it had not 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.240 been for the Ishmaelites, Joseph would have died there in 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:16.120 the pit. He would have never made it to the palace, 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:20.200 never been in charge of the food supply during the famine. 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.320 The Israelites years later wouldn't have had what they needed 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:28.240 to survive. What am I saying, the mistake of Abraham 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:32.760 became the miracle of his great great grandson Joseph. This 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.320 is how amazing God is. He has a plan even 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:40.880 for our mistakes, even when we blow it. The scripture says, 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:43.600 God is going to work all things for our good. 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:48.719 He cannot only correct a complicated situation, but he can 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:53.080 somehow use it years later to bless your descendants. Some 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.439 of you are thinking, my descendants are going to really 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:58.800 be blessed all the mistakes I've made. But sometimes we 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.800 make mistakes, like Abrahim, when we're trying to do the 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:04.560 right thing, our heart is in the right place, but 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:08.280 we miss it. We believe God will help us because 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:12.280 He's merciful and we were doing our best. Other times, 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.679 we know what the right thing is, we know what 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:19.600 we should do, but we do just the opposite. This 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:23.040 is when we think I don't deserve God's goodness. Joel, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.880 I made the mess. I knew I shouldn't hang around 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:28.800 these friends. I did it anyway. Now I'm in trouble. 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:32.200 Now I had this addiction. I knew I should control 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.880 my temper. I knew I should bite my tongue, but 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:37.680 I kept giving in. Now I don't have a job. 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:42.559 Now I lost a relationship. When we bring trouble on ourselves, 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:47.320 thoughts of guilt and condemnation bombard our mind, saying God's 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.880 not going to help you. You knew better. Just sit 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:54.200 on the sidelines of life. This is how Jonah felt. 0:09:54.240 --> 0:09:57.240 In the scripture. God told him to go to the 0:09:57.240 --> 0:10:01.680 city of Nineveh. He had clear direct he knew exactly 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.880 what he was supposed to do. But Jonah didn't want 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:07.840 to go to Nineveh. He got on a boat headed 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:13.160 in the opposite direction. The scripture says the Lord caused 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:17.000 a great wind to blow on the sea, and such 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:20.760 a violent storm arose that it threatened to break the 0:10:20.840 --> 0:10:26.240 boat apart. It's interesting that the Lord sent the storm. 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.560 God knows how to get our attention. And when you 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.480 know you're going the wrong way like this boat, things 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:36.440 are going to start to fall apart. You can't pray 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.640 away all the winds. You can say peace be still 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.520 all day long, but the winds may not calm down. 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:47.360 It is because you're causing the trouble. God loves you 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.920 too much to let you miss your destiny. He's not 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:53.160 going to let you go year after year on the 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:57.320 wrong course and never get your attention. And sometimes it's 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.600 the enemy fighting us, trying to keep us from our destiny. 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:05.920 That's why we have storms difficulties. Other times we're bringing 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:09.000 the trouble on ourselves. If we just get back on 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:11.439 the right course, do what we know we should do, 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:15.800 those winds would calm down. The people sailing with Jonah said, 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:20.920 who's responsible for causing all this trouble? Jonah said, it's me. 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:25.240 I'm a Hebrew, I worship God. I know where I'm 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:29.240 supposed to be going, But I'm running from the Lord. 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:34.120 When you're running from the Lord, you're running from your destiny. 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.640 It's not only going to cause you trouble, it's going 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:40.439 to bring trouble to the people around you. When they 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:44.760 threw Jonah overboard, the winds died down, the storms stopped. 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:49.040 Our decisions don't just affect us, they affect our family. 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.520 They affect our children. If you don't do the right 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.360 thing for yourself, at least do it for your children. 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:58.800 At least do it for your family. Jonah was big 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:02.920 enough to admit I'm the cause. That's the first step 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:07.320 to victory. As long as you're making excuses, thinking it 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.800 doesn't matter than the winds, the storms, the difficulty are 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:15.040 going to continue. Jonah was out in the ocean, thrown overboard. 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:17.800 I'm sure he thought I'm done, and I have nobody 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:21.280 to blame. It was all my fault. All of a sudden, 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:26.400 a huge fish swallowed Jonah. God in his great mercy, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.920 was saying, Jonah, you can run, but you can't hide. 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.120 I'm not finished with you. I have a destiny for 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:36.280 you to fulfill. The psalm Iss said, if you go 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:38.959 down to the depths of the ocean or way up 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.199 in the heavens, God will be right there. You can't 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.599 get away from him. You haven't made too many mistakes, 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.679 you haven't blown it too many times. God's calling on 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:54.400 your life is irrevocable. That means God is not going 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.600 to change his mind because you got of course, He's 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.440 not going to leave you alone until you get back 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.360 on the right path. The sooner you do that, the 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:06.400 better off you're going to be. Jonah was sitting in 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:10.760 the belly of the well. It was dark, uncomfortable, it stunk. 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:14.760 Most people would have complained. Not Jonah. He was grateful 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.440 to be alive. He knew it was the mercy of 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:21.079 God having that fish. They're waiting for him. God will 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:25.000 allow storms when we get off course. He may allow 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:28.079 something to get our attention, but he's not going to 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:32.319 let those difficulties take your life. Three days later, that 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:36.720 well spit Jonah up on dry ground, and the scripture 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.320 says the word of the Lord came a second time 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:44.840 to Jonah, God gave him another chance. What did God 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.840 say this time? Go to the city of Nineveh, same 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.480 thing he said the first time. Friends, God is not 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.240 going to change his mind. You might as well do 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:56.960 what he's asking you to do. He'll give you a 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:01.840 second chance, a third chance, a chance, but it's going 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:05.160 to be storey until you get back on the right course. 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.760 Yes he'll have a fish there to save you. Yes 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.760 he'll make a miracle out of that mistake. But at 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:15.480 some point you have to take responsibility and say, I'm 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:18.960 the Jonah. I'm going against what I know is not right. 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.640 I'm hanging out with these friends that I know are 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:25.200 pulling me down. I'm living negative, critical hard to get 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:28.600 along with. I'm not being disciplined in what I'm watching. 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:32.160 That's going to cause it to be rocky, not just 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.840 for you, but for the people around you. And God 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.600 is not asking you to be perfect. He's not asking 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.720 you to never make a mistake, but he is asking 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:45.320 us to deal with the things that are holding us back, 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.600 to not let the same areas of compromise keep us 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:52.920 down year after year. He has some many of us 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:55.040 for you to go to, some people for you to 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:59.760 impact new levels of your destiny. David said it this way. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:03.000 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:07.120 Though he fall, he will not be destroyed, for the 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:10.680 Lord will be there to pick him up. This is saying, 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.600 even though God is directing our steps, there will be 0:15:14.640 --> 0:15:18.200 times that we fall, we make mistakes, we get off course. 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:21.280 God doesn't say that's it, I'm done with you. Just 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:24.360 like with Jonah, God will be right there to help 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:26.840 pick you up. He'll help you get back on the 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.800 right course. It's like the navigation system you may have 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:33.720 in your car. Most of us have a GPS system, 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:37.000 even on our cell phone. You type in the address 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.480 and the computer calculates the best route. Then it starts 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:44.800 telling you where to go, things like turn right in 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:48.360 three hundred feet, state of the left, and enter the freeway. 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:51.760 The other day, I was driving to a friend of 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:55.440 mine's house. He lives about thirty miles away, and the 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.680 lady on the GPS came on and said exit in 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:02.160 a quarter of a mile. Well, Victoria and I were talking. 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.960 There was a lot of traffic and accidentally I passed 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:09.520 up that exit. If you miss a turn or you 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:12.160 don't obey what the lady's telling you to do. She 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.160 doesn't come back on and say, you missed your exit, 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:20.840 go back and try again, she says, recalculating route. The 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:25.720 navigation system is designed for people who make mistakes. It 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:28.480 doesn't give you one way, and if you miss it, 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.440 that's it. As long as you have gas in your 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:34.520 car or battery in your cell phone, it's gonna tell 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.920 you how to get to your destination. I have never 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.520 missed a turn and had the lady come on and say, 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.680 I'm sorry, you can't get there from here, you're just 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:49.440 too lost. Never once has she said you've disobeyed too 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.640 many of my commands. I'm done with you. You're finished. 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:56.120 One time, I knew the way I wanted to go. 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:58.800 I was in a neighborhood that I was familiar with, 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:01.400 but the GPS SYS was telling me to go a 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:04.480 different route. It wanted me to turn left and then 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:06.440 go way down the street. Well, I wanted to go 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:09.680 down the street first and then turn left. Same difference. 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:13.439 But for about two miles every block it told me 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:18.159 turn left and then said recalculating route. I heard that 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:24.040 every ten seconds, recalculating route, recalculating route. What's interesting is. 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:27.120 No matter how stubborn I was, no matter how much 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:31.160 I ignored that lady, she never got mad at me. She 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:33.840 never came on said you're a loser. Don't ever get 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:36.280 on this system. I'm never gonna help you. She just 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:40.720 kept recalculating the route, trying to get me to my destination. 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:45.920 If the GPS lady can continually recalculate when we get 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.200 off course, how much more with the creator of the 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:55.399 universe recalculate our route we remake mistakes. If she doesn't 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.680 give up on us, why do we think our heavenly 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.480 father is going to give up on us? Well, Joe, 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.760 it's because I got so far off course. I shouldn't 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.240 have given into this addiction. I should have raised my 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:10.320 children better. I should have stayed in church, kept God 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:13.680 first place. The good news is you haven't made too 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:17.440 many wrong terms, you haven't missed too many exits. Your 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:22.360 heavenly Father is not mad at you. He's saying, recalculating route, 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:25.280 I still have a way to get you to your destiny. 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:30.719 That mistake didn't stop my plan, That delay didn't cancel 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:35.000 your purpose. Why don't you quit beating yourself up, quit 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:38.719 reliving your failures all the time you've missed it and 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:42.440 get back on the right path. It's not too late. 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:47.320 God's mercy is bigger than any mistake you've made. Unlike 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:51.360 the GPS lady, God knows the end from the beginning. 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:55.320 He knew every mistake you would make. He has already 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:59.920 recalculated your route. You can still fulfill the best plan 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.200 and God has for your life. Abraham and Sarah did. 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:07.639 They made that mistake. Abraham had a baby out of wedlock. 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:12.400 One point. Abraham lied and told everyone Sarah his wife, 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.640 was his sister. God didn't say I'm done with you. 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:20.119 You are one dysfunctional family. You lie, You're impatient. God 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:24.560 kept recalculating the route, kept giving them another chance. At 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:28.120 the age of one hundred, Abraham saw the promise come 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:32.360 to pass. Isaac was born, the promised child. You may 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:36.840 have made decisions that have delayed things. You got off course, 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:41.080 but you're not stuck. God has a new route. If 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:44.600 you'll get your passion back, shake off the guilt. God 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.159 will get you to where you're supposed to be, not 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:50.639 some secondary place, but to the best plan that He 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:54.479 has for your life. When the Israelites were in the 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:57.840 desert headed toward the promised land, they got tired and 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:03.119 started complaining. The scripture says, even though they were stubborn 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:07.440 and refused to obey God's commands, he was still good 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:12.200 to them. That was God recalculating their row. They wouldn't 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:15.080 obey his commands. God didn't say I'm done with you. 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:19.000 He kept giving them water when they were thirsty, food 0:20:19.040 --> 0:20:21.919 when they were hungry. At one point they made an 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.919 idol and said, this is the God who brought us 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.480 out of slavery. After all God had done for them, 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:32.520 parted the Red Sea, brought them out of Pharaoh's hand. 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:35.280 You would think God would say I am done with you. 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:39.000 You are on your own, but the scripture says, in 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:43.080 his mercy, God did not abandon them. He is a 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:48.200 god of forgiveness, slow to become angry, full of unfailing 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:53.400 love and kindness. When we make mistakes, God doesn't abandon 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:56.760 us when we get off course. We'd obey his commands. 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:59.800 He doesn't write us all. You can turn your back 0:20:59.840 --> 0:21:02.240 on God, but God's not going to turn his back 0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:05.960 on you. You may be off course, you've made poor decisions, 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:10.880 but God has already recalculated your route. He already has 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:14.439 a new way to get you to your destination. My 0:21:14.600 --> 0:21:18.520 father was married at a very early age. Unfortunately, that 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:23.160 marriage didn't work out. Daddy was devastated. He resigned from 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:26.840 his church. Denominational leaders told him that he would never 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:30.480 pastor again. He thought his days of ministry was over. 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:33.639 Didn't think he'd ever have a family. He left the 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:38.600 ministry and started selling insurance. Every thought told him you're 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:42.400 a failure. You blew it. Nothing good is in your future. 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:47.760 What he couldn't hear was God saying, recalculating Ralph, I 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:50.960 still have a way. I make miracles out of mistakes. 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:55.240 God didn't abandon him when he got off course. He fell, 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:58.040 but like David said, God was right there to help 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:02.479 pick him back up. Leave. My father shook off the guilt. 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:06.480 He quit listening to the accusing voices. Two years later 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:10.000 he got back in the ministry. One day he was 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:13.560 at the hospital visiting some of his members when he 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:18.160 noticed a beautiful young nurse. It was my mother. He 0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:21.680 was so taken by her he started looking for any 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:25.240 opportunity he could find to go up to that hospital. 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:28.960 He would visit your great uncle, second cousins next door 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:31.959 neighbor if you ask him to. He was almost hoping 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:34.280 some of his members would get sick so he could 0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:37.000 go to the hospital. My mother didn't know what was 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:40.560 going on. She told a friend that pastor has the 0:22:40.640 --> 0:22:45.119 sickest congregation I've ever seen. Finally dawned on her. He 0:22:45.240 --> 0:22:48.560 was up there to see her. Long story short, They 0:22:48.560 --> 0:22:51.919 fell in love, got married, had five children. I'm glad 0:22:51.960 --> 0:22:54.679 God recalculated the route, or I wouldn't be here today. 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:59.920 But my father went on to have a ministry touch 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:03.600 the world, married to my mother for over forty four years. 0:23:03.760 --> 0:23:07.320 What am I saying, No mistake you've made is too 0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:11.040 much for the mercy of God. He knows how to reraut. 0:23:11.760 --> 0:23:15.800 Quit beating yourself up, living guilty, thinking you've seen your 0:23:15.840 --> 0:23:19.320 best days. You wouldn't be alive unless God had something 0:23:19.320 --> 0:23:22.960 greater in your future. This is what happened with Moses. 0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:26.600 He made a mistake as a young man. He knew 0:23:26.640 --> 0:23:29.879 God had called him to deliver the Israelites from slavery, 0:23:30.320 --> 0:23:32.879 but like Abraham and Sarah, he got in a hurrying 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:35.840 tried to do it in his own strength. He saw 0:23:35.880 --> 0:23:40.360 a Hebrew slave being mistreated. He didn't think anyone was watching, 0:23:40.440 --> 0:23:44.479 so he killed the man who was mistreating him. The 0:23:44.520 --> 0:23:48.520 next day, somebody told the Pharaoh Moses had to run 0:23:48.560 --> 0:23:52.199 for his life. He spent years on the backside of 0:23:52.240 --> 0:23:55.920 the desert in hiding. This is not what he had planned. 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:58.919 It looked like he had missed his destiny. It was 0:23:58.960 --> 0:24:02.840 nobody's fault, accept his own. God didn't write him off. 0:24:03.320 --> 0:24:05.960 God didn't say, Moses, you knew better. Why didn't you wait? 0:24:06.280 --> 0:24:12.240 God simply said, recalculating Ralph. Forty years later, Moses was 0:24:12.280 --> 0:24:15.959 still in the desert, thinking he was forgotten, giving up 0:24:15.960 --> 0:24:20.720 on his dreams. Suddenly a bush exploded in front of him, 0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:25.720 like spontaneous combustion. It burned and burned. Strange thing was 0:24:25.760 --> 0:24:29.919 the bush didn't burn up. Intrigued, Moses walked over to 0:24:29.920 --> 0:24:34.960 see what was going on. A voice boomed out, Moses, Moses, 0:24:35.520 --> 0:24:39.640 take off your sandals. You are standing on Holy gram 0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:45.639 Moses was confused, thinking I felled, I've made mistakes. I 0:24:45.680 --> 0:24:48.920 thought I was done, But I hear him calling my name, 0:24:49.560 --> 0:24:53.320 not once, but twice. Moses, most if God would have 0:24:53.320 --> 0:24:55.719 said it once, he would have thought I'm hearing things. 0:24:56.119 --> 0:24:58.720