Need a Sign? | Joel Osteen

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Before Isaiah left the palace grounds, god changed his mind and told Isaiah to go back and give him this new report.
Isaiah said, hezekiah, the lord says, he has heard your prayers, and he’s going to heal you.
In 3 days, you will get out of this bed, and he will add 15 more years to your life.
You can imagine how excited and how overwhelmed hezekiah was.
He just received this amazing promise that this death sentence had been reversed. But hezekiah was kinda like us.
After the excitement wore off, he started thinking, how do I know I’m going to get well?
I don’t look any different. I don’t feel any better. Nothing has changed. Doubt started to come.
Is it really gonna happen? Are you sure that’s what god said?
Hezekiah said to Isaiah, what sign will the lord give me to prove that I’m going to get well?
He was saying, Isaiah, I appreciate what you’ve told me. That’s encouraging, but I need some evidence.
I need to see something so I’ll believe I need god to prove that he’s going to do it.
Isaiah said, alright. God will give you a sign.
Do you want the shadow on the sun dial to go 10 degrees forward? Or 10 degrees backwards.
Hizakai said backwards. They watched as the shadow defied the odds and went backwards.
And god is merciful. He’ll give you a sign sometimes, but here’s my point.
If you live by this approach, God proved that you’re gonna do what you said.
God, I need some evidence. If I don’t see something, then I’m not gonna believe If you’re always dependent on a sign, you won’t reach the fullness of your destiny.
Maybe like Hizakaya, you’re praying for a sign, but you’re not seeing anything.
The sun dial is not going backwards. The right attitude is, god, I don’t have to have a sign.
You don’t have to prove to me that you’re going to do it.
You’ve already proved to me who you are. You’ve already made ways where I didn’t see a way.
You’ve already opened doors that I couldn’t open. You’ve already defeated giants that were much bigger.
You’ve already broken chains I could never break. God, I trust you with no evidence. I’m not a Thomas.
I don’t have to see it to believe it. I’m not a hezekiah.
You don’t have to prove to me that you’re faithful. You’ve already shown yourself faithful.
And, yes, it’s great when you get a sign but don’t rely on a sign.
Don’t become dependent on seeing then you’ll believe. That doesn’t take much faith.
Your faith kicks in when there’s no evidence.
Instead of asking god to prove to you what he’s going to do, why don’t you turn it around and prove to god who you are.
Prove to him that you’re not gonna be moved by what you don’t see.
Prove that you’re not gonna give up because things aren’t changing.
Prove that you’re gonna stand in faith when every circumstance says it’s never going to happen.
What’s interesting is right before hezekiah got sick, he had just seen the greatest victory of his life.
The Assyrian army was coming against him and the people of Judah. They were much bigger. They had more resources.
But the night before the Assyrians were going to attack the angel of the lord went into their camp and killed a 185,000 of their soldiers.
The others took off running, Hezekiah and the people of Judah were spared.
You would think that hezekiah wouldn’t need a sign?
He just saw a supernatural victory He just saw god show out.
But how many times do we forget what god has done?
Like hezekiah, God has shown up and turned things around for us.
He’s healed us, protected us, freed us, promoted us.
If you need a sign look back at the goodness of god in your life.
Look back at how he brought you through the pandemic.
How he gave you a streak when you didn’t think you could go on, how he promoted you when you weren’t next in line, how you turned your child around, How you brought someone great into your life to love?
How that one good break caused your business to take off?
When you need evidence, look back at the faithfulness of god. I hope you enjoyed watching this clip.
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