Favor in the Fire | Joel Osteen

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In the National Park in California, there are these huge Sequoia trees. They stand over 300 feet tall.
They can live over 2000 years. They’re magnificent trees.
On the branches, they develop a cone inside that cone are the seeds to produce new Sequoia trees.
What’s significant is those seeds are locked up in the cone. They don’t just naturally come out over time.
The seeds can be in the cone 100 years never produce a tree.
The only way the cone will open is through fire. Lightning will strike.
The heat from the fire will cause the cone to open the seeds are able to germinate and become what they were created to be.
But I always saw fire as a bad thing.
Oh, man, there’s another fire in the forest, not realizing the fire was all a part of god’s plan.
It’s how he designed nature to work.
One article talked about how people tried to put out these natural fires for years as quickly as possible, not realizing that was doing more damage to the forest.
Now there were no new trees. The fire was necessary for new growth.
In the same way, there are seeds that are locked up in you, seeds of favor, seeds of greatness, seeds of purpose, The only way they’ll come out is through fire.
We don’t like the fire, being uncomfortable, going through things you don’t understand, business slowed.
Friend walked away. Medical report wasn’t good.
It’s easy to get discouraged, watered down your dreams, but god won’t allow a difficulty unless he has a purpose for it.
There is potential locked up in you that will only come out through adversity.
There are gifts and talents that you won’t discover without going through times when it’s uncomfortable.
David said, god enlarged me in my distress.
He didn’t say god enlarged me in my good times, enlarged me when everyone was celebrating me.
He said, god enlarged me when I faced a giant, twice, my size.
God enlarged me when King Saul was trying to kill me.
God enlarged me when my own father didn’t believe in me.
It was in that fire that David discovered talent that he didn’t know he had.
In the fire, he stepped into courage favor, greatness that he would have never known had he not felt the heat, the pressure, the adversity, You may be in the fire now thinking, god, what’s going on in my life?
This trouble? This child is off course? This medical situation, it’s setting me back.
You know, the truth is it’s setting you up. What you can’t see is god is enlarging you.
You’re about to step into new levels of your destiny.
You’re going to see new growth, new opportunity, new talent, It couldn’t happen without the fire.
You may not see it yet, but there’s favor in that fire. There’s promotion in that fire.
There’s freedom in that fire. The fire is opening up things that you would have never seen.
Don’t fight the fire. Stay faithful in the fire. I’ve learned, god will not mismanage your life.
He knows how much fire, how much heat, how much pressure you can handle he controls the thermostats.
If that fire was going to take you out, he wouldn’t have allowed it.
You are well able You are strong in the lord. You are full of can do power.
Keep the right perspective. That fire is not going to burn you up it’s releasing you into new levels.
The fire is all a part of god’s plan so you can become everything you were created to be.
That’s why Peter said, don’t think it’s strange when you face fiery trials.
He could have said, when you face difficulties, adversities, but he used the word fiery.
God was saying sometimes I’m gonna let you go through the fire.
Through things you don’t understand, things that are not fair, you’ll be tempted to get bitter, upset, but trust him in the fire.
He’s ordering your steps. He’s still in control. He wouldn’t have allowed it if it was going to stop you.
That fire is opening up seeds to your destiny, levels you could never reach without the fire.
Sometimes forest rangers will do what’s called a controlled burn.
They’ll set a fire on purpose to burn off the underbrush.
They carefully study and plan exactly what needs to be burned.
When difficulties come against us, it can seem like things are out of control.
I lost my main client. I was diagnosed with this illness, the pandemic, inflation, gas prices.
It feels like a wildfire But can I encourage you? You’re in a controlled burn?
God has you in the palm of his hand.
He sees what you’re going through, He knows who hurt you, what you didn’t get, what wasn’t fair.
He wouldn’t have let you get in the fire if he wasn’t going to bring you out of the fire.
The good news is you’re not going to come out the same.
The enemy minute to stop you, but god only allowed it so he can promote you.
The fire is a sign that you’re about to bloom, you’re about to blossom, you’re gonna discover talent, potential, favor that you’ve never seen.
Don’t believe the lies that the fire is out of control. You’ll never get well.
You’ll never meet the right person. Never get out of this trouble. That fire is coming to an end.
Before the fire ever started, god set the boundaries. He planned how long, how much, how hot the strategy.
That’s not a random fire. That’s a controlled fire. The enemy is not in charge of your life.
He cannot do whatever he wants. You are god’s property. You belong to the most high. He created you.
He breathed life into you. He planned your days for good.
And, yes, we all go through the fire, but god has a comeback for every setback, healing for every hurt, mercy for every mistake.
You’re not doing life on your own. I hope you enjoyed watching this clip.
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