Knowing God’s Will | Joel Osteen

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What’s interesting is when the Israelites were in slavery, God told Moses to go tell the pharaoh to let the people go.
But the scripture says, God calls to pharaoh to harden his heart and he wouldn’t let the people leave.
Pharaoh didn’t harden his heart on his own. God put the desire in him to be stubborn.
God gave him the desire to say no.
It goes on to say, so that God could get great glory at pharaoh’s expense.
God went on to perform all these great miracles so everyone knew who the God of Israel was.
It was all a part of His plan so the Israelites could fulfill their purpose.
My point is, if God will put desires in other people that don’t know Him, that are not serving Him to bring about His purpose, how much more will God put the desires in you so you can fulfill your destiny?
You don’t have to fear the future. Worry about what’s ahead.
How do I know if this is the right choice? Just keep honoring God.
Your part is to commit your ways to Him.
Every morning, Lord, let your will be done and not mine. I put your first place.
God’s part is to put the right desires in you.
He’s leading you into the best plan that he’s already laid out.
You may not understand it all right now, but you can stay in peace knowing that you’re not going to miss your destiny.
God knows how to make the desire strong enough to where you step into his will.
Think about with David, he was delivering lunch to his brothers who were out on the battlefield when he heard Goliath taunting the Israelites, making fun, daring them to fight, all of the sudden, something rose up in David.
He said, who is this man that he would defy the armies of the living God?
He had this desire to take on Goliath.
Well, there were thousands of other Israeli soldiers, strong, brave, skilled, yet not one of them wanted to fight Goliath.
They heard him day after day threatening them. They would run and hide. They were terrified.
Here David was a teenager, a shepherd.
He didn’t have the training, the experience, the size, yet suddenly he knew he was supposed to take on Goliath.
One thing we know about David is he had a heart after God.
He had committed his ways into God’s hands. In turn, God put this desire in his heart.
If it wasn’t a God given desire, David would have talked himself out of it.
Man, I’d like to fight him, but he’s twice my size. I don’t have a chance.
I’ll get out there and look like a fool.
But when God puts the desire in you, He’ll make it stronger than all the negative voices, all the doubt that tries to talk you out of it.
When it’s a God given desire, you won’t be moved by opposition, by how impossible it looks, by what people are telling you.
There will be a boldness, a confidence to do what you know God put in your heart.
Paul said in Philippians, God is working in you to give you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
It’s one thing to have the desire. That’s great. But God doesn’t stop there.
He says, I’m going to give you the power to do it. I’m gonna give you the favor.
I’m gonna give you the courage, the skill, the resources.
You’re going to feel a strength that you’ve never felt, ability that you’ve never had, favor like you’ve never seen.
God doesn’t just give you the desire, He gives you the ability to accomplish what He’s put in your heart.
The scripture says, David ran toward Goliath. All the other soldiers ran away from Goliath.
They all ran and hid. But one teenager with nothing but a slingshot and a God given desire took off running toward Goliath.
He slung that rock, knocked him out. That day, he became a national hero. But think about this.
A few weeks earlier, he was sitting in the shepherd’s fields alone, nobody paying attention.
He had big dreams, but he didn’t see how it would ever happen.
Then in one moment, God dropped a desire in his heart.
That one victory catapulted David to a new level.
God has some of these destiny desires lined up for you, things he’s gonna drop in your heart.
Others will think it’s too big. Doesn’t make sense. They’re intimidated.
It’s because God didn’t put the desire in them.
That desire is leading you down the best path, a path of abundance, a path of greater influence, a path of helping more people, making a bigger difference, seeing your gifts come out in greater ways.
Well, Joel, I think I may have missed my chance. There were some good opportunities that I passed up.
I was distracted, I was afraid, I didn’t step out.
Now, when God puts the desire in you, it’s gonna be so strong, you can’t pass it up.
He’s not gonna let you miss your purpose. God knows how to make you want to do his will.
He’ll give you the power to obey what he put in your heart.
From the time I was a little boy, I loved anything to do with cameras and production, editing.
12 years old, I was running camera at the old church during the services.
I’d come down on Saturdays as a teenager and play with all the equipment. Graduated from high school.
I went to college to learn more about production. I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life.
After that 1st year, I felt so strongly that I was supposed to come back home and start a television outreach at Lakewood.
My father was fine with it, but my mother not so much.
She said, Joel, I never wanted you to drop out. I said, mother, I didn’t drop out.
I knocked it out. I took the 1 year plan.
My brother Paul went 11 years to become a surgeon, but some of us are more accelerated and we don’t need that long.
God has a sense of humor. 25 years later, that same university gave me an honorary doctorate degree.
I didn’t tell them I don’t even have my bachelor’s degree yet.
But so 17 years, I worked behind the scenes here at Lakewood doing the television production and I was fulfilled.
I loved doing it, did my best to make my father look good, represent the church with excellence.
During those years, my father would try to get me up to minister.
I said, Joel, you’d be a great pastor. Why don’t you start speaking for me? But I had no desire.
Not one part of me wanted to get up in front of people. Wasn’t it something I wrestled with?
Maybe I should, maybe I shouldn’t. There was no question. That wasn’t for me.
But when my father passed in 1999, the strangest thing happened.
All of a sudden, I had the desire to pastor the church.
I had a desire to get up in front of people. And yes, I was intimidated.
I didn’t feel qualified. Doubt, negative voices tried to talk me out of it.
But what’s significant is the desire was stronger than anything that was trying to hold me back.
God knows how to make his desires override all the negative things that could keep you from doing it.
He’s not only giving you the desire, but he’s giving you the power to do it.
That’s why you don’t have to second guess. Man, did I miss my opportunity?
You know, when God puts the desire, he’ll make sure it’s strong enough that you act on it.
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