Joel Osteen - Peace With The Plan
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I want to talk to you today about Peace With The Plan. What causes a lot of frustration is when our plans don't work out. We thought by this time we'd be further in our career, we would have met someone by now, we still wouldn't be dealing with this trouble at work. It's easy to get discouraged because things haven't turned out the way we planned, but the scripture (Isaiah 55:8-9) says, "God's way are not our ways", they are higher and better than our ways. If you're going to stay in peace you have to let go of what you had in mind.
As long as you're set on it happening one way, here's how it's going to work out, and this door has to open, and this person has to come, and "I've got to be there by this age", you have God in a box, telling him what to do, how to do it, when to do it. The problem is: that's your plan, but it's not his plan. His plan is better, his plan is more rewarding, and more fulfilling. But here's the key: you're not always going to understand his plan, it may not make sense. God doesn't take you in a straight line to your destiny, there will be twists, turns and detours. Times where it looks like you're at a dead end, obstacles too big. Times where you feel like you're going the wrong way. This is when you have have to trust, "God, this is not what I had in mind, doesn't make sense to me, but I know you're in control".
I talked to a man that was upset with God. He was new to the faith and he was in this problem, and he had his plan, his idea, his strategies. He had prayed and believed, and he was very passionate, but it hadn't worked out the way he wanted, didn't happen on his timetable. He said, "Joel, God didn't come through for me, he let me down". If you're only going to be happy if God does what you want, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment. It's not our plan, it's God's plan. It's not what we want, it's what he wants.
The beauty is: God's way is the best way. If he followed our plan, always did what we had in mind, we wouldn't see the fullness of our destiny. The scripture says that nothing can stop his plan. Things may stop our plan, but what his purpose will come to pass. You have to be still and know that he is God. Not living upset, "Man, why is this taking so long? I can't believe that I'm still here". No, turn it around, "God, I'm at peace with your plan. I know you're ordering my steps. You will get me to where I'm supposed to be when I'm supposed to be there".
See, we sing that hymn "I surrender all". All to Jesus I surrender. One of the hardest things to surrender is what you had in mind, surrender how you think it's going to happen. If you don't understand this, like that man, you get upset, "God where were you? I thought we'd have a baby by now, I thought I'd have my degree, I thought I'd be over this illness". This can save you a lot of frustration. Put how you thought it was going to happen on the altar, release what you had in mind. There's a freedom when you realize: God is ordering your steps, he's laid out every day of your life. He said his plans for you are for good. You don't have to figure everything out, come out with all the strategies. No, trust his plan.
Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, facing his greatest challenge about to be crucified. He was under so much pressure that he sweat great drops of blood. He knew his Father could deliver him, I mean he had raised the dead, calmed the storm, healed the lepers. He fell to his knees and said (Luke 22:42), "Father, if you're willing, take this cup from me". He was saying in effect, "This is not what I want, this is not fair, I'm uncomfortable". If he had stopped there, he could have missed his purpose. He went on to say, "But not my will, let your will be done". He was saying, "God, I'll release what I had in mind. I trust your plan".
There will be these times that you don't understand, things have come against you. You know God could have delivered you, could have turned it around, but it's not changing. This is when you have to surrender your will, surrender how you thought it would happen. God hasn't delivered you yet because he has something better coming. That difficulty is a part of his plan. You have to go through it to get to the greater things he has in store. The Psalmist said, "They went through the fire, through the flood to great abundance". We don't like the fires, the challenges, the people that do us wrong, but on the other side of that difficulty is a new level of your destiny. Jesus had to go through the garden, through the betrayal, through the rejection, but now he's seated at the right hand of the Father.
When we're in the garden, dealing with things we don't understand, it's a test: are we going to get frustrated, "God, why did this happen", lose our passion, quit believing? Try a different approach: release what you had in mind. Maybe Gethsemane is leading you to a resurrection. Maybe the betrayal was necessary to take your throne. Maybe the delay is a part of God's plan, taking you somewhere that you never dreamed. Let go of how you thought it would happen. May not be by your strategy, your timing, God's ways are not our ways. We don't know what he's about to do. He doesn't always tell us in advance. That's why we have to walk by faith and not by sight.
Think about the three Hebrew teenagers, they wouldn't bow down to the king's golden idol. He was so angry, he said, "I'm going to give you one more chance. If you don't bow, I'm going to have you thrown into a fiery furnace". These teenagers never planned on facing this kind of challenge, they planned on going to school, being leaders, getting married, raising children. Now, unless they compromise, they're going to be killed. They understood this principle: that nothing can stop God's plan for your life. People can't stop it, bad breaks can't stop it, betrayals, delays, injustice. They said to the king, "We're not going to bow down, for we know our God will deliver us".
They had great faith, but their next statement is the key, "But even if he doesn't, we're still not going to bow". They were saying, "We trust his plan. Our life is in his hands". They could have been complaining, "God, this is not fair, we were doing the right thing, why did it happen"? They surrendered their will to God's will. The king had their hands and feet bound with cords and threw them into the fire. Sometimes God's plan will take you into a furnace. Just because you're in something that feels over your head, you're outnumbered, the opposition is stronger, that doesn't mean you're not where you're supposed to be. God is still in control. He wouldn't have allowed the difficulty if it wasn't a part of your purpose.
A lot of times we think, "God, get me out of this fire and I'll give you praise. God, move this co-worker that gets on my nerves, then I'll trust you". God's plan doesn't always deliver you from the fire, sometimes he'll take you through the fire. If you're set on it happening one way, "God, you had to change this person, turn this problem around, make my business grow", that's telling God to fit into your plan, "Do it my way". God has ways you've never thought of. That's not only limiting what he can do, but it'll cause you to be frustrated because things aren't going according to your plan. Why don't you let go of what you had in mind? Why don't you release how you thought everything would happen?
I heard about a man out hiking through the mountains. And he was on this high cliff, overlooking a huge canyon, and somehow he lost his footing and slipped. He was in this free-fall headed toward the ground. The last moment he reached out, miraculously grabbed a small branch growing out of the side of the rocks. As he hung there, hung on for dear life, dangling hundreds of feet in the air, he cried out "God, please save me"! A voice boomed out of the heavens said "Son, let go and I'll catch you". There was a long pause, the man said, "Is there anyone else up there"?
We want God to do it our way. We don't want to let go of what we have in mind, we don't want to surrender our will, we haven't figured out. We have our strategy, how it's going to happen, when it's going to happen. And yes, it's good to have plans, good to have a vision for your life, but don't get so set in your ways that if things don't turn out the way you thought, you had a detour, you got thrown into the fire, it's taken longer than expected, that you think God has forgotten about you, it's never going to happen. God has you right where you're supposed to be.
The reason it's not turning out the way you thought is because what God has in mind is much better than what you have in mind. His dream for your life is much greater than your dream. But the way it's going to happen probably won't be the way you thought. God will open doors you never imagined would open. Sometimes he'll take you backwards so he can thrust you forward. You'll go through the fire so he can show out in your life. The giants aren't there to kill you, they're there to reveal you, to show people who you are, to establish you, give you credibility and influence.
None of us plan on having a Goliath, we don't plan on being thrown into a furnace. If you're set on how you think it's going to happen, you'll get sour, "Joel, this is not where I thought I'd be, looking for a new job at this stage in my career. Raising a special needs child, having to take this treatment". These teenagers didn't plan on facing death at an early age, they had all kinds of dreams and goals, but they surrendered their will to God's will. God didn't keep them out of the fire, he did something greater, he made them fireproof, where the fire couldn't harm them. The king looked in the window said, "Didn't we throw three men inbound? I see four men loosed, and one looks like the Son of God". They came out without the smell of smoke.
Nothing can stop what God has purposed for you. Quit complaining because you got thrown into the fire, that what you had in mind didn't work out. It may not have, but what God has in mind will work out. He's in the fire with you. You may not realize it, but you two are fireproof, nothing can snatch you out of God's hands. When the teenagers came out, the scripture says, "The king made a new decree that from now on they were all going to worship the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego". Sometimes what you go through is not just about you, it's about what God wants to do through you. God wants to make you an example of his goodness. When you go through the fire and come out without the smell of smoke, you're a bright light, that gets people's attention.
When we acquired this place the former Compaq Center, the day after the city council voted for us to have it, a company filed a federal lawsuit to try to keep us from moving in. They said we violated the deed restrictions. They were the largest taxpayer in Texas, a huge real estate company, owned all the buildings around here. That's not what I had in mind, we had just celebrated the victory, I'd announced to the congregation we're going to renovate it and move in, now that was all put on hold. Our attorneys told us it could be tied up in the courts for up to 10 years.
That didn't make sense to me, I was tempted to be disappointed and worried. I had to do what I'm asking you to do: I surrendered my will to his will. I believe that it was all a part of his plan, and even though I didn't understand it, somehow someway it was working for our good. Otherwise we live fighting everything, upset over the door that closed, discouraged that has taken so long, frustrated over a child that's not changing. Come back to a place of peace. Your plan may not have worked out, but you can trust his plan. You may be in a Gethsemane, a hard place, but when you say like Jesus "Not my will, but let your will be done", that's when angels go to work, that's when supernal things will happen.
We all have these times where we can question what's happening, "God, you gave us the Compaq Center, why'd you let that company file a lawsuit". David could have said, "God, you had Samuel come anoint me to be the next king, he chose me in front of all my brothers, why is king Saul chasing me through the desert? I've done nothing but good to him, why is he so jealous now I'm having to live in hiding"? That didn't make sense, but it was a part of God's plan. David would have never taken the throne had he not passed the test of trusting when he didn't understand, surrendering his will to God's will. Moses could have said, "God, you delivered us from slavery, you caused the Pharaoh to let us go, but now he's changed his mind. We're at a dead end at the Red Sea, we have no way out".
We have these questions, we don't understand the plan, "Why did this happen"? Think about in punctuation there's a question mark, and there's an exclamation point. An exclamation point is simply a question mark straightened out. God knows how to take the question marks in your life and turn them into exclamation points. He'll take things you don't understand now, doesn't make sense, but if you'll trust him, if you'll do the right thing when it's hard, if you'll keep praising when you could be complaining, God will straighten out the question marks.
"We see in part now", the scripture (1 Corinthians 13:12) says, "As though looking through a glass dimly, but one day you will see in full". One day you'll see the exclamation point, you'll see what God was up to. You'll come out without the smell of smoke. What you had a question about, now you're shouting about. What you didn't understand, now you're thanking God that it happened. What you lost sleepover, now you realize it was all a part of his plan, that all things were working for your good. Now, if you want God to turn your question marks into exclamation points, you have to trust him when you don't understand.
I didn't understand that company filing a lawsuit, but a year and a half later they not only dropped the case, but they leased us 9,000 covered parking spaces, we didn't have to build a garage. Those teenagers didn't like the furnace, but now the whole city was worshiping Jehovah. They had influence and favor they would have never seen without the struggle. Don't complain about the furnaces, the Goliath, the Red Seas, the lawsuits. God is up to something. He wouldn't have allowed it unless he had a purpose. It's very powerful when you can be at peace with his plan. You don't understand it, it wasn't fair, but you release what you had in mind, you surrender your will knowing that God has something better.
Genesis 15, Abraham was very disappointed. God had blessed him with a great life, given him many cattle and livestock, but he said in verse 2, "God, what good are all your blessings when I don't have a son. I don't have any children, no heir to leave what you've given me and continue my legacy. I'm going to have to leave it to my servants". God said in verse 4, "No, Abraham, your servant will not be your heir, I'm going to give you a son that will inherit everything". He told Abraham to look up into the night sky, many stars as he could see, that's how many descendants he would have, too many to count.
Abraham was so excited, he had this promise, he went home told his wife Sarah, "We're going to have a baby". The problem was, they were both way too old to have children. Logically speaking it was impossible. They waited year after year, nothing happened. Every circumstance said it was too late, but at 90 years old, this was 20 years after they received the promise, Sarah gave birth to a son, they named him Isaac. You can imagine how thrilled they were, what that son meant to them. He was what they had dreamed about for so long, now the promise was fulfilled, they're so grateful.
If the story stopped there, it'd be a happy ending. God is good, let's move on. But God's plan is going to include some twists, some turns, things we don't understand. When Isaac was a young boy, God told Abraham to take his son on top of mount Moriah and sacrifice him. I can hear Abraham, "God, what do you mean?! You gave me this son! This is what you promised, my heir, my legacy, everything I've dreamed of. And now you want me to put him on this altar"? That was a test. Would Abraham give God the thing that meant the most to him? Would he lay down what he had in mind, even though it didn't make sense?
On the way to our destiny we're all going to have some Isaacs to lay down, these test where God is saying, "Will you trust me when it doesn't make sense? Will you put on the altar how you thought your life would turn out"? Abraham didn't miss a beat. He got up early the next morning, took Isaac, they headed up the mountain. It's a three-day journey. They got close to the top, Isaac said, "Dad, we have the wood, we have the fire, but where is the sacrifice"? Abraham said, "Don't don't worry, Isaac, the Lord will provide". He was saying, "God, I trust you. Doesn't make sense, but I'm surrendering my will to your will".
At one point Isaac realized that he was a sacrifice. He wasn't a little toddler, the scripture says he carried the wood on his shoulders. He was a young man, he could have resisted, fought his dad. "Dad, you heard from God, but I didn't hear, find someone else". But even he submitted to his father's will. He didn't understand it either, but he was saying, "God, we trust you". When Abraham lifted his arm, an angel shouted "Do not harm the boy. Lay down the knife". Abraham looked over and there was a ram caught by his horns in the brush. He took that ram and sacrificed it. While Abraham was coming up one side of the mountain, being obedient, trusting God's plan, the ram was coming up the other side. Abraham couldn't see it, but the provision was already in route.
Like Abraham, many of you have laid things on the altar. You didn't understand it, but you said, "God, I trust you". You had to lay your child this off course on the altar, dream that didn't work out. You've been taken that treatment and things haven't improved, you know God gave you the promise, but you put it on the altar. Because you've been obedient, you've trusted when it didn't make sense, God has some rams coming up the mountain for you: healing, provision, restoration.
Abraham put what meant the most to him on the altar. When he did, God gave it back to him. It was through Isaac that all the nation of Israel came to pass. God took that question mark, what didn't make sense to Abraham, and turned it into an exclamation point: descendants like the stars in the sky. Now we know him as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It happened because Abraham trusted a plan that didn't make sense. He was faithful with things he didn't understand. Had he been set in his ways, "God, you gave me this child, no way I'm going to put him on the altar", we wouldn't be talking about Abraham. Sometimes God will ask you to do a hard thing, to put something on the altar that means a lot to you. But I found: when you give it to God, and show him that you trust him, he'll always give you more back than you could ever imagine.
My sister Lisa and her husband Kevin wanted to have children. They weren't able to conceive, and Lisa took all the fertility treatments, had a couple surgeries, none of that helped. Doctors finally said, "I'm sorry, Lisa, you're not going to be able to have children". She was devastated, she told how she had been consumed with having a baby, it's all she thought about, that was the main focus of her prayer, "God, you promised me a baby, please let me conceive". But anything you have to have in order to be happy, the enemy can use against you. I'm not saying to give up on a dream, but don't let them consume you to where you don't enjoy where God has you now.
Lisa realized she had to do like Abraham and put the baby on the altar. She said, "God, I'm not going to ask you about this baby again. You already know what I want, you know this is my dream, I'm not going to let it frustrate me anymore. I trust your plan for my life". Few months later she received a phone call from a friend of ours that runs an organization that helps girls in need. It was a teenager about to give birth to twins. Lisa had never mentioned anything to our friend, what's interesting is my brother-in-law Kevin is a twin, it was always his dream to have twins. Well, they were able to adopt those babies at birth, they raised them, today they're beautiful young ladies.
God took that question mark "Why can't I have children", he turned it into an exclamation point! Lisa said, "I had two babies, and I never had to get pregnant". This all happened when she let go of what she had in mind. She has trying to force it, "God, do it this way". She had to put it on the altar, the thing that meant the most to her. When she did, like with Abraham, God gave it back to her.
And sometimes we can get so consumed with what we want, it's like it becomes an idol. It's a good thing, but we're out of balance. We can't be happy without it. Turn it over to God, pray believe, then rest. Know that God is working, know that his plans for you are for good, that nothing can stop what he's purposed for your life. That at the right time it will come to pass.
But the reason some people are frustrated is not because God is not going to give you an Isaac, not because he's not going to do what he promised, but it's not going to happen the way you think, when you think, with whom you think. You have to be at peace with his plan. God has not forgotten about you, he sees the lonely night, he sees the closed doors, the hurts, the delays. You can't see it now, but it's all working for your good.
Isaac is not only on the way, the promise, but the ram is coming up the mountain, the healing, the provision, the spouse. God is ordering your steps, he's fighting your battles. He has not brought you this far to leave you. Trust him when you don't understand. Hold tightly to your dreams, but hold loosely to how it's going to happen. If you'll do this, I believe and declare: God's about to turn your question marks into exclamation points! Things you didn't see coming, the right people, restoration, promotion, new levels of your destiny, in Jesus name. And if you receive it, can you say amen?