Being Confident In What You Have | Joel Osteen

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I like to start with something funny. I heard about this country grandmother. She'd go out on a front porch every morning and say, "Thank you, Lord, for another day." Her next door neighbor didn't believe in God.

He'd shout back, "There's no such thing as the Lord." One morning, he heard her praying that God would send her groceries for the week. He snuck over early in the morning and put groceries on the front porch. When she came out, she said, "Thank you, Lord, you did it again." He began to laugh and laugh.

“He said, "God didn't send you those groceries."”

I put them there. She looked up to the heavens and said, "Lord, thank you. You're not only sent me groceries, but you made the devil pay for it." Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it.

This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be talk the word of God.

I boldly confess my mind is alert. My heart is receptive.

I will never be the same in Jesus name.

God bless you. I want to talk to you today about being confident in what you have. It's easy to focus on what we don't have. I don't have the talent. I don't have the education.

I don't have the right personality. But as long as you think you're lacking, it will keep you from God's best. It's not enough to just have faith in God. That's important. But you've got to take it one step further and have faith in what God has given you.

You have to believe you are equipped. You are empowered. You are the right size, the right nationality.

“You have the talent, the resources, the personality, everything you need to fulfill your destiny.”

I have people tell me, "I don't have a lot of talent." Here's the key. You don't need a lot of talent. You have exactly what you need. If you use what God has given you, he'll get you to where you're supposed to be.

I've learned. It's not necessarily the amount of talent, the amount of education, the amount of money. What makes the difference is God's anointing on your life. Because you can have average talent. When God breathes in your direction, you'll go further than someone that has exceptional talent.

You can have an extraordinary problem. But with the favor of God, he can take an ordinary solution and cause you to be victorious. That's what happened with Samson. He was surrounded by huge army. He had no weapons, no protection.

All the odds were against him. He began to look around to try to find something to defend himself. All he could find was the jawbone of a donkey. He could have thought all great. Just my luck.

I need a sword. I need a shield. And all I have is this jawbone. It was small. It was ordinary.

But he didn't dismiss it. He was smart enough to realize that was a part of his divine destiny. He picked it up and used it to defeat the entire army. That jawbone, even though it was ordinary, when God breathed on it, it became extraordinary.

What am I saying? You don't have to be bigger, stronger, tougher to overcome your obstacles. You don't have to have great talent in order to do something great.

When you honor God with your life, you have the most powerful force in the universe, breathing in your direction.

God knows how to take something ordinary and make it extraordinary. Now get in agreement with him and be confident that you have exactly what you need. Don't ever say, I don't have the strength. I don't have the looks. I'm too tall, too short.

I'm too young, too old. Zip that up and start declaring. I am anointed. I am equipped. I am empowered.

I am the right size. The right nationality. I know the right people. I have the right amount of talent. Plus I'm good looking as well.

I must throw that in there too. One time Jesus had been teaching thousands of people. Started to get laid in the day and the people were hungry. Jesus turned to his disciples and said, I want you to give them something to eat. They wrapped in the middle of nowhere.

There were no grocery stores, no food. It seemed like on the surface what Jesus asked was impossible.

God will never ask you to do something and then not give you the ability to do it.

“I hear people say, I know I need to forgive, but I just can't do it.”

It's too hard. I know I should take that management position, but I don't feel qualified. That's saying what the disciple said. It's impossible. We don't see a way.

And Jesus heard all their excuses. He finally said, you've told me all about what you don't have. All I want to know is what do you have. He said, Jesus, we just have five lobes of bread and two fish. But what is that among so many?

They looked at what they had and dismissed it. It's not enough. Joel, I believe if I had more talent, more education, more going for me. No God is saying to you what he said to them, give me what you have. Don't make excuses.

Don't sit on the sidelines of life intimidated thinking that you're unqualified. Put your life, your dreams, your goals, your talent in the God's hands. Jesus took the five lobes, two fish, prayed over it. You know the story, it multiplied. And somehow it fed nearly 15,000 people.

“That's what happens when you give God what you have.”

He'll multiply it. Now what you have may seem small compared to what you're facing. Compared to the financial difficulty. The medical problem or the size of your dreams you could easily be intimidated. But God is saying if you'll give me what you have.

That means if you'll be the best you can be right where you are. Living with confidence. Believe in that God's breathing in your direction. Then God will do for you what he did for them. He'll take the little and he'll turn it into much.

Well, Joel, I got a big problem, but I don't have big resources. That's okay. God does. He owns it all. He's got you in the palm of his hand.

Your obstacle may be high, but our God is the most high. That enemy may be powerful, but God is all powerful. He has the final say.

Here's what I've learned.

God is not looking for super talented people. He's looking for ordinary people who will take the limits off of him. So he can show his goodness in extraordinary ways. Be confident in what you have. When David went out to face Goliath,

all he had was a slingshot and five smooth stones. Didn't look like much. Goliath was nearly twice his size. Goliath had been trained in the military. He was wearing a full set of armor.

Had a lot of experience extremely powerful. Here David was a teenager. He had no formal training, no equipment, no experience. He was a shepherd. When Goliath saw David and how small he was, he began to laugh.

“Goliath said in effect, David, have you looked in the mirror lately?”

You are no match for me. I am bigger, stronger, tougher, but David understood this principle. Even though it was small, he realized that slingshot was given to him by God, a part of his divine destiny. The scripture says that David ran toward Goliath.

You would think if you're half his size, you would sneak up. You're trying to surprise him. No, when you know you're equipped, you're empowered. God's given you what you need. You will not shrink back in fear.

You will run toward your enemies. God used a simple slingshot to thrust David to a new level of his destiny. My question today is, are you overlooking something small, something ordinary that God has given you? Are you sitting back thinking, I don't have the talent, the education,

I don't know the right people, know you have exactly what you need. It may seem small, but when you take these steps of faith, God will do for you what he did for David, he'll breathe on your life, and what was ordinary will become extraordinary. When my father went to be with the Lord in 1999,

I knew I was supposed to step up and pass through the church,

but I had never ministered before.

I thought of all the reasons I couldn't do it. I don't have the experience, I don't have the training, I don't have the booming voice, I don't have the dynamic personality, all in all and I came up with all these excuses. One day, I heard God say something to me, not out loud,

but just down in here. He said, "Yo, you've told me all about what you don't have, I'm not interested in that. All I'm asking you to do is use what you do have." I stepped out with a little talent, a little ability,

a little experience, a little confidence. I didn't have much to give, but I realized now,

It looked small, it seemed ordinary.

But when you give God what you have, he'll take the small and you'll turn it into much. Now quit telling God what you don't have, and what you can't do, and how if you just had a better personality, no be confident that you have exactly what you need.

It may not be as much as somebody else. That's okay, you're not running their race. Don't envy their talent. Don't cover what they have. We shouldn't you had their looks, their personality,

their opportunities. Listen, if God gave that to you, it wouldn't help you. It would hinder you. You're not anointed to be them.

You're anointed to be you. When God greeted life into you,

“he equipped you with everything you need to fulfill your destiny.”

You have the talent, the confidence, the strength, the creativity to fulfill your purpose. Now, it may seem small. When I started I felt unqualified, intimidated, but as you take these steps of faith,

believing that you're equipped, confident in what God's given you. God will take the small and he will multiply it. One day, you'll look up and say, "Like me, how in the world did I get to where I am?"

That's the goodness, the favor of God. Here's how the scripture puts it. It's not by might, not by power, but by his spirit. That's saying it's not just talent, not just education, not just what family we come from,

what causes us to excel.

What causes us to go places we've never dreamed of

is when the most high God breathes on our life. Sometimes, like David, we feel like all I have is a slingshot. You're up against a huge giant. They've got a machine gun, so to speak.

No comparison. But you can stay in faith. You don't have to lose any sleep. Your slingshot with God's anointing is more powerful than a machine gun with no anointing.

Now, know some of your up against a major challenge. Your health, your finances, or relationship. You say, "Jaw, I've got this big problem, but I have just little faith." Let me encourage you.

That's okay. You don't have to have great faith. Just use what you have.

Jesus said, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed,

you can say to a mountain be removed. Nothing is impossible to you." When you use even small faith, God can move mountains. When you say, "God, I don't know how this is going to work out."

I don't know how my dreams could come to pass. I don't know how I could get over this medical situation, but God, I trust you. My life is in your hands. Even if it's small faith,

“that's what allows the creator of the universe to go to work.”

One time in the scripture, there were four lepers sitting outside the city gates. There were contagious, so they had to stay away from people. To make matters worse,

their city was surrounded by an army. They had cut off the water supply, they were waiting for the people to get so weak then they would go in and attack them. These lepers had nothing going for them.

No future to speak of. But one of the lepers said to his three friends, "If we just sit here, we're going to die for sure. Why don't we take a chance

and march toward the enemy's camp and see what happens?" Notice, they didn't have great faith. They didn't say, "We know God's going to protect us, deliver us, save us."

Their attitude was, "We are 99% sure we're going to die. What do we have to lose?" They had small faith. They started marching toward the enemy's camp.

Don't you know God saw them take that journey of faith? They could have been sitting outside the city gates, depressed, bitter, complaining, blaming God instead, they're using what they have.

Not much, just a little faith, a little effort, a little strength. The scripture says, "As they march toward the enemy, God multiplied the sound of their footsteps and caused them to sound like a vast army.

When the enemy army heard it, they thought they were going to be attacked by thousands of troops they panicked and took off running for their lives, scared the death.

They left in such a hurry, they didn't even gather up their belongings. They left behind all their treasures, their livestock, their food, when these lepers got to the camp. Nobody was there, they were amazed.

They went back home and told their families, they all came back and gathered up the spoils. God not only saved their lives, but God used them to spare the entire city.

“That's what happens when you use what you have.”

It doesn't have to be great faith,

Just doing something small,

“just showing God that you're trusting him.”

That's when supernatural things can begin to happen. God can cause people, God can cause people to hear what he wants into here. One time years ago, when I worked in the television department here at Lakewood,

I was meeting with this salesman about buying a large amount of television equipment. He had flown in from another state. We had a good meeting. He called back in a few days

and mentioned that he was going to be able to give us a discount that we had requested. He made the statement, it was the largest discount he had ever given. He'd been with the company over 30 years.

I said, That's great. What amount of discount is it? He seemed kind of confused. He said,

"What do you mean, Joel? You told me the exact price. You gave me the amount that you had to buy this equipment for.

I thought I never told him that.

That's not even my personality. That was God causing him to hear what he wanted him to hear." Here's what I found. God can cause you to be seen the way he wants you to be seen.

You may not feel very powerful, very influential. The good news is, it's not how you feel that matters is how God causes you to be seen.

Now, get an agreement with God. You may not feel it, but part of faith is acting like it. Act like you're strong,

like you're not connected, confident, secure, empowered, blessed. You've heard that saying, "You've got to fake it till you make it." Now, don't ever say,

"I don't have the strength. I don't have enough money.

My company could never compete with this other business.

They've been going for years. No, you don't know how God is causing you to be seen. You may feel weak, but because of God's favor on your life, everyone you encounter,

as confident, as successful as can be. What is that? God causing you to be seen, the way he wants you to be seen. Now, do yourself a favor.

Don't go around telling everyone how you feel. Just put your shoulders back. Stand up tall, not weak, intimidated, but like a child of the most high God.

When you stay in faith like this, God can do for you what he did for these four lepers, he will multiply what you have. He'll multiply your talent.

Multiply your resources. Multiply your influence. God is a God of multiplication. What you have may be small right now, but you need to get ready.

It's not going to stay small. You're going to come into increase. To good bright, to the right people, to healing,

to restoration, to new opportunities, to favor, like you've not seen before.

“That's what happened to this one young lady.”

She's a police officer that works in another state. She patrols a very rough area of town.

Her desire was always to help children learn how to read.

She was the oldest of 12 children. She's the one that taught all of her brothers and sisters. When she'd get called into these troubled homes, she noticed so often, there were no children's books,

nothing for the kids to read, and this really bothered her. She wanted to do something about it, but what could she do? She had limited resources.

One night she entered a false alarm at a large warehouse. She flipped on the lights and saw thousands of children's books. They were brand new, but because of a small blim-ish,

they were about to be thrown away. When she saw those, she knew they were supposed to be hers. She asked the owner right then and there if she could have them.

Without missing a beat, he said they're all yours. That night dropped in her hands were over 10,000 brand new children's books. Now she goes through the community

every weekend passing them out. What was that? God multiplying. You may not see away, but God has away.

You keep using what you have. Being the best you can be right where you are and God will open up your supernatural doors of opportunity. I love what God said to Moses. He was leading 2 million people

through the desert trying to get to the promised land. They just come out of Egypt. Didn't look like they had any way to protect themselves.

“I think it could easily be conquered by their enemies.”

Moses was down, discouraged. People were complaining. He was just about to give up, thinking that he didn't have what it takes. God said to Moses,

"What do you have in your hand?" He was holding a rod. He looked at it and said, "It's nothing, God. Just a stick. Something I picked up along the way."

God said, "Throw it down." He threw it down and it turned into a snake. God said, "Pick it up." He picked it up and it turned back into a rod. God was showing him he had what he needed.

It looked ordinary.

But if it needed to be a key to open a door,

God could turn it into a key.

“If it needed to be a shield to protect him,”

God could turn it into a shield. God is saying, "I can become what you need." Just as I can turn a rod into a snake, I can take four foot steps

and cause them to sound like a vast army. I can use a simple slingshot to defeat a skilled warrior. I can cause you to stumble to a warehouse that has thousands of books to bring your dreams to pass.

Let me ask you what God asked Moses. What do you have in your hand? Would you all just have average talent? I've got a lot of obstacles. I could never get ahead.

You've got to get rid of that limited mindset.

All mighty God, the creator of the universe breathes life into you. You have seeds of greatness on the inside. God is saying, "I have equipped you.

I have empowered you.

“I'm going before you making crooked places straight.”

I have surrounded you with my favor. Goodness and mercy are following you. Now you've got to rise up in faith and see yourself as who God made you to be. You may not be able to do this in your own strength

but that's okay. When you are weak, he is strong. When you don't see away, God has away. When all you have is a slingshot in five smooth stones,

you can still defeat a giant. God is called the great I am. I am what? I am whatever you need. I am protection.

I am promotion. I am provision. I am hell. I am restoration. I am favor.

You stay in faith and God will become what you need. A redestory that took place during World War II. It was the middle of the night. This soldier got separated from his unit. The fighting was so heavy, the smoke, so intense.

He became disoriented. Now he was in the jungle all alone. He could hear the enemy soldiers getting closer and closer. He ran up over a hill and saw a bunch of caves. He got in one, huddled down,

hoping that he wouldn't be found. He began to pray and ask God to somehow some way spare his life. As he was sitting there as nervous as can be, he noticed a spider drop down across the entry and begin to spin a web.

Kind of laughed to himself. To God, I need a brick wall. I need an iron gate and you send me a spider. He watched that spider spin layer after layer on that web. He could hear the soldiers about 50 yards away.

They were going through each cave, checking them. He braced himself for his final stand. When the soldiers got to his cave and they saw the spider's web across the entry, one of them said, "We don't need to check this one. Nobody could have gotten in without disturbing the spider's web."

They passed on by. God used a spider to spare his life. Friends, God knows how to take care of you.

“He's already lined up everything you need to live in victory.”

You don't have to worry. You don't have to lose any sleep. You just stay in peace confident that you have exactly what you need. Sometimes, when we face a big problem, we think God, I need a big solution. This soldier prayed, "God, give me an iron fence.

Give me a brick wall."

God says, "Now, I have ways to protect you, to promote you, to heal you that you've never thought of."

I can take something small, something ordinary, something insignificant, and turn it into something great. I don't need a brick wall. I don't need an iron fence. I can use a spider, cause him to spin a web at just the right time.

What am I saying? God is in complete control. What you have may seem small compared to what you're facing, but don't let that discourage you. God knows how to take something ordinary and make it extraordinary.

Well, Joel, I've got a big problem. Don't worry. There are some more spiders out there. Well, I've got a big enemy. Don't worry.

You've got your feet. God can multiply the sound. Well, my business is kind of slow. Don't worry. You've got five loaves and two fish.

Well, I don't see how my dreams could come to pass. Don't worry. God has another warehouse with resources to bring them to pass. Now, quit telling God what you don't have and start using what you do have. You may have small faith today. That's okay. Use it and God can move mountains.

You may have average talent. That's all right. Use it and God can do something exceptional. You may feel weak, but don't you dare act weak. Put your shoulders back. Hold your head up high and God will cause you to be seen

It's not by your mind, not by your power.

What's going to cause you to excel is Almighty God is breathing on your life. Right now, he is breathing on your dreams. He's breathing on your finances. He's breathing on your health. He's breathing on your children. His favor is going to cause you to go further than you ever thought possible. You are going to overcome obstacles that looked insurmountable.

Like these four lepers, because you are honoring God, he's going to multiply what you have. He's going to multiply your talent, multiply your resources, multiply your creativity. Now, this is not the time to shrink back in fear. This is the time to move forward in faith. Get up every morning, knowing you are anointed. You are equipped. You are empowered.

“If you'll be confident in what God is giving you, then I believe and declare you will overcome”

every obstacle, defeat every enemy, and you will become everything God created you to be. Come on, if you believe it, give the Lord a shout of praise today. Amen.

We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life.

Would you pray with me, just say, "Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart, I make you my Lord and Savior." For instance, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believed you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place. He's going to take you places you've never dreamed of.

Life throws so much at us, disappointments, failures, challenges. We can feel so out of touch that we no longer recognize ourselves. Life has a way of changing us. At one time we were outgoing and excited about our dreams, but when we go through disappointments and people do us wrong,

“it's easy to lose that positive, passionate person that we used to be.”

In my new book, rediscovering the forgotten you, I'll help you get back to who you really are.

The joy for you, the confident you, the talented you. It's not too late, you haven't been through too much, you may have lost part of yourself, but you can find yourself. God is in the business of restoring what was lost, healing what was broken. You haven't seen the best version of you yet, it's still in front of you. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount,

we would like to send you a copy of Joel's brand new book, we discovering the forgotten you, take back your passion, reignite your dreams, and embrace the life you were created to live. This book shares uplifting scripture and personal stories that will help you release bitterness, silence, self-defeating thoughts,

and embrace by faith, the vision of the life God designed for you. Life's challenges might have distorted the true you,

“but now you can reclaim, revitalize, and restore the version of yourself that you once knew.”

Or the version that you know God has made you to be, filled with hopes and dreams, optimism and confidence. Request your copy today and discover the best version of you yet. God is about to breathe new life, new passion, new dreams into your heart, what he started, he's going to finish.

Thanks so much for being with us today. Victoria and I are praying for you and your family for God's very best. Thank you so much for your prayer and support. Your generosity helps people all over the world. And especially thank you to our champion of hope partners

for all you do to make the ministry possible. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. Until we meet again, made the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of rediscovering the forgotten you. Available this month by simply visiting us at jolosteen.com

or call 888-567-JOL. You can also receive the God's got you rediscovered you well. You'll receive rediscovering the forgotten you and God's got you, promises for overcoming fear. It's the perfect combination to help you rekindle your purpose

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