Faith Without the Evidence | Joel Osteen

We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services. I'd like to start with something funny, and I heard about this lady. Every day she saw this old man sitting on his porch rocking in a rocking chair. She always seemed to be so happy, and one day she got her nerve up and went over to him and said, "Sir, I can't help but notice." She always smiling, always in a good mood. "Tell me, what is your secret for such a long, happy life?" He said, "Oh, that's easy. I smoke three packs of cigarettes a day. I eat nothing but junk food, and I never exercise." She said, "That's amazing. How old are you?" He said, "26." No, don't live like that. All right, y'all ready? 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 taught 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 faith without the evidence. It's easy to believe when you see things happening. You're getting good breaks, doors are opening, your health is improving. You know it's a hand of God working in your life. But sometimes we have promises we're standing on, but we don't see anything improving. We're praying, believing. There's no sign that the promise is on the way, week after week, month after month. That's when doubt comes. Thoughts whisper, "You're not going to get well," or, "You'll never meet the right person." That dream's not going to come to pass. You're no further along today than you were two years ago. There's no evidence of things changing. But here's the key. True faith doesn't require evidence. Hebrews says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." If you can see it, if you have evidence, you don't need faith. That's why the Scripture says to walk by faith and not by sight. If you're basing your faith on what you can see, is this improving? Are there signs that God is working? You're going to be discouraged.

Because often God works in secret. He's doing things behind the scenes where there's no visible evidence. Everything on the surface looks the same. That's the test of your faith. Are you going to give up because you don't see anything changing? The circumstances, the facts don't line up with what you're believing for? Or are you going to have real faith and say, "God, I'm not moved by what I see. I'm moved by what you've said. I don't need evidence to believe what you promised me is on the way." That's the faith that gets God's attention. Faith that believes when nothing is changing. This is what Noah did. God told him to build an ark that there was a big flood coming and he needed to protect his family. The challenge was it had never rained. Maybe a light missed, but not rained like we know it today. Imagine what was going through his mind. He's got this instruction from God, this promise that he's going to save his family. But it doesn't make sense. God, if you want me to build an ark, at least let me see some rain. At least let there be a storm, some dark clouds. That way I know it's going to happen. Noah had no evidence that a flood was coming. The Scripture says, "By faith, Noah be in warned of things not yet seen." God will give you a promise, but he may not give you any evidence. The circumstances may not change. What you see here may look the opposite. The report hasn't improved. Relationships the same. The door still won't open. There may be things not yet seen.

The key word there is "yet." You can't see it, but that doesn't mean it's not going to happen. God is working in the unseen. Things are happening that are not visible. The question is, will you believe without a sign? Will you stay in faith when the circumstances aren't matching what God promised you? You heard healing, but you still see sickness. You heard abundance, but you still see lack. You heard freedom, but you still see addiction. You have to choose what you heard over what you see. Let God's promises be louder than the doubt. Noah went out with no sign, no clouds, never flooded before and started building the ark. Faithful. Day after day. Being obedient. Doing the right thing when it didn't make sense. You would think he'd get a little sign, a little encouragement, but every morning, he woke up to the same evidence. Blue sky, sunny, still as clear as can be. Thought said, "No one, you're wasting your time." You must have heard God wrong. If it was going to flood, surely there'd be some dark clouds. Surely you'd hear a little thunder here and there, but nothing. Every day, Noah had to choose to believe what God promised over what he saw. That's the real test of faith. We not let the circumstances, what you see or don't see, talk you out of what you've heard.

Noah didn't need a cloud in the sky because he had a word in his spirit. He let that word become more powerful than what he could see. He made a daily decision, "I'm gonna believe what God said." Not one time, three months ago, every morning, Father, thank you that what you promised is on the way. I'm not moved, but what I don't see, the circumstances, the clouds, the lack of evidence, I know you are faithful to your word. With every swing of that hammer, he was saying, "God, I trust you." Every board he nailed into place was a vote of confidence in what God promised him. Many of you are like Noah. You're believing without a sign. God put that promise in you of health, freedom, victory, but the circumstances say the opposite. You could be discouraged, complaining, but you keep giving your best. Be in your excellent at work, loving your family. You are passing the test. God sees you trusting when nothing is changing, praising even though the problem is not turning around. Be an obedient, even though doors are not opening. Your time is coming. You don't see anything happening, but God is working behind the scenes. Don't be fooled by lack of evidence. You're right where you're supposed to be.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. You are proving to God that you trust him. You are showing him that you believe what he said over what you see. And the key is to not get talked out of it, because thoughts will whisper, surely it would have happened by now. You would see some improvement. Your child would be a little better. The boss would treat you a little nicer. The medical report would have improved a little bit. All those thoughts are based on what you can see, but faith is based on what God said. If you walk by sight, how's everything looking? What's improving? Then I'll believe you'll miss God's best. The question shouldn't be, how does it look? The better question is, what did God promise? You have to let what you've heard override what you see. Every day, the evidence said to know what, nothing's changing. The sky is blue, but God's promise said, "A flood is coming. You're going to need that boat." You get to choose what report you're going to believe. Are you going to walk by faith and believe what God said? Or are you going to walk by sight and let circumstances determine what you believe? Noah saw that same clear sky year after year. The scripture doesn't say that God reminded Noah of his promise. After five years, God spoke to him again and confirmed it. Or 20 years later, God gave him a sign.

Angel showed up, had a dream one night. No God spoke that one time and then went silent. No voice, no circumstances changing, no improvement. But God being silent doesn't mean he's not going to do what he promised. You don't need a new word, just believe the original word. God has not changed his mind. You may be in a season of silence now and it's been a long time. There's no evidence that the promise is coming to pass. If you could just hear another word, some kind of confirmation, a good break, a phone call, a feather falling from the sky, then you'll know you don't need a sign. Just be obedient to the last thing God told you to do. Noah went out, started building the ark year after year. No rain, no clouds, people making fun of him, dealing with his own thoughts of doubt and discouragement. How did he keep going? He went back to that original promise. God, you said a flood is coming. You said you would save my house. I don't need a new word. I believe what you told me. When you're in a silent season, you don't hear anything new. You don't see anything changing. It's because God is growing you up. He's teaching you to trust. Yes, this is going to happen, it's going to be all right. We're going to have a dinner in a little while. But when you're about to step into new levels and break generational limitations and see healing and freedom, it's going to take believing without the evidence. Standing in faith when the circumstances aren't changing,

not being moved when every voice says, "It's not going to happen. It's been too long. It would have been proved by now." No, that silence doesn't mean that God is not working. Stay faithful. Keep doing what He told you to do. Keep standing on that promise He gave you. It may have been a year ago or 20 years ago, God did not change His mind. Not having any evidence is not a sign that God isn't working. It's a sign that He is working. If you can see it, you don't need faith. The fact that you can't see it means God is doing things behind the scenes. One of the greatest tests we all face is not opposition, it's time. Well, you keep believing when nothing is improving. Well, you keep building your boat acting on God's promises. Be in faithful when the sky is still blue. The medical report hadn't changed. You're still single. The business is still struggling. No sign of a flood. If the enemy can convince you to quit believing before the rain comes, then he won. If he can deceive you into living by what you see, then he'll keep you from what God said. Everything Noah saw contradicted what he heard, but he wasn't moved by lack of evidence. He wasn't discouraged because he was in a silent season. He had the faith to act on that one promise that a flood is coming. Victoria and I were on a road trip a while back and I was using my GPS for directions and I put the address in and this lady came on and told me exactly what to do. Turn left in two blocks and turn right in a mile, getting a second lane from the center, stayed to the right at the fork at the road, and I'm used to taking orders from a bossy lady. I mean from GPS and all these clear, precise directions, every 30 or 40 seconds made it so easy. Finally put me on the freeway.

The lady came on and said stay straight for 240 miles. Well after about 30 minutes, the freeway had narrowed to a small country road that was zig-zagging around. I'm out in the middle of nowhere thinking am I on the right road? Is this still the freeway? I thought lady where are you? You were so vocal back then but now you've gone silent. You would think she'd come on every once in a while and say you're doing good. This is the right road. Keep going forward. Nothing. She just sat there silently. It's because I was on the right path. There were no new instructions. I had to just keep following what she last told me in the same way when God gives you a promise that he's going to heal you, free you and bring a dream to pass. Like that GPS, he may not come on every mile and say you heard me right. Keep going. You're on track. There will be some silence. Times you're not getting confirmation. Not seeing any signs and thoughts will tell you you're off course. It's not going to happen. You heard wrong. Don't be moved by the lack of evidence. What you don't hear. That's a test. The silence doesn't mean that God is not working. Noah's faith wasn't just obedience. It was endurance. He could have talked himself out of it, gotten discouraged but he kept trusting despite what

he didn't hear. He kept believing despite what the circumstances looked like. I talked to a mother that was believing for her son to get off drugs. He was raised in a loving middle-class family up in the northeast. 15 years old, he heard about a new prescription drug that was going around his high school called Oxycontin. Didn't seem harmful. Just young men trying to explore and have some fun. He was a good student, the bright future, but this drug, if not used properly, can be extremely addictive. That's what happened to him and many of his high school class. This was at the start of the opioid crisis where hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives. This led him to heroin and other drugs. His once bright future turned to living on the streets in and out of jail violence, selling drugs to try to survive. His mother, back at home, heartbroken. Every moment on edge wondering if her son was alive? and ask God to turn her son around. She stood on that scripture, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." She had that promise that God was going to save her son, but year after year went by, no evidence. She didn't know where he was at times, if he was still alive, but she kept praying. She wasn't moved by what she saw by the circumstances, by the facts. She knew what she heard. God, you said, "My son will be mighty in the land that no weapon formed against him will prosper, that you will restore what the enemy has stolen." She kept building her ark, so to speak, faithful without a sign, believing with no clouds. Ten years had gone by. One day, his parole officer changed and this new lady was very strict, and when he had his drug tests that month, he tested positive for heroin. She said, "We're coming to get you right now. You're either going to serve your five-year prison sentence or you're going to go to rehab and get clean." He started making excuses. That's not what the other officer said. It's not fair. I can't do that. She hung up the phone. They picked him up. He went to rehab and 90 days later,

he was a different person. Today, he's totally clean and free. He's extremely successful, influential, doing things bigger than he ever imagined. His mother told me with tears running down her cheeks how she'd watch our program each week to find hope. She said, "This is the goodness of God, a dream come true. There may be things that you're believing for like her. All the evidence is the opposite. It's no sign of things improving. It's been months, maybe years. I know it's not easy, but don't let what you see override what you heard. God is working. Things are happening behind the scenes. The enemy would love to talk you out of God's promises, where you let the facts determine your fame, the evidence, how long it's been. Joy, there are no clouds, no thunder. How's it going to rain? You're right where Noah was. Keep doing the right thing. Keep believing and thanking God. Just because he's silent doesn't mean he's not working. Just because the evidence is not there doesn't mean it's not going to happen. It took Noah 100 years to build the boat. Imagine being obedient 100 years with no sign of rain. 100 years he kept doing the right thing with no clouds in the sky. No evidence that it was going to happen. Even after the boat was completed, some scholars say it was two more years before the rain came. It's one thing to be building it, but once it was built, don't you know people came by and made fun? We told you you were wasting your time. You just spent all this money, all that effort. Now you got a boat out in the desert. Noah's attitude was, "I don't see it yet, but I still believe. I don't have any proof. Nothing's changed, but I know God is faithful, and what he promised me is still on the way." Anybody can believe when it starts raining, but faith believes when the skies are still clear. One day Noah's out there minding his own business, just another normal day, and these animals started coming toward the ark. Noah didn't go after them. The scripture says the animals will come to you. Noah's part was to obey. God's part was to bring the provision. I can hear people making fun of Noah mocking him. Then they see two lions coming to the ark, two giraffe walking that way, two elephants, two squirrels, this parade of animals supernaturally coming. For a hundred years there was no sign but stay in faith the evidence is coming. God knows how to show out in your life. If not only started raining, the scripture says the fountains of the deep opened up. One version says the underground waters burst forth on the earth. I can imagine all those years Noah was looking up for rain, for clouds, any thunder? That's how he expected it to flood, but God had hidden resources. God not only brought rain, but he brought water out of the earth that

flooded the land. We're expecting God to do it one way, but you don't know what God has hidden for you. Ways that you didn't see coming, he's hidden healing, hidden favor, hidden abundance. That's why you shouldn't get discouraged when you don't see a sign. You don't know what God is up to. You don't know how he's going to do it. You're expecting rain, bring water from unexpected places, healing, favor, freedom, that you couldn't plan, that wasn't predicted. This is supernatural breakthrough, supernatural abundance. That's what happened to us. When we needed a larger sanctuary, I was looking for property to build an auditorium. That's the way I saw my father do it, the traditional way, but my plan kept failing. Twice the property was sold out from under us. That's disappointing, I thought, man, why isn't this working out? It's because God had a hidden resource. I was looking for rain, but God was about to open the fountains of the deep. He was gonna do something that I couldn't see coming. That's what this building is, the underground waters bursting forth. You don't know what God has hidden for you. You don't see any clouds, no sign of rain. So that's why I'm discouraged, nothing's changing. I don't see any evidence of things improving. What if God is about to open the fountains of the deep? What if he has sources you've never thought of? Ways to bless you, heal you, promote you, free you that you've never seen?

That's why there's no evidence. It's gonna happen a supernatural way. Don't let the evidence or the lack of evidence fool you. Don't let the time convince you that it's not going to happen. It's interesting that God used Noah as the example of things not yet seen. It's not a coincidence that Noah went over a hundred years with no evidence, but he kept building, kept thanking God. Well, the good news is we're not gonna have to wait a hundred years, we don't live as long as they did. God was showing us if I'm faithful to Noah after a hundred years of no evidence, I'm gonna be faithful to you with no evidence. Well, Joel, I've been believing for six weeks and I don't see anything changing. You have to be more determined than that. Be in it for the long haul. Faith is not believing because you see something. Faith is believing until you see something. The real miracle is not that Noah built the art. The real miracle is that he kept building the art. He didn't let the circumstances, the lack of evidence to talk him out of what God put in his heart. One time the disciples were on a boat in the middle of the night and this great storm arose. All these winds and waves and Jesus came walking on the water and they were afraid. They thought he was a ghost. They finally recognized Jesus.

Well, Peter was so intrigued. He said, Lord, I wanna come out there with you. Jesus said, come. What's interesting is Jesus didn't say, let me calm the storm first, Peter. Let me get these waves down. Winds not so strong, then it'll be easier. No, he said, come while the storm was still raging. You don't need the conditions to be perfect to fulfill what God's called you to do. He may not stop all the storms, all the trouble, make everything nice and calm, then you can believe. Then you'll take those steps of faith or don't be moved by the circumstances, be moved by what God tells you. Jesus told Peter, come. He got out of the boat in the middle of the storm with winds and waves and he walked. He wasn't really walking on the water. He was walking on a word. He had that promise, come. The water wasn't holding him up. The word was holding him up. The water was unstable. The word is unshakeable. But the scripture says, when Peter saw the wind, he shifted from hearing to seeing. What are the facts? What are the circumstances? He thought, oh my goodness, am I crazy?

These waves are dangerous. These winds could knock me down. I could drown. He started to sink. The waves didn't change. His focus changed. Instead of focusing on the promise, on what Jesus said, he focused on the facts, the circumstance, the evidence. I'm out of here in a storm. This doesn't make sense. It's impossible. If you focus on the evidence, you're going to sink. That's what Peter did. He shifted his focus from the word to the wind. He didn't sink because the storm got worse. He didn't sink because the promise changed. He sank because he looked at the wrong evidence. And sometimes like Noah, there's no evidence of what God promised. Other times like Peter, there's a lot of negative evidence. This medical report, my financial situation, my relationship, if you focus on the winds and what you see, it will talk you out of what you've heard. The beauty is Jesus picked Peter. God knows we're not perfect. He's not gonna let you go under. But this story is a lesson about what are we giving our attention to? The winds, the waves, the evidence?

Or are we giving our attention to the promises of God and what he says about us? I'm asking you today to walk by faith and not by sight. You may have circumstances where you don't see how they could resolve. There's no way in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He has hidden resources. We're looking up for the rain. He's got the fountains of the deep. He has underground blessings that can flood your life. Be like Noah, keep building that ark, even though there's no sign. Keep trusting, be an obedient, even though you don't see things changing. Let what you've heard override what you see. If you'll do this, I believe and declare, you're about to see these hidden resources. God's surprising you with healing, opportunity, the right people, the fullness of your destiny, in Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can you say amen today? I'd like to give 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. If you prayed that simple prayer, we believed you got born again. And we'd love to send you some free information

on your new walk with the Lord. You can text the number on the screen or go to the website. But I hope you'll get into a good Bible-based church and keep God first place.