The God Who Goes Before You | Joel Osteen

Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes, and if you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. I want to talk to you today about the God who goes before you. We all face situations where we don't see a way out. The obstacles look too big. We've had the problems so long, our dreams seem impossible. This is the way the Israelites felt. They were headed toward the promised land. They had all kinds of people coming against them, opposition from every direction. They felt overwhelmed, outnumbered, inadequate. In the natural, they didn't have a chance. But God said to them in Isaiah, I will go before you and level the mountains. I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron so that you will know I am the Lord your God, the one who summons you by name. You may have big obstacles in your path, situations in your health, your finances, a relationship. You don't see how it could work out. The odds are against you. But God is saying to you what he said to them, I'm going to go before you and level those mountains. Whatever's trying to stop you, a mountain of sickness, a mountain of addictions, a mountain of depression, it may look insurmountable to you, but it is no match for our God. One touch of his favor, he'll turn that mountain into level ground. That means you won't even have to climb over it. It's going to be easier than you think. You're not going to have to struggle, work, worry, fight. God's going to smooth it all out. It may be a mountain now. It may look intimidating, but don't worry, it's about to become level ground. In the scripture, the word used for God's power in the original language is dunamis. That's where we get our word dynamite. You know what dynamite does. It brings down buildings, clears out anything that's in its path. Those obstacles in your life, those mountains that have been holding you back, I can see right now God putting the dynamite in. He's about to light that fuse. You've been faithful, you've given, you've served. Get ready for some explosions. God's about to level some things. An explosion of good breaks, an explosion of healing, an explosion of freedom. Those obstacles that have held you back are about to be blown away. God says he will level your mountains, not make a tunnel through them, not make a path around them, not even give you the strength to go over them. God is going to do something unprecedented, something out of the ordinary. The scripture says, so you will know he is the Lord your God. God wants you to know that he is all powerful.

He's going to do some things in your life where you have no doubt that was the hand of God. You will not only know, but the people around you are going to know. When God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites went through on dry ground, Pharaoh and all of his men knew that was the Lord their God. When Lazarus was raised from the dead, everywhere he went, people stood in awe of the Lord his God. God wants to give you some evidence, something that can't be disputed. You couldn't have made it happen. You didn't have the talent. The medical report said you shouldn't be here. Or maybe all your relatives are addicted. You should be the same way, but the Lord your God summoned you by name. He went ahead of you and leveled those mountains. Now everyone can look at you and see the blessing of God on your life. God wants to make you an example of his goodness. You may have seen his favor in the past, but you haven't seen anything yet. God has some explosive blessings that are going to catapult you to the next level. It's good to remember the great things God has done, but God doesn't want you to live on past victories. Always talking about what happened when I was growing up, what happened 30 years ago. That's fine, but God's about to give you something new to talk about. He's about to give you some fresh victories. Isaiah said, God will break down the gates of bronze and cut through barren earth. of iron. That means things that have held you back for years. Addictions, lack, depression, insecurity. This may be in your family line for generations. Looks like that's your lot in life. Thoughts will tell you, just accept it. That's who you are. But God is saying, I'm about to break some generational curses. I'm about to put an end to what's held you back. That depression is not staying in your family line. That addiction is not going to be passed to the next generation. That struggle and lack is not your destiny. This is a new day. The God who spoke worlds into existence is breaking chains. Chains of defeat, chains of mediocrity, chains of depression. It's not going to be the way it used to be. You're stepping into a new season. You're going to have a strength that you didn't have. Things are going to fall into place. You're not going to have

to fight. God is cutting through the bars of iron. That means he's going to make things happen that you couldn't make happen. You didn't have the talent to do it on your own. You didn't have the connections. The odds were against you, but it's suddenly going to turn around. You're suddenly going to step into a new level. You're suddenly going to break that addiction. How could this be? The God who goes before you is breaking the chains, cutting through bars of iron. I talked to a gentleman last week. He had been an alcoholic for 30 years. This is all he had known. Growing up, he watched his father and grandfather struggle with alcohol. It looked like this addiction would keep getting passed from generation to generation. He had tried to stop, but wasn't able to. Now he was accepting it. One day, he was so miserable, he said, God, I can't do this anymore. Please send somebody to help me. He specifically prayed, God, send me a counselor. Just so happened, he flipped on our Sirius XM channel. He would listen for hours and hours every day. He said, with tears running down his cheeks, Joel, you became my counselor. You were the answer to my prayer. For the first time in 30 years, he's been sober for eight months. He couldn't do it on his own, but God broke the chains. God cut through the bars of iron. There may be things that have held you back for a long time. Every voice tells you it's never going to change. You're never going to break it, never get well, never meet the right person, never get out of debt. On your own, that may be true. The good news though, you're not on your own. The most high God is going before you. He's going to break the chains and it may not have happened yet, but don't worry. Your time is coming. This is your year of yes. Yes, to break the addiction. Yes, to healing.

Yes, to meeting the right people. Yes, to seeing new doors open. Joshua 24, the Israelites were up against seven nations that were bigger and stronger. They had more equipment, more training. The Israelites on their own didn't have a chance. They could have retreated and thought, hey, it's not meant to be. We'll never take this land. There was no way in the natural, but God's ways are not our ways. He said to them in verse 12, I will send hornets ahead of you to drive out the inhabitants. You won't have to do it with your own sword and shield. I will give you the land that you didn't work for and cities that you didn't build. How did God get rid of these seven powerful nations? Did he send in tanks, Navy SEALs? Did he call down angels from heaven? Gabriel, go take care of them? No, he sent an insect. He sent hornets ahead of them so they didn't have to fight. You may not see how your situation could ever work out, but don't worry. God has plenty of insects. He has ways to do it that you've never thought of. He may not do it a traditional manner. Quit trying to figure everything out and trust him. He's in control of your life. He knows how to get you to where you're supposed to be. The Israelites could have reasoned it out. God, they have the latest equipment. They have chariots. They're trained soldiers. We're former slaves. We don't have a chance. This is not our field. God said, don't worry. You're not going to have to fight. I'm going ahead of you, I'm going to level your mountains." God is saying the same thing to you. Put down your shields, put down your swords. You're not going to have to worry, struggle, try to force it to happen. God is going ahead of you. He is going to drive out the inhabitants that are on your land. That means whatever's keeping you from your health, your joy, your abundance, your victory, that's your land. That's what God promised you. I believe right now He's beginning to drive them

out. You're going to come into your land of health and wholeness. God is driving out sickness and disease. You're coming into your land of increase and promotion. He's driving out struggle and lack. You're going to come into your land of unprecedented favor, where God takes you where you could not go on your own. If God showed you all He had in store, you would think, oh, that's not for me. God, you've got the wrong person. I don't have the training, the experience, the talent. You may not, but the God who goes before you is going to give you land that you didn't work for, cities that you didn't build. The Houston Rockets basketball team played in this facility for nearly 30 years. 1999, they wanted to move out and build a new arena. The citizens were going to have to pay for most of the construction, so they had to put it up for vote. The citizens voted no. They didn't want to pay. The Rockets couldn't move out. A year and a half later, it was put on the ballot again. This time, the citizens voted yes. The Rockets were cleared to move, and they built the new arena. What's interesting is if the vote would have passed the first time, Lakewood wouldn't have been ready for this facility. My father had just died. We were working through changes, trying to keep everything going, not sure what was going to happen. I believe God put the building on hold, caused it to not pass because He knew it was supposed to be ours. We weren't ready for it yet. If it had gone through the first time, most likely it would have been sold to a developer, and we wouldn't be here. But a year and a half later, after everything calmed down, after my father's death, and we saw incredible growth, it was like God said, all right, let me drive the inhabitants out of your land. Let me move the basketball team so I can give you the arena that I've destined for you to have. God gave us a facility that we didn't have to build. This was more than we could imagine. We couldn't have done it in our own strength. A professional basketball team, they were bigger, stronger, more powerful, but God has the final say. What He has destined for you, no person can stop, no organization, no group. He knows when the right time is. If it hasn't happened yet, you didn't miss your opportunity. God is holding what belongs to you. Whatever's on your land, when it's your time, it's no match for

our God. He knows how to move them away. He will make things happen that you couldn't make happen. I talked to a lady that has a son that's in the military. He's stationed in Hawaii. They live in Tennessee. He started competing in different military events. He won Soldier of the Year for his brigade. His parents were so proud of him. They hadn't seen him in a long time and he kept winning these competitions. His mother said to his father, I feel bad that he's over there by himself and we can't be there to support him. His father said, well, the next time he competes, get on a plane and go see him. She was so excited, she flew to Hawaii to surprise her son. When she pulled up on the base, he couldn't believe his eyes. He came running out, gave her a big hug, had tears coming down his cheeks. He said, Mom, I was out walking in the woods this morning and I prayed, God, I need my family. Please make a way that I could see them. This mother had already flown 10 hours from Tennessee. She had already landed before he prayed. God said in Isaiah, before you call, I will answer you. Before the words ever came out of his mouth days earlier, God already had the answer on the way. That's the God who goes before us. Things you haven't even prayed about. He's already lined up the answer. My brother Paul was in Haiti several years ago, right after the big earthquake. He and a team of surgeons were operating on all the injured people. At one point, the main monitor they were using during surgery to monitor the patient's vital signs went out. Without that monitor, they couldn't do any more surgeries. It was too dangerous. They looked all over the little makeshift hospital, couldn't find another one. Paul and the team made phone calls with no success. It looked like it would be several days having a monitor flown in from the United States. It was very frustrating to have all the surgeons, the talent, the ability, but one small thing was keeping them from helping so many people. A few hours later, the hospital administrator came up, a local Haitian man carrying a brand new monitor, still in the box, the exact one that they needed.

Paul and the team were amazed that he would have that monitor. Paul asked him where he got it. He explained how two years earlier, he had been at a hospital administrator's conference in the United States. Everyone that attended had their name entered into a contest for a door prize. It just so happened out of several thousand people, he was chosen for this monitor. He had no need for it at the time. It was in storage, but God knows what you're going to need in the future. He knows who you're going to need in the future. The good news is he's going ahead of you right now, lining up the right people, the right supplies, the right opportunities. He has solutions to problems you haven't had. Before you call, he will answer. He's a strategic God. Nothing happens by accident. He's already planned out your days from the end to the beginning. He knows what you need today and what you're going to need 10 years from now. Why don't you trust him? A young couple in Los Angeles were moving out of their apartment complex and as they were going down the elevator with their mattress, the elevator quit working. They were stuck. They called the front desk and waited and waited. An hour later, they were finally able to get out. They were carrying the mattress toward their truck. They heard some commotion up above. They looked up and a three-year-old boy was playing on the balcony railing on the third story. Very dangerous. They tried to get his attention to get him to go back in, but he wouldn't listen. They were so alarmed, they rushed over with their mattress and put it underneath where

the boy was playing. In a few seconds, this little boy fell off the third story balcony, landed right in their mattress unharmed. He was autistic and couldn't hear what they were saying. The scripture says, a sparrow doesn't fall to the ground without God knowing about it. A little bird. How much more is God concerned about you, about your family? You're his most prized possession. Well, Joel, that's a lucky break. As some coincidence, no, that was the God who goes before us causing things to fall into place. That elevator not working properly. That was a divine delay. That was God causing it to malfunction, to put those people at the right place at the right time. You can be assured God will be there to watch over you and your children. He'll even be there when you make mistakes, when you get off course. He doesn't say, I'll go before you. I'll protect you. I'll level your mountains. If you perform perfectly, if you never get on that third story balcony, do something foolish, God loves you unconditionally. He knows we're going to make mistakes. In his great mercy, he'll be right there to help you get back on course. This is what happened with Jonah. God told him to go to the city of Nineveh. He had clear instructions. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do, but Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. He went the opposite direction. God said, go left.

He went right. You would think God would say, all right, Jonah, you're on your own. I'll go before you if you go to Nineveh, but good luck if you go the other way. Jonah got on a boat headed in the wrong direction and a huge storm arose. Yes, there are consequences for going the wrong way. But that doesn't mean God is not going to help you He's going to give you another chance and another chance and another The boat was about to capsize. They were all about to die Jonah finally admitted he was the cause they didn't think twice. They threw him overboard Jonah was out in the middle of the ocean in a huge storm. No lifejacket. No chance of survival This should have been the end Jonah died doing his own thing. Don't feel sorry for him But God doesn't abandon us when we make mistakes God had already gone before Jonah in the wrong direction He had that big fish waiting to swallow him up and spare his life Like Jonah many of us would not be here if God had not gone before us in the wrong direction We brought the trouble on ourselves It was nobody's fault except our own but God in his mercy was there to help get us out. I Want you to have this assurance that you're not doing life by yourself The creator of the universe is going before you he has you covered You can lie down at night in peace not just when you do everything right, but even when you make mistakes You may think that you've blown it too many times you've gotten too far off course You wouldn't be hearing this if God was finished with you And you can try to outrun God, but you'll never be successful God knows your next move when you show up He'll be right there not to condemn you but to help restore you To give you another chance to help you get back on the best path You can still become all God's created you to be Years ago, there was a pastor of a large church in America He was very successful

But he made poor choices and he got off course He ended up losing his family and had to resign from the ministry. It's very sad He was living very down on himself Guilty condemned feeling all washed up Several years later. He was in South America a local pastor that he knew there Invited him to come to his church He was sitting on the platform during a service This man came up looked him in the eyes almost in amazement and began weeping This pastor didn't know what was going on The man started praying for him all of a sudden he felt a warmth come over him like nothing He had ever felt he said it was like this Love was purging him of all the guilt the shame the hurt For the first time he was able to forgive himself That night was a turning point. He left there feeling restored knowing that God still had a purpose for him After the service, he asked that man why he prayed for him like that This man explained how 20 years earlier he was praying and out of nowhere He saw this man's face in his heart God said to him one day you're going to see this man face to face and you're to help bring healing and Restoration to him. What's interesting is 20 years earlier This u.s. Pastor wasn't in the ministry He wasn't even married yet yet God had already lined up the right person to help him God knows the end from the beginning He has solutions to problems. You haven't had he's going before you not to just level mountains But to help lift you when you fall to help restore you when you make mistakes He'll have the right people there to help bring healing and wholeness Maybe God is using me to help get you back on the right course. We didn't meet by accident God caused our paths to cross You may have made mistakes, but that didn't cancel your destiny God has already forgiven you his mercy is bigger than any mistake He already has a new beginning waiting for you. Why don't you get back in the game quit living guilty?

Condemned you wouldn't be alive unless God had something amazing up in front of you friends You're not doing life on your own You have an advantage The God who goes before you is fighting your battles Are you living worried stressed out wondering how it's going to work out? God is saying Trust me. I have you covered. I know where you are and I know where you're going Those obstacles that look like they're never going to change you need to get ready This is a new day. I believe and declare, God is breaking chains that have held you back. He's driving the inhabitants out of your land. You're going to see increase, restoration, healing, breakthroughs, the fullness of your destiny. You will know it is the God who goes before you in Jesus name. If you receive it today, can you say amen? 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. Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place. Victoria and I will be right back to speak a blessing over you.