Beyond Your Ability | Joel Osteen

God gave Nehemiah a dream to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. They had been down for many years. People were living there unprotected. Nehemiah was a thousand miles away working as a cupbearer for the king. He wasn't a builder. He worked in the kitchen. He didn't have the resources, the funds, the crew, the experience. All the odds were against him. Looked like an impossible situation. Many times God will ask you to do things that seem beyond your own ability. He'll put dreams in your heart that seem too big. You don't have the experience, the talent, the connections. If we look at it only in our ability, then we'll talk ourselves out of it. But God wouldn't ask you to do it if he hadn't already lined up what you need. It looks difficult. You don't see how it can happen. But if you'll take steps of faith, you'll discover God has already gone before you. It's going to be easier than you think. I'm not saying there won't be obstacles, people trying to stop you, and times that you can feel overwhelmed, but God is not going to leave you there. There would be these moments of favor where God makes things happen that you couldn't make happen. Like changing that council member's mind. Favor that catapults you into your destiny. Favor that opens doors you can't open. Favor that causes your business to take off. Nehemiah could have thought of all the reasons why he couldn't rebuild the wall. God, this is too hard. What you're asking me to do is not reasonable. It's not practical. But deep down, Nehemiah understood this principle, that the God who asks you to do difficult things is the same God that goes before you and makes the crooked places straight. It's a test. If you play it safe and think, I can't do it, Joel, the Antichrist are too big, the dream too great, the opposition too strong, then it will be too hard. The problem is you never saw what God was up to. If you don't take the risk, you'll never see how God was going to step in and make it easier than you thought. All the odds were against Nehemiah. Thoughts telling him he didn't have a chance. This was not possible, but Nehemiah chose to believe. God is looking for some Nehemiahs, for some people who won't get talked out of their dreams, people that are not moved by how big the challenge is, people that don't dread thinking it's too hard, too much, too long, too great, I can't do it. No, be a Nehemiah. The reason God's asking you to do something that's beyond your ability is he's about to show you his favor like you've never seen. It looks hard, but if you'll take that step of faith, you'll discover God has gone before you. He's going to cause things to fall into place. It's going to be easier than you think. Nehemiah chapter one, he prayed, God, grant me success as I go to the king and ask for a favor. Put it in his heart to help me. Nehemiah prayed a bold prayer. God, I'm going to go to the king. I'm going to ask him to be good to me, but I need a favor, God, put it in his heart to help me. What a great prayer. God, put it in people's heart to help us. God, cause us to stand out. God, cause people to want to be good to us. Well, y'all, that's kind of selfish. Listen, if you're going to reach your destiny, if you're going to accomplish your God-given dreams, if you're going to go places no one in your family has gone, you have to have a boldness. You can't be weak, intimidated, this is too much. You have to ask big, pray big, believe big. You're going to need other people to open doors, other people to fund your dream, other people to use their influence to push you forward. Have you ever prayed, God put it in people's hearts to help me, put it in people's hearts to show me favor? Nehemiah went to the king. The scripture says the first thing the king said was, Nehemiah, how can I help you? When God puts a big dream in your heart, he's already lined up the people to say, how can I help you? How can I be good to you? Where can I show you favor? Nehemiah asked the king for permission to take time off to go rebuild the walls. There was no reason for the king to agree. The walls being down didn't affect him, but for some reason the king said, fine, Nehemiah, you can go. Nehemiah said, thank you, but I need another favor. I don't have any materials. I don't have the funds. I need stones, rocks, mortar, supplies. Now he's asking the king to fund his dream. You would think the king would say, excuse me, this is your project. I'm giving you the time off. Don't expect me to pay for it. But once again, the king said, yes, I'll give you the supplies. God has already lined up the provision you need. I've heard it said what God orders, he pays for. You may not see how you could ever have the funds, how you could start the business, build that orphanage, move into a nicer neighborhood. You know, God put that promise in your heart. But when you look at what you have, your resources, there's no way. The good news is it's not just up to you. Like Nehemiah, God has people that will fund what he promised. He controls the universe. He knows how to get to you what you need. Not natural, but supernatural increase. Contracts coming to you, ideas, opportunities, people tracking you down. You have to do like Nehemiah. Lord, I believe you're going to cause people to be good to me. You're going to open the windows of heaven, pour out resources to bring to pass what you promised. It has to go beyond the natural, because if you just focus on what you have, you won't see a way. God puts dreams in our heart that are bigger than what we can afford. This is where faith has to kick in. This is where you have to pray bold prayers and believe for uncommon resources out of the ordinary increase so you can rebuild the walls, so you can accomplish what God put in your heart. Nehemiah said, King, one last thing. I need protection as I travel to Jerusalem. The scripture says the king granted Nehemiah all his requests because the gracious hand of God was on his life. He went and rebuilt the walls in 52 days, record time. If Nehemiah were standing here today, he would tell you when you're facing a big obstacle, a big dream, it may look impossible. You don't have the resources. Thoughts are telling you it'll never work out. Let me encourage you, it's gonna be easier than you think. People will be there to help you. The funds will show up. The good breaks will come. You have an advantage. You're not doing life by yourself. Like Nehemiah, the gracious hand of God is on your life. How are you gonna beat the cancer? The gracious hand of God. How are you gonna overcome the loss? The gracious hand of God. How are you gonna accomplish that dream? The gracious hand of God. There is favor on your life that will cause you to go where you can't go on your own. I'm not saying that on the way to our destiny that there won't be challenges, there won't be setbacks and things you don't understand, but if you stay in faith, you're gonna come in to these moments of favor where God suddenly opens a door, causes people to be good to you, turns the medical report around. It's not gonna be a constant struggle. You're gonna say like Nehemiah, it was easier than I thought. Well, Joel, what if I believe this and it doesn't get easier? What if you believe it and it does? You have to release your faith. I can tell you if you're dreading things, convinced that the struggle is permanent, gonna be so hard to accomplish my dream, hard to raise my child, hard to get well, your own thinking is limiting your life. Get in agreement with God. He's going before you right now, making crooked places straight. You're about to see things begin to fall into place. The right people show up, the right doors open, the resources, things that you used to struggle with are not going to be a struggle anymore. You don't have to make it happen. You just have to believe. Father, thank you that your gracious hand is upon my life, that I'm coming into these moments of favor, that what I'm facing is going to be easier than it looks. During World War II, an American fighter pilot was flying a mission over the Pacific Ocean when he ran out of fuel. He had to land on an island controlled by the Japanese. He and his men knew they would soon be captured and taken as prisoners. With their plane sitting on the beach, no fuel, they had all given up. All that is except one man. It just so happened this bomber was carrying a chaplain. He believed that God could make a way where he didn't see a way. He began to pray and ask God to protect them, give them favor, help them to get back to their base. The other men thought he was kind of far out. They were on a deserted island, no boat, no food, just a matter of time before they would be found. Early the next morning, one of the men couldn't sleep. He decided to go to the beach and take a walk. He looked out in the waves and saw something strange bobbing up and down. There was this large canister, about five feet tall, three feet wide. He went over and looked closer. The words were written on it, aviation fuel. He couldn't believe it. He shouted to the other airmen. They came, pulled it out of the water. They rushed to their plane, poured the fuel in it. In a few minutes, they were in the air on their way to their camp, not far away. Their lives were spared. Later, it was discovered that the canister was one of hundreds that were on a big cargo barge headed to the airbase. On the way, the barge was destroyed by the enemy forces. All the other canisters had been lost, but this one floated over a thousand miles past 25 other islands. Just so happened to wash up on this island right where the plane had run out of fuel. It just so happened the soldier went out early that morning and saw it. Seemed like an impossible situation. Deserted island on the enemy's territory. No airport, no gas stations, but God never runs out of options. He had the solution before you had the problem. That canister had been floating in that direction months before the plane ever run out of fuel. It could have sunk. Gotten lost, washed up on another island, but what God has ordained for you is going to find you. It's gonna show up at the right time. God already has the healing en route, the promotion en route, the freedom en route, the abundance is en route, the right people are en route. May seem like you could never get out of your situation, never accomplish that dream. You don't know what God is up to. You don't know what's already en route. It's not gonna be as difficult as you think. It's not gonna take as long as it looks. God is going before you making crooked places straight. If you could see what he has coming, how he's gonna turn the trouble around, restore what you've lost, thrust you to a new level, you wouldn't be discouraged. You wouldn't complain. You would thank him for his goodness. It may look complicated, may seem stressful. You don't see how the odds are against you. You could live worried. You have to keep reminding yourself, it's going to be easier than you think. God is in control. He's fighting your battles. His plans for you are for good. He's bigger than the sickness, greater than the trouble, more powerful than what's trying to stop you. In the scripture, Gideon and his 300 men were facing an army of 120,000. Gideon was already afraid, intimidated. God finally convinced him to lead the people of Israel against the Midianites. I can hear him saying, God, this is impossible. We're so outnumbered. How do you expect me to defeat these people? God puts you in situations that are way over your head. Number one, to see if you'll trust him. And number two, so he can show out in your life. God said in Judges 6, Gideon, you will defeat the Midianites as if you were fighting one man. God was saying, Gideon, I know you're facing 120,000 men. I know you're outnumbered. I didn't put you in this situation by accident. Trust me, I'm going before you. I'm going to make the crooked places straight. It's going to be easier than you think. Gideon and his men blew their horns and shouted. The enemy got confused and ended up destroying each other. Gideon didn't even have to fight. They never even broke a sweat. There's something called a no sweat anointing. That's when you don't have to make it happen. You don't have to strive, work, manipulate. You just stay in faith and God does it for you. God will change the council members' mind. God will cause the king to give you the resources. God will bring the canister of fuel to you. You may be up against a challenge that's much bigger. Like Gideon, you feel outnumbered. The sickness seems stronger. The addiction seems permanent. People against you are more powerful. God is saying to you what he said to Gideon. You're going to defeat it like you're fighting one man. It's going to be easier than you think. God is going to do things out of the ordinary, uncommon, unusual. You couldn't make it happen. It's God going before you, making the crooked places straight, defeating giants, bringing promotion, favor, victory. Now, let faith rise up today. Sure, we're going to have challenges. There are going to be seasons we have to endure, outlast, stand strong, but what I want you to see is there are also moments of favor where God's going to step in and make it easier than it looks. Don't go through life dreading, worried, stressed out. You're not doing life on your own. The gracious hand of God is upon you.