Joel Osteen Podcast - Be Faithful In Small Things | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

You may feel like what you’re doing is insignificant, but when God has something great in store, He often starts with something small. Those seemingly insignificant things are preparing you for the greatness in your future.Your best days are still ahead, and together we can make a difference in this world with the message of God's hope and love. To give visit JoelOsteen.com/GiveHope.Daily inspiration. Scriptural promises. Get ready for a new year of faith with the Hopes & Dreams 2024 Planner. Our special December offer will let you journal your thoughts, record your prayers, and hold on to the dream God has placed in your heart. Request your copy today! https://bit.ly/3T8xgqS   Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks so much for listening to the podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. We believe you're going to have an awesome 2024, healthy, productive, and favor-filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message. Well, God bless you. Always a joy to come into your homes. We love you. We know God has something great in store. If you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I'll promise you we'll make you feel right at home. but thanks for tuning in and thanks again for coming out today.

And I like to start with something funny. And I heard about this archaeologist from New York. He dug down 10 feet and discovered traces of copper wiring dating back 100 years. He concluded that New Yorkers had a telephone network over 100 years ago. Not to be outdone, an archaeologist from California dug down 20 feet and found traces of copper wiring 200 years ago. years old. He concluded that Californians had a

massive high-tech communications network over a hundred years before the New Yorkers. Hearing these reports, Bubba from Texas dug down 30 feet on his farm and found absolutely nothing.

He concluded that 300 years ago, Texans had already gone wireless. 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 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 being

faithful in small things. When God has something great for us to do, he often starts. with something small. And how we handle the seemingly insignificant things will determine whether or not we see God's blessings in a greater way. Maybe you're working as an assistant at the office, but you know you've got more in you. You could easily run that whole office, but it's been a long time and you're not seeing any new opportunities.

You could easily get discouraged and start slacking off, being less than your best. But those years of doing what you're, you might consider to be an insignificant task where you're not making any progress, that's what's getting you prepared for the great things God has in store. That's a time of proving. The road to greatness often goes through the road of smallness. You have to show God you'll be faithful in the wilderness before you'll get promoted to your promised land. But if we have a sour attitude and we think, I'm more talented than my supervisor. I should have their position. I shouldn't have to

clean up after these people. I've got more experience than them. Or Joel, I wanted to be in leadership and they put me in the nursery. I thought I'd be praying for people. They've got me changing diapers. No, if you're not faithful where you are, you will never get to where God wants you to be. My father started Lakewood with 90 people back in 1959. They were in a little abandoned feet. store. It was an old run-down building. My dad had just been the pastor of a big beautiful church. He had over a thousand members. And for some reason, for 13 years, Lakewood hardly grew at all. Here my dad was giving it his best. He knew God had put bigger things in his heart. But even in spite of all that he did, after 10 years, Lakewood still had less than 200 members.

My father could have thought, God, I must have heard you wrong. I thought, I thought you said we'd have a ministry that would touch the world. We're not even touching our own community. He could have gotten discouraged, but instead, he just kept doing his best, being faithful, day in and day out. He preached three times a week, giving it his all, acting like there were thousands. One day, it was like God opened up a faucet. People began to come in droves from all over town.

They grew out of that little building. They had to build a place seating a thousand, then 2,000, then 4,000, then 8,000. My father saw that dream come to fulfillment. What happened? He passed the test of smallness. He proved he would be faithful in the wilderness and God promoted him to his promised land. The scripture says here in Zechariah, don't despise the day of small beginnings. You may start small, but if you stay faithful, you're not going to end small.

In those 13 years that my father had 90 members, those were extremely important years. They were years of testing, years of proving. May have seemed like they were insignificant, like he was just wasting his time. But the truth is, if it were not for those 13 years, my father would not have had the success that he had. That's what got him prepared. You may feel like you're doing something right now that's insignificant. You're in the wilderness, so to speak. It's not growing.

You've got bigger things in your heart. Feels like a waste of your time. You need to have a new perspective. Just like my father, you're in a season of preparation. That's a time of proving. When we do the right thing and we're not seeing increase, we go the extra mile and nobody says thanks. You get to work on time and give it your best,

even though you've got bigger things in your heart. something's happening on the inside. That's building character. Your roots are going down deep. You're developing strength, trust, confidence. You will only go as high as your roots go down deep. Don't despise the day of small beginnings. That's what's laying the foundation for how far God's going to take you.

A lot of times we get frustrated and we think, God, why is it taking so long? I'm giving this business my best. when's it going to grow? God, I want to get married. When am I going to meet someone? God, I want to live in a nice house. Why am I still stuck in this small apartment? No, don't underestimate the value of small things. You may feel like nothing is happening, but God is closely watching you. He's seeing what kind of attitude you're going to have when you're not getting your way. How much effort are you going to put into it, even when it's not growing? How consistent are you going to?

to be when it's taken a long time. Are you going to pass the test? Friends, harvest is not the only season. There are seasons of planting, seasons of watering, seasons of fertilizing, where we don't see any growth. It doesn't look like we're making any progress, but behind the scenes, God is getting us prepared. The scripture says, don't get tired of doing what's right, for in due season, you will reap if you don't give up. For some of you, your due season is right around the corner. You have been faithful. You've done the right thing. Now is not the time to get discouraged. Now is not the time to slack off. Now is the time more than ever to dig your heels in and say, I may not see anything happening, but I know God's getting me prepared. So I'm going to keep pressing forward, being my best.

I'm going to pass this test knowing that my due season is on its way. There's a certain kind of plan. called the Chinese bamboo. For the first four years, it barely grows above ground. You can hardly see anything happening. Even though you're watering it, fertilizing it, making sure it has the proper light, it looks like that nothing is happening. But underground, where you can't see, it's developing a massive root system. Those roots are spreading out in every possible direction. And in the fifth year, once the roots are properly established, that Chinese bamboo suddenly takes off and it will shoot up as high as 80 feet in the air, from zero to 80 all in one year. So often, we want fifth year results without the four years of preparation. But without

the years of underground growth, there would not be any above ground growth. Without the years of developing our character and proving to God that will be faithful, we won't see the increase in promotion that we should. You may feel like that plant that nothing is happening. You're wondering why God isn't doing anything, even though you're being your best, you're watering, you're fertilizing, you're planting, but still the business isn't growing. The marriage isn't getting any better. But what you can't see is on the inside, God's doing a work in you. every day you get up and give it your best with a good attitude, shaking off discouragement, shaking off self-pity, your roots are going down deeper.

And at the right time, when God knows you're prepared, just like that Chinese bamboo, you're going to shoot up. God is going to thrust you to a new level. But understand, the longer it takes, the bigger your future. Many of you have been faithful for years and years. even though you don't see anything changing, you just keep being your best, doing the right thing. That tells me that God has incredible things in store. You are developing a massive root system because God is about to shoot you up higher than you've ever even imagined.

Don't get discouraged. You've come too far to stop now. When it's taken a long time, those thoughts are telling you, it's never going to change. It's never going to get any better. No, just keep reminding yourself, my due season is on its way. The reason is taking a long time is because my future is so big. My roots are having to spread out wide because God is about to shoot me up high. This is what happened to David.

David spent years and years on the backside of the desert, taking care of his father's sheep. His brothers were out having fun, doing more exciting things. Here David got stuck with something. kind of menial. He got the leftover job. David had big things in his heart. Samuel had already anointed him to be king. He knew God had something great for him to do. He could have said, I'm not going to stay out here with these sheep. I've got more in me. I'm headed to the throne. This is a waste of my time. No, David understood this principle. He didn't despise the day of small beginnings. He knew that was getting him prepared. He knew his roots were going down deeper.

And so he stayed faithful and just kept being his best. And one day, like that Chinese bamboo, suddenly he took off. When he defeated Goliath, suddenly he was thrust into his destiny. Overnight, David became a national hero. All of Israel knew who he was. He was highly esteemed. But in reality, it didn't happen overnight. It happened because of years and years of faithfulness.

out there in the shepherd's fields when nobody was cheering him on. When he felt alone and forgotten, that's when he developed his massive root system. That's when he proved to God that he would be faithful. The scripture says, if you will be faithful in little, God will trust you with much. And you may feel like you're in the lonely shepherd fields right now. You're doing something that really feels insignificant to you. You know you've got more talent. you've got more on the inside.

You could easily kick back and slack off and be less than your best. But I want to encourage you, you are in a very critical season. Without this season, your roots will not develop properly. Without the underground growth, you'll never experience the above ground growth. Our attitude should be, I may feel stuck. This may feel mediocre like less than I have to offer, but I'm going to keep being my best. I know my roots are spreading out.

And at the right time, just like God did for David, he is going to thrust me to a new level. He is going to get me to where he wants me to be. I know this gentleman that has a degree in marketing. It's very sharp, very talented. But right out of college, he couldn't find a job anywhere. Month after month went by. And he kept interviewing, doing everything he could,

but no doors were opening up. Finally, a friend of his fathers, who worked at this huge global company, offered him a position in the mail room. He couldn't find anything else. So he took it. All during the day, even though he was way overqualified, he would unload boxes, stock the shelves, ship out the product. He never complained. He didn't get sour. He just kept thanking God that the right doors were going to open up.

Three years went by, and he didn't see anything happening. He'd gone on many job interviews, but still no success. His attitude was, this is where I am, so I'm going to be the best that I can be. I know if I stay faithful, I'm going to come into that fifth year. I'm going to see that unusual growth. One day, a position opened up in that same company in the marketing department. He applied, and they hired him. A couple of months later, the man in charge of the department got transferred to another location.

And against all the odds, they promoted this young man, even over others that had more seniority. He just recently told me how he was made a vice president of all of marketing for that entire global corporation. What happened? He came in to his fifth year. He passed the test. He didn't despise the day of small beginnings. He knew his root system was being developed. He went through planting, through watering, through further.

One day like that Chinese bamboo, God shot him up higher than he ever imagined. Here's how Proverbs 2820 puts it, the faithful will abound with blessings. That word abound means to be catapulted, to be thrust to a new level. Many of you have been faithful. You have given. You have served. You've gone out of your way to help people. You didn't complain when you didn't get the credit.

you didn't get discouraged because it's taken the long time. You just kept being your best day in and day out. Well, you need to get ready. You are about to abound. God is about to do something new in your life. You are going to come into a new season. You have been through planting, you've been through watering, you've been through fertilizing. It's your time for harvest.

Like that Chinese bamboo, you're going to see explosive growth. You're going to see God. do unusual things to where you look up and think, how in the world did I end up here? Here's how. Your years of faithfulness. Your years of being your best when nobody gave you credit. Your years of serving when nobody said thank you. Your years of loving those people when they were not easy to love.

You developed a massive root system that can be promoted. That's what's going to allow God to catapult you higher. than you ever thought possible. I have a friend that comes every week to the services. His tithe, 10% of the income that he gives, it is now more than his yearly income used to be. In other words, God has blessed him with 10 times more than he had just a few years ago.

What's the secret? Years and years of giving when he didn't see anything happening. When his mind was telling him, you are wasting these funds, you could be putting this in, savings, all these thoughts trying to talk him out of it. He didn't get discouraged. He just kept doing the right thing.

Giving, serving, being his best. One day, he hit that fifth year. God thrust him higher than he ever even dreamed up. Maybe you've been giving a long time and not seeing any increase. That just means that your roots are developing.

God is getting you prepared for amazing things. Stay faithful and keep passing that test. I'll never forget at our other location. I was in the lobby one day during the week. I saw this gentleman pulling on the glass door trying to get in. They were all locked. And so I walked over and opened it and asked him, how could I help him? And he handed me a offering envelope. He said, Joel, I'm going to be out of town this weekend. So I just wanted to stop by and drop my offering off. That's a faithful man.

He wouldn't even lead the city without giving God what belonged to him. He can expect. He can expect. to abound sooner or later, the windows of heaven are going to open up and pour out blessings he cannot contain. Just a few weeks ago, I saw one of our volunteers wearing a bracelet from the hospital. I could tell she had been a patient. I asked what was going on. She told how she'd had a fairly major surgery just four days before. The doctor wanted her to stay in the hospital at least for a week to fully recover. But she said, doctor, I've got to go to church on Sunday. I'm a volunteer. I serve as a greeter. My team is expecting me. He said, no, ma'am, you may not leave this hospital. You are not going to church. She said,

Doctor, I have to be at church. He looked at her and said, do you go to Lakewood? He ended up, he ended up giving her a three-hour pass so she could leave the hospital. He said, you can go, but you come right back here and get in this bed so you can recover. That's Lakewood people, you can't keep them out of church, faithful people. Some people are always looking for an excuse not to come. Oh, my big toes hurt and I can't go today. My child has Little League at seven to night. We need 12 hours to prepare. Not Lakewood people, the faithful will abound. I remember the first little auditorium that Lakewood had, that little feed store that I talked about was so old and run down. Had two main doors, one in the back and one over on the side.

And the one on the side was so beat up and so old, you could hardly get it open. You'd have to struggle with it and finagle it. Back then, we didn't have the money to buy a new door, so we just left it closed. Nobody complained. We didn't despise the day of small beginnings. We just kept having services week after week, year after year. One day, we hit that fifth year, saw that explosive growth. I was thinking about today how blessed we are, but a lot of it is because of the faithful people from years ago. That first group of 90, they couldn't afford one new door, but the faithful will abound. Do you realize in this building there are 287 doors? God has shot us up higher than we ever even dreamed of. You may feel like you're stuck and you're not making any progress.

where you are is a waste of your time. Now I want you to have this new perspective. You are not stuck. God is getting you prepared. That's a part of the process. Your roots are growing down deep. If you will keep the right attitude at the right time, you will see increase that doesn't just affect you. It will affect your children and your grandchildren. You are laying the foundation for future generations. your faithfulness is going to cause not only you to abound, but you're going to pass it down to those that come after you. Keep being your best. Don't complain when it's hard.

Don't quit because it's taken a long time. Don't give it a half-hearted effort because it seems small, seems insignificant. You have to go through a season of smallness before you ever see God do great things. Most of you know how for 17 years I worked behind. the scenes here at the ministry doing the television production. Every Saturday night, I would go over to my father's house and pick out his suit and his tie to wear on television the next morning. My mother used to say, Joel, you do not need to come over here.

Daddy is a grown man. He can pick out his own clothes. The problem was, I had seen what my father had picked out before. Daddy like loud colors. You may remember the old campus. One time he had the Sunday school buildings painted bright red, lime, green, orange, purple, yellow. Look more like the Disney Channel. So I'd go by without fail every Saturday night and pick him out something to wear.

I wrote it down on a chart that I would keep. Just a small thing. Some of my friends would give me a hard time. Joy, you pick out your dad's ties. You got better things to do than that. No, I wanted the broadcast to be the best it possibly could be. I never dreamed one day I would be picking out ties. me to wear on television. I never dreamed I would be the one in front of the camera. I know now

it was all those years of faithfulness that were getting me prepared. I had to show that I would be faithful in the small things before God could trust me with much. When my father went to be with the Lord and I took over, people would say, well, Joel came out of nowhere. Suddenly he was thrust on the scene. And yes, it was suddenly in one sin. but the suddenly only happened because of the 17 years before that I had done my best. They said I came out of nowhere, but really I came out of somewhere. They just didn't see the years of preparation. The years of picking out ties.

The years of traveling with my father, doing my best to make him look good. And I'm not trying to brag on me. I'm just making the point. If you're faithful in the small, when you're not getting the credit, when it's not exciting, when you've got bigger things in you, but you just keep being your best, staying under that authority, then at the right time, like that Chinese bamboo, suddenly God is going to thrust you to a new level. Suddenly, a new door will open. Suddenly, a position will open up. Suddenly, you'll get the break you need. Suddenly, you'll meet the person of your dreams.

It'll happen quickly, but you'll know the reason you got promoted was because all the years that you stayed faithful and did the right thing when you didn't see anything happening. Whenever you see someone that's blessed, someone in leadership, someone living an abundant life, you can be assured they went through a season of preparation. They passed the test of being faithful in small things. There are no shortcuts. We have to be prepared before we're promoted. I think about how even Victoria, she used to do my father's hair.

She wasn't trained in that. Her background is in the jewelry business. Her family owns a store. She was raised selling diamonds and jewels, a sophisticated business. One day, the lady that normally would do my father's hair and put some powder on and for television, she couldn't be there. And Victoria stepped up. We never asked her to do it.

She said, hey, how about I'll do it today? My father liked how she did it so much. He asked her to do it on an ongoing basis. So Victoria has swing by every. Sunday morning pick my dad up and bring him to church and put that powder on and make sure he looked good. Here Victoria has sold jewelry to some of the most wealthy, influential people around. She's traveled the world buying diamonds and jewels. In a sense, she could have seen that as being a little insignificant. Why did I volunteer? I asked for one week. I didn't know it's going to be

every week. No, she was just as happy as could be. She just kept being her best right where she was. And I really believe it was these years of serving behind the scenes that got us prepared for where we are today. The scripture says, though your beginning was small, your latter end will greatly increase. You may feel like you're in a small season today. You're not seeing a lot of growth. Not much is changing. But if you will be faithful where you are, increase is coming your way. your latter days will be greater than your former days.

Some of you think that you've already seen God's best. You're blessed. Your family is prosperous. You're living out your dreams. And that's great. But God is saying here, you haven't seen anything yet. The victories you've experienced in your past are going to pale in comparison to what God has in your future. You may think you're far down the road, but in God's eyes, where you are right now is just the start.

point. You haven't touched the surface of what God has in store. If 10 is the highest and zero is the starting point, God is saying you're just coming up to zero. You think you've done well. You think your business has grown. You think your family's been blessed. No, you need to get ready to abound. Get ready to be catapulted. When you abound, your income now will become your tithe. God has explosive blessings coming your way. You have not entered in. You. You have not entered in to your fifth year yet. What you've seen God do in a past is just a spillover from your roots developing.

But when you really hit your fifth year, God is going to shoot you up to a level that you never even dreamed of. Keep being your best. Don't despise the day of small beginnings. Every day you get up and are faithful, your roots are going down deeper. If it's taken a long time,

that just means you've got a big future. When you don't see anything happening, instead of getting discouraged, no, just keep reminding yourself, I'm not stuck. My roots are going down deeper. I'm getting prepared for increase. I want to declare this over each one of you.

Because you are faithful, you will abound. You will see God's blessings and favor in greater ways. New doors are going to open, new opportunities, new victories, new relationships. Because you are faithful, your roots are going down deeper. No storm can topple you. No adversity can stop you. no enemy can defeat you. Because you are faithful, your latter days will greatly increase. Your future will be brighter than your past. You will see every dream, every desire,

every promise God put in your heart. I believe and declare you will see that come to pass. Amen. Do you receive that today? It's January. Time to renew my faith. It's January. It's time to start a new season. It's January. There is no better time than now to set the course of our year ahead. The beginning of the year is a great time to start a fresh and anew, to let go of negative things of the past, and to get ready for the new things God has in store. Every January, we create a new devotional calendar that will help you throughout the year.

When you start the day off in faith, grateful for what God's done, making positive declarations over your future, you're setting the tone for a bolder. blessed day and a victorious year. This devotional will help you get your mind going in the right direction so you can go out each day in faith, knowing that God is in control, that his plans for you are for good. I'd love to send you a copy. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this first month of the year, we would like to send you a copy of our brand new 24, 365 day devotional calendar. Do you want to set a faith course for your life? in 2024? Do you want to see your life take off in new directions of influence, favor, and provision

in the year ahead? Using this devotional calendar is as easy as one, two, three. One, wake up with an expectancy in your heart. Two, reflect on the daily scripture verse and devotional from Joel. Three, capture God's promises to you on journaling lines for writing and reflection. Be sure to request your copy of the 2024 devotional calendar. available this month by simply visiting us at Joelosteen.com or calling 888-567 Joel.