Joel Osteen Podcast - Ease Is Coming | Joel Osteen

Episode Date: October 3, 2023

The difficult seasons are not your permanent home. God wants to give you an anointing of ease. He's about to fill your life with supernatural grace and favor! 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 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 for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. 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 like to start with something funny. And I heard about this mother. she had two young boys that were known for their mischievous behavior. Anytime trouble occurred, they were certain to be apart. She decided to take them one at a time to see their pastor.

The pastor said to the first young boy, son, where is God? He sat there silently. He asked again, where is God? Still no reply. The third time the pastor asked, the young boy bolted out the door, ran home and said to his brother, God is missing, and they think we did it. 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 ease is coming. We all go through seas of struggle when it feels like it's uphill. There's pressure raising children. Maybe you're believing for your health to improve, but it's not getting better. Too often we get discouraged and think that's just the way life is. In Matthew chapter 11, Jesus talked about how the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and you have to take it by force. He was telling us there will be

seasons where you have to stand strong and really fight the good fight of fame. But a few verses later, in the same chapter, he said, My yoke is easy and my burden is light. He was saying there will be times of struggle, pressure, difficulties, but don't get discouraged. That's not permanent. What I'm putting on you, my yoke, it's easy. It's light.

You may be struggling now. You feel pressured. You think that's the way it's always going to be. You'll always struggle with your health, struggle in a relationship, struggle in your finances. No, you're going to come in to an anointing of ease. When you come into this ease,

what once was a struggle won't be a struggle anymore. You're going to have a supernatural grace, a favor that will lighten the load and take the pressure off. God is going to make your life easier. He said he would go before you and make your crooked places straight. That means he's going to smooth things out.

You're coming into a season where things are going to fall into place. You're going to get breaks that you didn't see coming. Problems that you thought were permanent are suddenly going to turn around. You are not going to go through life constantly struggling, pressured, weighted down by problems. This is a new day. ease is coming. David said, God anoints my head with oil. Oil makes things flow.

When there's friction, things that are stuck, oil is used to lubricate it to make it more fluid. God is going to oil your life. This anointing is going to cause things to be easier. You're going to accomplish more with less effort. What's stopped you in the past, what's caused friction is not going to stop you anymore. you're going to flow right past that.

You're going to accomplish goals and think, that was easier than I thought. Never dreamed it happened that quickly. That's this anointing of ease. There's a large company that has a slogan that says, that was easy. A few years ago, a friend of mine sent me their big red button. When you push it, it says,

That was easy. I keep this by my bathroom sink. They're on the counter. Every so often, I reach over and push this button. I like to get that phrase down in my spirit. Because it's easy to go through life, looking at our problems,

focused on our obstacles, thinking, oh, man, this is going to be so hard. I dread dealing with this. It's never going to work out. That mindset is not only stealing our joy, but it's keeping us from seeing God's favor. When my dad went to be with the Lord and I first started ministering,

it took everything I had to write a message for that weekend. All my focus, my creativity, my energy, I was pressured, stressed. When I finally finished, I felt like that's the last one that I could ever do. And if I wasn't careful, I was tempted to dread it and think this is too hard. I'm not going to know what to say. I can't do this anymore. I had to turn it around. Father, thank you that your yoke is easy. Thank you that I'm well able. Thank you that you've equipped me and empowered. me. I got my mind going in the right direction. I went through seasons of struggle, strain, difficulty, but I didn't let it become permanent in my thinking. One day I came into this

anointing of ease. What once was a struggle is not a struggle anymore. Every week when I finish a message, I hit this button just to remind me that it was easy. Quit telling yourself, this is so hard. I'll never accomplish my dreams. I'll never get out of debt. This is a new day. You are going to have a strength that you did not have before. God did not create you to struggle your whole life. His yoke is easy. You may have had that addiction for a long time.

It's going to be easier than you think to break it. You're going to have a supernatural power. Maybe you're struggling in your finances, pressured to pay the bills, pressured to get ahead. I believe that pressure is coming to an end. God is going to cause good breaks to find you. New doors are going to open. Your gifts and talents are going to come out in a new way. It's going to be easier than you think. A couple of years after I wrote my first book, a man was walking by Madison Square Garden one evening there in New York. He was an executive at one of the largest publishing companies in the world. He saw my name on the marquee and people waiting in line to get in.

He'd never heard of me. He went home and did some research. He called my literary agent and said that he wanted to publish my next book. She told him that we already had a publisher and we were happy. He asked if he could make an offer. She said, of course you can. He offered an amount more than I ever imagined. When she called and told me, I nearly passed out. I said, boy, you sure do great work. She said, actually, Joel, I didn't go to him. He came to me. I thought to myself, that was easy. That was God lining up the right people, having him at the right place, at the right time. If he had not left work late that night, he wouldn't have seen those people in line. If he had not taken that train home, he wouldn't have been in that area. If he had been preoccupied, he could have

walked by the arena, just thought it's another ball game, another concert, all these things had to fall perfectly into place. That was the hand of God making my life easier. God has the right people lined up for you. He has the right breaks, the right opportunities. You may not have seen it yet. You keep honoring God, being your best. He's going to take you into overfirmation. He's going to take you into over flow. You are not going to go through life pressured by bills, pressured to make ends meet, pressured to send your children to college. God is going to do something unusual,

something unexpected, something that you couldn't make happen. I know a single parent mother, she was working hard, raising her children, trying to make ends meet. Every month she barely had enough to pay her bills. She told how she dreamed of taking a vacation. but every time she saved up extra funds, something would break that had to be repaired. She was being her best, but couldn't get ahead. It seemed like she would struggle her whole life. When you keep doing the right thing, you keep passing these tests, you're going to come in to this

anointing of ease. God is going to make things happen that will lighten the load. He's going to take the pressure off. One day her supervisor unexpectedly took an early retirement and she was given that position. With it came a significant increase in salary. She was very grateful. Several years later, her manager, one of the vice presidents of this large company suddenly resigned and she was given that position. Today she makes more than 10 times what she made when she

started. She doesn't live under constant pressure. She can take vacations whenever she wants. She supports other single parent families. She said, Joel, I don't really know how this happened. Everything just fell into place and here I am. What she is really saying was, that was easy. That's what God is going to do for you.

He's going to put you at the right place at the right time. He's going to open doors that no man can shut. He's going to cause people to do. want to be good to you. You may be struggling in some areas but don't get discouraged. That is not permanent. Ease is coming.

I talked to a young man. He was finishing up his master's. He had one final exam left. It was the hardest class on his schedule. He was very stressed out and concerned that he wasn't going to pass. We prayed and asked God to give him wisdom to help him to excel.

He came back last week so excited he had passed the test. Now I ask him, how was it? He said, it's funny because all of my classmates thought it was very difficult, but to me, it was easier than I expected. And he did his part. He studied, he prepared, then God stepped in and made it easier than he thought. Quit thinking, I'll never pass. I'll never get out of debt. This is too hard. Sometimes we're expecting to fail. We're expecting to struggle. We're expecting it to be different. We're expecting it to be different. turn it around. Father, thank you for your anointing of ease. Thank you that you're causing me to excel. Thank you that you're breathing in my direction. Some of the things that you're worrying about, you don't see how it could ever work out. It's not going to be what you think. God is going before you right now making those crooked places straight. You're going to look back like him and say, it was easier than I thought. The book of 1st Samuel, the Philistines had just defeated the

Israelites in a battle. They captured the Ark of the Covenant. That's where the presence of God was back then. The Israelites were so distraught. When the Prophet Eli heard this bad news, he passed out, fell backwards, and broke his neck. All of Israel was in mourning. They had not only lost the Ark of the Covenant, their most important possession, but 30,000 men had been killed in that battle. it looked like the ark was gone forever. The Philistines took the ark to their temple and placed it next to their god, Dagon. He was a stone statue that they worshipped.

In the middle of the night, Dagon fell over. They thought it was a coincidence, maybe the wind or something. They stood him back up. The next night, Dagon not only fell over, this time he broke into pieces. They realized their God couldn't stand in the presence of Israel's God.

Plegs begin to break out in the camp. People started getting boils and tumors. They finally realized it's because we have the Ark of the Covenant. They decided to move it to another city just to make sure the same plagues and boils started afflicting those people. They panicked and said, we have to get rid of this ark. We can't mess with the God of Israel. Seven months after they captured it,

They built this wood cart, placed the Ark of the Covenant on it, hooked it up to two young cows. They turned it loose and let those cows go wherever they wanted. They started heading straight toward the Israelites camp. In a few days, when the Israelites saw the Ark coming, they couldn't believe their eyes. They started celebrating. They never dreamed they would see the Ark again. They not only got it back, but they didn't have to fight for it. The ark came looking for them.

If they were to have had one of these red buttons, they would have pushed it. That was easy. But during those seven months, I'm sure the Israelites came up with plans and strategies, how to get the ark back. They had lost thousands of men. They knew they were going to lose more. Then they saw the cows come walking up. Suddenly their life got much easier.

They were so relieved. and some of the things that you're worrying about trying to figure out how it's going to work out, how are you going to get well, how you're going to get out of dead, how your family is going to be restored. God is going to do for you what he did for them.

He's going to cause those things to find you. You're not going to have to fight those battles. Good breaks are going to come after you. The right people are going to search you out. What you're believing for is going to track you down. God is saying, get ready. the cows are coming. What belongs to you is headed your way. The health, the freedom, the abundance, the contracts, the spouse. God is going to make things happen that you could have never made

happen. Those cows could have stayed there grazing. They could have wandered aimlessly month after month, but God controls the universe. That means God controls the cows. He knows how to get what's yours into your hands. People can't stop him. Bad breaks can't stop him. Cows can't stop him. Enemies can't stop him. The Philistines took the ark, but I love the fact they couldn't keep it. It made them miserable. That tells me nobody can keep what belongs to you. The enemy may take your health for a little while, but he can't keep it. Doesn't belong to him. You are God's property. God will send it back. He may distract your child, get them off course for a season, but he can't keep them there.

Quit worrying, quit losing sleep, they're coming back. He may have taken your dream temporarily. Had bad breaks, disappointments. Stay encouraged. What has your name on it is going to find you. Some of you, your cows are going to show up sooner than you think. what you thought was over and done, it would never work out, suddenly things are going to fall into place. You don't have to fight, you don't have to struggle, just get up every morning. Father,

thank you that my cows are coming. Isaiah said to the Israelites, your swords will be turned into plow shares, your spears into pruning hooks. God was saying, you're coming into a season where you're not going to to need your swords and your spears. You're not going to have to fight, not going to have to struggle, try to make things happen. Instead of a sword, you're going to need a plow together of the harvest. You can put down your spears. You're not going to have to go attack, try to get back what belongs to you. God is fighting your battles. He's putting pressure on those that have what's yours. You need to get ready, not for a fight, not for a fight, not for a a battle, get ready for a harvest. Get ready for a breakthrough. Get ready for healing. You're coming

in to this season of ease. I have a friend that I grew up with that struggled with an addiction for a long time. He got mixed up with the wrong students in high school and 20 years later, he was still addicted. He'd gone through rehab and all kinds of treatment, but it never worked. Like the Israelites, he looked defeated. That addiction looked so much big. And he was, like nothing he could ever do. But I saw him a couple of years ago. He told how after 21 years of being addicted, he is now totally free. He looks better than he looked in high school. Skin had cleared up, he gained some weight, had a smile on his face. I asked him how he did it. I thought he went through some type of special rehab. He said, Joel, I didn't do anything different. I can't really put my

finger on it. It was just like something broke on the inside. I felt a streak that I'd never felt before. What was that? God causing his cows to find him. God gave him the victory without him having to fight. Friends, freedom

belongs to you. Wholeness belongs to you. Quit believe in those lies that you're stuck. You'll never get well. It's been too long. It's too hard. This is a new day. that yoke of bondage is being broken. You're getting a new yoke, a yoke of ease, a yoke of freedom, a yoke of victory. You're going to break habits that looked permanent. It's not going to happen

just by your might, by your power. It's going to happen because the most high God is breathing in your direction. It may have been difficult in the past. You tried and it didn't work out. Try again. You're in a new season. You've come. You've come. You've come. You've been difficult. You've come in to harvest. You can put those swords down. You don't have to do it in your own strength. God is fighting your battles. Dare to declare, I am free. I am whole. I am victorious. Like this man, God is going to surprise you. What you thought would never turn around. Suddenly, you're going to see it happen. Several years before my father went to be with the Lord, we came across a construction permit for the last full power television station.

in Houston. The transmitter was going to be out north. We needed a place to put the station here in the city. A few months earlier, a man had called me out of the blue, left a message saying that he was in commercial real estate, that if

we ever needed anything, he would love to help. Normally, I would have erased that, not thought much about it, just another sales call. But for some reason I wrote his name and number down, put it in my desk drawer. never realizing in a few months we were going to need a place to put the station.

I called him. It was like we were old friends. He was so likable. He took us to different office buildings. They were nice, but our challenge was we needed a cell phone tower close by so we could microwave our signal down to the transmitter site. We looked for several weeks and couldn't find anything. One day he took us to this big office complex. about 50 acres, very beautiful, trees and lakes. There were new owners, and they were very excited about the possibility of having a television station there. They told us we would be their main tenants. They would give us the signage out front. They showed us offices overlooking this lake.

They wanted us so badly, their price was about half of anything we'd seen. We loved it. We wanted to be there. The only problem was we had to be there. to see if there was a cell phone tower close. We went on top of the building and looked around and we didn't see anything. I was disappointed. I thought that would have been a perfect location. Everyone left, but Victoria and I stayed and we walked around the property for about 30 minutes. As we were coming up the parking lot on the side of the building, about 40 yards from the place

they showed us, I could hear construction behind this wood fence. I climbed. I climbed. I climbed. up on the fence and looked over, they were pouring a foundation. I asked one of the men what they were building. He said, a cell phone tower. I nearly fell off that fence. I said, is there room for other clients? He said, yeah, it's brand new. I called the company the next day we had a contract to microwave our signal. What was that? God causing things to fall into place, going before us, making crooked places straight. Well, Joel, that's just a lucky break. Can you? Can I tell you the lucky breaks you've been having, that's the hand of God. That's the yoke of ease.

When you recognize God's favor, when you take time to say, Lord, thank you for making my life easier. Thank you for your goodness. Then you will see more of God's favor. What's interesting is this man I met, this realtor, when we learned that the compact center was coming available, he was one of the first people I called. He worked hand in hand on our behalf with the city. He was very instrumental in us getting this place. What are the chances of him calling me out of the blue,

me keeping his number, him taking us to an office building where they were building a self-power? That wasn't random. That wasn't a coincidence. That was God causing our cows to find us. God is in control of your life. He knows what you need, and he knows how to get it to you.

Yes, we all go through seasons of struggle, seasons of pressure and difficulty, but that is not your permanent home. You are coming in to this anointing of ease. Like with me, you're going to see things fall into place. You're going to know it's the goodness of God. A friend of mine grew up very poor. His family lived in public housing.

There was crime and drugs. His parents were migrant farmers and had no education. Didn't look like this young man would ever amount to too much. His mother saw that he had a love for music and encouraged him to join the band in school. He became one of their top tuba players. In the sixth grade, he already stood six foot six inches tall. He was the star player on the basketball team. When he graduated from high school, he received 30 scholarship offers to play in college.

He was headed to the Portland Trailblazers to play professionally when he suffered a career-ending injury. He ended up back at home in the projects, no money, no education, working for the city as a dog catcher, making a little more than minimum wage. During his lunch hour, he would go up to the local music store and play the keyboards that were out on demo, wearing his dog catcher uniform. customers would gather around to listen to him play. They were mesmerized at his ability. One day a customer told the owner she wanted to buy the keyboard that the dog

catcher was playing. This happened again and again. The owner said to this young man, people aren't buying my pianos. They're buying the dog catcher sound. They love what you do. He offered him a full-time job to come in and play the piano all day. that was the first step in his musical career.

Today, my friend Ben Tankard has become known as the godfather of gospel jazz. He sold millions of albums. Pastors a great church. Goes around the world cheering his music. Like with Ben, God is working behind the scenes lining up what you need. You're coming into a season where you're not going to have to struggle. you're not going to have to fight. You can put those swords down.

You are coming in to a harvest season. You're going to see the goodness of God making your life easier. You may be in a difficult time. God is about to take the pressure off. You're going to have a strength that you didn't have before. People are going to go out of their way

to be good to you. That yoke of bondage is coming off. The yoke of ease is coming on. What's hindered you in the place, past is not going to hinder you in the future. I believe and declare you're going to overcome obstacles easier than you think. You're going to accomplish dreams easier than you think. Like the Israelites, those cows are going to find you. Ease is coming your way. In Jesus' name, 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 believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place. Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast

to keep you encouraged and inspired all through the week. us to continue to share the message of hope with those all around the world. Visit Joel Osteen.com or click the link in the description to partner with us today. We hope you'll share this message with a friend and be sure to follow us on social media. We're praying for you. I know God's best is still ahead. We'll see you next time.