God Wastes Nothing

0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:03.120 Always a joy to have you with us. We're praying 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:05.760 for you guys. Check out my new book. It's called 0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:09.560 Power Up, a twenty one day action plan to transformative 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:12.080 and thinking. You can all help you think great thoughts 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:14.159 and just live a victorious life. But if you can 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:16.239 check it out on the wind, it's so great having 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:19.239 you with us. Enjoy the podcast. God bless you. It's 0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:21.840 great to be with you today, and I hope you 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.160 stay connected with us during the week through our daily podcast, 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.840 our YouTube channel, social media, and you can come visit 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:31.040 us in person. We'd love to have you be a 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:33.800 part of one of our services. But I like to 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:37.120 start with something funny. And I heard about these two brothers. 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:41.200 They were known for being very dishonest and having no integrity. 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.600 They were also very wealthy. And one of them died 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:47.519 and his brother said to the pastor, I'll make a 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:50.040 deal with you. If you'll say at the funeral that 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:52.960 my brother was a saint, I'll make a large donation 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.959 to your church. The pastor agreed, and the man made 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:59.600 the donation. At the funeral, the pastor said, this man 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:04.959 was honest, he cheated, lied, stole, but compared to his brother, 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.560 he was the same. All right, say it like you 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:11.640 mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.120 says I am. I have what it says I have. 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:17.320 I can do what it says I can do. Today 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.880 I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess. 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:24.839 My mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I will 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:28.880 never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you, 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:32.280 and I want to talk to you today about how 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:36.080 God wastes nothing. We all go through things that we 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:40.200 don't understand, things that are not fair, dealing with an illness, 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:44.039 had a rough childhood, or a relationship didn't work out. 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:49.320 There are seasons we're not making progress, No good breaks. 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:54.840 Everything is routine. Sometimes we make mistakes and bring heartache 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.160 and trouble on ourselves, and it's easy to get discourage 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:01.680 and lose our passion for life. But the beauty of 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:05.160 our God is he doesn't waste anything that we go through. 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.080 He doesn't waste the pain, he doesn't waste the struggle, 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:12.720 he doesn't waste the failures. You may have blown it 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:16.280 and done things you regret, but God knows how to 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:19.600 bring good out of it. He wouldn't have allowed it 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:22.000 if it was going to keep you from your purpose. 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:26.600 Everything that you've been through is preparing you for where 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:30.200 God is taking you. May not be comfortable, may not 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.920 be fair, but God is going to use it to 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:37.760 position you for the assignment that He's placed on your life. Now, 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:41.000 thoughts you will whisper it's too late, didn't work out, 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:44.560 You had your chance, just to accept it. No, God 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.359 is not finished with you. The struggle wasn't a waste. 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:52.440 It's making you stronger. The delay is not a waste. 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:57.800 It's positioning you for greater things. The betrayal, the breakup, 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:01.639 the loss. Yes, it was painful, but it wasn't wasted. 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:07.920 You gained experience, wisdom, insight. The miracle is not in 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.440 what you lost. The miracle is in what you have left. 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.840 The depth of your pain is an indication of the 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:20.200 height of your future. When you've been through a great disappointment, 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:24.000 great heart ache, great struggle, that tells me you have 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:28.000 a great future. The enemy minute for harm, but God 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:31.000 knows how to turn it to your advantage. You're not 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:33.000 going to come out the same, You're going to come 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:38.640 out stronger, with more faith, more courage, greater character, greater passion. 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:42.800 But if you don't understand that God doesn't waste anything. 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:48.120 Tempting to get bitter, live discouraged joy. They ruined my life, 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:51.560 they walked out on there. I didn't have a good childhood. 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:54.480 I came down with this illness, or I lost a 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:58.360 loved one, broke my heart. You can't control all that 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:01.840 life is going to happen. This is when you have 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:05.760 to remind yourself that God is in control, and he 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:08.680 wouldn't have allowed it if he didn't have a purpose 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:12.760 for us. Nothing in your life is going to be wasted. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:16.560 I can't promise you there won't be seasons of struggle, 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.280 seasons that are not fair. But I can promise you 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:23.720 if you'll keep the right attitude, you'll come out better. 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.640 We don't grow so much in the good times. We 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:31.159 grow in the difficult times where we're being stressed and 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.239 pressed and we have to dig down deep and pass 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:38.000 the test. That's where God is getting us prepared for 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:42.560 our destiny. Without that adversity, we couldn't step into the 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:46.240 fullness of what He has in store. John chapter six, 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:49.520 Jesus prayed over a little boy's lunch five loaves of 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:53.279 bread and two fish, and God multiplied the food it 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:57.600 fed some fifteen thousand people a great miracle. After they 0:04:57.600 --> 0:05:01.760 had all eaten, Jesus said to the disciples, gather up 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:06.840 the fragments, so that nothing will be wasted. Why would 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:11.200 Jesus be concerned about the fragments, the leftovers. He's God. 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:15.279 He just multiplied the food. If he wanted more, he 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:19.880 could make more fresh and new, not this leftover stopped now. 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:22.760 He was showing us this principle that I am a 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:28.520 God that doesn't waste anything. The fragments represent the broken 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.920 pieces of our lives. What's left over, what's not useful, 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:38.880 seems unnecessary, have relationship that didn't work out, contract that 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:42.640 didn't go through, the child that got off course. We 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:47.919 feel broken, hurting, discouraged. God says to the angels, gather 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:51.720 up those fragments. He's not going to waste anything you've 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:55.240 been through. He's going to turn that pain into power. 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.480 He's going to take that struggle and turn it into 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.839 strength where you get stronger and you grow through it. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.160 He'll take that loss where you feel discouraged and alone 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:10.160 and cause you to blossom. Bring beauty out of the ashes, 0:06:10.640 --> 0:06:13.800 joy out of the morning, victory out of the defeat. 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:17.440 You may have things in your life that feel like leftovers. 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:22.080 You'd rather forget about it. The mistake you made, how 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:26.280 someone treated you, the business that didn't work out, that's painful. 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.400 There were lonely lines. You think, Man, leave those fragments, 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:34.560 leave that broken piece, leave that struggling season. No God says, 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.400 I'm not gonna let you go through that and come 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:42.479 out the same. Gather up those fragments. It looks unnecessary, 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:46.640 not useful. But God can make miracles out of a mistake. 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.680 He can take broken pieces and bring beauty. He can 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.920 take that pain and use it to propel you into 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:58.320 your purpose. I can imagine the disciples picking up the 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:02.520 fragments and old pieces of bread and parts of the fish, 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:07.359 and here's the tail. It's messy and stinky. They're thinking, 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.400 what does Jesus want with all these scraps? Doesn't he 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:15.120 know these are the leftovers, the broken pieces, things that 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:19.920 nobody wants. That's the way our God is. Things we 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.080 go through that seem like there's no good in it. 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:25.640 No good in this sickness Joel, no good in the 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:28.360 loss of my loved one, no good in this storm 0:07:28.400 --> 0:07:34.600 that damaged my house. Our God specializes in the fragments. 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.720 In taking the scraps and bringing good out of it. 0:07:38.840 --> 0:07:42.720 You may be in a season that's unfair today, it's uncomfortable, 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.760 its lonely. You're not making any progress. You can't see 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:50.320 it right now, but it's doing something in you. You're 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:56.280 getting stronger, you're growing, developing greater faith, trust, and endurance. 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:00.720 It's getting you prepared for where God is taking you. Now, 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.480 do the right thing when it's hard. Forgive when they 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:08.440 don't deserve it, Smile when you could be, sound praise 0:08:08.560 --> 0:08:13.000 when you could complain. That's passing the test. You're going 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:16.120 to see the hand of God take the fragments of 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.880 your life and do more than you can imagine. He'll 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:24.200 take the broken pieces and make something beautiful. He doesn't 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:27.720 waste anything. The pain is real, but it's not going 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:31.720 to be wasted. The struggle is difficult, but there's good 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.640 coming out of it. The betrayal, the loss, the sickness, 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.640 that's difficult, but that's not how your story ends. God 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:43.880 is gathering up the fragments right now. Healing is coming, 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:49.520 breakthroughs are coming, new beginnings the right people. Victory is coming. 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:55.079 Moses was born into a difficult environment. The Israelites were 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:59.319 slaves in Egypt. The Faiwor was concerned that they were 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:02.920 getting too big and too powerful, so he ordered all 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.240 the Hebrew baby boys under the age of two to 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.880 be killed. But what God has purpose for your life 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:14.400 cannot be stopped by people, by bad breaks, by disappointments. 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:18.520 God has the final saying. Moses' mother knew there was 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:22.880 something special about him. For three months she hid baby Moses, 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.760 but when he got too big, she put him in 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:29.640 a basket and sent him down the Nile River. There 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:34.880 were snakes, alligators, all kinds of danger. But when you 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.200 commit your children into God's hands, he knows how to 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.120 protect them, how to keep them from evil and harm 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:45.600 and from the wrong people. It just so happened. PA's 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:48.400 daughter was out taking a bath at the river. She 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.560 heard the crying coming from the basket. When she saw 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:55.040 baby Moses, it was love at first sight. She said 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:58.800 to her assistant, this must be one of the Hebrew babies. 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.240 My father was the one that said they all had 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.000 to be killed. But she took him back to the 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:09.199 palace to raise as her own son. Moses grew up 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:13.200 in royalty. He had the finest education of that day. 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:18.240 The Egyptians were leaders in science and technology. We still 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:22.640 marvel at the huge pyramids they built, the engineering, the design, 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:27.320 without any of our modern day equipment. Living in the Palace, 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:32.440 Moses learned leadership and protocol, how to handle himself with 0:10:32.480 --> 0:10:37.600 people of influence, all about authority, business, government. Was an 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.880 amazing upbringing. What made it even more unusual was he 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:46.360 was a Hebrew living in an Egyptian world. No other 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:50.240 Hebrew had ever been where he was and experienced life 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:53.760 in the Palace and how their system functioned. But as 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.840 Moses grew into a young man, as great as it 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:00.360 was to have the influence, he didn't feel right. He 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:04.000 was welcomed as an Egyptian, but he knew he didn't 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.560 belong there. He was a Hebrew. He could feel God's 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:11.120 calling on his life. Deep down. He knew he was 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:15.280 supposed to deliver his people from the oppression of the Egyptians. 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:20.240 One day, he saw an Egyptian foreman mistreating a Hebrew slave. 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.079 He didn't think anyone was watching, so he killed that foreman. 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:28.360 Word got out about what had happened. Moses had to 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:31.880 flee for his life. He headed out into the desert 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.640 like a fugitive on the run. Well, Moses had no 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:38.560 training to be out in the wilderness. He had no 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.160 survival skills. He grew up in the palace. He never 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:45.640 had to find food was brought to him. He didn't 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.000 have to worry about shelter, where to sleep. He lived 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:52.120 in a private bedroom with maids to keep it clean, 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:56.200 a buttoner on call for whatever he wanted. But now 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.200 in the desert, he had to learn what plants he 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:03.800 could eat, what wasn't poisonous, what fruit was okay, Where 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.240 he could find water, how to build a shelter, the 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:10.640 best place to hide from a storm. He lived in 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:14.559 the desert for forty years. He became an expert at 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.840 surviving in the wilderness. He knew to how to handle 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:21.920 the terrain, the climate, the different seasons, where to camp, 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.640 when to move. I'm sure out there in the desert. 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:30.079 Many times he thought, men, I missed my calling. God's 0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:33.040 end was on my life. I was supposed to deliver 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:36.240 my people, but I blew it, and now I'm stuck 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:41.000 out here. The scripture says, God's calling on your life 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:46.319 is irrevocable. God doesn't change his mind. We may make mistakes, 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:50.160 we get off course, people do us wrong, but every 0:12:50.240 --> 0:12:53.560 step of the way you are learning something you're going 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:57.720 to need for your destiny. It looks random, like it's 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:01.960 just another delay, another wrong turn, another bad break, but 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:06.360 your steps are being ordered. God is preparing you and 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:09.560 he is positioning you. You may not be able to 0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:13.040 see it doesn't make sense, but God can see the 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:16.640 big picture. He wouldn't have allowed it if it wasn't 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:20.120 going to move you toward your purpose. None of us, 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:25.760 like these wilderness seasons, the struggles, didn't have a good childhood. Joel, 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:28.439 I got sent down the nile, so to speak. Or 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:30.559 I made mistakes and I'm not where I thought I 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:34.920 would be. It's easy to live guilty down on ourselves. 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.800 But God's not going to waste it. Right. When Moses 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.559 thought he was finished, he looked over and saw a 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.880 bush catch fire, but it wouldn't burn up. He heard 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:49.600 a voice boom out, Moses, take off your shoes. You 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.679 are standing on holy ground. That's when God told him, 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.280 now it's time to deliver my people. Go tell the 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:02.520 Pharaoh to let them go. Forty years God showed up, said, 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:07.680 in effect, Moses, everything you've been through has been necessary. 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:11.440 It hasn't stopped you. It has prepared you for what 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.800 I've called you to do. You are not defined by 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:19.480 your past. You are prepared by your past. God wastes nothing. 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:23.760 If he allowed it, there's a purpose. He's not gonna 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:27.440 waste your pain, what wasn't fair. He's not gonna waste 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:31.080 the scars what someone did to you. He's not gonna 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:36.040 waste your mistakes. If you'll repent, ask for forgiveness, then 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:39.160 there's a lesson in it, an area that you can 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:44.120 grow to get positioned for something greater. Don't sit around guilty, 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:48.520 doubt on yourself. Don't live bitter over what hasn't worked out. 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:52.560 Your burning bush is coming. The same God that came 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:56.160 to Moses after forty years and said now's the time 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.760 has not forgotten about you. Your time is come. What 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:04.040 God has purpose for your life is still on schedule. 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:07.600 The dreams He's placed in your heart, they may have 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:11.240 taken longer than you thought. There may have been some detours, 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.560 some obstacles, but it was all a part of his plan. 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:18.720 He's gathering up the fragments, he's putting the broken pieces 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:23.000 back together. Is still going to happen. Imagine if God 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:25.840 told you to go speak to the president of a 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:30.200 foreign country, a big superpower, and tell them something that 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.760 they're not going to like. We'd think, I don't know 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.120 how to do that. I've never been in that kind 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:39.440 of environment, so foreign to us. But when God told 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:43.119 Moses to go speak to the Pharaoh, the most powerful 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:46.640 leader of that day, Moses had lived in the Palace. 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:51.400 He grew up there. He had seen important meetings, leaders 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:56.239 come in protocol, how it all worked. It wasn't far out. 0:15:56.400 --> 0:16:00.400 It was familiar to him as a baby flowed down 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:04.760 the Nile River trying to escape the Pharaoh's decree. Look 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.360 like that's just a bad break. Born at the wrong time, 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.640 not able to have a normal childhood. But God doesn't 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:17.520 waste anything. Being raised in the palace was preparing him 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.720 for what he would need to do some eighty years later. 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:24.240 He couldn't see it. At the time. He thought, I'm 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.240 living as an Egyptian, but this is not who I am. 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:31.360 I'm a Hebrew. The scripture says he refused to be 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:35.480 known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Instead chose to 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:39.360 be mistreated with the people of God. We can look 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.320 back in our lives and see things that don't seem fair. 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:45.920 Why did they leave me out? Why was I born 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:49.200 in dysfunction? Or why did I lose my loved one? 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:51.920 Why did that school turn me down? I can't tell 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:55.200 you why, but I can tell you that God would 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:57.720 not have allowed it if it was not going to 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:02.000 deposit something in you to get you prepared and in 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:07.719 position for what He has coming. God doesn't waste anything. Now. 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:09.960 I've always said that God has a plan A for 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:12.320 your life, a plan B, A plan C, you plan 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:14.720 D that'll get you to where you're supposed to be. 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:18.080 But I think a better way to say it is 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:21.000 God only has a plan A, but he has a 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.880 plan A one, A two, A three, A four, A five. 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:30.800 He called Moses to deliver his people. That plan never changed. 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.080 God didn't say this man has had too many bad branks. 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:37.960 Pharroh tried to kill him as a child, his mother 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.520 had to abandon him. God, in a hurry, had to 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:44.159 take a big detour that wasn't a surprise to God. 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:48.080 Every step of the way, Moses was learning what he 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:52.200 would need to fulfill his purpose, and after a series 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:56.280 of events, Phararoh finally decided to let the Israelites go. 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.960 They were delivered from four hundred and thirty years of slavery, 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.680 a day they had always dreamed of. Moses led them 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:07.399 out toward the Promised Land, but to get to that land, 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.959 they had to travel through the desert. Well, they were 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.640 former slaves. They didn't know how to survive in the wilderness. 0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:17.920 They didn't know what to eat, where to find water, 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:21.960 how to build shelter, what to watch out for. But 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:26.240 it just so happened that their leader, Moses, had spent 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.640 forty years in the desert. He was an expert at 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.240 survival in the wilderness. He was skilled on all the 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:37.800 terrain logistics, how to maneuver through the land, all those 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:41.680 years out there. I'm sure he thought this is a waste. 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:44.400 If I hadn't made that mistake, I could be doing 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:49.200 something so much more significant. But God doesn't waste anything 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:53.159 you go through. God was getting him prepared for what 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:56.080 he would need in the future. We're not going to 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:59.119 understand it all in real time. It's not going to 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:03.400 make sense. Delay the bad brag, the people that lied 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:07.520 about me, this obstacle, that's not changing. That's when you 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.239 have to trust God. I know you're in control. I 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:14.639 know you don't waste anything. So I'm gonna stay in peace. 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:17.680 I'm gonna do the right thing, knowing that it's all 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:21.680 working for my good. When you do that, you're growing, 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:27.879 You're getting stronger. Those difficulties in your past, like with Moses, 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:32.119 they're not going to define you. They are preparing you. 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:35.520 You're gonna come into seasons where you look back and think, 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:39.280 that's what God was doing. That's why the door closed, 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:42.520 That's why the contract fell through. That's why they walked away. 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:46.359 God didn't send the storm, but he used the storm. 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:49.840 A few years after Victoria and I were married, we 0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:54.040 received an unexpected tax bill in the mail. The man 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:57.800 who filed our taxes each year lived in another state. 0:19:58.520 --> 0:20:01.800 He wasn't familiar with a certain law in Texas, and 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:05.680 now we owed thousands of dollars in back taxes and penalties. 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.480 We were a young couple saving up for a down 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:13.399 payment for our house, and we were so disappointed. We thought, 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.920 man we hired a professional, wasn't our fault. Now we're 0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:20.240 having to pay for his mistake. We got in contact 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:24.159 with this tax attorney, very skilled and experienced man, and 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:28.040 he looked at all of our documents and studied the paperwork, 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:31.200 and he told us that it could be corrected. We 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:34.640 just needed to refile the returns and clarify some things 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:38.240 and we'd be fine. So for several weeks he came 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:40.320 over to our house at night to work on it. 0:20:40.920 --> 0:20:43.240 We'd take a break and go up and get something 0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:45.520 to eat, or run up to the post office to 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:49.359 mail something. We spent all this time together and we 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:52.800 ended up becoming close friends and continued to stay in 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:56.639 touch well. Ten years later, I was working in the 0:20:56.680 --> 0:21:00.920 television department here at Lakewood and Daddy was still the pastor, 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:04.960 and someone contacted me saying they had a construction permit 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:09.280 for the last full power commercial television station here in 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:11.920 Houston and wanted me to be a part of it. 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:15.320 I was excited, but I didn't know what to do. 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:19.120 Then I thought I'll call my attorney friend, the one 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:21.960 I met during the tax problem. He went to work. 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:26.080 Six months later, we had to sign contract. We put 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:28.040 the station on the air and ran it for a 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:30.600 couple of years, and then my father went to be 0:21:30.680 --> 0:21:34.320 with the Lord and I became the pastor. We acquired 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:37.359 the Compact Center and we discovered it was going to 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:40.560 cost one hundred million dollars to renovate this place. We 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:44.159 decided to sell the station. We sold it for a 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:47.480 huge profit, more than any of the experts said we'd 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:51.520 ever get. We used those funds to help renovate our 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:56.320 new facility. But it all started with that tax problem. 0:21:56.680 --> 0:21:59.560 I couldn't see it at the time. I didn't like it. 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:04.800 It was unfair. But God doesn't waste anything you go through. 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:09.000 Had I not had that problem, I wouldn't have met 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:13.120 that attorney. Without that attorney, I probably wouldn't have pursued 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:16.560 the station. Without the station, we wouldn't have had the 0:22:16.560 --> 0:22:20.199 funds for this place. You may not understand all that 0:22:20.320 --> 0:22:23.200 comes your way in life, but you can be certain 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:26.720 God is not going to waste him. What looks like 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:30.480 a setback many times is a setup for what God 0:22:30.600 --> 0:22:35.280 is about to do. It's preparing you and positioning you 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:40.240 for something greater. Stay in faith. God knows what you're 0:22:40.240 --> 0:22:43.320 going to need, and he knows who you're going to need. 0:22:44.119 --> 0:22:47.119 It may not happen the way you think. Moses didn't 0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:50.639 like fleeing into the desert, but that was a necessary 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:54.000 season in his life where he learned things that he 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:57.040 needed for his future. He didn't like being sent down 0:22:57.080 --> 0:22:59.960 the Nile River, not growing up in his own home. 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:03.720 But what he learned in the palace was critical to 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:06.919 fulfill his purpose. That's how he had the courage to 0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:10.520 speak to the Pharaoh on the way to your destiny. 0:23:11.000 --> 0:23:14.520 There will be these seasons you don't understand. You have 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:17.600 to trust that God is not going to waste the pain. 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:21.000 He's not going to waste the struggle. He's not going 0:23:21.040 --> 0:23:25.600 to waste the mistakes, those regrets, things. If you could, 0:23:25.680 --> 0:23:28.840 you would do over. You would make better choices. The 0:23:28.880 --> 0:23:33.320 good news is God specializes in gathering up the fragments. 0:23:34.040 --> 0:23:37.800 He doesn't discard the broken pieces. He knows how to 0:23:37.800 --> 0:23:41.000 put things back together, how to bring beauty out of 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:44.040 the ashes, how to take a mess and turn it 0:23:44.160 --> 0:23:47.880 into a miracle. I have some pastor friends that live 0:23:47.920 --> 0:23:51.639 in another state. A few years ago, the wife and 0:23:51.760 --> 0:23:55.879 nine year old son were involved in a tragic car accident. 0:23:56.600 --> 0:24:00.320 His wife broke her neck, her back, and shattered to 0:24:00.359 --> 0:24:04.480 the bones in her face. Unfortunately, the son didn't survive. 0:24:05.000 --> 0:24:09.080 He lost his life and they were heartbroken. Never dreamed 0:24:09.080 --> 0:24:12.040 they would be dealing with so much pain and grief. 0:24:12.800 --> 0:24:16.040 By the grace of God, his wife fully recovered and 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:20.119 today she's healthy and beautiful and they're leading a successful church. 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:23.639 A while back, they were invited to come and speak 0:24:23.640 --> 0:24:26.800 at this church conference, and they shared the story of 0:24:26.840 --> 0:24:29.400 the accident and how God had helped them to make 0:24:29.440 --> 0:24:33.360 it through. At the end, they invited people to come 0:24:33.400 --> 0:24:36.680 down to the front to receive Christ. A young man 0:24:36.760 --> 0:24:40.640 came down with tears running down his face. He said 0:24:40.680 --> 0:24:44.520 to the pastor and his wife, I have your son's kidneys. 0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:48.720 They were taken aback. The pastor said, what do you mean? 0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:51.679 How do you know? He said, you sent letters to 0:24:51.760 --> 0:24:55.800 all the people that received organs from your son, telling 0:24:55.840 --> 0:24:59.000 who you are and what you do, and you invited 0:24:59.080 --> 0:25:01.880 us to reach out if we wanted, but I never did. 0:25:02.720 --> 0:25:05.840 This young man had lived a life of drugs and games. 0:25:06.560 --> 0:25:10.320 He was very sick and close to death. One night, 0:25:10.920 --> 0:25:13.920 lying on the bathroom floor, not able to get up, 0:25:14.520 --> 0:25:18.119 he prayed, God, if you'll help me, I'll give my 0:25:18.200 --> 0:25:22.080 life to you. At that moment, the phone rang. He 0:25:22.160 --> 0:25:24.960 crawled on the floor to answer it. It was the 0:25:25.040 --> 0:25:28.040 hospital telling him they had found a kidney for him. 0:25:28.800 --> 0:25:33.480 He had this successful transplant. Several months had passed and 0:25:33.560 --> 0:25:36.720 he'd still never made good on that promise. His sister 0:25:36.800 --> 0:25:39.639 invited him to come to church that night, but at 0:25:39.640 --> 0:25:43.200 first he said no. Then he felt something so strong 0:25:43.600 --> 0:25:46.679 compelling him to go. They had no idea who the 0:25:46.680 --> 0:25:50.639 speaker was, But that night he walked down the isle 0:25:50.680 --> 0:25:53.880 and gave his life to Christ. He took the wife's 0:25:53.920 --> 0:25:56.879 hand and put it on his side and said, you 0:25:56.920 --> 0:26:01.399 can feel your son, He's still giving me life. Was 0:26:01.440 --> 0:26:04.399 not only a new beginning for him, but it was 0:26:04.480 --> 0:26:09.040 healing from my friends, a sense of wholeness and fulfillment. 0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:13.479 God bringing beauty out of the ashes. No matter what 0:26:13.560 --> 0:26:16.199 you go through, God is not going to waste it. 0:26:16.840 --> 0:26:20.280 He's a god who gathers up the fragments. He's going 0:26:20.320 --> 0:26:24.840 to take those broken pieces, the leftovers, what seems useless 0:26:24.880 --> 0:26:28.119 to us, and still make something amazing out of it. 0:26:29.280 --> 0:26:32.440 You may be in a difficult place, now, God has 0:26:32.480 --> 0:26:36.400 not forgotten about you. Where you are is not where 0:26:36.400 --> 0:26:39.320 you're going to end up. Your burning bush is coming. 0:26:40.040 --> 0:26:43.800 Now trust him in the wilderness seasons, do the right thing. 0:26:43.840 --> 0:26:47.960 When you don't understand. God wouldn't have allowed the difficulty 0:26:48.520 --> 0:26:50.720 if he wasn't going to bring some kind of good 0:26:50.760 --> 0:26:53.720 out of it. If you just keep moving forward in 0:26:53.840 --> 0:26:57.359 faith knowing that God is in control. I believe and 0:26:57.440 --> 0:27:01.399 declare He's going to turn your pain into power, that 0:27:01.520 --> 0:27:06.680 struggle into strength, that mistake into a miracle. Like Moses, 0:27:07.000 --> 0:27:10.240 You're going to still fulfill your assignment, go into your 0:27:10.280 --> 0:27:13.639 promised land and become all you were created to be 0:27:14.359 --> 0:27:17.439 in Jesus' name. And if you receive it, can you 0:27:17.480 --> 0:27:21.879 say amen? I'd like to give you an opportunity to 0:27:21.920 --> 0:27:25.000 make Jesus the lord of your life. Would you pray 0:27:25.040 --> 0:27:29.280 with me? Just say, Lord, Jesus, I repent of my sins, 0:27:29.800 --> 0:27:33.520 Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and savior. 0:27:34.320 --> 0:27:36.680 If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got 0:27:36.680 --> 0:27:39.960 born again. We'd love to send you some free information 0:27:40.119 --> 0:27:42.200 on your new walk with the Lord. You can text 0:27:42.200 --> 0:27:44.600 the number on the screen or go to the website. 0:27:44.760 --> 0:27:47.119 But I hope you'll get into a good Bible based 0:27:47.200 --> 0:27:49.679 church and keep God first place. 0:27:50.760 --> 0:27:54.400 Our negative thinking can short circuit God's power and blessing 0:27:54.440 --> 0:27:57.879 in our lives. When you say, I always seem to worry. 0:27:58.800 --> 0:28:01.840 I can't forgive what was to me. I pray, but 0:28:01.920 --> 0:28:05.040 it feels like God doesn't hear. I won't have enough 0:28:05.080 --> 0:28:07.840 to provide for me and my family. How do you 0:28:07.880 --> 0:28:10.840 overcome this type of negative thinking that limits you from 0:28:10.840 --> 0:28:11.560 God's best. 0:28:12.720 --> 0:28:16.359 Our thinking sets the limits for our life. Every morning, 0:28:16.440 --> 0:28:18.880 you have to power up your mind, get it going 0:28:18.920 --> 0:28:21.760 in the right direction, but dwelling on what God says 0:28:21.760 --> 0:28:25.840 about you. When you think thoughts of faith, hope, and victory, 0:28:26.200 --> 0:28:30.040 you'll tap into blessing and favor that belongs to you. Now, 0:28:30.040 --> 0:28:32.120 I'd love to send you my newest book. It's called 0:28:32.160 --> 0:28:35.480 Power Up. I'll show you how to delete negative thoughts 0:28:35.640 --> 0:28:38.840 and focus on the promises rather than the problems. 0:28:39.280 --> 0:28:43.160 You can discover God's unprecedented power in your life. As 0:28:43.200 --> 0:28:45.440 our way of saying thank you for your gift of 0:28:45.520 --> 0:28:48.720 any amount to the ministry, this month, Joel and Victoria 0:28:48.840 --> 0:28:52.440 would like to send you this life altering resource, power Up, 0:28:52.640 --> 0:28:56.560 a twenty one day action plan to transformative thinking. God 0:28:56.600 --> 0:29:02.840 wants to power up every area of your life, your relationships, career, finances, health. 0:29:03.120 --> 0:29:06.440 He wants to bless it all. But sometimes negative thinking 0:29:06.560 --> 0:29:11.080 can short circuit the truth. This resource reconnects those power lines, 0:29:11.240 --> 0:29:16.000 providing the free flow of God's eternal promises. Remember, wherever 0:29:16.040 --> 0:29:19.160 you're at, whatever you're facing, you can make the choice 0:29:19.200 --> 0:29:21.880 to power up and access God's promises. 0:29:22.840 --> 0:29:25.560 When your mind is going in the right direction, your 0:29:25.640 --> 0:29:28.880 life will go in the right direction. Start powering up 0:29:28.960 --> 0:29:32.280 each day and watch what God will do Victory and 0:29:32.320 --> 0:29:34.240 I want you to know that we pray for you 0:29:34.320 --> 0:29:38.200 and your family. We appreciate your prayer and support. Your 0:29:38.280 --> 0:29:42.760 generosity is impacting so many lives. Remember you can watch 0:29:42.800 --> 0:29:47.680 the services live online every Sunday morning, download our daily podcast, 0:29:48.080 --> 0:29:52.080 watch our YouTube channel, listen on Serious exam. But until 0:29:52.120 --> 0:29:55.160 we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you. 0:29:56.240 --> 0:29:58.920 Be sure to request your copy of power Up, a 0:29:58.960 --> 0:30:02.840 twenty one day action plan to transformative thinking today. Visit 0:30:02.920 --> 0:30:10.760 Joeloustein dot com or call us toll free