Know Yourself | Joel Osteen

[0:00]It's easy to go through life thinking that we're lacking in some area. If we had more talent, then we could do something great. If we had a better personality, if we were more confident, more attractive, then we could reach our dreams. But as long as you're discounting yourself, thinking you're at a disadvantage, it will keep you from rising higher. When God laid out the plan for your life, he carefully studied it. He thought about what you would need and what it would take to get you there, then he matched you with your world. He gave you the talent you need, the strength, the confidence, you are the right size, you have the right looks. You have the right personality, you come from the right family. You are not lacking, you didn't get shortchanged, you are good enough. You are talented enough, you are smart enough, you are attractive enough. You have been fearfully and wonderfully made. But life will try to push us down. Thoughts will whisper everything that we're not. You're not as talented as your friend, you're not as attractive as your coworker, you're not as smart as your cousin. That's okay, you're not running their race. You don't need what they have. If you needed it, God would have given it to you. If you needed to be taller, you would be taller. If you needed a different personality, you would have one. If you needed to come from another family, that would have happened. God doesn't make mistakes. When he created you, he wasn't having a bad day. He didn't accidentally leave something out, now you're at a disadvantage. He calls you a masterpiece. You have royal blood flowing through your veins. He's crowned you with his favor. You're not lacking, you didn't get short changed, you have everything you need to fulfill your destiny. Now quick comparing your looks, your gifts, your success with somebody else and be you. You are powerful. You are amazing. You are gifted. Nobody can do you like you can do you. Well, I wish I had her looks. I wish I had his talent. I wish I came from their family. If you had what they have, it wouldn't help you, it would hinder you. It wouldn't be a blessing, it would be a burden. It wasn't designed for you. The reason it works for them is because it fits them. You don't want what doesn't fit you. What fits you is what you have. Now quit wishing you were them and recognize you are enough. Yes, it's good to admire people, it's good to celebrate their gifts. But don't get so caught up in who they are that you forget who you are. You are gifted, you are talented, you were one of a kind. If you don't recognize that you are enough, then you'll always be dependent on other people to make you feel good about who you are. If you live thinking you're at a deficit, you'll undersell yourself. You'll play up to people, you'll let them control you, that's where you're getting your validation. But when you know you are enough by yourself, you won't rely on people to approve you, you'll get your approval from your heavenly Father. The problem with relying on people is people can change. One minute people were saying to Jesus, Hosanna, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. They were laying down palm branches, celebrating his arrival. Three days later, those same people were saying crucify him. If you only feel good about yourself when people are telling you that you're great, then if they leave, you'll forget who you are. If you're relying on them to make you feel talented, valuable, attractive, you're letting them control your self-worth. But when you know you are enough all by yourself, when you don't live from a deficit mentality, then it doesn't matter what people do or don't do, you know you're a masterpiece. You know you're made in the image of Almighty God. David said in Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need. It's very powerful when you can say, I have the talent I need. I have the looks I need. I have the family I need. I have the personality that I need. David had plenty of opportunities to have this deficit mentality. We know him as the greatest king that ever lived, but before that, he was discounted by his father. Left out in the Shepherd's fields when the prophet was choosing the next king of Israel. His father made him feel like he was unqualified, not good enough, too small. When David took lunch to his brothers that were out on the battlefield, one of the brothers made fun of him. Said what did you do with those few sheep you're supposed to be taking care of. He was saying, David, you're not talented. You didn't get what we got. If David would have relied on people to get his approval, he would have never stepped into his destiny. Now maybe someone is trying to discount you. Make you feel like you're not talented enough, attractive enough, not up to par. Let that go in one ear and out the other. They didn't breathe life into you. They didn't know you before you were formed in your mother's womb. They don't determine your destiny. Do like David, Father, thank you that I have everything I need. Thank you that I am enough all by myself. You don't need people's approval. You don't need their validation, the most high God has approved you. Now get rid of that deficit mentality and step up to who you were created to be. While back, one afternoon, I was at home riding my stationary bike, exercising. I had my earphones in, hooked up to my cell phone, and I was listening to a podcast. I put my phone on the front of the bike by the handlebars. At one point, I started riding really fast and the bike began to shake and my phone fell off. When it did, it jerked my earphones out. I stopped to pick them up, but the little white rubber tip came off of one of the earphones. I looked all around, couldn't find it anywhere. It was the strangest thing. I looked under the treadmill, I moved other equipment, I checked up on the window sill, maybe it popped up there. Looked all over the bike, on and on, it was nowhere to be found. Later that evening, I was watching television, I reached up to scratch my ear, felt something odd and it was the white rubber tip. I had it the whole time, but I didn't realize it. I'm wondering if you're looking for something that you already have. You're looking around you. God is saying, look in you. You have the talent, you have the creativity, you have the confidence. Psalm 34 says, those who trust in the Lord will never lack any good thing. You need to see yourself as a no-lack person. You're not lacking the strength you need. You're not lacking the favor. Well, Joel, I never get any good breaks. I don't see how I can accomplish my dreams. I don't think I'll ever meet the right person. That's a deficit mentality. That thinking will keep you from your destiny. You have to turn it around. Father, thank you that your favor surrounds me like a shield. Thank you that goodness and mercy are chasing me down. Thank you that divine connections, the right people are headed my way. What you need is in you, but you have to stir it up. As long as you think you're at a disadvantage, you've been short changed, it will keep you from rising higher. Second Kings chapter four, there was a widow. Her husband was friends with the prophet Elisha. She came up to Elisha very discouraged and told him how her husband had died. And how now she was in such debt, the creditors were coming to take her two sons as payment. Elisha asked her, what do you have in your house? She didn't have to think twice. She said Elisha, I have nothing at all except a small jar of oil. She was saying, I'm at a deficit. I don't have enough, I'm limited. Sometimes like this woman, we are discounting what God has given us. We have some talent, but Joel, it's not enough. I have my degree, but I don't have enough education. This woman was about to miss her miracle because she didn't recognize what she had. She was looking outside the house, but Elisha said, what's in the house? God will always have what you need within reach. It's not something far off, it will be close to you. One time Samson was surrounded by the Philistine army. He didn't have any weapons, looked like he would be captured. He looked down and saw the jaw bone of a donkey. Just so happened to be right there. He picked it up and defeated a thousand men with it. It wasn't a coincidence, it was the hand of God. What you need will be close to you. Elisha told this widow to go out and borrow as many large empty containers as she could find. She went from neighbor to neighbor asking for them. She came back to the house. Elisha said now, I want you to pour that little bit of oil into one of those larger containers. That doesn't make sense. What good was it going to do to transfer oil from one container to the other? The widow started pouring the oil and the oil kept flowing. It kept coming out. She filled the first container, then another and another. The oil never ran out until all of the containers were full. And she took that oil and sold it and had plenty to pay her debt. When God asks you to do something that doesn't make sense, many times the act of obedience is what brings the miracle. God could have caused those containers to be full of oil without her pouring it. He could have caused somebody to show up with a bunch of full containers. But the miracle was dependent on this woman doing her part. Is God asking you to do something that you don't want to do? To forgive that person that did you wrong? You think, God, that's not fair. They don't deserve it, they hurt me. Is he asking you to take care of that elderly neighbor or to give that friend a ride to work each day? You think, God, I'm busy, that's out of my way. The blessing is in the obedience. There was a man in the scripture named Naman. He was a captain in the Syrian army, but he had leprosy. God told him to go wash in the Jordan River and he would be healed. God could have healed him like Jesus healed people by speaking to them or by having someone lay hands on him. But God asked Naman to do something unusual, something he didn't understand. At first, he wouldn't do it. He came up with all these excuses. I'm not going to go wash in that river, the water's dirty. We have better rivers back at home. He almost talked himself out of it. Finally decided to do it, when he came up the seventh time, his skin was perfectly healed. The healing wasn't in the water, or everyone that touched the water wouldn't have been healed. The healing was in the obedience. Don't miss your miracle because you won't do what God's asking you to do. What's interesting is Elisha didn't bring anything to the widow's house. He didn't bring her funds. He didn't have a friend come plant a garden. He simply showed her what was in the house. The principle is, you already have what you need. You're not waiting for it. Maybe one day it'll show up. There are miracles in your house. But sometimes we're looking on the outside. You have to look on the inside. God is saying, I've equipped you, I've empowered you, I've anointed you. You have seeds of greatness. Are you discounting what God has given you? Are you overlooking what you have? It may seem small. That gift may not seem like it's enough, but when you use what you have, God will multiply it. When you pour that little bit of oil, that act of obedience is what causes the oil to continue to flow. The woman said Elisha, I have nothing except a small jar of oil. God is going to use what comes after the accept. I have nothing except a little training. I have nothing except a few connections. He's going to take what you think is insignificant and turn it into something extraordinary. When we come to the end of our ability, that's when God steps in. If you can accomplish your dreams all on your own, you don't really need God's help. If you can overcome that obstacle by yourself, it doesn't take any faith. Don't be discouraged when what you're up against looks too big. You don't have the resources, the obstacle, the opposition is too strong. You're in perfect position for God to show out in your life. It looks like a setback, really it is a set up. God is about to make things happen that you couldn't make happen.