DIVINE MESSAGE RE: THE A FRIENDS
(My daily devotional from Joel Osteen Ministries September 1, The Day of Eviction) Day Thirteen “I DECLARE that God is bringing about new seasons of growth. I will not get stagnant and hold on the old. I will be open to change knowing that God has something better in front of me. New doors of opportunity, new relationships, and new levels of favor are in my future. This is my declaration.”
Sometimes the very things that we fight against, the very things that we think are trying to pull us down, are actually the hand of God trying to push us into a new season. God will stir us out of comfortable situations and He’ll put us in situations that make us stretch—Situations that force us to use our faith. We may not like it. It may be uncomfortable. But God loves you too much to just leave you alone.
Just as God can supernaturally open doors, sometimes He may supernaturally close doors. Nothing happens by accident. God is directing each of your steps. That means if a friend does you wrong, if you go through a setback, if you lose a loved one, you can either embrace that change and God will use it to take you higher, or you can resist it and you’ll end up becoming stagnant and settling for mediocrity.
Stay open for change. Don’t approach change from a negative point of view. All change is not bad. It may be negative on the surface but remember, God would not allow it if he didn’t have a purpose for it. He will use it to stretch you and to hopefully push you into a new dimension. You may be in a perfectly fine situation for years, but all of a sudden you will see a stirring taking place.
Maybe you thought you’d be in your comfort zone for seasons, but for some reason the people who were behind you are not behind you anymore. You don’t have the favor you once had there. It seems like every day is an uphill battle. What is that? That’s God stirring things up.
It’s easy to become negative or bitter: “God, why is this happening?” I thought I had Your favor.” But a much better approach is to just stay open and know that God is still in control. If you will embrace that change, the winds that you thought would defeat you will actually push you to your divine destiny.
Maybe you are in a relationship, and deep down you know the person is not good for you. You know this individual is keeping you from being your best. But you may think, if I make a change I will be alone. You don’t want to rock the boat. That’s why sometimes God will turn the boat over. God may force you to move forward, not because He’s mean, not because He’s trying to make your life miserable, but because he has such a great desire to see you reach your full potential.
So at times He may cause a friend to walk away. He’ll stir things up and may even allow a friend to do you wrong, because He knows if He doesn’t close that door you will never move ahead. Thirty years later that person would still be dragging you down, keeping you from your destiny. God would not have stirred it up if He didn’t have something better in store. Don’t fight change; embrace it, and you will step into the fullness of what God has in store