Joel Osteen – Nothing is Wasted

Let’s give our TV audience a great big Lakewood welcome. God bless you. Always 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. Thanks so much for tuning in. Thank-you so much for coming out. I’d like to start with something funny. I heard about this pastor. He was up in a pulpit preaching away one Sunday morning when he noticed a man asleep on the front row. He was offended. He started preaching louder and harder to try and wake him up, but it seemed like the louder he got, the sounder the man slept. Finally, frustrated, he stopped his whole message and said to the man sitting next to him, “Would you please wake that man up?” The man said, “Wake him up yourself. You put him to sleep.”

(Audience laughing)

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. I am about to receive the indestructible, uncorrupt, ever living seed of the word of God. I’ll never be the same. Never, never, never. I’ll never be the same, in Jesus’ name. God bless you.

You almost made me mess up.

(Audience laughing)

First thing, on Chapter 21, if you’d like to open your Bibles. First thing, on Chapter 21, on Verse 9, and look toward the end of the message. Of course, we put the Scriptures up on the screen.

Hey, listen, this afternoon at 1:45 there’s a great Spanish-speaking service. Pastor Denilda Montour, the whole service, all in Spanish. Tonight at 7 o’clock at a young-adult service, Pastor Craig Johnson’s going to be ministering. It’s going to be great. Wednesday night, Pastor John Grey will be here. So, I hope you come back as often as you can.

One last favor I always ask. Unless you have to catch a flight or go to work, please stay to the very end of the service, if you don’t mind. And I know that God will makeup the time for you. Thanks so much for being here.

I want to talk to you today about:nothing is wasted.

Victoria and I have some flowerbeds at home and several times a year we put mulch in those beds. The mulch is a fertilizer that helps the plants to grow. One of the main ingredients of mulch is manure. It’s waste. It smells really badly. For a couple of days, you can hardly walk outside. My kids say, “Dad, what happened out here? It stinks.” The smell is so strong.

But, if you come back in a month or two, the smell is gone, and the plants are blooming. They’re blossoming; they’re seeing new growth. The fertilizer, as badly as it smells, is giving the plants valuable nutrients and minerals that they couldn’t get any other way.

In the same way, we all go through things in life that stink. We don’t like it. It wasn’t fair. Why did this relationship not make it? Why did I come down with this sickness? Why did I lose my main client? That stinks.

Well, you need to have a new perspective. That’s fertilizer. It may smell bad right now. It may seem like a bunch of manure got dumped on you. But, if you will stay in faith, that’s not going to hinder you, it’s going to strengthen you. The stinky stuff. The bad breaks. The disappointments. The loss. That’s getting you prepared for new growth. To bloom, to blossom, to become all that you were created to be.

The truth is you cannot reach your highest potential without fertilizer. The stinky stuff is not working against you; it’s working for you. It may smell badly right now but if you’ll keep doing the right thing, you will come into a new season of growth.

Now, I’d love to tell you that if you trust God, have faith, do your best, then you’ll sail through life. But, that’s not reality. You’re going to have some manure. There’s going to be some stinky stuff. What I want us to see is God would have never allowed it unless he was going to ultimately use it for your own good.

Instead of being discouraged and thinking oh man this stinks, I can’t believe this happened, just have the attitude it’s just more fertilizer. God’s getting me prepared for something greater. If you’ll go through the stink with the right attitude and not let it sour your life, God will take what was meant for your harm, and he will use it to your advantage.

You may feel like today you got more than your share of the stinky stuff. You’ve got a lot of bad breaks and disappointments and broken dreams. Be encouraged. That means you have a lot of fertilizer. God is getting your ready to go where you’ve never been.

This is not the time to be discouraged,have a chip on your shoulder or feel sorry for yourself. This is the time to get ready. God allowed that fertilizer to get you prepared for where you could not go on your own. You may not like it, but it deposited something in you that you could only gain by going through it.

You couldn’t have gone through it by reading a book, by listening to a message or by taking a class. You could only learn it through experience. By the trial of your faith. That’s where we’re really developed. David said, God enlarged me in my time of distress. He didn’t get enlarged in the good times; he got enlarged in the tough times.

That difficulty is strengthening you. It’s getting you prepared. Now you’re in position to go to a new level of your destiny. Quit complaining about the fertilizer. Quit talking about who hurt you and what didn’t work out and how much manure got dumped over you.

You can’t reach your highest potential without the fertilizer. It’s not hindering you; it’s helping you. If it was too much, God would have never allowed it. You’ve got to dig your heels in and say, I’m in in it to win it. I’m not going to let this stinky stuff, this stuff I don’t understand, cause me to give up on my dreams. I know it’s fertilizer. It’s enlarging me. It’s strengthening me. It’s getting me prepared for new levels.

That’s what a young lady did that I know. She grew up in a very difficult environment.Her father died when she was 6 years old. Not long after that, her mother had to go on dialysis. When most young ladies are out cheerleading and playing with their friends, she was at home taking care of her mother. At 12 year old, she would have to go to the grocery store and cook for the family. She got her little brother dressed and ready for school each day. It looked like she was at a disadvantage. Like that hardship would keep her from her destiny.

But, just because something unfair has happened doesn’t mean God doesn’t have something amazing still in your future. It may stink, but remember manure has some very helpful ingredients. It’s fertilizer. Used in the right way, it’s an advantage. It causes growth.

This young lady didn’t have a victim mentality. She had a victor mentality. Yes, it was hard. It was unfair. But she didn’t complain; she didn’t have a chip on her shoulder. She just kept being her best. Taking the high road. Not letting those negative thoughts talk her out of her dreams. And, against all those odds, she excelled in high school. She got a full scholarship to a major university. She went on to get her Master’s degree. Today, she has a Doctorate degree. She’s extremely successful in the corporate world, has 3 beautiful children, happily married.

Here’s my question. Why do some people in that same type of situation struggle through life? Defeated, discouraged, always overcome by problems. Yet others, like her, overcome the obstacles? See God’s goodness and blessings in great ways.

It’s in our approach to life. We all have stinky things happen. We all have unfair situations. You can either become bitter, sour or discouraged, or you can see it as fertilizer and say, this difficulty is not going to defeat me, it’s going to promote me. God wouldn’t have allowed it unless he had a purpose.Don’t just go through it; grow through it. Recognize you’re getting stronger. You’re developing trust, competence, endurance, perseverance. You are well able. If God be for you, who dare be against you? When the going gets tough, you got to get going.

Put your shoulders back. Hold your head up high. You were never created to live defeated, overcome by problems, always having bad breaks. You were created to be the overcome. Not the victim but the victor.You have the most powerful force in the universe on the inside; winning is in your DNA. Life may not have treated you fair, but God is fair.

And, in these stinky situations, you have to remember it’s fertilizer. That’s an opportunity to grow. It doesn’t have to keep you from your destiny. Just the opposite. It can propel you into your destiny. What stinks in your life right now, what you don’t like, that could be the very thing God uses to promote you and cause you to blossom. Don’t complain about that stink; there’s promotion in that stink.

Don’t get sour because of the smelly stuff; there’s a new level in the smelly stuff. Don’t be discouraged by the manure. You may not like it, but it’s fertilizer. It’s making you stronger. It’s developing your character.

When I look back in my own life, I realize I didn’t grow that much in the good times. I grew in the tough times. That’s what gets us prepared for the amazing stuff future God has in store. You may think you’ve had a lot of fertilizer; you’ve had a lot of stinky stuff, it’s because God has a big destiny in front of you. He’s about to take you some place that you’ve never dreamed. He’s getting you prepared. Your roots are going down deeper.

The manure, no it doesn’t smell good, but it’s got valuable ingredients that you couldn’t get any other way. That person that gets on your nerves at work that doesn’t treat you with respect. The next time you see them, instead of getting upset just smile and say to yourself, “You’re just fertilizer.”

(Audience laughing)

Don’t say it to them but think, you stink. But you’re helping me to grow. You think you’re pushing me down but really you’re pushing me up.

When you go through a disappointment, a setback, the medical report wasn’t good; it’s okay to be honest. This stinks, I don’t like it. But I know a secret. It’s fertilizer. It’s going to cause me to bloom, to blossom, to flourish.

This is what Joseph did in the Scripture. His brothers were jealous of him. They threw him into a pit. He could’ve thought, God, I’m a good person. Why did this happen to me? No, he realized this was just fertilizer. They’re trying to stop me, but God’s going to use it to increase me. One bad thing after another happened to him. He was sold into slavery. His bosses wife lied about him, falsely accused him; he was put into prison. He spent 13 years there for something he didn’t do. They were trying to hold him back. They didn’t realize they were putting fertilizer on him. Joseph was growing and getting stronger, his roots going down deeper.

They thought they were stopping him. In reality, they were strengthening him. That injustice that stinky stuff, looked like it wasted years of his life. But, just like fertilizer gives a plant valuable nutrients, that difficulty was doing the work in Joseph, getting him prepared for the next level of his destiny.

One day, Joseph interpreted a dream from the Phera. And Phera was so impressed with him; he brought him out of prison and put him in charge of the whole nation. If you’ll stay in faith in the stinky times, the times you don’t understand it, you’re doing the right thing but the wrong thing keeps happening, then when it’s your time to be promoted, to be vindicated, to bloom, to blossom, all the forces of darkness cannot stop it.

People don’t have the final say. God has the final say. He will get you to where you’re supposed to be.

(Audience clapping)

Joseph went from the pit to the prison, all the way to the palace. You may kind of feel like you’re in a pit today. You’ve had some bad breaks. Dealing with an illness, lost a loved one, maybe a dream has died. But, like Joseph, that pit is not the end of your story. The prison is not your final chapter. Your story ends in the palace. You are destined to live a victorious life.David said, God lifted me out of thepit, and he put a new song in my heart.

You may be in the pit, but you need to get ready. You’re coming out. That sickness is not the end. That depression is not the end. That person that left you, the one that broke your heart that is not the end of your story. If they left you, you didn’t need them. If they walked away, they weren’t a part of your destiny. God has somebody better. He’s about to put a new song in your heart.

Now, don’t get comfortable in the pit. Don’t let self-pity and depression steal your passion. You’ve got to get your fire back. Everything God promised you, he still has every intention of bringing it to pass. The palace is in your future. Accomplishing dreams is in your future. Victory, abundance, health and wholeness, that’s what’s up ahead of you. That’s how your story ends.

I talked to a gentleman who was very upset that his boss was against him, always trying to make him look bad. This boss was jealous of him. He made sure he didn’t get any type of credit or any recognition. I told him what I’m telling you. It’s just fertilizer. Yes, it stinks right now, but don’t worry, fertilizer stinks. That just means you’re about to see new growth. He got his passion back. He started going to the office, being his best, staying on the high road, working under God and under man. On several occasions, he should have been promoted but because of his bosses’unfair attitude toward him, he got passed over.

One day, the CEO from the whole company was in town from out of state, and this man had to make a presentation. The CEO was very impressed with his work. About a year later, a position became available that should have gone to this unfair boss, but the CEO bypassed the boss and came to him and offered him the position.

(Audience clapping)

Now, instead of having to work for the unfair boss, the tables have turned. The bossis having to work for him.

With one touch of God’s favor, you’ll go from the back to the front, from the employee to the employer, from the pit to the palace. We all have stinky situations. Things that are not fair. People that are not treating us right. But you’ve got to do like Joseph and see it as fertilizer. It’s not going to defeat you; it’s going to promote you. That person that lied about you and tried to make you look bad? Don’t get upset. They just put fertilizer on you. They think they’re pushing you down; really, they’re just pushing you up. You’re one step closer to that palace.

Or that mistake you made. You feel like you’re all washed up. Joel, I had my chance. I blew it. No, God uses the stinky stuff. You can’t blossom into all that you were created to be without some fertilizer. Sometimes we bring the trouble upon ourselves. We make poor choices. That accuser whispers through our head, all through the day, “That’s not going to help you. You had your chance; you don’t deserve it.” No, God does not waste anything that you go through. He knows how to bring good out of every situation. It may not be good, but God can get good out of it.

John Chapter 4, Jesus met a woman at a well.He told her that he would give her living water. She said, please give it to me. Jesus said, well go call your husband. She said I don’t have a husband. Jesus said, you’re right, you’ve had 5 and the one you’re living with now is not your husband. She was amazed at how this stranger could know everything about her. She got kind of spiritual and said to Jesus, I know one day the Messiah will come. Jesus looked at her and said, I am the Messiah. The first person Jesus told that he was the Messiah was this one. A woman who had a rough past, made mistakes, had some stinky stuff. She went back and told the whole town, come see this man, he must be the Messiah.

God used her as the first Evangelist to get the word out. Here’s my point. This lady was comfortable around men. Married 5 times. If she would have been introverted, insecure, quiet, reserved, she wouldn’t have told many people. But God took what the enemy had used against her – her boldness, her straightforwardness. He turned it around and said in effectthis has gotten you into trouble in the past, I’m going to make the enemy pay, I’m going to use it to advance my kingdom.

(Audience clapping)

Instead of working against her, now it’s working for her.

Friends, God knows how to use what you’ve been through. He doesn’t waste any experience. You may have made poor choices, but God can take a mess and turn it into your message.

I know a man that spent years in an outlaw motorcycle gang. He was on drugs, living a very violent life, in and out of jail, constantly breaking the law. It didn’t look like he’d ever get turned around. But this young man had a praying mother at home. Every day she’d say, Lord, you said as per me and my house we will serve the Lord; thank-you for bringing me my son back home. One day, he was so depressed and so high on drugs he decided to end his life. Just before he took this big bottle of pills, for some reason he turned on the television and saw my father’s ministry. He got on his motorcycle, still high as a kite, and flew out to Lakewood.

He walked into service, in his leather, beard, tattoos, as mean as can be. The ushers brought him down front and sat him in the first couple of rows. That day he felt a love like he had never felt. After the service, he went back to the parking lot by himself got down on his knees beside the motorcycle and said, “God, if you’re real, help me to change. I’m giving my life to you.” Today this man is a pastor of a church here in town. He has a major motorcycle ministry.

(Audience clapping)

He goes back to the outlaw gang members and shares his story of how God has changed his life. What am I saying? God doesn’t waste any experiences. He’ll use what you’ve been through to help others who are going through the same thing.

About a year ago, there was a story on the news about a 19-year-old student who walked into a high school with an assault rifle and started shooting. He didn’t hit any people at first, only windows. After everyone scattered, he barricaded himself in this small room in the school. Hiding behind the counter was the high school accountant, a middle-aged woman named Miss Tuff. At one point, she stood up. He pointed the rifle at her. She began to talk to him. She’s a very kind and warm woman, just as calm as can be. You could tell she won him over. He felt comfortable with her; he began to open up.

He told how he was off of his medicine. He felt hopeless, like there was no purpose for his life. Miss Tuff said I know how you feel. My husband of 33 years walked out on me and last year I tried to commit suicide but by the grace of God it didn’t happen. She went on to tell how God had restored her, given her a new beginning. And how she had started her own business and was excited about her future. She looked at him and said, if God did it for me then he can do it for you.

Standing there with the assault rifle, helicopters overhead, SWAT team outside, the young man put his gun down. He walked out peacefully. Nobody was harmed. She said afterwards, I know God put me there because I’ve been through what he’s going through.

(Audience clapping)

No matter how bad, how good, God doesn’t waste it. He knows how to use whatever you’ve been through. If you’ll stay in faith, it’ll not only act like fertilizer and help you, but somewhere down the road you’ll be instrumental in helping others.

One time in the Scripture, David was on the run. King Saul was jealous and trying to kill him. David left in such a hurry that he didn’t take his sword. He got to the next town and told the leaders that he was on assignment from the King. It was so urgent he didn’t have time to get his weapon. He asked if they had a sword or a spear that he could borrow. They said, in First Samuel 21, all we have is the sword of Goliath, whom you defeated in the valley. David’s face lit up. He said, there’s nothing like that sword – I’ll take it. He left that day with the sword that was meant to defeat it; now he’s using it in the same sword to defeat others.

The enemies that try to defeat you – the depression, the sickness, the bad breaks, the injustice – you’re not only going to defeat them, but you’re going to use that same experience to defeat others. You have some swords in your future. Battles you’ve won, enemies you’ve defeated. Challenges you’ve defeated. Those victories are going to be there when you need them.

They were meant for your harm, to destroy you, to keep you from your destiny. But God knows how to not only turn them around, not only give you the victory, but he’ll put that same sword in your future. That will help you overcome other obstacles.

I saw a report on “60 Minutes” a while back about this small city in South America that was built on a garbage dump. Trash was everywhere. In the streets, in the rivers, in the yards; all you could see was waste. Very poor people lived there, with hardly any electricity or running water. They made their living by searching through the trash, trying to find something they could sell. Hour after hour, day after day, they rummaged through it for just a few cents a day.It didn’t look like anything good could come out of a garbage dump.

But, a gentleman showed up by the name of Fabio Shevez. He saw the children playing in the garbage, and it broke his heart. He wanted to help. He decided to build a music school right there in the trashheap. He didn’t have any money for instruments so he and a carpenter friend who lived in that city started searching through that trash for materials they could use for instruments. Old pieces of a pipewould become part of a saxophone. Discarded wooden boxes became parts of guitars. Different sized barrels and containers would become the parts of the drums.

In a few months, he had violins, cellos, guitars, drums, all made from trash. He taught the children how to play. They were so excited. Now, they have this full orchestra made of dozens and dozens of children who play these instruments made from the garbage dump.

They put a small clip on YouTube, and it went viral. They started getting invitations from around the world. Today, they fill concert halls everywhere they go, playing for 10s of 1000s. People were so moved; they started donating not only brand new instruments but funds for the children to improve their lives.

At the end of the story, they talked to a noted musician. She made a statement that stuck with me. She said, I couldn’t believe they could make music out of trash.

That’s the way our God is. He can take the broken pieces, the failures, the injustice. It seems like nothing good can come out of it. But, God knows how to make music out of your mess. Nobody else can see it, but God can see it. He’s got you in the palm of His hand.Nothing that’s happened to you has been wasted. It’s all a part to make you into who you were created to be.

It may not have been good, but God can use it for your good. He can take the very thing that was meant to destroy you and instead have it propel you. No obstacle’s too big. No force is too powerful. The greatest force in the universe is on the inside of you right now. You may be in a rough time right now but, like David, you’re about to come into one of your swords. God is going to use what you’ve been through to catapult you forward. People can’t stop it. Bad breaks can’t stop it. Trash can’t stop it. Injustice can’t stop it.

Like Joseph, you’re about to rise to the top. You may be in the pit, but you need to get ready – you’re about to come into the palace.

(Audience clapping)

Shake the self-pity. Let go of what didn’t work out. This is your best day. Your best days are not your yesterdays. They are still out in front of you.The enemy wouldn’t be fighting you so hard if he didn’t know God has something amazing in your future.

(Audience clapping)

It may be difficult. It may stink right now but remember it’s fertilizer. It’s working for you; you’re growing, you’re developing.

I believe and declare, you’re about to flourish, you’re about to bloom, you’re about to blossom. I speak victory over you. I speak increase over you. I speak health, healing, vindication, restoration, increase – the fullness of your destiny in Jesus’ name.

If you receive it, can you say Amen today?

(Audience clapping)

We never like to close our broadcasts without giving you the opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus. I repented my sins. Come into my heart. I’ll make you my Lord and Savior.

Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, I reallybelieve you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God in first place. He’s going to take you places that you’ve never dreamed of.