It’s great when family and friends are there to encourage us in difficult times, but we can’t depend on others to encourage us. We have to learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord every day. We have to remember what God has done in our life. We have to get in agreement with God and say, “Thank You, God, for who You made me to be. You made me to be more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. I’m an overcomer because You back me up, because I have Your Word in me, and I will overcome this.” [Video Below]
This is message #773, "Encourage Yourself", by Victoria Osteen. For more inspirational messages, visit https://www.JoelOsteen.com/Messages
God Says, “I’ve Got This”
Post by Joel Osteen on August 31, 2018
When our son, Jonathan, was going off to college for his freshman year, as parents we were concerned about how everything would work out. Would he get the right classes, would he meet the right friends, would he be overwhelmed? He'd never been in a large school setting, and his college has seventy thousand students. Victoria really wanted him to make a good friend or two at the start. When she was at the parents' orientation for the freshman students, she met another mother whose son was in the communications department like Jonathan, and she really liked this lady. Jonathan was in the students' orientation, so she sent this text: "Try to find a guy named Charlie. I met his mom. I think you'll like him." Jonathan read it and thought, "There are thousands of students in orientation. How would I ever find him?"
Jonathan went into his next session in a room crowded with hundreds of students and sat in a random chair. At one point, the instructor told them to take a minute and meet somebody. Jonathan turned to the guy sitting next to him and noticed a folder with a name written very small on it—"Charlie." Jonathan said, "I think my mother just met your mother. Are you Charlie?" He said, "Yes, I am. You must be Jonathan. My mother texted me to look for you." Out of thousands of students, they were sitting next to each other. God was saying to us as parents, "I've got this. I'm going to watch after your children." It's one thing when God is good to you, but when He's good to your children, there's a whole new level of gratefulness. Jonathan and Charlie became good friends, and four years later, they sat by each other at school one last time at their graduation. Charlie told Jonathan, "Let's finish like we started, side by side."
Are you worrying about your children, stressed out over your job, discouraged because of a disappointment, thinking it's not going to work out? We need to live with the attitude of the psalmist David. He had all kinds of things come against him—people, armies, even his own family—and yet he could say, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" (Psalm 27:1). David would say to you, "God's got this. He's directing your steps. He's bringing the right people across your path and your children's paths. He has beauty for the ashes, and right now He's working behind the scenes. Dare to believe, dare to trust. Be still and know that He is God. He has you in the palms of His hands."
