Joel Osteen Ministries Featuring: “Jesus Is King” A Sunday Service Experience at Lakewood Church with Kanye West

43:14 Jump to the start of Sunday Service with Kanye West at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. “Now that I am in service to Christ, my job is to spread the gospel, to let people know what Jesus has done for me…and in that I am no longer a slave. I am a son now, a son of God. I am free.” - Kanye West http://bit.ly/KanyeJIK

Tap into Staying Power

by Joel Osteen

We all have things that come against us in life—an illness, people who don't treat us fairly, a slowdown in our business. We're praying, believing, doing the right thing, but nothing is changing. It's easy to get discouraged and think it's never going to improve. But the way you win some battles is not by defeating but by outlasting the opposition. You have to have staying power. Some enemies are stubborn. You can't be weak and give up because it's not happening on your timetable. You have to outlast the trouble at work, outlast the slow season in your finances, outlast the difficulty in your marriage. We all want God to deliver us from attacks, but if He's not changing it, then it's really simple—you have to outlast the attacks.
Sometimes we think God has forgotten about us. We've seen Him turn situations around in the past, but this problem won't seem to go away. God is still going to turn it around, but this time you have to have a holy determination, a made-up mind, and say, "I am in it for the long haul. Quitting is not an option. I'm going to outlast this sickness, this addiction, this injustice, these critics." The victory will come through outlasting it.
There are two kinds of faith—delivering faith and sustaining faith. We love delivering faith—that's when God instantly turns it around and we defeat our problem. We don't have to wait long or endure. God suddenly shows out in our life. But most of the time we're going to need sustaining faith. That's when God takes us through the challenge, through the difficulty. He could change it in an instant, but if He did that our faith would never grow and develop.
Sometimes you wonder why the challenges you're facing are not changing. You're being your best, but nothing is improving. The Scripture says, "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13). You have to outlast the opposition. Don't worry about defeating it, because if you just outlast it, you're going to see the victory. God is going to defeat what's trying to hold you back. You keep honoring God with an attitude of faith and you won't have to fight. God will move the wrong people out of the way. He'll open a door that you couldn't open. He'll turn that situation in your health around. Outlast the sickness, outlast the injustice, outlast the trouble at work, outlast the loneliness. You have to tap into that staying power. Don't give up along the way, don't get discouraged because it's taking a longer than you thought. Your time is coming.