When God Develops You in the Dark | Bishop T.D. Jakes

0:01 I'm ready to go to work, is that alright? If you wanna make me feel real at home, get your Bibles or your iPads or your cell phones or your eyeglasses. All these technologies they got today, I don't know where you got your Bible here, but stand up on your feet as we go into the Word of God. We're gonna read two scriptures, Acts 9, 1 through 9, and we're gonna read Isaiah 45 and 3. Isaiah 45 and three and acts nine one through nine. Glory to God. I better get comfortable because I think I got to go to work here. Somebody say go to work. We'll

0:49 read acts nine and one first and we'll read down through the nine verses a very familiar story but indulge me as I share it with you. I'm reading it out of the King James version not that it has any more power In the old church, the old people used to say the King James Version was the only real version of the Bible. That's not true. But by the time I learned it in King James for the which cause and therefore and having these precious promises, I'm too old to have to relearn it in the modern language. So, put up with me as I preach out of King James. Is that okay? It means the same thing. And Saul, yet breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord went unto the high priest and

1:37 desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, this way meaning Christians, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near, he came near Damascus. And suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he

2:24 trembling and astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, arise and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man. but they led him by the hand he was blind and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight and neither did eat nor drink. Let's go further to Isaiah, Isaiah 45 and three.

3:11 Here we have the promise of God delivered to us from the eagle eye prophet himself, a promise that I want you to take with you, a promise that is absolute and solid. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness. I will give thee the treasures of darkness. I didn't know darkness had treasure. I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. I'm gonna unlock stuff that nobody knows but me and you. that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the

3:58 God of Israel. Oh my God, I love you. For a few moments, I wanna talk about the treasures of darkness. Can we pray while we're standing? Holy Spirit, direct our paths. We seek thy face, oh God. You are in a class all by yourself. You're sovereign God. You're not an abstract idea. You're not a vague possibility. You are not God as we perceive him. You are not generic in your being. You are divine in your composition. You are holy in your discourse. You are righteous in your character. You are sovereign in your authority. You are the mighty I am, Prince of Peace, invincible,

4:45 ruler of the universe who sits on the circle of the earth. Have thy way, oh God. I thank you in advance for what you're about to do. Shake this place. Shake us till we're changed. Shake us till we're new. I believe you for miracle working power. Have thy way. Thou art the potter. And I am but the clay. In Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated in the presence of God. Glory to God. And I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret

5:35 God has stuff in places that nobody knows I love to read in the book of Genesis when God got ready to send the flood it was not just that the rain came down but if you read it the Bible says he broke up the cisterns of the deep meaning that God had water in the earth that was prepared for such a time as that and it wasn't just what came down it was what came up and it flooded the earth and because God had pockets of water that nobody knew where it was. I believe that God has pockets of blessings that nobody knows where they are but Him. And when He gets ready to bless you, He's got a thousand ways to bless you. It can come from every direction. It can come from the north, the south, the east, or

6:20 the west. It can come from friends or foes. It can come from haters and imitators and spectators. When God It's ready to bless you. He says to us, an absolute promise, I will give you treasures of the darkness. Now Jesus teaches us clearly and succinctly for us to work while it's day. He says, work while it's day, for when night cometh, no man can work. Work while it's day, for when night cometh, no man can work. But he didn't say God couldn't work. Man can't work, but God can work. When God gets ready to work, he

7:07 can work in adverse conditions. He can work without the benefit of surrounding support. When God gets ready to work, he doesn't need help from the environment. That's why Jesus said, I am a root springing up out of dry ground. When I get ready to spring up, I don't need it to rain. When I get ready to bless you, I can bless you around enemies. I can bless you around witches and warlocks. I can bless you in any situation. I am God and beside me there is no other. I am God and besides me there is no other. I am God. Nobody elected me. Nobody appointed me. Nobody moved me in. Nobody can take me out. I can't be impeached. I can't be removed. I am God all by

7:53 myself. I was God before there was anybody there to tell me I was God. I was God before the thunder cocked his hands. I was God before the lightning flashed. I was God before the clouds collided. I was God before there was a where or when, or this or that, or it or and. I was God before the angels sang their first hymn. I was God before you ever said hallelujah. I was God before the morning ever kissed the sunlit sky. I'm God! feeling churchy in here my God somebody is ready for a breakthrough in here shove hallelujah in this place

8:45 if God is going to give us the treasures of darkness we must understand what darkness is and I want to challenge you because darkness is so pervasive and even as a child it can be quite intimidating I remember being a child and being afraid of the dark Everything changed in the dark. It changed. My robe hanging over in the corner changed into the Wicked Witch of the West in the dark. And I wanted a little bit of light on so I could see what was coming up and going on in my room because everything looks different in the dark. And when it really gets dark, you can't see anything at all. So what is darkness? Well, scientists teach us that darkness is not a thing.

9:32 I know you thought it was a thing, but it's not a thing. Darkness is not a thing. It is the absence of a thing. Darkness is defined as the absence of light. It is only the consequences or the results of the absence of that which is legitimate. Light is a thing because it is quantifiable. It can be felt. It can be touched. It can be measured. It can be, it can be, there, how many watts is that coming at me? You can measure how much light, the decibels of light. Sound is a thing because it can be measured. Light is a thing because it can be measured. And

10:18 it came at the speed of light. If you can measure its speed, it's a thing. You never hear anybody say it came at the speed of darkness. Because darkness doesn't have a speed. It doesn't have a decimal. It doesn't have a wattage because darkness is not a thing. It is the absence of a thing. So in order to experience darkness, it is when we go through something where we have the absence of a thing. It is what we don't have that makes it dark. when you don't have the absence when you have the absence of the thing it can be dark even if the room is lit because darkness is not a

11:09 thing it's a void it's an emptiness it's an ambiguous existence a place whereby I cannot see my way clear not because the darkness has power it has no power having neither light or having neither heat, it has no power, it's absence. How many of God's people are aching over absence? What isn't there can be as painful as what is. Now you have to have lived a while to understand what I just said, but what isn't there can be as painful as what is. And in this

11:56 world, in this Instagram, Facebook, Twitter world, in this selfie world where everybody wants to be in the light and everybody wants to say, see me. And everybody wants to be on stage and everybody wants to be up front and everybody wants to be recognized. It is difficult to get us to appreciate that God does his best work, not in the light, but in the dark. In fact, when God gets ready to prepare you for light, he puts you in the dark. Like an old camera, when a camera got ready to develop the film, you developed it in the

12:42 dark. You showed it in the light, but it was developed in the dark. If you gave it too much light too soon, you ruined the exposure because it was developed in the dark. Some of you don't recognize it, but you're being developed in the dark, you prayed for the light, but God is developing you in the dark. Do you hear what I'm saying to you? This season that you're in is preparation for what God is about to do in your life. He's developing you in the dark. Oh no, don't put me up there too soon. I don't want light when I need darkness. God works in the dark. It's the first thing he teaches us. about him in the book of Genesis. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth

13:30 was without form and void and darkness covered the face of the deep. It covered the face of the deep but it didn't stop God from moving because the spirit of God moved in the midst of darkness. He didn't wait for day before he moved. He moved in the darkness. If you're going through a dark place, if you're going through a void, if you're going through an absence, you're going through an emptiness it doesn't stop God from moving the Spirit of the Lord moved upon the face of the waters and God said let there be light and darkness ran darkness ran from the light darkness runs from the light darkness runs from the light I want to tell every witch in the house darkness runs

14:25 whimpers like a little girl and runs home from the light because darkness has no existence it's not a thing it's an absence the entrance of thy word giveth light only God can work in the dark and he does some of his best work in the dark when he got ready to create the earth he started the job in the dark when God allows a woman to collaborate with him in the creation of a human being he places the embryo in the darkness of her womb and holds it there for three trimesters he's careful about not bringing it into the light too soon because while the embryo is up under development he says I need

15:15 to do it in the dark God does his best stuff in the dark when the lights are out, when the crowd is not there, when the people are not around. He does his best work in moments like that. When God got ready to create the first woman, he put Adam to sleep and there in the darkness, he pulled out of him what he didn't even know he had in him. I'm telling you, you still got some stuff in you that you don't even know that's down inside of you. And if God decides to put you in the darkness, it's cause he's getting ready to pull something out of you that you didn't even know was there. Whoa, man.

16:04 Check that out. I didn't know all of that was in me. I didn't know I could do all of that. I didn't know I was walking around with all that potential in me, all that unrealized potential in me. I thought I was who they said I was. I thought I was a nobody and a nothing. I thought I was a failure and a reject. I thought I was the black sheep of my family. I thought I was a criminal and an inmate, but then God put me in a dark place and started pulling stuff out of me that I didn't even know. Who am I preaching to in here today? As long as you take a bag of seeds and keep it on a shelf, you'll never have a harvest. You'll never have a harvest. You can take a bag

16:53 of seeds and put it in a shelf and put it in the light somewhere and it will never produce because seeds were designed to produce in the darkness. That's why seeds have to be planted because in the privacy of darkness, seeds begin to go through a metamorphosis that they could not go through in the light. I just want to stop and thank God that he allowed me to go through my changes in the darkness. That you didn't put me up in front of everybody and have to fix some stuff in the public, but in the privacy of my secret chambers, there he began to take me through all the wrestling, the struggling that were necessary to make me become who you wanted

17:40 me to be. because you're sovereign like that and you said I will give you the treasures of darkness. I came to preach to somebody that might be in a dark place right now. I came to tell you that weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. I came to tell you that where you are is not where you're going to be. That God has given you privacy so he can bring some things out of you that you didn't even know that you had. I came to tell you that you got hidden treasure. I came to tell you that your first grade teacher might have lied when she said you couldn't learn or you couldn't think or you couldn't be or you couldn't do or your first boyfriend or your first girlfriend might have lied when they said you were nobody. They

18:28 met you before God put you in the dark. But after this, you shout. Yeah. Oh, God. When God got ready to go into covenant with Abraham, he put him to sleep. And there in a unilateral covenant, without any help from Abraham himself, God entered into covenant with him that affected his children and his children's children and his children's children's children. Some of the things that you're going through aren't even about you. They're about who's coming after you. They're about breaking curses off of your

19:16 future. It's about that child you got. It's about that promise you got. It's about things you don't even understand right now. But after a while, you're going to be shouting the victory and saying it was good for me that I was afflicted. For had I not been afflicted, I would have never seen the glory of God. the presence of God in this place something is about to happen in this place I can feel it in my bones I can sense it in my spirit something is about to happen I'm just glad to be in the place set me in the balcony I can still get my blessing something is about to

20:19 formative power of God the ability to turn this into that is often done in the dark to bring Abraham out of Abram to bring Sarah out of Sarai oh it's often done in the dark to bring the resurrected Jesus is often done in the dark he puts you in a private place and there he begins to bring about change Now, to my text. In my text this morning, ladies and gentlemen, there is a very interesting gentleman,

21:09 a man of note and notoriety and intellectual as it were. He is known in the gates amongst the great thinkers He has been educated at the feet of Gamal. He would have been known by Socrates and Aristotle. He is an aristocrat and a nobleman intellectually. He is bilingual, five different languages he spoke in. He was respected amongst the scholars and the thinkers for his intellect, for his capacity, for his power. He is a Hebrew of Hebrews. He is a Pharisee as it relates to religion. Concerning the law, he is zealous. As it relates to aristocracy, he is of the tribe of Benjamin. That means he comes from the order of kings. That's why he is called Saul, reminiscent of the first

21:59 king of Israel. Saul is his Hebraistic name that lets you know that he is somebody, but he is wrong. He is also the same little boy that held the coats while Stephan was stoned. Those early impressions leave depressions and demarcations in how we see the world. He started out early, seeing Christians killed. And when you teach children to hate at early ages, it is hard to get it out. And so he grows up a religious,

22:47 a religious hater he is religious but he is a hater don't be shocked religion often hates religion often kills religion starts wars religion burns innocent women and calls them witches and finds out later they was wrong and never apologizes religion can be a murderer. Religion is a dangerous thing. That's why Christ did not come to give us religion. He came to give us relationship. And whenever somebody has relationship with God, somebody who only has religion will try to kill them. That's why the most

23:37 dangerous enemies Christ ever encountered were religious people. The sinners loved him. The winebibbers loved him. The wayfaring people loved him. It was the religious people that hated Jesus and sought to kill him. And that is the irony of the text because now we're dealing with the next generation of the same story. The little boy who was holding the coat when Stephan was stoned has now grown into a man. And the Jesus that he has taught to hate is now ascended and seated on the right hand of the majesty on high. But the fight continues. The fight continues. You see Saul is a terrorist. He is what we would call a terrorist today. He would be on our

24:24 terrorist list. He would be on our flight list. He would be on our warning list. Saul is a of Christians and he thinks he's doing God's service. Beware of people's ministry that is defined by who they are against. Your religion should not make you hate, it should make you love. Your religion should not make you hate, it should make you love. Your religion should not make you hate, it should make you love. Anytime you stick your chest out and brag about who you don't like, you don't know Jesus, you just know religion.

25:15 And so, Saul is on his way to do some more killing. Not more, more. There's a difference between more and more. Don't worry about it. It's African American colloquialism. We'll explain it to the white folks later. Moe is what you say when you can't afford RE. He's on his way to Damascus to do some moe killing. He has threatened them because terror lives in an atmosphere of fear.

26:01 He has threatened them and he needs them to be afraid. And he's gotten the paperwork, guess what? From the priest to go Christian killing. To drag them in chains back to Jerusalem and persecute them. He is going to destroy them. And while he is on his way, God stopped him. Now let me tell you something. I don't mind you shouting about what God did, and I don't mind you shouting about what God gave you, and I don't mind you shouting about what you're driving, and I don't mind you shouting about what you got on, but let me shout about what he stopped.

26:46 There were some things that were headed my way, and just before the enemy snatched it, God stopped it. Is there anybody in here that you could see collapsing? just in the nick of time. God's. High five somebody and tell them God stopped it. He stopped the cancer. He stopped the AIDS. He stopped the suicide. He stopped the depression. He stopped the fear. He stopped the anguish. Just in the nick of time. God stopped it. Somebody give him three minutes of praise.

27:45 He stopped it, he stopped it, he stopped it, he stopped it, he stopped it, he knocked it down off his beast, he laid it out on the ground, he stopped it, he stopped it, they said I wouldn't make it, but he stopped it. Oh my God, there's some almost folks in here, almost destroyed, almost

28:30 lost their mind, almost faded, almost collapsed, almost died, but just in the nick of time, just when hell thought he had you, just when Satan said, I'm coming in for the kill, rest of my life thanking him for the things that didn't happen that could have happened that should have happened that would have happened but God stopped it if he

29:17 doesn't do anything else I'll thank him for what he stopped he knocked Saul down while he was yet little ways from Damascus it was a close call he almost got there and God stopped him and knocked him down and he said who is it Lord who is this and he said I am Jesus whom thou persecutest now wait a minute wait a minute wait

30:03 a minute wait a minute throughout all of the Bible you will never read where Saul ever attacked Jesus. And yet Jesus said, it is Jesus whom thou persecuted. Saul never attacked Jesus. He just attacked the believers in Jesus. That means, that means that if Jesus said, you're persecuting me when you're persecuting my people, that means when you jump on me, you jumped on him. means that the battle is not mine, it belongs to the Lord. That means I got back up in the time of trouble. That means when you attack me, God takes it personal. That means I don't have to fight you back, that God will fight on my

30:52 behalf. at your neighbor and say, you better lead me along. I'd hate for you to get out here on 40 and God have to stop your car in the middle of the road. I'd hate for God to have to shut you down to get some sense in your head. I'd hate for God to have to put you in a hospital to get some sense in your head. You thought I was by myself. No, baby, I ain't never by myself. No, I ain't never by myself. I'm always

31:41 You thought you were picking on a nobody! I love the way Jesus shows up. People say, I'm a bit animated and I can be a touch theatrical, but that's me being like the Lord. because I mean the Lord could have just appeared but no he sends a great light he makes a grand entrance he sends a great light I know it was a great light because it was greater than daylight it has to be a mighty great light

32:27 to be great light in daylight it was a light so strong that it knocked Saul down to the floor it was a light so strong that Saul knew he had never seen anything like it before and it was the last thing he saw before everything went dark. And he went blind and it was dark. It was dark but it wasn't over. It was dark but it wasn't over. It might be dark for you right now but it's not over. You might be going through a season, since darkness is the absence of a thing,

33:17 you might be going through a season of the absence of a thing that you legitimately need, but it ain't over. You may have to function for a while without the absence of the thing you adore, but it's not over. You might have to go up without what your neighbors have. but it's not over. It's just that God has created the treasures of darkness. And in order to create the treasures of darkness, he has to take away light so that he can incubate what he's about to do in your life.

34:05 Lord, I'm preaching better than you shouting. You see, they once asked a blind woman, they said, it must be terrible to be blind. I can't imagine what you must go through. I feel so sorry for you. She said, oh, it's not so bad to be blind. She said, it is better to be blind than to have sight and not have vision. I'm quoting Helen Keller. Helen Keller said, I'm better than you. I'm just blind. You got eyes and have no vision.

34:53 Listen at the profundity of what she had to say. She has made a clear distinction between eyesight and insight. Saul has lost his eyesight so that Paul might find his insight. Sometimes you have to go through something to really get your insight, to find out who you really are, to find out what you really got, to find out that you're tougher than you thought you were, to find out that you can do more than you thought you could do. Sometimes you have to get away from your eyesight because your eyesight informs you of your circumstances. Through my

35:43 eyesight, I connect with that which is around me. not that which is within me. And sometimes I cannot be delivered by that which is around me. I can only be delivered by that which is within me. If I look around me, I see circumstances. If I look in me, I see hope. So sometimes in order to really get your focus, you have to shut down your eyesight to build up your insight. Or we could say it this way, The just shall walk by faith and not by... If you've been looking at some things that's been discouraging you, shut your eyes to what you see and turn on

36:29 your insight to what you believe. For greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. The power that's going to deliver you is coming from the inside. When they first came to Mary and the angel came to Mary and said, Hail Mary, you've been highly favored, you shall bring forth a son. She used her eyesight and said, How could these things be? Seeing as I know not a man. She's looking at her circumstances. And then she used her insight and said, Nevertheless, be it unto me according to thy word. And because she yielded to this time of being misunderstood and talked about and ostracized by her neighbors and almost divorced by her would-be husband, because she was willing to go through all of that, she delivered that which would deliver

37:19 her. There is something in you that will deliver you. But in order to produce it, you have to go through the dark place. Who am I talking to today? Let me go a little bit deeper with this. gives up his eyesight that he might gain insight he starts out leading men to do that which he thought was right but was really wrong and then he ends up with the men he was leading leading him but when they started leading him he had in spite of no eyesight he had

38:08 greater insight and for three days he stumbled around in the dark gotten my greatest blessings stumbling up on stuff. I didn't plan it. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. I didn't know I was going to meet somebody that was going to change the trajectory of my life, but I stumbled up on something. I want every person in this room that ever stumbled up on a blessing to make some noise in this house.

39:03 I stumbled up on a treasure. I stumbled up on a miracle. I stumbled up on an answer. I stumbled up on deliverance. I stumbled up on wisdom. I stumbled up on a new job. I stumbled up on a business. I stumbled up on an opportunity. I just stumbled. I feel something about to happen in this place. who I'm preaching to but you're about to stumble up on something something that the devil thought you would never get but God's gonna let you be in the right place at the right time

40:16 utterance in this place that God is going to give you hidden treasure and you're just gonna stumble up on it and he doesn't want you to wait till you get it to praise him

41:24 right there. Cause it occurred to me, God might be talking to me too. And when praises go up. Sit with me, I'm almost finished. You must understand. That, yeah. with you I feel him too is he on your roll I feel it is the old girl is he touching your spirit do you feel it in your belly so

42:09 yeah so yeah y'all gonna make me go somewhere y'all

42:58 my brothers and sisters sit with me three minutes because you got me excited you're about to make me mess up Lakewood. Y'all been paying all that insurance all these years? You about to need it this morning because there's some folks out there about to tear this church up in here.

43:43 as I regained my composure. In a nutshell, I'm trying to teach you the power of insight, of inner illumination, of listening, that which comes from within the power of vision is not a sensual thing vision is a spiritual thing it has nothing to do with what you

44:32 taste smell hear or see in fact it often contradicts everything you touch taste smell or hear. The enemy will try to come in through your eye gate, ear gate, nose gate. Your senses will contradict what God told you in your spirit. So Paul gave up his eyesight for his insight. Fast forward many years later, he will write to the church at Ephesus and he will say, I pray that the eyes of your understanding might be enlightened. Why does he pray like this? Because he has had this experience on the Damascus

45:23 road that teaches him the value of enlightenment. He says, I pray that the eyes of your understanding, of your understanding of how you see the world might be enlightened. This prayer comes from a man who saw the world wrong. God used him to set it right. The craziest thing about it, of all the people for God to use, he used the very persons, Pharisees, who hated him, to lead the New Testament church, to write the majority

46:08 of the epistles, to establish the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. were all developed by somebody who used to be a Christian killer. Your enemies have a purpose. That's why God doesn't want you to hate them. Because he will make your enemies. Oh, y'all know the word up in this church. Y'all know the word up in this church. Y'all know the word up in this church. Y'all know the word up in this church. And if you're not speaking to your enemies, you might miss your footstool.

46:59 The disciples were afraid of him when he got converted. God had to speak to them to get them to let him come in. Because they didn't know that God had given Saul the treasures of darkness. They thought he was still who he was. Always leave room for your enemies to change. Because what God has for you is too big for you to be small. What God has predestined for you is too big for you to be

47:49 petty. It's too big for you to hold a grudge. Because God in one chapter is going to take one guy who's got a chain and get ready to kill you. And then make him a servant to write the New Testament to feed you. that's what this text means. This text means that people change. This text means you ought to forgive. This text means you ought to let go. This text means that we have this treasure in dark places, in earthen vessels that the excellency may be of

48:37 God and not of us. This text means that when you walk out of here expecting this blessing that I just prophesied over your life, don't just open your door to your friends. Because God may use your enemies to bless you. So if you stay angry at your ex-husband, uh oh, I lost a man Jesus. I had the whole 35 minutes, but when I brought

49:23 up that ex-husband, all the joy just went right out the exit door. A blessing is coming your way. A hidden treasure is coming your way. And the darkness that you're in is just a sign that is coming your way. In my book I talk about the same to the observer, to the observer, to the outer observer, planting and burial look the same. Outwardly it's the same action. You dig up, earth you

50:13 put something in it you cover it up but when you're burying it you're covering it up for it to stay when you're planting it you're covering it up for it to change the Lord said to you today you have not been buried you have been planted I want you to stand up on your feet as I remind you of what Job said. There is hope for a tree that if it be cut down

50:58 at the smell of water, it will sprout again. You might be in a dark season but I prophesy you will sprout again. Not only that, you will laugh again. I mean belly laugh. I mean joyous laugh. I mean hilarious laughter. And if you can handle

51:49 that, I'm gonna throw something else on it. You will dance again. You will dance in your own house. You'll get in your shower and start dancing. You'll be in your house and dance without music. When you see what God brings up in your life after this, you will rejoice again because the Lord took me to Lakewood to tell you I'm going to give you the treasures. darkness and the hidden secrets that have been hidden from everybody else I'm going to give it to you so that you will know that I am the Lord your God and I am the God of Israel. Clap in this house if God bless you

52:35 this morning. I said clap in this house if God bless you this morning. touch someone as we prepare to close the person you're touching right now as good as they are as gifted as they are as talented as they are as blessed as they are there's so much more in them there's more

53:24 wisdom and more life and more joy and more potential and more possibilities than what they've experienced. And no matter how they grin at you, they go through some dark places sometimes. When they're not going through somebody that they love is going through a dark place. And when they go through a dark place, they wonder where is God? Jehovah Shama, the Lord is there. He's present in troubles. Squeeze that hand. He's right there right now developing your next blessing. Developing your next season. Developing your next place of increase.

54:10 Developing your overflow season. It's happening right now. Don't mess with it. Don't touch it. Don't touch it. It's in the development stage. Don't expose it too soon. Don't talk about it too soon. It shall come to pass. It shall come to pass. It shall come to pass. Squeeze that hand. Lord, I shared with them what you shared with me. And I tried to tell them what you told me. And I ask the Holy Spirit to take my little feeble attempts and add the increase. Let this word go home with them.

55:01 Let it get in the car with them. Let it get in the house with them. Let it go to work with them. Let it get in their business decisions. Let it get in their personal life. Let it get in their finances. That they might be going through a crushing, but you're getting ready to make some wine up in here. You're getting ready to make some wine up in here. You're getting ready to make some wine up in here. I thank you. I thank you, Lord. I'm not tripping. And then again, maybe I am. Let me trip on this next blessing. Let me trip on this next opportunity. Let me trip on this next door. Let me trip on this

55:51 next situation that you're bringing into my life. Just when I thought it wasn't gonna happen, I just tripped up on something. Lakewood, I leave you with nothing but treasure. I can't make you take it, I just put it in your reach. If you receive it, clap your hands and take it in right now.

56:43 With everybody standing in And nobody leaving. If you're in this room and you don't know Jesus, while heads are bowed and eyes are closed, if you're in this room and you drifted away from the Lord, if you're in this room and you've been going through some dark places and it made you kind of doubt sometimes, and it made you kind of cry sometimes, and it made you kind of wonder, Does God even love me? Sometimes. It's no mistake that you're in this service today. You're in this service because God has a plan for your life. And you'll

57:29 never get there being a backslider and you'll never get there being a sinner. You'll only get there if you can say yes to the Lord. You may not even be from Houston. You might be visiting this city from out of town. Let me tell you something, sweetheart. This was a set up. gave you the time off and sent you to Houston to get this word so you could come out of that funk you've been in and move into your destiny and into your purpose. And I ask the church to pray because I know that Satan doesn't want to

58:14 let you go. I ask the church to pray because When you've been a little boy and certain things happen to you as a child, it affects your perspective as a man. Little girl, it affects the woman you become. Saul held the coats and became a killer. Whatever happened to you affected where you're at right now. But that is not your destiny. That is your history. And I call you out of your history. into your destiny.

59:00 Watch this for just a second. Don't clap, just pray for just a moment. Just pray. God wants somebody in this room. And he wants you real bad. And I can tell by the feel of the anointing that's in this place. The call of God is on your life. And if where you are right now you sense that God is talking to you and you're not a Christian or you used to be a Christian or you're that special category that we make when we're backslidden that you think you and God have a special arrangement that you don't. Because God wants to be full time not part time. Not a chick on the side.

59:51 He's calling you. And if you have a heart to say yes, slip your hand up in the air. Say, I want to be saved. I want to be saved. I want to be saved. I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you. I see you. All over the building, all up at the balcony, I see you. I see you. Pray this simple prayer with me. Lord Jesus, I invite you into my heart. I confess my sins. I repent of them. I'm sorry.

1:00:39 I've been stubborn. I've been foolish. But today, I see a great light. Today, I say yes to you. I'm going to serve you as my Lord and my Savior because you died and rose up again. So will I. In Jesus' name, amen. Give Him all the praise you got.

1:01:27 We love you. God bless you. We'll see you back real soon. Thank you so much for making Lakewood Church a part of your weekend. We believe your new week will go better because you did. If you just prayed that prayer with Pastor Joel, we'd love to hear from you. Send us an email through our website, lakewoodchurch.com. We know that God loves you, has a plan for you, and we'd be happy to help you on your walk with God. I'm Terry Williams, Co-Director of Volunteer Teams here at Lakewood Church, and I'm so excited to share with you some of the great things we've got coming up real soon here at Lakewood. One of the awesome ways that Lakewood Church invests in you spiritually by helping you with your walk with Christ is through Monday night

1:02:16 Bible study. Monday night is a continuation of Sunday. We go a little bit deeper into biblical studies. And if you are here in the Houston area, we encourage you to come and join us on Monday nights on the fourth floor. If you are not, it will be streamed free online. Our ninth annual youth and young adult conference, Hope and Life, is descending on Lakewood Church this June. June 19th through 21st, come on out for three incredible nights. We have incredible speakers coming to join us. Louie Giglio will be here. Pastor Mike Todd from Tulsa, Oklahoma will be here. And our very own Young Adults Pastor from Lakewood, Nick Nielsen will be speaking as well. My anchor is the cross where Jesus died and that's the place where the love of God was demonstrated. Because if I'm getting out of here and it took you to

1:03:04 get me out of here, I must be moving. us something better. Love will push through fear to rescue. Love will push through fear to mend. And that's what peacemaking will require. It will require the spirit of God and the love of God. We've got incredible music from artists like Torin Wells, our very own, as well as Social Club Misfits. You don't want to miss it. And believe it or not, this conference is absolutely free. If you're not in the Houston area, book your flight and get here. You won't want to miss this life-changing conference. We are so excited to share with you that Pastor Victoria's new book, Exceptional You, is out and available anywhere books are sold. Make sure to grab your copy today. Thank

1:03:49 you again for making Lakewood Church a part of your weekend. We strongly believe your new week's gonna go better because you did. Our pastor believes in you, loves you, and wants to see you reach your full God-given potential. Thank you so much for tuning in. And if you're ever in our area, we encourage you to come on out and be in the room. It's so good to take in great worship and an awesome message, but there's nothing like being in the room, present with thousands of believers going all in in a moment of worship. We love you and thank you again for tuning in.