Keep Moving Forward

Recorded by Joel Osteen
Edited by Selah

I have found that the depth of your past is an indication of the height of your future. When construction workers are going to build a big skyscraper, they first have to dig down deep to lay a foundation. The taller the building the deeper the foundation.

You may have gone through or been in an unfair situation, lost a loved one, friend betrayed you, dealing with a sickness…it is easy to settle there and get discourage but you have to realize God is going down deep because He has something big in your future.

You may be low right now but God is getting you in position to rise higher. There are new levels in front of you; new levels of joy, new levels of influence, new relationships, new opportunities…right in your future. Don’t let what you have been through become your identity, that’s not who you are, that’s what you went through. You are a child of the most high-God, created in His image with a destiny to fulfill.

Your name is not sorrow, sadness, defeat, mediocrity…your name is victory, your name is joy, your name is favour, your name is hope, your name is bright future. No matter what life deals you, you have got to have the attitude, “I am in it to win it”. I may have been through a lot but I have come too far to stop now. I am not going to get bitter, I am not going to live my life negatively, I am going to keep moving forward knowing that what is in my future is greater than what is in my past.

“sometimes we meet people we think will be the sugar in our life but they end up being the baking soda. They help us rise to a new level”

Listen, “God is not going to let one event or one person ruin your life”. God is not going to let a disappointment, a bad break, a lousy childhood, an injustice to stop your destiny. All the forces of darkness cannot stop what God has ordained.
But you know, you are going to have to do your part; you are going to have fight off the self-pity, fight off the resentment, fight off the bitterness…if you will keep moving forward, the right ingredients will show up. The Psalmist puts it this way, “when you keep your hope in the Lord, you will never be disappointed”.

Certainly, we will have temporary sets backs, temporary disappointments, but if you keep hoping, keep trusting, keep honouring God, you are going to see how he is going to somehow, someway work it all together for your good. You won’t be permanently disappointed.