Joel Osteen - God Controls Your Doors

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, God bless you.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
It's great to be with you today, and I hope
you'll stay connected with us during the week through our
daily podcast, YouTube channel, social media, and you can come
visit us in person. We'd love to have you be
a part of one of our services. I like to
start with something funny, and my brother Paul sent me
this one, so you can blame him.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
But here's how it goes. I heard about this husband.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
He said to his wife, do you know men are
going to arrive in heaven thirty minutes before women?

Speaker 1 (00:31):
She said, what are you talking about? Where'd you see that?
He said? Right here?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
In the scripture, Revelation eight one says when he opened
the seventh seal there was.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Silence in heaven for thirty minutes.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Okay, Paul, they didn't like it. Here we go, y'all.
This is my Bible. I am what it says.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
I am.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
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. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want
to talk to you today about.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
God controls your doors. We all have.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Dreams we want to accomplish and things we're believing for,
But sometimes we wonder how it's going to happen. Well,
I meet the right people, What if I don't get
the scholarship?

Speaker 1 (01:24):
What if the loan doesn't go through? We end up.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Striving and straining trying to force doors to open. It
frustrated because we didn't get the promotion, and upset because
this person walked away.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
We think we have to do it all on our own.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
The good news is God is your doorkeeper. He's in
control of the doors in your life, what opens and
what closes. You're not at the mercy of faith luck
and if this person likes you. The scripture says God
will open doors that no person can s Yeah, and

(02:00):
he will shut doors that no person can open. Every
shut door is not the enemy. God will shut doors
to protect you. He'll move someone out of your life
because he knows they're not going to be good for you.
He'll let the boss overlook you for the promotion because

(02:21):
he has something much better in store. Sometimes he closes
doors because we're believing too small. He can see the
greatness in you. He knows what you're capable of. He's
not gonna let you settle for second best. He'll shut
a door that you wanted so badly. This person was

(02:41):
so good, Joyce she was fine, or he was.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
Tall, dark, handsome and rich.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
But where God is taking you, they cannot go.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
God is not punishing you. He's protecting you.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
If he let us have our way all the time,
we wouldn't reach the fullness of our desk to end.
He loves you too much to not close doors. We
love when he opens doors. We know that's the hand
of God, but the closed doors are just as important.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
He's keeping you on.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
The best plan for your life. He can see things
we can't see, the big picture. He's already written every
day of our life in his book. What may look
good to us is really leading to a dead end.
It would be a waste of time and energy. So
he'll step in as your doorkeeper and close the door.

(03:35):
When you realize this, it takes the pressure off. You
don't live frustrated striving. You can stay in peace knowing
that the doors you need open no person can shut.
If God wanted you to have that promotion, the boss
wouldn't have overlooked.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
You don't blame your boss. It was a hand of God.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
If God wanted you to marry that person that walked away,
you would have married him.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
He didn't walk away on his own. God shut the door.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
If God wanted you to have that house that fell through,
you would have.

Speaker 1 (04:09):
It looks like a bad break.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
I'm sure it's normal to be disappointed, but you have
to come back to this truth that God is your doorkeeper.
No person can shut what God wants open. No force
of darkness can stop what God has purpose for your life.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
The question is will you trust him with your doors?

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Will you believe that he has your best interests at heart,
That he will open doors that no man can shut.
That means he will favor you, bring the right people,
cause promotion to track you down.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
He's not just a god who closes doors.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
He's a God who opens doors that you couldn't open,
a God who surprises you with opportunity, with promotion.

Speaker 1 (04:57):
With influence that you didn't see coming. Think about David.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
He was out in the shepherd's fields, seventeen years old,
taking care of his father's sheep.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
He had big dreams.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
He felt greatness on the inside, but there were no opportunities.
He came from a family of shepherds, ordinary people. They
didn't have much influence. But when God is ready to
promote you, he doesn't check your resume, what family you
come from, who you know.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
God looks at your heart. Do you have a heart
to please in?

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Can he trust you with greater influence, with promotion, with favor.
One day, the prophet Samuel came from another city to
Jesse's house, David's father, to anoint one of the sons
as the next king of Israel. Jesse had eight sons.
He called seven of them to stand before Samuel.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
He left David out in the fields.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
He thought, it's not David, he's too young, he'll never
do anything great. Jesse shut the door. He ruled David out.
But God is your doorkeeper. He opens doors that no
man can shut. Jesse didn't believe in David, but Jesse
didn't have the final says.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
People are not your doorkeeper.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
They may try to discount you, leave you out, push
you down. They don't control your doors.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
The most high God does. Don't get bitter, don't try
to get even prove to them who you are. You
don't need their approval.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
They may be over you have more seniority, more experience,
But what God has for you, they cannot stop.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
They may try to shut the door. Don't worry.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
The doorkeeper is coming, the God who opens doors that
no person can shut. I can see Samuel trying to
pour the oil on each of the suns, but the
oil wouldn't flow.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
It defied gravity. I wouldn't go to who Jesse wanted.
So Samuel asked Jesse if he had any other sons.
Jesse scratched his head so puzzled.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
He said, yes, I have a son named David. He's
the youngest out in the fields. Samuel said, bring him in.
People may leave you out, but when it's your time,
God will bring you in. They may overlook you, try
to close the door, hold you back.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
But God sees you. He knows what you need for
your destiny in it. He's the one that put the
dreams in you. People can't stop.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
It could be an upset because someone is not for you,
or trying to win over that coworker that doesn't believe
in you. They're not your doorkeeper. They don't control the opportunities.
The good breaks, the influence that comes from Almighty God.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
If you don't realize this. You'll live offended at the jesses.
Why did they leave me out? Man?

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Why is my own family not leaving me? You'll end
up insecure. I guess man, I'm just not good enough.
We'll tune all that out.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
You have one doorkeeper. Not your boss, not your.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
Family, not the critics, not the enemy. The Most High God.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
Is your doorkeeper.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
When he's ready to open doors. All the forces of
darkness cannot stop him. People can't stop him, The economy
can't stop him. Bad breaks can't stop him. Your past
won't stop him. He controls your doors. David came in
from the fields, and Samuel poured the jar, and.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
The oil begin to freely flow. He was anointed the
next king of Israel.

Speaker 2 (08:42):
The oil God has for you is not going to
flow to anyone else. Quit worrying that someone got your
promotion and got your boyfriend you wanted to date. That
man got your house. Your contract didn't go through. If
you didn't get it, they didn't take it.

Speaker 1 (08:59):
God closed the door. They're not your doorkeeper.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
They don't control your breaks, who you meet, what you
have access to God does. Your oil can't flow to
another person. God ordained it for you. It has your.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
Name on it. In the same way, quit warning what
someone else has. Don't live Indians, man.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
I wish I had their talent, their resources, their looks,
their life. You're not anointed to be then, if God
gave you what they have, it wouldn't be a blessing,
it would be a burden.

Speaker 1 (09:35):
God has designed a specific path for you.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
He's already lined up the right people, the right breaks,
the favor, and at the right time.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
He'll open the doors.

Speaker 2 (09:48):
You don't have to live worried man, Why am I
still out here in the shepherd's fields?

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Why are people passing me up?

Speaker 2 (09:54):
How you wait will determine how long you're going to wait.
When haven't opened, You're in a silent season and everyone
else is being promoted, getting married, moving into a new house,
having that baby, and you're still in the shepherd's fields.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
Feels unfair.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
It's easy to get discouraged and try to force doors
to open. No, be still and know that he is God.
He has not forgotten about you. He's already lined up
the right doors, doors that no person can shut.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Now trust him. Why you're waiting?

Speaker 2 (10:33):
Keep a good attitude when the doors haven't opened, Keep
doing the right thing when the wrong thing has happened.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
Samuel is on the way. God has already scheduled to
open doors, doors that will thrust you into your destiny.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
At one point, David went to take his brother's lunch.
They were in the army on the battlefield, and he
heard Goliath taunting the Israelites, and something rows up in him,
this fire on the inside. He told King Saul that
he wanted to fight Goliath. Saul said, David, you're just
a boy.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
You don't have a chance. Saul tried to close the door.
You're not qualified.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
His brother's made fun of him, said David, what did
you do with those few sheep that you're supposed to
be taking care of back at home.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
Tried to belittle him, closed the door. David felt the
sting of rejection from.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
His father, not believing in him. He had plenty of
opportunities to live. Discouraged inferior, go back home. Despite all
this opposition, the scripture says, David ran toward Goliath. He's
running to face a giant that's twice his size.

Speaker 1 (11:47):
That doesn't make sense.

Speaker 2 (11:49):
But when God opens the door, there's a faith, a courage,
a power to do what he's called you to do.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
God won't open a door.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Without giving everything you need to walk through it. You
may have gone through some closed doors, like David, You
got passed over, people didn't believe in you, and you
think where you are is where you'll always be.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
Can I encourage you?

Speaker 2 (12:15):
Doors are about to open that you never dreamed would open.
It's gonna happen sooner than you think. It's gonna be
better than you've imagined. You were faithful in the shepherd's fields.
God heard you praising when you could have been complaining,
doing the right thing when you weren't getting the credit.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
He's about to surprise you.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
Samuel is about to show up something you didn't see coming,
the right person, finding you your business, taking off your child,
turning around your health improving. This is a door that
no person can shut, a door that will thrust you.

Speaker 1 (12:52):
Into your purpose. Now here's the key.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
It's easy to trust God with the open doors when
Samuel comes, when Goliath falls, we know that's the favor
and goodness of God. But will you trust him with
your closed doors? When you didn't get what you wanted?
Samuel went to your cousin's house, you hit Goliath with
the rock, but he smacked you back.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
None of us like the closed doors.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
Well, we prayed, we believe we did our best, but
it didn't work out. But just as God opens doors,
he closes doors.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
You have to go.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Through your closed doors before you'll get to your open doors.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
You'll be tempted to get discouraged.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
God is not fair. Why didn't I get that position?
Why did that person walk away? Why didn't that contract
go through? We're not going to understand it all at
the time. It's not going to make sense. But God
knows things we don't know. He can see detours, delays,
and dead ends.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
You have to trust him. When the door closes when
you didn't get.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
What you want, want it, because if you hold on
too tightly you'll become bitter.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
It'll keep you from the new doors God wants to open.
You have to release it, let it go. This fine.
To be honest, God, I wanted this. I don't understand it.
It looks right to me, But God, I trust you.
You know what's best for my life.

Speaker 2 (14:23):
After I graduated from high school, I went off to college,
and from my early teens I always loved television production, cameras.

Speaker 1 (14:32):
Lighting, editing.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
I knew that's what I wanted to do with my life.
And the church had cameras growing up, and I would
come down as a teenager on Saturday and play with
the equipment.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
Sundays i'd run camera during the services.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
The college I went to had a big TV production program,
was known as one of the best in the country.
When I first arrived, I called a man that I'd
met a few years earlier. He was the production manager
in charge of all the hiring, and he was so
friendly and he knew my father. He invited me to

(15:07):
tour the facility in I went over and walked around,
saw all the studios, editing, bass and control rooms.

Speaker 1 (15:15):
I was like a kid at an amusement park. Was
so amazing. I dreamed of being in that environment.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
I gave him my phone number, a little resume and
told him what I'd done at the church running camera.
But you know, it doesn't matter, I'll do anything. I'll
just start pulling cable. I just wanted to be there
so badly. He said, no problem, Joe, we'd love to
have you. I'll call you in a week or so
and give you the details. I left that day so excited.
Well a week went by and I didn't hear from

(15:45):
him the way, He's probably just busy. And two weeks
still nothing. So I called him, but he wouldn't call
me back. I went by the studio, but every.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Time there was an excuse.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
He's busy, he's out to lunch, he can't talk right now.

Speaker 1 (16:01):
It was very odd.

Speaker 2 (16:03):
After several months of trying, I finally got the message
that it wasn't going to happen.

Speaker 1 (16:08):
I was so disappointed.

Speaker 2 (16:10):
I couldn't understand why this would have been perfect, such
a good experience. I wanted that position more than anything.
I was tempted to be aggravated at him. God, why
did this jerk? I mean, why wouldn't this man call
me back? But the same God who opens doors will
close doors. If you only trust him, when you get

(16:31):
your way, you'll be frustrated because some doors will closed
that don't make sense to us. That was my dream
to work there. I knew that was right for me.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
But God knows the best plan. He knows what's leading
to your purpose and what's a distraction.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
And sometimes what we think is best is really a
detour that will waste time and energy.

Speaker 1 (16:57):
We can't see it.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
But again, God has the advantage he can see the
end from the beginning.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
I know you trust him with your open doors, but
will you.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
Trust him with your closed doors when you don't get
what you are praying for, when it doesn't turn out
the way you hope. Looking back now I can see
what God was doing. If I had gotten that job,
I would have been so excited and so caught up
in it. I would have never come back to start
the television ministry here at Lakewood.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
I know my personality.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
I would have been so satisfied that I wouldn't have
wanted to leave. And at the time I was put
out that that man didn't call me back, he didn't
keep his word. Now realized it wasn't him. It was
God closing the doors. God closes doors that no person
can open. That man loves me, he loved my father.

(17:53):
It didn't make sense. But God is your doorkeeper. He's
going to close doors that will keep you from his
best plan. If you don't understand this, you'll live offended
at people and mad at your boss because he passed
you over, and upset with God because that person you
wanted today he won't give you the time of day.

(18:14):
Have a new perspective what God has for you. No
person can stop the doors he's going to open, no
man can close. And if a door is closing, I
know it's disappointing, but you have to come back to
this place of peace.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
God.

Speaker 2 (18:30):
I don't like it, but I trust you as my doorkeeper.
If I hadn't come back from college, I wouldn't have
spent those seventeen years behind the scenes, editing my father's sermons,
hearing all the scriptures and stories that prepared me for
what I'm doing now. I wouldn't have been here when
my father passed to step up and pastor the church.

Speaker 1 (18:53):
I would have never seen the compact center, the books,
the favor.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
I was disappointed then, but now I say, Lord, thank
you for closing those doors.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
You weren't punishing me. You were protecting me.

Speaker 2 (19:08):
You are making sure I would be where I needed
to be when you open doors bigger.

Speaker 1 (19:14):
Than I could imagine.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
I had to go through the closed doors to get
to my open doors.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
Maturity is when.

Speaker 2 (19:21):
You come to a point where you say, God, my
life is in your hands. I trust you to open
the right doors, supernatural opportunities, and God, I trust you
with my closed doors. When I don't understand it when
people walk away when I don't get what I want.

Speaker 1 (19:38):
God, you know what's best for me.

Speaker 2 (19:41):
This is such a freeing way to live because it
takes all the pressure off. It's not up to us
to strain and force this door to open and manipulate
things to bring a dream to pass.

Speaker 1 (19:54):
All you're going to do is frustrate yourself.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
The good news is if you'll keep honoring God being
your best each day, then Samuel is going to find you.
God will open a door that no person can shut.
That door is going to be bigger, more rewarding than
anything you had in mind. I dreamed of being in
television production. I never knew I could get up here

(20:19):
and speak in front of people, be on the other
side of the camera, see gifts come out that I
didn't even know I had. Sometimes God closes a door
because we're thinking too small. If He gave us what
we wanted, it would stun our growth, limit our potential.
Now God has put greatness in you. He's going to

(20:41):
take you where you can't go on your own. We're
looking for doors that we can open, how we can
be promoted, how we can increase, and that's all good.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
But what God has coming are doors that you could
have never opened.

Speaker 2 (20:56):
You didn't have the training, the experience, the funds. I'm
talking about supernatural doors that thrust you ahead, doors that
surprise you, that exceed your expectations. And if you look
back over your life, I'm sure you too can see
some closed doors. Things you don't understand, that don't make sense.

(21:18):
You wanted it so badly, but it didn't work out.
That would be disappointing if life was just random happenstance man,
you had a bad break.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
No, you have a doorkeeper. The most time. God is
watching over your life.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
He's not only ordering your steps, but he's controlling your doors.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
He's weeding out the wrong people.

Speaker 2 (21:41):
He's stopping opportunities that would be a distraction. He's not
letting you take that small promotion so he can give
you a bigger one. He closed that one job you wanted,
so like me, he can launch you into something better
than you've ever imagined. Nowhere happy over the open doors,

(22:02):
But I want you to be at peace with your
closed doors.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
If what you're believing for hasn't happened yet, you didn't
get what you wanted. What if you knew God.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
Was protecting you, that he has something far greater. So
he had to shut that door, not because he's holding
your back, but so you'll be in position for a
door that no man can open, for something supernatural, something
better than you've imagined. Acts Chapter twelve, King Herod had

(22:34):
Peter put in prison for sharing his faith. Herod had
already had the disciple James killed.

Speaker 1 (22:41):
When he saw that it pleased the people. It looked like.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
Peter was next in line. He was in the dungeon,
chained between two guards. He was going to be brought
to trial the next day. This could be the last
night of Peter's life.

Speaker 1 (22:56):
While he was.

Speaker 2 (22:57):
Asleep in the middle of the night, an angel showed up.
It's significant that he was sleeping the night before he
could lose his life.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
Peter had a trust of faith that God was in
control of his life.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
The angel had to wake him up. The chains fell
off of his feet. The scripture says the prison doors
open of their own accord. People didn't open them. Peter's
friends didn't sneak in and open it.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
No guard, no staff.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
This was the doorkeeper God doing what only he can do,
opening doors that no person can shut. We have a
gate outside our driveway at home, and sometimes when a
friend is coming over, I'll stand at the back window
and I have the remote control, and when I see
them pull up, I hit the button so they can

(23:50):
drive in.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
They never see me, but I see them.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
They couldn't get in this gate by themselves, but I'm
the gatekeeper. I'm watching for them when they arrived.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
No big deal.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Click, it opens on its own accord. Can I encourage you?
God has the remote control to doors you can't open.
You come to a door where you don't have the training,
medical reports not good, your boss doesn't like you, the
loan didn't go through. The good news is your doorkeeper

(24:22):
is there. He has the remote. Like Peter, You're going
to see some doors open of their own accord. Things
you couldn't make happen, not little doors, not ordinary, supernatural,
the hand of God. Good breaks that you didn't see coming,
Opportunities you've never imagined. How About like a compact center.

(24:44):
How about like my mother healed from terminal cancer. Things
that defy the odds. And this was so amazing that
Peter thought he was dreaming. He was out of the
prison on the streets before he realized what had really happened.
God has doors he's going to open for you that
will seem like a dream, too good to be true.

Speaker 1 (25:07):
That's what it means. A door no person can open.

Speaker 2 (25:11):
It's out of your league, over your head, beyond what
you're qualified for.

Speaker 1 (25:16):
Here's the beauty. It's going to open of its own accord.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
It wasn't all your striving, straining, living pressure. No, just
keep God first place, keep honoring him, and he's going
to open doors you never imagined would open. One reason
is because you've been faithful with your closed doors. You
didn't get sour when you didn't get your way.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
You kept a good attitude when you were overlooked for
the promotion.

Speaker 2 (25:46):
You kept thanking God even though friends were passing you up.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
You passed the tesk. Now God is going to do
what only he can do.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
I'm asking you to trust him with the doors in
your life. No more frustrated over closed doors and things
you don't understand.

Speaker 1 (26:04):
God knows what he's doing.

Speaker 2 (26:07):
No more straining trying to force things to happen.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
Take the pressure off.

Speaker 2 (26:12):
God controls what opens and what closes, not people, not bad.

Speaker 1 (26:18):
Breaks, not the enemy.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
You may be waiting for a door to open. I
know thoughts can tay, Hey, it's never gonna happen. No,
Samuel is already on the schedule. At the right time,
God will surprise you. It will be better than you've imagined.
Trust Him as your doorkeeper. If you'll do this, I
believe and declare God is not only gonna protect you

(26:41):
by closing wrong doors, but like Peter, you're gonna see
doors open of their own accord, promotion, breakthroughs, healing, divind connections,
the fullness of your destiny in Jesus' name, and if
you receive it, can you say amen?

Speaker 1 (27:00):
To give you an.

Speaker 2 (27:00):
Opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would
you pray with me? Just say, Lord, Jesus, come into
my heart. I repent of my sins. I make you
my Lord and savior. If you prayed that simple prayer,
we believe you got born again and we'd love to
send you some free information on your new walk with

(27:20):
the Lord. You can go to the website or text
the number on the screen. But I hope you'll get
into a good Bible based church and keep God first place.