Joel Osteen - Leave It Alone

I want to talk to you today about Leave It Alone. We all have situations that we're believing will change: a child is off course, someone's not treating us right, a door is closed. We feel this pressure to fix it. We take matters into our own hands, we strive and strain, and often end up frustrated. We have good intentions, we want to do our part, but there are times when the best thing you can do is leave it alone. You have to be still and know that he is God.

"Well, Joel, I'm trying to use my faith". Sometimes it takes more faith to do nothing than it does to get it all stirred up. Takes more faith to leave it alone than it does to try to force it to happen.

"I got this problem, Joel, I got to do something". But it says in Hebrews 4:3, "Those who have believed enter into rest". It's okay to leave it alone. You don't have to make it happen in your own efforts. God is saying to you today, "Leave it alone. Trust me to handle it."

It takes faith to leave it alone. When you take your hands off, and not pull up what you know you can fix, but you let God take care of it, that's not a lack of faith, that's great faith.

We need to pray, believe, do what you can, but there comes a time where you have to turn it over to God. Quit worrying about it, quit trying to make it happen, make people like you, make the door open, make the business turn around: leave it alone. If you try to do it in your own strength, it's going to be labor and in vain: a lot of work, frustration, disappointment. Don't fall into that trap. God is in control.

Remain at rest and let God fight that battle. Sometimes the best strategy is to do nothing. Leave it alone. It can also be the hardest strategy. We want to fix things, we want to vindicate ourselves, we want to push that door open, but you have to stand still to see the salvation of the Lord. If you'll not take matters into your own hands, you'll see God do things that you could never do.

The reason it's taken longer is because your harvest is bigger than you think. What God has for you is going to supersede what you have in mind. The question is: will you trust him while you're waiting? Will you be still, and let him fight your battles?