I want to talk to you today about “Pregnant with possibility”. When a woman is pregnant, for the first few months, she doesn’t look any different. She’s the same size, wears the same clothes, has the same amount of energy. From the outside, there’s no sign that she’s going to have a baby, and if you just looked at it in the natural, you could think, “You’re not pregnant, there’s nothing different about you”.
But what you can’t see is, on the inside, a seed has taken root. Conception has occurred. In a few months, she’ll start showing, gaining more weight. A few more months, she’ll feel something kicking in the inside. Out of nowhere, a kick here, a kick there. She still never seen the baby in person, she’s never held that baby. But she’s not worried, she knows the baby is on the way. Nine months after she conceives, she’ll give birth to that little child.
Like this woman, you may not see any sign of it for some time, but don’t worry, your time is coming. You are pregnant with your miracle, pregnant with abundance, maybe pregnant with a new business, and instead of being discouraged and down, “Oh Joel, it’s never going to happen. It’s been so long. I’ve been through too much,” no, our attitude should be, “I can feel something kicking on the inside. I know this baby is still alive. I’m going to give birth to what God put in me”.
Maybe you’ve struggled with an addiction for a long time. Instead of believing the lie that you could never break it, “No, I’m pregnant with freedom. I’m pregnant with wholeness”. You may not see any changes, but I can feel something kicking. I can feel something stirring down in my spirit. When you live with this kind of expectancy, you’re going to give birth to what God put in you.
You are pregnant with that new house you’ve been dreaming about. In God’s perfect timing, when everything is ready, you’re going to give birth. Your family may be struggling, dysfunction in your home. Don’t live worried, you are pregnant with restoration, pregnant with a breakthrough. Or maybe business is slow, you lost your main client. You could easily be discouraged, but you can feel something kicking on the inside. Something’s saying, “You are the head and not the tail. Whatever you touch will prosper and succeed”. Perhaps your dream looks impossible. It’s been a long time, you tried and it didn’t work out. But deep down, you can’t help it, something keeps kicking, telling you that it’s on the way. What God started, he will finish.
I talked to a gentleman recently, he had been diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told him that it was a very invasive type that would spread quickly to other areas, and after the surgery, he was going to have to take one year of chemotherapy. The prognosis didn’t look good. He didn’t get depressed. He didn’t go around saying, “Why God, me”? He understood this principle that he was pregnant with healing.
The doctors performed the surgery, and afterwards they came in his room scratching their heads. They were certain that it was an invasive type, that it would spread quickly, very dangerous. But when they retested it, it wasn’t what they thought. They were able to remove all the cancer, didn’t need any more treatment. Today, he’s totally cancer-free.
You may be struggling with an illness, fighting a battle in your health. Instead of accepting it, thinking that’s the way it’s always going to be, keep reminding yourself that you are pregnant. You already have conceived. The healing is already in you. It’s just a matter of time before you give birth. Nothing can snatch you out of God’s hands.
Can I tell you I am looking at pregnant people today? You are pregnant with possibility. Quit telling yourself that you could never get ahead, you don’t have enough of this, enough of that. No, you are pregnant with success, pregnant with ideas, pregnant with your destiny. You’re going to give birth to what God put in you. It’s not too late, you haven’t missed your chance.
In the scripture, Sarah was nearly 100 years old when she gave birth to Isaac. Way too old in the natural, but we serve a supernatural God. He can make a way when you don’t see a way. Don’t abort your baby, don’t talk yourself out of your dreams, don’t give up on what God promised you. You can still give birth. You can still meet the right person, still start your business, still go to college, still break the addiction. That seed is still alive in you.
And here’s the key: You can’t judge what’s in you by what’s around you. All of Sarah’s circumstances said, “You’ll be barren your whole life. You’re too old. Nobody your age has babies. That’s impossible”. If she would’ve believed that lie, let that seed take root, it would’ve never happened. You can draw in the negative with your doubt, or you can draw in God’s blessings with your faith. Don’t let what you see around you cause you to give up on your dreams.
You may be in some kind of limited environment today and nothing inspiring around you, and in the natural, there’s no way you could get out, get an education, be successful. But what’s around you does not determine what God put in you. You have seeds of greatness. You are pregnant with success, pregnant with ability, pregnant with talent. God did not create anyone without putting something significant on the inside. Don’t let what’s on the outside, how you were raised, lack, dysfunction convince you to abort your dream.
When you get quiet, alone at night, when it’s just you and God, if you’ll listen carefully, you’ll hear something whispering, “This is not your destiny. You were made for more”. What is that? That’s your baby kicking. It’s because you’re about to give birth. You’re going to see supernatural opportunities, explosive blessings, divine connections. God’s going to help you go where you could not go on your own.
This is what happened to my father. He was raised in a very poor family. His parents were cotton farmers, and they lost everything during the Great Depression. Growing up, he had no money, no education, barely enough food to even survive. Didn’t look like he would ever amount to much. The statistics said he would just have to stay on the farm and pick cotton the rest of his life. But statistics don’t determine your destiny, God does. Don’t become a victim of your environment, you are a victor. Where you are is not who you are.
When my father was 17, he gave his life to Christ, the first one in his family, and when he did, something came alive on the inside. Suddenly, he had a dream to become a pastor. He knew one day, he would pastor a large church, God dropped that in his spirit. He told me, “Joel, when I was 17, I made the decision that my children would never be raised in the poverty and lack that I was raised in”.
What happened? He became pregnant. He could feel that baby kicking on the inside. But if someone were to have studied my father at the age of 17 in that limited environment, nobody in his family had ever been successful, they would’ve thought, “Nothing’s special about you. You’re not going to do anything great”. In other words, “You’re not pregnant. There’s no sign on the outside. You’re not showing. You look just the same”. But what they couldn’t see was conception had already occurred.
Maybe like my father, the odds are against you in some area. The medical report doesn’t look good, or your environment is not healthy. Nobody’s supporting you, you don’t have the connections, the resources. Don’t talk yourself out of it. Keep reminding yourself that you are pregnant. The seed put in you by your Creator has already taken root. Doesn’t have anything to do with what you have or don’t have, what family you come from, how talented you are. It is a destiny seed. When you give birth, you’re going to go further than you ever imagined.
Sarah was 80 years old, never had a baby. Everywhere she looked, it said that she would be barren her whole life. “Too bad, you’re too old, it’s just impossible”. She couldn’t find another 80-year-old woman that had ever had a baby. If she could have at least found one, she could’ve said, “Well, God, you did it for her, you can do it for me”. She couldn’t find anyone.
You may look around and think, “Joel, I don’t know anyone that’s got out of my neighborhood and done something significant. I don’t know anyone that’s overcome the illness I’m dealing with. Or nobody in my family has been able to break these addictions”. The good news is you can be the first. You can set the new standard. You can be the barrier breaker.
God said to Sarah, “I will give you a son. You will be the mother of nations. Kings of people will come out of you”. Here’s an 80-year-old woman that’s barren, she’s living in the desert, no medical procedures, no infertility treatments, yet God says, “You have kings in you. You have nations in you”. He was saying, “Sarah, don’t let the circumstances fool you. Don’t let your environment talk you out of it. Don’t let your own thoughts discourage you, you are pregnant with greatness”.
God is saying the same thing to you. You have kings in you. You have greatness in you. You are pregnant with success, pregnant with talent, pregnant with your destiny. The prophet Joel said to wake up the mighty men, wake up the mighty women.
I’m here to wake up your dreams, wake up your talents, wake up your potential, wake up what God put in you. You may have let some circumstances convince you that it’s never going to happen, but I believe you’re going to start feeling some kicking on the inside. That baby, that dream, that promise, it’s still alive in you. You better get ready, you’re going to give birth to something that’s going to take you further than you could ever imagine. It’s going to thrust you to a new level of your destiny.
A lady told me how she had a stroke, and she had been in the hospital for 3 weeks, and finally was able to come back home, and she was very depressed. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to walk again. She lost her passion, lost her drive, and the scripture talks about fighting the good fight of faith. You can’t be passive and just accept whatever comes along and think that that’s your lot in life. We all have bad breaks, disappointments. Those challenges are not there to defeat you, they’re there to promote you. On the other side is a new level of God’s goodness. But you have to do your part and get your fire back.
One Sunday, she heard me on television talking about how God wants to restore what’s been stolen, how he can give you beauty for ashes, how you can still live healthy and whole. When she heard that, she said something woke up in her spirit. Something came alive on the inside. What happened? That baby started kicking. She was already pregnant with healing, God already had the restoration there, but when her spirit came alive, in other words, when she started believing, that’s when things begin to change.
Instead of going around thinking, “I’ll never walk again. I’ll never get well,” she started declaring, “I am healthy, I am strong. I am well able, I am restored”. Against all the odds, way ahead of schedule, she told how she’s already walking again, she’s getting stronger, healthier, but it all started when something woke up in her spirit.
Maybe like her, you’ve let something steal your passion, and you don’t think you could ever get well, or meet the right person, accomplish a dream. Everything you need is already in you. If you’ll stir your faith up like she did and get in agreement with God, then you will give birth to your healing, birth to your dreams, birth to those promises.
Genesis 3:15 says, “The seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent”. In the garden of eden, you remember how the serpent deceived Eve and brought about all kinds of trouble. God was saying, in effect, “Eve, it’s payback time. You’re going to give birth to something that’s going to defeat the thing that’s tried to defeat you. Your seed will bruise his head”.
Too often, we’re looking for something from the outside to help us overcome, but God has put it on the inside. If you’ll give birth to what God put in you, you won’t have to rely on other people. If you’ll give birth to that dream, that gift, that talent, like my father, your gift will make room for you. Your gift will open some new doors. Or maybe, if you’ll give birth to that idea, that book, that talent, then you can deliver yourself from lack and struggling.
Jesus said, “Out of your belly will flow rivers of living water”. Your deliverance is not going to come from other people. Your promotion, your healing, your breakthrough, it’s going to come from within you. Out of your belly shall flow rivers. This is where Sarah almost missed it. She thought the promise would come through somebody else. She reasoned it out, thinking she was too old. How could she have kings and nations in her?
She was in her 80s. She couldn’t have a baby. She tried to help God out and had her husband Abraham sleep with her maid, and they had a baby, but it wasn’t the promised child. God said, “Sarah, I didn’t put the promise in somebody else. You don’t need other people to deliver you. Sarah, I put the promise in you”.
God is saying the same thing to us. You are pregnant with your miracle. You are pregnant with the victory. You don’t need other people. You don’t have to hope they help you, hope they like you, hope they give you a good break. Like Sarah, it’s not going to come from the outside, it’s going to come from the inside. God has already put it in you. If you’ll dare believe that you have what it takes, go out each day with expectancy, knowing that you’re pregnant, then you can deliver yourself. You will give birth to what God put on the inside of you.
Paul said it this way in Ephesians, “God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think according to the power that works in you”. It’s not according to the power that works in your neighbor, your cousin, your pastor, your friend. The power is working in you.
Well, you say, “Joel, I believe I’m pregnant. I have big dreams, I’m standing on God’s promises, but everything is coming against me. Seems like the more I pray, the worse it gets. I’m doing the right thing, but the wrong thing is happening”. Here’s the beauty. Pain is a sign that you’re about to give birth. Trouble, difficulties, being uncomfortable, that’s a sign that you’re getting closer.
When Victoria was pregnant with our two children, first couple of months, no big deal, everything was fine. But about 7 or 8 months in, her back started hurting, her feet started swelling, she couldn’t sleep well at night. The longer she was pregnant, the more uncomfortable she was. When she went into labor, I was in the delivery room right next to her bed, and she had her hand on my bicep, and when she would have a contraction, it would hurt so badly, she would squeeze my arm as hard as she could. She would scream, then I would scream. The closer she got to the birth, the more painful it was.
When everything comes against you, your child’s acting up, trouble at work, setback in your finances, don’t get discouraged, you’re about to give birth. You’re about to see a promise come to pass. In these tough times is when many people abort their dreams, thinking, “I knew it wouldn’t work out. Joel, the bank turned me down. The medical report wasn’t good. I didn’t get the promotion”. No, recognize those are labor pains. You’re getting closer. Stay in faith, keep doing the right thing, the birth is on the way.
There was a young couple out hiking through the woods, and they came upon this large field of wild mushrooms. They decided to take some home and cook them. They had some friends over that night and they all ate dinner together. One of the side dishes were these sauteed mushrooms. At one point, the family cat came in the room. She was a large cat that loved to eat. The husband grabbed some mushrooms and fed them to the cat, and she ate them like they were desert.
About an hour later, he heard the cat making a strange sound. He ran in there to check on her and she was lying flat on her back, foaming at the mouth in intense pain. He called the veterinarian and the doctor said, “What has the cat eaten recently”? The man said, “Wild mushrooms, but we’ve all eaten them too”. The doctor said, “They may be poisonous, you better get up to the emergency room and get checked out”. The man and all of his guests rushed to the emergency room, and a few hours later, he came back to his house and went in to check on the cat, thinking that she would be knocked out. Instead, the cat was sitting there calmly with the seven kittens she had just given birth to.
Sometimes what we think is a setback is really just labor pains. That difficulty you’re facing, it’s not the end, it’s a part of the birthing process. You’re about to step into a new level of your destiny. Don’t be discouraged by the disappointment, the closed door, the bad break. That’s a sign you’re about to give birth.
I read about a gentleman that was having a tough time paying his bills. He had had a rough childhood. At the age of two, his father went to the store to buy groceries and never returned home, left the mother to raise two small children.
In college, he fell in love and met his wife, and he was so poor he had to borrow a suit and tie for his wedding. He and his wife had a newborn baby, and they were living in this old, rundown trailer. He drove a rusted out car held together with wire and duct tape.
In the summers, during the day, he worked for a laundry company, making $60 a week. At night, he worked as a janitor cleaning offices. He had a dream to become a writer, but he couldn’t afford a typewriter. He borrowed one from a friend and set it up in his small laundry room. When he wasn’t working, he would spend hour after hour writing fiction. He sent his stories away to different publishers and agents, but every one of them was rejected. He didn’t even know if people were really reading them.
He wrote one final story, but was so discouraged, threw it in the trash. His wife came home, found it crumpled up in the garbage, got it out, and eventually they sent that story to a different publisher. This time, the publisher responded and offered him a contract. That story went on to sell over 5 million copies. In 1976, it was made into a movie. It became one of the top-grossing films of that year. That young man was Stephen King, one of the most successful writers of our day.
Like him, some of you are pregnant with a book, pregnant with a movie, pregnant with a business, maybe pregnant with a charity. You’ve had disappointments, you tried and it didn’t work out, but you can still feel the kicking on the inside. You can’t get away from it. Don’t talk yourself out of it, it’s all a part of the process. Keep trying, keep believing, doing everything you can, and at the right time, you will give birth. The right people will show up, the right opportunities, the right breaks. You couldn’t make it happen on your own, it was the hand of God, and what he’s put in you is going to be bigger than you can imagine, better than you’ve ever dreamed, more rewarding than you thought possible.
Now, do your part, get your hopes up. Every morning, remind yourself you are pregnant, not with rejection, failure, disappointments, defeat. You are pregnant with victory, pregnant with success, pregnant with the favor of God, and sure, you may have had some bad breaks, but like Sarah, you are not going to live your life barren. You’re not going to die with that baby still in you. God has the final say, and he says a birth is coming. What he’s promised is on the way. Keep honoring him, keep being your best, and I’ll believe and declare you will give birth to everything God put in you and become everything God created you to be in Jesus’ name.