You Can, You Will

CHAPTER ONE

Keep Your Vision in Front of You

A young man dreamed of being an actor, but in the early 1980s, he wasn't getting the big parts he wanted. Broke and discouraged, he drove his beat-up old car to the top of a hill overlooking the city of Los Angeles and did something unusual. He wrote himself a check for ten million dollars for "Acting services rendered."

This young man had grown up so poor his family lived in a Volkswagen van at one time. He put that check in his wallet and kept it there. When things got tough, he'd pull it out and look at it to remind himself of his dream.

A dozen years later, that same young man, the comedian Jim Carrey, was making fifteen million to twenty-five million a movie.

Studies tell us that we move toward what we consistently see. You should keep something in front of you, even if it's symbolic, to remind you of what you are believing for. A businessman I met had a goal to build a new office for his company. He bought a brick, the same type of brick he wanted to use on his building. He keeps that brick on his desk.

Every time he sees it, he's moving toward his goal. It reminds him of what he's dreaming about. If you're single and you want to get married, put an empty photo album on your table. That's where you're going to put your wedding photos. When you see it, you're moving toward it.

You may not be reaching your highest potential, not because you don't have the faith, the talent, or the determination, but because you're not keeping the right things in front of you. All over your house, you should have pictures that inspire you, scripture verses that encourage you, mementoes that strengthen your faith. Maybe one of them is a key on your key ring for the new house you want to buy.

If somebody asks, "What's this extra key for?"

You say, "It is for the house that's on the way."

God will finish what He started

In the scripture, Zerubbabel wanted to rebuild the temple. He laid the foundation, but then the people came against him and made him stop. For ten years no work was done. One day the prophet Zechariah came by and told him to do something interesting. He said, "Go get the headstone." The headstone was the stone reserved to be the last piece of stone that went into the building. It was symbolic. It represented the finished product.

Why was it important for Zerubbabel to keep the headstone in front of him? Because every time he looked at the headstone, it was a reminder that God would finish what He started. When Zerubbabel was discouraged, when he was tired and thought it was impossible to finish the job, he would go over and look at the headstone. That was God saying to him, "I'm in control, I'm going to bring it to pass, just stay in faith."

Let me ask you: Do you have your headstone in front of you? Do you have something that represents the final piece to your dreams? My brother-in-law Kevin is a twin. Growing up, he loved having a twin sister. His dream was always to have twins. He and my sister Lisa tried to have a baby for a long time with no success. Lisa went through all the fertility treatments, including several surgeries, but still nothing.

They were very discouraged; it didn't look like it would ever happen. One day Kevin went out to get the mail, and there was a small package in the mailbox. The return address said it had come from Huggies. They hadn't ordered anything from Huggies. He opened it up and there were two diapers in it. They were sending out samples of their diapers as part of a promotion.

Kevin could have thrown away the package, thinking, "I don't need these—we don't have any children." But when he saw those two diapers something came alive on the inside. He took that as a sign from God. That was his headstone. He ran in and told Lisa, "We just got the first diapers for our babies."

He wrote the date on those diapers and placed them on his desk at home. Month after month, he would see those diapers: in the morning before work, in the afternoon after coming home, and in the evening before he went to bed. When you see something long enough it gets into your subconscious mind. It eventually drops down into your spirit. That's when you know it's going to happen.

Several years later Kevin and Lisa received a phone call out of the blue asking if they would be interested in adopting a baby. They said, "Yes we would." The lady said, "How about adopting two? These are twin girls who are about to be born." Today Kevin and Lisa have their twins. They are teenagers now and as beautiful as can be.

Keep your vision in front of you

Are you believing for a child? Go buy a baby's outfit and hang it in your closet where you can see it every day. Keep your vision in front of you. A friend of mine who wanted a child decorated her whole baby's room, bought the bed and the stroller, spent all this time, money, and energy.

Her friends thought she was a little far out, preparing a baby's room with no baby on the way. But she understood this principle: What you keep in front of you, you are moving toward. A year went by and still no baby. Two years, no baby. Five years. Ten years.

She didn't get discouraged. She kept thanking God that her baby was on the way. All through the day when she'd walk by that baby's room, the seed was growing. It didn't look like anything was happening, but she was moving toward it. Twenty years later she had not one baby, but two. The stroller didn't work. The bed was out of date. She didn't care. She had her babies!

Is there something you see every day that reminds you of what you're believing for, something that inspires you, ignites your faith? Proverbs says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." With no vision you'll get stuck. That's why many people have lost their passion. They don't have anything that reminds them of what they're dreaming about. If you're believing to move into a nicer house, find a picture of a house you like and put it on your bathroom mirror. Let that seed get into you.

If you're believing to get into a college, go buy the school's T-shirt and wear it around. Put the coffee mug with their logo on your counter. Every time you see that picture, that T-shirt, that baby's outfit, say under your breath: "Thank You, Lord, for bringing my dreams to pass. Thank You, Lord, that I'll become everything You created me to be."

I learned this from my father. He and my mother started Lakewood Church in 1959, in an old rundown feed store. They had ninety people. You know what my father called the church? Lakewood International Outreach Center.

There was a big blue sign outside. The sign cost more than the building. The truth is, they weren't an international outreach center. They were a small neighborhood church with ninety people. But every time my father drove up to that church and saw the sign, his vision was being increased. He was moving toward it.

When the ninety members saw the sign week after week, something was being birthed on the inside. Seeds of increase were taking root. Do you know what Lakewood is today? It is an international outreach center touching the world. Growing up, my father always kept a globe on his desk at home. At the old church there was a big world map on the wall. He put a globe behind him when he spoke. He always had the world on his mind. One year at the conference, people came from 150 countries. It looked like the United Nations.

What you keep in front of you, you're moving toward.

Release your faith in a big way

Now, don't have just a little vision. You're not inconveniencing God to believe big. In fact, it's just the opposite. When you believe to do great things, when you believe to set a new standard for your family, it pleases God.

Take the limits off and say, "I don't see a way, but God, I know You have a way, so I'm going to believe to have these twins. I will believe to start a business to impact the world. I will believe that my whole family will serve you. I will believe to get totally well."

When you release your faith in a big way it pleases God. My father could have put on that sign just LAKEWOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH. Nothing wrong with that, but God had put something bigger in his heart. He could have looked at the circumstances: "We're just ninety people. We don't have a lot of money. We don't have a nice building. We'll never do anything great." If he'd done that, we wouldn't be such a big church today.

It doesn't matter what it looks like in the natural; God is a supernatural God. He's not limited by your resources, by your environment, by your education, by your nationality. If you'll have a big vision, God will not only do what you're dreaming about, He will do more than you can ask or think.

A few years after my father went to be with the Lord and I stepped up to pastor the church, I had a desire to write a book. My dad had written many books, and they were all translated into Spanish. On the bookshelf I walk by at home every day, I had two copies of my dad's most popular book. One was in English. The other was in Spanish. I kept those books in front of me, knowing one day at the right time I would write a book. My dream was that it, too, would be translated into Spanish.

In my mind this seemed so far out. I never thought I could get up and minister, much less write a book. This was stretching my faith. A year went by, no book. Two years, three years, four years. It would have been easy to lose my passion and think it was never going to happen. But I had my father's books strategically placed on this bookshelf right outside my closet.

To get to the other parts of the house I had to go right by those two books. I saw them thousands and thousands of times. I didn't always consciously think about them, but even subconsciously I was moving toward writing my own. My faith was being released. Something on the inside was saying, "Yes, one day I'm going to write a book."

In 2004 I wrote my first book, Your Best Life Now. When the publisher read the manuscript they decided to publish it in English and Spanish at the same time. Normally they wait to see if anybody buys it first. But that's the way God is. His dream for your life is bigger than your own.

God will supersize your vision

I've found that whatever your vision is, God will supersize it. He will do more than you can ask or think. My vision was that my book would be so well received it would be translated into Spanish. But it was also translated into French, German, Russian, Swahili, Portuguese, and more than forty other languages.

If you keep the vision in front of you and don't get talked out of it, but just keep honoring God, being your best, thanking Him that it's on the way, God will supersize whatever you're believing for. He'll do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond.

I saw an article in the paper several years ago about a man who gave a university one hundred million dollars. I cut that article out and put it on my desk. Every time I see it I say, "God, you did it for a university, you can do it for a ministry."

I've got a big vision. We can reach a lot of people with an extra one hundred million. If you can accomplish your dreams in your own strength, talent, ability, and resources, then your dreams are too small. You don't need God's help with small dreams. Believe big. Your destiny is too great, your assignment too important, to have little goals, little dreams, little prayers.

Keep big things in front of you. A friend of mine feeds a million children a day. He and his wife support orphanages and feeding programs that touch a million kids every day. That's what I keep in front of me. "God, You did it for them, You can do it for us. Let our family impact millions of children."

In our kitchen at home, we have pictures of some of the children we sponsor through our partner World Vision. Every time we eat dinner, every time we pass by, we say, "God, let us make a bigger difference."

We're moving toward it. You may say, "Well, Joel, I can't even imagine that happening to me. I can't imagine me being that blessed." Don't worry—you won't be. If you don't have a vision for it, it's not going to happen. Without a vision you won't see God's best. You won't be the winner He wants you to be.

Use the power of your imagination

I know some things do seem far out or very unlikely, but don't ever say: "I can't imagine that." You see somebody really fit and energetic when you're trying to get back in shape, you may think: "I can't imagine looking like that." You may drive by a nice house and say, "I can't imagine living in this neighborhood." Or you may have thought: "I can't imagine publishing a book." "I can't imagine owning my own business." "I can't imagine being that successful."

The problem is you're being limited by your own imagination. You've got to change what you're seeing. Don't let negative thoughts paint those pictures. Use your imagination to see yourself accomplishing dreams, rising higher, overcoming obstacles, being healthy, strong, blessed, and prosperous.

I don't say this arrogantly, but I can imagine my books being published in every language, I can imagine somebody handing us that one-hundred-million-dollar check. I can imagine us feeding a million children a day. I can imagine living a long, healthy life. I can imagine my children superseding anything we've done.

Not only that, I can imagine you fulfilling your dreams. I can imagine you totally out of debt. I can imagine you healthy and strong. I can imagine you leading your company. I can imagine you blessing the world, being a history maker, setting a new standard for your family. Now I'm asking you not only to have it in your imagination, but to also keep something in front of you that reminds you of it.

A man I know works in the oil business. He started his company with just himself and one assistant. It grew and grew. He's always at our services, honoring God, giving, serving, and helping others. His company specializes in drilling for oil. He provides the crew and all the equipment. He was spending all his time traveling around checking on the different sites.