God Will Bring Justice | Joel Osteen

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I'd like to start with something funny and heard about this little girl. She asked her mother how the human race got started. The mother explained how God made Adam and Eve, and they had children on and on.

Here we are today. A few days later, she asked her father the same question. He explained how many years ago there were monkeys. Little by little, they became more like people. Now here we are.

Confuse she went back to her mom and said, "Mom, you said God created people. Dad said we came from monkeys. How can that be?" She said, "Oh honey, that's easy.

I told you about my son of the family. Dad told you about his. Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible.

I am what it says I am. 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. Our 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 how God will bring justice into your life. We all go through situations that are unfair. It doesn't seem fair that that person could lie about you and damage your reputation.

It doesn't seem fair that your sisters have children, but you can't conceive. It doesn't seem fair that your raising a special needs child, or you lost a loved one. You're dealing with a sickness.

Life has thrown you a curb. It's not what you had planned. But here's what I've learned. Even though life is not always fair, God is fair.

And if you will keep your trust in him and not get bitter, but just keep moving forward, God has promised he will pay you back for every unfair thing that's happened. Now don't let one bad break ruin the rest of your life. Don't let one divorce.

One bankruptcy. One loss of a loved one. One bad childhood.

“Keep you from the amazing future God has in store.”

What happened may have been wrong. What they did may have put you at a disadvantage. They played politics and you didn't get the promotion. They let you go after years of being loyal to that company. Or they didn't have time for you growing up.

Abandoned you when you needed in the most. That was unfair. But what they did cannot stop your destiny. They don't have the final say. God has the final say.

And God said, "I will restore the years that we're stolen." God said, "I will give you beauty for those ashes." He said, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy is coming in the morning." Nothing that's happened to you is a surprise to God.

God already has the restoration, the vindication, the new beginning. That setback was simply a set up for God to take you to a higher level. You got to shake off the self-pity, shake off the defeat, and get ready for God to do something new. He's going to pay you back for every injustice.

This is what happened with the people of Israel. They had spent 430 years in slavery. They were terribly mistreated, forced to work long hours with no breaks. They were given quotas that were impossible to meet. When they didn't meet them, their life was made even more miserable.

God said in Exodus, "I have seen the affliction of my people. I have heard their cries. Friends, God has seen every wrong that's been done to you. He has seen every person that hurts you, every tear you shed, every lonely night, every injustice.

God went on to say, "I am come down to deliver you." There comes a point where God says, "Enough is enough. I've seen it, now I'm going to do something about it." Now, I'm not going to just give you what you deserve, but I'm going to make the enemy pay and bring you out better

off than you were before. God delivered the Israelites out of slavery. Pharaoh finally agreed to let them go. That was a great miracle. That was where celebrating in itself.

But they didn't leave their empty handed. God is a God of justice.

He always makes the enemy pay for bringing the trouble into your life.

On their way out, the Israelites asked their captors for their gold,

God caused them to have favor and they willingly handed it over to them. Imagine what Pharaoh must have thought. Seeing these former slaves leaving his country, pushing will-bearers full of his treasures.

“What was God doing paying them back for 430 years of mistreatment?”

It may not happen overnight, but God is a God of justice. He is keeping the records. He knows exactly what you're owed. God sees every time you do the right thing, but the wrong thing happens.

Every time you take the high road and forgive, you let it go. Every time you work hard, but you didn't get the credit. God is closely watching. You have an account with him. He'll make sure you not only get what you deserve,

but his justice is to pay you back with more. And I know some of you, like these people, you've been in an unfair situation. It's gone on a long time and you've lost your passion. You've lost your fire.

Thinking that's the way it's always going to be.

But God is saying to you what he said to the Israelites, "I have come down to do something about it." You need to get ready. It's payback time. Everything, the enemy's stolen.

“God is going to restore the joy, the peace, the health, the dreams.”

God is going to pay you back for the childhood you didn't have. God is going to pay you back for that person that falsely accused you. He's going to pay you back for the years you lost in an abusive relationship. He has seen everything you've been through. He has come down to do something about it.

And don't go around with a defeated mentality. Oh, Joel, this sounds great today, but you don't know my story. You don't know what I've been through. No, that's going to stop God from working. You may have had more than your share of bad breaks.

You could easily get discouraged and settle where you are, but I'm asking you to shake that off. Your attitude should be, I'm not staying here. I know it's payback time. It's restoration time.

It's vindication time. It's favor time. All my God has come down on your behalf. You may have seen the story in the news recently. About a young lady named Dawn.

“She was raised in a very dysfunctional family.”

Her mother was homeless and had a drug problem. The mother's boyfriend was a drifter. They would live in a shelter under a bridge. Dawn would go to elementary school for a few months. When the boyfriend would get arrested,

they'd have to move somewhere else. She grew up with no stability. In and out of school, much of the time, she didn't even have running water or electricity.

In spite of all this, Dawn was an amazing student.

She didn't get better. She didn't have a chip on her shoulder. She just kept being her best, making the most of what she had. In high school, she worked as a janitor.

She would get to school early in the morning about five o'clock and clean the classrooms and hallways. In the evening, she would stay till eight working. That's how she had money to survive. One summer, she went to a camp with the money she had earned.

When she came back home, her mother was nowhere to be found. She called the number at the temporary residence. They were staying at, but it was disconnected. Come to find out, her mother had moved to another state with her new boyfriend, abandoned her.

For several weeks, Dawn stayed with friends, slept on their couches. When the head janitor heard what had happened, she took Dawn into her own home.

For the first time, Dawn really felt loved,

accepted like she was valuable. She began to excel in school. She made the honor of stray days. She was elected vice president of her class. She started a charity to help wounded soldiers.

On and on, all these awards. When it came time to apply for college, her friends encouraged her to shoot high. Just recently, she received a letter in the mail, a small white envelope.

It read "Congratulations. You've been accepted into Harvard University." What is that? God bringing justice. That's God paying her back for the way she was raised.

The scripture says, "Even if your mother and father forsake you, God will adopt you as it's very own child." That was God adopting Dawn. For years, it didn't look good. It didn't look like she had much of a future.

But like Dawn, if you just keep moving forward, be in the best that you can be. God will take what's meant for your harm, and he will use it to your advantage. God will open doors that no man can shed.

God will give you favor and cause people

You may be in a situation where like Dawn, because of the poor choices of others, it seems like you're stuck.

You'll never get out of that rut.

You'll never accomplish your dreams. No God knows how to get you to where you're supposed to be. All through the day in your mind, in your thoughts,

“you should be saying, "Father, I want to thank you”

that it's payback time." I know you're a God of justice. You're restoring the years, restoring the dreams. No person's going to keep me from my destiny. I will become everything you created me to be.

Have that attitude of faith. I knew a young man growing up that loved to play baseball. That was his passion. When he was 12 years old, he went to try out for the team, but the coach didn't give him a chance.

He said, "I'm sorry, son. You're a way too small to play baseball. You could never make this team." Didn't even let him try out.

That young man was so devastated.

He went home feeling like a failure. Well, later in the week, the league announced that since there were so many boys that tried out, they were going to form another team. He was placed on this secondary team

made up of the less talented players. Long story short, those two teams ended up

“in a playoff for the championship of the league.”

This young man's team beat the team of the more talented players. On top of that, he was the winning pitcher. He was the one that struck out battered left and right. After the game, he walked by that coach that wouldn't let him try out like he was 10 feet tall.

He may have been small, but he knew dynamite comes in small packages. That's vindication, but here's my point. Here's how God works. That next year, the coach came to his home

to meet with his parents. To see if somehow some way he couldn't play on his team that year, the tables had turned. Went from him not even wanting him to try out

to him now begging him to play on his team. What is that? That's justice. That's God paying you back. Now you've got to shake off the negative comments. What people say about you doesn't determine who you are.

Shake off the disrespect. Keep your head held high, and God will promote you in spite of what they say it. One way God pays you back is to prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies.

That means God will promote you in front of the people that we're trying to hold you down. He'll show you favor and honor in front of those that say, "Hey, you're too small. You're not good enough, not talented enough.

Not pretty enough. Now let that go in one ear and out the other." Hebrews 1030 says, "God is a just God. He will repay the exact compensation odors. He will settle the cases of his people."

Some of you have cases that need to be settled. Like this young man, people have tried to push you down, make you feel inferior. Or maybe you poured your heart and soul into that son, that daughter,

but now they won't have anything to do with you. You worked hard pursuing your dream, but the bottom fell out. Now you're starting over. You could easily have a chip on your shoulder.

Now you've got to know God has promised to settle your case, but you've got to get an agreement with God and start expecting payback time. This is what Job did. When he went through his difficulty,

where he lost his family, lost his health, he lost his business, he could have easily been better. To God, I'm a good person. How could you let this happen to me?

This is so unfair. Now right in the midst of the trouble, he didn't see a way out, but instead of complaining, instead of talking about how bad it was,

he looked up to the heavens, and he said, "I know my redeemer lives." He was saying, "I know my God is still on the throne.

I know he's a God of justice, and he will settle my case." Job ended up coming out with twice what he had before. If you want to see God pay you back,

“if you want to see God make your wrongs right,”

then when things come against you, you'll feel like getting better. You may feel like complaining. No, you've got to dig your heels in, and say, "Like Job, I know my redeemer lives.

I know God's going to turn this around. No weapon formed against me is going to prosper. My best days are still out in my future. You've got to have this attitude of faith. No one that God is a God of justice,

and he will settle your case. I met a young couple that moved here from New Orleans. They were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. They came to Houston so beaten down, so discouraged. It's like all the life had been taken out of them.

They had just purchased their first home there in New Orleans.

The man had a good job moving up in the company.

Plus they had a little baby on the way. Their first child.

“They were having fun decorating the baby's room,”

making plans for his arrival. Life was good. Then Hurricane Katrina hit. Wipe out their whole neighborhood. They not only lost their new home.

They lost all of their possessions. Their furniture, their car, their clothes. The man's company closed them. Didn't have a job anymore. When I saw them here at Lakewood,

it's like they were none. Their whole world had fallen apart. I told them what I'm telling you. God is a God of justice. He has seen what you've been through every tear you shed.

He knows the disappointment, the heartache you feel, and this is not the end. It's a new beginning. You're not going to just come out of this barely surviving. God's going to make the enemy pay and bring you out better off than you were before.

I spent five or ten minutes speaking faith. Hope victory into their future.

“I'll never forget how they begin to brighten up.”

It was like I was giving water to a person that was starving with thirst. They started coming to Lakewood week after week.

Hearing about how we are victors and never victims.

How God always causes us to try them. How many of the afflictions are the righteous, but the Lord delivers us out of them all. Faith begin to rise in their hearts. They shook off that old defeated weak mentality.

Their attitude was, this may be difficult. It may be unfair, but we know our redeemer lives. We know God is still on the throne. He's in complete control, and He is promised to settle our case. That was a few years back.

Just recently they told how they moved into the brand new home that they built here in Houston. The man has a new job, a better job. Less travel, better income, better benefits. They don't have just one child.

Now they have two children. The wife said, Joel, we never dreamed we could be where we are. God has amazed us with his goodness. That's what happens when you get an agreement with God. We all have unfair things that come against us.

We all go through bad breaks.

“But you have to remember, God not only sees it,”

but He's promised if you just keep moving forward. If you won't get better, he will settle your case. The way God settles the case is not just to turn it around. Not to just make it right. No God will bring you out better off than you were before.

Listen to Isaiah 61 in the message translation. Because you got a double dose of trouble, your inheritance in the land will be double, and your joy will go on forever. You may feel like you got a double dose of trouble.

Like this young couple. You were tired, but the bottom fell out. Or like Dawn, you were raised in a good environment. But don't get stuck there thinking that that's your lot in life. That you got short change.

That you'll always have a disadvantage.

The truth is that unfair situation has qualified you for double. It doesn't have to stop you. If you'll have the right attitude, God will use it to thrust you forward. Not realize.

Many people didn't get off to a good start in life. They had a lot of bad breaks. They weren't raised with parents like mine. That we're speaking faith and victory into them. And my heart goes after them.

I'm compassionate. Yet at the same time, I don't believe in giving people a right to feel sorry for themselves. You may have had a bad break. You lost a loved one.

You're raising a special needs child. That's difficult. But don't you dare sit around with the chip on your shoulder. Every unfair thing that has happened has qualified you for double.

God is a God of justice. He wants to pay you back. But you got to do your part. Shake off the self-pity. Shake off what they said about you.

Shake off what didn't work out. Shake off how you were raised. And get ready for a double dose of God's favor. A double dose of his blessings. A double dose of health.

A double dose of ease. A double dose of creativity. Get ready for God to do exceedingly abundantly above and beyond. When you go through unfair situations. It's never easy.

We never like it. But keep it in the right perspective. That person that's talking about you, trying to make you look bad. In a sense, they did you a favor.

They just qualified you for double. That storm. That storm that damage your house. That accident that sets you back. It may be difficult.

It qualified you for double.

That person that walked out on you. Left you when you needed them the most.

“Don't sit around thinking that there's something wrong with you.”

You're inadequate. You're less than, you know, blow them a kiss goodbye and get ready for double. It's payback time. God wants to do something new in your life. Years ago, Victorian, I had this man that did us wrong in a business deal.

He didn't keep his word. We all agreed verbally to certain things. But when it came time to put it in the contract, at the last minute, he changed his mind. And because of the time constraints,

there's nothing we could do. We had to sign it or the whole deal would have fallen apart. We had way too much invested. It's very dishonest. And we could have done something legally.

But we didn't feel good about that.

We finally just let it go.

We didn't get better. We didn't start complaining. We didn't hold a grudge against him and start treating him badly. Our attitude was, God, you said you would settle our cases. You said you'd make our wrongs right.

You'd pay us double for this injustice.

“So Lord, we just want to thank you that you're fighting our battles for us.”

It didn't happen overnight, but several years later, that man faced difficulties. And he couldn't meet his obligations in the contract. And we not only got what we deserve, but we got everything that belonged to him in that contract.

It was much more than double. What am I saying? When you let God settle your case, it will be better than you could have ever done it yourself. Now don't be sour because of something that you lost,

or something that was taken from you.

A coworker cheated you out of that contract that should have been yours. A friend, a family member, didn't keep their word. They didn't pay you back. Instead of being better and trying to get even, stay on the high road.

God sees the injustice. He knows what they took. And if you let God settle your case, he'll not only give you what you deserve, but God will pay you back with even more.

One time in the Scripture, Jacob had an agreement with an older relative named Laban. That he would work for Laban for seven years. And in return, Laban would give him his daughter Rachel as his wife. Rachel was very beautiful.

Jacob loved her so much that he agreed. So for seven years, Jacob worked faithfully. He increased Laban's flocks many times over. Went to great lengths to fight off the wild animals that would try to kill the sheep and the goats.

After seven years, he had fulfilled his part of the contract. Made Laban a much wealthier man. But Laban changed his mind. He said, Jacob, I'll let you marry one of my daughters, but not Rachel.

You can marry my oldest daughter named Leah. Well, no offense to Leah, but that's not what they agreed to. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel.

“Laban said, if you want to marry Rachel,”

you'll have to work for me another seven years. And Jacob was either so dumb or so in love. He agreed to do it. Sometime you're so in love, it makes you dumb. Fourteen years later,

he said, Laban, I want to leave now with Rachel and go back to be with my family. Laban was feeling so guilty. He said, Jacob, I gotta pay you something for working all these years.

You've made me very wealthy. What would you like? Jacob said, I don't want any money. I'll make a deal with you. I'll work for you a little longer.

Just let me have all the street and spotted sheep and goats. All the solid colored animals will be yours. That way, when I leave, you'll know that I'm not taking anything that belongs to you. Laban loved this idea because there were very few

street and spotted animals. But Laban was so cheap and so dishonest. He went out at night and removed all the street and spotted sheep and goats and put them in a special pin so they couldn't make with the solid colored animals.

That way, Jacob wouldn't have as much. What Laban didn't realize is that God is a God of justice. He will not allow his children to be continually taking it manager. When those solid colored animals made it,

do you know what color their offspring was, street and spotted? Friends, God has the final saying. God knows how to pay you back. He's not limited by the laws of nature.

He's not limited by what people say or what a boss says. Laban was over there scratching his head. He thought, man, that is not right. How did that happen? He got so frustrated.

He went back to Jacob and said, I want to change the agreement.

Jacob said, no problem. That's fine. You know what color? All the new animals born were solid colored. The blessing followed Jacob.

God's supernaturally increased him. He left there with more flocks than his relative laban. What would God do in paying Jacob back? When you go to work each week.

“Remember, you're not working under people.”

You're working under God. And he is a God of justice. If somebody is being dishonest, not keeping their word. Or maybe they're playing politics and not giving you the credit you deserve. Don't get upset.

Don't try to pay them back. God is keeping the records. He will make sure you not only get what you deserve, but like Jacob. God will pay you back with even more. I know some of you today, you feel like it.

You've gotten a double dose of trouble. Things have come against you, but this is a new day. It is payback time. Get ready for a double dose of God's goodness. A double dose of God's favor.

God is going to make the enemy pay for bringing the trouble into your life. Instead of complaining about it, get up in the morning and say like Job, I know my redeemer lives. Remember every difficulty, every unfair situation that has qualified you for double.

“I believe some of you, even this week, are going to see cases settled.”

Restoration, vindication, promotion, breakthroughs, a promise coming to pass. The God of justice is going to show himself strong in your life. You're not going to just come out. You're going to come out better off than you were before. I believe it and declare it in Jesus' name.

If you receive it, can you say amen?

We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life.

Would you pray with me, just say Lord Jesus, I'll repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. Amen. Well, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again.

Get in a good Bible-based church. Keep God first place. He's going to take you places you've never dreamed of. We all go through disappointments and things that are not fair. But God sees every hurt, every injustice, and He's promised to pay you back for the unfair things.

Now, love to send you my new resource, double for your trouble. It's filled with inspiration, doubt you stay in faith. And not get bitter and think, "Why me?"

“No, that setback may have been painful, but the fact is, it sets you up for trouble.”

God will make the enemy pay and bring you out better than you were before. This ministry is reaching people around the world with a message of hope. And as our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount, we would like to send you a copy of Double For Your Trouble, a daily guide for restoration. This 31-day spiral-bound resource is an invitation into healing, restoration,

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And He is the God who restores double. None of us like difficulties, but if you'll stay in faith, you won't come out the same, you'll come out with double. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Your donations are bringing hope to people around the world. Special thank you to our champion of hope partners for all you do to make the ministry possible. Until we see you again next week, meet the Lord bless you and keep you. Be sure to request your copy of Devil for your trouble. Available this month by simply visiting us at jolosteen.com or call 888-567-Jol.

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If you've never been to Lakewood, we have a great opportunity to come.

We call it homecoming weekend.

We love to meet you and your family.

“You can see the building, a tin one of the services.”

It's a great time to be a part of the Lakewood family. Looking forward to seeing you at homecoming weekend.