Joel Osteen - Trouble Is Temporary (02/01/2021)
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Joel Osteen reminds us through 2 Corinthians 4:17–18 that our present troubles are small and temporary, while the eternal joys ahead last forever—he urges believers to adopt a «soon» mentality, trusting that God will turn difficulties around much quicker than it appears, as seen in stories like Job’s nine-month trial, Noah’s flood, and even Lakewood’s Compaq Center lawsuit that resolved in months instead of years. The core message is clear: trouble doesn’t last, breakthroughs come sooner than expected, and God has an «after this» season of greater blessing waiting.
Trouble Doesn’t Last Forever
I want to talk to you today about how trouble is temporary. We all face difficulties that do not look like they will ever change; it seems like the more we pray, the worse it gets. We do not see any sign of things improving. It is easy to live discouraged and accept that it is not meant to be.
But Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:17–18, «Our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. These troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.» What you are up against may look permanent; it seems like it is going to take years to get well, years to get out of debt, years to meet the right person—do not be fooled by what you see.
God is saying, «The trouble is only temporary.» It is not going to last very long. Soon it is going to be over. Soon you are going to see the breakthrough. Soon your health is going to turn around. Soon you are going to meet the person of your dreams. Soon you are going to break that addiction.
Shift to a «Soon» Mindset!
You may not see how this can happen; everything in your reasoning says, «It is not possible.» You are looking at it in the natural—we serve a supernatural God. He can make things happen that you cannot make happen.
Instead of thinking of all the reasons why it is not going to work out, how it is going to take forever, try a different approach: «Father, thank You that this difficulty will soon be over. Thank You that this sickness, the depression, the family problem will not last very long.»
«Well, Joel, it has already been a long time"—that means you are very close to seeing it turn around. You are on the verge of a breakthrough; you are about to see freedom, promotion, problems suddenly resolve, dreams suddenly come to pass. Not in the sweet by and by, but soon things are going to change.
Soon that child is going to get back on course. Soon that door is going to open. Soon the right person is going to show up. Soon you are going to come into overflow.
Get in Agreement with God
Now you have to get in agreement with God and have a soon mentality. As long as you think, «It is going to take years,» that is going to stop God from working. When you have this soon mentality, you get up each morning with expectancy, knowing that this could be the day that God shows out in your life.
When is your health going to turn around? «I do not know, Joel; the medical report does not look good"—that is one report. I am giving you another report: «Soon things are going to change in your favor.»
When are you coming out of debt? «Looks like it is going to take me 112 years to pay everything off"—you are going to be in heaven by then. How about, «Soon I am coming out of debt. Soon I am going to lend and not borrow.» How can that happen? God owns it all! One touch of His favor and you will have more than enough. One good break, one idea, one contract and everything will change.
Declare «Soon» Over Every Area
When are you going to overcome that addiction? Soon! When are you going to meet the right person? Soon! When is that legal situation going to resolve? Soon! When are you going to sell your property? Soon! When are you going to start your business? Soon!
Your mind will tell you all the reasons why it is not going to happen: «Your problem is too big. The people against you are too powerful. It has been this way too long.» Do not believe those lies. Receive this into your spirit: «The problem will soon be over. The loneliness will soon be gone. The anxiety, the grief, the barrenness—not able to have a child—is coming to an end soon. These present troubles will not last very long.»
Job’s Story: From Ashes to Double
Job went through a great difficulty. He was doing the right thing, honoring God, and the bottom fell out. He lost his business, lost his children, lost his health. He had boils all over his body, very painful.
Just because we are people of faith does not mean we will not have difficulties. You can be doing the right thing and come into trouble. The scripture says, «Rain falls on the just and the unjust.» When it rains at my house, my property gets wet; my next-door neighbors, the people across the street, everyone in the neighborhood—the rain does not discriminate.
Do not get discouraged by difficulties; it is just life. The promise we have is not that trouble will not come, but that the trouble is not going to last. Soon the trouble will be over.
When you are in difficulties and things happen like with Job—you do not understand, you come down with an illness, or people at work turned on you, you had a setback in your business—it is easy to live worried, thinking, «It is never going to work out.»
It’s Not Permanent—Remind Yourself!
You have to remind yourself of this promise that it is not permanent, it is not going to last very long; soon it will resolve. All through the day you need to keep this in your heart: «Father, thank You that this trouble is only temporary. It did not come to stay; it came to pass. Thank You that it will soon be over.»
When Job looked at all his circumstances—everything that went wrong, all that he had lost—he got depressed. He sat down in the ashes and wanted to die. One reason he was so discouraged is he saw the trouble as permanent; he did not see any way he could get out.
As long as he had this «forever mentality"—this is how my life is always going to be—he felt overwhelmed. When you have a setback, thoughts will tell you, «It is permanent. You will never get well. You will never be happy again. You will never meet someone"—if you believe those forever lies, you will get discouraged and lose your passion.
God Won’t Let Trouble Overwhelm You
God will not let you get in a situation that He cannot bring you out of. If the trouble was too much, the sickness too great, the opposition too strong, He would not have allowed it. It is a test: what are you going to do? Get discouraged? Give up on dreams? Live defeated?
Or are you going to believe that God is on the throne, that He is bigger than what you are facing, that the trouble is only temporary, that it is not going to last long?
What you believe in times of trouble will determine whether you stay in that trouble or whether you come out of it. At one point Job changed his attitude. Instead of sitting around defeated, he got up out of the ashes, looked up to the heavens, and said, «I know my Redeemer lives.»
He was saying, «I know God is still in control. I know this difficulty cannot stop my destiny. What He purposed for my life will come to pass.» He shifted to an attitude of faith.
Don’t Stay in the Ashes
God let us see both sides of Job—him discouraged and despondent, then him switching over into faith—to let us know it is okay to feel things, it is okay to have times where you feel discouraged, you do not see how it can work out. It is okay to start there, but do not finish there. Do not stay in the ashes. Do not stay defeated.
At some point you have to do like Job and say, «I know my Redeemer lives. I know God did not bring me this far to leave me. I know this problem is not permanent. Lord, thank You that it will soon be over.»
Do you know what that does to the enemy? When he hits you with his best shot, but you do not start complaining, you do not stay in the ashes, but you start declaring, «Soon it is going to turn around. Soon I am going to get well. Soon I am going to meet someone new. Soon my business is going to take off. Soon I am going to laugh again, love again, lead again, run again.»
When you live with this soon mentality, all the forces of darkness cannot keep you down.
Sooner Than You Think!
Job’s situation looked permanent, looked like he had seen his best days. But God not only turned it around—Job came out with twice what he had before. The scripture says he had twice the cattle, twice the sheep. He got his business back; God gave him twice as many children.
God never brings you out the same; He makes the enemy pay for bringing the trouble. When we hear about the suffering of Job and all that he went through, it seems like that was his whole life. The entire Book of Job is about his struggle. You would think it went on for forty years—trouble, heartache, pain.
But some commentaries believe the whole struggle was only nine months. All the sickness, all the trouble did not last years; it was months.
What you think is going to take years, what looks like it is going to be a long time to resolve—like with Job, it is going to happen sooner than you think. That trouble looks permanent, but God is saying, «It is not going to last very long.»
You are about to see His hand bring healing, restoration, breakthroughs, divine connections, promotion. It is not by your might, not by your power, but by the Spirit of the living God.
The Compaq Center Victory
In 2003 the Houston city council voted for us to have the Compaq Center. It was a city-owned building; we had worked for two years presenting our case, trying to convince council members. When we won the vote, we were so excited—it was God opening a door that we never dreamed would open.
The next day a company that owns all the high-rises around this building filed a federal lawsuit to try to keep us from moving in. They were the largest taxpayer in Texas, a huge real estate company with property all over the state. It was like David versus Goliath.
Our attorneys told us that it could be tied up in the courts for ten years, how these kinds of legal proceedings can be extremely slow. That meant we could not move in; we could not start renovations. Our future concerning this building was on hold.
The problem was I had already presented the Compaq Center to the church; people had already given to support it. Everyone was excited, asking when we were going to move in.
From Years to Months!
I would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Thoughts telling me: you are going to look like a fool; what are you going to do if you do not win the lawsuit? I was tempted to live worried, stressed out.
But I did what I am asking you to do: despite what the experts were saying, despite how permanent it looked, I said, «Father, I want to thank You that this trouble is only temporary, that it will not last very long. Lord, I know You are working behind the scenes, fighting our battles, making crooked places straight, shining Your favor down on us.»
I would check with the attorneys every week, looking for some kind of sign: is there anything new? Nothing. We have not heard from them. They did not want to negotiate; they were going to sit back and wait, drag it out for years until we had to do something else.
I could hear that promise, that still small voice saying, «Joel, trust Me. This trouble is only temporary. Soon it will be over.» But my mind would say, «Are you kidding? Nothing is improving. You are years away from even finding out if it is going to be yours.»
The battle is taking place in our mind. Do not accept the lies that it is permanent, it is going to take a long, long time. You have to turn it around: «Father, thank You that this will resolve sooner than it looks.»
God Turned It Around Fast
About eight months after the lawsuit was filed, we received a call unexpectedly from the other side saying they wanted to meet. I was excited; I believed it was the hand of God. Our attorneys were much more skeptical. They thought it was a ploy, that they were just trying to complicate things.
We met with them. They not only agreed to let us have the building, but to lease us nine thousand covered parking spaces. They dropped the lawsuit; the facility was ours free and clear.
What looked like it would take years happened in a few months. God is saying to you: what you are up against is going to resolve much sooner than it looks. That trouble is not going to last long. That addiction is not going to hinder you your whole life. The sickness, the depression, the anxiety is not going to stop your destiny. It is going to soon be over—not years, but months.
Switch to «Soon» Thinking
Now why do you not get in agreement with God? You may not see how—the giant looks too big, the sickness too great, the opposition too strong. You are not in this by yourself; the Most High God is fighting for you. He knows how to move people out of the way. He can do what medicine cannot do. He can restore what has been stolen.
Sooner than later you are going to see the hand of God making things happen that you could not make happen, opening doors that no person can shut, turning situations around that looked impossible.
But it is easy to live with this «forever» mindset: «It is never going to work out, or maybe one day years down the road; maybe one day, Joel, I will get a good break.» Switch over to a «soon» mentality: «I know some things take time, but God promises us in this verse that the trouble will soon be over. He is about to do something out of the normal timeframe, something unusual, sooner than you think.»
«What if I believe this and it does not happen?» What if you believe it and it does happen? It probably will not happen if you have already accepted it is going to be a long time to get out of this trouble, a long time to get well, to meet the right person, to accomplish your dream—that is limiting what God will do.
[h3]Job’s Long, Joyful «After This"