TD Jakes - What to Do When God Says ENOUGH
In 539 BC, God said enough, and all of a sudden, everything began to change. God used a young man who was the son of a princess. This young man was Lebasha Marbuk. He came in, and God used him to wreak havoc on the Babylonians, who thought they couldn’t be brought down. But God brought them down! Listen, America, be very careful. The Babylonian Empire came down. The Roman Empire came down. The Kushite Empire came down. Don’t get high-minded and think that we cannot come down. We’ve got to be careful about what we allow to happen in this country because it is possible. History teaches us that kingdoms fall, nations fall, and empires collapse. The Babylonians thought they couldn’t be taken; they thought they were invincible. But the peasants rose up and brought the whole empire down.
Babylon, not Babylonia, goes back to the Tower of Babel. God still brought them down. Babylon comes from the Old Testament Mesopotamia; the new term we would have would be «okay.» Not them, but God brought them down. God can bring you down; He can shut it down. That’s why you must live with a certain degree of humility. I don’t care how many skyscrapers you build, how many jets you own, or how advanced your technology is. God doesn’t care about any of that. When God gets ready to shut you down, He can do it. He shut down the whole world with a virus we can’t even see, and not one atomic bomb did anyone any good. Not one supersonic jet did anyone any good; not IBM, not zeros, not Google—nobody could do anything about it.
God used something we never even thought of—a bug from a bird—to shut down the planet. You don’t know what God is going to use to fight with, but I declare God is going to get you out of this! Oh, you didn’t hear what I said; I feel like dancing right where I stand! You don’t know who God is going to use, but He will get you out of this. He doesn’t have to rely on the deacons, the church mothers, the intercessors, the bishops, or the prayers. When God gets ready to use you, He can bring in an idolater; He can bring in a whoremonger. God has a way of using things you never even thought about. He’ll use the jawbone of an ass, and He’ll use two fists and five loaves.
When God says enough, He’ll use whatever He wants to use. He’ll touch anyone He wants to touch. He’ll even use a harlot like Rahab. When God says enough, He’ll let a nation that you should be able to beat defeat you. He’ll let AI conquer you even after you conquer Canaan. When God gets ready to bring you out, He’ll use anything, and all of a sudden, He will begin to turn everything around. Babylon was a place they thought could never be destroyed. Babylon was strong and fierce; it was positioned by the rivers of the Euphrates. It started as a small port and grew into a great empire. They were ruling, conquering, and taking over, but they messed around and took God’s children into bondage.
When God got sick of it, He brought it to an end, stopped it, and Babylon is reaping what they sowed. «Fret not thyself over evildoers and how they prosper in their own way.» Sooner or later, God will cause them to reap what they sow. You might be outnumbered; they may have more money, and they may have more contacts. But when God gets ready to bring you out, He will bring you out! I don’t know who I’m preaching to, but I feel like I’m talking to somebody. If I’m talking to you, just type «win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win, win.»
When the Lord turned again our captivity, we were like those who dreamt. In one moment, the weeping turned to laughter. Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues were singing. The very people who hung their harps by the willow trees and wept when they remembered Zion are now giggling and laughing because God has a win. I am telling all of you who are suffering, all of you who are in agony, all of you who are secretly suicidal, and all of you who are depressed: don’t get too used to being depressed; don’t get too used to being down because God owns a win.
When God says «when,» He will bring it to an end, and the same lips that quivered with tears, the same face that cried itself to sleep, and the same person who rolled over in agony and couldn’t rest at night—God will make you burst out laughing! When He turned again our captivity, it was like a dream. These people hadn’t been free so long that freedom didn’t seem normal. Have you ever been denied something so long that you got used to not having it? Have you ever been alone so long that you stopped feeling lonely? Have you ever been in a crisis so long that it became your norm?
When the Lord turned again our captivity, it was like a dream, and the Holy Spirit told me to tell you: you’re going to dream again! When I finish bringing you out, you’re going to be scared to believe it. It’s going to feel like it’s someone else. When I open up a door for you, it’s going to blow your mind! When I set you free, you’ll say, «Is that me? I don’t know how to think about it. Is this my house? Could this be my job? Could this be my husband? Is that my wife?» You mean You would do that for me? God said, «I’m going to bless you until you have to pinch yourself!»
Oh, get ready to pinch yourself! God said, «I’ll blow your mind! I’ll cause you to prosper. The contracts will close, the property will sell, the door will open, the mountain will move, the yoke will be broken, and the enemy defeated!» When the Lord turned again, when He turned, when He turned, God has to turn it. He did something in heaven, and it hit the earthly realm. He did something in heaven, and God raised up someone who didn’t even know me to deliver me.
When the Lord turned again our captivity, we were like those who dreamed. It was hard to believe, filled with laughter, and our tongues were singing. I want somebody to just start laughing right now. I want you to practice your laugh. I want you to practice your laugh now. It might not seem like laughing right now, but I want you to start practicing it. Because God said, «I’m going to make you laugh again.» You’re going to get right up in the devil’s face and laugh. You’re going to get right up in the face of the Babylonians and laugh. «You thought I’d never laugh again? Check this out! Check this out! Check this out! Cancer? Leukemia? You thought you had me—I’d like to die! But God said, 'I’m going to fill your mouth with laughter! '»