TD Jakes - This Season Will Not Destroy You (05/18/2025)
Bad things often happen to good people not because of personal fault, the devil, or others' direct hatred, but because we get caught in the crossfire of someone else’s political, career, or ego-driven agenda—like Peter imprisoned by Herod Agrippa I to gain Jewish favor. In such perplexing troubles where no one is truly to blame, God allows it to demonstrate His sovereign power and presence, reminding us that He, not earthly kings or systems, has the final say.
The Trap of Blame
We blame other people for the things we break. The third group is we blame ourselves for everything—stuff we had no control over, things we could not fix. We beat ourselves up about everything. We defend ourselves in front of the attacker, but when we get home alone, we blame ourselves: I am not enough; impostor syndrome; I am inadequate; I cannot do it.
Look at me; I mess up everything. We go all the way back to the first grade. That is why I flunked first grade; that is why I went through a test; that is why I made an F on my report card. We go all the way back, reading a whole résumé to validate why we are no good, and we start attacking ourselves.
Peter’s Perplexing Trouble
In our text, it is clear; it does not leave it to our imagination to conclude what category this is in. Peter is definitely in trouble. Yeah, he is going to die in the morning. Yeah, that is right, he is going to die in the morning. But it is not the devil; it is not the other disciples, and the worst part is it is not even Peter. Peter has done nothing wrong.
Why do bad things happen to good people? And you find yourself in this situation where not only are you trying to endure the problem, but you are perplexed because you do not understand the problem. I do not understand why you do not like me, and I have done everything for you, my child. I do not understand why you do not like me, and I am your son. How could you not like your child?
You go through all of these questions in your mind, and when you come to church, all we do is tell you to give Him praise. But let me tell you what praise will not do: praise will not answer your questions. Praise will not always resolve your issues. Praise will not take the place of an apology.
When Praise Isn’t Enough
You dance all over the church, but you still did not apologize, and you do not have any peace. And I do not care how fancy you feel; you can run around this church until you need a water bottle that says «Potters House» on it, and it still will not solve the problem. Because praise will not fix what you need to fix. I knew nobody was going to shout; give them a big shout—they need to shout.
Let me tell you something, you are trying to figure out what is going on, and the church comes to you and just tells you to praise the Lord. Hey, I got a lump in my breast, and I am going to give God the praise, but when I got through dancing, I still had a lump in my breast, and it is growing.
What do I do when I find myself in a situation and I do not know who to blame? I do not know how to pray, and I do not know how to respond to it, and I do not know how to talk about it. I do not have language for it. I am going through it. I am going through something.
Going Through It Alone
Peter is going through something that the other disciples cannot relate to, and he is going through it alone. Even if they could relate to it, he cannot talk to them. I want to talk to some people who are going through some stuff alone. You are going through some stuff alone, even though other people are around.
You are going through it alone, even though other people have an opinion. You are going through it alone, even though other people may be talking about it. You are going through it alone. Peter is going through this alone. There is no James; there is no John in the room. There are no people standing around him because misery kind of enjoys company.
If I have to go through it, let me go through it with somebody. Let me go through it with somebody. But most of the things that torment the soul we go through alone. We go through alone.
Single people think they go through it alone because they are single, but married people know that being married does not mean that you are not going through it alone. Having somebody lying next to you does not mean that they are going through it with you.
Caught in the Crossfire
That is right. Thank you for the ten people that are not hypocrites—the ten people that can admit that you can lay next to somebody and still feel alone. This is a keen test for men, ladies: when you ask him what he is thinking, and he says nothing, it does not mean that we are not thinking anything; it just means that we figure we are going through this alone. Peter is going through this alone. What did he do to go to jail?
Thank you, Luke, when you wrote the book of Acts; you do not leave me to guess about how Peter got in jail. He got caught in the crossfire of Herod Agrippa I. He got caught in the crossfire of a political decision where the king decides to attack a church member for strategic advantage to rise higher in rank amongst the Jews.
The backstory is that King Herod Agrippa I was partly Jewish. He had been sent to this outpost; he wanted to be their king, but the Jews did not legitimize him as being authentically Jewish. So he is trying to gain some Jewish points; I do not know if Jewish people have points, but he is trying to get some points.
Herod’s Political Agenda
He knows that the Jews do not like the Christians, so he is hating on who they hate to gain status, so he will have more power to get where he is trying to go. He does not even know Peter. He does not even care about Peter. He is not thinking about Peter. He does not care about Christianity; he does not care about what they are trying to teach.
He does not really care about Orthodox Judaism; he cares about his career. If you do not understand why you are being attacked, you do not know how to respond to the attack. If you do not understand that the bloggers get paid by the hits they get, then you will think they are talking about you because you are you.
No, they are talking about you because people know you, and people are going to argue about you. The more clicks you get, the more they get paid. You do not understand that talking about people has become a business. Some people do not do anything for a living except talk about people.
I mean, this is your full-time job. What do you do for a living, sir? I talk about people. That is what I do, and it pays really well. If I talk about famous people, I get a lot of hits, and if I get a lot of hits, I get paid a lot of money.
The Cost of Influence
If I get paid a lot of money, I do not need to work any other type of job. All I need to do is say something titillating and salacious enough to get you to click on it, and the more clicks I get, the more checks I make. Thank you for clicking; thank you for arguing both sides of the issue; thank you for responding because you are driving my algorithms up, and I am getting paid.
They pick you out not because you are Luther Vandross or whoever you are. No, they pick you out because everybody knows you, and everybody is going to click on it. You got caught in the crossfire. Peter had preached at Pentecost. He was an influential Christian.
He had ignited the switch that provoked the outpouring of the Holy Spirit down on the people that caused 3,000 souls to be added to the church that day. Peter had influence. Peter had such influence that Herod figured if he killed the first disciple they liked, if he got the ringleader, he would really be on top. I am going to really be on top.
See, that is why every neck has to pay for every head. You cannot get into a fight between the neck and the head and argue about position. You need to understand that heavy is the crown that rests upon the head. The higher you go, before you pray about going up, realize that the higher you go, you are going to get caught in fights that you did not start.
God’s Purpose in Trouble
You do not even know the person; you do not know what is going on. I called a friend of mine one day, and I was reading an article in the Chicago Sun, and the guy was just giving me the blues. I mean, it was an entire op-ed, and I was at least a third of the op-ed, and I did not even know who he was.
I called a friend of mine and asked who this guy was. He told me who he was. You know, I said I never even met the guy. He said it does not matter what you did or did not do when you are in the crossfire of somebody else’s ego.
There is something about what I just said that felt prophetic as it was coming out of me. It felt prophetic like somebody in this room is in a situation right now, and you are bearing the brunt force of other people’s decisions that are affecting you, but they are not because of you.
They have their own agenda, and you have to stop worrying about yourself and worrying about your efficiency. Just because somebody is trying to get in with the Jews so that he can set up his kingdom, it has nothing to do with Peter’s theology, his preaching, his teaching, his gifting, his power, or his favor.
Yet Peter is in jail, and it has nothing to do with him. But he is in jail; it was not even his fight, but he was in jail. It was not even his problem, but he was in jail. He has had no argument with Herod, but he is in jail. He has not ticked off the city, but he is in jail.
Bad things do happen to good people. God does not always order sunshine in the morning. God does not always order blue skies, and He does not order sea waves and seagulls flying over your window. That is not the way God works.
God will order trouble for your life and allow you to get into trouble because God is a present help in trouble. If you want to be where God is, God will let you get into trouble so He can show Himself strong in your situation.
I do not know who I am preaching to, but God has put you in trouble just so that He can show you how strong He is and that He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. See, Herod was king, but Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
And what you have to understand is the accountant does not have the last say, the lawyer does not have the last say, the judge does not have the last say, and the court does not have the last say. God is going to have the last say. It may take some time, it may take some tests, it may take some trials, but what God has for you is for you.