Get Over It | Joel Osteen

2:18 It's going to be a blessed day for you. Well, God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes. If you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you, we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in and thank you again for coming out. I'd like to start with something funny. And I heard about this man that called the church office. He said, I want to speak to the head hog at the trough. The secretary was offended. She said, if you mean the pastor, you're going to have to call him pastor, but you may not call him the head hog at the trough. He said, well, fine, but I was thinking about making a $10,000 donation to your church. She said, hang on, Porky just walked in. Hold up your Bibles. 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.

3:14 I 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 get over it. Too many people go through life thinking somebody owes them something. They didn't have a perfect childhood. Now they're offended at their parents. They got laid off after years with the company. They're offended at a boss, or maybe they came down with an illness. Life threw them a curve. They went through a divorce, didn't get the promotion. Now they're offended at God. They've got a chip on their shoulder, bitterness on the inside. If God was so good, how could he let this happen to me? No, God never promised that life would be fair, but he did promise if you would stay in faith, he will take what's meant for your harm and use it to your advantage.

4:10 Nothing that's happened to you is a surprise to God. The people that raised you may not have given you everything you needed. It may not have been fair, but that didn't catch God off guard. Don't use it as an excuse to be bitter thinking that you got cheated. If you'll get over it, God will still get you to where you're supposed to be. The person that did you wrong in a relationship, the betrayal, the divorce, it may have been painful. It wasn't right, but if you'll get over it and quit reliving all the hurt and pain and start moving forward, then you'll come in to the new beginning God has in store. My message today is very simple. I say it respectfully. Whatever wrong that was done, whatever's causing you to feel sour, whatever seems unfair, get over it. Well, Joel, all my friends are married. I'm still single. Get over it. Don't let that bitterness take root. That will keep the right person from showing up. Well, I wish I was a different nationality. I wish I came from a different family. Get over it. God knows what he's doing. God wasn't having a bad day when he created you. You are not at a disadvantage. You have been fearfully and wonderfully made.

5:33 Well, Joel, my friends, seems like they've got more going for them. He's more talented. She's more beautiful. I feel like I got shortchanged. No, get over it. You have exactly what you need to fulfill your destiny. Well, they did me wrong. They left me out. Get over it and God will make it up to you. Get over it and God will fight your battles. I've heard it said, you can be pitiful or you can be powerful, but you cannot be both. And instead of sitting around thinking about all the reasons you have to feel sorry for yourself, the bad breaks, the disadvantages, you've got to take the hand you've been dealt and make the most of it. Nothing that you've been through has to keep you from becoming all God's created you to be. My mother had polio as a child. She had to wear a brace on her leg. Now one of her legs is much smaller than the other leg When she goes to buy shoes She has to buy two pair of the same shoe because her feet are different sizes She could have been embarrassed by that Shrunk back tried to hide it let it cause her to feel less than but she never did She knows she's been made in the image of almighty god Growing up that never kept her from wearing a dress In fact, she still wears dresses today, nearly 80 years old, still showing off her legs.

7:01 That never kept her from working out in the yard, doesn't stop her from praying for other people that need healing. In spite of the quote disadvantage, she's gone on to live a full blessed life. Why? She got over it. She didn't make excuses. She didn't fall into the self-pity trap. And sometimes we think, well, if I had their life, If I had his talent, if I was born into that family, then I could do something great No, don't compare your situation to somebody else's you're not running their race It may seem like they have more advantages. They have more going for them But god has given you the grace you need to fulfill your destiny. You're not anointed to be them You're anointed to be you you got to shake off any self-pity any bitterness. Our attitude should be, nobody owes me anything. I am not at a disadvantage. I didn't get left out, shortchanged, passed over, cheated. I am equipped, empowered, and anointed.

8:06 All the forces of darkness cannot keep me from my destiny. Friends, your time is too valuable. your assignment too important to go through life thinking about what you didn't get, who hurt you, and how it didn't work out. That is a trick of the enemy to get you distracted, wasting valuable energy on things that don't matter. He would love to keep you discouraged, in self-pity, blaming others, blaming yourself, even blaming God. I'm asking you today to get over anything that's holding you back. A bad attitude, an offense, what somebody did to you, a mistake you made. Don't be pitiful when you can be powerful. The creator of the universe breathed his life into you. Every day of your life has already been written in God's book. And the good news is your book ends in victory. And yes, we all go through tough times, but we're not supposed to stay there. Keep turning the page and you'll come in to another victory. God knew there'd be unfair situations. That's why he's already arranged a comeback for every setback, vindication for every wrong, a new beginning for every disappointment. Now don't let one bad break, a divorce, a rough childhood cause you to get soured on life. If you didn't get the promotion, get over it. God has something better in store. If those friends don't accept you, they leave you out, won't give you their approval. Get over it. You don't need their approval. Don't go trying to play up to them, trying to win them over. You have almighty God's approval. That's all that matters.

9:56 maybe your business didn't make it. You had a setback. Now you think, oh, what did I do wrong? I blew it. This is the end. No, get over it. Don't condemn yourself. You are not a failure. You took a step of faith and a door closed. That means you're one step closer to an open door. When you get knocked down, don't stay down, get back up again. Nothing good is going to happen as long as you're down on yourself, down on life, focused on your mistakes, your disadvantages. That's going to keep you from the amazing future God has in store. I know some of you are dealing with a sickness. Now our hearts go out to you. We're standing in faith with you, but don't you dare sit around nursing your wounds, thinking, poor old me. I guess my life is over. I've got this disadvantage. No, dig your heels in and fight the good fight of faith. God did not bring you this far to leave you. When the going gets tough, the tough have to get going. Get over the disappointment. Get over the self-pity.

11:07 Get over the doubt. You have been armed with strength for this battle. No weapon formed against you is going to prosper. Nothing can snatch you out of God's hand. The enemy doesn't have the final say. God has the final say. And he says the number of your days he will fulfill. You keep turning that page, praying, believing, being your best, being good to other people. And you're going to come into another chapter, a chapter of victory. Think about Job. He had a lot to get over. He lost his health his family his business If anybody had a right at least in the natural to have a chip on their shoulder be angry and bitter It would have been job He was a good man. He loved god. He was being his best yet. His whole life was turned upside down The scripture says rain falls on the just and the unjust I'd love to tell you that if you have faith and you love God, you'll never have any difficulties, but that's not reality. But I can tell you when the storms come, if you've got your house built upon the rock, if you've got an unshakable confidence in God, if you know the Lord as your shepherd, the storms will come, but you will not be defeated.

14:43 When it's all said and done, you may go through the fire, through the flood, through the famine, but you'll come out still standing strong. don't be discouraged by the storm. Don't fall into self-pity. I don't know what I did wrong. No, you may not have done anything wrong. Maybe because you're doing something right. You're taking new ground for the kingdom. You're setting a new standard for your family. The enemy is not going to roll out the red carpet and let us fulfill our destiny. But know this, the forces that are for you are greater than the forces that are against you. Job could have given up on life, blamed God, thought, oh, just my luck. I do my best and look what happens to me. No, right in the middle of the difficulty when he could have been bitter and sour, he looked up to the heavens and said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. He was saying in effect, no matter what comes my way, I'm not going to get bitter, angry, offended, have a chip on my shoulder. It may not be fair, but I know a secret. My God is still on the throne.

15:52 He will make my wrongs right. I may not like it, but I'm going to get over it and keep moving forward. Nine months later, Job came out with twice what he had before. When you get over it, you position yourself for double. When you forgive, even though they did you wrong, get ready for double. When you have a good attitude, even though life has thrown you a curve, get ready for double. When you go through the day being your best, even though it seems like you got a disadvantage, thoughts tell you you're not as talented as she is. Look at him. He comes from a influential family. You got cheated. Look at her. She's so beautiful. You're so average. No, you know better than to believe those lies. Instead of getting depressed, you shake it off knowing that you have been made in the image of Almighty God.

16:48 You have royal blood flowing through your veins. You don't let those thoughts defeat you. You don't let what people say, circumstances pull you down. No matter what comes your way, you get over it and keep moving forward. When you do that, you better get ready. God says to you what he says to Job, double is coming your way. Double the joy, double the peace, double the favor. Is there something you need to get over today? Get over a friend that betrayed you? Get over a business deal that didn't work out? Get over a childhood that wasn't that great? Unless you get over it, it will keep you from the fullness God has in store. The key to the double is will you not get bitter? Will you not have a chip on your shoulder, go around thinking that somebody owes you something? It's easy to make excuses to live a sour life. Have you noticed these days, especially people blame the past. They blame how they were raised. Mama didn't give me what she should have given me. My father wasn't around growing up. That's why I'm bitter. That's why I can't get along with people. That's why I can't be successful. No, what your mother or father didn't give you is not a surprise to God. Don't use that as an excuse to be sour and go through life feeling shortchanged. I say it again, respectfully, get over it. Start moving forward.

18:19 This is a new day. God knew who your parents would be. He knew what kind of environment you would be raised in. And I'm not making light of it because some people came through a very unfair situation. They didn't get the love, the approval, the support they should have. But I don't believe in giving anyone the right to feel sorry for themselves because as long as they think they got shortchanged and life is not fair and I've got this sickness, Joel, and I'm not that talented, that will keep you from the amazing future God has in store. It may not have been fair, but if you'll have the right attitude, instead of being a setback, it'll be a setup for God to do something great in your life. But I know people 50 years old still talking about what mama didn't give them. Have you ever thought about maybe mama didn't have it to give? Maybe your father did the best he could with what he had. Sometimes we rely too much on people when we should be relying on God. Psalm 2710 says, God adopts us as his very own children. A mother or father may not have given you what you needed, but if you'll start looking to God, he will make up for everything that you did not get. I've heard it said, if you want someone to give you 100%, don't look around, look up. God is the only one that can give you everything that you need. And some people, it's not that they don't want to. They were never taught how to show love, to express approval.

20:03 They never saw that model growing up. Now they're passing down what they've seen. And if you only look to people, you'll be disappointed. People will let you down. And if you're not careful, you'll get bitter and resentful toward them and think you owe me. Why won't you give it to me? What's wrong with you? No, maybe God is teaching you to not rely on people, but to rely on him. You got to let people off the hook, quit trying to make someone be everything to you. no one person has 100%. No person can meet all your needs, no matter how good they are, how loving, how kind, at some point they'll fall short. You got to look up to your heavenly father and say, God, I know you will give me everything that I need. My father told how when he was in his late forties, he started thinking about how he had had such a rough childhood. His family was very poor. At times they barely had food to survive. He went around with old raggedy clothes, had holes in them. And one day it just hit him as being so unfair.

21:17 He got a little aggravated at his parents. He thought, why didn't they raise me better? Why wasn't my father around to give me the support, the encouragement that I needed? When you open the door to self-pity, to blame, all kinds of negative thoughts will flood your mind. The enemy will be right there to ag you on, tell you you're right. They did you wrong. You got cheated. You should have a chip on your shoulder. You need to go straighten them out. My father was about to drive from Houston to Dallas to tell his parents exactly what he thought and how they didn't do a good job on him. And they put him at a disadvantage and it just wasn't fair. Before he left, God spoke to him, not out loud, but down in here. He said, son, they did you wrong, didn't they? Daddy said, yeah, God, they did. They didn't give you what you needed, did they? No, God, they didn't. Wasn't fair, was it? No, it wasn't fair.

22:18 God said, son, how do you think you would have done if you would have been in their shoes with no money, with no air conditioning, no dishwasher, no washing machine, mother working 12 hours a day, making 10 cents an hour, father with a fourth grade education, lost everything on the farm during the Great Depression, standing in line for food. Son, do you think you may have made a few mistakes? When my father saw it from that perspective, he realized his parents had done an amazing job considering the circumstances that they had. But it's easy to remember what we didn't get and where they made a mistake, how they should have done better and why did they say that? But most of the time, if you put yourself in their shoes, you'll find they did the best they could with what they had.

23:16 Why don't you let people off the hook? Quit expecting them to be perfect. Look to God to give you what people could not give you. If you don't and you go through life thinking somebody owes you something, you got that chip on your shoulder, it's going to cause you to get bitter. When you're bitter, it poisons every area of your life. Hebrews 12 talks about that root of bitterness. Now I've learned that a bitter root will always produce bitter fruit. Bitter people don't have good relationships. They're too negative. When we're bitter, it affects our attitude. We see everything through a critical lens. Nothing is ever good enough. Bitter people, they can smile on the outside. How you doing? Good to see you today. But on the inside, they're thinking, I don't like you. Why'd you show up here? Bitterness taints everything about them.

24:15 It follows you everywhere you go. It's like this grandfather I heard about. He took a nap one afternoon in the family room. His grandkids decided to play a trick on him. They got some real strong smelling cheese. It's very potent, smelled really bad. While he was sleeping, they snuck over and rubbed some of that cheese on his mustache. A couple of minutes later, his nose began to twitch. finally woke up, thought, boy, it stinks in this room. He left the family room to go into the kitchen, get some relief. He took a sniff here, a sniff there, same thing, stinks in this room. Frustrated, he went outside to get a breath of fresh air. He took a deep breath of fresh air, shook his head and said, man, the whole world stinks. If the whole world ever stinks for you, might I suggest you look inside. Maybe there's some adjustments you need to make.

25:13 Bitterness will follow you everywhere you go. I know a man. He got bent out of shape at how his former employer had treated him. Overall, this boss had been very good to him, loving and kind. Just a few things here and there. He could have overlooked it, not paid any attention, focused on the good, but he made the mistake of letting the bitterness take root. Today, 20 years later, the fruit from that bitter root is starting to show up. He's negative, always finding fault, critical, got a chip on his shoulder. When we hold on to things we should be letting go of, when we don't forgive, when we remember the worst, it's not harming the other person, it's poisoning our own life. God is saying today, get over it. Life is flying by. You don't have time to waste another minute being negative, offended, bitter.

26:11 So they did you wrong, get over it and God will make it up to you. So you had a bad break, a disadvantage, get over it. God is still on the throne. My friend, Nick Wojciech, we've had him speak for us here. He was born with no arms and no legs. All he has is his torso. He could be sitting around saying god. It's not fair I have no reason to live. I have no future in front of me No, nick has taken the hand he was dealt and he's making the most of it today He's a minister that goes all over the world Challenging people to not let any disadvantage hold them back Are you making an excuse for some reason you can't be happy an excuse for why you can't succeed? Joel, they hurt me too badly. That's why I can't forgive. No, you're not forgiving for their sake.

27:05 You're forgiving so that you can be free. Joel, I've had some rough times, had a bad break in my business. Get over it. You wouldn't be alive unless God had another victory in front of you. Nothing in life has happened to you. It's happened for you. Every disappointment, every wrong, even every closed door has helped make you into who you are. You are not defined by your past. You are prepared by your past. You may have encountered some great obstacles. It's because God has a great future in front of you. I read about a young man. His dream was to play professional baseball. And all through junior high and high school, he was by far the best player in the league. But one day he had a farming accident and he lost all of his forefinger and most of his middle finger. It just so happened it was on the hand that he threw the baseball with.

28:03 It looked like his career in baseball was over. But this young man didn't sit around in self-pity, nursing his wounds. He learned how to throw the ball without these two fingers. If you know much about baseball, those are the fingers that you normally use to throw the ball. He had always played third base. One day during practice, the coach was standing behind him and noticed that when he threw the ball to first base, the ball had all kinds of movement on it. The coach thought, how could a batter possibly hit that ball? He moved him from third base to the pitcher's mound. Mordecai Brown went on to become one of the greatest pitchers in all of professional baseball. If you will get over what you think is a disadvantage, God will take what looks like a liability and turn it into an asset. It may not be something physical, but the way you were raised, a mistake you made, what somebody did to you. We think if only I hadn't had that accident, then I could fulfill my dreams. If only I hadn't been through that divorce. If only I hadn't gotten laid off. Listen, you got to get rid of the if only thoughts. If only can keep you from your destiny. Nick could be saying, if only I had arms and legs, then I could make something of my life.

29:31 Mordecai Brown, if only I had all my fingers. My mother, if only I hadn't had polio. My father, if only I was raised in a better environment. Zacchaeus, if only I was taller. David, if only Goliath wasn't so big. Gideon, if only I came from a better family. Joseph, if only my brothers hadn't sold me into slavery. Now what's happened may look like a disadvantage in your eyes, but it is not a disadvantage in God's eyes. It's not going to keep you from your destiny. It's going to thrust you into your divine destiny. Now I'm asking you, do your part, get over anything that's holding you back. Get over what they said about you. They don't determine your destiny. God does. Get over what didn't work out. Get over the mistake you made. Get over the disappointment. It may have been a setback, but it's not a surprise to God. He's already arranged the comeback. And our attitude should be nobody owes me anything. I am not going through life with a chip on my shoulder. I'm letting go of what didn't work out. I'm forgiving the people that did me wrong. I'm pulling up the root of bitterness and I'm moving forward into the amazing future God has in store. If you will learn this simple principle to get over it, then I believe and declare no disappointment, no bad break, no injustice is going to keep you from your destiny.

31:03 God's going to take what's meant for harm and use it to your advantage. Like Job, you're not only going to come out, but you're going to come out better, stronger, increased with twice the joy, twice the peace, twice the victory in Jesus name. If you receive it, can you say amen today? 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 repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible-based church.

33:58 The scripture says, write the vision and make it plain to see. There's something powerful about writing down what you're believing for.