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Inspiration

God Is Not Finished
By Joel Osteen - Aug 13, 2021
We all go through disappointments, things we didn't see coming--a breakup, a setback in our finances, an illness. It's easy to accept it and think that's the way it's always going to be. God didn't say we wouldn't go through challenges, but He did promise that when He's finished, nothing will be missing. He's a God of restoration. You may have experienced a loss, but that's not how your story ends. Don't judge your situation too soon. The loss is only temporary. It's just a season. You're going to get it all back--the joy, the peace, the health, the strength, the family, the dreams. Nothing will be missing.

In the Scripture, Job was a man of integrity, had a good family and successful business, but then one thing after another came against him. He lost his children, his business, his health, and his wife even told him to just curse God and die. Just when he was about to give up, a friend came to him and said, "If you look to God, He will rescue and heal you. Your children and their children will be abundant. When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing" (Job 5). Here he's just lost everything, and God shows up and says, "Job, stay in faith. The losses are temporary. When I get through, nothing will be missing."

I can see Job stand up, look up to the heavens, and say, "I know that my Redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). In the midst of all the trouble and heartache, when he could have been bitter, he started declaring that God was on the throne, that what He started He would finish. There was a shift in Job's thinking from "the losses are permanent" to "restoration is coming, health is coming, family is coming, victory is coming," which is what God did for Job. He not only restored what Job had lost, but God gave him twice what he had before. "After all this, Job lived 140 years. He lived to see his children and their children to the fourth generation. Then Job died, old, and satisfied with his days" (Job 42:16-17). He didn't die bitter, lonely, or discouraged. Just as God promised, nothing was missing. He had his health, his family, his business, peace, and abundance.

That's the way our God is. Don't judge the rest of your life by what's missing now. Nothing is going to be missing, large or small. When God gets finished, nobody will be able to tell that you went through the illness, the breakup, the loss. You're going to come out stronger, healthier, more fulfilled, blessed, and prosperous. Get that down in your spirit. Yes, something may be wrong now, but God is not finished. Your time is coming.
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