Joyce Meyer - sermon: Why Should I Be Joyful In My Trials? - online. The Bible says about the value of trials and this is a message that's under preached. Yes, God wants to bless us and He wants to bless us more than we know how to handle. He will open the windows of heaven and pour out of place. He was so great that we cannot contain it, we don't even know how to take it in. But I know from the Word of God and from experience that God cannot bless us in the natural beyond where we're at spiritually. I want to say it again, you're not gonna give your baby that's three years old the keys to the car, and you don't - because you love him. Every one of us should stop praying for God to give us all the stuff that we think we have to have to make us happy. We should pray a new prayer "God please don't give me anything that I can't handle"
Full Sermon
Ginger: coming up on today's show, Joyce explains why we should really be joyful during our trials. And today's "help me" question is from a man dealing with the guilt of not feeling like he was a good enough father. It's all coming up right now on "everyday answers." Ginger: as we walk through each new day, we all have questions. They're just part of life. But did you know there are answers for you? God says when we look, we'll find him. He's not trying to hide anything. So, together, we are discovering life's everyday answers. Ginger: the bible tells us that we will face trials, and it also says we should be joyful when it happens. How does that work? Both are things that we just don't really wanna do. Well, we can't avoid trials, but why should we be joyful when they come our way? Here's Joyce's answer. Joyce: how many of you already know what james , verse says?
"be wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations." How many of you have made it to that point and you don't need this message tonight? Joyce: you know, it's almost not even hardly fair for god to ask a preacher to preach this message, because somebody asked me what i was gonna preach on this week, and i said, "well, i get the extreme thrill of tryin' to get people excited about their trials." Joyce: which is not easy. And the only way that we can actually consider them joyful, and that's about our thinking process. We don't necessarily have to be clapping and cheering about the discomfort we're going through, but if we understand what the bible says about the value of trials. And this is a message that's under-preached. Yes, god wants to bless us, and he wants to bless us more than we know how to handle. "he will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so great that we cannot contain it. We don't even know how to take it in." But i know from the word of god and from experience that god cannot bless us in the natural beyond where we're at spiritually.
I wanna say it again. You're not gonna give your baby that's years old the keys to the car. Amen? Audience: amen. Joyce: and you don't, because you love him. And every one of us should stop praying for god to give us all this stuff that we think we have to have to make us happy, and we should pray a new prayer, and this is the prayer that we should pray. I pray this on a regular basis. I invite you to join me: "god, please don't give me anything that i can't handle and still keep you first in my life." Joyce: amen? And something we don't hear enough of in prayer anymore i don't think is, "your will be done." "your will be done." We've gotten really good about telling god everything that we want him to give us, but he says that difficulty and trials and tribulations and things that test our faith, that we should consider them joyful becausenot 'cause they feel good right now, but because of what they have the ability to do in us if we won't run away from 'em. And, you know, there are some things you can't get away from, but there are a lot of things that you can get away from, amen? I had a job in ministrywell, i'll start somewhere else. I was in a church at one point, and they really didn't want me teaching' home bible study. They were a little bit controlling and manipulative and so i wasn't really bein' treated all that great. And, man, my first impulse is, "i'm outta here." Joyce: "who needs this? I'm outta here." And i really felt that god told me that i needed to stay, but it was uncomfortable to stay. Every week when i went in the church, it was uncomfortable to stay. There was all these home bible studies that different people had, and ours, at one point, was listed, then, all of a sudden, ours came off the list. And things like that can hurt you, you know?
When you don't get picked, when you're rejected, things like that can hurt you. But god really dealt with me that i couldn't leave there with an attitude in my heart. Because, you see, if you leave someplace with a bad attitude, you're gonna enter the next place you go with that same bad attitude. And so, god doesn't want us to go when we wanna go. He wants us to go when he says to go. Joyce: and then i came to a situation where i was in a church that i'd worked at for years and god was really dealing with me about steppin' out and starting to do what i'm doing now. And i didn't wanna go. And i stayed there for another year, maybe , after god started dealin' with me. And i'm tellin' you what, things were just not gettin' good. And so, you can go when god wants you to stay, and you can stay when god wants you to go. You see, we like to be comfy. And i didn't wanna give up my friends. I was concerned about what people would think, that i was ungrateful, that i was full of myself, thought i was gonna go out and have this big ministry now, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But if i wouldn't have listened to god, then we wouldn't be here tonight. And i just wonder how many of you maybe god has told you to do or not to do somethingand when i say, "told you," i mean either through his word, which is a word from god. It always just cracks me up when somebody comes to one of my conferences and i preach my heart out for four sessions, and then they ask me, if they happen to see me on the way out, "do you have a word for me?" Joyce: "yeah, did you listen to anything i said?" Because this is the main way that god is gonna speak to us and deal with us, and anything else that you think you hear better line up with that, or you're in trouble. So, we need to get about the business of spiritual maturity. And listen, i don't like it any better than you do. I had a situation happen a few days ago. I told you i got angry and i had a trial that was not of my making. I was havin' a great day, and somebody else did something that then caused me to not have a great day.
How many of you love it when you're goin' around doin' good and you're just clickin' along with jesus, and everything's great, and you're enjoyin' your day, and somebody else does something? Joyce: well, to be honest, probably , of our problems are people problems for a lot of different reasons. That doesn't always mean it's all them. You know, so we better say that just to get it out there. But in this particular situation, then it took my time. I had to deal with somethin' i didn't wanna deal with. And then i had to, you know, do some other stuff. And so, i'm gettin' ready to preach this message on bein' joyful about these things. And so, i just thought, "okay, god, just, now, tell me how this is gonna be good for me." "i want you to tell me how this is gonna be good for me. And what am i gonna learn out of this? How is this gonna help me?" And actually, god put somethin' interesting on my heart. He said, "this wasn't so much for you as it is for the other person." Because the way i dealt with it, i had to bring a correction, and so, if they then received that, that can help them build their character and do more of what they're supposed to do.
So, i might as well just tell ya this and put it out there so you don't have to find out on your own later. But i'll just tell ya that the more mature you become in christ, the more he's liable to let you go through a few things that really don't have anything to do with you. They have a lot to do with other people. Joyce: come on, now. I mean, a very good case in point would be my relationship with dave. I mean, i had serious issues when we got married, and they were all internal so they didn't start comin' out until after the wedding. Joyce: how many of you feel me on that one? You know, it's like they didn't start comin' out until after the wedding. Everybody's on their good behavior during the courtship. And i didn't even know dave played golf when i married him. Joyce: did not know what a golf ball was because i was the only thing that mattered in his, you know, his life during those five dates that we had before we got married. Joyce: but, you know, dave went through a lot those first few years. And if he would have left because he felt like leavin', we wouldn't be here tonight. And so, whatever this means to different people here tonight, or those watchin' by tv, you better think twice before you just think, "well, i'm outta here." Maybe you need to say, "is this your will? What do you want me to do in this situation?" And i don't see nearly as many smiles as i'd like to see. Joyce: and i know, i know it's all painful. There's nothin' that we hate worse than havin' to go through things, but it's here, and we can't ignore it. We have to learn to understand it. He says, "consider it wholly joyful when you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance, steadfastness and patience."
Now, we'll talk in a few minutes about some other things that they bring out too, but eventually eventually, we'll get down to that if we let god work with us long enough. You know why? At the moment of your new birth, when you received christ, the nature of god was planted on the inside of your spirit. Little seeds of everything that god is, his character, all the fruit of the spirit, it's all in you. Believe it or not, you are patient, but it's just like a little, teeny, teeny tiny seed Joyce: buried somewhere under all your flesh. And listen to this: "patience," the greek dictionary says, "is a fruit of the spirit that grows only under trial." and it comes from A root word called, "h-u-p-o-n-e," in the greek, and it means "to remain under." So, patience has nothin' to do with running away from. It has everything to do with being steadfast, being disciplined, being committed, stickin' with things, goin' all the way through with things. And i think we all know that the first thing our flesh wants to do when anything gets hard is quit and run away, amen? But before we run in the future, we need to say, "god, what do you want me to do in this situation?" Patience is like a muscle.
Faith is like a muscle. The less you use it, the more it atrophies and the weaker it gets. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. The stronger it gets, the more you can do. You see, godnot only does he wanna do things for usyou know, to be honest sometimes i just get tired of havin' to tell people that times to get 'em to keep listening. We are just not very good at laying our lives down and saying, "god, what can i do for you?" Just for day, could i forget about myself and say, "god, what can i do for you today? You've been so good to me. You don't have to do one more thing for me the rest of my life if you don't want to. How can i serve you? What can i do for you? Joyce: but oh, i tell you what, it's very challenging to preach on sacrifice, and suffering, and bein' somewhere where you don't wanna be, and waiting on things. But you know what? When we let god work with us in our lives, then we do go from glory to glory to glory. I'll tell you what. You give yourself a few years with the lord of really listening to him, and you'll go through some stuff. But you come to a place where the stuff that used to bother you doesn't even phase you anymore. It's likesee, we don't need less problems. We need more strength. We don't need less opposition. We need more character. We need more faith, more spiritual muscle on the inside of us. And we need to be able to say with paul, "i can do all things through christ who is my strength." Whether i'm abased or abounding, i can do all things through christ.
Now, i know in saying this, probably some of you, this is the last thing in the world you wanted to hear out of me this weekend. And thankfully, we will get to go on to other things, like your mouth and- Joyce: other more exciting things as we go on here. But i just think it's, if you can believe when you're going through something, and if you can open your mouth and say, "i hate this, but i believe it's gonna work out good. God, i'mma tell you right now, this don't feel good. I don't like it, but i trust your word that you will work something good in me as a result of this. And so, therefore, i'm gonna do it by faith, god, but i'mma put a smile on my face, and i'm not gonna murmur, and i'm not gonna complain, and i am just gonna say now, you do what you want to do in my life." Joyce: amen? Now, if you'll go home and start to do these kinds of things, i'm not gonna tell ya that, boy, are things gonna come up roses in days. They won't, but the day will come when you'll think, "i am so glad that i finally stopped running away from everything that was hard, and i've learned how to go through with god and come out victorious on the other side." We all wanna be a conqueror, but we don't want anything to conquer. We wanna be victorious, but we don't want anything to have to have victory over. And we're just so down about going through, "oh, i'm just goin' through." Joyce: well, the good news is, is you're goin' through, and you've got jesus with you, and you're gonna come out on the other side.
Joyce: and, honey, when you come out of the furnace, you won't even smell like smoke. Joyce: who would ever guess by lookin' at my life now, or many of your lives what you went through in the earlier years of your life? Who could possibly imagine some of things that you've gone through and where you're at now? You came out, and you don't even smell like smoke. Joyce: so, you know, we can think of a woman who's pregnant. And we are pregnant, so to speak, with so many good things, so many good things on the inside of us. And a woman who is pregnant, actually, while she's in labor, she has pain and joy at the same time. Her joy of bringin' a child into the world overcomes the pain because she will actually go do it again. Joyce: figure that out. And i had three during the time when they knocked you out when you had babies, and then i bravely decided to have the last one all natural. Joyce: and he lacked ounce weighin' pounds. Man, matter of fact, women will pray for their labor to start. Joyce: are you any of you praying for your spiritual labor to start? Would anybody just go home and say, "okay, god, i am tired of bein' a namby-bamby baby, whiny, up and down, happy when things go my way, sad when they don't. I'm tired of gettin' my feelings hurt all the time, and bein' jealous, and gettin' mad all the time. I want you to do something in me. Let my labor start." Joyce: oh, it sounds a lot more exciting here than it will be when you get home by yourself.
Joyce: i mean, i'm just sayin'. I mean, we got the lights, the music. We got the crowd, but whew! Lord, have mercy. Trials bring out a lot of stuff before they get around to bringin' out the good stuff. Ginger: well, there's more coming from Joyce. And as we've been learning, trials, as difficult as they may be, can actually help us develop endurance, steadfastness, and patience. I know i need that one. Or they can be nothing but trying. So, what will you do? We have some resources. If you are going through trials, or someone you know are going through tough times, these will really help guide you and be a wonderful gift for them. Two things here that are just really important because they've been helping people for a long, long time, and they're really powerful stuff because it is god's word. It is what the bible says about goin' through your trials. So, you can listen or you can read, you can do both. We have "god's word for your life." This is a cd with scripture that Joyce is reading. You can listen in the car, and then we also have this little book called, "the secret power of speaking god's word." Get this, keep it in your car or keep it at your desk. Keep it at home. You can just flip to whatever section you are needing to get some encouragement from god's word in, and there are scriptures ready right there for you. This is wonderful, it's helpful, pick it up today. Now, it's time for "your voice." Ginger: you know, you can only be joyful in your trials if you are really trusting god. And some of you had some great things to say about god helping you to trust him more. Here are a few of your wonderful responses. This one's from instagram. It says: "he helps me trust him with simple things, reminding me he is there, a song that answers my prayer, a stranger that encourages me.
All this, he does and more." Here's another one from joann. She says: "i trust him because he saved me from being the most hateful person to being a happy thankful person." Well, joann, we're really glad that you're happy and thankful now. Kimberly says: "it has always been hard for me to stick with god and surrender some of the difficult parts of me that i knew were toxic. He's helping me become someone beautiful. My marriage, my work life, my relationships, everything is being transformed." And karla from new york says: "as a caregiver of a bed-bound parent and a recent widow, god helps me get through each day. It's an uphill battle, it is tiring; but i refuse to give up for i know that my god loves me and has my back." Karla, that is so wonderful, to trust in god through those really difficult circumstances. And we want to ask all of you out thee to take a moment to encourage karla and other caregivers like her. If you've had any experience with that, you understand the challenges. It can be really difficult. So, take a moment to pray, and then share an encouraging word for caregivers of all sorts on social media. The world definitely needs those caregivers, so let's support them. Use facebook, twitter, don't forget that hashtag, #ea, and like we said today, you can do it on instagram too. Right now, here is today's "help me" question. Check it out. Ginger: Joyce, we have a question for you today. This is a video question, so let's take a look and see what you have to say. Male: i have a son who's in a lot of trouble, and i don't know how to release the guilt for him. I'm lookin' for answers on how to release the guilt of not bein' a good enough father. Joyce: okay, so, how to release the guilt of not being a good parent. Well, i went through a little bit of that, you know, 'cause i had some issues when my kids were little, especially the couple of oldest ones. Ginger: and i think every parent will. Joyce: and i remember my son one time sayin', "well, i wouldn't be this way if you wouldn't have done thus and so." And so, boy, right away, i started feelin' guilty. But you know what god has taught me is that, first of all, there are no perfect lives. There's no perfect parents. Every child is gonna end up goin' through somethin', you know? And if it's not from their parents, it's gonna be at school or somewhere else. And so, the only thing that can change any damage that's ever been done to anybody is certainly not guilt, it's god. And so, prayer is so powerful, and i believe sometimes i think we've heard the word "prayer" so much that we over-spiritualize it. But truly, you can take anything to god, and he can repair anything in anybody's life if they will just let them. And so, whether this man has been a bad parent or not, just because your Kids get in trouble, that doesn't necessarily mean that you've been a bad parent. I was actually talkin' to my daughter this morning who was at my house when i was getting ready to come here. And i was talkin' about a couple of things that i wish that i would have done different when they were growin' up. And she said, "i don't think that would have made a difference." She said, "you know what?" She has four children of her own, and she said, "i think we all do the best we can with where we're at that time in life." And it just doesn'tguilt is probably one of the most useless things in the world.
So, just, the long and short of what i would say is, is no matter what you've done, you have two choices. You can feel guilty or you can trust god to fix it. And there's nothing that he can't repair. Ginger: well, some really good stuff today, and we are learning that it is god's word in our life, when we apply it to every situation, that changes everything. And our resources that we have for you today are wonderful for you to keep with you all the time so that you have very handy and in your heart that word of god. The first one is called "god's word for your life." And what this is, is a cd with Joyce reading scripture to you. And then there's also a booklet that has those scriptures so that you can follow along. And it's broken up into all different categories that will apply to your life. Then we have this little book that has been helping people for a long, long time. If you don't have it, get it. It's a great one. This is called "the secret power of speaking god's word." And if you just keep this handy, you flip through it, and it has a section of scripture for everything that you can think of that you need to apply god's word to your life, whether it's courage, or fear, or you need help with relationships. Scripture in here will help make the difference in your life. So, pick both of these up today. What a great package for you to be able to have god's word at your fingertips whenever you need it. Now, we know you've got questions out there. We would love to hear them, so send them to us.