Joyce Meyer - Finding God's Will for Your Life - Part 2

God's will is that you serve him with gladness, that you serve him with contentment, that you know how to be the same in every kind of situation. Because there is no temptation that can come to you that God will not provide a way out. And so, when you're having trouble, which I know many of you today probably are, and you may be thinking, "Joyce, you don't know how I feel". Well, you don't know that I don't know how you feel, ‘cause you don't know what's going on in my life right now. You don't have any idea. And everybody that preaches to you, that doesn't mean that they don't have any problems themselves. Matter of fact, sometimes we got bigger problems than you do. Amen? And I believe that God wants us to get to the point where we can be a blessing to other people, while we're hurting and having a problem. Amen?

Matter of fact, I think that's one of the most powerful things that you can do. And a lot of times when we have problems, we wanna shrink in, to ourselves and isolate ourselves and just go and have our problem. And maybe feel sorry for ourself and we find somebody to talk to, talk to about our problem. Talk to God tell him about our problem. And no matter what kind of problem you've got, it could be worse. Two and a half people like that. That's all right, I can take it, I'll preach. The Bible says that we overcome evil with good. Well, there's so much evil in the world today. And I know a lot of people think, "What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? What should we do? What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do"?

Well, Romans 12:21 says, "You overcome evil with good". And to me, that's one of the most beautiful scriptures in the Bible. There's only one way to get rid of darkness, and that's with light. And there's only one way to get rid of evil and that's with good. Because God is good and the devil's bad. So, when he's being bad, we need to be good. We don't need to be bad with him. Amen? You know, when I learned that I had authority over the devil, I constantly was rebuking and resisting the devil. "I rebuke you". I... And what I was really trying to do was get rid of the problem. And God spoke to my heart, and he said, "When I tell you to resist the devil, I'm not telling you to resist your problem. I'm telling you not to act like the devil while you have a problem".

I've learned a lot of things the hard way. I can save you a lot of trouble if you'll listen. And then Paul says in verse 13, "I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me". And boy, we love to quote that scripture, don't we? At least that part of it. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Well, but we have to look at it in context. Paul's talking about I can have a problem, and I can still be strong and I can be stable and I can be content, and I can behave right while I'm in the midst of it. And the only way you'll ever learn how to do that, is to start applying it in situations.

Now, you know, I usually come here twice a year, but last year I had to miss my second time in July, because in April, I had a minor back surgery, it was like a one-inch incision. I had some, what did I have? I started to say scoliosis. Some stenosis, which means that I had some junk in my spine that they needed to go in and clean up from some arthritis. And so, it's really like, the most a two-week recovery, and there's just not that much to it. I had one several years ago. But I got home and got into the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. Matter of fact, my kids said I was on my hands and knees saying, "You gotta get me to the hospital".

So, they got me there, and they got me on some heavy pain medicine. And the next morning they did an MRI, and I had a blood clot at the surgery site. And I would have never thought that having a blood clot could hurt that bad. But what it did is it damaged the nerves in my right leg, in my right hip. So, they got the blood clot cleaned up, but I had no strength at all in this leg. I mean, I couldn't pick it up off the bed that far. And so, started doing rehabilitation. I went to the rehabilitation part of the hospital for two weeks, and I was getting physical therapy three times a week. And they finally got me to where I could walk on a walker, and told me I could go home with the walker, and continue to do physical therapy there.

Well, you know, my aggressive, strong-willed, bulldog personality serves me real well when I have to press through something. But it can also get me a little bit in trouble, when I need to do what I'm told, and I don't. And so, I got a little bit too ahead of myself, and I fell and broke my other leg. So, now I got two legs that won't work. And I've got conferences planned, and I've got speaking, and all these things. And so long story short, I was about two and a half months in a wheelchair. As you can see, I've recovered from all that. The first thing I said to the Lord, the first day in the hospital, and when I tell you that, I'm not bragging on myself, I'm just giving you some hints on things you can do. The first thing I said to the Lord is, "God, please help me do this right".

So, that's a good prayer to pray. As soon as you have a problem of any kind, just say to God, "Please help me do this right". And what I meant by that was, help me be stable, help me stay the same, help me not complain, help me not to feel sorry for myself, help me not to be grouchy, help me represent you here in this hospital, be kind to everybody, let my light shine. See, let me tell you something. That's more important than getting rid of your problem. Because what are, I mean, what are we gonna say, what are we saying to the world if we never have any problems and we're happy? What'd the devil say to God about job? He said, "Well, sure he's happy, you gotta fence around him of protection".

And so he started having some problems and still stayed stable. And so, man, God helped me and I mean, if I say so myself, I behaved pretty good during that time. I had to have somebody with me 24 hours a day and my poor family, I mean, they had to take four-hour shifts staying with me. I mean, just trying to go to the bathroom was like a nightmare. They gave me this, they taught me how to do this sliding board thing. And so, you got a wheelchair and it lets down on one side. And so, you slide out of the bed into the wheelchair and then you go to the toilet. And then you gotta slide out of the wheelchair onto the toilet. And then you gotta slide back off the toilet onto the wheelchair. I'm a frequent flyer when it comes to the potty, so. 'Cause I drink a lot of water.

So, we stayed busy. Now, two weeks ago, I still have no idea what really happened, except right now I'm writing a book on, "Is the devil real"? And so, might know what happened, but I got up in the middle of the night, woke up, thought I had to go to the bathroom. I don't think I was fully awake. I went in the bathroom and I stood there for just a minute. And the next thing I know, I feel myself falling over backwards. And I fell flat over backwards on my back on a marble floor. And yes, my back hurts. Somebody asked me the other day, "Well, what are you gonna do this weekend"? I said, "I'm going, and I'm gonna preach". And God always, always, I don't care how bad it seems, I've seen it year after year and time after time. If I just keep putting one foot in front of the other one, when I need to do what I need to do, the anointing comes, and he enables me to do it. Amen?

And so that's getting better. But the first thing I thought is, "It could have been worse". Because I didn't hit my tailbone, I could've broke that, and that's bad. I did not hit my head and I was about that far from the bathtub. I could have easily hit my head on the bathtub. So, I don't know, maybe the devil pushed me over, but there were angels in there, to make sure... See, you've got angels with you all the time. In Luke 10:19 it says, "Behold, I have given you power and authority...Over all the power the enemy possesses". Now, I don't want you to miss this, the devil has power, but we have authority. And then it says that, "Nothing shall by any means harm you". Well, I could say, "Well, wait a minute, I fell on the floor". Well, I'm not dead, am I?

See, we always think of what did happen, and we need to think of what didn't happen. Come on, I want that to get embedded in you. Get that embedded in you. Yes, there's things that happen, but what could've happened, if God's protection wouldn't have been on you? This morning I was getting ready, and I had a full cup of coffee sitting on the sink, and somehow I knocked it over. And I had all my makeup and comb, all the stuff. You know what it takes, ladies, to get it looking from the way you look when you get out of bed to this. A lot of stuff, you guys don't understand it. How I wish all I had to do was comb my hair and shave. Not really, cuz then I wouldn't be me, but it is a lot of work. And oh, I thank God for the growth that he's given me, because there would have been a day when that would have thrown me into an absolute fit.

And I was, "I don't understand it, here I am trying to preach, trying to do what's right, look what a mess I got, I'm trying to get ready to go". And you know what, look at me, that does not accomplish anything. It doesn't fix the problem. Come on. It doesn't help a thing, it just makes hell laugh. "Ha ha, got you again". I looked at it and I said, "Well, it could have been worse". Everybody say that, "It could be worse"! And so, I just politely cleaned it up, and went back to getting ready. God wants us to learn how to be stable. Now, I'm not, don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that I never get upset about anything or that I never, you know, nothing ever bothers me. I'm certainly a far cry from perfect, but man, I've grown a lot. And I thank God for it, because I'll tell you what, being frustrated all the time is hard work. You know that? It just absolutely wears you out.

Well, let me just quickly tell you a few things you could be glad about, in case you don't think you got anything. Number one, you could be glad that your name's written in heaven, and that you're gonna spend eternity there. Man, no matter what else is going on, you're not going to hell. Woo, that's good news! I hear it's not a very nice place. I read recently that 50% of Christians don't believe in hell, and they don't believe in the devil. And I thought, "Well, isn't that convenient"? That means I can do anything I want to.

So, that's why I'm writing a book called, "Is the devil real"? And you better believe he's real. You better believe it. The disciples were sent out two by two to preach the Kingdom of God is at hand. And Jesus gave them power to heal and power to cast out demons. And in Luke 10:20, they came back all excited about casting out these devils. And listen to what Jesus said to 'em, "Do not rejoice at this, the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven". That's the thing that we should be the happiest about, no matter what else happens in our life. We're gonna spend eternity in the presence of God. Wow! Boy, that's good news. No sorrow, no crying, no tears, no ugly people. Just a total atmosphere of love. Wow! Now, I like pretty stuff and streets of gold, and gates made out of Pearls. I mean, I'm looking forward to this.

Second thing you can be glad about is that, you have the ability to forgive people. You think that's not a blessing? It's a blessing. You don't have to be mad. You don't have to be angry. You don't have to be upset. You don't have to be offended. You can get so good at forgiving people, that while they're still offending you, you can forgive 'em. You say, "Well, after what they did to me, they don't deserve forgiveness". No, you're right, they don't. But I guess you did, huh? "Well, they owe me". Well, isn't it interesting, Jesus said, "You don't have to pay". He didn't make us pay. He said, "I'll pay your debt for you". I don't remember where it was. I wish I could remember the reference. But I read in Psalms, the Lord said, "I forgive your sins for my own sake".

I love that. God forgives us for his own sake. He doesn't wanna deal with all that. And when we forgive, we forgive, for us. He gives us the grace to forgive, but it's for us. It's not even really for the other person. God will deal with them, and if they don't repent, that's why the Bible says, "To pray for those who hurt you".

We need to pray that they'll realize what they're doing and the way they're acting, and repent and be saved. But I'm so grateful that I can stand here and say I am not mad at anybody, nobody! Not even that much. I'm not mad at anybody. And I won't ask you, but I already know, 'cause I've done it too many times at too many other church services. There's probably about 80% of the people in here that are mad at somebody. And I beg you in Jesus' name, and Paul said that, I beg you, I plead with you, forgive, let it go, leave it, drop it, put 'em in God's hands. And just in case you don't understand forgiveness, it's not a feeling. You may forgive somebody and still not feel any different about 'em. It's a decision on how you treat them.

Now, listen to me, that's worth its weight in gold. It's not about how you feel. A lot of people pray to forgive somebody, and they don't feel any different about 'em so they think they didn't forgive 'em. Forgiveness means you pray for them, you stop talking ugly about 'em. Says, "Bless and do not curse them". And to bless means speak well of, to curse means speak evil of. And if they need help, you help them. Ouch! If they're thirsty, you give 'em water. If they're hungry, you feed 'em. Literally means if somebody that you would put in the enemy class, if their car breaks down, that you'll actually offer to go by and pick 'em up, bring 'em to work.

See, that's when the world goes tilt. I don't get this. But that's what changes 'em. Amen? You can be glad that God is always with you and he will never ever leave you, not for one second. Not for one second. You can be glad that you're always loved, always loved unconditionally. There's not one moment in your life that God doesn't love you. And get this, no matter how many things you do right, he'll never love you any more than he does at this moment right now. Because he doesn't love you because of what you do, he loves you because you're his child. Have you ever told one of your children, "I'll always love you no matter what you do"? I have. I may not like everything they do, but I will always love them. It's very hard to kill a parent's love for a child. And God loves us unconditionally. Oh, and I've got so many good scriptures, and I'm just about out of time. Be glad you have home, food, water, and clothing.

See, we forget about some of these simple things? Right here in the U.S. 650,000 people homeless. No matter how big a problem you have, it could be worse. See, I want you to remember this, the next time you have a problem say, "It could be worse". "Lord, help me do this right". And then lastly, be glad that the Holy Spirit lives in you. What kind of an awesome thing is it for me to stand here and tell you, "You are the home of God". God lives in you and in me. God lives inside of us. We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. You can't get any closer than that. He'll never leave you nor forsake you. He'll never stop loving you, not for one moment. Your names are written in heaven. Wow, you got something good going on. Let's give God praise. Thank you, Lord.

All right, now if you'll be still, just give me two minutes. I preached really hard, so just be good for two minutes. If you're here today, and you've never received Christ as your Savior, you've never invited him to come into your heart. Or maybe you've fallen away from God, and the devil's made you think that God will never take you back. Well, that's a lie. Maybe you just need to come home today. We wanna pray with you. And the church has got some material that they wanna get to you.

The Bible says, "If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved". If you're ready to turn away from sin, and learn how to live the way God wants you to live, and you really believe that Jesus is who the Bible says he is. If you need that prayer today, and you wanna receive Christ, lift your hand up and let me just see where you're at. Come on, I see hands up all over the place. Beautiful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. All right, we're gonna all pray together, and then Lisa's gonna come. Let's all pray this prayer together.

Father God, I love you. Jesus, I believe in you. I'm sorry for the way I've lived. I turn away from sin. And I wanna live for you. Come and live inside of me. Forgive me. Take me just the way I am. Now, I surrender. Make me what you want me to be. Thank you for saving me. Amen.