Joyce Meyer - Finding God's Will for Your Life (Talk It Out) - Part 3

TOPICS: Talk It Out, God's will, God's Plan

What if you let go of what you have, to head towards something new, and then you get out there and there's nothing, and you've lost what you had, and now you don't have anything. And boy, that was a big one for me. I mean, I worked at a church here in st Louis for five years, and the grace just started lifting off of me to be there. And there were so many things that I wanted to do, so many dreams that we had that could not be fulfilled. Like I wanted to write books, and I had asked the pastor if I could write a book. And he said, "No," he said, "You're here to support me, you have to be in this as", and which I understood that, you know. It was like two plants trying to grow in the same pot, and we were root bound, you know.

God had me there for a reason to learn for five years, but then it was time for me to go. But I didn't know to what. I was like Abraham when God said, "Leave your family and all that you know and go to the place that I will show you". I mean, do you realize how scary that must've been for him? You know, this one God that he'd been hearing from and believed in, that nobody else had ever heard of. Why did he have to get away from his family? Because they were idol worshipers. Sometimes God has to get you away from something before you can hear from him. And boy, we don't like to give up what we've got, because we're afraid that maybe there's gonna be nothing out there. It's scary.

This is one of the big points. If you're gonna hear from God, I mean, it's like, I'm unhappy here, I don't even know why I'm unhappy. I've loved this job. I love the people. I don't know why I'm unhappy. But when God lifts the grace off of something, you'll get unhappy. And if you don't let it go, here's what will happen. You'll start finding fault with everybody there. And all of a sudden, this is wrong with you, and that's wrong with you, and this is wrong with you, and that's wrong with you. And I'm not learning anything. And you've lost your anointing, and you must be in sin. And we get into all these weird, you know, things because we're unhappy, but we're unhappy because we're living in fear, and not doing what God wants us to do.

So, I stayed there two years longer than I was supposed to. And it just got worse and worse and worse and worse. And the problem was, was I didn't see, I felt like God was telling me believe, but I didn't know to go to what. And so, I was so afraid I was gonna end up with nothing. And that was my one opportunity to teach, which was what I wanted to do more than anything. And I had a weekly meeting there, and I got to do most of the preaching when the pastor was gone, taught Bible school three times a week, so, I had a lot of opportunities to teach. And so, one day I was in a meeting, and I guess I looked unhappy, and when the meeting was over, the pastor said, "What is wrong with you"? And just out of my mouth came, "I don't know, maybe I'm not supposed to be here anymore".

I didn't even plan to say it. It just came out of my mouth, 'cause see really that was what was in me, but I was afraid to even think it myself. And he said, "Well, is that what you believe"? And I said, "I don't really know". He said, "Well, I think you better take some time off, and go home and find out". So, I went home, and I said to God, "I'm gonna fast until you give me an answer". And I was so glad it only took a couple of hours. Because I really like to eat. And I mean, so clearly, it was almost like I saw it in a vision. And I heard God say, "Take your ministry and go north, south, east, and west". But the problem was, was nobody knew me north, south, east, or west. And so, the Bible says, "Unless you become like a little child, you'll in no wise enter in".

And so, sometimes we have to just do something that seems childish. But you know what Dave and I did? We started a meeting, one in north St. Louis, one in west St. Louis, one in south St. Louis, and one in east St. Louis, once a month. If you would've seen my schedule back then, you would've thought I was a totally crazy person. It was like, the first Wednesday I'm here, and the second Tuesday I'm here, and the first Monday I'm here. You know, Dave went on a package of radio stations, eight got me on. Bought this package, we went on eight radio stations, and probably four of them were no good. And, but one of them was Kansas City and it was doing pretty good. One was Chicago and it was doing good.

And so, when we started getting enough people on our mailing list from those places, that we thought we could go and hold a meeting in a hotel, we would go and rent little ballrooms and hotels, and we'd have meetings. I mean, I did so many meetings of 100 people, 200 people, 300 people and, you know, that went on for years. And then one day God spoke to Dave about TV. And I won't bother to tell you the whole story, because it would take all the rest of our time. But my point is, is I was so afraid to let go of what I had, because I was afraid, I didn't see what was in front of me.

See you may not always know what you're supposed to do next, but if you've really just become unhappy, I mean, take time to make sure it's not just you. You know, just being ungodly. But if the grace is up, and it's time to go do something else, I mean, let's just take a church situation. Maybe you've been at the same church for 20 years, and you know everybody and you're comfortable and it's, it's great. But you're not getting anything out of teaching anymore. You don't know what's wrong with you, but you don't even wanna go to church anymore. You just can't wait till it's over. Not like you at all. But you don't wanna serve there anymore. You're starting to find fault with the pastor. You're starting to, you know, blah, blah.

Well, maybe there's nothing at all wrong with that church. Maybe God wants to use you somewhere else. Maybe you've gotten enough training here now, that you can... See everything we do doesn't have to be about us getting something. You know, for a period of time you, you get things, but then God wants you to give things. You know, when you get so full that there's no place to put anything else, then God wants you to go give some of it out, before you can receive again. A girl came to our meetings for many years, and she came to me with a funny story. She said, "It's almost embarrassing to tell you this but," she said, "I wasn't getting anything out of your meetings anymore, and I thought you were in sin. I thought that, you know, you'd lost your anointing and maybe you were in sin. And so, I was praying for you".

And she said, "God told me, Joyce doesn't have a problem. You do. You're so full from what you've gotten from her over these years, that there's no room to put anything else. Now, I want you to go back to those meetings, but I don't want you to go to get something, I want you to go ready to give something". And so, she started coming and looking for people that needed to be encouraged, and looking for people that needed to be uplifted, or people that needed prayer. And lo and behold, she started enjoying it again, thought I had my anointing back. How many of you understand what I'm saying? You know, it's like we don't wanna leave our friends. We don't wanna leave where we're comfortable. We wanna stay where we're comfortable.

But Paul told Timothy, you gotta be a man, "In season and out of season". Be ready to do what God wants you to, "Whether it's convenient or inconvenient", we're kind of addicted to convenience and comfort. And when God calls you to minister to other people, it's an act of giving and service. It's not about what you're getting, it's about what you're giving at that point. But you can't be so afraid of letting go of something, because you don't know what's out in front of you. Sometimes you gotta step out before God will show you. The next one is, follow peace. Like, when we were doing the talk it out show, somebody said, "What is peace? What does it feel like"? What did you say, Dave? He said, "It's the absence of everything else. It's the absence of frustration, anxiety and all the other things that upset us". And so, Colossians 3:15, Paul said, "Let the peace which comes from Christ rule (and act as an umpire)".

Now, the Amplified Bible is the only one that says this, "Act as an umpire in your life deciding with finality everything that arises a question in your mind". So, the umpire has got a lot of authority. He says what's in and what's out, what's safe and what's not. And so, peace should be like the umpire in our life. And I'll give you an example of how we can get confused. Our daughter had built a house about three miles from us, down a real pretty area and there was a lot down there. And I got it in my head that I wanted to move down there by her, and sell our house and build a new one. Dave wasn't too much for it, but I used my woman power and talked him into it. Superwoman, like eve, you know, come on Adam just take a bite.

And so, we got an idea of what we wanted. We even went so far as to go and start having plans drawn up, plunked down some money that we ended up losing. And I tell everybody we're building a new house. I was so excited. One day I was just taking a walk, and I thought, "I don't wanna move". It was like when all the fleshly stuff calmed down, that's why I always say, "Let emotions subside and then decide". Because if you're just doing something because you're excited, that excitement doesn't equal peace. Just because you're excited about it now, doesn't mean you'll be excited about it later.

See, we like to be excited. "Ooh, I'm so excited"! And somebody said to me three or four years ago, "Oh, are you excited about the women's conference this year"? And I said, "No". And they looked at me like I was crazy. And I said, "But I'm committed". And I went through a period of time a few years ago, where people said, "Well Joyce, what's your vision now? What's your new vision"? And they made me feel kind of bad because I didn't have one, and I said, "I'm living my dream. I'm doing everything that I ever wanted to do. I just wanna keep doing this, only do it better". And, but so many people kept asking me. I went to God and I said, "Is something wrong with me, am I missing something"? He said, "No, now you're being faithful".

See, and so there comes a time in our life when we don't need something new. You don't need something new every time you turn around. You go through that. Part of the cycle of life is letting go, taking hold, letting go, taking hold, letting go, taking hold. But then you come to a period where it's time to settle. And God just wants you to be faithful. Do you know how many people don't know how to be faithful? Because faithful could get boring. Just doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over again. But Moses was faithful in all the household of God, and God gave him a big job to do. I don't know what else God may ask me to do, with the rest of my time here on earth. But for right now, I'm happy just being faithful. Because faithfulness is one of the main characteristics of God's character.

God is faithful. You can always count on him. And so, I may not be excited about a conference, but I'll be there. You can always count on me to be there, and I'll be happy about being there. I was happy about the conference, but I wasn't like, "Whoo-hoo"! Because it was my 40th, you know, it's not like my first rodeo. And so, you've gotta keep in mind, I mean, I've done thousands and thousands of conferences, and preached thousands of messages. What a privilege! What a great honor! And now God is just calling me to be faithful. That's what I have peace about, being faithful.

And to be honest, I'm working not harder, but smarter. I don't know, sometimes I feel like I do just as much as I used to, but I'm doing now the part of Joyce Meyer Ministries that nobody else can do. Nobody can preach my messages. They can't do my TV. They can't write my books. They can't record my audiobooks. I mean, there's things that only I can do. And that's what I'm giving myself to. Because I wanna maximize the years I have left, by doing the most excellent things that I can do. Paul prayed that people would learn how to choose and prize what was excellent, how to look at everything that was available to them and do what was the most important. Anybody is a fool who thinks they can always do what they've always done.

You know, some of you girls look really young. I don't know how young you are. How old are you? 21! My goodness, I married Dave when I was 23, and we've been married 57 years. Okay, you probably can't even imagine being 80. You probably think, "Man, that is old"! But I'm standing here, and I'm gonna be 81 in a month, and I'm still fruitful. I've got more wisdom now, excuse me, than you do. Don't mean that insultingly, but you only get wisdom through living. But everybody is going to get older. Your body's gonna change. You're not always gonna have three percent body fat. And one of these days, everything that was up here nice and tight, is gonna start to fall. And if you're not careful, one day you'll see it down there.

So, the time to take care of yourself is now. Because the better care you take of yourself when you're young, Dave has worked out his whole entire life, and he still wears the exact same size clothes he did when we got married. Do it when you're young, and don't think you won't ever get older, because you will. I can promise you: you cannot avoid aging. Anybody who thinks that they can always do what they've always done is a fool. Things are always changing in life. And don't be afraid to change. We have to be able to navigate change, because it can be a very good thing.

You know, in acts 16, it says, "And Paul and Silas passed through the territory of Phrygia and Galatia, and having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Word of God in all of Asia". Well, how did the Holy Spirit forbid them, you know? "When they had come opposite of Mysia, they tried to go to Bithynia, and the spirit of Jesus would not permit them".

So, I find this interesting. They tried to do things, and God shut the door. So, are we any better than Paul? You know, he obviously thought he was supposed to do something that he wasn't right about. Well, how did God stop him? You know, Paul's the one that said, "Let peace be the empire". Maybe he just didn't have peace, or maybe the door was just shut, and he couldn't get in the city, I don't know. But learn how to follow the signs of how God is leading you. No matter what you think about what you're supposed to be doing, don't be so full of yourself that you never think that you can miss God. Paul missed God. He thought that's what he was supposed to do, but there was no peace.

Number 10: learn what grace is, and go with what's got grace on it. And when the grace lifts, move on to the next thing that God has for you. Because grace is like oil, the Holy Spirit is represented by oil, and he's the spirit of grace. And when there's grace on something, I won't say it's easy, but there's an ease to it. There's a flow to it. I love what I'm doing. It's hard work, but I love it. I don't... I'm not... people say, "Well, when are you gonna retire"? Well, I don't know, I guess when I die, I don't... you know? I have no desire to sit around and do nothing all the time. Grace gives you favor. Grace opens doors that nobody else can open. Grace will get you into places that you could never get into yourself. Grace is the opposite of works of the flesh. Works of the flesh is us trying to do what only God can do, and it wears you out. Always remember that most things in life are for a season. They're not forever. They're for a season.

Number 11: I don't know if I'll get to 12, you'll have to get the book. And this is a big one for me, enjoy your life. Please enjoy the journey. Don't be so focused on the destination that you don't enjoy the journey. You know why? Most of life is about the journey. And I'll stand here and tell you, you will make mistakes. You just might as well count on it. You know, you're 21, I have no idea how many mistakes you'll make. Probably a lot, but that's okay, that's how we learn.

See, God loves you, and that's the most important thing. And you don't have to worry about, "Will I miss God"? If you want God's will, he'll lead you, and guide you, and show you, what you're supposed to do. And you can take this message, and you can comfort other people with it. Amen? Should I give you a peek at what 12 is, even though I can't teach on it? It's actually my favorite one, "Help other people". That is the will of God, that you help other people. I wanna pray for everybody. Thank you so much for joining us today and allowing us into your home. So, let me pray for you:

Father, I pray in Jesus' name, that people who have joined us today, will find a peace about finding your will. And that they will stop trying to find it, and trust you to show it to them. And I pray that many people through some of this teaching, have discovered what your will is for their life. And I just pray that everybody will just calm down, and enjoy the journey, and just make that journey with you. In Jesus' name, amen.