Joyce Meyer - Release Your Faith (08/19/2019)
In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus tells the disciples "Let us go over to the other side," but a fierce storm hits in the middle—Joyce Meyer teaches that most of life is spent in that stormy "middle" between God's promise and its fulfillment. Instead of panicking or worrying like the disciples, we must exercise active faith, refuse to worry, trust God's peace, and keep doing good, knowing Jesus is with us and we'll reach the other side.
Jesus Said: Let Us Go to the Other Side
Mark 4:35—On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side." Let us go over to the other side.
We all get kind of excited when God initially says something to us that sounds like we are going to make progress—when we receive a promise from Him or a word from Him. And if we were to skip all the way over to Mark 5:1, it says, "And they came to the other side."
So, wonderful—Jesus said, "Let us go," and they arrived. But there is verse 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, and 41 that we have to deal with before we get to chapter 5, verse 1. That is what I call the middle.
And to be honest with you, we live most of the time in the middle. Everybody gets excited about the new thing. Everybody gets excited when they finally arrive and they have reached their goal. But a lot of people never reach their goals. They never get to their destination. They never see their dreams fulfilled. They never experience the fulfillment of the promises of God in their life—because they do not know what to do in the middle.
The Storm Hits in the Middle
So today I am going to talk to you about the middle. And leaving the throng—verse 36, Mark 4:36—"And leaving the throng, they took Him with them, just as He was, in the boat in which He was sitting. And there were other boats there also."
"And a furious storm of wind [of hurricane proportions] arose." Well, I was not thinking that was going to happen. "And the waves kept beating into the boat, so that it was already becoming filled."
But He was in the stern of the boat, asleep. Now, does it not just really frustrate you when you are in a storm and it feels to you like Jesus is asleep? We get kind of frantic, do we not? Like, what am I going to do?
Now we start trying to figure everything out. We start worrying. We start running to everybody we know for advice. Can I give you a little insight this morning? Most of the people that you are asking how to solve your problem—they do not even know what to do about their own.
So try running to the throne, not the phone.
Don't You Care That We're Perishing?
"Master, Master, do You not care that we are perishing?"
And He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush now, be still." And the wind ceased—sank to rest as if exhausted by its beating—and there was immediately a great calm, a perfect peace.
And He said to them, "Why are you so timid and fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"
Well, I have faith. Well, yeah—I mean, well, Jesus, I have faith. I mean, I believe in You. Well, you know, it is one thing to believe in Jesus. It is another thing to learn how to take that faith into your everyday life and let it keep you calm in the storm. Can anybody say amen? Amen.
You know, I love the sound of joy. And it was so cool this morning watching everybody in worship and some of those songs we were singing and what a good time everybody was having. And I just thought, what a wonderful sound joy is. That is wonderful.
But you know what—we do not want you just to have it in here when all the conditions are perfect. We want you to have that joy when you do not have anything in particular to be joyful about.
And joy is not always extreme hilarity and laughing as hard as you can laugh. I love one of the definitions of peace and joy—a calm delight. A calm delight.
A Calm Delight Even in the Storm
You know, yesterday afternoon I took a little nap to rest a little between the first and the second session, and I was laying in bed just resting—I did not really sleep that much. And I just had this thought. I said, you know, Jesus, I just love my life.
And that is such a wonderful feeling because for so many years I did not like life. I was never satisfied. I did not like me. I did not like too many other people. I did not like anything that was going on. I just was not a happy camper.
But praise God, I went to church. People, somebody interviewed me recently and said, you know, are you against church and religion? Absolutely not. No—how ridiculous would that be? We have a church in St. Louis. I want people to go to church, and I want you to go to church regularly. That is part of what you need to do.
But I do not want you to do it just out of some formalism like you think you are getting a check mark on your God calendar. I want you to go because you want to be there—because you are growing and learning and you are worshiping God, and you fully intend when you walk in, I am going to learn something and I am going to go out and do it.
We have got to learn to do it. And the place where we do it is in the storm. It is very easy to do it in here. This is no effort—you have got a cushy seat, I have studied to bring you the Word, you have got great music, we did not charge you anything to get in. You are just like... just... feed me.
But I can tell you it is not going to be that easy when you get out of here. Stuff—stuff—starts happening. Amen?
Tested on What You Just Heard
One of the things that I really enjoy when I am finished with my preaching in the daytime—I do not do it at night—is a cup of Starbucks coffee. Well, yeah. So, like Tommy Barnett says, thank God for Starbucks till the anointing kicks in.
And uh... so I even have my own little cup. I have got one of these double-walled cups from Starbucks that keeps it hot for a long, long time. And it is... I like it. It is a copper color—I like that. So got the whole thing, you know.
And uh... so somebody had got me some coffee and brought it so it would be ready when I went back. We went back and somebody had stolen my coffee—my cup, the cream, everything. Gone. Gone.
Well, you know what—I can remember a day when I would have had a fit about that. I mean, an absolute fit. And I would have gotten confused. Oh God, I am up there pouring my heart out to these people all morning and all I want is a little cup of coffee. What about me? Why me?
And I do not understand—the devil is always picking on me. I mean, for maybe like five seconds I was aggravated, and then I just laughed. I said, you know what—this is really funny. And I said, I feel sorry for whoever stole my coffee.
Now it is possible that somebody cleaning up back there just thought they were being tidy and threw it away. I do not know how you would throw away a whole brand-new mug of coffee. But you know, people think differently.
So after about five more minutes I decided to believe the best, like the Bible says. Amen.
So there is always stuff going on in life. There is always the storm. It is one thing to stand up here and preach it. It is another thing for you to sit and listen to it. But we have got to go out and live it. Live it.
And most of the time, whatever I preach, I am tested on. And most of the time, whatever you hear—anybody ever notice that? You will be tested on.
The Bible says when the seed is sown into your heart, the devil comes immediately to try to steal the seed that was sown. And I think one of the ways that he does it is by very simply testing you on what you just heard. And we need to get it—learn a new sentence. This is only a test. Can we practice? Say, "This is only a test." Amen. Amen.
Where Is Your Faith in the Storm?
So the storm—and Jesus said, why are you acting like that? Where is your faith?
It takes more than just faith that Jesus died for you to get through this world victoriously. It takes more than that. And I believe that we have an obligation to God to learn how to live in victory while we are here—because we are the Jesus that people are looking at. We are His witnesses. We are His ambassadors. He is appealing to the world through us.
And they do not want a bunch of sad, sour, broken-down, pitiful, pathetic religion. They want to see people that have got victory, have got joy, have got peace—that are loving people.
And they were all filled with great awe and they feared exceedingly and said to one another, "Well, who is this Man that even the wind obeys Him?" And then they came to the other side.
Peace: Jesus' Legacy to Us
Let us look at John 14:27. I want you all to make a decision this morning before we go any further at all in this message.
Jesus has left us a legacy. Any loving person, when they die, they usually like to leave something to their loved ones—and Jesus has left us a legacy. And it includes many things, but one of the last things that He talked about leaving us is recorded in John 14:27.
And He says, "Peace I leave with you; My own peace I now give and bequeath unto you. Not as the world gives do I give to you."
Now watch this: "Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed. And do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled."
So before you are going to have peace, you are going to have to make some decisions about some things. And the first decision you have to make is: I am unwilling to live without peace. I will not live without peace.
You see, I spent way too much of my life in turmoil. And maybe fifteen years ago I made a decision that I was going to have peace and I was going to have joy and I was going to have righteousness—because that is the kingdom. That I was not going to spend the rest of my life feeling guilty every time I made some little minor mistake.
Obviously we are going to be sorry for the things that we do wrong. But Jesus has provided a way for us to be forgiven. He says there is no condemnation to those in Christ. Condemnation is a total waste of time—it does not help you behave better, it just keeps you stuck where you are at.
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink—it is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. And I decided instead of just singing songs about the kingdom, I was actually going to try to live in it. Amen.
Decide: I Will Not Live Without Peace
I decided. God has provided wonderful things for you, but you have to decide that you are going to have them and that you are not going to let any person on earth or any devil in hell take them away from you.
You must make a decision today. And here comes the bad news—the good news. The good news is Jesus provided peace. The bad news is you are going to have to make an effort.
Let us look at it again: "Peace I leave with you." Because see, here is the thing—oh God, I pray that You would give me peace. I wish I had peace.
You do not really even need to pray for peace, to be honest. You just need to thank God that you have got it—because He says right here you have already got it.
I think we ask for a lot of stuff that we ought to be recognizing that we have and thanking God for it. And then that attitude of faith will actually release that thing out of our spirit into our soul.
"Oh God, give me peace. God, give me peace. Peace, peace, peace. God, I cannot stand it again." No—thank You, God, that I have peace. Peace—give me the grace to walk in this peace. Help me see what I am doing that is keeping me all aggravated and stirred up. Show me what I need to do and give me the grace to do it.
You never do it on your own—you have got to lean on Him all the time. But I finally decided I am not going to spend the rest of my life without peace.
Worry: A Useless Waste of Time
Well, one of the things that you are going to have to learn to do if you want to have peace is learn how to not worry. Worry—not worry.
Worry is making a down payment on a problem you may never have. Worry is a total, complete, useless waste of time. Worry never solves your problem—all it does is torture you. It torments you. And it has nothing to do with faith.
Worry—I cannot help it, I am just a worrier. No—you have peace. I said you have peace. And you have power. I have peace and I have power—therefore I am not going to live in worry. Worry.
Now I like to be really practical about stuff. And so I know it is not going to do me much good to say go home and do not worry—unless I can maybe help you understand why you worry.
And the only thing that I can come to is a couple of reasons why we worry—and that is, number one, we actually still really think that we can solve our problem. We do not get it yet—that we cannot do it. God is not going to let us do it—because He wants us to lean on Him and rely on Him.
Now there are things that we can do and should do—and those are what we should do. But the minute you start going beyond that, you are going to get frustrated and aggravated—as soon as you start trying to do something about something you cannot do anything about.
Like, for example, trying to change people.
You Cannot Change People—Only God Can
I mean, how many of you... let us just talk to the ladies for a minute. How many of you ladies have just frustrated yourself long enough trying to change your husband? Has it worked?
Well then, just is it not kind of dumb to keep doing the same thing over and over and over? You are not changing him. Matter of fact, I found out the more I tried to change Dave, the worse it got—he would just ramp it up to another level.
Because you see, people do not want to be put under the law—the law increases sin. So the more you try to make somebody do something, pretty much the way the flesh reacts is the more determined they are that they are not going to.
And the thing is, even if you get them to stop that thing, until the heart is changed, it is going to show up somewhere else. It is like one of those whack-a-mole games—you know, and it comes up over here, and it comes up over here, and there it is again.
Only God can get inside of a person and change the heart. The heart. Amen.
And I can give you some good news though—I do not know how long you have been married, but I have been married 43 years—to one man. And... oh man, I tell you, in the last, I do not know, maybe eight, nine years, it has just gotten so easy.
I mean, I am just like, do whatever you want to do—because I am staying peaceful. Woo! Amen.
I mean, Dave and I just hardly ever have a problem anymore—because I finally got it. I about killed myself before I did—I was about ready for the funny farm, but I finally got it. Only God can change people.
And I guess if God does not like the way he is, then God can tell him and change it. And he takes the same attitude toward me.
Stop Worrying About Everyone Else
I have four children—they are all different. So different. It is like, how could you all have come out of the same place? I just do not get it.
And you see different ones of them doing things, and you think, oh man—do not do that. Do not. Ooh. And we want to tell them.
How many of you have noticed—especially if you have grown children—telling them something, they are like, "Mother? I am 30 years old."
So we are worrying about the spouse. We are worrying about the kids. We are worrying about the grandkids. We are worrying about the world. We are worrying about everything we do wrong. We worry, we worry, we worry.
And all you are doing is just making yourself miserable. Well, actually, you can—you can actually make yourself sick with worry. Worry can cause stomach problems, give people ulcers, can cause colon problems, give you headaches, nervous tension—makes you irritable, it creates a lot of stress, and cancer is known to be connected to stress.
It causes loss of sleep, loss of focus—you begin to, you cannot focus on what you are supposed to focus on because you are so worried about everything, so now you start forgetting things and losing things. I got a witness in here today, let me tell you.
And you know, I just think you need to have a little Holy Ghost fit—and you need to say, I am not going to worry.
I mean, you may have to fight a fight—because the minute you decide you are not going to worry, the devil will probably give you twenty new things to worry about.
So you are going to have to make some declarations: You did not understand me, devil—I am not going to live in worry. Take your best shot, but I am not going to live in worry.
Worry Torments You—Stop It!
See, I hope I can get you to understand that Christianity is not a passive religion. It is not a thing where we just wish and hope. We have got it—we pray, and we say, and we do the part that God is telling us to do.
Come on—some of you, if you will just change your attitude, your life can do a 360-degree turn. If you will just say, I am not smart enough to solve this. I—me, my—I am not smart enough to solve this. I do not know what to do.
And when people say, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? They say, I do not have a clue—do not know, but I know somebody who does know. And I guess He will tell me when He is good and ready.
Listen to the definition of worry—this is the definition that I got, I did not make it up, I got this—I forget now because I have had it a long time: to torment oneself with disturbing thoughts.
Does anybody here have enough sense to not torment your own self? Well, what are you doing today? Tormenting myself. Yes, I just thought I would spend the day making myself completely, totally miserable.
To torment oneself with disturbing thoughts—to feel uneasy, anxious, or troubled—to torment with annoyances, cares, and anxieties—to seize by the throat, take into the teeth, and shake or mangle.
The Bible says that worry and the cares and the anxieties of the world—the deceitfulness of riches—chokes the Word.
Spend all that time that you are spending worry and meditating on the Word of God. Fight the good fight—get out your Bible and start saying some stuff out loud. Your own voice will disrupt the wrong thoughts you are having. You will believe more of what you say than what anybody else says.
Make a decision you are not going to live in worry.
Humans Are the Only Ones Who Worry
Humans are the only species of creation that worries—and we are supposed to be the most intelligent. We are like the cream of the crop. Everybody else gets it.
Trees do not worry. Birds do not worry. Rabbits do not worry. Flowers do not worry. Lions do not worry. Pigs do not worry. Cows do not worry.
Oh, but us smart ones—the wise bunch, the intelligent group—we worry. Nobody else worries.
Matthew 6—the practicality of how not to worry. Learn how to get some humility—learn what you can do and what you cannot do. Do what God tells you to do but stay away from trying to do anything He did not tell you to do.
Do what you can do—God will do what you cannot do.
Matthew 6: "Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy, anxious, and worried about your life."
The next time you start to worry, just have a little talk with yourself and say, all right—stop it. Right now, just stop it.
Talk to yourself—say, this is not going to do any good. I have been there, done that. I am not going to waste this day tormenting myself and making myself miserable—thinking about this thing over and over and over.
God, I cast it on You—I give it to You. And then you know what you should do? Go get involved in something else that will take your time and your mind—something that is going to be happy, something that is going to be helpful, something that is going to be joyful and peaceful. Amen?
Look at the Birds—They Don't Worry
"Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy, anxious, and worried about your life—what you shall eat or what you shall drink, or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?"
Now here we go: "Look at the birds." Birds do not worry. Have you ever seen a bird sitting on a branch having a breakdown, wondering where the next worm was going to come from?
"Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth more than they are?"
And then He goes on and on and talks about the flowers—and even Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautifully as one of the flowers.
Verse 31 says, "Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying..." If you worry, it is going to come out of your mouth.
So Satan puts wrong thoughts in our head, hoping they will come out of our mouth—because our words are powerful, far beyond what we can even imagine. And when we start saying things, we either give God permission to work or we give the enemy permission to work.
Can I tell you that again? When we start saying things in the middle—Jesus said, let us go to the other side. We are now in the middle—we are in the storm. And we are going to say something.
So what we say can either give God permission to work—what we need to be saying is, God, I trust You. I lean and rely on You. I do not like this—it does not feel good. But I believe that You are in control. And I trust that this will all work out good in the end. Give me the grace to be stable in it.
Now God can go to work.
But on the other hand, if you open your mouth and say, I do not know what we are going to do—I do not know, we are going to drown—now the enemy is going: got him again.
What Are You Saying of the Lord?
What does Psalm 91:1-2 say? "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty, whose power no foe can come against."
"I will say of the Lord..." What are you saying of the Lord?
"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress, my high tower. In Him I will put my trust. On Him I will lean and rely."
"I will say of the Lord..." What are we saying about the Lord?
Worry is a thief—it steals your peace, it steals your joy, and more than anything it steals your today. Today.
This is the day the Lord has made—I cannot guarantee you are going to get another one. I hope you do—I hope I do. I think I will. But what if I do not? I do not want to waste the last one that I had.
The present is the greatest present that God ever gives us. The moment that we have is to be enjoyed.
We do not worry and waste this moment worrying about one that is already gone and we cannot do anything about—or worrying about one that is coming up that we do not have any control over yet.
That is why you have got to leave the past and the future in God's hands—letting go of what lies behind, having faith for the future, and enjoy the moment. Enjoy the moment. Come on.
And then He goes on here—verse 34: "So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble."
We Are Going to the Other Side
You know, any of the disciples that were worriers—I mean, I bet they were ready for the mental institution before long. Because He just really pulled some stuff.
If you are going to hang out with Jesus, you have no home—no place to lay your head. You never know where you are going to be from one night to the next.
Jesus said, follow Me—and He did not say how long they were going to be gone, when they would get to see their families next. They did not ask what hotel they were going to stay in, what the insurance benefits were. Jesus just said, follow Me—and they went and followed Him.
They got to carry no extra food. He told them to feed 5,000 people—and they said, we do not have anything. He said, what do you have? They found a little boy's lunch—give it to Me—and He made it grow.
In Luke chapter 10 He sent the disciples out two by two—seventy of them—to go out and heal the sick and preach the gospel. And He said, do not take a purse with you, do not take an extra bag, do not take an extra pair of sandals.
Do not even—He said, stay so focused that you do not even slow down your journey by stopping along the way to wish somebody well.
Wow—I mean, He sent these guys out to do a job and He said, I do not want you worrying about anything. I do not want you getting caught up and wondering about what is going to happen tomorrow.
He is trying to make a point—when He sends us to do something, He will provide for us what we need. And we do not need to be worrying about it.
You know, it is so exciting when I say we have a worldwide ministry and we are on television in two-thirds of the world—and we are preaching in 40 languages, and we have mission works all over the world, and we are on 300-and-some-odd radio stations, 400-and-some-odd television stations.
If I did not know how to trust God, I would be a complete lunatic—total, 100% lunatic. You have no idea how much money it takes every month to keep something like this up and running.
Experience: The Best Teacher of Trust
You know, God taught me—He took me the long, hard way—and taught me some things in the beginning: how to believe for my socks and my underwear and my skillets and my wash rags.
And the other thing that will keep you from worrying—in addition to being humble—two things: learn that you cannot fix it—you need to say to yourself real often, you know, I am not smart enough to figure this out—so I am not going to waste my time trying.
Can we try this? "I am not smart enough to figure this out."
You do not sound convinced—let us try it again. Some of you even had some really weird looks on your face: "I am not smart enough to figure this out."
It is like we really want to be the one who is in control. Come on—say it with a smile: "I am not smart enough to figure this out."
Now that does not mean you are dumb—we have wisdom from God and He will show us what we need to see at the right time. But He does not want us trying to get it with our brain. Amen?
Then the other thing that you have to have if you are going to not worry—first thing is humility, the second thing you have to have is experience with God.
We hear the saying all the time—there is no teacher better than experience. And it is just not going to do... you are not ever going to learn to not worry if you do not step out on the promises of God and see what God will do.
That is exactly why the Bible says—even regarding tithing and giving in Malachi—it says bring all the tithe, the full tenth of your income and your offerings into the storehouse so there might be meat in My house in due season to meet your needs and to meet other people's needs.
And I will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing so great that you cannot contain it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake.
And then He says, try Me—try Me and prove it.
So He is saying, if you do not believe it, try it—do it and see what God does to you.
How many of you know that you cannot out-give God? How many of you have seen amazing things happen in your life through giving? Oh my gosh—it is just like, so amazing. So amazing.
I Made It Through the Middle
And so I got experience with God back in those early days. I remember having this pathetic little prayer list—God, I need 12 washcloths, dish rags—I needed new dish rags so bad. And Dave and I just did not have any money.
I mean, I had quit my job to prepare for ministry—and you know, I thought that one sacrifice should just bring us, like, you know, into this huge level of abundance. And instead, I mean, we are believing God for our socks and underwear for years.
God is going to test your little heart to see if you are doing what you are doing for the right reason. One person understood that over here in this section.
Today everybody wants to get paid for every move they make, you know—but back when I was coming up, there was a whole lot of volunteering. I mean, I think the Bible called it being a servant—like serving.
We had so many needs—and God always met those basic needs, but we did not have no high level of living. I had to shop at garage sales for many years—and go with my two or three bucks and believe God to find my kids tennis shoes.
And in the meantime I am out preaching how God wants to bless us and prosper us—and how we walk by faith. Sometimes it seemed kind of silly to be preaching it and yet feeling like it was not even working for me.
But I was in the middle—did you hear me? I was in the middle. I had got in the boat—Jesus said, let us cross over to the other side. But we were not on the other side yet—I was in the middle.
And what I did in the middle determined if I would ever get to the other side—and it determined how long it would take me to get to the other side.
And I can tell you that I messed around in the boat way too long. But I am trying to help you not to make some of the same mistakes that I did.
And what did I learn? I learned I am not smart enough to solve my own problems. I learned I cannot change my husband. I cannot change my kids. I cannot run the world—it is too difficult.
God, if You cannot do this, it is never going to get done. But one thing I am not doing—I am not tormenting myself one more day.
Let me ask you a question—look at Mama Joyce: why should you make yourself miserable over somebody else's bad choice?
Now look—here comes another good one: if you are living with somebody that does not want to be happy, why let it steal your joy? You ought to drive them nuts and be joyful enough for both of you. Amen?
Come on—do not be codependent on other people's messes. Well, if you are not happy, I cannot be happy.
Listen—I was not happy a long time and my husband stayed happy every day. Oh, his happiness about drove me crazy—I mean, the man absolutely would not be miserable with me. He just refused.
He was like, I am going to enjoy myself—you can do what you want to. Oh, the rage inside of me—because you know, miserable people want to make everybody else miserable. They want to control everybody else with their misery.
Come on—you know this thing: if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
But actually Dave's stability of keeping his joy no matter what was going on and no matter what I was doing was one of the things that caused me to have breakthrough in my life.
And you do not need to get in somebody else's mess with them and let them make you miserable—you need to remain stable so they can see that their circumstances do not have to control them.
God Provided Faithfully Through the Middle
And all those years God provided for us so faithfully—different way every month. We were $40 short a month of even being able to pay our bills—and every month God would come through some way, somehow.
I mean, it was just like... those days when I look back—they were so precious. That is what develops relationship between you and God—when you have nobody to go to but God.
We did not have parents that we could go to for help. We did not have sisters and brothers that we could go to for help. We had God—we had God.
Now I could have gone back to work and forgotten the whole ministry thing—because I was suffering, we were sacrificing—but oh, how many of you know I am so glad today that I did not? That I made it through the middle.
Man, I am glad I made it through the middle. And I want you to make it through the middle—but I would like you to make it quicker than I did.
And I am telling you—you do not need to frustrate yourself about all the things you are frustrating yourself about. It is useless.
Be anxious for nothing—but in all things by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace that passes understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Cast all your care on Him—for He careth for you.
But before that, in 1 Peter 5:6, it says humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that in due time He might exalt you—casting all your care on Him.
How do we show humility? By not worrying.
All I am saying when I worry is, excuse me God—I think I can take care of this. I got an idea. I bet it is really funny when we tell God what we are suggesting He do.
I caught myself about to do that the other day—and I certainly know better by now. Well now God, You could do this...
Stop worrying about stuff that you do not even need to be trying to deal with—worrying, worrying, worrying.
Have the gift of not knowing. A lot of stuff I do not know—and I am so cool with it now, but I used to have to try to figure it out.
I love Proverbs 3:5-7—trust in the Lord with all your heart and mind and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.
Be not wise in your own eyes—there it is again. Do not even think you are smart enough to figure out your problems.
How many of you are worriers and figure-outers? Are you getting a revelation today how silly it is to torment yourself?
Now you know, me sharing with you is not going to mean that it is just automatically going to stop—I mean, you are going to have to confront this stuff and stand against it. You are going to have to make some declarations.
I will not live—I will not live in worry. I will not live in worry. I will enjoy my life. I will have peace—God has left it for me and I am going to have it in Jesus' name.
I am not going to live my life miserable.
Do Your Responsibility, Cast Your Care
I cannot even imagine people who followed Jesus around what they thought. We have the situation one day where He went to a well, found a woman there—He said, give Me a drink.
It is in John chapter 4. She said, well, why are You, a Jew, asking me, a Samaritan, for water?—because they had absolutely nothing to do with each other.
And then she said, and on top of that I am a woman—and men did not talk to women. They did not know back then—that was a no-no too.
So He said, well, give Me some water—so she is already confused. And then He just takes it to another level—and He said, well, if you knew who it was you were talking to, you would ask Me for water and I would give you living water—because the water you are drinking will never quench your thirst, but I have got water that I could give you—if you drink that living water you will never get thirsty again.
Whoa—talk about a mind-bender. And she comes with questions again: well, where is Your bucket? You do not have a bucket—that is what I would have said. Well yeah, where are You going to get Your water? You do not even have a bucket.
And then she said—or He said—go call your husband. And she said, I do not have a husband. And He said, well, you said that right—you have had four, and the guy you are living with now you are not married to.
And she is like, oh... About that time the disciples showed up—and they were astonished that He was talking to this woman, but they were too afraid to say anything.
And then the next thing that John chapter 4 says—and they said to Him, Rabbi, You need to eat. He said, oh, I have meat to eat that you know not of.
Ha ha—yeah, well, where is it at? All my meat is to do the will of my Father.
Let me tell you something—if you want to know everything and you are going to hang out with Jesus, you are in for a hard journey—because there is going to be a whole lot of stuff that is not going to make one bit of sense to you. And you are going to have to have the gift of trust.
I trust You, God—I trust You.
Like the blind man trying to get over there to the water, you know—Jesus rubs mud on the guy's eyes and he is blind and He tells him to go wash in a pool of water. Excuse me, I am blind—how am I supposed to get there?
God just wants you to go—just start moving. If I can just get people moving in some direction. Help us, Jesus.
Do your responsibility—cast your care.
Ephesians 6 is talking about spiritual warfare and it says do all the crisis demands—then stand firmly in your place.
It is not that you do not do anything. Dave says it this way and I love it: do your responsibility, cast your care.
What is my responsibility when I am in the storm? Pray—say—do whatever God tells me to do.
My part is to pray, keep a good confession, stay positive—do not start complaining in your storms. Woo—I wish I had about another hour to speak on complaining.
Do not start feeling sorry for yourself. Do not get jealous of other people who do not have your problems—well, it must be nice to have no problems.
I mean, before I learned better—you know, the way I was raised—I resented it. You know, when I would come across people that had these little Pollyanna upbringings, I would think, it must be nice to have good parents. It must be nice. It must be nice.
You got to lose the attitude—God's got an individual plan for each one of us. And the way He works with you will not be like the way He works with anybody else.
But just because He is not doing for you the way He did for them does not mean that what He does for you is going to be inferior.
Keep your commitments if at all possible during the storms in your life—that is so important. So many people today do not know how to keep their commitments.
You got to do what you said you would do—especially when it is hard to do.
I said you got to do what you said you would do—especially when it is hard to do. I think I need to say that one more time: you got to do what you said you would do—especially when it is hard to do.
And then extremely important—all the time that you are in the storms in your life, one of the most important things for you to do in the middle is keep reaching out to other people.
Keep being a blessing to other people—keep sowing that seed of time and service and love and encouragement to other people so you can keep having a harvest in your life.
There is something for you to do—but it is not worry, it is not reason—it is trusting God, reaching out to others.
And Psalm 37 talks about the wicked and the evil times—and it says trust in the Lord and do good.
So simple—we complicate: what am I supposed to do? Trust God and do good. Trust God and do good.
I do not know how long it will take you to get to the other side—but I do know this: we are going to the other side. Amen.
We are going to the other side.
You are looking at somebody that is going to the other side. Can I get a witness?
Is anybody going to the other side? Amen.