Joyce Meyer - Why Is God Silent? (08/20/2019)
Be doers of the Word, not just hearers—obey what God shows you, or you'll deceive yourself with excuses and reasoning against truth. Blessings come from doing, not just knowing or hearing; stop finding reasons to delay obedience, act on the Holy Spirit's nudges promptly, and stop complaining when life lacks blessing—it's tied to our doing, not our hearing.
Be Doers of the Word, Not Just Hearers
If there are things in your life that you know that God has put on your heart to do, and you have not done them, anybody? Then go home and get busy, and stop complaining about why God's not speaking to you, because He's probably not going to say anything else until you do the last thing He told you to do.
If you knew how many years it took me to learn all this stuff, that you get downloaded in about an hour here. Be doers of the Word. Obey the message. Not just a listener to it. Betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the truth.
Now, you know, these verses are so important, and I don't want to just get in too big of a hurry here to get to the end of chapter 2, that I miss some of the really important things that I think that need to be said.
So let's look at this. Be a doer of the Word. Obey the message. Not just a listener to it. And then He says, Betraying yourselves into deception by reasoning which is contrary to the truth.
Now, that's kind of a mouthful, and we could miss what He's trying to say, so let's just slow down and take it apart.
If I... I can go to church three times a week, and I can watch Christian TV every morning, and I can listen to teaching CDs on the way to work, but if I don't do then what I've heard, it does me nor anybody else any good at all.
Because the Bible does not say that we're blessed in our hearing. It says we're blessed in our doing.
Hearing Much but Doing Little
When we do, and I really think that because there's so much available to us today, I really think that sometimes we get so proud of what we know. Well, Joyce, I've got all your books. Well, then why are you still acting the way you do?
I mean... People love to tell me they've got all my books. I've got all your books. And, you know, we like to display them on our shelves, because when our friends come, we look so spiritual. But it's in the doing.
Now, let's just assume that we all want to obey God. And so we don't want to just hear. We want to do. And now let's just take this a step further and say we're not just hearing somebody preach the Word, but now God is trying to say something to us, because we can hear from Him too.
And a large part of our walk with God is not just going to church and hearing messages, but it's letting the Holy Spirit guide us day by day in our walk with Him.
Where I can be in the middle of doing one thing, and the Holy Spirit can let me know that's not what I want you to do. Don't act like that. Don't say that. Be quiet. Whatever.
And if we learn while we're in this world to keep one ear tuned to the Holy Spirit, then while we're here, we can be in the world, but not be of the world. And that's what Jesus is asking us to do.
We can be in the world, but we can quickly make adjustments because of what God is saying to us.
Excuses That Betray Our Own Deception
Example. Let's just say that I'm in a meeting like this, and I happen to notice somebody on our team that seems just... I don't know what it is. You know, I can't really put my finger on it, but I just really kind of sense that they need a blessing right now.
Do you ever kind of notice that with somebody like, they just need a blessing right now? And so I pray, Lord, how can I bless this lady? How can I be a blessing to her?
Well, the next thing that happens is I notice a bracelet I have on my wrist. Pretty sparkly bracelets that I'm quite fond of. And the next thing I'm feeling is I should give that to her because I remember earlier today, she told me how pretty it was.
Now, I really don't want to give my bracelet away. And so my mind gives me a reason. Come on. I've heard from God. I'm pretty sure at this point I'm hearing, but now there's the doing.
And so if I don't do what I felt like God showed me to do, it's because I have betrayed myself by coming up with some kind of a reason why it's okay not to do it. Are you with me?
So, she needs a blessing. God, how can I help her? I'm being real spiritual so far. I'm caring. I'm being compassionate. How can I help her? Oh. Come on. Is anybody home in the house today?
So now I don't want to give her my bracelet. So, and I actually had this happen. So this is a good, this is a living story. And so, I look at her and I think, she is really skinny. That is going to fall right off of her arm. And I took it home.
Come on. You know, we, it's amazing the stuff that we can come up with.
Real-Life Examples of Self-Deception
Okay. I've had an argument with somebody. I'm really sure it was their fault. And I'm waiting for them to apologize. And I don't really intend to talk to them until they do.
And I'm reading a book, let's say, a devotional by Joyce Meyer on how to get closer to God every day. Got my morning devotion and it says, be a peacemaker. Uh-oh.
Right away I'm thinking, hmm. And so I get this little sensing that God wants me to pick up the phone and call this person and be aggressive.
Well, I don't want to do that. So, I come up with a reason. Are you there? My reason is that I apologized the last time. And it would simply not be right for me to have to apologize every single time.
Come on. Somebody give God a praise. See, we have to stop finding reasons and excuses for not doing what God wants us to do.
And then complaining because we don't have the blessed life that we say that we want to have. Because we're blessed, not in our hearing, but we're blessed in our doing.
Stop Excuses and Start Obeying Promptly
We need to stop betraying ourselves into deception by reasoning contrary to the truth. When God nudges us—whether through Scripture, the Holy Spirit, or conscience—we must act quickly.
Don't wait for better timing or come up with clever justifications. Obedience brings blessing, growth, and deeper hearing from God. Delay or excuses block the flow and leave us stuck, wondering why God seems silent.
Get busy doing the last thing He told you. That's where the real life and power are found—not in more knowledge, but in faithful action.