Joyce Meyer - Trusting God When You Don't Understand

TOPICS: Trust

I did this in detail this morning, but let me quickly say that whatever ails us, God's word is medicine for our soul. And you know, like for example, if I sin and I'm miserable with guilt because I've sinned, I can take a good dose of "God forgives me". I can take a good dose of the mercy of God and be healed in my soul. If I'm mad at somebody else because they've hurt me, I can take a good dose of "I forgive you" and be completely healed. If I'm sick with jealousy because somebody else is getting what I want, I can take a great big dose of contentment and my soul can be healed. But there's one thing that is the answer to every problem that ails us, and it's called "Trust God" and "Do good". If you have a nice big bottle of both of these things in your house, I don't care what ails you, you've got what you need to always be well.

Now look, this is a prescription for trust. It comes from Dr. Jesus. The patient it's described for is whosoever. Take as many as you need for as long as you need. Refills are endless. But you have to be careful. This stuff has side effects. I mean, when you start taking trust, wow, you have a side effect of peace, joy, stability, confidence. Better life. And then if you match it up with some "Do good".

See, I think a lot of times we think, "Well, I'm trusting God," but what are you doing? While you're trusting God, are you sowing some good seeds in somebody else's life? And believing that even though you can't fix your own problem, you can help somebody else. And through doing that, you're sowing a seed that will then bring a harvest in your life. And even something as devastating as the earthquake in Nepal, I would go there and preach the same message that I'm preaching to you, because I don't care how bad off you are, you can always find something that you can do for somebody else. And nothing makes the devil any madder than when he's throwing his best, biggest problem at you, for you to say, "I'm gonna trust God and I'm gonna help somebody else".

Now, this do-good stuff has side effects too, and they're extreme happiness and rewards in heaven. See? Trust God, they're right in here, the pills. Now, we got do-good pills in here too. You know, when we don't understand and we start tryin' to figure out what only God knows, there can only be one result, and that's confusion. If I would have started out tonight and said, "How many of you are confused right now about somethin' goin' on in your life"? I would've had a lot of hands go up. But see, here's the tRuth. You can't be confused if you refuse to try to figure it out. I can tell you right now, Dave is a guy that does not try to figure anything out. He's just like, "God knows, and he'll take care of it. I'm casting my care".

And I've gotten there. It's taken me 40 years, but I have a breakdown every once in a while, but I'm doin' good. You know, in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the Bible says that: "We know in part". We know in part. We don't know everything. We're not intended to know everything. It wouldn't even be good for us if we knew everything. Do you know, if you knew right now everything comin' up in your future, hmm, most of us'd just sign off and say, "Forget it". Or even if you knew how God intends to use you or bless you in the future. You might get full of pride, and that would ruin it. So God only reveals things to us a little bit a time as he knows it's right. And there's no need for trust if we know everything.

Do you know that God really couldn't even be your God if you knew everything that he knows? We need to get satisfied to know the one who knows and not have to know everything. Can some of you take a step of faith tonight and say, "I don't understand what's goin' on in my life, but I am not gonna try to figure it out anymore. I am gonna trust God, and I am gonna do good". Wow, I feel the burdens lifting already, whoo! There they go. See, here's the thing. The devil sends out, he comes, sits real close to your ear. "Well, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? Well, that doesn't make any sense. Well, huh, how'd that happen? Well, look at that person over there. They're not even servin' God and they're blessed. Just explain that. If God is so good, how did that happen? If God loves you so much, how did that happen"?

And you know what? I'm gonna show you a scripture in a little bit that said that Jesus overheard but ignored the bad reports that were comin' to him. You know, I may hear the devil, but I don't have to believe him. I may hear him, but I don't have to bow down to him. And everything that he screams in your ear, you need to just say, "I don't have to know. I'm gonna trust God and do good. I'm gonna trust God and do good. I'm gonna trust go and do good. And I'm always gonna come out on top if I do that," amen? We've gotta be careful about all the things that the enemy, the lies that he puts in your head that you listen to.

Is anybody tired of bein' confused all the time? Are you tired or your head hurtin' because you think, think, think, think, think, think, think? Can I tell ya, a great deliverance for many of you would just be if you just stopped thinkin' so much all the time about everything? Just get around to enjoyin' life a little bit. You wanna really make the devil mad? Trust God and enjoy your life while God is solving your problem. Did you hear me? While God is solving your problem, you can enjoy your life. That's what "Trust" means. "Trust" means "I'm no longer miserable". "Trust" means "I'm letting go of it and I'm gonna do what I can do, but I'm not gonna try to do what I cannot do," hallelujah.

My gosh, I about drove myself crazy for years trying to figure everything out. And you know, sometimes, when you think you've got answers, you still don't have answers. You just think you've got answers. Oh, I tell you what, the world is full of mysteries. The Bible talks about mysteries: the mystery of Christ, the mysteries of the kingdom of God, the mysteries of heaven, the mystery of Christ in me, the hope of glory, so many mysteries. And why do we get so rattled about the things that we don't understand? We should be intrigued by these mysteries. Pastor Mike told me today that of all the movies watched, the number 1 of all time of everybody, their favorite movies are mysteries. I love mysteries. You're drawn in. You come closer. But why is it when there's a mystery in our relationship with God that sometimes we...?

We should be amazed by the mysteries of heaven and the mysteries of the incarnation and the mystery of the Trinity. We should just be like, "God, you are so awesome. Nobody can figure you out". This is a mystery we are not gonna figure out. The Bible says, "When Jesus comes again, we will know him, even as we are known right now". There's going to be a time in your life when you will know everything, but it is not now. And if you don't do anything else, get it through your head that you are gonna go through life not knowing a lot of things and you can get happy about it and have a lot of peace. Now, in the morning when you wake up and the first thing, you start tryin' to figure somethin' out, open your mouth and say, "I'm gonna trust God and do good. I'm gonna trust God and do good".

1 Corinthians 15:51: "Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret tRuth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep in death, but we shall all be changed (and transformed)". Now, he's basically sayin' that when Christ comes, there will be some that won't ever die because the ones who are alive on the earth at that time will be caught up in the air and those that have already gone before will rise up and will meet him in the air. And we'll all be changed, changed. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ will be rised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (and transformed)".

I tell ya, this is shoutin' scripture. This is what we get to look forward to. You know what? Even when Jesus shows up, we're still gonna have stuff wrong with us. He doesn't care that you never reached the place of perfection. What he wants is a perfect heart who's always moving toward him, moving toward him, moving toward him. And I tell people all the time, "Just get up every day and do the best you can and let God do the rest of what you can't do. And when he returns, whatever is still wrong with you is gonna be changed in the twinkling of an eye". And you will be like him and see him as he is. You know what? I don't worry about the stuff that's wrong with me anymore. It doesn't trouble me one bit. And it makes the devil so mad, he's about to have a nervous breakdown.

You know why I don't worry with it anymore? 'cause I about killed myself with worry over it for years and years. And you know what God finally showed me? "You're no surprise to me. I knew what I was gettin' when I got you". C'mon, I mean, do you honestly think that you got saved and the next day God said, "Oh no. I sure didn't know you were gonna be like this". God is not surprised by anything that happens in our life. The people in nepal were surprised by the earthquake, but God was not surprised. And you may be surprised by some of the things that are goin on in your life right now, but God is not surprised. And he already has prepared your way of escape. God has already planned the way out, and all you have to do is keep takin' some trust and some do good. Mysteries, let's lean in to 'em instead of backin' away from 'em.

Verse 53: "For this perishable part of us must put on the imperishable nature, and this mortal part of us, this nature that is capable of dying must put on immortality (freedom from death)". Now, just hang on. "And when this perishable part puts on the imperishable and this that was capable of dying puts on freedom from death, then shall be fulfilled the scripture that says, 'death is swallowed up in and unto victory.' o death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting"? You may leave this earth, but you won't die. You'll be like him, even as he is right now, and you'll understand everything that you don't understand now.

You know, there's a lot of things that I don't understand that don't confuse me. I don't understand gRavity, but I'm enjoying it right now. I don't get upset about not understanding that. I don't fully understand all the mechanics of breathing, but I'm participating and enjoying it. I don't understand how trees and grass and flowers can look so dead in the winter and have no life in 'em and then in the spring they just kinda... But I enjoy that every year and I'm like, "Oh my God, you are so good". I don't understand electricity, but I depend on it. I don't know how I can put a little message in my cell phone and send it to my son who's in India and in less than 5 minutes have a message back from him. I don't understand it, but I use it every day. Why do we think that we have to understand everything about God, who is less understandable than anybody?

I don't need to understand what God's doin' in my life. I just need to trust him that he's good and whatever he's doing, whether I like it or not right now, I will like it eventually. I wish that I could really explain to you all the stuff that I've went through in my life. Oh, I was such an unbelievable mess. And the work that God has done in me, but it hasn't all been pleasant. But it's so worth it. Stop running away from God and running away from everything that's uncomfortable and everything that's hard and everything that hurts you a little bit, and just dig in and say, "God, I want your will in my life. You do what you want to do in my life".

When I lost all my friends, I was lonely, I mean, lonely. And it was hard and it hurt, but I couldn't have gone to the next place. I couldn't have carried all that baggage with me. Some of you have got some stuff that you're tryin' to take with you, and it's just dead baggage and you need to get rid of it and let it go. But why do we keep hangin' on and hangin' on and hangin' on? Because sometimes even our pain, we're so attached to it that we don't wanna let go of it. Like I said this morning, we can learn how to function within our dysfunction. It really blessed me when I saw this.

You know, right down to the very end, the last thing that Jesus said was, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit". And right before that, he said, "My God, my God, why"? Even Jesus, in his humanity, said, "Why"? You know, I can ask, "Why"? But I don't have to get confused. "God, show me why if you want to, but if you don't, I'm gonna trust you anyway". And you know what else Jesus did on the cross? He not only continued to trust God on the cross when he was hurting the worst that he could possibly hurt... All of us together are not hurting as bad tonight as Jesus hurt on that cross. We can put all of our pain and all of our confusion together, and it doesn't even begin to match what he went through. But you know what? On that cross, he was loving people right to the very end. Not only did he say, "I commit myself into your hands," but there was a couple of thieves there. He ministered to them. Took the time in his pain, "You'll be with me today in paradise".

You know what else I love? He made provision for his mom. C'mon, in the midst of his pain, he said, "John, I want you to take care of my mother". Right to the very end he was trusting God and doing good, trusting God and doing good, trusting God and doing good, trusting God and doing good. You know, we worry way too much about what other people are doin' to us and not nearly enough, we don't pay enough attention to how we should respond. Do you know that you're not responsible for anybody but you? And no matter how many wrong things somebody does to you, the only thing you're responsible for and the only thing I'm responsible for is my reaction, amen? "Occupy until I come".

In the book of Luke, it says that Jesus said, "Will I find faith on the earth when I come back"? You know, no matter how big our problem is, all Jesus wants us to do is just believe. Believe, simple childlike faith, "I don't understand it, God, but I believe". I don't understand why I had cancer 25 years ago. I was out preachin' faith and layin' hands on other people, prayin' for their healing that had stuff like that. But I just kept sayin', "I trust you, God. I trust you. I trust you". And he took care of it.

There's a lot of things in my life I don't understand. I don't understand why the power got shut off in the building last night. How dumb is that? I mean, I don't understand that, but i, you know, I'm growing, I'm stretching, do any of you have any stretch marks? You know, if you're not bein' stretched in faith... C'mon, women get stretch marks when they're giving birth. We need to all have spiritual stretch marks in our life. We need to be giving birth to some stuff, amen? This is one time when the men get to have stretch marks. God stretches us in our life.

How many of you have walked with God a few years and now you have a much greater capacity to trust him than you did before, amen? Isn't life so much better when we trust God? You know, I've never sat around and got confused about, "Well, I wonder, I just can't figure out why God's lettin' me be on teLevision around the world. Boy, that really confuses me". I've never one time done that. I'm just like, "Yes"! But if he took me off, I'd be confused.

Do you understand what I'm sayin'? You know, our confusion is selective, and we're only confused about the stuff we don't like. We're only confused about the things that hurt. But let's trust God with our pain. Can some of you take your pain tonight and trust God with your pain and say, "God, this hurts so bad, I feel like I can't stand it, but I trust you, and I'm gonna keep trying to be a blessing to other people because I believe that even if it hurts, you're helping me give birth to something new in my life".