TD Jakes - You Can Do It
I have a problem with the old church. I grew up in the old church. I love the music, the dancing, the clapping, the guitar playing, the tambourines, the washboards, the bass drums, the church mothers, the lit scarves, and the big hats with fruit bowls on top. I grew up in the old church, but my problem with the old church is that it taught us about deliverance, but it didn’t teach us about struggle. They told us if we fasted long enough, if we prayed hard enough, and if we spoke in tongues, that God would magically stop whatever we were struggling with.
But I hate to be the bearer of bad news: everything you’re dealing with does not go away. Every trial that arises doesn’t go away. Every weakness doesn’t go away. Every proclivity doesn’t go away. There are some things that God will leave you in the middle of, and let you struggle. They did not prepare us for struggle. I have a problem with the «name it and claim it,» «blab it and grab it» generation, because they made us think that if we spoke right, if we said the right thing, and if we professed the right way, then we would rebuke the storms and everything would stop. They didn’t tell us there are some storms that God will allow you to struggle in.
And the problem with us today is that we have no degrees in struggling. We have the storms that demand struggle, but not the preparation to wrestle with them. So if it doesn’t work, we throw it away. If it doesn’t happen, we throw it away. If we’re not getting along, we get a divorce. If you don’t like the way I cook, I’m going back home. If you don’t talk to me right, I’m out of here, because we have not been taught that sometimes you just have to deal with the storm, and God doesn’t take it away. You have to struggle with it and still believe. Hey, anybody can believe when the struggle is over, but I want to talk to some people who are in the middle of the struggle and still believe.
Oh my God, I want to talk to somebody who isn’t so happy, but you still believe. I want to talk to someone who can only go to the grocery store on Tuesdays with coupons, but you still believe. I want to talk to someone who’s eating out of the dollar store, but you still believe. I want to talk to someone who’s wrestling with their flesh, but you still believe. I want to talk to someone who’s wrestling with their sexuality, but you still believe. And you prayed, and you got anointed with oil, and you’re greasy as KFC chicken, but you still have a struggle in your flesh. Nobody told us sometimes storms keep on raging. He could rebuke it, but He has ordered toiling for you. There ain’t going to be no shouting today, baby; He’s already straining and grunting and pulling and grinding for you.
Look at what Paul says in Philippians 4:8-13. He says, «Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.» You have to get it in your head when you don’t have it in your life. Y’all missed this shout moment right there! If you can’t control the wind around you, you have to get the peace on the inside, even when you have hell on the outside. If there be any virtue, if you’re going to have any victory, you’ve got to reason inside yourself: I’m better than this, I’m stronger than this, I will survive this. Then he says, «Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do.»
See, that’s the only way it works. Underscore «learned.» If you don’t learn anything, it doesn’t matter how many times you come to church. If you didn’t learn anything, those things which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do. It doesn’t work if you don’t do it. It doesn’t work if you just hear it. It doesn’t work if you just shout about it. It doesn’t work if you don’t act on it. It only works if you do it. My God! And the God of peace shall be with you. When will He be with me? When I do it—not when I hear it, not when I watch it, not when I think about it, not when I burst into tears, not when I have a fit, not when I pitch a hissy fit, not when I go through the house tearing up stuff—it only works if you do it. And the Lord will be with you if you do it, and you can only do it when you wrestle with it.
He says, «But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.» They weren’t taking care of him; he was suffering. And he said, «I rejoice when you got better.» It’s not that you didn’t want to do it; you didn’t have the opportunity. You couldn’t do it. He said, «Not that I speak in respect of want.» Watch this: «Not that I speak in respect of want; for I—oh y’all ain’t gonna talk to me this morning—have learned,» that means you don’t come here knowing this. That means you didn’t get this coming out of your mother’s womb. That means you don’t get this as a three-year-old. He says, «I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.»
Oh my God! I know how to be content in a storm. I know how to be content in a struggle. I know how to be content in warfare. I know how to be content in bad times. I know how to be content in isolation. I know how to be content in turmoil. I know how to be content in a windstorm. I know how to be content with the lightning flashing. I know how to be content when I have a whole lot. I know how to be content when I don’t have hardly anything. I have learned it; I didn’t know it; I learned it. You can learn how to survive in a storm that God won’t stop. Y’all ain’t talking to me; y’all ain’t talking good as I’m preaching! You can learn how to stand in a storm that God will not stop.
Paul says, «I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound.» Everywhere and in all things I am instructed. Oh God! I am instructed both to abound. We do good teaching that part, but I’m also instructed to suffer need, loneliness, frustration, turmoil, aggravation. The same God that orders blessings instructs me to suffer. And because we don’t teach this, we have a chance in shock. We have a chance in shock because we told you if you got saved, you’d have a Mercedes in a month, all of your kids would graduate, you’d be happily married for the rest of your life, everything would fall into place, and your back would never hurt. And now all hell is breaking loose, and you’re shocked! But I am instructed both to be full, and I am instructed to be hungry.
I want to talk to my hungry people! Sometimes God will order hunger. He will put you in a situation that hurts, and leave you in it, and let you struggle. He will let me be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Everybody in this room, streaming online, zooming in here—I don’t care how you’re making contact with me, in some area of your life, you are in need. It’s not just poor folks; there are folks with a job and they’re in need. There are rich folks in need. Nobody escapes it. White folks in need, brown folks in need, young folks in need, old folks in need. It may not be the same need, but just because it’s not the same need doesn’t mean that it’s not a need. It doesn’t mean that the need doesn’t cause pain. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t create frustration. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have to toil and wrestle with it.
And then he says, «I can do all things.» See, he does not use this text to be motivational. That’s not the meaning of «I can do all things.» I can do all things means I can be poor; I can be rich. I can be married; I can be single. I can be with; I can be without. I can do all things. See, you want to pick the things. You want to pick the things that you can do through Christ.
But Paul gave you a list: if you order struggle, I can do that. If you order tears, I can do that. If you order loneliness, I can do that. If you order pain, I can do that. If you order the penthouse, I can do that. If you order the palace, I can do that too. If you order me a lot of friends, I can do that. If you order isolation, I can do that. My God! Somebody needs to put in the comments, «I can do it!» Whatever the devil is threatening you with, tell him, «I can do it!» All hell might be breaking loose in your life; tell him, «I can do it, through Christ, which strengthens me.»
I want to take a minute, and I want to take— I want to take two minutes and pray that God will strengthen you in your struggle. Lift your hands everywhere, all over the country, all over the world. I’m praying for God to strengthen you in your struggle. I know you’re tired. I know your arms are aching. I know your mind is frustrated. I know you feel like it’s not fair. I know you feel like throwing up your hands. I know you feel like everybody else got something that you didn’t get. I know you hate the holidays because you’re going into a season where you think everybody’s got something that you don’t get to have, and you’re depressed, and you lost loved ones, and you’ve been through heartaches, and it’s not the best time in your life. But I pray that God would strengthen you right now in your struggle. As long as you’ve got Jesus, you don’t need anything else. And I pray the strength of God come upon you from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet. And if you receive that prayer, shout, «I can do it! I can do it! I can do it!»
This is your homework: I want you to walk around the house saying, «I can do it!» While you’re washing your dishes, say, «I can do it!» While you’re cleaning out your closet, say, «I can do it!» While you’re washing your car, say, «I can do it!» While you’re going to the market, say, «I can do it!» While you’re doing your own hair, say, «I can do it! I can do it! I can do it!» Your spirit needs to hear you confess, «I can do it.»
You have been feeding yourself the wrong food. You’ve been telling yourself what you can’t take, what you can’t handle, and what you can’t stand, and what you won’t put up with, and that’s why you’re dying because you’re eating diseased food. Practice it: «I can do it! I can do it! I can do this! I can do this! I can do this! I can do this! I can do it!» If it doesn’t happen, «I can do it!» If you don’t come over, «I can do it!» If you don’t love me, «I can do it!» If you do love me, «I can do it!» If you want me, «I can do it!» If you don’t want me, «I can do it!» If you leave me, «I can do it!» If you betray me—oh, y’all ain’t talking to me! I can do it!
He says, «Sit down; I’m going to go deeper.» He says, «Can I go deeper?» I feel something pushing me. I feel like somebody’s getting some help. I feel like somebody’s getting a breakthrough. I feel like God is talking to somebody. I feel like God is ministering to somebody. I can see demons running. I said, I see demons running. I see them fleeing away from you! Shout again, «I can do it!» Say it again, «I can do it!» Every time you say it, hell gets sick, demons get nervous, witches get upset. I can’t—what? I can do it!