TD Jakes — When God Says NO (Sacrifice of Praise)
Greetings in the invincible name of Jesus Christ our king. I'm so excited to have this opportunity to be in your home and a part of your life for the next few moments to share the word of God with you. I have an exciting series called "Your Divine Destination". I believe it will stick to you particularly at this time as you move closer and closer to God's divine purpose in your life. The messages we're going to share will be the catalyst through which you understand where you are and more importantly where you're going. The message I'm going to share with you today is one you've got to listen to. The message is called when God says NO. I know what to do when he says YES. Lord have mercy. How do I manage when God says NO? Stay tuned. I'll show you how to deal with it. Check it out.
Jesus finally threw his hands up and said it's not my will but thine be done. Paul prayed three times and God said NO. You have been overruled. And then he says, I said NO Paul, because my grace is sufficient. I know you think that your plan is sufficient. He says, but my grace is sufficient. I considered my grace before I allowed my messenger to send, I measured them out. I didn't let you be attacked on this level if I didn't give you enough grace.
Can I have a few minutes. Give me a few minutes. The reason we can come in every Sunday and seat you with confidence is because the pews have been constructed to the specification of a particular weight load that will accommodate the weight of you sitting on this pew. We wouldn't seat you on the pew if the specks did not verify that the weight load is so conducted that you can rest in the integrity of the pew that would you say prepared for the weight before the weight was applied to it. God said, I considered the weight load before I put the pain in your life.
And I know you feel like you cannot handle it, and I know you think you cannot take it, and I know you feel like you're going to lose your mind and I know you feel like driving off the cliff, but I just want to tell you, I'm not going to stop it. I'm not going to take it away. I'm not going to give you what you want. But my grace is... Touch three people and say, I've got grace for this. I've got grace for this moment in my life. I've got grace for this situation. I've got grace. I don't like it. But I've got grace for it. It hurts but I got grace for it. I'm in trouble but I got grace for it. I may cry but I got grace for it. I've got the grace for the life I lead. For the situations I confront. For the people I deal with and for the problems I have in my life. And don't let my tears fool you, you may find me crying all the time but when I get through crying, I will be swinging on you, because I do have grace.
I wish I could talk to somebody in this church. High five somebody. Tell them, I've got grace for this. I've got grace for it. Somebody get excited about it. Somebody get glad about it. I've got grace for it. Tell somebody, I've got grace for it. I may not have money for it but I have grace for it. I may not have friends for it, but I have grace for it. I may not have a husband but I have grace for it. I may have a child that's sick, but I have grace for it. I've got grace.
One of my favorite scriptures I don't give it out often because it's in my private stash. I save it for when all hell is breaking loose in my life. I might... I might share it with you. I pull this out. When the devil has knocked my socks off. When I have periods when I don't want to get out of bed in the morning, I use this one. I might share with you. It says, as our days are, so shall thy strength be.
As thy days are, so shall thy strength be. That means, the tougher the day, the greater the strength. The harder the test, the greater the power. Ya'll don't hear what I'm saying to you. See, you don't use this on a good day. You have to save this for a bad day when all hell is breaking loose and you're scared to get out of bed. God said as my days are so shall thy strength be. In other words, I measured the day before I released the strength and I'm sure I gave you enough strength to get through whatever. That's my stuff right there. As our days are, so shall thy strength be.
Paul says therefore, therefore I glory. In tribulation. Because I'm starting to realize the tribulation is an indication of the grace I have to overcome the situation. Do you hear what I'm saying to you? He wouldn't let me go through it if he hadn't have qualified me to be able to handle it. I glory in tribulation. And I said, number three, he's overjoyed. How did he go from being overwhelmed and then prayed about it and he's overruled. And now he's overjoyed.
I thought I could only be overjoyed when I wasn't overruled. But he said, the seasoned saint knows how to be overjoyed in tribulation. The baby saint gets overjoyed when they come out of tribulation. But the seasoned saint gets overjoyed in tribulation. Why? How can I be happy that the? This? As bad as it is, as embarrassing as it is, as personal as it is, as traumatic as it is? Because he trusted you with trouble.
Because you passed enough test he knew you could handle it now. Because he was going to show up in your life in a way he never showed up before. Because he'll be glorified through the circumstances you endured. Because he'll increase your weight load, increase your strength, and yes, you may have more trouble but you'll have more glory, more anointing, more blessing, more wisdom, more power, more integrity, more strength, more tenacity, more fight, nor drive, more strength. I got to quit. I feel like preaching. Slap somebody and holler more.
I got to quit because I feel like preaching. Slap somebody and holler, more. More of this means more of that. So when you see all hell breaking loose, understand that the angels are coming from every direction. So as I close, you have to trust God. When he says NO. You have to trust God when you didn't get the job. You have to trust God when you didn't get the house. You have to trust God when your child didn't come home. You have to trust God when you close a casket. You have to trust God. When he says NO. That the tougher the day is, the greater the grace. The tougher the times are, the stronger the strength. The more tenacious the dilemma the more equipped the believer. Ya'll don't hear what I'm saying. You have to trust him that his grace is sufficient.
I'll close with pastor. I've known you the bigger part of my life, I've seen you go through all kinds of hell. Remember you when you were thinking about getting married. Your first wife. I remember when she got sick. I remember when she suddenly died. I was there at the funeral. If you would have died when she died you would have never met Beverly. Every person has alike to die moment. Had eight eye surgeries almost went blind. Like to die. Kept on fighting. Came back. From the dead. You will win if you do not quit.
Now, you can get self help at the bookstore but sometimes self can help self. You can get motivation from a motivationalists but sometimes you cannot motivate when you need a miracle. You can get social sayings in the club the sorority the lodge, you can go on a cruise and socialize with people yours churches for more than socializing we do socialize and motivate, but it's more than that. We do encourage but it's more than that. What we give here that's unique for us is food for the soul. Fight for the fighter. Seed for the sower. It's bread for the eater. And for them that have no might, if you could just flip through the word of God you can tie a knot and hold on.
I'm going to do something different. I know I'll make the altar call right here. Open up the door of the church and go out. I'm going to ask you for something that's really hard to get from church people and I'll tell you why. It's really hard to get from church people because we have such an obligation to have it altogether. You know, I minister, I just came back from Australia, I'll be in London this weekend. I minister to all types of people. Sometimes in our cultural fiber we have this responsibility. Even though our pants are on fire. We smile.
One of the hardest things to get from church people is honesty. You can give them the word. You can get them to give and do anything except it meant something overwhelm me. I think we think it will make God look bad and we don't want to make God look bad while our britches burn up with gasoline.
I want to make an altar call to pray with people who liked to die. Overwhelmed. Overruled. And secretly wonder where is God? Don't you hear me screaming? Don't you know I'm tired? I know you got. It may not be everybody but I know God never gives me a message like this. If somebody doesn't need it. So just for this one Sunday I would like to talk to people about what to do when God says NO.
How do you find the strength to get out of bed every morning when all hell is breaking loose? And wipe your own tears out of your face. Because you got nobody else to wipe them but you? The reason I had to preach it and the reason you had to be here is because God wanted you to know that his grace is sufficient. That you can draw on him and get what you need to get through every day of your life, that he'll not allow the enemy to send anything into your life that's stronger than his power is upon your life to get you through this moment in your life. He wants you to know when he passes through the water he'll be there with you.
When you go through the fire he'll be there too. When you were crying in the night he wants you to know he cares about you. And he sent me to share this word. I have to catch a plane after this. I couldn't go on my flight until I brought this word to you. God's grace is sufficient for every test and every fear and every storm and every problem in your life.
Reach out and touch somebody. Even if I don't pray, I want you to touch them. I want you to touch them because your touching them is a sermon. Your touching them says you're not alone. You're not the only one. See, the person you're touching think they're the only one who goes through hell. The person you're touching thinks nobody knows what it's like to be them but them. When you reached out and touch them you broke through the darkness and loneliness and the emptiness and suddenly they recognized this is not all hell breaking loose. This is life. And this goes along with life. And when you touched them they recognize you're not alone.
Squeeze that hand. Because I can deal with it better if I'm not in this prison by myself. I can stand it better if I understand that somebody else made it out, I can make it out too. I feel the anointing of God moving up and down these aisles. Moving from person to person and I pray this prayer in the name of Jesus. That one at the end of their rope increase their strength. For that one about to faint, increase their might.
For that one who felt like they were about to die, revive their souls right now. Revive their faith right now. Revive their tenacity right now. God, I rebuke the darkness. I rebuke the demons. I rebuke the night. I rebuke depression. I rebuke suicide. I rebuke frustration. I rebuke it right now. I rebuke it in the name of Jesus. You will get out of here today. The power of God surrounds us. God be glorified in this place. I release peace. I release anointing. I release power. I release wisdom. I release patience. I release tenacity. We will not faint. We will not quit. We will not change. We will stand.