Joyce Meyer - God's Answer to Stress - Part 1

You know, I come from a background of being sexually abused by my father, that’s all I ever remember, so I was probably four or five years old. And just a lot of stuff, married the first guy that came along and he cheated on me, and so, I wanna encourage you no matter what has happened to you in the past, don’t be a victim. Don’t have that mentality, «Well, if only that wouldn’t have happened to me». Because to be honest, I used to think, «Well, if only I wouldn’t have been abused,» but look what God’s done with it. When you’re hurting, you’re getting experience to help somebody else that’s gonna come along that’s hurting. Amen?

So, if there’s anybody here today that thinks, «Because this happened to me, my life will never amount to anything». That is a lie from the devil. Because truly you can let go of what lies behind. God’s always had a good plan for you. And even though the devil tried to interrupt that, that doesn’t change God’s mind. You can do amazing things if you want to. You can be seated. I wanna start by telling you something funny. We get a little write up every time we go out of town, sometimes a big write up, telling us who we’re gonna eat with, what hotel, and all this and that and something else.

And so, they took us to a restaurant yesterday called Bog and Barley. And my husband read the write up wrong, and he thought we were eating with Bog and Barley. And he said, «These pastors' names are Bog and Barley»? And I said, «No». He said, «Well, that’s what it says here». Finally he got it straightened out. It didn’t say, we’re «Eating with Bog and Barley». It said, we’re «Eating at Bog and Barley». So, we have given pastor John, the name, Bog. And Leslie is now Bailey. So, if… Barley, not Bailey, Barley. Anyway, you know, make sure in your life that you laugh and have a good time because it makes the devil mad when you laugh. And it helps you.

Father, thank you for the word this morning. I pray that it will help people with something that we all have an issue with today and need your help.

«God’s answer for stress». You know, we live in a stressful world, don’t we? I mean, things are just, they’re so crazy. All you can do is just kind of shake your head. But I’m in the world and you’re in the world, but I live in Goshen. I don’t know where you live, but I live in Goshen. You see, when all of the plagues were coming on Europe, the Israelites all lived in a little place called Goshen. And none of the plagues affected them. None of 'em touched them. When the firstborn were all killed, that’s when Passover was instituted and they put the blood on their doorposts and the angel of death passed over them.

And I just wanna encourage you, we are, believe that we’re living in the last days. And if we are, what a privilege to be that generation that gets to be here when Jesus comes. But even if he doesn’t come, even if things are gonna get worse, you’re God’s child. And don’t… But we can play into the devil’s hands if we get into fear. And one of the things that we have a tremendous amount of today is stress. And in Daniel chapter 7, in the Amplified Bible, it says that «Satan will seek to wear out the saints». And you hear that: «I’m just worn out». «I’m tired». «I’m tired of life». «I’m tired of the government». «I’m», you know, «Tired of mean people».

You know, it’s easy to let yourself get weary. Just weary. Weary of going to work every day, weary of never quite having enough money, you know, just weary of mean, ignorant people that don’t know how to act decent. And weariness means exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness. Having one’s patience exhausted. We all understand that, don’t we? Having your tolerance for something exhausted. You know, sometimes we feel like we can put up with something for a while, but it’s like, «If you push me one more day, you are now on my last nerve, so you better stop it». But you know, God doesn’t want us to live stressed out, and he’s made a way for us to live in peace. But now, listen to what I’m going to say. «We have to do our part».

And that’s what I want to talk to you about today, about maybe deciding to make a few changes in your life that may take away some of that stress. Because if you’re like me at all, I spent a long time praying for God to change my circumstances, change the people around me. And I finally figured out that that wasn’t going to happen, and that I was the one that was going to have to change. And, sometimes, just changing your attitude toward the way things are. You know, maybe you don’t like your job so much, but maybe you could change your attitude and be happy you have a job. You know? And if you’re really unhappy there, look for another one. Don’t work somewhere all your life that you hate. «I hate my job, I hate my job, I hate my job». No. Find something that you like to do, even if you make a little less money.

It’s better to be happy and to enjoy what you’re doing than it is to have a large bank account. Having a good attitude can make all the difference in the world in your life. And maybe there’s ten of you here today that you came just to hear that. Maybe you came in here this morning just to get a little attitude adjustment. I have a little spiritual screwdriver that just adjusts people’s attitude. Because believe me, I need mine adjusted plenty. But I talk to myself sometimes, and I’ll say to myself, «Alright Joyce, knock it off. Just straighten up. Everybody has trouble. Don’t sit around and feel sorry for yourself because you got a problem». Anybody here ever get into self-pity? One of the reasons why we get stressed out is because we’re too proud to ask for help.

In Exodus 17:12, when Moses' hands grew tired, as long as he was standing with his hands up in worship, they were winning the battle. But if he put his hands down, they started to lose. Well, he had his hands up so long that it was wearing him out. And it says, «When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up», don’t you love the people that hold your hands up? Some of the people that I appreciate the most are the ones you never see. The people behind the scenes. The girl that does my laundry. The man that takes care of the repairs on our house. All the people that make it possible for me to do this.

And we all need help. I don’t care who you are or how strong you are, everybody has got a ceiling. Everybody has a place where they have to eventually say, «I can’t do anymore». And if you won’t say that, you’ll end up falling apart from stress. Do not be too prideful to ask for help. All the people were coming to Moses at another time. He said, «Why do you sit here alone»? He said, «Well, the people come to me». Well, see, you’ve got to learn to understand… And this was a hard one for me, you gotta learn to say, «No». I just made a decision in the last two days. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I was in Dallas and I worked really hard those three days. I’ve got a new book coming out in the fall called «What about me»? The little robot book. Because people are so selfish and self-centered.

And you know, that’s the root of all the problems in our society. That selfishness tends toward greed, and then greed makes people dishonest. And then they start really not caring about each other except for what they can get out of one another. And it’s all the root cause of selfishness. And so, I was there at TBN and Daystar doing stuff for my book in the fall. And when I came home the next morning, I was so tired. I hardly knew what my name was. I’m not 20 anymore. I’m 81. And so, in order for me to keep doing what I’m doing, which I fully intend to do, I have to manage my life well. And so, I knew I was coming here. And I normally don’t do that much in one week, but it’s just the way it fell this time. I knew I was coming here, so I knew that I needed to rest those two days. But on Thursday morning, I started getting text messages, phone calls, people asking me for dates, people asking questions.

So, by noon, I’m almost starting to get mad at everybody. «Why don’t you leave me alone»? Well, see, here’s the thing we have to realize. We really, honestly, don’t have to take every phone call that comes in. And I have never done this in all these years, but I made a decision. When I come back and I’m tired, I am gonna go on phone silence for at least the first half of the day because the thing that restores me more than anything is quiet. Just to be somewhere and just be quiet. And I’m glad my voice wants to act stupid this morning. And every text that comes in, you don’t have to answer people right away. You know, if it’s important, you can answer it. But you have to protect yourself is what I’m trying to say. You don’t have to be available for everybody in the world that wants you to be available for them.

We get into people pleasing and we wanna do everything that everybody wants us to do. And the problem is, is everybody wants you to do something else. And it’s all what’s gonna make their life better. And some of you are so tired and so worn out. And if you let yourself get too tired, it starts making you think goofy. You start getting mad at people, you get cranky, you get crabby, you lose your gratitude, attitude, which we need to have all the time. And believe me, I’ve been through all that. I’ve worked so hard. I’ve made myself sick, I don’t know how many times and I finally had to make a decision for me because I want to keep doing what I’m doing until Jesus takes me home because I believe it’s helping people. But I have to manage the rest of my life well in order to do that.

Jesus died that you might enjoy your life. It’s what it says in John 10, «The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy, but I came that you might have and enjoy your life». Have and enjoy your… Not just survive, not just barely get by, not just make it through each day, not wake up in the morning dreading the day. And so, I think today should be a day of decision making. Do you have a balance between work, rest, play, and worship? 1 Peter 5:8, very interesting scripture in the Amplified Bible. It says, «Be well balanced for your adversary, the devil, roams about like a lion roaring in fierce hunger, seeking whom he may devour».

So, he’s basically saying that if we’re out of balance, it opens a door for the enemy to get into our lives. And do you know that keeping your priorities straight and maintaining balance is something that you have to do on a regular basis? One of the questions that people always wanna ask me in an interview is, «How do you keep your priorities straight with everything that you’ve got going on»? And one day I heard myself saying, «Well, I’m always straightening them out». You don’t just make a decision and they stay straight because there’s always stuff coming at you that tries to get you to change it and satan will try to get you out of balance. And some of you desperately need to hear this today, not to be offensive, but just to tell the truth. «You have to keep God first in your life».

And you know, sometimes who is the most guilty about not doing that is people in ministry. You know why? Because we think working for God is equivalent to spending time with God and it’s not. One morning I was going to work at my job that I had at the church and I just felt so proud of myself because I was working for God and the Lord spoke to me and he said, «You’re so proud of yourself that you work for me. But the only problem is, Joyce, you’re not spending any time with me». And see, I found out that before I study to get a message for you, I’ve got to study to get a message for me. Because if I’m messed up, what do I have to give you?

And you know, you hear preachers probably say all the time, «Start your day with God,» but I’m gonna tell you the best habit that you can form is to spend the first part of your morning, even if you can only manage five minutes, which I hope you can manage more than that, but start by saying, «Good morning to God. I love you. Thank you for loving me. Help me with everything I do today». Psalm 17:15, such a beautiful scripture. It says, «I shall be fully satisfied when I awake to find myself beholding your form and having sweet communion with you». Isn’t that beautiful? «I will be fully satisfied when I wake up thinking about you. When I wake up and you’re the first thing on my mind». I love that. «Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you».

So, I get up every morning. I get my coffee. I’ll tell you, caffeine is great until the anointing kicks in. So, I hope Jesus likes coffee because we have it every morning. So anyway, back to Moses, he was getting weary because everybody that came to him, he felt like he needed to do what they wanted him to do. And God said, «You’re going to wear out yourself and all these people coming to you. You need to appoint other men of wisdom and experience and let them help you». Say, «I need help». People that are proud don’t know how to do that. I want you to close your eyes and listen to this scripture.

Isaiah 40:28–31. «Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall», in other words, no matter how young you are, you still need God just as much as somebody old.

«But those who wait or hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on wings like eagles: they will run and not be weary, they shall walk and they shall not faint». You can open your eyes now. Watchman Nee, a wonderful Chinese minister who’s no longer on this earth said, «The world is indeed a worrisome place». I wanna read you a couple of things out of his book in just a minute. But I love what David said in the Psalms. You know why I like the Psalms? David was so honest with God. I mean, there was no phoniness about him. You know, it’s interesting with Christians. We’re always fine.

I preached a sermon on that recently, then quit lying. You are not always fine. Nobody can always be fine. «How are you»? «I’m fine». «How are you»? «I’m fine». I mean, if you got a headache, why not say, «You know, I’m doing good in the Lord, but I’ve got a headache and I’m praying that he’ll heal me today». Why can’t we just tell the truth? David told the truth. Somehow or another we Christians get the idea that we have to be strong all the time in everything and never let on like anything’s wrong. «I’m fine. Praise the Lord. I’m fine».

David said, in Psalm 38:8, «I am faint and sorely bruised [deadly cold and quite worn out]», I love that. Let me read it again. «I am faint and sorely bruised [deadly cold and quite worn out]: I groan by reason of the disquiet and the moaning of my heart». David always told it exactly the way it was, but at the end of every Psalm, he always goes right back to, «But I will put my trust in you, but I will put my trust in you».

I did a yearly devotional on the Psalms and that’s the biggest thing that I got out of it. David was always very honest with God about how he felt. Even if he felt like «God, why are you not delivering me? Are you gonna let my enemies take advantage over me»? He was always, told God exactly how he felt, but then he always got right back to, «But I will put my trust in you, but I will put my trust in the Lord».

Now, God’s answer for stress is rest, but it’s not just resting your body, it’s resting your soul. And I wanna encourage you to start paying more attention to what’s going on inside you, because that’s where you get tired. Do you know that a day of anger is like 40 hours of hard labor? Unforgiveness will just suck all the energy right out of you. Don’t be mad. Don’t be unforgiving. The people that you’re mad at are out having a good time and they couldn’t care less that you’re mad. You’re not hurting them by being mad at them or by not forgiving them. It’s just the devil’s way of you continuing to hurt yourself.