Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions (28 page)

“But refuse (shut your mind against, have nothing to do with) trifling (ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings, for you know that they foster strife and breed quarrels” (2 Tim. 2:23). Shut your mind to gossip, slander, and to the idea that someone with an opinion different from yours must be wrong, and to other unedifying thoughts that will lead to strife. Fix your mind on things that are worthy: love, kindness, thinking the best about people, grace, mercy, and other edifying thoughts that are found in the Word of God (see Phil. 4:8).

I
n some instances I think we need to open our minds. I think we should be single-minded (focused on the will of God), but not narrow-minded (unwilling to be open to new teachings).

There is a man in the Bible, in John 1:45–51, who Jesus had some very complimentary things to say about. His name is Nathanael. When we first meet Nathanael, Philip tells him that they’d found the Messiah and he was Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (v. 46). He was saying that he
knew
what the people were like in Nazareth and no Messiah would be born of that
stock. To which Philip tells him simply, “Come and see!” (v. 46). In other words, don’t make a judgment before you’ve seen for yourself. So Nathanael went to see (v. 47).

God showed me that one of the reasons Jesus liked Nathanael so much was because even though he had a preconceived opinion that nothing good could come out of Nazareth, especially not the Savior, he was open-minded enough and humble enough to at least go see. I think a lot of people would get a lot further in their walk with God if they wouldn’t have so many preconceived ideas. What we all
really
need is to believe the Word of God.

You should read your Bible and see what it says. Be open to letting God teach you and to learning. It’s amazing what we could learn from God and other people He places in our paths if we didn’t already think we knew it all.

T
ake a look at the verse above from the book of Job. I don’t think this Scripture means that every time you have a fearful thought in your mind, the thing you fear is going to happen. But if you get a great
fear in your life and it’s something you meditate on over and over and you begin to speak it, you are putting yourself in danger of opening a door to have that thing in your life. Not just you, but me, too. We need to be very careful about our thoughts and our words, and we need to keep our minds set in the right direction. The only acceptable thought about fear a Christian can have is,
I will not fear because God is with me.

If you have a problem with fear, with excessive timidity, with cowardice, even with extreme shyness, you will have to work at combating those things and choose instead to have faith. I think there are some things that people accept as their personality when really it’s just the devil trying to take advantage of them. There are people who are more naturally bold and some who are more naturally shy than others, but if you are so shy that you can’t participate in life and you won’t speak your heart or your mind even when you know God is trying to get you to, then it’s time for you to come against that thing and say,
“No, that’s not the real me. That’s not the way God wants me to be. That’s not the way He created me to be
.”

From cover to cover, I can show you in God’s Word that He wants us to be bold and courageous, and He wants us to be confrontational when we need to be confrontational. He wants us to take new ground. He doesn’t want us to be afraid of the enemy. He wants us to exercise authority, and He wants us to do great things in our lives. Be bold and courageous and fear not, for God is with you.

I
f I get off track, it helps me get things straightened out in my life when I go back to Romans 14:23 and I say,
“You know what, Joyce, this attitude you’ve got—how you see yourself—is not faith, and thus it is sin and does not bring glory to God
.”

I think one of our biggest problems is that we battle with seeing ourselves properly. We have to learn to see ourselves, not in ourselves, but
in Christ
. The number one need that we have is to know God. And the number two need we have is to know who we are in Christ. Until I began to know who I was in Christ, meaning that until I began to believe what the Bible said about me rather than the way I felt or the way I thought or what other people said about me, my life wasn’t going forward. Once I began to know who I was in Christ, everything changed. Now I don’t care what I think; if it doesn’t line up with the Word of God, then I’m wrong. And I don’t care what I feel; if it doesn’t line up with the Word of God, then what I feel is wrong.

We have to make a decision that we are going to see what God says about us: He says that you have gifts and talents and abilities; you are capable; anything He asks you to do you can do; you are strong in the Lord and not weak; you are forgiven; and on and on and on. It has to be more than just someone preaching that to you, however. You have to meditate and study and read it until you believe it. When you can differentiate between who you are in the flesh and who you are in Christ, things start to get really, really, really good.

W
hen Dave and I got married, I was a nightmare to get along with. I just wanted to stay in control because I thought that was the only way I could keep from being hurt. Plus I have a pretty aggressive personality to begin with, so that combined with a lot of dysfunction in my background did not make me a very nice woman.

Dave, on the other hand, is a real peace-lover and very easy to get along with. For a lot of years, he went about being happy and didn’t really say too much to me while I acted badly. I believe God gave him extra patience with me because He knew the hurt I had in my life. Sometimes God calls us to put up with some things for a while, while we are praying and waiting on Him. To be honest, if Dave had confronted me in the first month we were married I would have just left him because I didn’t know any better. So there was a purpose in God not asking him to confront me right away. But you need to confront when God tells you to.

After a few years, God showed Dave it was time to confront me. Dave explained to me,
“God has dealt with me that I can no longer let you get by with talking to me the way you do and acting the way you do. You’re not going to get everything your way, and things must change.”
And they did. It took time, but little by little, I changed.

I was very angry when Dave confronted me. But by then I was loved by Jesus enough and I knew enough of His Word to know that Dave was
right—I knew that my behavior was wrong—but if he would have never confronted me, even though I knew that it was wrong, I don’t know if I would have ever changed. So sometimes you are not doing somebody else a favor by not confronting them. It was the right thing for Dave to do for me. And even though I didn’t like it and I got mad, Dave was right to listen to God. And we are doing the work we do today because of it.

A
nytime I talk about fear, I think back to my first really sizable speaking engagement. I actually got to stand in front of what would now be a small group of people, but then looked like a million people to me. One of the workshop leaders for this event canceled and because somebody knew somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody who knew me—I was asked to speak at the event. I was not their first choice, but God opened a door of opportunity and I gladly took it.

On opening night all of the speakers were sitting together. It was Dr. So-and-So, and Bishop So-and-So, and Reverend So-and-So, and Joyce. The devil was screaming in my ears,
“What are you doing here?! Why don’t you go back to Fenton where you came from? You are going to make a fool out of yourself!”
I listened so much to what the devil was telling me that when it was my time to go up front and introduce myself and tell everybody what my workshop was going to be about, all I got out was a
squeak. I was so scared; I was a mess. And I’m not even a really fearful person! But I let the fearful thoughts in.

Think about how much calmer you can be by just stopping your thinking about some of the things you’re thinking about. If you believe you’re doing what God wants you to do, then just do it. Now I just show up and trust God. Recently I spoke to nearly half a million people in India and I wasn’t nervous at all. It gets easier when you have more experience trusting God; there is no doubt about that.

I remember having to make a decision the night of that first speaking engagement, to either open my mouth and try again or to run. Obviously, I tried again because here we are. What makes me sad is wondering how many people never try again.

T
he Scripture above says there was “no way” to get through the crowds to Jesus… but with God there is always a way, and these men did not give up until they found it! Have you ever faced a situation and said, “There is ‘
no way’
…”? Maybe some of these thoughts have weighed on your mind:

• There is no way I can handle the pressure at work.
  
• There is no way I can pay my bills at the end of the month.
  
• There is no way to save my marriage.
  
• There is no way my children will ever grow up to be responsible adults.
  
• There is no way I can lose the weight I need to lose.
  

I want you to know there is
always
a way. It may not be easy; it may not be convenient; it may not come quickly. You may have to go over, under, around, or through, but if you will simply refuse to give up, you
will
find a way.

I know a young woman who was once working at a job she did not particularly like and was single but wanting to be married. Within one month she became engaged and was hired for her dream job. She had waited for what seemed an eternity before this time, but at the right time God made a way.

God has a plan for you and He has heard your prayers; you may not realize how close you are to your breakthrough. Even if you have to wait three, four, or five more years, if you will keep pressing on, you will have the victory you need. Whatever you do, do not give up on the brink of your breakthrough. Do not stop hoping, believing, and trying. Instead, say,
“I will never quit; I will never give up; I will never say, ‘No way.’ ”

Y
ears ago my oldest son, David, and I were so much alike we could hardly stand each other. He worked in the ministry, and the two of us clashed so intensely, I finally decided to tell him to find another job. I did not want to let him go and hurt him, but I did not believe I could endure the conflict that characterized our relationship. I planned to let him know his presence in the ministry simply was not working, but God spoke to my heart:
“Don’t give up on David
.”