Stability

In the early years of my adult life, I was a very unhappy person. I
was controlled by mood swings and wrong thinking. And because I had negative thoughts, I also spoke negative words out of my mouth.

To be honest, it had a lot to do with how I grew up—my father could be very controlling, manipulative, and hard to get along with. As a result, when my husband, Dave, did something I didn’t like, I would throw fits and do whatever I had to do in order to get my way.

Although I was a Christian, my mind, emotions, and behavior were still all over the place. My moods went up and own, and no one I lived with never quite knew what to expect.

On several occasions—when I didn’t get my way and decided to have a “pity party”—I went to the bathroom in the back of the house. It was the darkest, tiniest, most pathetic place I could go! I’d get on the floor and start sobbing, saying, “God, I don’t know how much longer I can put up with Dave. If You don’t change him, I just don’t know how I can go on.”

It was so pathetic! Even worse, after I cried for a while, I would stand up and look in the mirror so I could see the mascara running down my face…and I would begin crying all over again.

Have you been there? Have you ever ridden an emotional rollercoaster until it absolutely jumped off the tracks and derailed?

During this period of time, I was believing God to do big things in my life. He had put a big vision in my heart for this ministry, and I wanted to see it all come to pass. However, I learned firsthand that before we can operate in our full potential, we will need to grow and mature in various areas of our lives.

One of the greatest things we can do is cooperate with God to become stable through the power of His Holy Spirit. Stability releases ability.

On one particular occasion, during one of my fits when I was sitting on the bathroom floor, I remember the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart. He said, “Joyce, what are doing? You look ridiculous. You have a call on your life to teach the Word and help people all over the world, and here you are on the bathroom floor crying your eyes out because your husband is watching a football game.”

In order to do what God was calling me to do, I needed to get over myself and learn how to put my trust in Him. Some of you need that lesson too.

You’re Called to Do Something Great

I think we sometimes look too much at ourselves, our weaknesses and where we came from. The truth is, God wants to do great things in our lives despite all of that, and He desires for us to believe it.

Do you know I came very close to failing English when I was in school? My being able to communicate with a large part of the world every day through TV, radio and all kinds of other media is a complete gift from God. When I think back to where I started in life, I can’t help but be amazed at what He’s done for me!

I can’t begin to explain the fear and the tension I grew up in. My father was extremely abusive, and my mother wasn’t aggressive enough to confront him—even when it came to the sexual abuse.

I remember her coming in the room one day, catching him doing awful things to me; she just turned around and walked out of the house. About three hours later she came back and never spoke a word about it. So, I felt not only abused by my father, but abandoned by my mother.

One night, as I lay in bed, the thought came to me, Someday I’m going to do something great. I believe God put that in me.

When the Spirit of God comes to live in us, He brings a power of greatness to lift us up and let us know that through Him, our lives can be valuable…regardless of what has happened to us.

The Lord has great things in store for every single one of us. He has a unique, amazing plan for your life that only you can fulfill. You are called to greatness…but you have to believe it.

Get rid of your old, small thinking and begin to think according to God’s Word.

What, Exactly, Does the Word Say?

Psalm 91:1-2 (AMPC) says, He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty.... I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!

Whatever problems you’re facing, don’t even try to solve them yourself. Learn how to put your confidence in God because He is your Deliverer.

Philippians 1:28 (AMPC): ...Do not [for a moment] be frightened or intimidated in anything by your opponents and adversaries, for such [constancy and fearlessness] will be a clear sign (proof and seal) to them of [their impending] destruction....

Did you get that? The enemy can’t intimidate you unless you let him.

We need to take ownership of our authority in Christ. And we need to resist the enemy at his onset before those sinking feelings start to develop and take root (see 1 Peter 5:9).

You’re going to have plenty of opportunities on any given day to get upset or offended, to lose your peace, to say something really stupid, to think a bunch of negative thoughts. But you can choose not to. You can choose to trust God.

The Best Blessing Is to Be Confident in Christ

Really, you have to be an example to the people in your life who are unhappy. And you can do that just by being stable and happy around them, knowing who you are in Christ. It’s one of the greatest witnesses you can have, because when you’re stable, others feel like they can depend on you.

The reason we love Jesus is because He’s our Rock. He’s always stable...always the same...always loving us...always in a good mood...always positive. And we cling to Him.

To be a witness for Him, we need to think right, talk right and not let those moods and attitudes control us. The Bible tells us that the Lord will allow and even arrange difficult situations in our life until we learn to be calm in the days of adversity.

Don’t make plans to get upset if things don’t happen the way you expect them to. Have a little meeting with yourself and think some things over. Set your mind concerning how you’re going to behave.

You don’t have to feel good about blessing somebody who hurt you. You don’t have to feel like forgiving somebody to forgive them. You don’t have to feel nice to be nice. But you can do it by choice. You just go and do it out of respect and obedience to God.

If you can keep your eyes focused on Him, He will do His job and contend for you.