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Missions
When I was interviewed by Time magazine once, the interviewer asked me, “Does God want people to be rich?” I knew that simply saying yes or no would get me in trouble, so I explained it like this: “God wants His people to have everything they can handle and keep Him first in their lives, be a blessing to other people and keep a good attitude.”
He then said, “So you do believe God wants people to have possessions and material wealth.”
I said, “Yes, if they can handle it.”
So he challenged me with this question: “What do you tell the housewife whose husband has left her, she has three kids, the refrigerator is broken down, the car is broken down, and she doesn’t have your life? What do you tell her?”
I said, “I tell her to do the same thing I did: Don’t quit and don’t give up. Persevere and keep doing what God is telling you to do, and little by little, you will get where you want to be.”
We descend into a list of troubles a little bit at a time, not all at once. We get into messes in our lives through years of making bad choices. And we can’t expect to get our lives straightened out overnight.
Yes, God is a miracle-working God, and He can fix our problems in a moment if He wants to. But it usually doesn’t happen that way. It wouldn’t be good for us if He just waved a magic wand over us and fixed our messes instantaneously. If He did, we wouldn’t learn anything and would just do it all over again.
The way we get out of trouble is through learning how to make right choices. And if we make wise decisions and do what God tells us to do, we’ll have what He says we can have.
Now, the blessings are not just stuff. The world is full of people who have a lot of money, yet they’re miserable anyway. God wants to bless His children so we can have the abundant life Jesus died to give us and so we can be a blessing to others, not just so we can have stuff. Deuteronomy 30:19 has a simple message: Do what God tells you to do, and you’ll be blessed. Don’t do what He tells you to do, and you won’t be blessed. I want you to really hear what I’m saying: The promises of God are for “whosoever will,” and not just a select group of people. If you will obey God’s direction for your life and trust Him, you will have what God says you can have.
Whatever your mess is, be determined to do what’s right so you can see good results, no matter how long it takes. God is faithful to His Word. The key is being committed to obey God. And being committed requires diligence, perseverance, dedication, fortitude and patience.
Make up your mind that you can get out of the trouble you’re in. Your financial situation can be turned around. Your marriage can change and improve. You can have a healthy body. You can have peace and joy. You can have a great relationship with God.
This article is taken from Joyce's two-DVD set, Wisdom and the Blessed Life.