Stop Complaining | Enjoying Everyday Life | Joyce Meyer

We are always going to be tempted to complain. But will it help or hurt our situation? On this episode of Enjoying Everyday Life, Joyce Meyer shares wisdom to guide you in your decisions.

Joyce Meyer, one of the world’s leading practical Bible teachers and New York Times best-selling author, shares encouragement and advice to help us enjoy our daily lives.

With a heart to share Christ and love people, Joyce’s messages help people in all walks of life to grow in their faith, learn to study the Bible, find healing from the wounds of life, get answers to life’s questions and encounter the love of God in a powerful way.

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Let’s quit complaining about the stuff we choose to do because whatever you choose to do, there’s going to be a good part to it and there’s going to be a part to it that you don’t like.
Everything comes with privileges and benefits, but it comes with trials and tribulations.
I’m Joyce Meyer and I believe that God can heal you everywhere you hurt.
There’s a difference in saying something you need to say and just saying it over and over and over.
I heard the other day and I don’t know if it’s true or not, I hope it’s not, but that when you tell people your troubles, 80% don’t care and 20% think you deserve them.
And so, no matter who you are and no matter how much people love you, if you if you constantly or if I constantly have something to complain about, people just get to the point where they just don’t wanna be around us anymore.
Amen. Amen? How many of you don’t want people that just suck everything out of you all the time?
You’d like a few people that add some stuff to your life. Amen. Alright.
The next time you think something is always happening to me, remember that there’s something always happening to everybody, if you wanna know the truth.
But the least attention we pay to it, the more it aggravates the devil and the less it aggravates us.
I’m gonna say it again, the less attention we pay to it, the less attention we pay to it, the less we talk about it, the more it aggravates the devil and the less it aggravates you.
Amen.
The Bible says we should bring an offering or a sacrifice of praise.
So praise is seen to God as an offering, We offer up our praise and praise is simply a tale or a narration, it’s it’s a story about something good that God has done for you.
So, when we get together in our little groups, how about talking about the good things that God’s doing instead of just finding something to How many of you get are are just really up to here with listening to the world complain about everything everything everything?
I mean, they they you just hear that, it’s just like I’m at the point where I can’t stand it if I have to listen to any more complaining.
The 1 who, uh, Psalm 5023 says, the 1 who offers thanksgiving as His sacrifice glorifies me.
The 1 who orders his way aright, I will show my salvation.
Through Christ, let us constantly and at all times bring a sacrifice of praise.
Do we do we have any really thankful people?
See, I told you you didn’t need the message, it’s for somebody else, but how many of you find it pretty easy to complain?
Okay. Alright. How many of you think hearing the message today is gonna help you not to complain as much as you used to, at least for a day or 2?
My gosh, we should be so thankful.
I mean, you’re not going to hell.
Think about that.
You’re gonna live for eternity. Yes. Wow. And in God’s presence.
How awesome is that? Alright. Complinings of sin, numbers 21:4 through 7, the Israelites.
You know, it sounds pretty dumb to say that it took somebody 40 years to make an 11 day trip.
Doesn’t it? But I wonder how many of us maybe have been wandering around the same mountains for years years, instead of just going ahead and dealing with stuff and getting it over with.
Amen. I’m just so tired of gaining weight easy.
My metabolism’s so slow.
I wish I was 1 of those skinny people that could just eat everything I want and never gain a pound.
Well, you’re not. So just deal with it.
Amen? You know, we just need to, you know, just like I mean, there’s no point in me complaining about, well, I have to travel all the time in ministry and I get so tired of packing and unpacking and being in hotels.
If I want to do this, come on.
Let’s quit complaining about the stuff we choose to do because whatever you choose to do, there’s going to be a good part to it and there’s going to be a part to it that you don’t like.
Everything comes with privileges and benefits but it comes with trials and tribulations. Amen?
If you think it’s hard to be single, wait till you get married.
Amen? Amen.
If you’re single, you don’t have to ask anybody if you can stop and get something to eat on the way home.
You can go anywhere you wanna go and do anything you wanna do.
Now, I love being married, but I’m just saying that, you know, you can crab because you’re single, but I can promise you when you get married, you’re gonna crab about that too.
Amen? Amen. Pray for me that I can stop complaining, will you?
Just pray for me and I’ll pray for you that we can just stop complaining and murmuring and You know that’s complaining.
You do that, you’re just like Life is just so hard.
I mean, give me a break, my air conditioner was out when we came back from a trip recently, the air conditioning in my bedroom.
Now, never mind that I have 2 other bedrooms that nobody uses that I could go sleep in.
The bed the it was out in my bedroom, and I was gonna be inconvenienced, and I didn’t like it.
And then Dave and I spent some time talking about when we were growing up, and you didn’t even have a fan.
Come on, you can talk yourself into a bad mood, but you can also talk yourself out of it.
Numbers 21.
4, from Mount Hor they set out by the way of the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom and the people became impatient on the way.
And the people spoke against God and against Moses, why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
There’s no food, no water and we hate this.
The ESV says worthless food, the amplified says light contemptible manna.
Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, and many of them died, actually 23, 000.
And they got a revelation. Imagine this.
And the people came to Moses and said, we have sinned.
Can we figure that out before we have to have a plague and, you know.
Live in a house full of thanksgiving and appreciation.
Come on. Appreciate what you have, appreciate the people in your life, don’t just see what all you can find wrong with them, appreciate the stuff you like.
I did a little complaining this morning, hate to say that since I was teaching about not complaining, but my husband likes to fix my hair.
Not like the whole thing, but you know.
But I have a cowlick right back here and my hair likes to go 2 different ways, and so it’s quite a chore to, you know, get it all to where it doesn’t look like I have the party in the Red Sea in the back of my head.
And so, Dave, always Let me check your hair.
Well, he’s a real patient person and I’m a little more toward just do it and get it over with.
And so, he takes this little comb, this little pick comb and he picks every hair.
Pulls it in the right direction.
And then, you know, of course by then I’m getting fidgety, and and I’m like, okay, it’s good enough, it’s good enough.
He’s like, be still. Then I’ll say, well, your hair sticks up in the back?
Isn’t that the way we are?
If we don’t like something then immediately we turn it back on the other person.
Well, well, your hair is not perfect either, why do I have to stand here while you fix my hair?
See, now you’re you’re into the personal stuff, you know what we go through.
And the Lord sent fiery burning serpents, and they bit the people and they said, we have sinned.
My, imagine that. Pray to the Lord that he’ll take away the serpents, so Moses prayed for the people.
Now, that account in numbers 21 is repeated in first Corinthians and it actually says in 1st Corinthians that these things are recorded, Paul said, these things are recorded for your edification that you may not do what they did.
Come on.
So it says, we should not tempt the Lord and try His patience.
So let’s just end here with a few questions.
Are you content most of the time?
You know, obviously, the people who are are quick to say yes, but I didn’t hear 1 no.
And I’m sure there’s some out there.
Paul said, I’ve learned to be content.
He didn’t say he started out that way, he said he’s learned it.
And you know what I think 1 of the 1 of the ways we learn it is it just is absolutely useless to complain.
We get answers from God by praying, not by complaining.
And when we pray and then complain, which we do, you know, we’ll pray in our prayer time in the morning.
Oh, God, help me with this, help me with that, help me, help me, help me.
Go to lunch with sister Brown in the afternoon and complain about everything that we just prayed about that morning.
Are you a high are you a high maintenance person?
At least I got 1 laugh.
You know, my favorite employees are the ones that I call low maintenance.
They come to work, they get there on time.
They do their job, they go to lunch, they get back on time.
They do their job. They follow the guidelines. They go home.
They come back the next day, they do it again.
I love people that don’t always have something else that they have to have to be happy.
Can anybody give God a praise?
You won’t like this, but I’ll read it anyway.
Luke 314, soldiers asked him, Jesus, and what shall we do?
And he said, well don’t exhort don’t extort money from anybody by threats or by false accusations and be content with your wages.
I think that was the same guy that laughed before.
I have 1 person out of these 1, 000 that think I’m funny.
Now, James 5:9 says, do not grumble against 1 another.
Did anybody feel that ouch?
Do not grumble against 1 another so that you may not be judged.
Don’t complain, now this is just for me, a gift from me to you.
Don’t complain about something that you’re not willing to do anything about.
Like your schedule.
God told me 1 time you made your schedule, if you don’t like it, change it.
If you think you’re too busy, then start saying no to some things.
Don’t complain about how tired you are if you’re not gonna readjust your life so you can get more rest.
I’m a turn my back when I say this 1.
There’s less people back here to get mad at me, so don’t complain about being overweight if you’re gonna keep overeating.
4 minutes left, and I’m gone.
Don’t complain about being in debt if you’re just gonna keep spending money.
How many of you agree with that?
What’s the point in complaining about something that we don’t intend to do anything about?
Do you know how many of our own problems we could fix if we just would?
Alright. 1 more scripture and I’ll blow you a kiss.
Don’t have a complaint without a vision to fix it.
Habakkuk went to God with a complaint, and God said get a vision and write it down plainly so that everybody who passes by might see it.
I love that. I’m gonna read this, Habakkuk 212.
I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower and look out to see what He will say to me and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
So, he went to God with a complaint and the Lord answered, write the vision, make it plain on a tablet, so that he who runs by may read it.
If you’ve got a complaint in your life, then get a vision about how you can fix it.
If you don’t have any time to ever do anything and you’re just running around all the time frustrated, then get a vision, sit down and look at what you’re doing and what you’re doing with your time and see what you’re doing that’s just not bearing any fruit at all or how many things you’re involved in that God never told you to get involved in, that that you’re doing for totally the wrong reasons just because you don’t want somebody else to get mad or, you know, you’re just doing it.
You don’t even know why you’re doing it or was something you maybe was supposed to do at 1 time and God got finished with it years ago and you’re still doing it.
You know, there’s a rule if the horse has been dead 10 years it’s time to dismount.
You don’t you don’t just keep trying to do the same thing over and over if it’s not working.
Get a vision. If you’re in debt and it’s putting a lot of pressure on you, figure out how you can get the bills paid off, see what you can do without for a period of time, so you can put extra money on those bills and and get out of debt.
Don’t just stay in debt and keep complaining all the time. Amen? Amen.
So don’t have a complaint if you don’t have a vision to get it fixed.
God wants all of us to be happy.
Nehemiah had a complaint about the broken down walls, so he got a vision and a plan to fix them.
Martin Luther King had a complaint about racism and he had a vision to end it. Come on.
And, lastly, let me just remind you again, if you’re gonna complain about something, then don’t bother to pray about it.
I’m a tell you a real quick story.
A group of, uh, pastors that I know went fishing off the, uh, in the ocean, night fishing in the ocean off the coast of California, and, um, they hit a a reef and had a pretty major boat accident, and all of them really got hurt.
They were Some of them were in really, really bad shape.
And they managed to radio the coast guard and when the coast guard got there, which I guess this is a rule of the sea, they said, permission to come aboard, sir.
And, that that’s interesting, here they were bleeding and damaged and and their lives were in a mess at that point and they desperately needed help like people who are without Christ.
Desperate, they need all kinds of help, they’re bleeding inside, they’ve got broken hearts, and and yet, Jesus won’t come on board without getting permission.
And so, I think today Jesus is saying to some people permission to come on board, sir.
Permission to come on board, ma’am. And you know what? It’s really simple.
God loves you. No matter how big of a stinker you’ve been, God loves you, and there’s there’s no pit so deep that he can’t reach down in it and get you out, and he wants to do something wonderful with your life.
It’s not too late for you, and there’s no amount of sin that can’t be forgiven, but you have to be willing to do 1 thing and that is say that you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you believe that He did indeed take your sin upon Himself, He died for you in your place, your sins are forgiven if you’ll receive it, and make a decision that you wanna turn away from sin.
Repentance does not just mean I’m sorry for my sin, but it means I wanna turn away from it and I wanna turn toward God and live a whole brand new life.
Amen? Now, I I’m gonna be very honest with you, Being a Christian is much much better than being a sinner, but it’s not just easy.
You know, if you’re gonna turn away from sin and and learn how to live new, it’s gonna take studying the word, probably getting some new friends, you need to get in a good church atmosphere where you can be with other people who care about you and love you.
None of those things have anything to do with your salvation, you’re saved because you believe.
But if you wanna grow and enjoy the life that Jesus died to give you, then there are gonna be some things that you will need to let God change in your life.
But the thing is is he’s patient, he never does anything when you’re not ready.
All I’m saying is if you’re gonna pray the prayer of salvation with me today, if you’re gonna surrender your life to Christ, then you’re taking step 1 in a very long journey.
And I want you to be ready for that and willing for that.
It’s not just about praying what we call the sinner’s prayer and then going on out and living the same way.
It’s about being willing to have a life change.
Who’s here today that you need to let Jesus be the Lord of your life?
You want to receive Him as your savior. Come on, nice and high. You wanna receive Him as your savior.
Maybe you say, well, Joyce, gosh, you know, I’m not even sure that I’m saved.
You know, there’s a lot of people that are just religious.
I mean, they’ve just gone they’ve gone to church and gone through the motions and, you know, they, they’re depending on those things.
Well, I go to church. Well, I mean, you know, you can go sit in a garage all day and that don’t make you a car.
I mean, just because you sit in a church that doesn’t mean you’re a Christian. Amen?
I mean, Christianity is opening up your life and saying I am a sinner, I am messed up, I need you, come and live inside of me, take my life and make me what you want me to be.
If that’s you and you want me to pray with you, I’m gonna ask you to do me a favor and just stand up right where you’re at.
We’re not gonna bring you down the front, I just want you to stand up.
Come on, if you meant business then stand up. Amen, amen.
Alright, come on all over the place, up in those balconies, that’s right, everywhere, everywhere where you’re at.
Come on, let’s have a revival here today and make the devil really mad. Amen?
Come on, okay.
Now listen, we’re gonna we’re gonna all pray this prayer with you and I didn’t ask you to stand up to embarrass you, but if you’re not willing to take a stand in here, there’s no way you’re gonna go out in the world and take 1.
So, I like to ask people to do it because it just kinda confirms for you that you’re saying look, I’m serious about this.
So, let’s pray. Father God, I love you. Jesus, I believe in you.
Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you died for me.
I’m sorry for my sins. I’m sorry for my sins.
I repent. I turn away from sin. I turn away from sin.
And I turn toward you. I believe. I believe. I receive you now Jesus.
To be my savior. To be my savior. To be my lord.
To be my friend. To be my friend. I give myself to you.
I give myself to you. Take me just the way I am. Take me just the way I am.
And now make me what you want me to be. Thank you.
I now believe that I’m saved. I now believe that I’m saved. My sins are forgiven.
My sins are forgiven. I’m on my way to heaven.
And I’m gonna enjoy the journey. I’m gonna enjoy the journey.
Come on, let’s give God praise for all these new souls today. Amen.
Bless you, bless you, bless you.
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