The Scripture says, “Rain falls on the just and on the unjust.” No matter
how good a person you are, there’s going to be some rain in your life.
Being a person of faith doesn’t exempt you from difficulties. Jesus told a
parable about a wise man who built his house on a rock. This man
honored God. Another man foolishly built his house on the sand. He
didn’t honor God. Then the rain descended, the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat on the houses. What’s interesting is that the same
storm came to both people, the just and the unjust. If the story stopped
there, you’d think that it doesn’t make a difference whether we honor
God or not. “The same thing happens to me that happens to everyone
else. I built my house on the rock, and yet I’m in this storm. I got a bad
medical report, my child is off course, and I lost my biggest client.” But
that’s not the end of the story. If you judge it too soon, it will seem as
though faith doesn’t make a difference.
Jesus went on to tell that after the storm was over, the house built on
the rock was still standing. The house built on the sand collapsed and was
completely ruined. The difference is that when you honor God, the storms
may come, but you have a promise that the others don’t have—when it’s
all said and done, you’ll still be standing. In tough times you have to
remind yourself, “This is not the end. My house is built on the rock. The
enemy doesn’t have the final say; God does, and He says that when it’s
all over, I’ll still be standing.” You may get knocked down, but you
won’t get knocked out. You may suffer a setback and have to go through
some dark, stormy times, but don’t get discouraged or bitter—that’s just a
part of life. It rains on everybody. If you’ll stay in faith, you have God’s
promise that when the smoke clears, when the dust settles, you won’t be
the victim, you’ll be the victor. You’ll still be standing.
All of us can look back and see things that should have defeated us.
You may have gone through a divorce or a breakup that could have given
you a nervous breakdown, but look at you—you’re still standing, still
happy, restored, and whole. That’s the goodness of God. That addiction,
all that partying, should have killed you, but because of your praying
mother, you’re still standing—clean, sober, and free. The medical report
said you were done, that sickness would end your life, but God said, “I
have another report. It’s not over. You’re still standing.” Maybe you lost
a loved one and didn’t think you could go on, believing your best days
were over; but God breathed new life into you, lifted you out of the pit,
put a new song in your heart, and here you are still standing. You’ve been
through some difficult, dark places, but you’ve also seen the goodness of
God. You’ve seen Him lift you, restore you, heal you, and protect you.
When you have this history with God, and you remember what He’s
done, you don’t get discouraged by every difficulty, you don’t get upset
when people talk negatively about you, and you don’t fall apart when you
have a disappointment. You know that God brought you through the
darkness in the past, and He’ll bring you through in the future.
You Have Bounce-Back
About a year after I took over as pastor from my father, I heard that a
couple who had been longtime members was going to leave the church.
They didn’t like the direction I was taking it in. I was young and doing
my best, and the last thing I wanted was to lose any members, let alone
longtime members. When I heard that, my first thought was, Oh man, I
can’t believe this is happening. I was tempted to get down and
discouraged, but then something rose up in me. I thought to myself, I
made it through the death of my father. I went through my darkest hour
and here I am, still standing. I can make it through their leaving. I made
it through my mother’s having terminal cancer. I made it through a threeand-half-year lawsuit to get this building. I made it through the critics
who said that I couldn’t minister. I made it through my own thoughts
telling me that I wasn’t qualified. If I can make it through all that, I can
make it without that couple’s being here. I heard God saying right down
in my heart, “Joel, don’t worry. They may leave, but I’m not going to
leave. When it’s all said and done, just like all those other times, you’ll
still be standing.”
If you are going through a difficult time, you need to look back and
remember what God has done. He made a way when you didn’t see a
way, and He opened doors that you could never have opened. He put you
at the right place at the right time. He vindicated and restored you. He did
it for you in the past, and He’ll do it for you again. Your house is built on
the rock. You have the promise that no matter what comes your way,
when the storm is over, when the trouble passes, when the opposition
ceases, one thing you can count on is that you’ll still be standing. You
have the DNA of Almighty God. You may get knocked down, you may
have a setback, but you’re not going to stay down. There’s something in
your DNA that says, “Get back up again. That’s not where you belong.
You’re a child of the Most High God.”
We had a hurricane in Houston a few years ago. All kinds of trees
were blown down. Huge oaks that were four or five feet around and
looked as sturdy as can be were no match for winds of one hundred miles
per hour. Pine trees over a hundred feet tall were lying in yard after yard.
Big trees, small trees, oaks, pines, elms, and magnolias—none of them
could withstand the hurricane-force winds. There was only one type of
tree that I noticed wasn’t blown down—the palm tree. It’s because God
designed the palm tree to withstand the storms. Unlike most other trees,
the palm tree is able to bend so it will not break. A certain kind of palm
can bend over until the top is almost touching the ground. During a
hurricane, it may stay all bent over for three or four hours. It looks as
though it’s done, as though it’s finished. I can imagine that hurricane
huffing and puffing, thinking, I may not be able to blow you down like I
can the oaks and the pines, but at least I can cause you to be all bent
over. At least I can keep you from ever standing up tall again. That
hurricane keeps blowing and blowing, thinking that it’s winning the
battle, and after a few hours it runs out of strength and the wind subsides.
And you know what happens next? The palm tree stands right back up as
it did before. Why is that? God put bounce-back in the palm tree. It may
get pushed over, but that’s only temporary. It’s just a matter of time
before the palm tree rises up again.
Psalm 92 says, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree.” It could
have said that we’d flourish like an oak tree and that we’d have big,
strong, wide branches. It could have said that we’d flourish like a pine
tree and be so tall and impressive that we’d be seen for miles. The reason
God said we’d flourish like a palm tree is that God knew we would go
through difficult times. He knew things would try to push us down and
keep us from our destiny, so He said, “I’m going to make you like a palm
tree. I’m going to put bounce-back in your spirit. You may go through a
dark period of loneliness, of loss, of disappointment. The rain will come,
but don’t get discouraged. It’s only temporary. At some point the winds
will subside, the storm will pass, and just as with that palm tree, the
bounce-back put in you by your Creator is going to cause you to stand
right back up. Don’t believe the lies that it’s permanent. Don’t believe
that you’ll never get well, never overcome the addiction, or never get out
of the legal situation. No, your house is built on the rock. You may be
bent over right now, you may have some difficulties, but when the storm
is over, you’ll still be standing.
What’s interesting is that when the palm tree is bent over during the
hurricane, you would think that’s damaging the tree and making it
weaker, but research shows just the opposite. When it’s being pushed and
stretched by the strong winds, that’s strengthening the root system and
giving it new opportunities for growth. After the storm, when the palm
tree straightens back up, it’s actually stronger than it was before. When
you come out of the storm, when you straighten back up, you’re not
going to be the same. You’re going to be stronger, healthier, wiser, better
off, and ready for new growth. God never brings you out the same. He
makes the enemy pay for bringing the times of darkness and trouble.
What’s meant for your harm He’s going to use to your advantage. It’s not
going to break you; it’s going to strengthen you. You’re not only going to
still be standing; you’re going to be standing stronger.
Better, Stronger, and More Blessed
I have a friend who’s had cancer three times over the past ten years. A
couple of times it looked as though he were done. I never once heard him
complain, never saw him down. He knows that God has him in the palms
of His hands. He knows that the number of his days, God will fulfill. He
has his house built on the rock. Every time it looks as though it’s over,
like that bent-over palm tree, somehow he bounces back. When the
cancer came back the third time, the doctors told him they were going to
harvest his white blood cells before he was given the chemotherapy in
two months. He asked how many cells they needed to help restore his
immune system after the treatment. When they gave him a number, he
said, “I’ll give you twice what you need.” Every day he thanked God that
he was getting better, and he saw himself as healthy and whole. He went
out and exercised, did everything he could. Two months later, he went
back to the hospital, and the doctors said, “You kept your word. You
gave us more than twice the number of white blood cells we were hoping
for.” Today he’s cancer-free, having beaten it for the third time.
Like that palm tree, no matter how hard those winds blow, you
cannot be uprooted, you cannot be toppled, you cannot be broken.
Sickness doesn’t determine your destiny; God does. He’s the one who
breathed life into you. If it’s not your time to go, you’re not going to go.
God has the final say, and He said, “No weapon formed against you will
prosper.” He said, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord
delivers us out of them all.” He said, “A good man may fall seven times,
but the Lord will raise him up.” That’s the bounce-back.
Now you have to get in agreement with God. Don’t have a weak,
defeated mentality that says, “Why did this happen to me? I don’t
understand it.” It happened because you’re alive—it’s just a part of life. It
rains on all of us. The good news is, because you’re the righteous, you
have something in you that the unrighteous don’t have. Like that palm
tree, you have bounce-back on the inside. No matter how hard those
winds blow, they cannot defeat you. If you’ll stay in faith, you’ll be able
to say, as my friend says, “I’m still standing. Sickness knocked me down
for a little while, but I came right back up.” You’ll be able to say, “I went
through a slow season at work, had some bad breaks, but it didn’t defeat
me. I came out promoted and stronger. I’m still standing.” You’ll be able
to say, “I went through a breakup. Somebody walked out on me and
caused me heartache and pain. I didn’t think I’d ever be happy again, but
look what the Lord has done. He brought somebody better into my life.”
I met a young couple who had moved to Houston from New Orleans.
They lost everything during Hurricane Katrina. The house they had
worked so hard for was totally ruined, as well as their furniture and car.
They made it out with only the clothes on their backs. The husband’s
company had closed down, so he no longer had a job. A bus dropped
them off at the Astrodome. When I first saw them, it was as though they
were numb. Their whole world had fallen apart. I told them what I’m
telling you. “You may be down right now, but that’s temporary. You
have bounce-back in your spirit. When it’s all said and done, you’ll still
be standing, stronger, healthier, and better.” Week after week, they kept
coming to Lakewood, hearing about how we are victors and not victims,
how God will pay us back for the unfair things, and how what’s meant for
our harm God will use to our advantage. A couple of years later, they
brought pictures of the beautiful new house they had just bought. They’d
had an older house in New Orleans, and they now have a brand-new one
here. The man told how he had a better job, with better benefits. Their
kids were in better schools. That’s what happens when your house is built
on the rock. It doesn’t prevent difficulties. You may go through some
storms, you may have some bad breaks, but there’s bounce-back in your
DNA. When it’s all over, you’ll still be standing—but better, stronger,
and more blessed.
A Warrior Mentality
The Scripture says, “When the enemy comes in like a flood.” That means
you feel overwhelmed—you lost your house in a hurricane, you got a bad
medical report, a relationship went sour, somebody cheated you in a
business deal. What does God do when the enemy comes in like this?
Does He sit back and say, “Too bad. I told you it was going to rain. I told
you that you’re going to have difficulties”? No, Scripture says, “When
the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a
barrier.” In other words, the difficulties, the injustices, and the sicknesses
get God’s attention. He goes to work just as we do as parents when we
see our child in trouble, perhaps because someone is mistreating them.
Like us, He doesn’t think twice about stopping what He’s doing and
going to help.
When our son, Jonathan, was about two years old, we were in the
grocery store. I had walked down to the end of the aisle, and he had
stayed by the cart. I could see him, but I was about forty feet away. As I
was looking for something, he started pulling a few boxes of cereal off
the bottom shelf. It was no big deal. I was going to pick the boxes up and
put them back. But a lady who worked there came around the corner and
was immediately very upset that he had made a mess. She nearly yelled
with an angry tone, “Young man, you cannot take these boxes off the
shelf! You need to keep your hands to yourself!” When I heard that,
something rose up in me. I don’t know if it was God or the devil. I’m
nice, I’m kind, and I’ll do anything for you, but if you mess with my
children, I turn into the Incredible Hulk.
That’s the way God is. When the enemy comes in like a flood, God
steps up and says, “Hey, wait a minute! You’re messing with the wrong
person. That’s My child. That’s My son. That’s My daughter. If you’re
going to mess with them, you have to first mess with Me. Who am I? I
am the all-powerful Creator of the universe. When I said, ‘Let there be
light,’ light burst forth at 186,000 miles per second.” God looks at your
enemies and says, “You want some of this? Go ahead and make My
day!” In the tough dark times, you have to realize that you’re not alone.
The Most High God is fighting for you. He’s got your back. He’s brought
you through in the past, and He’s going to bring you through in the
future. Now you have to do your part and get your fire back. You can’t sit
around in self-pity and think about what you lost, who hurt you, and how
unfair it was. That’s going to keep you down. Shake off that weak,
defeated, Why did this happen to me? mentality and have a warrior
mentality. A warrior doesn’t complain about opposition; a warrior loves a
good fight. It fires him up.
This is what David did when he went through a big disappointment.
While he and his men were out protecting the borders of Israel, doing the
right thing, fulfilling his purpose, bandits came in and attacked his home
city of Ziklag. They burned down the houses, stole the people’s
belongings, and took captive all the women and children. When David
and his six hundred men returned and saw the smoke and realized what
had happened, they sat down among the ashes and wept until they could
weep no more. It was the worst day of their lives, and it was David’s
greatest defeat. He was deeply distressed, and there was talk among his
men of stoning him. It looked as though it was over, and it would have
stayed that way if it had not been for David. He did something that we all
must do if we’re going to see the bounce-back. Instead of his staying in
the ashes, thinking about how badly life had treated him, the warrior
spirit rose up on the inside. He said, “Wait a minute. I may be down and
discouraged, and I’ve suffered my worst loss, but this is not the end of the
story. I am the righteous. I have bounce-back in my spirit. My house is
built on the rock. I have a promise that when it’s all over, I’ll still be
standing.” He started encouraging himself in the Lord, reminding himself
of who he was and Whose he was. He told his men, “Get up, dry your
tears, and shake off the discouragement. We’re going to go get what
belongs to us.” They went out and not only attacked and defeated their
enemies, but got all their possessions back, as well as their wives and
children. The Scripture says that they “recovered all.” David’s greatest
defeat turned into his greatest victory.
We all face unfair situations. We may find ourselves in dark places,
such as David experienced, that look as though you’re going to be buried.
But if you’ll have this warrior mentality, if you’ll stir your faith up and go
after what belongs to you, the enemy won’t have the last laugh; you will.
He may hit you with his best shot, but his best will never be enough. You
have bounce-back in your spirit. The forces that are for you are greater
than the forces that are against you. Like David, you may be down for a
season, and it may pour rain and flood, but because your house is built on
the rock, because you have this warrior mentality, when it’s all said and
done, you’ll still be standing.
Standing as the Victor
One time I was lifting weights at home, lying on a bench, doing the bench
press. I had a barbell with free weights and was doing my last set of five
repetitions. By my standards I had a lot of weight on the barbell, almost
twice my weight. I did one lift, two, three, and everything was fine, just
like normal; but on the fourth lift, I really struggled, could barely get it
up. I thought, Okay, I’m going to try five. This is going to be tough! I got
my fifth lift up about halfway and got stuck. I pushed and pushed and
pushed, gave it everything I had, but it wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t do it!
Then I began to set the barbell down on the safety rails so I could get out
from under it. The only problem was that my son, Jonathan, had moved
the rails down lower when he was working out, and I’d forgotten to check
them. Now I had all the weight on my chest, and I was totally out of
energy. I couldn’t shake the weights off to one side because there were
clamps on the ends of the barbell. I’ve rolled the barbell down to my
stomach before when I’ve gotten stuck, but I couldn’t do it with this
heavy weight. My first thought was, How long can I hold this of my
chest before it crushes me? I thought probably about a minute or two. My
next thought was, You’ve already wasted thirty seconds.
As I was stuck there, not knowing what to do, something rose up in
me and said, “Joel, you are not going to let this weight crush you. You
are not going to let your family come in here and find you squashed. This
is not the end of your story. You’re too young to die. You have too much
in you to die.” I pushed on the right side with all my might. The left side
hit the safety rail way down low, and I scooted over about an inch. I
rested for a few seconds, then pushed on that right side again and scooted
another inch. Then another inch, and I finally got my shoulder off the
bench and then my chest. At one point I was able fall off the bench and
let the safety rail catch the right side.
Here’s my point. When you’re in a tough time, you can’t sit around
and think about the bad break and how unfair it was. “I can’t believe I
have this sickness.” “I can’t believe they left me.” “I can’t believe I’m
having to start all over.” You can either let that sickness, that breakup, or
that disappointment crush you and finish you off under the weight of it,
or you can have a warrior spirit and do what you have to do to beat it.
Push, scoot, squirm, stretch, wiggle, refocus, get your second wind, and
beat it! When I got up off the ground, my chest was a little red and my
back was a little scraped, but I thought, At least I’m still alive. I looked at
those weights and said, “You didn’t get the best of me. I’m still
standing.”
The Scripture says, “You have armed me with strength for the
battle.” I’ve found that the more difficult the battle, the more strength
you’ll have. Your strength will always match what you’re up against.
When I think about how I got out from under that heavy barbell, I don’t
know how I did it. I was totally winded and had exhausted all my strength
trying to finish the fifth rep. I could have said, “God, just take this off me.
It’s going to kill me.” God said, “Push again and watch what will
happen.” I pushed and discovered strength that I hadn’t known I had. Are
you letting something defeat you because you don’t think you have the
strength to endure, the strength to overcome, the strength to deal with that
sickness, that financial difficulty? If you’ll have a warrior spirit and start
doing what you can, God will help you do what you can’t.
I saw a story on television news about a man who came up to a car
that had crashed on the freeway. There was a person trapped inside, and
the car had caught on fire. The man, who was about my size, grabbed the
top of the door frame and somehow ripped the door away from the car so
the trapped person could get out. They showed a picture of the steel
frame, which looked like something a movie superhero had bent. They
asked the man how he’d done it. He said, “I don’t know. I just pulled as
hard as I could.” When you do what you have to do, you’ll discover
strength that you didn’t know you had.
You are not weak or defeated; you are a warrior. You have
resurrection power on the inside. You may be down right now, those
winds are blowing, but like that bent-over palm tree, you’re not going to
stay down. You’re about to come back up again, better off—stronger,
healthier, and promoted. This is a new day. Things are changing in your
favor. God has done it in the past, and He’s going to do it in the future.
You need to get ready, there’s a bounce-back coming. You’re going to
bounce back from sickness, bounce back from depression, bounce back
from bad breaks, bounce back from loss. Those winds can’t uproot or
topple you. The enemy doesn’t have the final say; God does. He says that
because your house is built on the rock, when it’s all said and done, when
the dark storm passes and the floods and winds subside, you’ll still be
standing, not the victim but the victor!
BLESSED IN THE DARKNESS 