Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week (35 page)

“What is so funny?” I asked them.

“We can’t believe he let you pray for him,” the mother said. “He doesn’t even like you.”

I thought,
Oh, thanks a lot. That’s why I went in by myself.

“When we watch you on television, he always makes fun of you and tells us to turn you off,” she added.

I thought:
If I had known that, I might have prayed a little bit differently.

But when you take time to care, you never know what God will do. That was years ago, and today, do you know that man and his family come to services at Lakewood every week? They never miss a Sunday!

When you live as a healer, you break down the walls. You soften hard hearts. Love never fails. Come to find out, that man used to be a deacon in another church, but he’d been mistreated and hadn’t gone to any church in thirty years!

The book of James talks about how we need to go after the prodigals (see 5:19–20). We need to go after those who have fallen away. If you know of people who were once strong in faith but have weakened, go after them. Write them a letter. Track them down. Call them. Stop by their houses and say, “Hey, where have you been? We miss you. We need you. Why don’t you come back home?”

Go after the prodigals. They need healing, too. They need their happiness and joy restored. Your attitude should be:
I’m on a mission from God. If you fall away, you’re on dangerous ground because I will track you down. I will help bring you back into the fold.

Years ago, my father went to a service across town at a friend’s church. He arrived late so he sat in the back row. After a few minutes, a young man walked in looking very troubled. My father felt that flow of compassion and made a note to reach out to him after the service.

But midway through, the young man walked out. My father felt so strongly that he went after him. He looked in the lobby and couldn’t find him. Daddy went out into the parking lot, searched and searched. Still
nothing. He came back in and checked the restroom, and sure enough, there he was.

My father looked the young man in the eyes and said, “I don’t know you, but I want to tell you God’s hand is on your life. He’s got a destiny for you to fulfill. Don’t give up on your future.”

The young man wept.

“My life is so messed up,” he said. “I’m addicted to so many drugs. I decided to come to church one more time, and then I was going home to take every pill I could find.”

Later, this young man recalled that when he walked into the church, one of the first things he noticed was my father’s shoes. Then, when he’d walked out, he’d seen my father following him, and “Everywhere I went I saw those shoes following me.”

My father wore the shoes of a healer. The shoes of a restorer. The shoes of a minister tracking down prodigals and healing hearts.

That night was a turning point in the young man’s life. Today, more than thirty years later, he’s the pastor of a very successful church. But I wonder where he would be if my father had not been living as a healer?

A hundred years from now, if someone were to remember me, I don’t want them to say, “Oh, yeah. Joel, he’s the guy that had a big church. He wrote some nice books. He was kind of popular.”

No, I want them to say, “That man was a healer. He was a restorer. He lifted the fallen. He encouraged the discouraged. He gave mercy to the guilty. He spent his life wiping away the tears.”

I received a letter just recently from a lady who said that for more than forty years she’d felt beaten down by life and abandoned by her religion. She was told that God loved her only when she kept all the rules and followed all the man-made laws.

“I suffered under religion,” she said. “I could never be good enough.”

She ended up dropping out of church depressed and confused. Twelve years later she was flipping through the channels, and she heard me talking about God’s unconditional love and how God has a great plan for all of us.

For the first time, she felt a freedom on the inside, she said. It was like God had breathed new life into her spirit.

“Joel, sometimes, because you don’t condemn people, others criticize you and say you’re just preaching ‘Christianity lite,’ ” she said. “But let me tell you, I lived under ‘Christianity heavy’ for forty-two years. I was broken. I was defeated. I was depressed. But today I am healthy. I’m happy. I’m whole. I’m helping others.

“I will take ‘Christianity lite’ over ‘Christianity heavy’ any day of the week,” she said.

Religion likes to beat people down. Religion will criticize you because you’re not hard enough on others. But I love what Jesus said: “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30
NKJV
).

I don’t see the need to beat anyone down. Life does that enough to people. I encourage you to be a healer and a restorer of dreams. Look for those you can lift up instead. Help them reclaim their happiness and joy.

You are a container filled with God. Release His healing wherever you go, and I can assure you, God’s face will always shine down upon you.

O
ne of the battles we all have to fight is the battle with discouragement. Our dreams don’t always come true on our timetables. We go through disappointments and adversities. It’s easy to lose enthusiasm, happiness, and joy and zeal for life. In those times, it’s good to have family and friends who encourage us. It’s good to have a coach, a teacher, or a pastor to cheer us on.

But one thing I’ve learned is that other people cannot keep us encouraged. Other people cannot keep us cheered up. They may give us a boost. They may help us from time to time. But if we really want to live in victory, that encouragement has to come from the inside. We must learn to encourage ourselves.

This is especially true when times get tough and things aren’t going your way. At those moments, you may not feel like pursuing your dreams. Your mind may be telling you,
It’s not worth it. It’s never getting any better. You might as well just settle where you are.
Deep down in your spirit there has to be a resolve, a strength on the inside that says,
I refuse to settle where I am. I know God has a great plan for my life, and I’m pressing forward and becoming everything that He’s created me to be.

This is what King David had to do, according to Scripture. He had just suffered a major setback. It was one of the most difficult times of his life. His city had been destroyed. His family had been kidnapped. And now his own men had turned against him. The situation looked impossible.
He could have easily just given up and faded off into the sunset, defeated and depressed. But the Scripture says, “David encouraged himself in the L
ORD
his God” (1 Samuel 30:6
KJV
).

David understood this principle. He wasn’t depending on his family, his friends, or his colleagues. He knew how to draw strength and encouragement from within. Sometimes when you need encouragement the most, those you’re counting on to cheer you up won’t be there, unfortunately. The friend who normally calls may be out of town. Your spouse may be having a tough month. Your co-workers and your parents may be preoccupied with their own challenges. But when you learn to dig down deep and encourage yourself, there is a real freedom.

This is one of the secrets to David’s success. He knew how to draw encouragement and strength from the inside. How did he do it? He began to replay the victories God had given him in the past. He remembered how God chose him from the other brothers when he was a shepherd boy. He remembered how he killed the lion and the bear with his bare hands. He remembered how God helped him defeat Goliath and how God protected him when King Saul was trying to kill him.

As David rehearsed over and over in his mind the goodness and faithfulness of God, strength began to fill his heart. He created a new vision of victory. He thanked God for what He had done. He thanked God that He could turn the situation around. David went from being depressed and defeated to rising up with a warrior mentality.

When you look at how successful and celebrated Emmitt Smith is today, you might be tempted to think that he never needed to encourage himself. The former Dallas Cowboys running back holds the record for most yards rushing in NFL history. He has three Super Bowl rings. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. A few years before that, he won the
Dancing with the Stars
competition! And he’s married to a beautiful woman, a former Miss Virginia.

But Emmitt grew up in a low-income family and spent his first few years living in public housing. He made a name for himself as a football
player in high school and college. But there were many who thought he’d never make it in the National Football League. Many scouts and coaches felt he was too short at five feet nine inches tall. Others said he wasn’t fast enough to play in the pros.

On his NFL draft day, Emmitt waited with his family and friends for his name to be called. But after fifteen others were chosen in the draft, he still had not received a call. Emmitt began to doubt himself. He questioned his decision to leave the University of Florida before his senior year. Nervous and discouraged, he went for a walk on the beach outside a friend’s Florida condominium.

As Emmitt walked alone, he didn’t let himself think of the fifteen other players who’d been called before him. Instead, he encouraged himself by thinking of all that he’d accomplished so far. In high school, he’d led his football team to two state championships and set the state record for rushing yards. In just three seasons of college football, he’d set fifty-eight school records and was named an All-American.

After raising his spirits by remembering his victories, Emmitt prayed, “God, it’s all in Your hands.” Then he returned to the condo where everyone was gathered. They informed him that he hadn’t been the sixteenth pick in the NFL draft either.

Just then the phone rang. It was Jimmy Johnson, then the coach of the Dallas Cowboys.

“Emmitt, would you like to wear a star on your helmet?” said Coach Johnson.

“Yes, Coach, I would love to wear a Cowboys star,” said Emmitt.

Maybe you are discouraged and doubting yourself right now. Maybe you’ve lost your fire and your enthusiasm because of a disappointment or setback.

Encourage yourself as Emmitt did. Encourage yourself as David did. Look back on past accomplishments and victories and draw inspiration from them. Stay focused on encouraging thoughts—thoughts of hope and thoughts of faith.

When you’re in difficult times and you’re tempted to get down—whether it’s a bad medical report, a relationship problem, or you are struggling in your finances—don’t dwell on the negative and replay over and over all the reasons why things won’t work out and how impossible your situation is. Instead, change the channel. Get the remote control. That’s not the only channel. Start replaying in your mind, like David and Emmitt did, all the times that God helped you, the times God protected you from those accidents, and the times God gave you a promotion even though you weren’t the most qualified.

You were disappointed when it seemed doors were closed to you, but looking back now, you know things worked out for the best. How about the time you lost a loved one? You could have felt defeated. You didn’t think you could make it through. But eventually you felt a peace and a strength like you’ve never felt before.

Every one of us has seen the hand of God at work in our lives. A key to encouraging yourself is to replay your personal trials and accompanying victories. As you remember the great things God has done, faith will fill your heart. Strength and courage will come from the inside. No matter what you’re facing, no matter how difficult it looks, you’ll know deep down,
God did not bring me this far to leave me here. If He did it for me in the past, He’ll do it again for me in the future.