WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.759 Life is a balance. It's never unlimited joy. 00:00:06.179 --> 00:00:08.699 You know, there's some people who feel as though 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:13.539 they expect every day to be a wonderful holiday. 00:00:14.859 --> 00:00:20.019 Every hour filled with laughter and joy and good 00:00:20.019 --> 00:00:24.510 times. You know, it's like a youngster going 00:00:24.510 --> 00:00:27.649 to a circus. Oh, that youngster has the greatest 00:00:27.649 --> 00:00:31.230 time at a circus. But when it comes to coming 00:00:31.230 --> 00:00:35.609 back home again and having to sit down and eat 00:00:35.609 --> 00:00:38.969 their cereal for breakfast and there's discipline, 00:00:39.229 --> 00:00:42.609 they don't like it. They don't want discipline. 00:00:43.090 --> 00:00:48.429 They want every day to be a day at the circus. 00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:53.070 And sometimes I find out that an awful lot of 00:00:53.070 --> 00:00:58.130 adults are still little children. And they, too, 00:00:58.210 --> 00:01:03.530 expect every day to be a wonderful circus, a 00:01:03.530 --> 00:01:06.870 day of laughter, every hour filled with joy. 00:01:07.090 --> 00:01:10.969 But it just doesn't work that way. It just doesn't. 00:01:10.969 --> 00:01:12.709 I don't care who you are. I don't care whether 00:01:12.709 --> 00:01:16.370 you're rich or poor. It just doesn't work that 00:01:16.370 --> 00:01:21.599 way. Life is a balance. It's never unlimited 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:27.420 joy. There'll be sorrow, even tragedy. But the 00:01:27.420 --> 00:01:32.939 important thing is how you face it. And sooner 00:01:32.939 --> 00:01:37.599 or later, remember, there will be difficulty 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:39.959 because difficulty is one of the facts of human 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:46.019 existence. Yet most people look... as though 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:49.540 they had no trouble. It's a mark of a sophisticated 00:01:49.540 --> 00:01:55.340 person not to show outwardly what goes on inwardly. 00:01:56.500 --> 00:02:02.359 But if you are a part of humanity, remember, 00:02:02.579 --> 00:02:08.819 there'll be those days when the sun isn't shining. 00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:13.699 But not one person. I don't care who you are. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:18.520 need ever be defeated, no matter how dark the 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:20.400 day, no matter what the problem, no matter what 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:23.020 the difficulty. When we have the Spirit of Christ, 00:02:23.340 --> 00:02:28.680 when we have a living Christ in our hearts and 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:32.180 a sense of the presence of God in time of difficulty, 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:36.800 we can believe that every difficulty, no matter 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:40.860 what that difficulty is, has some good in it. 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:47.469 And we can profit. By that difficulty. When you 00:02:47.469 --> 00:02:50.990 are faced with a difficulty, the wise thing to 00:02:50.990 --> 00:02:55.210 do is to say to yourself, let me extract from 00:02:55.210 --> 00:03:01.449 this all the know -how that it contains. And 00:03:01.449 --> 00:03:07.250 then walk away from it. Leave it. Move on. Get 00:03:07.250 --> 00:03:11.509 exactly what I am saying. But the trouble with 00:03:11.509 --> 00:03:14.469 many people is that when difficulty comes, they 00:03:14.469 --> 00:03:18.870 get bogged down in it. And there's the danger. 00:03:20.590 --> 00:03:24.789 We resent the pain of difficulty. And yet oftentimes, 00:03:25.030 --> 00:03:28.490 instead of buckling down to solving it, we just 00:03:28.490 --> 00:03:36.430 brood over it, continue to carry the thing night 00:03:36.430 --> 00:03:40.460 and day. We go to... We sleep with it. We awaken 00:03:40.460 --> 00:03:47.180 the morning with it. Not being able to get victory 00:03:47.180 --> 00:03:54.599 over it. Almost enjoying it. And after a certain 00:03:54.599 --> 00:04:00.580 length of time, the difficulty will conquer us 00:04:00.580 --> 00:04:06.520 and we become a slave to it. After you've done 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:09.080 what you can about a problem. And this is one 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:12.900 thing that I've learned in my own life. And there 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:17.240 is no substitute for experience. Sometimes I 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:18.819 think I'm the most practical preacher in the 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:21.279 whole world. But maybe I'm practical because 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:25.139 all that I know is what I personally have experienced. 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:29.740 And I can only give to you what I have experienced. 00:04:30.189 --> 00:04:32.569 For no person can give to another anything more 00:04:32.569 --> 00:04:35.089 than what they have actually experienced themselves. 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:38.110 And perhaps that's one reason why I'm so very 00:04:38.110 --> 00:04:41.970 practical in my preaching. And this is what I 00:04:41.970 --> 00:04:45.790 have learned. After one has done all that one 00:04:45.790 --> 00:04:50.389 can about a problem, then one has to walk away 00:04:50.389 --> 00:04:56.029 from it, taking some loss perhaps, suffering 00:04:56.029 --> 00:05:02.029 some pain certainly. But nevertheless, walk away 00:05:02.029 --> 00:05:06.449 from it. Oh, sure, the pain doesn't always leave 00:05:06.449 --> 00:05:13.470 at once. You know what I'm talking about. But 00:05:13.470 --> 00:05:20.470 walk away from it. Don't carry it. It'll conquer 00:05:20.470 --> 00:05:24.470 you if you do. The other day, for example, I 00:05:24.470 --> 00:05:26.029 was talking about the young man who had asked 00:05:26.029 --> 00:05:28.980 to see me a fine young man. but full of anger 00:05:28.980 --> 00:05:32.939 and hate and resentment because of a difficulty 00:05:32.939 --> 00:05:36.600 he had. Oh, I find so many people recently with 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:44.379 resentments. Resentments. We are bringing up 00:05:44.379 --> 00:05:53.579 an age of resentment and hate and greed. I was 00:05:53.579 --> 00:05:55.920 thinking the other day, in fact, just a very 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:59.040 few minutes ago, I said to the engineer here 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:00.579 in the studio, you know, I think the greatest 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:03.360 sin in the world is the sin of jealousy. I don't 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:05.660 know of a sin that is greater than the sin of 00:06:05.660 --> 00:06:08.980 jealousy. And then following that is the sin 00:06:08.980 --> 00:06:14.259 of greed. Sometimes I wonder whether greed perhaps 00:06:14.259 --> 00:06:19.339 is the greater the two sins. I say jealousy first 00:06:19.339 --> 00:06:20.920 because of the very first sin that we have any 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:25.759 record of whatsoever in the Word of God. And 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:31.310 then... Greed. It's hard to separate the two. 00:06:32.370 --> 00:06:37.629 Then there comes that sin of resentment and hate. 00:06:37.730 --> 00:06:42.750 And you can hardly separate those two. Where 00:06:42.750 --> 00:06:45.949 there's resentment, there's hate. Where there's 00:06:45.949 --> 00:06:49.629 hate, you'll find resentment. And the young man 00:06:49.629 --> 00:06:51.529 who was talking with me was a fine young man, 00:06:51.589 --> 00:06:55.019 but he was full of anger and full of hate and 00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:57.379 full of resentment because of a difficulty he 00:06:57.379 --> 00:07:02.920 had. And his story was this. Having worked hard 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:04.519 for a certain company over a period of time, 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:07.040 he had wanted a promotion to a certain position 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:13.680 higher up. And because of some feud, that position 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:17.220 was not giving him the position that he wanted. 00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:22.870 And he was, as he put it, maliciously double 00:07:22.870 --> 00:07:25.829 -crossed. And he told me at great length about 00:07:25.829 --> 00:07:27.389 the man who had double -crossed him. He said, 00:07:27.470 --> 00:07:31.370 this had made me lose my faith in business leadership. 00:07:31.389 --> 00:07:36.730 I no longer have any faith in business leadership. 00:07:38.029 --> 00:07:41.970 I've lost my faith in the integrity of top management. 00:07:43.509 --> 00:07:50.389 And he went on and on. Well, I asked. Have you 00:07:50.389 --> 00:07:55.250 a good job now? Yes, replied. I have? I'm with 00:07:55.250 --> 00:07:57.290 another company. As a matter of fact, it's a 00:07:57.290 --> 00:08:00.769 better job than the one I had before. With my 00:08:00.769 --> 00:08:03.870 old company, the promotion I should have had, 00:08:03.990 --> 00:08:07.329 that should have been given me, was the last 00:08:07.329 --> 00:08:08.990 that I could have gotten. I could not have gone 00:08:08.990 --> 00:08:12.730 any higher. It was a fine spot, but actually 00:08:12.730 --> 00:08:16.589 it was a dead end. Where now, while I don't quite 00:08:16.589 --> 00:08:18.870 make so much money, the opportunities are... 00:08:19.069 --> 00:08:22.430 Unlimited. And I really see a future for myself. 00:08:24.009 --> 00:08:29.529 And so I said, um, and you're still fussing about 00:08:29.529 --> 00:08:35.850 the old situation? Look, young man, don't tell 00:08:35.850 --> 00:08:39.370 me that you aren't smart enough to see that in 00:08:39.370 --> 00:08:42.549 the long run, that's what you were fussing and 00:08:42.549 --> 00:08:47.659 fuming about. In the long run, the fact that 00:08:47.659 --> 00:08:50.820 you didn't get the position that you wanted could 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:52.580 really be the greatest thing in the world that 00:08:52.580 --> 00:08:57.299 happened to you. You're so short -sighted. But 00:08:57.299 --> 00:09:01.059 he said the man double -crossed me. He did this 00:09:01.059 --> 00:09:05.360 thing to me. I was double -crossed. I did not 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:09.539 deserve the treatment I got. Why did I have to 00:09:09.539 --> 00:09:13.679 get that kind of a deal, you know? Oh, you've 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:18.860 heard it. I can understand how you feel, how 00:09:18.860 --> 00:09:25.340 hurt you must be, I said. But don't be so short 00:09:25.340 --> 00:09:31.600 -sighted. Look beyond today. Look beyond the 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:35.539 man who did you dirty. Look beyond that. You're 00:09:35.539 --> 00:09:38.360 only hurting yourself. You're being your worst 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:42.360 enemy. You want to know something? Just throw 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:45.679 this in for good measure. Most people are... 00:09:45.929 --> 00:09:51.669 their own worst enemy. Now, let's just be quiet 00:09:51.669 --> 00:09:56.129 and think on that statement that I just now made. 00:09:58.330 --> 00:10:02.190 Is it possible that right now in the circumstances 00:10:02.190 --> 00:10:05.429 that you find yourself in, that perhaps you are 00:10:05.429 --> 00:10:12.070 your own worst enemy? The only person that you're 00:10:12.070 --> 00:10:16.740 really hurting is yourself. If you're carrying 00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:18.480 that hate, if you're carrying that resentment, 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:23.080 if you're carrying those unkind thoughts in your 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:26.759 mind, if you're a jealous person, if you're a 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:33.299 greedy person, remember, you're only destroying 00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:43.580 yourself. You are your own worst enemy. You know? 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:46.879 I turned to the young man and said, you had just 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:50.580 told me that you have a greater opportunity where 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:53.740 you are now than you had before. And yet you're 00:10:53.740 --> 00:10:59.299 a very angry man. Yes, but he said, suppose somebody 00:10:59.299 --> 00:11:03.259 had done that to you. Just suppose. Just suppose 00:11:03.259 --> 00:11:06.320 somebody had done that to you. And I said, how 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:13.080 do you know? Maybe they have. That's the reason 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:17.730 I can. talk to you about this and understand 00:11:17.730 --> 00:11:22.549 it a little better. Maybe they have. That's the 00:11:22.549 --> 00:11:29.629 reason I can see the advantages of just walking 00:11:29.629 --> 00:11:35.970 away. Mm -hmm. Then I gave him a quotation from 00:11:35.970 --> 00:11:40.190 a little booklet that I had given to me years 00:11:40.190 --> 00:11:42.970 and years ago. I've always kept it in my desk. 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:51.980 And I do not know who wrote it. I cannot give 00:11:51.980 --> 00:11:57.360 the one credit. I wish I knew. But this is what 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:04.759 the quotation is. Never chew your pills. Swallow 00:12:04.759 --> 00:12:09.000 them. For chewing makes them more bitter still. 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:14.670 You know, that's really wonderful advice. Never 00:12:14.670 --> 00:12:22.750 chew your pills. Did you ever take a pill? That's 00:12:22.750 --> 00:12:25.730 the reason they tell you to take water when you 00:12:25.730 --> 00:12:31.049 take a pill. Because you swallow it and you don't 00:12:31.049 --> 00:12:34.649 get the taste of it. The pill can be so bitter. 00:12:35.490 --> 00:12:37.769 If you didn't take the water to wash it down 00:12:37.769 --> 00:12:41.129 and just took it in your mouth and chewed it, 00:12:41.190 --> 00:12:45.080 you'd be amazed how... Bitter, that pill would 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:49.360 be chewing it. And so when someone's mistreated 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.320 you, there's been an injustice done. And just 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:58.059 take a little water of human kindness and just 00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:04.820 swallow it. Never chew your pills. Swallow them. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:11.840 For chewing makes them more bitter still. If 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:15.450 you've been mistreated. Don't chew it. Swallow 00:13:15.450 --> 00:13:18.590 it. And then forget it and turn your attention 00:13:18.590 --> 00:13:22.970 to the opportunities which are yours. One of 00:13:22.970 --> 00:13:25.730 the greatest facts of human life is that difficulty 00:13:25.730 --> 00:13:30.429 sometimes comes upon us for healthful purposes. 00:13:31.309 --> 00:13:33.509 I'm sure if you'd review your life systematically 00:13:33.509 --> 00:13:38.029 and try to see it objectively, you'd find that 00:13:38.029 --> 00:13:40.169 some of the greatest things that have ever happened 00:13:40.169 --> 00:13:44.169 to you have been your difficulties. For these 00:13:44.169 --> 00:13:46.769 are the things that made you stronger and wiser 00:13:46.769 --> 00:13:48.490 and have given you more purpose and direction 00:13:48.490 --> 00:13:53.090 to your life. Sometimes a hard experience can 00:13:53.090 --> 00:13:54.450 be the greatest thing that ever happened to your 00:13:54.450 --> 00:13:57.330 life. Looking back over my own life, and I hate 00:13:57.330 --> 00:13:59.110 to be personal about this thing, but so help 00:13:59.110 --> 00:14:06.250 me, it is true. Oh, if I would ever sit down 00:14:06.250 --> 00:14:12.129 and really and truly write the story of my life. 00:14:12.909 --> 00:14:17.850 It would be unbelievable. You would think it 00:14:17.850 --> 00:14:23.429 was fiction. You could scarcely accept it as 00:14:23.429 --> 00:14:27.289 being truth. But I don't go around and tell people 00:14:27.289 --> 00:14:29.549 about the experiences that I have been through 00:14:29.549 --> 00:14:33.610 since I was 14, 15, 16, 17, I'm not going to 00:14:33.610 --> 00:14:37.309 tell you how many years. But when I look back 00:14:37.309 --> 00:14:40.009 now, that's the reason I can be a practical person 00:14:40.009 --> 00:14:44.200 now. That's the reason I am where I am today, 00:14:44.299 --> 00:14:48.480 by the grace of God. It was the hard things that 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:53.659 made me strong. Those times that I would grit 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:59.740 my teeth and say, no matter what happens, this 00:14:59.740 --> 00:15:04.600 thing is not going to defeat me. I could have 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:08.059 been out of the ministry before I ever began. 00:15:08.139 --> 00:15:11.059 I could have... become discouraged and been out 00:15:11.059 --> 00:15:13.019 of the ministry before I was 18 years of age. 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:16.299 Looking back now, before I had reached the age 00:15:16.299 --> 00:15:20.279 of 25, I could well have gone down in defeat 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:26.240 and in discouragement and said, I can't take 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:32.100 it any longer. I just can't. But I'll tell you 00:15:32.100 --> 00:15:38.580 something. I never chewed my pills. I just swallowed 00:15:38.580 --> 00:15:46.259 them and kept going. Uh -huh. God is our refuge 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:50.220 and strength. A very present help in trouble. 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:55.840 That's the word of God. One way that he helps 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.659 us is through the capacity that he gave us to 00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:03.139 think. The idea that we ought to stop chewing 00:16:03.139 --> 00:16:07.460 our pills is a very simple example of it. With 00:16:07.460 --> 00:16:10.919 the wonderful mind that God has given each of 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:18.419 us. Use the mind prayerfully and in harmony with 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:23.600 his laws. And we can outsmart our difficulties. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:32.460 You can outsmart your difficulties. There's always 00:16:32.460 --> 00:16:35.980 a strategy by which a difficulty can be handled. 00:16:36.570 --> 00:16:40.269 I really believe our minds are such that we have 00:16:40.269 --> 00:16:48.149 in us the ability to handle any difficulty. I 00:16:48.149 --> 00:16:52.149 believe that. It is my firm conviction. This 00:16:52.149 --> 00:16:55.429 is a part of my faith in my Heavenly Father. 00:16:57.389 --> 00:17:04.069 I believe that if He had not equipped me with 00:17:04.069 --> 00:17:11.049 the power, and the resources to overcome a certain 00:17:11.049 --> 00:17:15.190 problem, a certain difficulty, a certain sorrow, 00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:17.789 a certain disappointment in my life, He would 00:17:17.789 --> 00:17:20.109 not have permitted that thing to have happened 00:17:20.109 --> 00:17:25.549 to me. For with that difficulty, or with that 00:17:25.549 --> 00:17:31.150 problem, He made a way of victory, or He would 00:17:31.150 --> 00:17:35.460 not be a gracious, tender Heavenly Father. He 00:17:35.460 --> 00:17:38.339 makes a way of escape for every temptation. I 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:40.599 believe that is a part of my theology. That's 00:17:40.599 --> 00:17:45.819 my faith in my Heavenly Father. I am never confronted 00:17:45.819 --> 00:17:51.740 with a temptation, but what He gives me the power 00:17:51.740 --> 00:17:59.640 to overcome that temptation in Himself. If I 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:07.369 want to be victorious, over every difficulty, 00:18:07.809 --> 00:18:12.670 all I have to do is to turn to him, the one who 00:18:12.670 --> 00:18:15.750 knows no defeat, and permit him to handle it. 00:18:15.829 --> 00:18:18.789 It's that simple. I'm talking to you about something 00:18:18.789 --> 00:18:21.470 that is the most simple, the most practical thing 00:18:21.470 --> 00:18:24.769 in the whole world. God is our refuge and strength, 00:18:24.849 --> 00:18:27.970 a very present help in trouble. Oh, you say, 00:18:27.990 --> 00:18:31.769 but I'm so weak. Now, you know, that sounds very 00:18:31.769 --> 00:18:35.400 humble to say you're weak, but... Actually, it 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:39.539 isn't true humility at all. It's just a denial 00:18:39.539 --> 00:18:45.640 of God in you. You only think you're weak. You 00:18:45.640 --> 00:18:49.740 really have great strength. You'll be able to 00:18:49.740 --> 00:18:53.039 draw on it and act strong when you get to thinking 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:57.039 you are strong. The trouble with many of us is 00:18:57.039 --> 00:18:59.859 that we do not make up our mind to control ourselves 00:18:59.859 --> 00:19:04.559 and direct our own lives and permit... God to 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:08.460 direct us. Did you ever think of that? We let 00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:10.720 ourselves be pushed around by circumstances and 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:18.960 events like little chips in a little dream. We're 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:20.819 not meant to be pushed around by circumstances. 00:19:22.859 --> 00:19:25.819 You were not made to be governed by your difficulties. 00:19:27.210 --> 00:19:31.269 We are children of God. If I could only get every 00:19:31.269 --> 00:19:34.470 Christian to see that you are God's child, that 00:19:34.470 --> 00:19:39.529 God is your heavenly father. It always pays to 00:19:39.529 --> 00:19:42.890 be honest with yourself. And I've come to the 00:19:42.890 --> 00:19:44.470 conclusion there are very few people living today 00:19:44.470 --> 00:19:50.269 who are honest with themselves. As long as I'm 00:19:50.269 --> 00:19:54.329 honest with myself, I'll be honest with God. 00:19:55.150 --> 00:19:57.250 And there's some people who will never be honest 00:19:57.250 --> 00:20:00.849 with God because they're never honest, really 00:20:00.849 --> 00:20:07.049 honest with themselves. They'll never look themselves 00:20:07.049 --> 00:20:09.210 directly in the face. No matter what happens, 00:20:09.269 --> 00:20:12.789 I know of someone that no matter what happens, 00:20:13.089 --> 00:20:17.369 that one always has a way of putting the blame 00:20:17.369 --> 00:20:20.930 on somebody else. Always. I don't care what it 00:20:20.930 --> 00:20:25.500 is. They can be so wrong, so dead wrong, and 00:20:25.500 --> 00:20:28.200 yet they'll put the blame on somebody else and 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:30.180 talk so hard and strong that while you're talking 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:32.220 to them, they almost have you convinced that 00:20:32.220 --> 00:20:33.799 they were right and the other person was wrong, 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.680 and yet you know yourself that they were so wrong. 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:41.440 They'll live and die never really being honest 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:48.049 with themselves. Mm -hmm. It pays to be honest 00:20:48.049 --> 00:20:50.789 with yourself and consider whether you yourself 00:20:50.789 --> 00:20:53.470 are the cause of your difficulty. And nine times 00:20:53.470 --> 00:20:56.630 out of ten, you'll find you are. Be honest and 00:20:56.630 --> 00:21:00.990 see what it is that you do that causes the difficulty 00:21:00.990 --> 00:21:06.289 or prevents a solution of the difficulty. Then 00:21:06.289 --> 00:21:14.309 take hold of your life and handle it. You do 00:21:14.309 --> 00:21:18.630 not have to go down in defeat. With Christ in 00:21:18.630 --> 00:21:23.589 you, you will not only be a conqueror, but more 00:21:23.589 --> 00:21:28.069 than conquerors through Christ who loves you.