God's Word for You

For this commandment which I command you this day is not too difficult for you, nor is it far off.

Deuteronomy 30:11

I Will Not Quit

So often, someone will come to me for advice and prayer, and when I tell them what the Word of God says, or what I think the Holy Spirit is saying, their response is, “I know that's right; God has been showing me the same thing. But, Joyce, it's just too hard.” It is one of the most commonly expressed excuses I hear from people.

When I initially began to see from the Word of God how I was supposed to live and behave, and compared it to where I was, I also said, “I want to do things Your way, God, but it is so hard.” God graciously showed me this is a lie the enemy tries to inject into our minds to get us to give up. God's commandments are not too difficult or too far away.

Walking in obedience to God is not too difficult because He has given His Spirit to work in us powerfully and to help us in all He has asked of us (John 14:16). He is in us and with us all the time to enable us to do what we cannot do, and to do with ease what would be hard without Him!

Things get hard when we try to do them independently without leaning on and relying on God's grace.

God's Word for You

When Pharaoh let the people go, God led them not by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God said, Lest the people change their purpose when they see war and return to Egypt.

Exodus 13:17

For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin, no matter how it comes or where it leads) has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.

1 Corinthians 10:13

His Way Is Not Too Hard

God led the Children of Israel on a longer, harder route in the wilderness because He knew they were not ready for the battles they would face in possessing the Promised Land. He needed to do a work in their lives first, teaching them Who He was and that they could not depend on themselves.

You can be assured that anywhere God leads you, He is able to keep you. He never allows more to come on us than we can bear. We do not have to live in a constant struggle if we learn to lean on Him continually for the strength we need.

If you know God has asked you to do something, don't back down because it gets hard. When things get hard, spend more time with Him, lean more on Him, and receive more grace from Him (Hebrews 4:16). Grace is the power of God coming to you at no cost, to do through you what you cannot do by yourself.

God knows that the easy way is not always the best way for us. That's why it is so important that we not lose heart, grow weary, and faint.

Satan knows that if he can defeat us in our mind, he can defeat us in our experience.

Copyright © 2003 by Joyce Meyer

Tags: Christianity

About the Author

JOYCE MEYER has been teaching the Word of God since 1976 and in full-time ministry since 1980. She is the bestselling author of more than fifty inspirational books, including How to Hear from God, Knowing God Intimately, and Battlefield of the Mind. She has also released thousands of teaching cassettes and a complete video library. Joyce's Enjoying Everyday Life radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences. More