The God of the Comma, Part 2 (cont'd)

You don't have to get all your questions answered to be free from despair. You can be free from despair while you still have questions you can't answer. God gave me this word to let you know that despair is optional. God may not always give you the answers. The good news is He is all the answers. Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory with Pastor Paul Shepherd.

Wherever you are and however you may be listening, thanks for spending part of your busy Friday here with us. Well, when we learn to shift our focus from our storms to our Savior, we'll find that our despair, our pain, our confusion will begin to disappear. Pastor Paul wants you to know that there is a prescription for peace, and he shares it with us in today's message.

That message is straight ahead. Stay right here or visit pastorpaul.net to listen on demand. That's pastorpaul.net.

You can also listen to or subscribe to the Destined for Victory podcast at Spotify, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your programs. Now here's Pastor Paul with today's Destined for Victory message, The God of the Comma. I've known folk who have gotten other people healed, had wonderful gifts of healing. I've known several people during the years of my ministry, and I've seen God supernaturally heal people on the spot.

Instantaneous, total, miraculous healings on the spot. In fact, I'm the product of that because my dad was healed supernaturally of a condition the doctor proclaimed he would never be a father, and the Lord healed him supernaturally in one service where an anointed person was laying hands on people and spoke the word of healing to him. And he was healed and had five kids.

I'm the third of them. Listen, God is still a healer, a miracle worker. I've known people. I've seen healing take place. But I know some of those same folks who got other folk healed by utilizing the gifts that God gave them, they ended up dying of cancer. And there were times when they said, Lord, how is it that you use me as a vessel to get other people healed, and here I am and I'm praying and calling on you and I can't get the healing I'm seeking. Don't try to make sense out of that.

We don't understand. I don't understand why some folk go through what they go through. You ever seen some good old saint and just say, why in the world are they going from one trouble to another one, one sickness to another one?

And then you look around and see somebody who has not lived for God any days of their life, hardcore sinner, and they hardly catch a cold. And some godly person dying slowly, trusting God every day, it perplexes you sometimes. And don't try to make sense out of things you can't make sense out of.

That's a mystery, and I don't understand it. When you go through seasons where you feel like I've given everything I can, Lord, and I can't make it anymore, you got to understand God's going to make sure that he's the God of the comma, and he said, though we're perplexed, we're not in despair. You don't have to get all your questions answered to be free from despair. You can be free from despair while you still have questions you can't answer. God gave me this word to let you know that despair is optional. Perplexity is mandatory. You're going to go through times you don't get it, but despair is optional.

I don't have to opt for despair. Because I serve the God of the comma who said, I can't figure this out, and I can't figure this out, Lord, but I'm going to trust you, and you're going to give me the grace to make it anyway. I came to tell somebody, God's got a grace for you on the other side of the comma, and you're going to make it anyway. Sometimes you're up late at night saying, oh, Lord, I can't make it. This has been the worst season ever.

Just take me home. You've been like Elijah. Elijah prayed like that, and the sad thing about it is the day before, the power of God was on him so strong, he calling down fire from heaven, consuming the sacrifice, had the false prophets slain. I mean, that man was under heavy anointing. The next day, he gets word that Jezebel has put a contract out on him, and the messenger said, Jezebel said to tell you that within 24 hours, you're going to be dead. You would think somebody with all that power, all that anointing from the day before, you would have thought he said, look, tell Jezzy, tell Jezzy that I said if she don't want to get burned up like those other folk got burned up, she better get up out of my face.

That's what you would think would happen, but how many know when you go through certain times, you can be anointed one moment and full of despair the next moment. Oh, Lord, and there was that powerful prophet. Now I'm talking about, oh, Lord, let me die.

I'm about to go see him. I'm about to take a nap, Lord. I don't even want to wake up here on earth.

I won't wake up in your presence. You ever been there? You can get there as an anointed child of God. You can say, Lord, just let that stop the world. Let me get off Jesus, but when you get there, the Bible is telling you here, you don't have to be in despair, and here's what I've learned to tell folks. When you're up late at night telling God you've run out, you're at the end of your rope, you can't make it, you know what you need to do? I got a word from God for you.

Go to sleep. That's the word. That's the word from God.

Write that down in your notes. When you're feeling that despair trying to creep up on you, feeling like I've done my best, I can't make it. Oh, my goodness. This is it, Lord. Just take me home. Let me wake up and see the angels and Peter in them. When you feel like that, I got a word from you. Go to sleep. That's the word from the Lord.

Better write it down. Oh, some of y'all want it the spiritual way. Okay, let me give it the spiritual way. Yeah, and the Lord would say unto thee, go to sleep. You know why I say that? Because the prophet Jeremiah said, morning by morning, God renews his mercies in our lives.

You know what that means? When you're up late at night telling God you can't make it anymore, that just means you ran out of that day's supply of grace and mercy. Go to sleep. Announce to the house, I'm going to bed. I've had it been a long day.

It's a long season. I'm going to bed. I'm going to shut this door. I don't want to hear y'all. Turn that TV down low. Cut out all that running around and acting crazy.

Come on. That's where I now know why my parents did stuff like that. They would announce it out. They wouldn't just go to bed.

They'd come out and say, look, we're turning in. Don't want to hear y'all. You don't want this door to have to open back up. Come on. You know what that this door, you want this door to stay shut. So I suggest you keep it down.

If y'all down there horsing around, take that to the basement, go somewhere else with that. Don't you disturb my sleep. I now know they had wisdom. Cause they knew they had run out. This is it.

This is it. When you know, when you get down to the vapors and the fumes, you've run out of grace. You are low on everything.

Low on supply. That's not the time you want people running up on you. Cause you won't act too saved in that moment. Oh, come on. See y'all, y'all perpetrate and you got your big Bible. And he said, I don't know. I don't understand what he's talking about.

All I do is just pray in the spirit till I go to sleep. Shut up. Perplexed, but not in despair. Then he said, persecuted, but not abandoned. Persecuted. Persecution has to do with people coming against you. Whenever you see the word persecution, that's people coming against you. You got to know that. When the Bible talks about other kinds of troubles, it uses words like trials, tribulations.

Those are circumstantial in nature. But when you see persecution, when you read all who will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. That's people.

Persecution is people. That's when folk come against you. That's when people try to take you down. That's when people lie on you and talk about you and slander you. That's when people make trouble for you on your job. That's when relatives start acting ugly. That's when people get to acting up in your life. And I will let you know just because you saved doesn't mean all the folk will like you. In fact, sometimes folk don't dislike you real good till you get serious about walking with the Lord.

That's when you find out how disliked you can be. And some of y'all got to grow up because some of y'all get your feelings hurt when you first find out that they are people who don't like you. Some of y'all get your feelings so hurt. Let me help you. Let me help you grow up real quick. Get over it in a hurry. I know you think you are wonderful.

I know you think there's nothing about you to dislike. See, some of y'all sit up there because every now and then over the years as a pastor, they come sit up in my office crying. As a pastor, I don't understand. I just found out these people are just talking about me and they just dabbing.

I don't understand. I'm just handing them tissue and letting them get it out. You know what I learned to do when they finally get through complaining about finding out how folk were talking about them in the church or whatever was on their job, in the community, whatever it was. They're talking about when they get through, you know what I tell them? They were talking about you before. You just now found out about it. They've been talking about you for quite a while actually. You got to learn to hurry up and get over it.

You know why? Because people don't dictate your future. You're in the hand of God. He began the good work in you.

He's going to bring it to pass. Let folk talk. Let folk say what they say. Let folk do what they do.

You can't control what they do and you don't have to. You know what you do? You stay on the wall and you keep building like Nehemiah. You let Sam Ballad and Tobiah talk day down on the ground while you're up on the wall.

And then they come on down. We're having a meeting. They were plotting to kill him. That's coming up.

I got a series coming up on Nehemiah. They're down there plotting. You got to learn to not come down off the wall every time somebody call you.

It's just a preview of coming attractions. You got to learn to stay up there and say, I'm doing the good work and I'm not coming down. Don't come down to people when they're talking about you on your job. Don't stoop down there to answer all that mess. Let them talk. You just make one simple declaration to the people who need to hear it. If they're lying on you to your boss and whatever you find out about it, you just go in the boss's office or shoot them an email and say, I heard that this is what's being discussed and I just wanted to let you know here are the facts. Hope you're having a great day.

Send. And you keep doing what you do. Don't run down. I have learned the hard way.

Don't spend your time running down behind every rumor and everything everybody said in every blog and you jump on there, I'm going to tell you all the truth. First of all, you can't run that stuff down because your enemies, they have an agenda. They can outrun you. But here's what the Lord says. You're persecuted, but don't sweat it, because you're not abandoned.

You know what that means? The Lord is saying they might have left you. They might be sick of you. They're done with you, but I'm still with you.

That's what you got to know. Not who left you, who's with you. Not who's talking about you, who's for you. God says, if I be for you, it doesn't matter who's against you. So he said, we're persecuted, but we're not abandoned.

God is with you. I can't tell somebody people are putting you through, but refuse to stoop to that level. Don't even let the enemy see you sweat if you can help it. Don't stoop to their level.

Just do the work of God. Let them talk. Let them bark. Let them howl. Be the moon. The dog can bark at the moon all he wants.

He can't pull it down. Let the dog howl at the moon. Just don't be the moon that starts howling back at the dog. Let the dog bark, because God's got you where he wants you.

And he is controlling your destiny. Stop trying to run folk down. Stop trying to make everybody like you.

If they just took the time to know me, they would really like me. They don't want to know you. They're not interested in the facts. When people are against you, they're not interested in the facts. Some people don't want to be confused with the truth. It's too easy to believe what they want to believe. They're not trying to get, oh, now that you explained it, okay. Now I say, okay, give me a hug.

Please. You settle one lie, they'll just make up another one. Some co-workers just not going to like you.

That's the end of it. They don't like you. Stop trying to, why don't we have lunch? Because I think if you just got to, they don't want to know you. They don't want to understand you. Some of them don't even know why they don't like you. If you would ask them, they say stuff like, I don't know.

If somebody else would ask them, I see you're not really into so and so. What's up with that? I don't know. Just something about it. I don't know.

I can't quite put my finger. They don't know. And others could articulate very well why they don't like you.

Either way, it doesn't matter. You can't control what they think. You can't control what they do. You can't control what they say.

And God is saying to you through this message, you don't have to stop spending your time worrying about other people. They don't hold your destiny in their hands. They can make life difficult. They can give you trouble, but they cannot dictate what God does in your life.

Let them run their mouths. You run God's business. You take care of what God's put in your hand to do and you trust him with the results. Because if the Lord wants to, he knows how to make your enemies your footstool. If he wants to, he can bring them like Joseph's brothers and they were bowing, begging for food and didn't even know that they were talking to the man that they had sold into slavery.

And you know what? I've learned that God wants you to keep your heart right so that if he chooses to bring them to your feet like that, you don't have this bad attitude. Because some of y'all right now, you're not quite ready for God to put your enemies at your disposal.

Oh, y'all might as well be honest now. Some of y'all right now, if God were to bring them and here they come needy and bowing and don't even know who you are and please help me and all that, you'd be like, oh, you hungry, huh? Oh, so now here you come, you hungry, you looking for something for, oh yeah, I got something for you. That's not acceptable to him. So he's going to keep on working on you till your heart is right. He's going to work on you until if he were to bring them, you are so ready that if they were to repent, you would express forgiveness toward them and mean it. Because I've taught you on forgiveness many times, you don't go telling people you forgive them who haven't even repented. But what you do is you have a forgiving spirit. You have forgiveness ready so that if they ever get broken, if they ever come to the end of themselves, if they ever come and say, you know, I wronged you, I've talked about you, I've lied on you, I've assassinated your character, I've slandered you. Whatever it is, if they ever come at any point in life and acknowledge what they did against you, you ought to have a heart that's ready to forgive. But you can only forgive a person once they're broken and penitent. Don't go walk up to somebody who's still nasty and mean toward you, say, I just want you to know I've been praying and I forgive you.

Don't say that to them. They don't want forgiveness. They haven't repented.

They're still guilty before God. But you can have a forgiving attitude, a forgiving heart. I don't know about you, I got a whole storeroom of forgiveness in my heart as God has worked over me, worked on me over these years.

I got a whole storeroom. I got forgiveness with various names on it in boxes in a storeroom in my heart. And if there's some folk, if they ever come between now and the day I close my eyes and go to be with the Lord, if they ever come, by God's grace, I got it ready for them. If they ever are broken and say, listen, I really did you wrong, I am so sorry, God has shown me, and all that, I go right in the storeroom and pull it out, here you are, I forgive you, it's overdone as if it never happened, hug you and mean it. Don't mean I'm gonna trust you necessarily. That's a second step. You forgive folk, but then you gotta wait and see if they are worthy of new trust. I'm trying to help somebody. You don't trust somebody that ripped you off blind and you forgive them and give them a new key?

No, I'm gonna take a little time and make sure you've worked all the kinks out. Some of y'all got a crackhead kid, you can forgive them after they say, I'm so sorry, mama, I took all the damn stuff out your house and smoked it up. And they really broken, forgive them, don't give them a new key. Wait and see them develop new character.

Get into church, get into a sound lifestyle, get a job in recovery and staying in there. Work it out. In the meantime, you say, let me know when you wanna come over. Trying to help you, I'm trying to help you now, cause you give it too soon, you give trust too soon to somebody who can't handle trust. And they just put stuff in the car and took it the last time. You give them trust too soon, they'll back a truck up the next time.

Your neighbors will hear beep, beep, beep. Forgiveness, trust, two different things. And finally he said, we are struck down, comma, but not destroyed. I came to tell somebody, just because life knocks you down sometimes, just because you get blindsided sometimes, just because you fail sometimes, does not mean the fight of your life is over.

So you gotta get this right. The Bible says we are victorious in Christ. In fact, the Bible says we are more than conquerors. But notice the same Paul who told the church in Rome, we are more than conquerors, now tells the church at Corinth, I've been struck down sometimes, comma, but not destroyed. And you say, well, isn't that a contradiction?

Not at all. You know what? Paul understands what you need to understand, which is just because a boxer goes down, doesn't mean the fight's over. That's why the referee walks over and says, one, two, three, the fact that he's counting means the fight's still on. He's waiting to see, are you gonna get up? Because there is a window of time where you can get up, he'll brush your gloves off, look you in your face, say, do you wanna go back in? And you say, yeah, I'm good.

And the fight is still on. Fact of the matter is, sometimes you're not really ready to fight till you get hit real good. Anybody but me ever been hit real good. I mean, you don't see it coming, pow. And there you are down there, don't spend all your time down there and say, what in the world? Oh my goodness.

What in the world kind of punch was that? I never saw it coming. Oh my goodness, now everybody looking at me on TV. I'm so embarrassed. I've never been knocked down like this before. I'm so embarrassed.

Oh, my kids is watching it now. Quit all that because the man is counting. Five, six, get yourself up, brush yourself off and realize this is a fight. I love it when a boxer gets up with a different look on their face.

You know, they were horsing around before just playing and looking at it and everything like that. You get slid real good, pow. And you get up, you say, oh. Oh, you wanna fight, huh? Oh, oh, no, no, no. Come on, come on, I got something for you. No, no, no, you wanna fight? No, no, come on.

And it's a different look altogether. They like, come on, Cletus, come on. You walk over, but you're limping back. Come on, I got something for you.

Some of y'all know I just went to the movies right quick. Yeah, you're struck down sometimes. You're pummeled. You're battered sometimes.

You don't always get everything right. Sometimes you're knocked down, but the fight's not over because you went down. The fight's only over if you refuse to get up. But if you get up and brush off and say, let's win this thing, God says you are more than a conqueror. And although you've been struck down, you will not be destroyed. I came to tell somebody we serve the God of the comma. Don't you let the devil put a period where God says, just put a comma because I got something for you so that you can win the victory. Whatever challenges you may be going through today, I hope you'll find strength and comfort in this message from Pastor Paul Shepherd.

When this world brings you dark days and shadows, lose them in the light. Well, as he does every week on Destined for Victory, Pastor Paul wants to invite you to partner with him in ministry, helping him share the gospel all over the world by pledging a donation of $20 or more each month. As our way of saying thank you for your partnership, we'll send you a few thank you gifts, including one of Pastor Paul's most popular CDs, The Best of Let My People Smile. Call 855-339-5500 to find out more about how to become a Destined for Victory partner. Or mail your gift letting us know you wish to become our partner.

The address is Destined for Victory, post office box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. You can also partner with us from our website, pastorpaul.net. Now if you can't become a partner but would like to send a generous one-time gift to the ministry today, we'd love to share with you a gift of our own, Pastor Paul Shepherd's booklet, Turning Your Test into a Testimony. That's Turning Your Test into a Testimony, our gift to you this month by request for your generous gift to Destined for Victory. I'm here to tell you that if you'll just follow God and do what he's leading you to do in this season, when you come through what you're going through, you're going to be practically unrecognizable to those who have been against you. That's next time in Pastor Paul's message, Unrecognizable. Until then, enjoy your weekend and remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are Destined for Victory. .