Guard Yourself From The Opinions Of People | Don’t Let Them Disturb Your Soul (Inspirational)

[Music] people's expectations can hurt you before they can help you other people's expectations do not define you [Music] never allow someone's expectations to have room in your heart [Music] I don't know about you but over the course of my life I've come to understand that sooner or later you will face opposition we all will and I mean people that come against us people that make negative comments people who are naysayers and no matter how good of a Christian you are no matter how much Faith you have sooner or later there's always one there's always going to be someone who will attempt to discredit undermine or belittle you now as for me I know that if I wasn't saved Lord knows I'd be trying to take matters into my own hands you might have your own way of dealing with such people but I thank God I met the Lord because when I meet a naysayer a discourager a holier than thou person then the Flesh in me the carnal man or rather human nature is to try to straighten them out and prove them wrong but here's the thing the way in which we think we should defend ourselves is often not God's will or way God says I am your Defender I am your Refuge I am your strong tower so we think we have to defend ourselves we think we have to defend our reputation we think we have to make them respect us but in doing so we are saying God it's not enough that you said in your word that you will prepare a table before my enemies it's not enough that you promise to defend me I would rather take matters into my own hands you see if you're constantly trying to defend yourself if you're constantly taking matters into your own hands it will drain you it will drain your energy it will Drain Your Enthusiasm and the second thing is if you're constantly taking matters into your own hands you'll get distracted fighting battles that you were never supposed to fight but may I remind you that you don't have to take matters into your own hands God will defend you leave it to him to fight your battles I had to get to a stage where I had to stop worrying about the negative comments I had to stop getting drawn into fights which are real distractions and energy drainers often it's the enemy that tries to throw up all of these conflicts so you'll waste your time and energy involved in battles that don't matter yes you may be a good person and they may be provoking you yes what they're saying about you may not be true but let me tell you it doesn't matter how good you are how loving or kind and upstanding people are people and somebody somewhere is not going to like you someone is going to try to discredit you this shouldn't be surprising to you because it also happened to Jesus despite his good works despite the Miracles despite the large Gatherings that saw people healed and made whole Jesus still had naysayers and opposition he did nothing but good and yet he was falsely accused but let me ask you how did Jesus defend himself how did he defend himself he left it in God's hands now what about you what happens if you leave it to God how much more peace would you have how much more joy would you have God can defend you better than you can defend yourself you don't have to try to pay people back or sort them out the truth is some people are never going to be for you no matter what you do they're never going to like you I had to get to a stage whereby I said Lord Jesus I'm turning this over to you I'm not going to spend my life worried about what someone else is saying about me no longer will I waste my energy trying to change another person's mind but instead I will focus on the Lord to defend me and fight for me and when I did that I found that whenever people try to push me down God pulled me up whenever people tried to push me back my savior pushed me forward those who tried to discredit me and make me look bad the Lord is ever faithful and he turned what they meant for evil and made it for my good so let me ask you why don't you put your battles in God's hands why don't you concede and quit spending all your time trying to defend yourself you have a Defender who can protect you better than you can he knows how to vindicate you this is what Jesus did he was disrespected they called him a fraud a cheat and an imposter but the scripture says he made himself of no reputation meaning he wasn't concerned about making a name for himself or about his reputation and you should have the same Spirit too let God fight the battle do you think he doesn't see what's happening to you God can intervene the more they keep talking the more he will Elevate you the more they talk the more God uses them as your footstool when they think they're hurting you the truth is God will work that for your good and eventually you'll see that they weren't hurting you they were helping you the Lord will pay you back for what they're saying by taking you to new levels that's why Psalm 23 says he will prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies that table that God prepares for you is only done in the presence of the ones that tried to disrespect you or hold you down they will see you in a position of Honor they will see you promoted and elevated that's your Defender at work so leave it to God let him fight and deal with that negativity all the while you place your trust in him don't be discouraged even though it looks hopeless the word of God says joy comes in the morning to everything there is a season so this too shall pass don't be moved by what you see in the natural eye but rely on the word of God that you know the word that says God is good a stronghold in the day of trouble focus on that instead of what's disappointed you the word that says you are my Hiding Place and my shield it says I will look to the Lord I will wait for the god of my salvation my God will hear me your life is in God's hands your future is in God's hands [Music]