This morning on Twitter, someone said “When you’re in A Relationship “You” Becomes “Us” “I” becomes “We” and they Become “HATERS”.” I thought about this and not because of a relationship between you and a significant other but your relationship with God. It’s amazing how relationships with friends and significant others change when your relationship with God does. When you were in the world, your contact list had over 200 people but now that you go to church on Sunday, bible study on Wednesday and choir rehearsal, you barely got 3 true friends. But isn’t God good in spite of? See, you pray and ask God to remove your enemies and folks who don’t want to see you prosper and them so-called friends walk off. You ask God to enlarge your territory and your boo-thang left, now you’re wondering why but God is simply showing you that he or she wasn’t part of your growth. You have to have your eyes wide open when changes are made in your life because when God makes them, they are for your good. Romans 12:2 says “Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is good, well-pleasing and the perfect will of God.”
Steve Harvey used an example once of wanting a new car and every time he told his mom she would say ok and leave it at that. He couldn’t understand why she didn’t believe that he could get a new car but it wasn’t that she didn’t believe in him but she told him that in order to get the new car, he had to remove the old one that was in the driveway and no longer working. See, so many times we keep things in our way that are blocking us from getting the changes God is trying to make. You know you’ve been struggling on the job and the folks you work with have been trying to get rid of you but you keep fighting it. You keep going to human resources and filing complaints and it’s only stressing you out but as soon as you give it to God and accept the pink slip they’ve been trying to place in your hands, God opens 2 new doors with better hours, benefits and money but the only way for you to see the doors, you had to unblock them. When God takes something from you, it’s not to punish you or to make you suffer but it’s simply to prepare you for something greater. When you have your hands full or closed, how can you receive anything else? It’s like having your hands full with trash and your neighbor is walking by giving away $100 bills but each time he passes you, you can’t accept his gift. He tells you that he’ll come back but every time, you’re still holding the trash so now you’ve missed out on being blessed when you should have thrown the trash away. Why would you keep walking past the garbage can with trash in your hand anyway? If its trash that means it’s no longer of value to you, throw it out so that your hands can be free to receive something new. But if you have something in your hands, that you no longer need or use, give it away to someone else who needs it because once you give your hands are free to receive. The bible says in Luke 6:38 “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
See, in order to receive a change you have to be willing to change, that is in order to walk with God. How would it look for the deacon to go visiting the sick smelling like marijuana (weed) or you wear a suit on Sunday then come Monday, your pants sagging and you standing on the corner selling drugs or you lead every song every time the choir sings and then you sleeping with a married man, that’s not your husband, on Sunday evening. No, God doesn’t work like that. Matthew 6:24 says “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Have you ever sat on a wooden fence too long? If yes, then you probably had a few splinters in your butt or pain when you got off of it, right? Well, that’s what happens when you are straddling the fence between the world and God. Eventually, you’ll get tired of pulling wood from your butt and you’d have to choose. But what will your choice be? Yea, I know your worldly friends make it look so easy because they never seem to be without and they can stay out partying all night Saturday because they don’t have to get up on Sunday. But believe me when I say, the devil places people around you to deter your faith. Yea, she may stay in a big house, drives fancy cars, got money in the bank, bills paid and never sick and she tells you that she doesn’t pay any tithes and look what she has, but you do know the devil blesses too, right? She tells you that you can have all these things without praying but she never mentions the price she pays for them. Yea, she has all of the materialistic things but she goes to hell and back to get them. That car, after getting her head beat in by her boo. Those clothes, from the money she gets from all the men she has to sleep with and the black eye, well it came free. She makes it all looks good when it’s covered up, but once you remove that makeup and the high dollar clothes and shoes to reveal the real girl let’s see if you still want it!
Sometimes a change is the best thing that could have happened to you. I remember growing up in the projects but it didn’t define us because even though it was our home, it was temporary because momma wanted better for us, so she changed our environment. Even though she taught us about God and how we should act as young ladies, staying in that environment would have eventually rubbed off. Yea, I know it’s not all about where you stay that makes you but if you stay in the rain too long, you’ll get wet even when you wear a raincoat. Now, please don’t get me wrong because I enjoyed the time we spent in each place we lived, including the projects, but no matter who you are, if you are in any place long enough some of the things around you rubs off on you. You may not be a drug addict like some folks you grew up with but that doesn’t mean you didn’t try it and if the truth be told, the only reason why you’re not is because momma/daddy changed your location. So don’t be mad when you lose folks because you no longer act the same, go to the same places, drink the same drink or smoke the same stuff because not everybody will be happy for you. Change because this is what you want to do. If you do it for any other reason, the change won’t last.
In your change comes your confession and with confession you’re clean and your cleaning opens the door for your calling and your calling brings with it confirmation and confirmation brings confidence and confidence brings you into communion with Christ.
Lakisha, the Author 