Reflecting over the past month and how things have surely changed, I am reminded that death nor trouble nor blessings have a specific date to show up. See, death comes at an instant even for those who have been toiling a while, death still comes quickly with the stopping of their heart and their breathing. Trouble also comes in a blink of an eye because one minute you’re driving home and the next you can be in the back of an ambulance fighting for your life or walking around the grocery store and then the next minute gone from a heart attack. Blessings, they too, come in an instant because one minute you’re drowning in depression and the next you’re swimming in progression. My point is, don’t waste too much time wondering if, wandering lost and just simply wavering between to have faith or not because while you’re crying over the things that are going wrong you’re missing out on the things that are going right.
This is why you have to stay prayed up, faith filled, favored down and salvation wrapped. Child, don’t even let the enemy get a foot into your home because you’ll have a hell of a time getting him out. Just to let you know; the only way the enemy gets into your home is by riding with somebody else, so be careful who you open your door too. You are equipped with what you need to handle the struggles, strains, circumstances and situations of walking in the flesh but you have to believe that you can. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” See, God doesn’t choose folk who have already qualified themselves but He qualifies those whom He calls. You’re wondering why God chose you to be the Youth Director with all the stuff you’ve done in your past but He chose you because He knew those things made you strong enough to be a testimony to all those after you. You wonder how God could take somebody walking the streets, strung out on drugs, with a filthy mouth and attitude and turn them into a living testimony for the world to see but know that He had a purpose and a plan for them all along. Baby, God can take a whoremonger and turn them into the best husband. He can take an alcoholic and turn them into a Preacher who minsters to thousands with very little effort. He can take a prostitute and make her one of the best Congresswomen. He can take a crackhead and turn her into the best mother you’ve ever seen. And he can take a wretch like me who isn’t fitting to live and not ready to die; pick me up, dip me into his blood (baptism water), whisper to me “It’s all good now”, forgive me of my sins and erase my past and turn me into somebody who writes devotionals for you to ride by simply putting my fingers to a keyboard and my eyes on Him! Isn’t that worth a praise break? There isn’t anybody who can make me doubt this Man because I know for myself what he is capable of doing!
You know it for yourself and with a strong belief in God and a strong belief in self; you’re ready to win this fight. See, sometimes you have to give your own self a standing ovation to admire the things you’ve overcome and the heartache and disappointments that got you there. Don’t be afraid to pat yourself on the back and don’t be afraid to congratulate yourself every now and then. You are supposed to be your number one fan because if you don’t believe in yourself, you’ll have a hard time getting someone else too. Now, this doesn’t mean brag on yourself but let your work speak for you. This also doesn’t mean walk around with your nose in the air because no matter how far up it gets, you can still smell crap a mile away. Toot your own horn, congratulate yourself, encourage yourself and give yourself a round of applause but don’t allow your head to get bigger than what your body can carry because the last thing you want is to knock your own self down. Take the time to live before your chances run out. Your life has been purposely made for you so don’t spend time allowing your time to run out. No man knows their day or hour so live every day like tomorrow isn’t promised simply because it’s not.
“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; you know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message Bible)
Lakisha, the Author 