God Wants to Use You

Hey y'all, it's been a minute since I've jumped on live, but I had a thought. And sometimes if I have a thought, if I wait until the time when I can write it down in a very intellectual fashion and say it in a very poetic way, then I won't say it. And so I want to say this and get it off my chest. So bear with me. So earlier on Instagram today, I shared a post that said, um, my comment said, bloom where you're planted, but the picture actually said, God wants to use you exactly where you are. And then it said, read that again. So I'm gonna read it again. It says, God wants to use you exactly where you are. And as I posted that, I thought somebody's gonna say, no, he don't. He can't use me where I am. I don't even want to think about him potentially using me where I am because I don't like where I am. And the idea that God could actually use me here means he might keep me here because there's something in this situation that he might see as beneficial. And I don't want to own that. So I don't like that quote. I thought about that when I posted the quote and sure enough, Someone posted, "Does he really? Even when all of those around you, especially loved ones, are slandering you and declaring your uselessness as a person?" That was one comment. Another person said, "That's sad if you're in prison." Now, I don't know if that last comment was facetious or not, but here's what I wanna say about both of those. And I say those I'm gonna respond to both of those as if they were said seriously and painfully. Like, really? If I'm in prison, he wants to use me here? Actually, yes. If you're in a situation where the people who are supposed to love you well are not loving you well, and in fact tearing you down, absolutely yes. You wanna know why? Because where you are doesn't determine who you are. Even if you are in a difficult circumstance, You can still be used by God. In fact, especially if you're in a difficult circumstance, you can be used by God. We don't want to think about that like that because we don't want to think that there might be something good that He might get out of a situation we don't like. But here's the way I think about it. If you're in that situation and you're going to be in that situation, "entiway," anyway, you might as well make sure that God's gonna get glory out of it. Because here's the deal: when God gets glory, the overflow of His glory into your life is for your good. So you can slink back and say, "Because I don't like this, I'm not gonna show up and allow God to use me. I'm not gonna bloom where I'm planted 'cause I don't like where I'm planted." But if you don't bloom where you're planted, you planted there anyway. Entiway. So you might as well decide that while I'm here, I'm going to maximize the opportunity for me to be exactly who God wants me to be right here, for me to do exactly what God wants me to do despite the difficulty, for me to grow despite the people that are trying to snuff me out. Because here's the deal: the time is going to pass anyway. It's going to pass anyway. So if you're going to mark your time being miserable, don't you think you also have the choice to mark your time deciding to be made into a person who is more like God, who brings him more glory, and for that glory to overflow into your good. So here's the deal. I'm going to repeat this again. I'm going to say it again for the people in the back. God wants to use you exactly where you are. I'm going to read it again because that's what this post says. God wants to use you exactly, exactly Exactly where you are. And I know that doesn't feel good. And I know that where you are, that marriage may be hard. I know that where you work, you hate your job. I know that where you live, you can't wait to move from that. I know that in the body you're in, you're like, what can I do right now with the health, health, the situation that I have? I know you may not like where you're going to church. I know that you may not like your current mental state. What I want to tell you is where you are, who you are, If you will just say, all right, I surrender. I'm going to do this thing the best way I can. And I'm going to choose that when I decide to show up for my life, that God can use it. Even the parts of my life I don't like. Let me tell you the worst thing in the world that can happen to you. One of the worst things, one of the worst things in the world that can happen to you is for you to live your life and get to a point later when you realize that an opportunity— give me a second, boys. Has presented itself and you're not ready for it. And what's worse, that what was supposed to get you ready, you skipped because you didn't like the soil. You didn't like that boss, but you didn't realize that the skills you needed later were going to be learned under the directorship or under the, uh, authority of that person you could not stand working for. So instead of showing up and God using you to do an excellent job, even in a place that you did not like being in, because you skipped out, because you quit early, because you didn't do a good job and you just were marking time, you realize later Doggone it. Here's this opportunity. And had I learned what I was supposed to learn when I was in the situation to learn it, I would be more ready for the opportunity that he has provided me with right now. What if you don't learn the lesson from that first relationship or that first marriage, and you just are ready to get out? I'm not saying that you shouldn't get out of bad marriages. And especially if you're in an abusive marriage, this is not about that. What I'm telling you is if you're not careful, you will realize that you marry the second dude that you end up in the second relationship, and the lesson you were supposed to learn in the first relationship you didn't learn. So you still gotta do the same thing and bloom where you're planted in marriage number 2. What I'm trying to tell you is that if you don't take care of the first house and learn what you're supposed to do to be a good owner of the first house, you're going to get into the bigger house and realize that you didn't cultivate the habits of caring for your home. Listen, you want God to give you more money, but if you can't take care of the money that he's given you in this season, what makes you think that you can be trusted with more when you haven't been able to be entrusted with less? I'm telling y'all, he wants you to bloom where you're planted, and he wants to use you right where you are. So the question I want to ask you is, what are you waiting on? What are you waiting on? Because if you're waiting on your season to change before you decide to change, you're going to get into the new season and realize that the change you were waiting on, that you're not ready for it. So I want you, regardless of where you are, even if according to those two comments, there are people in your life who are making your life difficult, even if you're in a situation where, like this person said, you are in prison, in a literal prison or a physical prison, then you need to decide that wherever you are, you can decide to get the most out of it so that when you get to the next season, you are the most that you can be. Come on, somebody, for being the most. I'm trying to show up to my life and be the most. You see what happens when I have overflow? If I would have waited until I had time to write that down, it wouldn't, it wouldn't have gotten, gotten done. So y'all just got the overflow. Sorry about that. If I smacked anybody above on the head, I wasn't trying to. It's just that sometimes we need to be reminded. And y'all, I'm telling you this because I know it. And I know it because I know what happens when you bloom where you're planted. But I also have to be honest and tell you that I know what happens when you don't. And I don't want you to experience what happens when you don't. I don't want you to think, man, I should have done what I was supposed to do back there. I should have grown like I was supposed to grow back there. I should have shown up with excellence like I was supposed to show up with excellence back there, that I was supposed to dedicate myself to my studies back there, that I was supposed to be honoring in that relationship back there, that I was supposed to learn to watch my mouth back there, that I was supposed to learn to take care of my body back there, that I was supposed to learn how to manage my finances back there, only to realize that right here you missed the lesson back there, and now you have to learn the lesson anyway. Listen, y'all, I'm trying to tell you something. You only live this way one time. You only go this way one time. So don't waste your time learning lessons later that you can learn right now. It's a Friday night thing, and I just wanted you to know— I'mma repeat it again— God wants to use you exactly where you are. So plan for tomorrow, work for tomorrow, be ready for tomorrow, but don't wait on tomorrow to grow. All right, y'all, talk to you later. Have a great Friday night and make room for something you love this weekend. Something. Make room for something you love this weekend. Even if it's just 15 minutes, y'all, you about to have 48 hours unless you working this weekend. You're about to have a full 48 hours of time that is not dedicated to work to do something that you love. And life is too short not to give a little time every now and then to things that you love. Bloom where you planted. Even if you only have 15 minutes to do the thing you love this weekend, bloom. Do it. Do the thing. Tomorrow's not promised. This is your life. Show up to it. All right, y'all. Bye.