God hides future leaders in humble places, not palaces. The speaker uses Psalm 23 to argue that your current obscurity in Atlanta's ghettos or small towns is deliberate training, like David facing lions and bears before becoming king. Stop doubting your gifts. You're being prepared for a season that's coming.
The devil is such an idiot. I love when David wrote the Psalm. He said, ah, he talked about the shadow of the valley of death. He said, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. You know, the enemy lives and lurks in the shadows. So God is developing the next king in the shadows. David said, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, shadow of death, thou art with me. Guess where God hid him? He hid the king in the enemy's backyard. The enemy was looking in palaces, but God is so smart. God is a tactician. He hid the enemy in the shadows, just like God is hiding you in the shadows. I know that you don't think that you're gifted enough. Stop it. God is hiding you in the shadows because God has a purpose. He doesn't want you to be shown before the proper time. There is a proper time for every one of us. There is a season that we are to be birthed, and God platforms every single one of us. But God hid the king in the most uncommon place. God was so practical that he put him in a calmly place. Shepherds were not appreciated. Shepherds were the lowest of the low on the economic rung. They had really no value. Shepherds were unimportant. This is why David took on this responsibility. But God did something awesome. God says, God says, I'm gonna put him in the king, put him, put the king in the valley. The valley of the shadow of death. I'm going to put the king in the field because the enemy surely wouldn't think to look there. He wouldn't surely think to look in the field. He surely wouldn't think to look in the ghettos of Atlanta, Georgia. He surely wouldn't think to look at, uh, the ghettos of Newnan, Georgia. He surely wouldn't think to look in the ghettos of Villa Rica, Georgia. Surely he wouldn't think to look in the ghettos of Carroll County, Georgia. Uh, but that's where God hid the king, because, uh, if the enemy was to know, then he would kill him prematurely. So God put the king in the sheep field for training. Uh, God didn't put him in the palace, but God was training him with the lion and the bear. But as I hasten to a close, I need, need you to hear me on this.
