Graced to Grow

I am not a morning person. I'm actually the exact opposite (I went to bed at 1:30 Tuesday morning). For a week or so, I felt led to tune in to a 4 a.m. Tuesday prayer session that happens in Chicago. I questioned my ability to do it (once again, I'm not voluntarily active before 9 or 10 am...on a good day), but I got up ...at 4 am...and listened to/participated in the prayer session. It...laid…me...OUT. Like literally, I was on my floor, crying out of control...at four...in...the...morning, trying to avoid waking up those that live around me. The night before, I essentially told God to make me waking up worth it (bold request)…He fulfilled His end of the bargain, & then some. The prayer session was only an hour long, and at 5 a.m, I was too deep in the spirit to go back to sleep. So, I was praying after they ended the live feed. That taught me something that I want to pass to you

I'm here to remind you that you're graced for everything God has called you to do.  That's it. That's my goal and my objective: to remind you that God does not give a directive that He doesn't give grace for. When God 'graces' us to do something, He empowers us for it. He puts a guarantee on its completion, and assures us that no weapon formed will prosper. He strengthens us for it. He encourages us for it. He gives us the boldness, the peace, the physical, emotional, and spiritual strength that we need to not just do a thing, but to do it well. When you're graced for something, you may make it look easy. It looks like you were created for it, even if it doesn't feel like you're created for it. When you're graced to do something, the impossible becomes possible, mountains fall like molehills, and you realize that every fight has already been fixed.

     Often, when God tells us to do something, we tend to do self-assessments before we move. It's almost automatic - we have to put it through the filter of feasibility (because He clearly doesn't know who He's requesting this from). He speaks, we may or may not shout, and then think....how on earth am I going to do this? Can I do this? Did He actually tell me to do this? Or am I just beginning to lose my mind? The issue with this is that when we do our 'self-assessments', we view our capabilities through the lens of our strength, and not His. We wonder if we can do it based on our knowledge of who we are, and not based on who God created us to be, which essentially sets us up for failure, because you're limiting the potential of your destiny to what you remember about your history.

     Personally, I've recently learned that it's not an issue of His power; it's an issue of our perspective. It's a relatively minor example, but I shut down the idea of getting up at 4 a.m. because....I don't get up at 4 a.m. That's literally what I said to myself: I don't get up at 4 a.m. Why? I've don't think I've ever gotten up at 4 a.m. (which is literally the weakest reasoning on the planet). My frame of reference was everything that I had done. How many times have you rejected something that God led you to do...simply because you haven't seen it done before? (yet we shout over what eyes haven’t seen & ears haven’t heard) How many times have you thought that God picked the wrong person for the job, not because He wasn't able, but because you didn't believe that you were able?

     During the prayer, the pastor kept saying "you've got the oil to do it." You've got the oil for that relationship. You've got the oil for that job. You've got the oil to take care of those kids. You've got the oil to go to that school. You've got the oil to do it, and to thrive while doing it. Oil saturates. It helps things move easier. It brings life and moisture to dry spaces. That's what grace does, and that's what you do, in everything that God has called you to do.

     Honesty moment: I’m not saying that you will do everything effortlessly without a care, a fear, or a bad day. While I've got a lot happening in my life, I'm not expecting to lack or poorly execute anything. I know that if it's on my plate, He put it there. Was I slightly (or extremely) terrified when I realized what all was taking place (at the same time)? Um....YES - COMPLETELY YES. Then, I remembered that I didn't ask for most (or really any) of this. God led me to these exact schools. He placed me in my organizations, and gave me whatever positions I have. He provided the job, and placed all of these lovely people in my life. I know God well enough to know that He's God enough to finish everything He starts, and He started ALL OF THIS (lol).

     God does not give responsibility that He does not give grace for.  He does not call you for something that He has not equipped you for. Stop looking at it through your eyes, and pray to see it through His. It's not about your goodness, it's about His grace. It's about His oil. It's about His power to not only sustain you, but to empower you until people look at you & think it's easy. Now, that'll require you to actually let Him be God in your life (a lot, I know). That'll require you to let Him direct your path, and decision-making. Personally, if I'm going to depend on somebody, I'd rather depend on the One who has the power to take my worst mistake and flip it in my favor, than to depend on myself. I'd rather depend on the Ultimate Creator, the Author, Finisher, and Sustainer of my story, the best Comforter, and Undefeated King...than to trust...whatever I think I can do. I'd rather trust the One who knew me before my mom knew I existed in her womb, and believe that He knows what He invested in me. How about you?
"...and as your days, so shall your strength be." - Deut 33:25

Background music: Go - Mali Music & Built for This - James Fortune

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