Full transcript
0:00Now, therefore,
0:03come
0:05proclaim in the hearing of the people
0:07saying, "Whoever is afraid
0:10and worried
0:12is to return
0:14and leave Mount Gilead."
0:17So, 22,000.
0:19Y'all say thousand.
0:2222,000
0:24from the people returned, but 10,000
0:27remained. Want to put a tag on this text
0:30teach for a few moments from this topic.
0:32On the way down to your seat, just uh
0:34just repeat after me and say, "I've got
0:35an advantage."
0:37You may have your seats in the house.
0:39I've got an advantage. Trying to
0:41navigate this chess, not checker,
0:44theme throughout this amazing
0:47celebrating today. Family, here's
0:49something I know to be true.
0:52Some people leave fingerprints on
0:53history without ever leaving their name
0:56in the headlines.
0:58There are some people that leave their
1:01fingerprints on history without ever
1:03leaving their names in
1:07the headlines. That that's that's
1:09extremely important because such
1:12sometimes there are individuals who have
1:14such an impact on our lives. Uh but most
1:17often those individuals sometimes go
1:19overlooked. Just to be quite honest. As
1:21a matter of fact, not just on our lives
1:22individually, but on our lives
1:24collectively as uh a group of people. As
1:27a matter of fact, let me give you some
1:28names. Some of you may be familiar with,
1:30others maybe not so much. The first name
1:33I want to give you is uh a name by a
1:36person by the name of Claudette Colvin.
1:39Claudette Colvin. Claudette Colvin. You
1:42might not know Claudette, but you do
1:43know Rosa Parks.
1:46And uh 9 months before Rosa Parks
1:49refused to give up her seat, Claudette
1:50did it first.
1:53And uh she was 15 years old, teenage
1:55mother.
1:56Teenage mother asked to get up out of
1:58her seat. Sis was like, "It ain't
2:00happening."
2:02And and and in a real sense, what she
2:05initiated began and even spread even
2:08further to some of what we even see
2:11today in terms of progression
2:13in terms of race. Not not only
2:14Claudette, but watch this. Annie Malone.
2:17You might not know Annie Malone,
2:20uh but just know that the fingerprints
2:22on history
2:23are there even if a person's name isn't
2:26in the headline. Stay with me for a
2:27moment. I'm going somewhere, but Annie
2:28Malone before You might not know Annie
2:30Malone, but you may have heard of Madam
2:32C.J. Walker.
2:35But before Madam C.J. Walker became
2:37famous, Annie Malone built one of the
2:39first black million was one of the first
2:41black millionaires and had a
2:43million-dollar business through hair
2:45care products.
2:48So, sis was paid.
2:51And uh she was in obscurity.
2:54So, not only Claudette, but not only
2:55Annie, but
2:57You You might have heard of this person,
2:58Katherine Johnson. No?
3:01No Katherine?
3:02I don't know Katherine. Okay, cool.
3:04Well, it was Katherine Johnson that
3:06helped send astronauts into space at
3:08NASA.
3:10So, America celebrated being on the moon
3:13while oftentimes not wanting to
3:16acknowledge that it was a sister's
3:18calculations that got them there.
3:21So, all of these individuals have left
3:23fingerprints on history
3:26without ever having really the headlines
3:28that they deserve. One of the things all
3:30of these ladies have in common is that
3:31they have left their fingerprint on his
3:33Let's not play games. If you If you
3:35engage scripture, uh if you engage
3:38scripture at any point, then you know
3:39that there are some themes running
3:41through some scriptures, particularly
3:43the Old Testament. There are some themes
3:45running through some scriptures. Y'all
3:46stay with me for a moment. I'm going
3:47somewhere, but I promise you. And one of
3:49the things that run through scripture is
3:51this idea of patriarchy.
3:54Right? So, patriarchy, this idea of I'm
3:56I'm going to elevate the man and I'm
3:58going to not even speak about the woman.
4:00So, often times in scripture, right? Uh
4:02the the Bible does not prescribe
4:05patriarchy. It's not saying we should be
4:08like that. It's just describing what
4:10actually was happening. Right? So, you
4:13will notice that you see this because
4:14often times the Bible will tell you
4:16about who owned a house, but they never
4:19tell you about who kept the house
4:20together.
4:23It's It's all It's all throughout. So,
4:24think about it like this. All right.
4:26Let's think about this.
4:28We know who Gideon's father was, Joash.
4:30We talked about that.
4:32We know who his clan was.
4:36We know his tribe.
4:38We even know that he had a statue in his
4:41father had a statue in the backyard.
4:44We even know the name of the god that
4:47they worshiped, that his father
4:48worshiped.
4:51But, hidden somewhere
4:54inside of this text that we're going to
4:55navigate through is the possibility that
4:58the text
4:59quietly maybe even suggests, and that is
5:02that there are fingerprints of a woman,
5:04particularly a mother, all throughout
5:06this narrative. Maybe that that that
5:08there are some fragments of faith woven
5:11into these words by a woman because
5:13technically Gideon should not know who
5:16God is.
5:18Think about this. Just think about this
5:20for a moment.
5:21Not in this culture, not in this
5:23climate, not in all of this chaos.
5:25If his father, peep this, was
5:28worshipping Baal,
5:30how did Gideon know about Yahweh?
5:38So So, there are there has to be
5:40fingerprints
5:42on Gideon
5:44that's not getting headlines.
5:46Are y'all tracking with me?
5:48So so so So peep this. Peep this.
5:51His father couldn't have told him
5:53because his father was a worshiper of
5:54Baal.
5:55According to the text.
5:57Um Gideon said, "Did not our ancestors
6:01uh didn't didn't God bring bring our
6:03ancestors out?" Because he had a
6:04question for God when God called him to
6:05do this. He says, "Hey, God, where you
6:07at?
6:08You're giving me an assignment, but I
6:10don't feel like we're going to be able
6:11to do this because of what looks around
6:13all around me." So So he already knows
6:16about the deliverance story. He already
6:18knows about Egypt. He already knows
6:20about God's power. And the question is,
6:23who told him?
6:26Yeah. Yeah.
6:28Maybe God, I'm just building my
6:29argument. Maybe God positioned a mother
6:34with the privilege of positioning a
6:37person
6:38that will put the people of Israel in a
6:40better position.
6:42And one thing about any good mother
6:46is they want to put their child in a
6:47better position than they were in.
6:51I thought I would get a amen right
6:52there.
6:53Wha- It one thing about any decent
6:56mother
6:57is that they want their child's life to
6:59be a little bit easier than theirs. They
7:03They They They want them to avoid some
7:05of the obstacles that they had to avoid,
7:07right? So so in a real sense
7:11this mother could have given Gideon an
7:14advantage.
7:16Uh
7:17I guess it's early, but I guess I'll go
7:19ahead and say this.
7:21If you've ever listened to
7:23one piece of advice
7:25that your mother tried to give you
7:27and you messed around and found out she
7:28was right.
7:31You better thank God for an advantage.
7:34If you've ever listened to Okay, I'll
7:36see who'll be honest here. If you've
7:38ever listened to a piece of advice
7:40and you say, "I wish I would have
7:42listened."
7:44Is my microphone working?
7:48If she ever If she ever told you or
7:51tells you,
7:53"Baby,
7:55that little girl ain't the one."
7:59And you listened.
8:01He ever told you, "No, he ain't the
8:03one."
8:04And you listened.
8:06If mama ever had to save you out of
8:07something you got yourself in.
8:10Mama ever had to help you out of Mama
8:12ever had to be a shoulder for you to cry
8:14on.
8:15If If mama had to be the only person
8:18that you can call and tell about that.
8:20If If there's ever been moments where
8:22you were in the hospital and mama was
8:23the one that came.
8:29A A beautiful
8:30A beautiful A beautiful advantage,
8:33whether she's doing that or you have the
8:35memories of her doing that, it's a
8:37beautiful thing to have that. So, maybe
8:40in I'm just arguing. Maybe in Gideon's
8:42life there is an advantage.
8:46Because somebody had to keep telling him
8:48the story about God
8:50while all of the men were out building
8:53idols.
8:55Lord have mercy. I think I got to walk
8:56through today.
8:58I'm I'm hovering over the text. So, in
9:01the text, contextually,
9:04Gideon's father built a statue in the
9:07backyard.
9:09And the men of that town would come to
9:12worship that idol in the backyard.
9:17So, while the men were building idols,
9:21somebody had to be instilling some type
9:23of God system in the children.
9:28So, let me come get you. I'll come get
9:29you. So, while daddy couldn't be found
9:35chasing idols,
9:39I still I thank God that I still had
9:41somebody.
9:44All right, let me keep moving.
9:47Let me keep moving. Maybe there's some
9:49fingerprints
9:51in my life.
9:53So, one of the greatest mistakes of
9:55history is assuming
9:57that visible leadership means sole
9:59influence.
10:01But, the reality is before Moses ever
10:03stretched out a rod publicly,
10:05a mother hid him privately.
10:11Before Samuel heard God in the temple,
10:13Hannah travailed in prayer.
10:17Somebody
10:18prayed for me.
10:20Had me on their mind.
10:23Took the time
10:25and prayed for me.
10:28Before Timothy ever preached doctrine,
10:31his grandmother and mother, Lois and
10:33Eunice, planted him in scripture. All
10:37I'm simply saying is what we see of
10:39Gideon in Judges chapter number seven,
10:42something had to happen in him before
10:45then.
10:46There had to be a seed of something that
10:49God was coming for.
10:51So, all right.
10:53I guess contextually let's look all
10:54through the book of Judges. Stay with
10:56me. All through the book of Judges, we
10:58see this idea of women emerging
11:01as perseverers and emerging as prophets
11:06and emerging as pivotal individuals. We
11:09see Deborah, we see Jael, we see
11:11Samson's mother, we see all of these
11:12unnamed women all throughout covenant
11:15history. We see it and maybe Gideon's
11:19first battle was not Midian.
11:22It was potentially the atmosphere of his
11:25own home.
11:29Because daddy was building idols.
11:32But, mama was trying to inculcate
11:34a spiritual belief system.
11:39So in chess, this is what's called
11:40positioning, right? So when you're
11:42playing chess, right? Uh
11:44it it's called positioning. It's when
11:45you literally set the game up in such a
11:47way
11:49that um your opponent doesn't see
11:52your strategy.
11:54So, you allow certain pieces to be taken
11:56away,
11:57right? You allow certain pieces to get
11:59captured. You You allow all of that all
12:01as a part of your strategy. And in a
12:03real sense, God is doing some
12:05positioning even in Gideon's life.
12:07Positioning is when God arranges people,
12:09is when God arranges places, and when
12:11God arranges pressure to prepare us for
12:15purpose. God will position you in the
12:18pit of what seems like a pitiful problem
12:22without your permission.
12:24God has a way of positioning our lives
12:28not to destroy us, but to help develop
12:31us.
12:33And in the text,
12:34we see Gideon
12:36getting ready
12:37to be developed. I gave you this and you
12:38got to go back on YouTube and catch uh
12:41the previous versions of this story. We
12:43kind of been navigating through this for
12:45a few weeks now and um
12:46uh one of the things we seen that we
12:48talked about in in Judges chapter number
12:50six, verse number 25 through 27 is
12:52interesting because
12:53uh it it literally talks about this
12:55first idea that before Gideon accept the
12:57assignment, literally God asked him to
13:00go Watch this. Remove idols and build
13:02altars.
13:04Yeah. So, we talked about this idea that
13:06the first thing that has to happen is he
13:08has to remove idols and build altars.
13:10I'm not going to do it with idols, uh
13:12but just simply if if you were not here,
13:14I'll give you six seconds of a recap on
13:16idols. An idol, watch this, is anything
13:19that takes God's place in your heart,
13:21anything that you rely on more than him,
13:23or anything you run to before him, or
13:26anything you trust instead of him.
13:27That's an idol.
13:29An idol is what we're secretly praying
13:32that God never ask us for ask us a for
13:34ask us for.
13:36Right? It's anything that you're praying
13:38that God you're praying secretly that
13:41God never asks us for. It is It is an
13:45idol. So, while the men were building
13:46idols, mama was in prayer.
13:52It It It is this idea that he says
13:54before you accept the assignment, I want
13:57you to remove the idols. Now, Gideon's
13:59name literally Is this too much?
14:02Gideon's name literally means cutter
14:05down.
14:07It means cutter down.
14:09Right? So, before Gideon got an
14:12assignment, he had an identity.
14:18And in the text, it tells us the first
14:20thing that God asked him to do is remove
14:22idols and build altars. Watch this. Ah.
14:25He says remove idols and build altars.
14:26Number two, the second thing that he
14:27says is watch this replace it with
14:29surrender and sacrifice. Now, he's
14:32saying don't just remove the idol.
14:38Replace it
14:40with something.
14:42Why is that important?
14:44Well, because God is playing chess, not
14:45checkers.
14:47He's preparing Gideon internally before
14:50the fight externally. God often times
14:54gets us ready for what he already has
14:56ready for us. Now that the idol, stay
14:59with me, is removed, he says, "Now that
15:02it's removed,
15:04now replace it with something."
15:07Because
15:08what we don't replace,
15:10we will return to.
15:16Let me just I'm going to stay back here
15:17because
15:19what we don't replace, we will return
15:22to.
15:23So, don't just remove it.
15:27Replace it with something.
15:30What do I replace it with? Great
15:31question.
15:33Surrender.
15:35Sacrifice.
15:37Worship.
15:39He's saying, build an altar
15:42where the idol used to be.
15:45Because if you don't
15:47replace it, I'm I'm walking on purpose.
15:49If you don't replace it, you are bound
15:52to return to it.
15:54Why do we check on our idols so much?
15:58Why we on our idols
16:00IG page?
16:04Oh boy.
16:07I'm just looking down at the iPad.
16:11Now that you removed it, why you go
16:13check on it all the time?
16:16Why you trying to see how they doing?
16:19I thought you removed yourself from it.
16:22So, why are you so concerned with it?
16:26I know you're not liking statuses,
16:28but you're looking.
16:30Oh boy.
16:32All right, let's go.
16:35You got a whole 'nother page just to
16:37survey
16:39improvised surveillance
16:41on somebody you separated from.
16:44Let's see here. All right.
16:48So, he says he says, cut it down, right?
16:51Because that's who you are. That's what
16:53I've called you to do. And um and this
16:55cutting down is God literally, I'm going
16:58to show you this, is God conditioning,
17:01watch this, the cutting down is God
17:03conditioning Gideon to cut off some
17:05stuff. Why?
17:08So, that it's easier for him to accept
17:10the assignment that's coming.
17:12What are you talking about? All right,
17:13let's make it plain. Midian
17:16versus
17:18Israel.
17:19It's about to go down.
17:21Midian
17:23100
17:2535,000
17:27plus soldiers.
17:30Israel
17:3122,000.
17:35135,000
17:38versus 22,000.
17:44God says,
17:46"Go defeat Midian."
17:49Gideon says, "Okay.
17:52The only problem is
17:54they've got 135,000.
17:57We've got 22,000.
18:00The math ain't mathing."
18:03Okay.
18:04Um God says, "Don't worry about it. I
18:06got you." I hear you
18:09that you got me.
18:11But they got 135,000.
18:15And we've got 22,000.
18:18God says, "Don't worry about it.
18:21I know you're outnumbered, but I got
18:23you."
18:24Get Get Gideon says, "I'm glad you got
18:26me.
18:27The only problem is they've got 135
18:31Y'all ain't got
18:33Come on.
18:35It's like somebody giving you a
18:36prophetic word. The Lord is with you.
18:38Just go. I understand that, but I'm
18:39broke.
18:41I want to go.
18:42I just need money.
18:46Somebody say money. You hear me?
18:48>> [laughter]
18:49>> It's like I want to be obedient.
18:52But the way my pocket set up
18:58So here it is.
19:00Midian has how many?
19:02135,000.
19:04Israel has
19:0622.
19:10And let's see what the Bible says.
19:12This is what God
19:14Well, I'll just show you. Judges chapter
19:16number 7 verse 2 and 3. Watch this. And
19:18the Lord said to Gideon, "The people you
19:20have with you are too many."
19:23Hold on.
19:24I know you lying.
19:26I Wait, hold on.
19:28The
19:30The
19:32Let's look at this cuz this might be
19:33different.
19:34The people that you have who are with
19:37you
19:38are too many.
19:41I don't know about that.
19:43Because they got 135,000.
19:48And here you are telling me that the
19:50people I have is too many. Well, what
19:52what are you saying to them?
19:56He says, but he didn't stop there. He
19:58says, "The people you have with you are
20:00too many." He doesn't stop. There's no
20:02pause. There's no period. There's no
20:04comma. It's one sentence. The people
20:06that you have uh with you are too many
20:08for me.
20:11I'm going to hang out right here.
20:12The people you have is too many for me.
20:15God says, "You think you need more, but
20:18you already got too much.
20:21Because when I strip some stuff away,
20:23you will see that all you really had was
20:25me in the first place."
20:28He So, he's saying
20:30you the people you have is too many for
20:34me to do something. Now, I can let you
20:36have them, and then you got to do it in
20:38your own strength.
20:42Watch what he says. This this
20:44It's too many for me.
20:46Otherwise, Israel would become boastful,
20:50saying, "My own power has saved me."
20:54So, so so God had to prune the size of
20:57the army
20:58so that they can prioritize the God of
21:00the army.
21:03So,
21:05I I I I I
21:08I
21:09Because if I keep going I'm I'm just
21:11going to skip a whole lot. Just stay
21:12with me. Go home and read the whole
21:14chapter. It's good. But um
21:16here's something that happens.
21:18Gideon gets uh goes to God and people
21:20this what God says. God says, "You got
21:22too many people.
21:24Now stand up
21:25and tell the army, "Hey, if you are
21:29scared
21:30or if you are worried
21:32get up and go home." It's the ghetto
21:33version.
21:35He says, "If you're scared, just go back
21:36home."
21:38I I
21:39Now my problem is
21:41Midianites have 135,000 people.
21:45We already outnumber.
21:47And now you want me to get up
21:49and tell people when we're already
21:52outnumbered that if they're scared just
21:54go home.
21:55I I don't like that
21:57because I need as many people as
21:58possible.
22:00It would seem like to me. And God says,
22:02"You're looking at people that you don't
22:03really have, Gideon."
22:07He said, "You think you got them because
22:09you see them?"
22:12He says, "Just tell them to go ahead and
22:13go home now before the fight."
22:17Because imagine if you're in the middle
22:18of a war and they all decide to go home
22:20because they're afraid.
22:25He said He said, "So just go ahead and
22:27call them and tell them, 'Hey, you plan
22:28on leaving, go ahead and leave. Just
22:30walk out of my life.'"
22:32Just cuz I don't need you. I don't need
22:34me going through a season and I call you
22:36and you ain't going to be there.
22:38Right.
22:38>> [laughter]
22:39>> Just
22:40It's like just just go ahead and tell
22:42the twen- tell those who are scared, who
22:45are worried, who are overly As a matter
22:46of fact, this is actually not God being
22:49petty. It's actually a principle because
22:51when you look in Deuteronomy chapter
22:52number 12 chapter number 20 chapter
22:55number 20 God gives uh
22:58he gives almost uh
23:00uh what's it called? He gives almost
23:01outs for individuals who are about to go
23:03into war. Right? So, Deuteronomy 20, he
23:05tells them three different things three
23:06different stipulations that they can use
23:09to get out of war. He says, one, if you
23:11just planted a vineyard and you want to
23:13make sure you check on your crops. I
23:15mean, you want you you've been waiting
23:17months for that. So, he says, you don't
23:18have to go to war. You can go back.
23:20That's one stipulation. Then the second
23:22one is, if you just newly got married
23:24and you and you and your your spouse you
23:26got you guys haven't even really had
23:28time to kind of hang out together and
23:30whatever. So, he says that's the second
23:32reason. And then the third reason, this
23:33is in Deuteronomy 20, the third reason
23:35as to why you can be free from a battle
23:37or you can go home or be released for a
23:38battle is that if you're afraid.
23:41He says, if you're scared, if you got
23:43family stuff you need to take care of,
23:45go ahead and that if if business is
23:47booming right now, crops coming in, this
23:49that and third, go ahead take care of
23:50that as well. So, in essence, God is not
23:52being petty. He's enacting a principle
23:54that is the principle is simply
23:57the prioritization
23:59of what God is calling them to do.
24:02So, so essentially here's what happened.
24:04I'm just skipping. Give me 3 minutes and
24:06I'm out of here.
24:07Essentially,
24:09uh God told Gideon, verse number four
24:12and five, Judges 7,
24:13uh there are still too many.
24:16Now, thousands get up and leave
24:19after he says, if you're scared, go
24:21home.
24:23You you would hope four or five people.
24:26Six people scared, cool.
24:29Um 10,000 leave. I think 12,000 leave.
24:3312,000 people.
24:34Now, Midian has 135,000
24:39We
24:4012,000 get up and leave.
24:42They're left with 10,000 people.
24:45God then tells Gideon, you still got too
24:47many.
24:48Now, I don't like this.
24:51Because I'm like, God, you got me doing
24:53all this cutting in my life.
24:54Are Are asking them to do that, too?
24:57Don't say anything. Look at me. Have you
24:59ever felt like God was bothering you
25:01about stuff that you get to watch other
25:02people do freely?
25:05Like, man, how come I can't just tell
25:07them off and not feel no kind of way?
25:09It's like I tell them off and then at
25:10least I feel some kind of way.
25:13So, in a real sense,
25:16God is cutting this thing down, cutting
25:18the army down, cutting the army down
25:20because he's trying to show them that
25:22sometimes large numbers, watch this,
25:25large numbers create this false
25:26confidence.
25:29It creates sometimes it can create
25:31self-reliance.
25:33So, we live in a world where we feel
25:34like if we get more of something,
25:37then it's automatically better for us.
25:40But, biblically, that's not always the
25:42case. Sometimes we're better when we
25:44have less of it. Now, here's my prayer.
25:47God, don't have me to have to have less
25:50in order to be better.
25:52Hello.
25:53>> [laughter]
25:55>> Okay, that's I'm the only one.
25:57I'm like
25:58I'm like, God, try me with some
26:00millions. Amen.
26:02>> [laughter]
26:03>> I'll prioritize you. Amen.
26:07I heard somebody say, just just let me
26:09win the lotto, Lord. I promise you I'm a
26:1110% in Jesus name.
26:15So, God is is is essentially
26:18he goes to I got to hurry up. 2 minutes.
26:20All right, I got to hurry up.
26:23Um Judges chapter number 7 verse 4 and
26:255. Boom, perfect. He says, but the Lord
26:27told Gideon, you still got too many.
26:28Bring them down to the spring and I will
26:30test them to determine who will go with
26:32you and who will not. Verse number 5.
26:33So, Gideon took his warriors down to the
26:35water. The Lord told him, divide the men
26:37into two groups, okay? And one group put
26:39all of those who cup water in their
26:41hands and lap it with their tongue like
26:43dogs. And in other in the other group
26:45put all of them who kneel down and drink
26:48with their mouths in the stream. All
26:50right, so essentially, God gives them a
26:52test. He tells them, "Go get something
26:55to drink and those who grab the water
26:57and bring the water up to their mouths
26:59and drink like that, put them on one
27:00side and those who put their face in the
27:02water,
27:03put them on the other side and all of
27:05those who puts their face in the water,
27:09tell them to get up out of here."
27:12Now, the problem I have
27:14is that
27:15that was an extra 10,000 people.
27:22So,
27:23300
27:25cup the water like this.
27:27It It's not just about how you drink
27:28water
27:29because in God's eyes, how you do
27:30anything is how you do everything. So,
27:32it's not a small thing. It's not a small
27:34thing. Essentially, he's saying that if
27:37if if we approach small things like
27:39small things,
27:41then
27:42God can entrust big things in our hands.
27:45So, he's essentially saying it's not so
27:47much about the water, it's about the
27:49readiness.
27:51Because if you're so consumed in your
27:53thirst
27:54that you're not watchful,
27:57when we get in the battle,
27:59you're not going to be an asset to the
28:00army.
28:01So, it's a It's more It's a principle of
28:05who's alert.
28:09Who Who's not sleep on the job?
28:12Um
28:14I got a minute and a half and I'm done.
28:16So,
28:20only 300 men drank from their hands.
28:23Verse number six,
28:25and all the others got down
28:27on their knees and drank with their
28:28mouths in the stream. The Lord told
28:30Gideon then,
28:32"With these 300,
28:35I will rescue you and give you victory
28:37over the Midianites.
28:39Send all the others home."
28:42Seemed like
28:44God was in the business
28:47of cutting down numbers,
28:51but giving us an advantage.
28:53It's crazy how the advantage came
28:57when the thousands left.
29:00Isn't that interesting?
29:03That That's interesting.
29:04All of us
29:06have been impacted by some of that
29:07advantage that that that Gideon kind of
29:09walks in. All of us have had things walk
29:11away or opportunities slip out of our
29:14hands or maybe it feels like some things
29:16are past our opportunity to take
29:18advantage of it now, but
29:20you got an advantage.
29:23And you know, you try to navigate
29:25all of this this this
29:27what what's happening in
29:29in the culture.
29:31What's happening today, this weekend?
29:32We're celebrating Mother's Day and
29:33what's happening in Texas, chess not
29:35checkers and
29:36and all this.
29:37I started thinking about something.
29:39I started thinking about
29:41the advantages that all of us have. If
29:43you've ever had
29:45a person like Gideon,
29:47a mother like Gideon,
29:49that's spoken to your life
29:51and that have told you something
29:53that you thank God for.
29:55Maybe Maybe watch this because Mother's
29:58Day is real,
29:59right? Cuz it's a time of celebration.
30:01And then also it's a time where we kind
30:03of memorialize and we we remember as
30:05well.
30:07You know? So, we're not going to act
30:08like everybody's just happy today. Like,
30:10"Hey!" No, no, some people are happy and
30:13the other people are trying to figure it
30:14out.
30:16Try to navigate.
30:17How should I feel?
30:19I talked to one person and they said, "I
30:21don't know. I almost feel bad that I'm
30:22happy it's Mother's Day."
30:24Because their mother's not here.
30:26They're trying to navigate that.
30:29You got me?
30:30And then some of us have a in a strange
30:32relationship with our mother.
30:35And it's like, "I don't say nothing to
30:36her. She don't say nothing to me." And
30:37that's just life.
30:40And then others of us have a great
30:41relationship with our mother.
30:43And you can't even imagine not talking
30:45to them every day.
30:48I mean, you call your mom about
30:49anything. Mom, the door locked. Girl,
30:51did you use the key?
30:53Oh, okay. All right. I'll talk to you
30:54later. Right?
30:56And that's beautiful.
30:59That's an advantage.
31:01The point I'm making is
31:04whether you have
31:06someone
31:07to make to put a fingerprint on your
31:09life as we see in Gideon's life.
31:12Whether you have that
31:14or whether you had that,
31:18you've got an advantage.
31:23Whether you have it or whether you had
31:24it,
31:25you've got an advantage.
31:27If you can sit and think and remember
31:30the the laughs and the conversations
31:31that y'all have had, you've got an
31:32advantage.
31:35If you get to leave here today and go or
31:38go to your favorite restaurant because
31:39y'all said y'all not cooking or at all,
31:44and wait in line and and and and laugh
31:47and reminisce and
31:49and talk,
31:51you got an advantage.
31:53I guess all I'm trying to say is take
31:55advantage of the advantage.
31:58Remember what you had. Remember what you
32:00have.
32:02Celebrate
32:05what once was.
32:07And then often times you see how God
32:08just kind of starts putting people in
32:10your life to kind of take up some of
32:11that space.
32:13Isn't it crazy?
32:14It's crazy like God loves us enough that
32:16he'll start bringing people in our lives
32:18that step right in that [music] role.
32:20And they get on your nerves just like
32:22other people did.
32:24Right?
32:26Take advantage of that. Come on, put
32:28your hands together if you receive that
32:29message. Come on, stand up.