جارٍ تحميل الأرشيف الحي.
Part 6 of 8
Suddenly Series
واصِل الاستكشاف
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There's a critical distinction between "suddenly" and "instantly." Instantly describes how fast something happens. Suddenly describes how unexpectedly it appears. Something can happen instantly without it being sudden—you knew it was coming. But suddenly is when it occurs without your knowledge, even if God has been working on it for a long time behind the scenes.
Instantly means it happened quickly. Suddenly means you just didn't see it coming. God's about to hit you with something for the good that you just didn't see coming—checks in the mail, raises and bonuses, sales and commission. Good things are getting ready to happen for you.
Suddenly is not always an unprepared moment. It is often the moment when hidden preparation becomes visible manifestation. Picture waking up in the morning and smelling bacon, eggs, grits, and sausage. Breakfast appears suddenly to you because you didn't see it coming. But it was not sudden to your mother, because while you slept at 6 a.m., she was preparing it.
When stepping into a suddenly season, God is not starting to work on what you need. He's already been working on your future. You had no clue in 2024 when you were going through stuff you didn't want to go through, but God was like, "I can't take you out in 24 because if I take you out in 24, it's going to mess up your suddenly in 26." He was preparing something for you.
God is always doing something. Even when it seems like He's silent, His silence is strategic. God's silence is not just silence—it's a setup. When God's doing nothing, He's actually doing something. When He's doing nothing, He's doing it intentionally.
God don't have to rush. God don't have to be extra. God don't have to do too much. When you know what you've got planned, you're able to stay confident in crisis.
We celebrate suddenly, but we resent delay. We praise God for breakthroughs, but then we complain about the process. And if we're honest, most of the suddenly that happen in our life are born from the seasons of delay.
This teaches us something critical: Suddenly isn't the opposite of delay. Suddenly is often the product of delay. What looks sudden to you usually begins developing in God's hand.
When God isn't always doing what you want, it feels like denial. Most of us define denial as God not doing what we want Him to do. We wanted a job and didn't get it—we view that as denial. We needed a blessing and it didn't show up when we wanted—we feel denied.
But when God isn't doing what you want when you want, that also feels like delay. Our life will be largely defined by how we handle delays. The question isn't whether you can handle a suddenly but whether you can survive a delay. You'll be surprised how many people are shouting "it's coming suddenly" but complaining about the delay.
Delay represents the season where God changes you before he changes your circumstances. This is critical because delay is not God's denial. Delay is God's development. God often changes the person before he changes the problem.
Throughout the Bible, God is more committed to formation than comfort. The greatest miracle isn't always a changed situation—sometimes it's a changed you.
Jesus didn't prevent any of Peter's failures. Instead, He used it to transform an arrogant disciple into a humble shepherd.
God didn't remove the thorn from Paul. Paul said, "Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation I was given, a thorn in my flesh was given to me. Three times I asked God to take it away from me." And what did God do? God said, "I'm not taking that thorn for you." God did not remove the thorn—He changed Paul's understanding of his weakness, teaching him that His grace is sufficient.
God didn't keep them out of the fire. Many think that God's job is to keep you out of stuff. But God will never keep you from what He can grow you through. God did not keep them out of the fire. He met them in it and formed their faith when they refused to bow.
Many people need to redefine who God is. The definition of who God is was handed down without any real teaching or understanding, so many are living based on a definition of God that is not biblical.
The God you recognize in suddenly moments is difficult to trust in seasons of delay. You keep asking God to get you out while God is using it to grow you up. Many situations that seemed impossible—God used those failures to help develop character. Those pains became part of becoming what God wanted to create.
God sometimes uses delay as development. When you experience loss, you learn lessons that prepare you for the future. A failed building deal teaches you how to write lease purchases. A lost opportunity on one side teaches you not to talk too soon and to keep things to yourself.
If God kept letting you win through every trial, what lesson would you adapt to become what He's calling you to be? When your suddenly happens this time, you're going to have wisdom, knowledge, and favor—all because your delay prepared you.
Have you ever been driving and someone said, "You're good, I know a shortcut"? When you ask how they know, they say it's because they got lost one day. When you get lost, you turn the radio down, lock the doors, and try to figure out where you are. Then all of a sudden you recognize where you're at. You turn the music back up and keep riding. But six months later when you're running late, you can take that right turn and make that left—it was the loss that taught you something. Now you're getting it back next year, and you're getting it back suddenly.
You lost something this year, but you're getting it back. Some of us need to be honest and say, "I fumbled some stuff in my past that I wish I could get back." We fumble good people because we were still broken. We fumble money because we didn't know how to manage it. We fumble moments because we weren't mature enough.
But wisdom helps you not fumble favor. When your suddenly happens, you need the wisdom to steward it. This is your year to become what God called you to be. You're not fumbling your moment because you're prepared for your suddenly.
The reason you fumble stuff and don't think twice about it is because you're surrounded by people who are comfortable fumbling. God's going to have your circle so locked that when you fumble, you know it's wrong. You are too gifted to be waiting on people. You are too anointed to need somebody to pray for you every time. You are too gifted and too intellectual to still be waiting on folk to make stuff happen for you.
God gave you a gift and an anointing. You need to lay hands and pray on yourself. It's time to step into what God has already prepared for you.
The problem in many communities is that we practice victim mindset so much. We talk about the stuff we lost and take no accountability for the stuff we fumble. But wisdom helps you not fumble favor. God uses delay to set up your suddenly.
Consider this illustration: when you're surprised by someone, that person knew two weeks ago what was coming. They were being way nicer than normal to you—that was the sign something was shifting in your favor. This is for those of you who don't know when something is coming. You just have a feeling. Something about to shift in my favor. That feeling comes because your understanding of delay.
Delay tests your faith by asking a simple question: Can I trust God when I don't see God? This is crucial because faith is proven in the silence, not in the miracle. Anyone can trust God after the Red Sea parts, but mature faith trusts Him while you're standing in front of the Red Sea.
Consider Michael Jordan. A team was beating the Bulls and barking at Jordan. He left after they lost and told his team, "We play them in two weeks. We'll see if they talking when the score go 000." It's easy to talk when you're already winning. But beforehand, you're nervous and complaining just as much.
Job's faith wasn't proven when God restored him. Job had lost his house, cattle, crops, and children. His wife came to him and said, "Look, we've lost everything. Word is the devil came six months ago but there was a hedge of protection around us. How did he get in here? Your God lifted the hedge. Now we've lost it all. What are we going to do?"
But Job responded with something profound. Look at Job 13:15 in the King James Version:
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust him."
But there's more to understand. In the NLT translation, Job says:
"God might kill me, but I have no other hope. I am going to argue my case with him."
Job is essentially saying, "Even though He's whooping me, He still has His hand on me." A pastor once told me, "I'd rather God whoop me than the devil whoop me. Because if the devil whoops me, I can call God. But who do you call when God is whooping you?"
Here's what's critical: His faith did not silence his questions. It kept him talking to God through it. God would rather you question Him than not talk to Him. David questioned God in the Psalms, saying, "God, why are you hiding from me?" Jesus Himself cried out on the cross, "Eli, Eli, lamai—My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
God doesn't mind your questions. That means you're still talking to Him. When you stop talking to God is what should worry us, because then who are you leaning on?
Some people come to church wanting God to tell them a Range Rover is outside or that $27,000 will be in their bank by the time they get home. But delays set up your suddenly.
Delay exposes your motives. The question becomes: Did I want God, or did I just want what God could give me? I would argue that the majority of people really just want what God has—not God Himself. You say you want God, but every time He doesn't move when you want Him to or as fast as you want, you run to another provider.
When you find out about a job opening that could change your life, you don't even pray about it. You investigate who you know there. You call them and ask them to put in a word, as if their word would move Him. Does delay expose the real question: If God never gave you the blessing, would He still be enough?
If God told you today, "I'm not going to fix your situation. You're going to lose your stuff," would you still tithe? If God said, "The stuff you're praying for, I have no plans on answering it this year," would you still talk to Him in the morning?
God delays the gift because He refuses to let the gift replace the giver. If He gave it to you right now without a test, you would fall in love with the car, not the person who provided it. That's why some people lose stuff and don't lose their mind—they realize that as long as they have the giver, the gifts don't matter.
Here's one of the most important lessons: Some blessings would crush the version of you that asks for them. God delays that money because He sees you're irresponsible, and more money would make a sick person sicker. He delays love in your life because right now you make gods out of those you fall in love with. He says, "If I don't let you develop self-esteem, they'll define who you are instead of you experiencing real love."
I couldn't have been a recording artist and a pastor with this much responsibility at 28 like I wanted. My goal was to be the youngest pastor in the world on national TV. I had big ambitions. But God said, "Nah. Your family couldn't handle it. You had three small boys. Your church couldn't handle it. You needed to be present. You couldn't handle being in hotels with people giving you praise and love because you were corny and a nerd growing up. That would've gone to your head."
So God delayed it. He said, "Mike, I'm going to let you have influence. I'm going to let people come to your church. But I'm not going to give you money. So you'll have 4,000 people and still be in bankruptcy. I want to make sure your motives are right." Then during a pandemic, He let me accomplish every dream I had—but nobody in the world could praise me for it. I had to experience it all from home on the couch by myself.
Imagine a baby grabbing at your steak. He doesn't have teeth, so you give him a piece. By the time you take it back, it's covered in drool. But then someone who understands what he needs chews the steak and puts it in his mouth. The baby's eyes get big because now he's experiencing the fullness of it.
Some of you keep trying to rush, and God is saying, "I can't give you what you need now because the people around you will only let you experience the flavor of it. But when I put the right people in your life, this time you're going to experience the fullness of it."
That money you got last time? You got it, but you don't know what you did with it. You just had the flavor of having money. This time, because you have the wisdom, you're going to experience the fullness of it.
Put this in your notes: God doesn't just prepare blessings for people. He prepares people for blessings. Suddenly isn't something you wait for. Suddenly is something delay prepares you for.
There are levels of faith. Dead faith is faith that hears God's word but never moves on it. Domesticated faith is faith tamed by yesterday's pain. Double-minded faith is faith divided between God's promise and human doubt. Delegated faith is faith that depends on someone else's belief instead of developing its own.
But Divine faith is faith that doesn't just believe in Jesus. It begins to believe like Jesus. There is a difference between having faith in Jesus and developing the faith of Jesus. One is about salvation. The other is about formation. You had enough faith to get saved. Now your faith should cause you to be transformed. It's not enough to know Christ. Now you have to walk like Him, talk like Him.
Divine faith is when your confidence in God begins to shape your response to life. Life is going to life. I know you're young and cute, but life is going to life. Money is going to fade. Looks are going to change. People are going to come and go.
You must develop the same mindset that Christ Jesus had (Philippians 2:5). You have to move, think, live, love, and lead like Him. Why? Because divine faith sees differently. Jesus could look at the same situation everybody else saw and reach a completely different conclusion.
When the disciples said, "How will we feed these people? We only have two fish and five loaves," everybody said there wasn't enough. Jesus saw enough. When people said, "Had you been here, my brother wouldn't have died," and saw Lazarus as dead, Jesus saw something different—He could wake him up. When a storm was happening and everybody was panicking, Jesus slept at the bottom of the boat. When everybody saw a cross, Jesus saw redemption.
Same circumstance, different perspective. That's what divine faith does. It allows you to see the same situation differently and reach a completely different conclusion.
Faith doesn't always change what you're looking at. Sometimes faith changes what you see when you look at it.
You must develop the same attitude that Christ Jesus had (Philippians 2:5). You have to move, think, live, love, and lead like Him. Why? Because divine faith sees differently. Jesus could look at the same situation everybody else saw and reach a completely different conclusion.
When the disciples said, "How will we feed these people? We only have two fish and five loaves," everybody said there wasn't enough. Jesus saw enough. When people said, "Had you been here, my brother wouldn't have died," and saw Lazarus as dead, Jesus saw something different—He could wake him up. When a storm was happening and everybody was panicking, Jesus slept at the bottom of the boat. When everybody saw a cross, Jesus saw redemption. Same circumstance, different perspective.
The problem isn't what you're looking at. It's what you see. The question isn't what you're looking at—it's clear what you're looking at. You're looking at bills, but tell me what you see. You're looking at a marriage or relationship where all you do is fuss right now, but tell me what you see. Because if you don't see anything, that's why you don't want to stay.
When I walked into this building, it was empty and none of the lights worked and everything was raggedy. The AC in the whole building didn't work. The ceiling was peeling in places. But I saw something. I saw something different from what everybody else was looking at.
One of my superpowers isn't being the best at life. I just see stuff. I see potential before it's realized. I was in Florida and I saw somebody leading praise and worship. Everyone saw a worship leader. I saw something—I saw someone who belonged in my life.
Rob Rod was playing a keyboard in college in 2008. He would sneak into the auditorium and play during youth services. He was terrible at first. He played me a track that was the Star Spangled Banner. He said, "I'm a producer, too." I started buying tracks from him that were horrible at the time. But I saw something.
Now the whole world sings "Big" and "Impossible" and thinks it happened suddenly. But that was almost 15 years because we saw something first. When you see it, everything else follows.
I know what you're looking at is depressing. But when you go home today, look again. When you drive home today, look again. Hold hands with your family, don't even talk—look at each other and look again. Say, "I see what God promised me. I see myself under the head, not the tail. Above, not beneath. I see our family blessed. I see us walking in favor."
Divine faith not only looks differently. It speaks differently. It speaks differently.
I'm speaking life over my brother who's running for Congress. I'm speaking life over the different things God's doing in people's lives. The next shift is how you speak. It's how you speak.
When I was 22 years old, I was crazy enough to go to a city council meeting and tell them what God was going to do. I walked up to the podium and said, "I'm Michael McClure Jr. about to save all the young people in our city. I believe that if God does what I believe he's going to do, things are about to start changing."
One council member, Carol Smith, looked at me and said, "You're different. You're special. I like that little tie you got on." She pulled me aside afterwards and said, "No, you've got it." I went home that day crying to have somebody tell me I was special—someone who wasn't my mom and dad, who didn't want anything from me.
that's when I realized: you've got to start speaking different. Not "if," but "when."
Look at how Jesus spoke with authority: "Peace be still." "Lazarus, come forth." We still talk like, "Can He do it? I just hope this year..." But you should be saying, "When this next thing happens..." Not if. When. It speaks different.
Faith does not ignore reality. I'm not telling you to leave here today and be delusional. Jesus was not delusional, but He understood something: faith refuses to let reality outrank God.
I know my reality. I also know my God. Your "suddenly" season might come with a delay, but if you see it right and if you start speaking right, it changes everything.
If you're a parent, start speaking something over your babies. I'm a superstar, big time. My babies are so used to me calling them incredible things. That's not because I'm the best parent—I haven't always been.
Me and my oldest son sat down and talked. I told all the oldest kids in the room to give their parents a little leeway: "You were the trial run. We didn't know what we were doing." What I was messing up when my first son was 11, I was fixing when my second son was nine. So when one walked off the field, I said, "You need to tighten up." When the other walked off the field, I said, "Keep your head up. You've got it."
I realized the last thing he needed was me fussing after the coaches had already fussed. Now that my son is an adult and we're working together, we've found a sweet spot. He tells me, "Dad, I'm going to go out," and I ask, "Where you going? Who you going with?" He says, "I'll be back at 3 or 4." I say, "You're grown now."
Being out at 3 and 4 in college is different than being out at 3 and 4 at my house. When you're in college, I'm sleeping. When you're at home, I'm up. So out of love, I had to communicate that.
Failure taught me how to speak and see. He ain't my baby no more. That's a man. Until I see him as that, I won't treat him as that.
Some of the problems in your life ain't what you're looking at. It's how you see it and how you speak to it. Change your sight. Change your speech. Everything else will follow.
