You’re Going To Be Okay

[Sitting on my bed, thinking about you]

I know you’re probably still trying to figure some things out. Maybe that’s why you’ve been on my mind all week. I know you might have saw the title of this letter and rolled your eyes.

I’m not even going to ask how you’ve been. Because you might just answer me with your famous line “I’m good”.

But to be honest, I can feel you… your hurt… your pain…. your disappointment. I don’t know if you got bad news this week. But you’ve been doing math in your head that nobody knows about. How long will this lasts and that last. How long you can keep smiling. How long can your body run on this little amount of sleep.

I see you.

I have this strange feeling that something is trying to convince you that you’re not going to make it.

Like every time you start moving forward, something else happens.

You finally get your head above water… and here comes another wave. Sometimes you just want to scream because you don’t understand why it keeps happening this way. Like the timing feels almost cruel.

But can I ask you something?

Why do you think you have to stay so strong? What will you gain from doing it on your own?

You don’t have to answer it right now… just keep reading.

There’s this good story in the Bible (Luke 11:5) about how there’s this man who receives an unexpected visit from a friend at midnight.

But there’s a problem… the friend has arrived hungry, but the man has absolutely no bread in his house to offer him.

So he goes to his other friend’s house and says:

“Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.” Luke 11:5–6 (KJV)

Now most people talk about this scripture on the surface… but I want to give you some revelation.

REVELATION 1: GOD MIGHT ALLOW SOMEBODY TO NEED SOMETHING FROM YOU THAT YOU DON’T HAVE!

This man friend has arrived at his house needing hospitality, and he doesn’t have the bread to provide that hospitality.

But here’s what grabbed me by the throat when I read this story.

The visitor didn’t arrive because the man had bread. The visitor arrived because the man was his friend and had a house.

Let me cook here.

Sometimes people come into your life because of what you represent, not because of what you possess. Many times from my experience… they see your position, your title, your anointing, your success… And they automatically assume you have something to offer them!

[[Just because God allows someone to need something from you doesn’t mean He’s already placed everything you need to serve them in your possession right now.]]

Which leads me to my next point:

REVELATION 2: THE MAN HAD NO BREAD, BUT HE HAD ACCESS!

But why didn’t this man have any bread in his house???

I got questions…

Because what if… just what if this man was hungry himself, even before his hungry friend ever showed up? The text does not tell us how long he’s been without bread in his house. And this makes me ponder on the thought of could this man have been dealing with shame and pride… which kept him from asking for help? And this is just me thinking out loud… what if the arrival of his hungry friend, was the thing that pushed him to go seek provision?

Marquise, why would you think that? Because many times as humans we find it easier to ask for help for others, because we are too ashamed to ask for ourselves.

That’s why we will pray for everyone else… we will push everyone else’s dream but not our own…

And this is where I think us becoming so accustomed to your own hunger… we have made it such a normal part of our life… that it takes somebody else’s need to remind us that we are starving too.

So this man’s friend request, reminds him that he has no bread… but he has access to another relationship that has bread.

So he goes to that friends house who has the bread… while his friend sits in his house with no bread. When he gets to his friends house the text says he knocks and ask the friend to lend him 3 loaves of bread… not for himself, but for his friend.

The friend tells him it’s too late and he and his family are already in bed and not to trouble them. He’s basically telling his friend… he will not get up to give any bread at this hour. But the man does not take no for an answer and he stays persistent… the friend finally gets up and gives him as many as he needs… not just what he requested.

REVELATION 3: Three Friends, One Thing In Common

This story shows us three friends. One needs bread… one has no bread… and one has bread. And what I discovered is sometimes you’re the person who needs help… sometimes you’re the person seeking help for someone else… or sometimes you’re the person God has positioned to provide the help.

Here’s the revelation…

But none of them have everything

One friend has the time and freedom to be on a journey and travel… but is hungry. The other friend has a house… but nothing in the refrigerator to eat. The last friend has a family and bread… but is too tired. Let that picture sink in.

None of them have everything.

I want you to pause here for a moment… because I don’t know what you are going through or what you are dealing with. But I want you to know we all are dealing with something… but none of us have everything.

Can I show you one more thing here in the text that all of us miss?

The friend that was traveling and hungry arrived at his friend house… and he was okay. The friend that open the door to his house and had no bread in his house for God knows how many days… but he was okay. And the friend that had bread and the family and was tired, got up out of his sleep and gave the bread… and guess what he was okay after letting go of the bread.

I said all of that to say this. If they were okay… you’re going to be okay too.

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I believe this is why Jesus ends this story by revealing something greater than friendship:

a heavenly Father who gives good gifts to those who ask.

I want you to be reminded today that after you’ve spent years knocking on doors for everybody else, don’t forget you’re allowed to knock for yourself.

Your needs matter too.

And whether you’re hungry, helping, or giving the bread, remember this:

You’re Going To Be Okay!

I’m rooting for you.

I’ll write you next Sunday,

Gold,

p.s. For the entirety of this week, here’s what I want you to do. Get a journal, sit down for 15-30 minutes daily, and write down everything that’s on your mind and everything you think.