From Your Misery May Well Come Your Ministry!

Saw this post today on Bishop T.D. Jakes twitter about his daughter. Oh how it reminds me of the struggle I faced this past year with my own family and ministry changes. The judgement I and my family was placed under was ruthless and almost unbearable....BUT....through that season I have learned "from my misery came my ministry" full bloom, new anointing and increased understanding of how my great big God loved me so much that HE moved heaven and earth to get me right where He wanted me. I will always look at my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson, as a great reminder of the SEED God planted to bring us a great HARVEST! I am so proud of my kids and I love the way they hunger for God and church. What satan meant for evil God meant for OUR GOOD!

Seed Coat
OCTOBER 5, 2011 BY SARAH D HENSON

When I wrote about my teenage pregnancy I knew it would create a buzz. I even sent out a mass text message to some of my closest friends asking them to pray for me because I was planning to open my heart. One of my good friends asked, “Aren’t you afraid of what people will say?” I thought about it for a moment but then I realized…no one could say anything to me, that I hadn’t already thought myself… There wasn’t a name nor statistic that I hadn’t already looked up. I knew the odds were against me…I remember the letters that came telling me my life was over, the calls to the church telling me that my child was born in sin and would not live. I knew what the lady in the store thought when she saw my young face then noticed my growing frame. I knew that from the outside looking in I didn’t look like I’d ever be much.

When I moved to Virginia and my husband, a professional football player, would introduce me and people would tell me “I lucked up” I knew what they were thinking too. Most of the time people assumed I was a young girl who got lucky, married a man with potential, and was living the life (even though we all know he’s the lucky one lol). People often judge a person based on what they see on the outside. They need two or three characteristics and they assume they know your whole life. Teen mom? That won’t be your last baby, you’ll be on welfare, food stamps, and whatever else you can get by 19. Live in the hood? You’ll never get out unless it’s on a prison bus or in a casket. Homeless? Must have an addiction or too lazy to work.

I didn’t graduate from high school two years after having my son because it was easy. I graduated when I did because, in spite of what it looked like on the outside, I had promise inside of me. I dared to define myself, not by what others thought, but by what God said I could be.

Looking back on that time in my life, I realize the mistakes I made that should have ended my future, are the reasons I even have one to look forward to. Life would be much easier without the trials and troubles we go through. I know for a fact my parents would have preferred to meet their grandson later in life but God wasn’t working on THEIR present he was working on MY future.

When I had my son I thought maybe God was trying to tighten our family bond. A few years later, I though God was also trying to insure that I didn’t lose focus in school. It wasn’t until a month ago when I wrote “Guided Me Home” that I realized I had my son for this moment, this season in my life. Had I not learned to withstand the critics and hate when my young body began to grow with life, how could I withstand the critics when thousands read a little blog that was supposed to be my diary? How else would I have learned the value of transparency if I weren’t forced to be transparent? After all you can’t hide a baby, it’s even harder when your dad’s church has 36,000 members. I learned very quickly that my pregnancy would not be a private matter.
How amazing is our God that He can take our past, place it in His slingshot and use it to propel us into the future? What you are facing now may have several purposes..it may be to strengthen you, maybe it’s to show you who people are in your life, maybe it’s to wake you up……You know what else it could be? It could be to set you up for your future.

My daughter and I went to the store and purchased one of my favorite snacks, sunflower seeds. When I got home I noticed she reached for one and put the whole seed in her mouth. She didn’t realize that there was a hard shell protecting what was on the inside.

You are looking from the outside of your situation and you don’t see the worth in your struggle. I want you to know something: the outside is just a covering, your destiny lies within. In biology, they say that the seed coat is only removed when the elements are right and it is time for the seed to produce new life. Your past did not steal your future, it just helped crack the seed coat that leads to His promises for your life.

When I think about the not so quiet whispers of those who judged me, I realize they weren’t looking at my seed, they didn’t know it was in there, they were looking at my seed coat. My coat may be banged up by life, it may be bruised by sins, and scratched by my mistakes…but each hit I took cracked my seed coat, leading me one step closer to unleashing my destiny. Don’t forget that you still have life in you! You are not the seed coat, you are the seed. God is protecting your potential, even in the midst of trials and struggles. When the environment is right and the world is ready, He will remove the coat and we will all see the abilities, He knew was in you all along.

God I thank you for reminding me that there is life in me. Thank you for your schematic plan that led to this moment. My words have reached across the street, down the corner, up the interstate, and around the globe…touching Your people. Thank you for showing me early that I was made for such a time as this. Somewhere, someone is looking at themselves thinking they have no promise…thinking they have no potential…. God strengthen them today. Help them to see that there is life in them. Help them to remember, in spite of what people may say, that they are the seed, not the seed coat.