I’m Built For This!

A few weeks ago, Janet Jackson released a new song titled ‘Made for Now’.  Since I was a kid, I have been a huge fan of hers.  At first when I listened to the song I said to myself, “This will have to grow on me!” After I listened to it several times, it began to grow on me and a spiritual twist came to me. Part of the lyrics says, “If you’re living for the moment don’t stop and celebrate the feeling. We’re made for now, not tomorrow look around.”

Those lyrics brought me to a sermon God had me preach a few years ago called “I’m built for this!” We are built to handle every obstacle, every defeat, every setback, every heartbreak, every joy, every success and every happiness. We are made for something special. Some of us might have a bigger task but it does not mean we all are not made for something great.  I have worked in the financial services industry for the past 20 years and during the course of those years, I’ve experienced being overlooked for promotions, discriminated against due to my race, bullied etc. I remember many times asking God what was wrong with me and there was a time I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin.  Things that came so easy for others I had to fight so hard for. I remember my previous manager pushing for me to get a promotion but her manager said I wasn’t good enough due to not having a degree. I went home hurt and devastated but I took that hurt and devastation and went back to school and got my degree. It wasn’t easy working full time and going to school but God gave me the strength to do it. See, I could have allowed those words of that manager to destroy me but I used that to my good.

When you spend most of your childhood and adulthood hearing things like you’re not good enough or people not hearing your voice, it starts to have a tremendous effect on your self-esteem and self-worth. You start to validate who you are through relationships and even your status on jobs. Just think if we begin to love ourselves first and know that we are built for our own journey not anyone else’s, how much better we could all love each other. The status you have on a job or a relationship does not validate who you are.  You are still fearlessly and wonderfully made with or without.

You might have been overlooked for a position; you might have been overlooked growing up; you may talk and others don’t listen; you might feel as though you are broken or under intense pressures from others but through it all know that you are built to last. You are an anchor that’s able to withstand any amount of pressure. You might be shattered but you are not broken. You hold the pen and your story is still being written.  My story is not your story but your story is just as important as my story. Remember that every obstacle, every defeat, every setback, every heartbreak, every joy, every success and every happiness you are built to withstand.  You are made for now!