TD Jakes - Have You Given God Your Attention?
One of the things that I treasure most about my life and my walk with God is the opportunities I’ve had to travel. I appreciate traveling throughout the United States, and there are many parts of our country that I’ve seen. How beautiful, amazing, and incredible every city is, unique and distinct in its own way! However, I truly appreciate the chance to travel around the world. The first time I left the country, I went to London. I couldn’t believe there were that many people outside of America I had never seen, and my whole perception of life was transformed when I realized we were not alone. I knew it intellectually, but I didn’t know it experientially.
When I understood it experientially, it changed the way I think. I can’t remember where I went next, but I think we ended up going to Greece for a while and then Switzerland. I’ve been to a lot of different places, but one time I went to Africa on a mission trip. I was there because of the work we were doing with the wells. We had to take a helicopter to get there because it was so far out of the city. As we were in the helicopter, it started raining, and I thought to myself, «I don’t want to be in the middle of Africa in a helicopter that hasn’t met FAA guidelines in a rainstorm.» I thought, «This is not good.» The pilot commented on the rain; we both saw the same thing, but we perceived it so differently. I saw it as turbulence, danger, and unrest. He said, «Oh look, Bishop, you are so blessed! You have brought us a blessing.»
He saw the rain as a blessing; I saw it as a burden. I wanted the rain to stop while he welcomed it. I was amazed they saw the rain as a blessing, and that’s when I realized how privileged I was because I had never experienced a drought. I had never been in a dry place. I didn’t understand that the rain was a blessing because I get water out of the tap; sometimes I even leave it running while I answer the phone. I had enough water to water the grass, yard, flowers, and gardens, take baths, and shower for 15 minutes before getting in. I’ve had plenty of water, but when you have not had enough of something, you see it through a whole different lens. I would say, «Just get me down out of this helicopter as quickly and safely as you can!»
He navigated through the rain and reached a dry place. We landed on dry ground, where we began to initiate and dedicate the wells. All the children and everyone were singing and shouting about water. They weren’t rejoicing because they got a new toy, car, bicycle, or truck; they were celebrating water. To understand the magnitude of the text we’re discussing today, I wanted to share that experience. If you view it through a Western lens or a 21st-century mindset, you won’t grasp the substratum of the text.
You won’t understand why I call it the «rainmaker,» nor will you see why this text is so relevant. Until recently, we haven’t faced challenges, but today we are beginning to. Today, we have middle-class people in bread lines looking for food. Today, people who were earning six figures are now trying to make dinner from a bag of meal.
Today, God is shaking us, making us realize, «Oh, you’re not so far that I can’t get to you, that I can’t demand your attention, that I can’t order your respect.» You are not so secure in your Western world that I can’t disrupt everything, make you depend on me, make you pray for rain, shout for water, start gardening again, and preserving food once more. I can shake your world up because I’m God, and when I get ready, I will get your attention. That is why it’s always better to give Him your attention than to make Him have to get it because when God has to get your attention, everything changes.