TD Jakes — Lord, Make Me an Answer
Hey, I'm so thankful to have an opportunity to be with you today, to interject thought into the chaos of situations and circumstances that may be going on in your life right now is my chiefest joy. And so, it affords me a pleasure to share this particular Word with you because I know that the entrance of God's Word giveth light. Let there be light.
Joseph's brothers saw him as a problem. Whenever he was seen as a problem, he went down. They put him in the pit because they saw him as a problem. The people who rejected you, they rejected you because they see you as a problem. You're walkin' around in that fancy coat, all them many colors... see, whenever you are gettin' blessed, there are always somebody who sees your blessing as a problem. You've heard me tell you this before. I've never had a hater that was doin' better than me. I've never had anybody doin' better than me throwin' rocks down at me, tryin' to kill me. No, it's always somebody up under me throwin' rocks up, tryin' to destroy me because they see my blessing as their problem.
Oh, I'mma talk to you today. Look back over your life. All of your haters are always somewhere up under you, tryin' to knock you out of your position because they have a problem with your blessing. They have a problem with your coat of many colors. They have a problem with the anointing that's on your life. They have a problem with the gifts that are in your spirit. They have a problem with the blessing that's on your family. They have a problem with the blessing that's in your house. They have a problem 'cause you got a new car. They got a problem 'cause you bought a house. They got a problem 'cause your kids went to school. They always have a problem with your blessing. And the people who will throw you in a pit will throw you in the pit because they see you as a problem.
The Midianites came along, looked down in the pit, and they saw him as an answer. When the Midianites looked down in the pit, they saw an answer so they pulled him out because they saw an answer. They said, "We can make money off him. We can do somethin' with him. We can use him". The boys put you in because they see you as a problem. The Midianites pull you out because they see you as an answer. They sold him to Potiphar as an answer. If you give somethin' for him, he will be an answer. Potiphar gave money because he saw him as an answer. You've been prayin' for money. You don't have to pray for money anymore. All you gotta do is say, "Lord, make me an answer".
See, you're not serious about it. That's why it's not gonna work for you. You're not serious about it. You would rather pray for money. You don't have to pray for money. If you become an answer, people will start throwin' money at you because you are... that's why you got the interview, is to show the boss that you're an answer. If you show me you're an answer, I will pay to have you because, as I told you a few weeks ago, sacrifice always determines value. You think you have a problem, but what you have is an opportunity to show you are an answer. This is prophetic for somebody. Somethin' is about to happen in your life. Things are gettin' ready to shift in a radical way.
Potiphar sees Joseph as an answer. And now, Joseph is runnin' a man's house without payin' for the house he's running. That's favor, when God drops you into a situation and you get to lay in that bed, and live in that house, and enjoy that blessing that you didn't have work for. I don't know whether your faith is ready for this, but God will give you houses that you didn't build, vineyards that you didn't even grow. He'll give you opportunities that don't match your background, your education, your pedigree. It's not on your resume, but when God opens up a door, he's gonna set you into a supernatural blessing.
I'm tryin' to tell you, you don't have to go out lookin' for the blessing. The blessing is gonna come lookin' for you. In fact, stop lookin' for the blessing and find the problem. Click, it's gonna open up... Click. Shh, shh, I'm listenin'. I'm listenin' for the click. When I hear the click, I will no longer despise all the dents in me. Because I'll understand it's the dents in me that made me fit the situation. So I'll start sayin', "It was good for me that I was afflicted. Because if I wasn't afflicted like this, I couldn't open up this opportunity like this". Slap your neighbor and tell 'em, "You 'bout to open something". Click into your next dimension.
As long as Potiphar saw Joseph as an answer, he got to stay in the house. Until his wife fell in love with him, and that became a problem. And when Potiphar looked at him and saw him as a problem and not an answer, he goes back down. So, somebody's problem is somebody's answer. That means that just because you say I'm a problem, doesn't mean that I can't be somebody else's answer. So I can't let how you see me determine my value. Just because you see me as a problem doesn't mean I can't be an answer. Oh, wait, is anybody gettin' this?
See, I came in here the other day. I brought my grandkids in 'cause they were visitin'. My family was here. And they had a bunch of friends with them. I took 'em on the tour, showed 'em the new building, and then we came right here, and all of 'em wanted to take a picture. The problem was, all the lights weren't on in the sanctuary. So Charlotte turned on some lights, but it wasn't enough lights to get a good picture. Now, my grandbaby, Kenzie, how old is Kenzie? Six, Kenzie's six years old. All them little kids are on these steps right here, about to take a picture. And we're gettin' ready to take the picture, but the picture's gonna be dark.
I said, "The picture's gonna be dark 'cause we don't have all the lights on". Kenzie jumped up and ran down there and found a flashlight. So she ran up here with the flashlight and stood here holdin' the flashlight so we could take the picture. So somebody said to her, "Kenzie, don't you wanna get in the picture"? She said, "No, I don't wanna be in the picture. I wanna hold the light". She understood that she didn't have to be in the picture if she was holdin' the light. It was more important to hold the light than to be in the picture. You've been tryin' to be in the picture, but God called you... touch your neighbor and say, "Neighbor, tell my haters stop hatin' on me. You gonna need me to hold the lights".
So, Pharaoh had never met Joseph. Pharaoh had never met him. So he didn't know anything about what his brothers had saw him as. He didn't know anything about what Potiphar's wife had said about him. When Pharaoh heard of Joseph, he heard of Joseph as an answer. The butler is now sayin', "When we were in prison, we had a dream that was a problem. We went to this guy, who's also in prison, and he gave us the answer". Pharaoh now says, "Send for him". Somebody gettin' ready to send for you. I mean, you've been surrounded by inmates. You've been surrounded by other prisoners. You've been surrounded by other issues. You are with them, but you are not one of them. God is gettin' ready to reach his hand right down into that situation and snatch you... who am I preachin' to?
So, he said, "Go get Joseph because Joseph is the answer". The famine was a blessing. If it weren't for the famine, Joseph would have died in jail. The famine created a need that Pharaoh couldn't supply that gave Joseph an opportunity for his gifts to operate. Because God knew that "the gifts will make room for a man and bring him before great men". See, but the problem with you, you don't appreciate your own gift.
You've got to understand that what God gave you, I don't care what your brothers said... God's gonna put you in a situation where somebody sees you as an answer, and don't you argue with 'em. God's gonna put you in a situation where God sees you as an answer, and don't talk them out of it. God's gonna put you in a situation where they see you as an answer, and don't let your insecurities say, "Suppose I can't interpret the dream. I don't know if that'll work like that. I've never tried to do that in the palace. I've never been in a palace in my life. I don't have nothin' to wear".
They told Joseph, they said, "Pharaoh wants you". Joseph doesn't doubt. He doesn't argue. He doesn't draw back. He doesn't seem intimidated. Y'all don't hear what I'm sayin'. Why does Joseph not feel intimidated? Joseph has never been in a place in his life. He has no training for it. He has no background for it. But Joseph is cut in all the right places. Joseph now recognizes, from the time he was a kid wearin' that coat, it was preparin' him for the robe. Y'all don't hear what I'm sayin'. He says, "When I was runnin' Potiphar's house, it was training to run the nation".
Now understands what I'm gonna tell you. Everything that Joseph lost he was supposed to lose because everything he lost was preparing him for this. And had he been successful and stayed in Potiphar's house, he would have settled for something that was less. This is God's Word to somebody. Stop cryin' over what you lost. God let you lose it because it is less than what he's about to give you. Somebody holler, "Lord, make me an answer".
In school, we teach children how to add. But when they get older, we teach 'em algebra. We go from addition to algebra. Addition shows you the problem. It's a problem lookin' for an answer. Algebra is an answer lookin' for a problem. The reason you haven't been successful is that you think you are a problem lookin' for an answer, but you are really an answer. Who's with me tonight? Everything you practiced on was beneath you. Everything you practiced on was beneath you. It wasn't your real destiny. Everything you practiced on was preparation for what he is about to release in your life.
I don't know who I'm preaching to, but whoever it is, give him a praise right now. You're getting ready. Touch your neighbor and say, "Get ready, get ready, get ready". Listen, you don't have long to get ready. The Bible said that "Joseph shaved himself, changed his garments, and went before Pharaoh". You gotta get ready for what God is about to do in your life. So, I'm goin' to cut off everything that looks like where I came from. He shaved himself. We gotta shave fast. Everything you went through that's hangin' onto you, that's worryin' your mind, that's holdin' you down, shave it off right now.
Tell your prison, tell the other inmates, "I'll never, I'll never be back". Break loose, and give God a praise. I'm gonna pick this up. Somebody holler, "Make me an answer". What I want 'em to see, that the moment they saw him as an answer, he went from being a prisoner to being a prince, from being an inmate to controlling the gross national product of an entire country. He went to Pharaoh and Pharaoh took his ring off and put it on him, gave him a chariot right behind his.
Now, listen to this because this is a prophetic utterance. God either has or is about to put you into a situation where you are completely out of your element to do something that you have never done like you have never done in your life. The enemy is gonna try to get you to reject the position because of your condition. But if you submit to your condition, you're gonna lose the palace and find yourself in a prison. God is gonna set you into a situation that feels too big for you because he has made you an answer.
Now, listen to this. You see how broken you are, and all of your mistakes, and all of your crazy ways, and what happened to you, and what you went through, and how you feel, and what you think. But God was shapin' you to fit. Every place you tried this key before... have you ever stuck a key in a lock and it went in, but it wouldn't turn? Every blessing you had your way, and it never turned, because it was practice. This is the season for you to come into the place that you will never forfeit. But you have to see your uniqueness as an answer and not a problem. Because if you keep seeing it as a problem, you will keep staying in the prison. You've gotta say, "Oh, God, I thank you that I went through everything I went through, because it prepared me for what you're about to do in my life".