TD Jakes - Run After Your Destiny
The Gospel of Saint John chapter number 20. "Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and seeth the stone taken away from the tomb. She runneth therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, 'They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have lain him'. Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb". Peter went forth, and the other disciple, and they went toward the temple. "And they both ran together". Somebody say that with me. "And they both ran together". Say it again, "And they both ran together".
"And the other disciple outran Peter, and came first to the tomb; and stooping and looking in, he seeth the linen cloths lying; yet entered he not in. Simon Peter therefore also cometh, following him, and entered into the tomb; and he beholdeth the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, that was upon his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. Then entered in therefore the other disciple also, who came first to the tomb, and he saw, and believed". Somebody shout amen.
I wanna talk from the subject "Run After Your Destiny". Run after your destiny. Touch your neighbor and say, "Run after your destiny". Do not stroll, do not walk, do not meander, do not wander, but run after your destiny. The women have gone down to the tomb to add respect and homage to their leader. They did not go down to the tomb expecting him to be resurrected. That is a religious privilege that you have ascribed to this text, because you understand the outcome. They were not coming down to the tomb expecting the stone to be rolled away, because, quite frankly, if they would have known that Jesus was gonna be raised from the dead they probably would have never left.
Who would leave the tomb if you were expecting him to get back up again? Who would walk away and hide themselves up behind closed doors and be afraid to come out if you thought the Master was gonna crescendo after three days and come out of the grave? It was not the magnitude of their commitment to faith. It was their love for the person that brings them down to the tomb with their frankincense and myrrh and their burial incenses just to aromatize that which smells, because there are some places in life that smell. And the women have come down to the tomb, no doubt with heavy hearts and tear-stained faces to memorialize the Master.
The Master is gone. And there are some glorious people, glorious people, whose love is not so fickle that the love faints when the conditions change. There are a few people, a minority, if you please, who are impassioned even when it's painful. Anybody can love you when you just got a promotion. Anybody can love you when you just bought a yacht. But when everybody turns against you and all hell breaks loose, and it looks like you're not a winner, and it looks like the love doesn't pay, most people make a withdrawal when they don't see a benefit.
I can't help but wonder in my mind where were the 5.000 with the 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread? They didn't make the Crucifixion or the graveside service. They didn't come to bring memorials. And where was the woman with the issue of blood, the woman at the well? Where were they? Where was blind Bartimaeus? Where was Lazarus? Isn't it amazing how you can pour yourself into people who do not pour themselves into you? And I'm wondering this morning how many of us would pass the test of loving Jesus when there is no advantage. And let's go deeper. How many of us would pass the test of loving anybody when there is no advantage? And here they come down to the tomb where there was no advantage, just to do what I can with a situation I cannot change.
Can't you see them coming down to the tomb with heavy hearts and broken spirits, going down to the tomb thinking, "O God, we've lost him. We've lost the Master. We've lost the Master of miracles. We've lost the Master of miracles. After 400 years of silence, no miracles, no prophetic utterances, no decrees, no declarations, and we had 33 years of promise, and now we have lost the Master of miracles. Get this myrrh and stuff together. Let's go down to what's left of Jesus". When Mary got down to the tomb, it was a mess. People paid good money to make sure that tombs were decorated and looking nice. It was an absolute mess. The stone had been rolled away. It was disruption at the tomb. He was not there. He was not there.
And I will take this liberty in assuming she was angry, 'cause the Bible doesn't tell me how she went down, but it tells me how she came back. She was running when she came back, because there are some things in your life that will make you run. There are certain things that will happen in your life that make you pick up the pace, that slap you out of your stupor and say, "This ain't no time to cry". And you feel like, "I can't even have good grief without the world going crazy. I can't even have this moment without people"... "Somebody has stolen Jesus", she thought. "They've taken away my Lord", she said, "and I know not where they took him".
The Master of miracles. Don't you remember he had cast demons out of her? "He changed my life, and they have taken away my Master". And she said, "I've gotta go get some help", and she goes running to tell and to find Peter and the other disciple. You remember Peter and the other disciple. We've heard those phrases before. We hear about Peter and how Jesus had called him and strengthened him and set him apart and taught him to be the rock that his name says that he is and taught him to be unrelenting up under pressure and was teaching him all kinds of things about life. She comes to get Peter and the other disciple, running to the tomb to find him, running to the last seen location of Jesus.
As soon as Mary could get to Peter, she was gonna tell them, "Somebody's taken away the Lord". And walking with him is no longer what I expected. As grieved as I am by him passing away, I'm more upset by him not being there, because now life has handed me something that I didn't expect. I'm wondering this morning if there is anybody here that life has handed you something that you didn't expect. Oh, my God. The one thing I can tell you for sure is that nothing is for sure. That's the one thing I can tell you to count on, is don't count on anything. That life will often disrupt what you expected.
That just as soon as you have it down in a nice, neat little box of how you think it's gonna go, and that when I walk down here this is what is going to happen, by the time you get there it will never be what you expected it to be. So, you gotta get used to being a little disappointed. You gotta get used to being a little bit shocked. You gotta get used to walking into situations and being flexible and adjustable, because if you are not flexible you cannot survive. God did not promise you that by the time you got to where you was trying to go it would be what you thought it would be. God did not promise you that by the time you got the house you were trying to get it would be what you thought it would be. God did not promise you that by the time you found your significant other that it would be what you thought it would be.
God did not promise you that if you joined this church or that church that it would be what you thought it would be, but I came to tell you this morning that our God is a God of the unexpected. Oh, my God, I feel a shout. I'm gonna say it again. Our God is a God of the unexpected, so just because life has shocked you doesn't mean it shocked God. Nothing takes God by surprise. He already knows what's going on in every corner of your life, and he sent me here to tell you, "Don't worry about it. I got you covered. Don't worry about it. I got you covered". You may be shocked, but God's not shocked. Oh, that's a good shouting spot right there.
God's got you covered. When you don't get what you expect, God's got you covered. When it's a disappointment, God's got you covered. When you walk down and run into a mess, God's got you covered. Can you hear me in the balcony? God's got you covered. Can you hear me on that iPad? God's got you covered. And all of a sudden life demands that you pick up the pace. Life demands that you pick up the pace. If you don't pick up the pace you're gonna be left behind. I'm amazed at the people that lack the flexibility to pick up the pace. They just get in a rut. "I strolled down here, and I'm gonna stroll back. I'm gonna stroll over here. I'm gonna stroll over there".
One of the most amazing things about the disaster at Malaysia is that when it happened everybody had to pick up the pace. All the news media had to pick up the pace. They were booking night flights and flying over here and flying over there. Somebody had to work overtime. Won't be home for three days, typing in the middle of the night, research going on, because when something happens everybody gotta pick up the pace. That's why I can't deal with people who cannot pick up the pace. Don't be strolling when I got a 911 on you. I need people who can pick up the pace.
Slap your neighbor and say, "Pick up the pace". Something is about to happen. Pick up the pace. Something is about to happen. Pick up the pace. Something is about to happen. Pick up the pace. Something is about to happen. Pick up the pace. Something is about to happen. Pick up the pace. Something is about to happen. I came to tell the young people pick up the pace, pick up the pace. Something is about to happen.
My son and I were doing a little cook-out, spending a little quality time together. He said to me, he said, "Dad", he said, "I'm planning to do this. I'm planning to do that. I'm planning to do the other. I'm planning to do this over here. I'm planning to do this. When I get outta college I'm gonna do this right here. I'm gonna go over here. I plan to live over here, and I'm gonna do this over here, and I'm gonna do that. And then, when I get through doing this I'm gonna do that and do that and do the other. What do you think 'bout that"? And I thought to myself, "My God, I'm so excited, and I'm so proud". Because he told me, he said, "Daddy", he said, "I can't talk to all of my friends about it", he said, "because most of my friends don't own that".
The danger of low expectations. I would rather aim for the stars and not hit them than to not aim at all. I would rather go after it and not get it than not go after it at all. I'd rather try and fail than not try at all. I don't wanna live with the idea, wondering what would have happened had I done more with my life. I'm gonna go for it. Come hell or high water I'm going after my destiny. Touch your neighbor and say, "Run". You gotta run after your destiny. You can't stroll after your destiny. You can't walk after your destiny. You gotta run. Somebody holler "Run".
You gotta run. You gotta run. You can't just wake up in the morning, "Let me see what's gonna happen today. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't know what I'm gonna wear. I don't know what I'm gonna cook. I don't know where I'm gonna go. I just woke up". Oh, you should stay in the bed. Give the day to somebody who's gonna run after their destiny. Give the day to somebody who have a plan, who have a strategy, because success is never an accident, and if you don't want it - get out of my way. Because there are some people, who wanna do something with their life, who will run, run, run, and run. You gotta run after your destiny. You gotta run after it. You gotta run after your destiny. You gotta run after your destiny. You gotta run after your destiny. You gotta run after your destiny. You gotta run after it. You gotta run.
When they gave the young man the scholarship, tears welled up in my eye. I said, "O God, good. He got a better chance to run after your destiny". Touch your neighbor and say, "Run after your destiny". Oh, my God. And the Lord sent me here to tell you it's running time. It's running time. It's not strolling time. It's not walking time. It's not sightseeing time. It's running time. Touch your neighbor and say, "It's running time". You see, if you hear me good, especially young people, if you run after your destiny, you will automatically distance yourself from your history. You understand? If you just run after what's in front of you, you will escape what's behind you. Don't spend all your time trying to fix what's behind you, because you'll never be able to fix what's behind you. You have to run after what's in front of you.
Touch your neighbor and say, "Run". Oh, you're not saying it right. Say, "Run"! They started running. So, she got Peter, and she started running. My God, they started running. Peter and the other disciple started running. Somebody is late, but you made up your mind, "I'm gonna start running. I didn't get it 'til I got to this age, but I'm gonna start running. I messed up junior high, but now I'm gonna start running. I messed up high school, but now I'm gonna start running". The moment you get the Word, you ought to run. The Bible said, "The day you hear my voice, harden not your heart". When God gives you a chance, don't be cute - run after your destiny. Do you all hear me? Run, run after your destiny. Run after it. Run after it. Run. Don't be ashamed. Run.
Slap your neighbor and tell 'em, "I'm getting ready to run". I'm getting ready to run. Give me some space 'cause I'm getting ready to run. Get up outta my face, 'cause I'm getting ready to run. Don't have time for what you're talking about 'cause I'm getting ready to run. I'mma run. Now they're running, they're running, running, running, running after their destiny, and the Bible says... sit down, I'm just talking. And the Bible says... Ooh, I feel it in here. I said I feel it in here. I feel it in here, man. I feel it in here. I thought y'all just had a bunch of young people. You got some runners up in here. Hey, run, run, run, run, run. Are there any runners up there? Are there any runners over there? I'm getting ready to run. Anybody gonna run with me?
You see, there are some people who went farther than I did, because they ran when I was playing. You better run. You better run. I'm gonna deputize you to preach. Touch somebody and say, "You better run". I didn't always have my head on straight. I didn't always have my head on straight and in places I suffered from the lack of focus. You understand what I'm saying? I could have been farther if I'd have run faster. I had the ability to run farther. Had I been focused I could have gone farther, but I wasn't always focused. But there are many, many, many people that I did outrun. There are many, many people that I did outrun, because I came to myself quick enough, then I redeemed the time, and I started running.
I'm talking to people that I'm mentoring who are 40, who are just now getting a knock at the door to run. And better late than never, but by the time I was 40, I was pastoring this church. "How did you get that far by 40"? It's because I started running in my teens. If you start running in your teens while your mind is sharp, your body is strong, and your strength is focused, if you run in your youth you'll be surprised what will happen by the time you're 30, by the time you're 40, by the time you're 50. You gotta run. Somebody holler, "Run".