Minister Slugger

One of the greatest lessons I learned came from working behind the scenes at a television news station.

Before I ever worked there, I would sit at home and watch the morning news. Every morning, I'd watch my favorite on-air personalities, Bill Young and Julie Hays KWTX. The broadcast looked flawless. Everything seemed calm, polished, and effortless.

Then I got hired as a production assistant for that very same morning show. What I discovered shocked me.

While viewers at home saw a smooth, professional broadcast, behind the scenes there were moments of absolute chaos. People were shouting instructions across the studio. Equipment would malfunction. Last-minute changes would happen without warning. Sometimes everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong.

Yet when the cameras came on, Bill Young and Julie Hayes remained calm. They smiled, delivered the news, and never allowed the audience to see the chaos happening just a few feet away.

That experience taught me something I'll never forget.

Many of us are living the same way. There is chaos behind the scenes of our lives.

People see us smiling. They see us going to work, going to church, posting on social media, and they assume we have everything together. But what they don't see are the battles we're fighting in private, the prayers we're praying in silence, the tears we've cried, and the struggles we're carrying.

The truth is, some of us have simply learned how to manage chaos well. And just because we've learned to manage it well doesn't mean everything is going well.

Just because someone appears to have it all together doesn't mean they don't have struggles. Every one of us is fighting something. Every one of us has some form of chaos, pain, or pressure that others may never see.

The key is to stay grounded and rooted in your faith. God never promised we wouldn't face storms, but He did promise we wouldn't face them alone.

Isaiah 43:2 declares:
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you."

Notice God didn't say, "If" you go through the waters or "if" you walk through the fire. He said, "When." The storms will come. The challenges will come. The chaos will come.

But His Presence comes with you.

And when you know God is with you, you can handle what would have broken you. You can manage the pressure because you're no longer carrying it by yourself.

So whatever is happening behind the scenes of your life today, keep trusting God. Stay rooted in your faith. Keep moving forward.

Because while the chaos may be real, so is the presence of God.

One of the greatest freedoms I've found is no longer feeling the need to impress people. I'd rather lose people by being authentic than gain people by pretending.

Part 2: The AC Repair Story... I Promise Y'all I Can't Make This Up.

As I shared in my previous post, my AC unit had gone down, and a friend of mine who's an AC repair technician talked me through replacing the capacitor over the phone.

When I turned everything back on, the AC fired right up. Man... I was excited. I couldn't stop thanking GOD & him. I kept saying, "Brother, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

I had just done something I never thought I'd be able to do. It was a major accomplishment for me.

While I was still on the phone with him, I bent down to put the cover back over the electrical components. As I was tightening everything back up, I accidentally dropped one of the bolts.

The moment I stood back up to look for it, a bee stung me right in my eyelid. I grabbed my eye and yelled, "Ahhh!"

My friend immediately said, "Man... please don't tell me you just got stung." I said, "Yep... a bee just stung me in my eye."

One moment I was celebrating a victory. Thanking GOD and thanking my friend. The next moment, I was dealing with pain.

As I sat there with a cold towel over my eye, trying to ease the sting and the swelling, I remember thinking to myself, "Lord... I can't make this stuff up."

How is it that we can experience a breakthrough one moment, and then immediately find ourselves facing another challenge the next?

That's when I realized something. This is spiritual warfare.

Sometimes we dismiss things by saying, "Well... that's just life." But not everything is "just happening."

There are times when the enemy knows you're standing on the cusp of a breakthrough and that's when he will do everything he can to stop you. When the things he tried to use to stop you didn't work, he'll come back with another attack, hoping to frustrate you, discourage you, and get your focus off of what God is doing.

His goal is simple: If he can steal your hope, he'll weaken your faith. And if he can weaken your faith, he can stop your progress.

The same God I was praising when my AC came back on was the same God I praised while holding a cold compress over my swollen eye.

See, many of us wait until everything gets better before we thank God. But God is looking for people who will still praise Him even in the midst of adversity.

The challenges don't come to destroy our faith. They come to strengthen it. That's why the enemy fights so hard to convince us to quit.

I also came to one final conclusion.

If the cost of getting my AC repaired was a bee sting instead of a repair bill that would've stung my pockets...I'll gladly take the bee sting 😊

Thank You, Lord.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Don't be that person who hurts others and never apologizes. Make it right while you still have an opportunity to do so. Don't let pride stop you from doing what you know is right. Put your pride aside and say, "I'm sorry." The peace you've been looking for will be released when you release your pride. Your apology will not only free them, but it will free you too.