Victoria and I have some flower beds at home, and several times a year
we’ll put mulch in those beds. The mulch we use is a fertilizer that helps
the plants grow. One of the main ingredients of the mulch is manure. It’s
waste, and it smells really bad. For several days after we apply it, we can
hardly stand to walk outside the house. My kids say, “Dad, what
happened? It stinks out here.” But if you come back in a month or two,
the smell is gone and the plants are blooming, blossoming, filled out with
lots of new growth. That fertilizer, as bad as it smells, is giving the plants
valuable nutrients and minerals that they could not get on their own.
In a similar way, we all go through things in life that stink. We don’t
like what has happened; something wasn’t fair. “Why did this person do
me wrong?” “Why did our relationship not make it?” “Why did I come
down with this sickness?” “Why did I lose my main client? This stinks.”
You need to have a new perspective: that’s just fertilizer. It may smell
bad right now. It seems as though a pile of manure got dumped on you.
You could easily be discouraged, but if you’ll stay in faith, it’s not going
to hinder you; it’s going to strengthen you, it’s going to develop you. The
stinky stuff—the betrayal, the disappointment, the loss—is getting you
prepared for new growth, to bloom, to blossom, to become all you were
created to be.
The truth is, you cannot reach your highest potential without
fertilizer. The stinky stuff is not working against you; it’s working for
you. It may smell bad for a little while, but if you’ll keep doing the right
thing, you’ll come into a new season of growth and opportunities for new
levels of your destiny. I’d love to tell you that if you’ll just trust God and
be your best, you’ll sail through life with no difficulties, but that’s not
reality. You’re going to have some manure. There’s going to be some
smelly stuff coming your way. What I want you to see is that it’s not
working against you; it’s working for you. Instead of getting depressed
and thinking, This stinks. I can’t believe this happened, have this attitude:
It’s just more fertilizer. God’s getting me prepared for something greater.
If you’ll go through the stink with the right attitude and not let it sour
your life, God will take what was meant for your harm and use it for your
good.
You may feel as though you’ve already had more than your share of
stinky stuff—bad breaks, disappointments, broken dreams. Be
encouraged, because that means you have a lot of fertilizer. God is
getting you ready to go where you’ve never been. This is not the time to
feel sorry for yourself and live with a chip on your shoulder, thinking
about all you’ve been through. This is the time to get ready. God allowed
that fertilizer to get you prepared for where you could not go on your
own. You may not have liked it, but it deposited something on the inside
that you could only get by going through it. Quit complaining about the
fertilizer—about who hurt you and what didn’t work out—and all the
manure that got dumped on you. Without the fertilizer, without the smelly
stuff, you couldn’t reach your destiny. It’s not hindering you; it’s helping
you. If it were too much, God wouldn’t have allowed it. You have to dig
your heels in and say, “I am in it to win it. I’m not going to let this stinky
stuff, this manure, this stuff I don’t understand, cause me to get sour and
give up on my dreams. I may not like it, but I know it’s fertilizer. It’s
enriching me. It’s making me stronger. It’s getting me prepared for new
levels.”
Let Life’s Fertilizers Work
There was a young lady who grew up in a very difficult environment. Her
father died when she was six years old, and shortly after that her mother
had to go on dialysis. When other kids her age were involved in
cheerleading and out playing with their friends, she was at home taking
care of her mother, helping run the kidney machine. At twelve years old,
she had to go grocery shopping and cook for the family. She got her little
brother dressed and ready for school each day. It seemed she was at a
disadvantage, that this hardship would put her behind and keep her from
her destiny. But just because something is unfair doesn’t mean that God
doesn’t still have an amazing future in front in you. It may stink, but
remember that manure has a lot of helpful ingredients; manure is
fertilizer. People spend a lot of money to have manure put in their flower
beds. It seems as though it’s a waste, but used in the right way, it’s an
advantage. It causes growth.
This young lady didn’t have a victim mentality; she had a victor
mentality. It was hard, and it wasn’t fair, but she didn’t complain or feel
sorry for herself. She just kept being her best, shaking off the self-pity,
not letting negative thoughts talk her out of her dreams. Despite all the
odds stacked against her, she excelled in high school and received a full
scholarship to a major university. She went on to get her master’s, and
then she earned a doctorate degree. Today she’s extremely successful in
the corporate world and happily married with three beautiful children.
Here’s my question: why do some people in that same type of
situation struggle through life, living defeated, discouraged, and always
overcome by problems, while others, such as her, overcome the odds,
flourish, and see God’s goodness in amazing ways? It’s in how we
approach life. We all have stinky stuff; we all have unfair situations,
things we don’t like. You can get bitter, discouraged, and sour, or you can
see it as fertilizer and say, “This difficulty is not going to defeat me; it’s
going to promote me. It’s not going to hinder me; it’s going to help me.”
God wouldn’t have allowed it unless He had a purpose. Don’t just go
through it, grow through it. Recognize that it’s making you stronger.
You’re developing character, perseverance, trust, and confidence.
A difficult, dark time in your life doesn’t have to keep you from your
destiny. Actually, it can do just the opposite. It can propel you into your
destiny.
What stinks in your life right now, and what you don’t like, can be
the very thing that promotes you and causes you to blossom. Without the
fertilizer, you couldn’t reach your highest potential. Don’t complain
about the stink; there’s promotion in that stink. Don’t get sour because of
the smelly stuff; there’s a new level in that smelly stuff. Don’t be
discouraged by the manure. You may not like it, but that’s fertilizer.
That’s what gets you prepared for the great future God has in store. You
may feel as though you got too much fertilizer. But if you got a lot of
stinky things that you could complain about, it’s because God has a big
destiny in front of you. He’s going to take you somewhere you’ve never
dreamed of. He’s getting you prepared for blessings. Your roots are going
down deeper. The manure doesn’t smell good, but it has nutrients and
minerals; it’s making you stronger.
The next time you see that person at work who gets on your nerves
and doesn’t treat you with respect, instead of getting upset, just smile and
say to yourself, “You’re just fertilizer. You stink, but you’re helping me
grow. You think you’re pushing me down, but really you’re pushing me
up.” When you go through a disappointment or a setback, or the medical
report isn’t good, you can be honest and say, “This stinks. I don’t like it,
but I know a secret. It’s just fertilizer. It’s going to cause me to bloom, to
blossom, to flourish.”
From the Pit to the Prison to the Palace
This is what Joseph did. His brothers were jealous of him and threw him
into a pit. He could have gotten depressed and said, “God, I don’t
understand this. I’m a good person.” Instead he realized, “It’s just
fertilizer. They’re trying to stop me, but God’s going to use it to increase
me.” However, that was just the beginning. One bad thing after another
happened to Joseph after that. His brothers sold him into slavery in
Egypt, where his master’s wife lied about him, falsely accused him of a
crime, and had him thrown into prison. He spent thirteen years there for
something he didn’t do. They were trying to hold him down, but they
didn’t realize they were pouring fertilizer on him. Joseph kept growing,
getting stronger, his roots going down deeper in faith. They thought they
were stopping him, but the truth is, they were strengthening him. All that
injustice, that stinky stuff, seemed like a waste of years of his life, but just
as fertilizer feeds a plant nutrients and minerals, that difficult, dark season
was doing a work in Joseph, getting him prepared for the fullness of his
destiny.
If you’ll stay in faith in the stinky times, the times that don’t make
sense, when you’re not treated fairly, when you’re doing the right thing
but the wrong things keep happening, your time will come to bloom, to
be promoted, to be blessed, to be vindicated, and all the forces of
darkness cannot stop you. People don’t have the final say; God has the
final say. He will get you to where you’re supposed to be.
Joseph went from the pit to the prison and all the way to the palace.
You may feel that you’re in the pits right now.
Perhaps you’ve had some bad breaks, you’re dealing with a sickness,
you’ve lost a loved one, a friend betrayed you, a dream died. But as was
true of Joseph, that pit is not the end of your story, and the prison is not
your final chapter. Your destiny is the palace. God destined you to live a
victorious life. David said, “God lifted me out of a horrible pit and put a
new song in my mouth.” You may be in the pit, but you need to get
ready, because you’re coming out. That depression is not the end. That
sickness is not the end, and that addiction is not the final chapter. The
person who walked out on you and did you wrong is not the end. If they
left you, you didn’t need them. If they walked out, they were not a part of
your destiny. God has somebody better. He wants to put a new song in
your heart. Don’t get comfortable in the pit. Don’t let self-pity and
discouragement steal your passion. You have to get your fire back. Every
blessing that God promised you He still has every intention of bringing to
pass. The palace is in your future. Victory is in your future. Dreams
coming to pass are in your future, with increase, abundance, promotion,
health, and restoration. That’s what’s up in front of you. That’s where
your story ends.
I talked to a man who was very upset because his boss was against
him and always trying to make him look bad. This boss was jealous of
him, and he went out of his way not to give the man any recognition. I
told him, “It’s just fertilizer. Stay on the high road, and God will not only
do a work in you, but He’ll take care of your enemies. It may stink right
now, but don’t worry—fertilizer stinks. That means you’re about to see
new growth.” This man got his passion back and went to the office being
his best, taking the high road, working as unto God, not unto man. On
several occasions he should have been promoted, but because of this
unfair boss’s tainted views, he was passed over. One day the CEO of the
whole company was in town, and this man had to give a report. The CEO
was very impressed with his work. About a year later, a position became
available that would normally have gone to his boss, but the CEO skipped
over the boss and went straight to this man and offered him the position.
Now instead of his having to work for the boss who was hard to get along
with, the tables have turned, and the boss is working for him! One touch
of God’s favor and you’ll go from the back to the front, from the
employee to the employer, from the pit to the palace.
We all have some stinky stuff, things that are not fair, people who are
not treating us right, situations we don’t understand. You have to do as
Joseph did and see it as fertilizer. It’s not going to stop you; it’s going to
promote you. Don’t get upset with the person who lied about you and
tried to make you look bad. They just spread some fertilizer on you. They
thought they were pushing you down, but in reality they were pushing
you up. You’re one step closer to your palace.
No Experience Is Wasted
Perhaps because of a mistake you made, you feel as though you’re all
washed up and have blown your chance. Remember that God uses the
stinky stuff. You can’t blossom into all you were created to be without
some smelly stuff. It’s not working against you; it’s working for you.
Sometimes we do bring trouble on ourselves. We make poor decisions,
and the accuser whispers in our ear, “You don’t deserve to be blessed. It’s
your fault. God’s not going to help you.” But God doesn’t waste
anything. He knows how to get good out of every situation. It may not be
good, but He can cause it to work for our good.
In John 4, Jesus met a woman at a well outside a city in Samaria, and
He told her that He would give her “living water.” She said, “Please, give
me this water.” He replied, “Go, call your husband.” She responded, “I
don’t have a husband.” Jesus said, “You’re right, for you’ve had five
husbands, and the one whom you’re living with is not your husband.” She
was amazed that this stranger could know everything about her. She said
to Jesus, “I know one day the Messiah is coming.” Jesus answered her, “I
am the Messiah.” The first person Jesus ever told that He was the
Messiah was this woman—a woman who had a rough past, had made
told the local priest he was on assignment from the king, and it was so
urgent he hadn’t had time to get a weapon. He asked the priest if he had a
sword or spear he could borrow. The man said, “All we have is the sword
of Goliath, the Philistine whom you killed in the valley.” David’s face lit
up. He said, “There’s nothing like that sword. Let me have it.” David left
that day with the sword that had been meant to defeat him, and he used
that same sword to defeat others. The enemies that try to defeat you—the
depression, the bad breaks, the sickness, the injustice—not only are you
going to defeat them, but you will use those experiences to defeat others.
You have some swords for your future—things you’ve overcome, battles
you’ve won, enemies you’ve defeated, challenges you’ve outlasted.
Those victories will be there when you need them. It was meant for your
harm, it was meant to stop you, it was meant to keep you from your
destiny, but God knows how to not only turn it around, not only give you
the victory, but put that sword in your future. That will help you
overcome other obstacles.
I saw a report about a small city in South America that was built on a
garbage dump. Trash is everywhere—in the streets, in the river, in their
yards. All you can see is waste. Very poor people live there with little
electricity or running water. They make their living by going through the
trash, looking for anything they can sell. Hour after hour, they rummage
through it to earn just a few cents a day. It didn’t look as though anything
good could come out of that dark place. But when a gentleman named
Favio Chávez came to the city and saw the children playing in the trash, it
broke his heart. He wanted to help. He decided to start a music school
right there in the trash heap. He didn’t have money for instruments, so he
and a carpenter who lived in the town started looking through the trash
for materials they could use to make instruments. Old pipe would be part
of a saxophone, and discarded wood boxes became part of a guitar.
Buckets and barrels of different sizes were used for drums. In a few
months he had violins, cellos, guitars, and drums—all made out of trash.
Being a musician himself, Chávez taught the children how to play.
They were very excited. Now they have what they call the Recycled
Orchestra, made up of dozens of children who play the instruments made
from the garbage heap. After they put a clip on YouTube and it went
viral, they started getting invitations to play from around the world.
Today they fill concert halls everywhere they go, playing before tens of
thousands of people. People were so moved by what they saw and heard
that they started donating not only new instruments but also funds to help
the children. At the end of the report, reporters talked with a noted
musician, who made a statement that stuck with me. She said, “I couldn’t
believe you could make music with trash.” That’s what our God does.
He can take the broken pieces of our lives—the mistakes, the
injustices, what seems like a waste and looks like nothing good will ever
come out of it—and He knows how to make music out of our mess. Other
people may not be able to see it, but God can see it.
Rise to the Top
God has you in the palms of His hands. Nothing that’s happened to you
has been wasted. It’s all a part of the plan to make you into who you were
created to be. It may not have been good, but God can cause it to work
out for your good. He can take the same thing that should have destroyed
you and use it to propel you. No obstacle is too big, no challenge too
great. The forces that are for you are greater than the forces that are
against you.
You may be going through a tough time, as David did, but you’re
about to come into one of your swords. God is going to use what you’ve
been through to catapult you forward. People can’t stop it, bad breaks
can’t stop it, trash can’t stop it, injustice can’t stop it, and mistakes
you’ve made don’t have to stop it. Like Joseph, you’re about to rise to the
top. You may be in a dark pit, but the palace is coming. Let go of what
didn’t work out, shake off the self-pity, the doubt, and the
discouragement, for this is a new day. God has new mountains for you to
climb. Your best days are not your yesterdays; they are still out in front of
you. The enemy wouldn’t be fighting you this hard if he didn’t know that
God has something amazing in your future. It may be difficult, it may
stink, but remember that it’s fertilizer. It’s working for you. You’re
growing, you’re getting stronger. I believe and declare you’re about to
bloom, you’re about to blossom, you’re about to flourish. I speak victory
over you, I speak restoration, and I speak new beginnings and blessings—
health, wholeness, creativity, justice, vindication, abundance, the fullness
of your destiny!
BLESSED IN THE DARKNESS 